The Antidote for Despair
Notes
Transcript
I. Welcome & Opening Prayer
I. Welcome & Opening Prayer
Turn to Psalm Ch. 42...
!! Open in Prayer !!
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II. Introduction: The Pathways of the Mind
II. Introduction: The Pathways of the Mind
FEW YRS AGO—we HAD the PRIVILEGE to GO to COROLLA BEACH in OBX
*EVER BEEN THERE??*
SPECIAL— 4X4 BEACH. —TAKE YOUR TRUCK OUT…
FLYING on BEACH in TRUCK = COOLEST THING.
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FOUND OURSELVES in a SET of DEEP RUTS—
MAJOR SPEEDBUMPS—THROWING STUFF EVERYWHERE
SOMEONE ELSE in SAME RUTS COMING OUR WAY…
STRUGGLED—BUT GOT OUT.
Takeaway: ONCE YOU’RE STUCK in a RUT—IT’S a LOT EASIER to STAY in the RUT—THAN IT IS to GET OUT…
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Focus: FOUND—RECENT YEARS— SAME THING HAPPENS to THOUGHTS 📷
Neuroscience: NEUROLOGICAL PATHWAYS…
THOUGHT THOUGHTS = EASIER to REPEAT…
EVER FIND YOURSELF TALKING to YOURSELF?? WE’RE ALL a BIT CRAZY...
THESE REPEATED THOUGHTS DIG DEEPER & DEEPER RUTS.
**AWESOME ABILITY if the RUT is TAKING YOU— WHERE YOU WANT to GO...
**GREAT HINDRANCE IF NOT...
Answer: NEUROPLASTICITY—YOU CAN DIG OUT of the RUTS— IT’S JUST NOT EASY & REQUIRES INTENTIONALITY…
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Focus: LOOKING @ PSALM— PSALMIST in DESPAIR—HOW HE BRINGS HIMSELF OUT of IT… 📷
WE’LL BE ABLE to APPLY SOME of THESE THINGS to OUR OWN JOURNEYS TOO...
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Transition: LOOK W/ ME @ PASSAGE...
READING PSALM 42… V.1-11
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III. Passage Reading
III. Passage Reading
Psalm 42 (ESV)
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Church, this is God’s Word for us this morning.
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IV. Background: The Sons of Korah 🏛️
IV. Background: The Sons of Korah 🏛️
DON’T KNOW a TON ABOUT the SETTING of THIS PSALM
Authorship: WRITTEN BY SONS of KORAH— GATEKEEPERS in the TEMPLE…
Setting: POSSIBLY EXILE? NOT 100% SURE.
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Maskil: 🎶(PROBABLY a MUSICAL/LITURGICAL TERM)🎶
Focus: => BUT IT’S a HIGHLY RELEVANT PSALM to the HUMAN EXPERIENCE…
PRAY IT’S an ENCOURAGEMENT to YOU
Structure: SEE LAMENT/HOPE… LAMENT/HOPE…
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Transition: BEGIN— SEEING 1ST LAMENT…
(V1-2)
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V. Passage Expostion:
V. Passage Expostion:
Thought 1: First Lament—The Spiritual Thirst (42:1-2)
Thought 1: First Lament—The Spiritual Thirst (42:1-2)
Psalm 42:1–2 (ESV)
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Exhort: BLESSING of HUNGER & THIRST
=> IMAGINE IF WE GOT SO BUSY WE DIED!
Testimony: RECENTLY—WORKING THROUGH MEALTIMES
=> BODY LETS YOU KNOW—YOU NEED to EAT…
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PSALMIST PORTRAYS LONGING for GOD LIKE DEER & WATER.
Song: “AS the DEER” —BEAUTIFUL
Problem: SITUATION = LIKELY a DROUGHT — DEER PANTING
LONGING FOR WATER THAT ISN’T THERE…
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(v2) PSALMIST’S PLIGHT—HE LONGS FOR GOD—BECAUSE GOD SEEMS DISTANT.
Setting: PROBABLY EXILE—DISTANT from TEMPLE WORSHIP
PSALMIST KNOWS—HE NEEDS GOD.
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Exhort: WE WERE CREATED FOR GOD.
KNOW HIM & MAKE HIM KNOWN
GOD-SIZED HOLE
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PSALMIST DESIRES to COME BEFORE GOD (FACE of GOD)
Beautiful Truth: SEEKING RELATIONSHIP OVER BENEFITS
FACE of GOD—NOT HIS HAND.
GIVER—NOT HIS GIFTS
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Challenge: WHAT ABOUT FOR US?
DO WE ALWAYS SEEK GOD W/ AN AGENDA?
BUTTER GOD UP—SO HE DOES WHAT WE WANT?
OR DO WE WANT to KNOW HIM FOR WHO HE IS??
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Transition: TEXT BEGINS W/ PROBLEM
GOD SEEMS DISTANT
TEMPLE = GONE
QUESTION: WHEN SHALL I COME BEFORE HIM…
REASON for HIS LONGING: V.3-4
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IV. Thought 2: Continued Lament—Mockery and Memory (42:3-4)
IV. Thought 2: Continued Lament—Mockery and Memory (42:3-4)
Psalm 42:3–4 (ESV)
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.
Details of Psalmist’s plight:
TEARS DAY & NIGHT
HARASSED BY ENEMIES— “WHERE is YOUR GOD”
Imagine: YOU’RE GOING THROUGH IT— & OTHERS MAKE IT WORSE!
REMEMBRANCE of FORMER TIMES—GATHERED in WORSHIP
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Psalmist’s Issues:
PRESENT PERSONAL STRUGGLE
OTHERS ADDING GAS to FIRE
MEMORY AFFLICTS HIM
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Transition: WHAT DO YOU DO— WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS to BE HAYWIRE?
ONLY ONE WAY to FIND HOPE
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 5
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V. Thought 3: First Hope—God-Inspired Self-Talk (42:5-6a)
V. Thought 3: First Hope—God-Inspired Self-Talk (42:5-6a)
Psalm 42:5–6 (ESV)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
6 and my God.
PSALMIST FINDS SOLUTION in GOD-INSPIRED SELF-TALK.
SOUL SINKING INTO MIRE of DEPRESSION
SOUL IN TURMOIL LIKE RAGING RIVER…
**See P.P. Pic** “Peace like a river”
WHY IS IT LKE THIS???
Exhort: REAL PROBLEMS in LIFE....
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Powerful Conclusion:
PSALMIST DOESN’T ASK the QUESTION BECAUSE HE DOESN’T KNOW the BAD:
TEARS DAY & NIGHT
HARRASSED
GOD SEEMS DISTANT…
**RELATE HERE**??
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PSALMIST ASKS BECAUSE HE HAS a REASON for HOPE
=> WHY IS MY SOUL DOWN in the DUMPS WHEN I CAN HOPE in GOD… <=
HOPE— WAITING, EXPECTING GOD to ACT
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INCONSISTENT to BE BUMMED OUT WHEN GOD is SO GOOD
BOTH GENUINE REASONS to BE SAD
&& GENUINE REASONS to BE GLAD.
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Challenge: WE ALL HAVE GOOD & BAD—WHERE WILL WE FIX OUR EYES??
Solution: CHANGING PERSPECTIVE (REF. INTRO).
Idea: BEST ANTIDOTE for the CAST-DOWN SOUL IS LIFTED EYES...
**SITUATION DIDN’T CHANGE—PSALMIST DID**
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David @ Ziklag:
David @ Ziklag:
BEST EXAMPLE — DAVID “ENCOURAGING/STRENGTHENING HIMSELF in GOD”
ZIKLAG SACKED
WIVES & CHILDREN STOLEN
MEN CONCLUDE: KILL DAVID.
DAVID FOUND ENCOURAGEMENT in GOD—THEY WENT & RECOVERED ALL.
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WHAT an EXAMPLE—WHEN WE DEAL WITH SMALLER PROBLEMS!
CIRCUMSTANCES MAY NOT CHANGE…BUT GOOD NEWS—GOD DOESN’T CHANGE EITHER—
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Solution: PREACH to YOURSELF— WHAT DO YOU DWELL ON??
HE’S STILL GOOD
HE’S STILL SOVEREIGN—EVEN in the MIDST of the RAGING WATERS…
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Transition: BUT SOMETIMES—YOU NEED to TAKE MEDICINE MORE THAN ONCE…
PSALMIST LAMENTS AGAIN…
NEXT PT. v.6-VS. 7
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VI. Thought 4: Second Lament (42:6b-7)
VI. Thought 4: Second Lament (42:6b-7)
Psalm 42:6–7 (ESV)
6b My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
SOUL is CAST DOWN— STRIVING to REMEMBER GOD in a DISTANT LAND.
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(v7) DEEP CALLS to DEEP— CHAOS of the SEA—SOMETHING UNTAMEABLE…
CHAOTIC TURMOIL RIVER ENDS in a WATERFALL…
Quote: “and just as there, in a strange land, the wild waters of the awe-inspiring mountains roar around him, there seems to be a corresponding tumult in his soul.”
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Ill.: ISN’T THAT the CLASSIC ILLUSTRATION in the MOVIES?
ON a RIVER,, SOMEWHAT PEACEFUL—THEN COMES the WATERFALL
** I REALLY WOULD THINK I WOULD FACE MORE WATERFALLS in LIFE FOR HOW OFTEN THEY COME in MOVIES**😅
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Desire: DEER LONGING for FLOWING STREAMS
Reality: LIFE = LIKE WHITEWATER RAPIDS GOING OVER the EDGE…
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Transition: TO THIS SECOND LAMENT…
…THERE’S a 2ND HOPE.
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 8
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Second Hope (v8)
Second Hope (v8)
Psalm 42:8 (ESV)
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
LIFE = CHAOTIC—YET GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE = RIGHT THERE WITH HIM…
Contrast:
Contrast:
GOES from TEARS—DAY & NIGHT
TO FAITHFULNESS BY DAY—PRAYER BY NIGHT
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PSALMIST SPEAKS of GOD’S COVENANT-KEEPING, FAITHFUL LOVE (HESED)
PROMISE-MAKING
PROMISE-KEEPING GOD.
THIS = GOD in WHOM HE HOPED…
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PROMISES SEEM DISTANT/IMPOSSIBLE—HE ALWAYS KEEPS => TESTIMONY THROUGHOUT the AGES
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(v8b) PSALMIST CONCLUDES— BY NIGHT SONG & PRAYER = WITH HIM…
Powerful: HE MIGHT NOT BE LEADING FESTAL WORSHIP—BUT HE CAN ALWAYS SING to GOD
FOR GOD = HIS VERY LIFE!
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Transition: BUT AGAIN—THIS = a JOURNEY
LAMENT—PRAISE
PROBLEM—SOLUTION
SORROW—HOPE
SEE NEXT STOP on HIS JOURNEY…
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 9-10
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VII. Thought 5: Third Lament
VII. Thought 5: Third Lament
Psalm 42:9–10 (ESV)
9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
SONG/PRAYER TURNS to QUESTIONING:
GOD—WHY HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ME?
ENEMIES OPPRESS
HARASS—WHERE is YOUR GOD??
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NONBELIEVER CHARGES: WHERE
BELIEVER ASKS: WHY?
HE DOESN’T DOUBT GOD…HE’S JUST STRUGGLING to MAKE SENSE of CIRCUMSTANCE…
Exhort: GOD ISN’T AFRAID of YOUR WHYS
HARD PSALMS & PORTIONS of SCRIPTURE...
.... CAN GIVE VOICE to a TROUBLED SOUL…
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Transition: ONCE AGAIN—IN MIDST of SORROW…THERE’S HOPE:
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 11…
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Final Hope (v11)
Final Hope (v11)
Psalm 42:11 (ESV)
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
SOLUTION REMAINS the SAME.
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Focus: SOMETIMES SOLUTION = SIMPLE—BUT HARD.
Example: SOLUTION to WORRY = STOP WORRYING. (😅NEVER THOUGHT of THAT BEFORE!)😅
NOT COMPLICATED
ALSO NOT EASY.
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LIFE ISN’T EASY—THIS PSALM REMINDS US of THAT…
LAMENT—HOPE
LAMENT—PRAISE
LAMENT—HOPE.
SOME DAYS ARE GOOD
SOME ARE BAD
SOME ARE BOTH
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PSALMIST GOES BACK & FORTH—DOESN’T MEAN SOLUTION DIDN’T WORK—JUST NEEDED to SPEND MORE TIME THERE…
BEST ANTIDOTE for CAST-DOWN SOUL = LIFTED EYES…
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IX. Gospel Connection: Yeshua, Our Salvation ✝️
IX. Gospel Connection: Yeshua, Our Salvation ✝️
THERE is ONE WHO CAN CALM the TUMULTUOUS SEAS…
… BOTH in CREATION & IN ME…
PSALMIST PUT HOPE in GOD—FOR GOD = GOD WHO ACTS…
HE is ROCK
HE is HOPE
HE is SALVATION
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GOD SEEMED DISTANT—GOOD NEWS is GOD HAS DRAWN NEAR
ONE DAY—HE CAME DOWN in JESUS CHRIST— “GOD WITH US”
Background: WHOSE NAME COMES from HEBREW WORD for SALVATION—YESHUA— FOUND in TODAY’S PSALM
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TURN PAGE to N.T. — WE SEE GOD WILL NOT REMAIN DISTANT FOREVER
HE is a GOD WHO SAVES
NOT ALWAYS FROM CIRCUMSTANCES—
— BUT FROM GREATEST PROBLEM—SIN & SEPARATION from GOD…
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Problem: HUMANKIND = SEPARATED FROM GOD BECAUSE of SIN…
Solution: GOD CAME DOWN…
HE PURSUED AFTER US.
FIXING RELATIONSHIP THAT HUMANITY MESSED UP…
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Final Hope:
Final Hope:
Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE—THERE is a HOPE—
— ONE DAY WE WILL BE WITH HIM for ALL ETERNITY
NO MORE SUFFERING
NO MORE TEARS
NO MORE TRIALS…
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FUTURE HOPE = ONLY FOUND in JESUS…
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
THE WAY to HEAVEN ISN’T FOUND VIA GPS BUT VIA a PERSON—JESUS CHRIST…
HE’S the ONLY SIN-BEARER THAT CAN MAKE US RIGHT
HAVING a HOPE of HEAVEN BEGINS WITH RECEIVING CHRIST TODAY & GIFT of FORGIVENESS...
—GOSPEL—
Invitation: TALK to ME AFTER SERVICE…
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Transition: NOW—FOR the BELIEVER— WHAT’S THIS PASSAGE TEACHING US?
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VI. Application: Lifted Eyes
VI. Application: Lifted Eyes
Passage Idea: The antidote for the cast-down soul is lifted-eyes.
BEAUTY of PSALM— PSALMIST’S CIRCUMSTANCES NEVER CHANGED!
Exhort: WHEN CIRCUMSTANCE DON’T CHANGE
—WE REMIND OURSELVES ALSO of OUR UNCHANGING GOD.
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WHEN LIFE SCREAMS: WHERE is GOD
WE FIX OUR EYES on HEAVENLY HOPE in JESUS CHRIST.
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BUMMED OUT? ASK YOURSELF WHY?
NOT BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE REASONS to BE BUMMED OUT—BUT BECAUSE YOU HAVE REASONS for JOY
**NOT DISMISSIVE of the PAIN**
BUT ACKNOWLEDGES THERE is A HOPE GREATER THAN the PAIN....
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Response:
Response:
PREACH TO YOURSELF: TELL YOURSELF of the PROMISES of GOD…
EVEN MORE—REMEMBER HEAVEN CAME DOWN to US
Background: PSALMIST FELT DISTANT from GOD—AWAY FROM TEMPLE
now...GEOGRAPHY DOESN’T MATTER NOW
WE GO to GOD ANYWHERE
HE CAME TO US
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Conclusion:
Conclusion:
ONE DAY WE’LL BE WITH HIM! & THAT is ENOUGH.
IN HIS UNCHANGING, COVENANT-KEEPING FAITHFUL LOVE ....WE CAN HOPE. AMEN?
!! Close in Prayer !!
**Transition towards communion**
