AM Service - Psalm 10 - 18th August 2024

e oh great God of highest heav occupy my L heart own it all and reign supreme conquer every reel power let no VI or sin remain that resists your [Music] [Music] holy I was blinded by NOS toar your voice did not know your love within had no taste for heaven's Joy then your me life open up your me through theel of your son gave me endless and [Music] [Music] [Music] Your Grace keep my heart and guard my soul from the evils that I you are be praised with my and oh great God of highest glorify your name through me you are worthy to be praised with my every thought anded oh great God of highest glorify [Music] oh great God well good morning um welcome to rual Presbyterian Church if you're visiting uh with us uh we're very glad to have you um just in case you're wondering who I am I am the minister here it seems as if haven't been about all summer with the um involved in the span mission team and then being on holidays it's uh it's been a long time since I've been in the Pulpit so I'm very I'm glad to be home I hope you're glad that I'm home um and together we're looking forward to um you know a new year starting a new year of Church Life starting very very soon uh so welcome to to you one and all and uh remind you of our evening service at 6:30 tonight when we'll be looking at Psalm uh 11 uh just some announcements quite a few please be uh patient as we go through these um growth groups if you this is the very very last opportunity to sign up we're we're trying to create new groups and Shuffle around things if you're intending to be part of a growth group then please let me or gladus know uh today uh this is the last opportunity uh for listen you can join at any stage during the year but we would appreciate uh you coming in now holiday Bible Club starts uh tomorrow uh and uh remember that please we're we're looking for volunteers to man the car park as you can appreciate there's 200 children coming at night we think um and it can be pretty chaotic out there so if anybody's not doing anything else as far as H Bible Club but would be prepared just to let people cross safely uh from the car park into the the building we appreciate that um so again talk to Aaron uh if you can do that uh and as far as the hly Bible Club is concerned you can pray anywhere but we're also going to give you an opportunity to come and uh pray in The Minister's room uh uh during the time of holiday Bible Club this week it's a basically come and go there'll be no set time you just come in and leave uh when you have to come when you can leave when you have to church picnic uh after next Sunday uh morning uh and it's not going to be here it's going to be the palace sta you know there's a car park there and there's some stuff for children to play it so uh hopefully it'll be a better venue than than here um so please do prepare your picnic come along and let's have spend some time together uh so that's after the morning service I was going to say you could come to the picnic but not to the service but that wouldn't be a good idea now so come to the service and the picnic uh off to UNI or something else I think there's something else mean your apprenticeships or uh anything like that there's an evening uh specially set up for you and you can see details about that uh on the bulletin uh that's the 5th of September big day in um again uh we're going to make more of announcement about that uh this evening please set that uh aside parents particularly this is so important for you um as you tried understand exactly the kind of world that your young people are facing with um the the pressures of social media this is crucial for all of us involved in children's and youth ministry parents grandparents we need to learn we need to be uh warned and prepared 7:00 club uh tea and coffee root us uh again we're looking for some more volunteers please sign up for that if you can today I think that's all I want to do except to say we we are launching today our celebration of 200 years of being a congregation in the village now I wasn't present at that first service but I think David par Senor was um he was very young at the time but uh he he he may not remember all the details but 200 years of worshiping as a church uh formerly there were Presbyterians were meeting before that for some uh 25 years or so but as a congregation 200 years and we're going to celebrate it and there's a little um leaflet we're going we're going to tell you more and more about what's happening throughout the year from September through to next June uh but you can see a number of things a number of ongoing projects uh in our Jerusalem which is our local locality doing some evangelism Judea would be some encouragement of local congregations in the presbyter area Samaria that's our BN crana link and the church plant there we're going to be praying for Martin who's isn't well at the minute who's off work uh and we want to pray that he will be healed and restored quickly and then to the ends of the Earth our work in Spain and in Poland but the big thing that I want you to remember is the Kevin D young evening and that's on Wednesday the 11th of September Kevin D young is probably one of the key preacher teachers in the Presbyterian and reformed family in the whole of the world it's a privilege for us to have them here um and I urge you to come even if you don't normally come to thing in the Wednesday night please come that evening uh and that will be the star and sense of our celebration he'll be coming think about what is the mission of the church um and he's he's an expert on that as you could imagine so please keep that free uh and then we will be thinking about other things throughout the year that lies ahead but we want to thank God for his grace and goodness to us as a congregation over 200 years uh and we pray that for as long as we've got if it's another 200 years may he continue to bless us if it's less if he calls or comes well he's going to call us before that any way but may come before those 200 years are up um but we want to continue to worship uh him and be a witness for him here it's exciting I think to to thank God uh for his goodness anyway enough of announcements we're here to worship God and God calls us to worship doesn't he he calls us to worship and we could look at many of the Psalms and and we have uh done and we will continue to do here's one reason why we should worship God and why he is the right to call us to worship and why we should come to worship Psalm 139 oh Lord you have searched me and you know me you know when I sit and when I Rise you perceive my thoughts from afar you discern my going out and my lying down you are familiar with all my ways before a word is on my tongue you know it completely oh Lord Lord the all seeing the all knowing the all present God that's why we worship him let's pray to him now as we bring our prayer of adoration Thanksgiving and confession Lord as the psalmist reminds us you have the right to call us to worship and we should come you're all seeing and all knowing and all powerful you're all loving you're all holy you're the maker of heaven and Earth you're the savior of your elect people you're the king of your body the church so receive our worship we are weak but you are strong we are sinful But You Are Holy we are poor but you're are rich and you care for us in so many practical ways the necessities of life and lots of luxuries as well thank you thank you a thousand times we can say thank you for everyday blessings for food and shelter we thank you today for the church the body that we're part of the word of God that's before us prayer that we're now involved in we thank you for opportunities of evangelism even this week with hly Bible club and discipleship as we think of our growth groups and LOL grips but we realize that as as you've given us so much and you and you're so kind in our weakness we're very easily intimidated H in our spiritual weakness we're easily seduced to sin and our moral weakness we're easily distracted from the Holiness you call us to and so we ask you to forgive us forgive us when we value the things of the world and devalue the things of God forgive us when we love sin and reject biblical morality forgive us when our heroes are sinful and we undervalue the sense of God forgive us when we want the World the Flesh and the devil more than the holy things of God so forgive us God and be patient with us and gracious to us because we don't deserve it would you long to give it to us and so we say again you know us you see us you love us you speak to to us reach into our hearts we pray today teach us your truth and change Us For Your Glory we bring our prayers in Jesus name amen the psalmist says you know when I sit and when I Rise you've been sitting so now you're going to rise and we're going to sing and John's going to lead us in our praise yes let's stand together we're here to Worship the Lord in song and to magnify his name let's stand and sing to the Lord gra is the Lord and most worthy of praise the city of our God the holy place the joy of the whole gra is the Lord in whom we have the victory he hates us against the enemy we bow down on our knees and we want to lift your name on high and Lord we want to thank you for the works you've done in our lives and Lord we trust in your our unfailing [Music] love for you alone are God Eternal throughout Earth and Heaven above great is the Lord and most worthy of graise the city of our God the holy place the joy of the [Music] whole great is the Lord in whom we have the victory [Music] he hates us against the enemy we bow down onor the we want to let [Music] your we want to thank you for the work you've done in our lives and Lord we trust in your unfailing [Music] love for you are our God Eternal to Earth and Heaven above [Music] [Music] [Applause] my hope is built on nothing less and Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest bra but only trust in Jesus name [Music] my hope is built on nothing left then Jesus blood and righteous I dare not trust the sweetest but holy trust in Jesus name Christ [Music] Alone Stone the weak made strong in theor love through the storm he is Lord Lord of [Music] when darkness seem to hide his face I rest on his unchanging gra in every H and [Music] storm my anchor holds Within in the my anchor holds within the Christ Alone Cornerstone weak made strong in the sa love through the storm he is more Lord [Music] of when he shall come with trumpet [Music] s oh may I then in him be found dressed in his rightousness alone fall stand Before the Throne when he shall [Music] come when he shall come with [Music] trumpet oh may I in him be found dressed in his rightousness alone fall stand before [Music] the Christ the lord [Music] Cornerstone we make strong in the savior's love through the stor he is one Lord [Music] of Christ Alone Christ [Music] Al [Music] Cornerstone weak made strong in the savior's love through to the storm he is Lord Lord of [Music] all well thank you to the band for leading Us in Praise this morning we're continuing our our Series in the Psalms this morning and we come now to Psalm 10 so I invite you if if you have a Bible with you turn with me to Psalm 10 Psalm 10 this is the word of God why oh Lord do you stand far away why do you hide yourself in times of trouble in arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the purr let them be caught in the schemes that they have divised for the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul and the one greedy for gain curses and Rines the Lord in the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him all his thoughts are there is no God his ways Prosper at all times your judgments are on high out of his sight as for all his fools he poit them he says in his heart I shall not be moved throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity his mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression under his tongue are mischief and iniquity he sits in ambush in The Villages in hiding places he murders the innocent his eyes stealthily watch for the helpless he lurks in Ambush like a lion in his thickets he lerts that he may seize the purr he seizes the purr when he draws him into his is n the helpless are are crushed sink D and fall by his might he says in his heart God has forgotten he has hidden his face he will never see it arise oh Lord oh God lift up your hand forget not The Afflicted why does the wicked rounce God and say in his heart you will not call to a but you do see for you note mischief and vacation that you may take it into your hands to you the helpless commits himself you have been the helper of the fatherless bre the arm of the wicked and evil doer call his wickedness to account till you find none the Lord is king forever and ever the Nations perish from his land oh Lord you hear the desire of The Afflicted you will strengthen their heart you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed so that man who is of the earth May strike Terror no more amen we thank God for this the reading of his word let's now continue in our worship of the Lord as we come before him in prayer and as we do that we want to pray especially for those of our young people who received exam results this past week as well as their parents at this time so let's come before the Lord and I in prayer and raise these people in particular up to the Lord let's pray Heavenly Father we come before you in prayer this morning recognizing you're the one who is Sovereign over all things you're the one who rules over the details of each of our lives and you know our needs before we even ask and yet Lord You' have told us that it is good for us to bring our petitions to you and so as a church family this morning we indeed come before you now trusting and knowing that you will hear and answer our prayers Lord we want to pray now this morning for for all those within our church family who received exam results this past week Lord we remind ourselves of your word which tells us that you've made all of our days whether days of of Joy or days of difficulty and so we pray for those within our church who received the results which they had hoped for who have met or exceeded their expectations we pray that that for them in the midst of Celebration and much joy such young people would remember to glorify you they would praise you for the gifts and talents which you have given them and to Lord we pray especially for those young people who receiv received disappointing news over this past week who may not have got the grads that they required or the letter of acceptance which they had hoped for Lord we pray for them that they too would be able to Rejoice even in the midst of their hardship might your word be a comfort to them as you teach us how you are in control over all our days Lord you have appointed this time for them and it has not taken you by surprise so Lord we ask might you guide them in any decisions that need to be made and comfort them in this time of difficulty we also pray for the parents of those who received results Lord might might they be an encouragement to their children at this time whether parents receive news from their children whether good or B bad might you grant them the maturity to submit themselves to your will for their child might you help them to trust in the plans which you have made even if they are not the plans which they had in mind and so Lord we pray for all of these people that you would guide them and sustain them at this point in their lives and father we also want to pray for the older members of of our congregation Lord we thank you for them we thank you that You' have placed each of them here within our church that they might be an encouragement to each of us and a Godly example of how to run the race of faith we pray that they would know your love and your protection we ask that you would care for them and that you would even do that through the means of us your people and we pray that that all of us as a church family would seek to show your love for them we thank you for their wisdom and their patience with us how you have blessed them with such experiences which many of the rest of us do not have and so we ask you would help us to seek to learn from them that we may encourage one another in the faith Lord might you keep us in your hand continue to grow Us in the knowledge and love of your word that we may be continued that we may continue to be fashioned into the image of Christ so we praise you father Son and Holy Spirit for you are sovereign over all things we pray all of these things in accordance with your perfect and your holy will amen over to aler talk yes thank you Caleb um for praying Antics in prayer uh I want boys and girls us to think about how God sees us okay so what we have um yeah these are two verses for those of you who can read you can read and for those who have not yet learned the skill of of reading then you can listen so verse 11 says this is what evil people say sinful people say God has forgotten he covers his face and he never sees that's what sinful people say God Is Blind God cannot see but the truth is God says but you oh God do see trouble and grief you consider it to take it in hand the victim commits himself to you you are the helper of the fatherless okay so evil people say God you can't see God says I do see okay or the psalmist tells us so I I brought a few things along um to see if you could help me think about seeing what do you think might be in this box does me know what might be in this box glasses these are I'm getting old and I'm having to think about getting reading glasses so these are reading glasses that are actually quite dirty as I look at them um but I can I can't you're blurred but that's helpful when it comes to reading so that's reading glasses they they help you see better but you know what God doesn't need reading glasses God sees perfectly okay second thing I've got I wonder what you what this is you me what this is do I know what this is um yeah you who said that a magnifying glass and this this is a great magnifying glass because it's got uh it's got a it's light as well so you can um oh dear how many that wrinkles on my hand yeah let me see what you no you can't really see you um but that's that's a magnifying glass so if you want to see something very very very small you can use the magnifying glass but guess what God doesn't need a magnifying glass cuz his eyesight is perfect here's another thing does anybody know what this is yes Charlie binoculars and uh bo is it dear you do look well you folks away at the back you see I used to see the people who slept at the back but I can't really see them as well anymore but yes binoculars if you want to see something way way way in the distance you use a pair of binoculars but guess what God doesn't need binoculars because he can see perfectly here's what evil people think here I've got another thing with me does I me know what this is yeah what a sleeping mask yes or an eye mask that's right this is what this is what you do if you can't if you don't like bright light and you want to S sleep you put this on and you put it over your eyes and it's you can't see I can't see I can't see you um but that's what that's what sinful people think God's like they think God cannot see but do you think it do you think that's what um is the truth about God put your hands up hey say I said put your hands up oh sorry I can't see you God can see can't he he sees perfectly he sees us with when we sin he sees us when we worship he sees us when we're being good he sees us when we are being bad he sees us all the time he watches over us when we sleep he's here he reads my heart and your heart he's beautiful and gracious and kind and he's not blind so sinful people will say God is blind and that's why they do whatever they like we can do whatever we like because God doesn't see and if he does see he's not really interested in fact most people who are sinful don't even believe in God but someone do believe in God but says he can't see God says I do see I can see I see exactly who you are I see exactly what's going on in your life and that's something we should be thankful for because our God our savior our friend sees us and loves us no matter what no matter what we do or don't do so may God bless you as you try and work these things out as you try and understand these wonderful truths about who our God is and those of you who are staying in church later on will'll be thinking about that as well let me pray for our young folks particularly as they think about these things father we're very aware that sinful people in the world I think that you're blind that you cannot say that you cover your face and you don't care about us but the Bible tells us you tell us the truth that you do see you see everything you see everyone you see all of us all the time and so we're thankful for that when we pray that we ask that you will help boys and girls and young folks all of us to understand these things and not to be scared by this but actually to realize you're a wonderful friend and a beautiful savior help us all to understand these things in Jesus name amen so those who are going to RPC kids you can leave now um and um we're not having a song at this stage we're going to sing two pieces at the end as we reflect on uh the word of God i c [Music] yes and thank you Simon for bringing in um uh the offering plate we we want to um think about these things a little more uh that part of our worship is our offering now we're very aware that most of our finances come in online um but we do want to as part of a service even as a um a representation of everything that is given uh in in sense of money and time and Gifts is brought uh to the to the front of the church so let's thank God for his goodness and let's ask him for his help as we look at Psalm 10 father we once again thank you that we're here today we're alive and well we're fit enough to come to worship we think of many who are not fit today who are in hospital or at home we pray your blessing upon them so we thank you for these everyday blessings your con instant presence your goodness to us and as tokens of our Thanksgiving we just don't pray and sing we bring our offerings to you as you have commanded us as you expect us we bring our offerings and our tithes to you and ask that you will use them for the glory of God in places like span and the scy SP Elman yukar and and in CCO and in banr as well well as in richill and many other parts of the world use all of this use us For Your Glory right across the world as we come to Psalm 10 we pray your blessing upon us and we pray that we'll have ears that are open ears and Minds that are willing to be taught and that we will be wiser after leaving this this we bring our prayers in Jesus name amen so if you have a Bible please open again at Psalm 10 it's probably not one of a a top 10 favorite but it is a very very important Psalm God is our refuge and our strength and everpresent help in times of trouble Psalm 46 verse1 I'm sure that's a Psalm or a verse that has brought you much comfort and consolation over the years many many times in hospital or even in funerals or in places of sickness at home I have read that verse out to people an everpresent help and I trust that that verse that truth will have brought blessing to many people HG Wells of course uh the famous writer who was in a moment and mood of bitterness and cynicism said of God and he misquoted Psalm 46:1 this is what he said God is a never absent help in times of trouble God is a never absent help in times of trouble so is he ever present or is he ever absent that's the question of course hdl's spoke out the way many people think it's not a new complaint it's a common complaint God where are you when we need you and throughout the Bible people of faith and integrity have often asked a question God what are you doing when we read the Bible of course we're reading the revelation of God and we read about the activity of God in the life of man and in the life of his world and we see of course that God speaks he he creates he listens he guards he rescues he saves but on occasions he does something rather strange some would say he does things that seem cruel sometimes you see God hides God hides and this is how it must have appeared to the Hebrews enslaved in Egypt for 400 years and their suffering was mocked by the apparent Silence of God it must have appeared to job like that um as he lost so much and was in so much pain alone and weak and troubled and the Silence of God must have tormented him even more and that's why Isaiah writes 45:15 truly you are a God who has been hiding himself and so the writer of Psalm 10 would have plenty of company when he utters verse one why oh Lord do you stand far off why do you hide yourself in times of trouble we understand that don't we because we're amazed and disgusted by the lack of action against evil from people in power and authority people who knew what was going on or people who knew what was happening and did not do anything about it even though they had the power and the authority to do something they did nothing nothing about it nothing to stop it historically we can think of um the BBC and and how they knew about Jimmy savell and Stuart Hall those of us who are older will will know about that particular story people in the hierarchy of the BBC knew about what they were doing but they did nothing about it and girls particularly and women were taken advantage of but even as I I sat down this week I thought right I'm going to just look at the BBC website to see if is there anything that illustrates just what we're saying here and a couple came up for instance the Nottingham families I'm sure you know who they are they claim that the NHS and the police in England have blood on their hands to quote what they said over the death of their loved ones because valdo kokin was a psychotic who suffered from paranoid delusions and those in Authority knew how dangerous he was and yet he was allowed to walk the streets and murder their loved ones and you can see why they ask the question why and the same page of the BBC website we read the kind I'm sure you heard about a church of England priest was known to be a potential risk to children and young people but he was allowed to continue in Ministry even though those in power and authority knew about the danger he was and then he was given a huge payoff just to go away why people ask the the question and rightly so why we hear of negligence in companies where huge profits are made and where bonuses are paid and yet ordinary people suffer why I mean the world is full of evil and wickedness and Injustice and the loud song goes up for many many people why why don't those in power and authority do something there's a their election of Judy but what do we say to the one who is an ultimate Authority what do we say to God who at times seems to be silent who seems to be inactive Gary that's a great idea could we open the back doors I think it's very very warm in church can we open the back door just let the some air circulate do do we reject God when he seems to be silent do we try something else or or someone else some other answer that's what many people do of course over the the centuries when God doesn't seem to turn up when God doesn't seem to answer prayer they just say you know what that's it I've had enough of you God I'm not going to waste any more moments on you because you have let me down in my time of needs and that happens especially when tragedy and loss comes close now Psalm 10 doesn't go as far as that but it is a song of protest isn't it God seems to stand off AAR according uh to David God seems to hide himself and and David senses that um God is silent too much and he feels too often and he asks why let let's think of the psalm under under three headings first of all this always seems to do this to me could you just put on that yeah that first slide let's think about the lament about evil people verses 1 and two why oh Lord do you stand far off why do you hide yourself in times of trouble in his arrogance the Wicked Man hunts down the week who are caught in the schemes he devises it's a great question that verse one isn't it the Psalms ask what are you doing God explain your actions God and we've all done that haven't we and it's not always a wrong question I say that again it's not always a wrong question in fact it's a key part of of real Faith because the Bible never asks us to um to hide from truth never asks us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend everything is easy and right and straightforward the Bible never asks us just to recite religious platitudes that religion often comes out with no we want answers and God invites us to ask the questions and get the answers he does why oh Lord do you stand far off why why do you hide yourself in times of trouble he's actually quite abrupt there in verse one isn't he quite a different tone from the positive nature of verse 9 in fact verse 9 and verse 10 were probably one song initially and then over time they were split into two different songs that's why Psalm 10 doesn't have a title but the title of Psalm 9 really is a title for both Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 but Psalm 9 was very positive in its approach and you you you looked at that last week Psalm 10 is almost the complete opposite it seems rather negative but of course the pilgrim Life's a bit like that isn't it sometimes we're up sometimes we're down sometimes it's all positive sometimes it's rather negative sometimes it's easy to be faithful other times we're just full of diet and we ask why oh Lord Lord why note the the double why of verse one why oh Lord do you stand far why do you hide again this is a a Hebrew technique to just let us know the intensity of his asking he doesn't mince his words here he's really going for it he's really demanding an answer from God God you have been absent why are you hiding why are you hiding now why are you hiding again especially especially when the Arrogant sin confidently and freely verse two in his arrogance the Wicked Man hunts down the weak he gets away with it why God what are you doing what are you waiting for It's A Cry of lament and we've often done it haven't we it's important for us to realize that there are two types of um doubt at least two types of doubt there's intellectual doubt about the existence of God that's what we call intellectual doubt then there's practical doubts about the activity of God now it's very obvious that Psalm 10 is about practical doubt what are you doing God or in this case why aren't you doing something God God says David you're acting in an on Godlike manner an on Godlike manner so what we have in Psalm 9 is full of statements about the goodness of God the sovereignty of God the goodness of God the power of God that's what I believe says says David that's what I believe but what I see what I see is that often you're absent you are not active so what we've got is a two things here I believe these things about you God Psalm 9 but Psalm 10 this is what I see in the world hence verse one why oh Lord do you stand far off why do you hide your yourself in times of trouble there's this tension sometimes between what we believe and what we see what we believe and what we see there there's this always this tension this battle so David laments is it wrong to lament no no because here there's in scripture it's it's all over the Psalms by the way we're going well we're not actually because we did Psalm 13 last year so we're not going to do it this year year but Psalm 13 is probably the classic statement about lament an open and honest cry from the heart to God we hear it from the very lips of Jesus don't we Jesus laments my God my God why have you forsaken me we could say my God he could have said my God my God why are you hiding from me why are you so far away from me that's lament so lament is not necessarily from an unbelieving heart it it's just trying to balance between um what I believe and and what I see what I believe and what I experience so lament in the Bible often Springs from from Faith so it's not a rejection of God not at all or not necessarily but that's an interacting with God I mean we see Faith by the way even over verse one why oh Lord he uses oh Lord which is the personal name of God he knows Yahweh that's what that means Yahweh he knows Yahweh he knows yahweh's goodness and grace and truth that's all in Psalm 9 and that's what makes his present situation so painful for him I know who you are God I believe in who you are but I'm going through these painful experiences of of loneliness and and bitterness and and watching I'm watching the sinful get away with things and really David's saying God you're acting out of character we do the same when a friend or relative acts out of character don't we um what we say is wow I really didn't expect them to react like that or um that's not normally what they would do or say and we often say to a loved one or our friend don't be like that that's not you don't act like that that's not you it's almost as if David is saying that here to God one preacher says David is not sacking God he's struggling with God he he's not rejecting God he's wrestling with God David has faith and so if you find yourself in a a similar situation and you look on upon your life and your world and you see Injustice and you see evil and and you're tempted to Despair and you're tempted to ask God why then you are in good company you're in good company it's a Hallmark of real Faith because think about it for a minute the logic of this is very very important and very powerful if you did not have faith why would you ask why I mean if you had no faith it's not a question you would even bother asking because the world out there of Injustice and evil and sin never asks that question why oh Lord do you stand far off why do you hide yourself in times of trouble if you have no faith why don't you just join in if you have no faith why would you care if you had no faith why not just applaud evil oh come on sin on your life come on the world get on with it come on get worse it's because you do have faith that you ask the question that you lament and so yes we we've got to understand in our minds I know this is hard to grasp but there's a mystery between between the presence of evil in the world and the apparent absence of God there is a mystery there but the answer is to Face Reality to act in faith the answer is not to run away the answer is not to stick our head in the sand the answer is not just to come back by the whole list of religious platitudes and pretend all as well actually the response is to lament to Lament and then to move on from there as we will see later on in the psalm see David just doesn't understand God in this situation but he's dealing with God he's wrestling with God and that is Faith that's Faith so that's the lament but what about the actual description of evil people that's he goes into great detail about who these people are again we got to recognize that David's problem is not the acts of God you things like earthquakes and tsunamis even things like cancer and and and sickness and and death he's not dealing it's not these issues that are causing him trouble in this particular Psalm it's the acts of people so it's not the acts of God soall it's the acts of people The Arrogant the wicked of verse two human wickedness is the issue he's dealing with here and what we see as you can see there on the screen two things attitudes and actions of the sinful and the wicked so verse two he's already pointed out the arrogance of the wicked hunting down the CR the crushed and the weak taking advantage of people blatant exploitation does that not anore you when you see the poor and the vulnerable and the weak exploited by the rich and the powerful and the evil does it not bother you it should and this is all fleshed out in verses 3 and four the boasting of the Cravings of of his heart the blessing or the praise of the greedy um pride and not seeking god let's read verse three and four he boasts of the Cravings of his heart He blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord in his pride the wicked does not seek him that is God in all his thoughts there is no room for God this proud arrogant boasting person shows contempt for God and for people you know think for instance of the the comedians who blasphemed the name of Jesus or think of the opening night of the Olympics thankfully he didn't see this or I would have probably thrown the TV at the opening night of the Olympics When the Last Supper of Jesus was depicted did you see it Jesus was depicted by a drag queen let that sink into your mind for a moment or two sophisticated Western so-called Christian Western World Jesus is depicted as a drag queen the arrogance of sinful man arrogant invincibility or so it seems or so it seems and and David Goes On verse five his ways are always prosperous he's hotty and your laws are far from him he snear at all his enemies now supp again David saying come on God why don't you act with these people why don't you step in and avenge their evil but actually the opposite seems to be happening uh for a time at least and we say for a time a short period of time there's no judgment in fact the hotti often Prosper they are admired and are popular they're celebrated theyve become role models to so many I want to be like him the world says or her or them I saw an advertisement for something on on TV this week uh Boy George um set up as some kind of Icon some kind of person to be celebrated and admired seriously but that's what the world does and we've got to see it as it is in the end of verse five he Rejects and makes fun of biblical and godly wisdom he is Hy and your laws are far from him he snears at all his enemies and the attitude of of these kind of people is uh uh if there is a God and I actually doubt if there is a God he got nothing to say to me and I want nothing to do with him I'm not interested in him in any way I'll succeed my way and in fact suggestion of verse five there is um the prosperity if you're poor it's your own fault that's what he's really saying he his ways are always prosperous he's hotty that's the philosophy of the modern Western culture you get what you deserve you get what you work for and who cares about everybody else this picture of of invincibility strong and overpowering overbearing and arrogant verse six he says to himself nothing will shake me I'll always be happy and never have trouble that's very evident because evil people are often very secure in their arrogant invincibility again they say if God exists he doesn't care if God exists he he doesn't interfere and that's the attitude that um he and they live with but then we got actions in verses 7 to 11 we we might call this active iniquity verse seven vile speech his mouth is full of curses and lies and threats trouble and evil are under his tongue now here's a little point I think is worth making we tend even within the church we tend to think that evil acts are bad but words are harmless and unimportant or less harmful and less important you know actions are the bad things words are kind of okay the Bible does not agree in fact this verse is quoted in Romans 3 with and a list of deprived sins this particular verse is quoted so cursing and lying and threatening and criticism and backbiting and gossip flow from an evil heart says the gospel that believes that God doesn't care about what we say and how we sin and that God somehow is never going to hold us to our kind they are wrong and the Bible is right and verse 8 to 10 we've got violence and they've already hinted at this in previous verses but it's it's developed explicitly verse eight he waits in he lies in wait near the Village from Ambush he murders the innocent watching in secret for his victims he lies in weight like a lion in cover he lies in weight to catch the helpless he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net his victims are crushed they collapse they fall under his strength you see murder and verse 8 like a lion waiting for his prey verse 9 like a hunter catching the helpless the end of verse 9 the common theme Here is waiting and watching and spotting the vulnerable and attacking and destroying now think think about what how that's depicted in the world think of the drug dealer trying to take advantage of that troubled soul think about the lone shark taking advantage of the single mom think about the scam artist who try and take advantage of of the old people at home who don't know how to put the phone down think about the pedophile who goes looking for the little boy or little girl to have their wicked way with it's all here there him is to capture to hurt to destroy this is our world and it all comes from verse 11 you'll notice he says to himself God has forgotten he covers his face he never sees that's the conclusion of evil people either God does not see them at all or he doesn't remember when he does see or he doesn't care no Reckoning no accountability the actions and attitudes of evil and atheists say you know what it's all okay you can do whatever you like there's nothing wrong with it and in fact atheism has as its one of its core values is that everything that we want to do is because of our DNA in other words we're wired up to live whatever way we like so we've got to accept that we've got to practice that we've got to celebrate that that's why all kinds of perversions are celebrated our DNA determines our behavior and sadly this kind of thinking because by the way when we're bombarded with this kind of thinking all the time it slips into our thinking and it's slipping into the church let me warn you it's slipping in to the church and we hear people say God Is Blind to our sin God doesn't care about our sin God is apathetic about our sin all it's all about a just just having a good time and so we now accept attitudes and actions contr to the word of God that we would never have dreamed of accepting some years ago think about our attitude to sexual morality oh it used to be very black and very white now there is an immense amount of gray in between isn't there even in the minds of Christians what about materialism what about theological understanding and often the the the the church denies God's clear teaching in favor of enlightened thinking oh we've got to move with the times we've we've got to we've got we're going to let our children and their behavior determine what we believe to be right or we're going to let the super opera or Hollywood or Disney tell us what is right and what is wrong and it creeps SS in it poisons our mind it destroys Our Testimony it confuses the world so we need the gospel again and again and that's why by the way our studies from September are going to be so important in the morning we're going to be looking at the Ten Commandments and in the evening we're going to be looking at the book of Romans and these two studies are going to expose our idols and drive us to Jesus again and again drive us to Jesus again and again I hope you're excited about that anyway time is marching on let me see how he responds to all of this in the face of uh the world running riot in face of God which troubles David and should trouble us what does David do and what should we do well there's a massive change of tone in verse 12 and if you listened carefully to the way Caleb read it there was a massive change in the way he read that despite the boasting and the Arrogant boasting of the world what are we supposed to believe and what are we supposed to do well here's three things Yahweh does see things 13 and 14 why does the Wicked Man revile God why does he say to himself he won't call me to account but you oh God do see trouble and grief you consider it and take it to hand the victim commits himself to you you are the helper of the fatherless he sees everyone he sees everything he's not absent he's not asleep he's not blind there's no hiding place and so so David prays in confidence and so should we because he does see and he waits very often he waits because he's a god of Grace allowing a sinful world and sinful people to respond but that's another issue we will deal with in time verses 15 and 16 Yahweh does re the Lord does reain verse 15 the wicked will realize that verse uh 16 the Nations will realize that break the arm of the wicked and evil man call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found right the Lord is king forever and ever the Nations will perish from his land all will see his Rule and Reign all will see that he's King all will see his prfect kingship He reigns no matter what evil does and that's why David can pray in confidence and lastly he's strong verses 17 and 18 you hear oh Lord the desire of The Afflicted you encourage them and you listen to their cry defending the fatherless and the oppressed in order that man who is of the earth may turn ver ify no more he sees everything he controls everything he's powerful over everything he is Yahweh he is Lord and we can trust in him and we can pray in confidence that's warm isn't it let me finish I'm aware most of us know about speed awareness courses I was going to may ask you to put your hand up if You' ever been on one but that might be a bit embarrassing you know what happens if you're cut speeding say three points and a a smaller fine or do you know you're invited to attend a course now have I been on one you're just going to have to guess but one of my preaching Heroes recounts his experience on one of these speed awareness courses and he said it was very interesting you know what happen sorry you don't know what happens but um some of us know what happens it goes on for a couple of hours goes on for a couple of hours and you're really made to feel really guilty about speeding and the dangers of speed but there was part of it that really struck him the presenter provided pictures of a speeding motorbike rider going through a village in the south of England the speed limit was 30 m an hour and he went through every morning at close to 100 miles an hour a daily trip boy racer or man racer was obviously on his way to work I don't know much about bikes but I'm told that there's no number plate on the front of the motorbike certainly that's the case in England assum here therefore he was never caught because it was a fixed speeding camera and picture after picture showing him clocked at 95 100 even 120 in a 30 M speed limit and when he went past he knew where the camera was he would wave his fist in Defiance and sometimes you give some obscene gestures with different numbers of fingers which I won't go into but you can p you can picture in your mind what he would do and basically he was saying you'll never catch me you'll never catch me I'm going to get away with this but the presentation ended with three slides the first one was again the riter clocked at 109 miles r with another rude gesture the second slide was a picture of a mobile speeding camera clocking him from behind going out of The Village at 109 miles nor in other words they set a trap up for him and they clocked him and took his number and were able to deal with him the third slide was a report in the local newspaper a lengthy driving ban a hefty fine and three months imprisonment you see evil man and the evil part of our society says God you have no authority over me you can't do anything about me you're never going to catch me you can't even see me but what the world needs to understand is that in the end there is an end in the end there is judgment and the world is in for an Almighty shock because he sees it all he's in control of all and he will call evil to account and this prayer of verses 12 to 18 I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time on it is rooted in the gospel because God is Not absent he's not asleep he is active and in the darkness of Calvary of course when it looked like God was absent when Jesus could have cried out in the sense he did cry out where are you God why are you hiding from me when when evil was seemingly winning when good was seemingly losing what did Jesus do he paid the price of our sin so that we might be forgiven and so God doesn't not leave us as orphans or as the fatherless verse 14 and verse 18 so so don't panic in the face of evil yes there's chaos in the world it's always been like that there's collapse of morality it's it's like that it's always been like that there's confusion in the church yes what we don't want to do is pretend that evil doesn't exist or that we can somehow redefine evil according to our standards and we certainly should not protest and blame God for in his inactivity but what we do is we trust in the one who sees who saves and who keeps and we pray that he will intervene for the sake of our children our grandchildren our neighbors our friends our community so let's be a people who lament yes but with within the boundaries that scripture has set so we can do it safely and well and fruitfully may God bless us as we do that in Jesus name we ask it father we pray that in these moments of reflecting on your word we pray that you will speak deep into our hearts about this problem of evil and suffering and trouble and we ask that um you will teach us to lament but to lament with faith and to trust the one who sees and the one who Reigns and the one who is strong we ask in Jesus name amen just before we sing together we're just going to share a New Year song um which will give us an opportunity to reflect on our great God and His Wonderful Grace um we're going to sing the first bit and maybe by the second chorus we'll get you to join in and sing along with us [Music] oh let not this world of Sorrows steal my only hope away for the power of your goel shines within this jar of clay in Affliction you bring W that my Comforts can display how my true greatest treasure is in you the god of Grace now to the god of every Grace who counts my tears who holds my days I sing through SAR sing with faith oh praise the god of every Gra [Music] we with I car Give Me Wings of f to rise for You Know Each G that lingers through the watches of the night surely you have born our sufferings at the cross took up our pain and you lead us on to Glory as we trust you would you like to stand with us now to the god of every Grace who counts my tears who holds my days I sing through sorrow sing with it oh praise the god of [Music] [Applause] [Music] every there aing hope be for us that I know is soon to break as I wait upon your mercy which will swallow every cries of joy and songs of Victory when we enter Heaven's Gates all your children home together all with you the god of Grace now to the god of every Grace who counts my tears who holds my days I sing through sorrow sing with oh praise the god of every Grace now to the god of every Grace who counts my tears who holds my days I sing through sorrow sing with f oh praise the god of every every Grace oh praise the god of every Grace oh praise the god of every Grace we're just going to keep our eyes on Heaven as we respond with this last song together [Music] there is a Higher Throne than all this world has known where faithful ones from every s will one take [Applause] [Music] home before the sun will stand made fall the through love beling hearts find prised Grace salvation comes hear Heaven voice their thund the Rings through court and S our skies there Praise Is Right all glory wisdom strength thanks and honor are to God our King who Reigns on high forever more [Music] and there we'll find our hope our life Before the Throne will H him in perfect song Where We Belong he wi each tear stain Di as thirst and hunger die the lamb becomes our sheer King Will Rain with him hear Heaven's voices sing their thund the Rings through Amal court and s by Sky their praises rise all glory wisdom part streng and da are to God our King who Reigns on high forever more hear Heaven voices sing their Thunder the Rings through eald course and saire SK their praises rise all glory wisdom part streng than and H are to God our King who Reigns on high forever [Music] more please do stay for teen coffee if you can you'll be made most welcome by the grace of the the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forever more amen