Last week got away from me a bit, and I couldn’t write what I said I would the previous Sunday. So I will add that to this post and some thoughts from Sunday’s message.
Preaching to Ourselves
In our study of Psalm 43, we noticed that David spoke to his soul on three different occasions in Psalms 42-43 (42:5, 11, 43:5). This reminded me of something I have read many times from John Piper. Piper said, “Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the former pastor and medical doctor from London, described the importance of preaching to ourselves: ‘Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in this psalm] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.’”
This is very helpful and encouraging for people like me who talk to themselves (don’t tell anyone). I have to say aloud to myself things like “Don’t say that!” or “Don’t think that!” And I repeat gospel truths to myself regularly. I remind myself that I’m forgiven, that I have access to God, and that God looks upon me favorably because of Jesus. I remind myself of God’s approval and acceptance. I do this because I am prone to forget. We all are. David was.
Daily Grace
Often in hardships, much of our anxiety comes from wondering if we can stand firm in the days ahead. We worry that the trials will be so hard that we can handle it. We worry that we won’t be able to hold firm. In a sense, we fear that God won’t help us.
Recently, as we were working through the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges with our church staff, I was taken by this thought: “Paul received grace when he needed it. God does not give us all the divine strength we need for the Christian life the day we trust Christ. Rather, David speaks of God’s goodness, which is stored up for those who fear Him (see Psalm 31:19). Just as we are to store up (the meaning of “hidden” in Psalm 119:11) God’s Word in our hearts against a time of temptation, so God stores up goodness or grace for our times of adversity. We do not receive it before we need it, but we never receive it too late. I think of a physician whose son was born with an incurable birth defect, leaving him crippled for life. I asked the father how he felt when he, who had dedicated his life to treating the illnesses of other people, was confronted with an incurable condition in his own son. He told me his biggest problem was the tendency to capsule the next twenty years of his son’s life into that initial moment when he learned of his son’s condition. Viewed that way, the adversity was overwhelming. God does not give twenty years of grace today. Rather, He gives it day by day. As the song says, “Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here; trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.”
God gives us daily grace to deal with today’s struggles. And that’s a promise that we will have grace for tomorrow…when needed.
Persistent Prayers
Our study of that challenging Psalm 44 brought us face to face with really challenging truths and a very straightforward prayer of the psalmist in vs. 23-26. I didn’t have time to develop the idea of persistent prayers. But it reminded me of Jesus’ encouragement to be persistent and specific in our prayers in Luke 11:5-13 and 18:1-8. These parables tell us that God is not taken aback, bothered, or frustrated by our perpetual coming to Him. He knows the issues in our hearts and lives and is delighted when we come to Him.
That doesn’t always mean He’ll answer as we had hoped. But, He might. We won’t know unless we ask. One of our faithful members said something to me on Sunday about this. She said that she has learned through the years not to put her trust in the outcomes of her prayers but to put her faith in the One she’s praying to. I thought that was good. Sometimes, God doesn’t answer as we would like, and sometimes He answers the opposite of what we would like. But He can always be trusted.
This Coming Sunday
This Sunday, July 16th, we will look at Psalm 102. Remember, our services will be at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. in our sanctuary at CLF. If you’re new with us, that’s 1553 NE Vine Street in Roseburg.
Church Locations in the Upcoming Weeks
- July 16th: CLF Building at 8:00 a.m. at 10:00 a.m.
- July 23rd: One Champion Field at 10:00 a.m.
- July 30th: CLF Building at 10:00 a.m.
- August 6th: One Champion field at 10:00 a.m.
- August 13th: Jacoby Auditorium at 10:00 a.m.
From the Cheap Seats
- I think it’s cool that Adley Rutchman is in the Homerun Derby tonight. A northwest kid is doing that in Seattle. Pretty sweet.
- Ok, I mentioned this guy a couple of weeks ago. But you’ve got to watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT42mCeAII4.
- And this dude is also fast: https://twitter.com/ballysportsaz/status/1671934316052463630?s=46&t=ANRRmEDhNWbghelISD7Rvw.
- I’ve got the American League…again. The National League has not won the All-Star game since 2012.
- And congrats to Jace Stoffal. A 2020 RHS graduate whom the Minnesota Twins drafted in the 8th round of the MLB draft.
- And yes…this is a baseball-heavy version of cheap seats.
To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.
Have a great week!
In Christ,
Dave York
