A Steadfast Love
Series: Hope in Despair
Speaker: John Lau
Date: 31st October 2021
Passage: Lamentations 3:1-66
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Have you seen an emotion wheel like this one on the screen?
00:00:06 --> 00:00:13 How many ways do you think we can describe the emotion of angry, sad, or feeling bad?
00:00:15 --> 00:00:16 Or let me put it another way.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:23 If someone say, I feel lonely, isolated, abandoned, vulnerable, victimized, fragile,
00:00:23 --> 00:00:33 despair, grief, powerless, guilty, ashamed, remorseful, depressed, empty, inferior, hurt, disappointed, or embarrassed,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:39 which emotion do people typically lump these emotions under?
00:00:41 --> 00:00:51 These 18 emotions, they often lump under sadness, and often is when we are overwhelmed with sadness.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 We lost all our hope.
00:00:57 --> 00:01:04 We want to complain about our situation and point our fingers at the blames of our sufferings.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:14 Instead, we would be more appropriate to ask the question the writer of Lamentation posed in chapter 3, verse 39.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:21 Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?
00:01:21 --> 00:01:26 To help us to lament about what we are facing?
00:01:27 --> 00:01:36 Today, I want to take you on a journey with the director of Lamentation to find hope in despair and in darkness.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 To find our hope in God.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:44 If you open our St. Paul's app, you will see the three points for today.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 Hope eclipse, hope emerge, and hope everlasting.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:55 From chapter 1 to chapter 3, verse 18 in the Lamentations,
00:01:56 --> 00:02:03 the 62 verses are like dark shadows moving across and eclipse our light shores.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:09 All become dark when the writer say in verse 19 to 20,
00:02:09 --> 00:02:29 His soul is downcast within him, holy and utterly hopeless because of the desolation to his hometown Jerusalem.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:37 The book of Lamentations is a gift from God for us to connect with him.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:44 The writer invites us to join God's grieving over sins and destruction of his creations.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:53 Barry Webb, a well-known Bible scholar, pointed out that grief itself, by its very nature,
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 is a somewhat formless thing.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 We need external help to address it.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:07 You might have experienced this yourself, especially some grief that hits you very hard.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:13 Maybe a tough breakup, or someone very deep to you died,
00:03:13 --> 00:03:18 or watching a loved one dealing with debilitating sickness.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:24 As your mind moves in circle, repeatedly returning to the source of grief,
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 unable to leave it, unable to resolve it,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:34 was it hard to identify precisely how you feel?
00:03:34 --> 00:03:42 Lamentation is written in a form that allows grief to be fully exposed and expressed,
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 and yet, at the same time, sets a limit to it.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:55 These poems explore grief in its many various aspects,
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 viewing it first from one's perspective,
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 and then from another, and yet another.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:08 That is why there are seemingly many repetitions within the book,
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 especially in the first 62 verses,
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 as we slowly eclipse into complete darkness.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 At one stage, the writer is observer,
00:04:20 --> 00:04:25 describing Jerusalem's personified suffering and desolation,
00:04:25 --> 00:04:29 and speak out on her behalf to cry out to God for help.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:36 And it's during those pleads for God's attention to the suffering,
00:04:36 --> 00:04:41 he confessed and admitted that the sufferings are deserved treatment
00:04:41 --> 00:04:45 of the sin of rebellion and disobedience,
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 because the Lord is righteous.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:52 At another stage, he tries to be a comforter,
00:04:52 --> 00:04:57 to describe and understand what God is doing among them.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:03 All he saw was God's anger and acting like an enemy against his people.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 Instead of protecting and holding back the destruction,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 God plundered and removed all they had.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 The city wall, the temple,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 things they trusted for protection and pleasure
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 were all utterly destroyed.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 They have nothing they can live on.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 People were dying everywhere due to famine,
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 and even considering cannibalism for survival.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:33 Their utter hopelessness drives the writer into darkness,
00:05:34 --> 00:05:38 as if all the sufferings and griefs become personal to him,
00:05:39 --> 00:05:43 and God is punishing him with the rod of his wrath.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:47 In chapter 3, verse 1 to 9,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:51 he feels God has locked and imprisoned him in darkness,
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 besieged him, and surrounded him with bitterness and hardship.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 And even he can get out in verse 10 to 18,
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 God lay a bear and a lion ready to mangle him.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:07 And the hunter that should shoot the arrow at the predators
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 was aiming his arrow at him.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:14 It was utterly hopeless and dark,
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 and it was at this point, in the dark,
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 the writer finally sees what God is doing
00:06:20 --> 00:06:25 and fully connects with God in his grieving process
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 over sin and its destruction.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 The whole range of human sorrow is explored.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 Desserted, widowed, enslaved,
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 bittered, betrayed, exiled,
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 restless, distressed, lonely, grief,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:42 wandering, afflicted,
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 laughed at, despised, naked,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 filthy, dishonored, shamed,
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 desisted, crushed, held down,
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 slain and slaughtered.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 The aid to sad of sorrow
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 is laid in front of the reader
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 in these 62 verses of Lament.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 By the structure and pattern of these verses,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:03 grief is shaped
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 and led to a conclusion
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 where hope emerges.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 A point of complete darkness
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 where everything necessary has been said,
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 at least for the time being,
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 and a mourner can fall silent
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 without feeling he has been suppressed or stifled.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:25 In this sense,
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 the structure and the pattern of the man
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 have more than aesthetic significance.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 It also has a therapeutic
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 and pastoral significance.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 After 64 verses
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 of expressing deep sufferings,
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 hope finally offered.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 This hope has nothing to do
00:07:47 --> 00:07:48 with what humans can do.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 It is all based on God's grace.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 The remembering up to 3,
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 verse 19 and 20
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 is involuntary,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:00 driven by circumstance,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 as the writer described
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 what he saw and how he felt.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 However,
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 the call to mind
00:08:08 --> 00:08:09 of chapter 3,
00:08:09 --> 00:08:10 verse 21
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 is a deliberate choice
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 the sufferer has made.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 In his choice,
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 hope emerges,
00:08:20 --> 00:08:21 and hope emerges
00:08:21 --> 00:08:22 because the writer
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 recalls,
00:08:24 --> 00:08:25 repents,
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 and returns.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 Reading verse 21 to 24,
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 Yet this I call to mind
00:08:31 --> 00:08:32 and therefore I have hope.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 Because of the Lord's great love,
00:08:35 --> 00:08:36 we are not consumed,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 for his compassions never fail.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:40 They are new every morning.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:41 Great is your faithfulness.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:43 I say to myself,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 the Lord is my portion,
00:08:45 --> 00:08:46 therefore I will wait for him.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 Yet this I call to mind
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 reflects a sudden change
00:08:51 --> 00:08:52 of perspective,
00:08:53 --> 00:08:54 like something had hit the writer.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 He called to mind
00:08:56 --> 00:08:57 the realization
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 that people are not
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 entirely wiped out,
00:09:00 --> 00:09:01 we are not consumed,
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 that the destruction
00:09:03 --> 00:09:04 was on the city
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 and possessions,
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 on things
00:09:07 --> 00:09:08 that have become
00:09:08 --> 00:09:09 their idols,
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 but not on all the people.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 Himself,
00:09:14 --> 00:09:14 as a remnant,
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 is a living proof
00:09:16 --> 00:09:17 of God's great love
00:09:17 --> 00:09:18 and compassions.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 These two words,
00:09:21 --> 00:09:22 in original language,
00:09:22 --> 00:09:23 were plural,
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 reflecting the multiple occasions
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 when God demonstrated
00:09:28 --> 00:09:28 his great love
00:09:28 --> 00:09:29 and compassions.
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 They are more than enough
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 to comfort
00:09:33 --> 00:09:33 and deal
00:09:33 --> 00:09:34 with the suffering
00:09:34 --> 00:09:35 that the writer
00:09:35 --> 00:09:36 has faced.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:38 Hope emerges
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 with recalling
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 and realizing
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 that even
00:09:42 --> 00:09:43 to be able
00:09:43 --> 00:09:44 to lament
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 is a gift,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:47 for to weep
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 is to be alive.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:51 And to that extent,
00:09:51 --> 00:09:52 being able
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 to lament
00:09:53 --> 00:09:53 is based
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 on God's grace.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:56 They are new
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 every morning,
00:09:57 --> 00:09:58 similar to the light
00:09:58 --> 00:09:59 that emerged
00:09:59 --> 00:10:00 from the shadow
00:10:00 --> 00:10:01 after the eclipse.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 The light
00:10:03 --> 00:10:04 of the new dawn
00:10:04 --> 00:10:05 always emerged
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 after each night,
00:10:07 --> 00:10:07 just like what
00:10:07 --> 00:10:08 Jackie just shared
00:10:08 --> 00:10:08 with us.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:10 Eclipse
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 has always been
00:10:12 --> 00:10:13 transitional.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 Sooner or later,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:15 the shadow
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 will pass.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 The dark shadow
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 will move off
00:10:19 --> 00:10:20 our light source
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 and hope
00:10:21 --> 00:10:22 emerge.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:24 All other
00:10:24 --> 00:10:25 character
00:10:25 --> 00:10:25 and attributes
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 of God
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 rise to the
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 writer's mind
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 in quick succession
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 after the writer's
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 call to mind
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 God's great love,
00:10:34 --> 00:10:34 compassion,
00:10:35 --> 00:10:36 and faithfulness.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:37 With that,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:38 the glimmers
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 of hope
00:10:39 --> 00:10:40 grew brighter
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 and brighter.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:42 The writer
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 calls to mind
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 the truth
00:10:44 --> 00:10:45 about God
00:10:45 --> 00:10:46 and finds
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 God's promise
00:10:47 --> 00:10:48 and confidence
00:10:48 --> 00:10:49 are still
00:10:49 --> 00:10:50 valid.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:51 The joy
00:10:51 --> 00:10:52 of discovery
00:10:52 --> 00:10:53 is conveyed
00:10:53 --> 00:10:54 by the beauty
00:10:54 --> 00:10:55 and freshness
00:10:55 --> 00:10:56 expressed in the
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 rest of the chapter.
00:10:58 --> 00:10:59 Verse 25,
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 The Lord
00:11:00 --> 00:11:01 is good
00:11:01 --> 00:11:01 to those
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 whose hope
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 is in him,
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 to the one
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 who seeks him.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:07 It is good
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 to wait
00:11:08 --> 00:11:08 quietly
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 for the salvation
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 of the Lord.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 It is good
00:11:11 --> 00:11:11 for a man
00:11:11 --> 00:11:12 to bear the yoke
00:11:12 --> 00:11:13 while he is young.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:15 The theme
00:11:15 --> 00:11:16 of a yoke
00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 is not new
00:11:17 --> 00:11:18 in lamentation.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:19 Chapter 1,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:20 verse 14
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 says,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:21 My sins
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 have been
00:11:22 --> 00:11:22 bound
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 into a yoke.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 So,
00:11:25 --> 00:11:25 and the writer
00:11:25 --> 00:11:26 said,
00:11:26 --> 00:11:26 It is good
00:11:26 --> 00:11:27 for man
00:11:27 --> 00:11:27 to bear
00:11:27 --> 00:11:28 the yoke
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 while he is young.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 He implies
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 that the earlier
00:11:31 --> 00:11:32 we realize
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 our inability
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 to stop sinning
00:11:35 --> 00:11:36 and accept
00:11:36 --> 00:11:36 the responsibility
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 and consequence
00:11:38 --> 00:11:39 of our sins,
00:11:39 --> 00:11:40 the earlier
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 we will find
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 hope in our despair.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 Verse 28,
00:11:46 --> 00:11:47 Let him sit
00:11:47 --> 00:11:48 alone in silence,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:49 for the Lord
00:11:49 --> 00:11:50 has laid it on him.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 Let him bury
00:11:51 --> 00:11:51 his face
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 in the dust.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:53 There may yet
00:11:53 --> 00:11:54 be hope.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:55 Let him offer
00:11:55 --> 00:11:55 his cheek
00:11:55 --> 00:11:56 to one
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 who will strike
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 him and let
00:11:58 --> 00:11:58 him be filled
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 with disgrace.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 When we sit
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 alone in silence,
00:12:04 --> 00:12:04 submit ourselves
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 under God,
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 not fighting him
00:12:07 --> 00:12:08 or those he used
00:12:08 --> 00:12:09 to correct us.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:10 As we bury
00:12:10 --> 00:12:11 our face
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 in the dust
00:12:12 --> 00:12:13 as our sign
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 of repentance,
00:12:15 --> 00:12:16 there we will
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 see hope emerge.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:18 The darkness
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 will move away.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 We read on
00:12:22 --> 00:12:23 from verse 31,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:24 For no one
00:12:24 --> 00:12:25 is cast off
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 by the Lord
00:12:26 --> 00:12:26 forever.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 Though he brings
00:12:28 --> 00:12:28 grief,
00:12:28 --> 00:12:29 he will show
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 compassion.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 So great
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 is unfailing love,
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 for he does not
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 willingly bring
00:12:34 --> 00:12:35 affection or grief
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 to anyone.
00:12:37 --> 00:12:38 God's anger
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 was real,
00:12:40 --> 00:12:41 but not hasty
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 or irrational.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 It did not
00:12:44 --> 00:12:45 nullify
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 the essential
00:12:47 --> 00:12:47 truth
00:12:47 --> 00:12:48 about him,
00:12:49 --> 00:12:49 which had been
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 revealed in history,
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 especially in the Exodus.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 Judgment
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 was part
00:12:56 --> 00:12:56 of the confident
00:12:56 --> 00:12:57 relationship,
00:12:58 --> 00:12:58 but did not
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 bring it
00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 to an end.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:01 The writer
00:13:01 --> 00:13:02 remembers that
00:13:02 --> 00:13:03 God himself
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 guaranteed
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 the continuance
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 of our relationship
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 with him
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 by his character.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:11 We read on
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 in verse 37,
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 who can speak
00:13:14 --> 00:13:14 and have it
00:13:14 --> 00:13:15 happen
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 if the Lord
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 has not decreed it.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 It is not
00:13:20 --> 00:13:21 from the mouth
00:13:21 --> 00:13:22 of the Most High
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 that both calamity
00:13:24 --> 00:13:24 and good things
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 come.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:26 At this point,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:27 the writer
00:13:27 --> 00:13:28 realized
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 one fundamental
00:13:29 --> 00:13:30 thought
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 humans have
00:13:31 --> 00:13:31 been doing
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 and asked
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 the question
00:13:33 --> 00:13:33 I mentioned
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 earlier,
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 why shall
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 the living
00:13:36 --> 00:13:36 complain
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 when punished
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 for their sins?
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 His answer
00:13:40 --> 00:13:40 was,
00:13:41 --> 00:13:41 instead of
00:13:41 --> 00:13:41 complaining,
00:13:42 --> 00:13:42 we should
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 examine ourselves,
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 confess,
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 and repent.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 Verse 40,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 let's examine
00:13:49 --> 00:13:49 our ways
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 and test them.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 Let's return
00:13:51 --> 00:13:51 to the Lord.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:52 Let's lift up
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 our hearts
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 and our hands
00:13:54 --> 00:13:54 to God
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 in heaven
00:13:55 --> 00:13:55 and say,
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56 we have
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 sinned
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 and rebelled
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 and you have
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 not forgotten,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 forgiven.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 After we recall
00:14:04 --> 00:14:05 and remember
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 God's character,
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 hope will
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 continue to
00:14:08 --> 00:14:09 emerge
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 as we repent
00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 of our sin.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:12 Only
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 when our
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 laments
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 include
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 confession of
00:14:16 --> 00:14:16 sin
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 does it
00:14:17 --> 00:14:17 fully
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 come to
00:14:18 --> 00:14:18 grip
00:14:18 --> 00:14:19 with reality
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 and allow
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 the love,
00:14:22 --> 00:14:22 compassion,
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 and faithfulness
00:14:23 --> 00:14:23 of God
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 to heal
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 what is
00:14:26 --> 00:14:26 broken
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 and make
00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 restoration
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 complete.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:30 Lament
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 without
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 confession
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 of our
00:14:33 --> 00:14:33 sin
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 is merely
00:14:34 --> 00:14:35 a complaint.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:36 And after
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 we repent
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 and return
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 to the Lord,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:39 we can
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 trust in
00:14:40 --> 00:14:40 God's
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 judgment
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 because God
00:14:42 --> 00:14:42 has not
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 found delight
00:14:43 --> 00:14:44 in crushing
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 all the
00:14:45 --> 00:14:46 prisoners of
00:14:46 --> 00:14:46 the earth,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 nor depriving
00:14:48 --> 00:14:48 anyone of
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 justice,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 nor subverting
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 a person
00:14:52 --> 00:14:52 in a legal
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 dispute.
00:14:54 --> 00:14:54 His
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 steadfast love
00:14:55 --> 00:14:55 lever
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 ceases
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 and his
00:14:57 --> 00:14:57 mercy lever
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 comes to
00:14:58 --> 00:14:58 an end.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 Hope
00:15:00 --> 00:15:00 emerges
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 as we
00:15:02 --> 00:15:02 return
00:15:02 --> 00:15:02 to God
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 for he
00:15:04 --> 00:15:04 heard
00:15:04 --> 00:15:04 our
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 plea
00:15:05 --> 00:15:05 and
00:15:05 --> 00:15:05 come
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06 near
00:15:06 --> 00:15:06 when
00:15:06 --> 00:15:07 we
00:15:07 --> 00:15:07 call
00:15:07 --> 00:15:07 him
00:15:07 --> 00:15:08 and
00:15:08 --> 00:15:08 he
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 say
00:15:09 --> 00:15:09 to
00:15:09 --> 00:15:09 us
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 do
00:15:10 --> 00:15:10 not
00:15:10 --> 00:15:11 fear.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 Hope
00:15:13 --> 00:15:13 emerges
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 when we
00:15:14 --> 00:15:14 recall
00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 who God
00:15:15 --> 00:15:15 is
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 and repent
00:15:16 --> 00:15:16 of our
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 sins
00:15:17 --> 00:15:17 and return
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 to God.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:19 In my
00:15:19 --> 00:15:19 community
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 group,
00:15:20 --> 00:15:21 someone brought
00:15:21 --> 00:15:21 up an
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 essential
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 prerequisites
00:15:23 --> 00:15:23 for us
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 to call
00:15:24 --> 00:15:24 to mind
00:15:24 --> 00:15:25 the character
00:15:25 --> 00:15:26 of God
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 is
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 we need
00:15:28 --> 00:15:28 to know
00:15:28 --> 00:15:28 God.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 That is
00:15:30 --> 00:15:30 why
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 as a
00:15:31 --> 00:15:31 body
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 of Christ
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 we make
00:15:33 --> 00:15:33 growing
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 in our
00:15:34 --> 00:15:34 relationship
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 with God
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 by having
00:15:36 --> 00:15:36 four or
00:15:36 --> 00:15:36 more
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 devotional
00:15:37 --> 00:15:37 a week
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 our goal.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:39 By
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40 regularly
00:15:40 --> 00:15:41 learning
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 under God
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 and submerging
00:15:43 --> 00:15:44 yourself
00:15:44 --> 00:15:44 in his
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 word,
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 we store
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 up
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 what we
00:15:48 --> 00:15:48 can call
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 to mind
00:15:49 --> 00:15:49 in our
00:15:49 --> 00:15:50 darkness.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:51 If we
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 have nothing
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 in our
00:15:53 --> 00:15:53 tank
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 when you
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 find no
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 hope in
00:15:56 --> 00:15:56 yourself,
00:15:57 --> 00:15:57 where do
00:15:57 --> 00:15:57 you look
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 for hope?
00:15:59 --> 00:15:59 For hope
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 to emerge
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 in our
00:16:01 --> 00:16:01 darkness,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:02 for the
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 Holy Spirit
00:16:03 --> 00:16:03 to remind
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 us of
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 the teaching
00:16:05 --> 00:16:05 of God,
00:16:06 --> 00:16:06 we need
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 to regularly
00:16:07 --> 00:16:08 come under
00:16:08 --> 00:16:08 God's
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 word and
00:16:09 --> 00:16:09 store up
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 things that
00:16:11 --> 00:16:11 the Holy Spirit
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 can recall
00:16:12 --> 00:16:13 and remind
00:16:13 --> 00:16:13 us of.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 That is
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 why we
00:16:16 --> 00:16:16 should aim
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 for four
00:16:17 --> 00:16:17 or more
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 devotions
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 per week
00:16:19 --> 00:16:19 to learn
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 from God.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 Hope
00:16:22 --> 00:16:22 eclipses
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 and emerge
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 is a
00:16:25 --> 00:16:25 pattern
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 of our
00:16:26 --> 00:16:26 life
00:16:26 --> 00:16:27 that every
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 human
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 will face
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 and continue
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 till we
00:16:31 --> 00:16:31 die.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:32 Based on
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 the faithfulness
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 of God
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 to his
00:16:36 --> 00:16:36 promise
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 to maintain
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 a relationship
00:16:39 --> 00:16:39 with those
00:16:39 --> 00:16:39 who trust
00:16:39 --> 00:16:40 in him,
00:16:41 --> 00:16:41 we can
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 wait in
00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 hope for
00:16:43 --> 00:16:43 darkness
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 to pass.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:46 Hopeful
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 waiting is
00:16:47 --> 00:16:47 justified
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 because hope
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 is dependent
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 on who
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 God is
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 rather than
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 on what
00:16:53 --> 00:16:53 we can do
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 for ourselves.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:55 God
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 is the
00:16:56 --> 00:16:56 everlasting
00:16:56 --> 00:16:57 hope.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 God
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 always does
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 what he
00:17:01 --> 00:17:01 says he
00:17:01 --> 00:17:01 will do.
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 In
00:17:03 --> 00:17:03 contrast to
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 people,
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 God does
00:17:05 --> 00:17:05 not act
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 capriciously.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:07 Human
00:17:07 --> 00:17:08 beings are
00:17:08 --> 00:17:08 inconsistent
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 and unreliable,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 but not
00:17:11 --> 00:17:11 the God
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 of the
00:17:12 --> 00:17:12 Bible.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:13 The God
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 of the
00:17:14 --> 00:17:14 Bible is
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 everlasting.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 He's
00:17:16 --> 00:17:16 immutable,
00:17:17 --> 00:17:17 which means
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 he is
00:17:18 --> 00:17:18 entirely
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 and totally
00:17:20 --> 00:17:20 consistent.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 In
00:17:22 --> 00:17:22 concise
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 theology,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:24 J.R.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:24 Parker
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 explains that
00:17:26 --> 00:17:26 God is
00:17:26 --> 00:17:27 totally
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 consistent
00:17:28 --> 00:17:28 because he
00:17:28 --> 00:17:28 is
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 necessarily
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 perfect.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:31 He cannot
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 change
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 either for
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 better or
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 for the
00:17:35 --> 00:17:35 worse.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:36 Because God
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 is not
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 in the
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 time or
00:17:39 --> 00:17:39 confined by
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 time,
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 he is not
00:17:41 --> 00:17:41 subject to
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 change as
00:17:43 --> 00:17:43 we are.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 Far from
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 being detached
00:17:46 --> 00:17:46 and immobile,
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 he is always
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 active in
00:17:49 --> 00:17:49 his world,
00:17:50 --> 00:17:50 constantly
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 making new
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 things sprung
00:17:53 --> 00:17:53 forth.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 But in
00:17:55 --> 00:17:55 all this,
00:17:56 --> 00:17:56 he expresses
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 his perfect
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 character in
00:17:59 --> 00:17:59 perfect
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 consistency.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:02 God's
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 unchanging
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 unchangelessness
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 or changelessness
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 does not
00:18:07 --> 00:18:07 involve
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 unresponsive
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 indifference
00:18:10 --> 00:18:11 to what
00:18:11 --> 00:18:11 goes on
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 in this
00:18:12 --> 00:18:12 world.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:13 He is not
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 cold-hearted
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 towards our
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 suffering and
00:18:17 --> 00:18:17 not be
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 moved by
00:18:18 --> 00:18:18 them.
00:18:20 --> 00:18:20 The
00:18:20 --> 00:18:20 immorality
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 of God's
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 character is
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 precisely the
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 guarantee of
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 his adherence
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 to the
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 words he
00:18:27 --> 00:18:27 has spoken
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 and the
00:18:29 --> 00:18:29 plans he
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 has made.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:31 God's
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 immorality
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 is the
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 reason why
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 when people
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 return to
00:18:36 --> 00:18:36 him,
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 when they
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 confess and
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 pray and
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 trust in
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 him,
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 God changes
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 his attitude
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 towards them
00:18:43 --> 00:18:43 and they
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 have hope
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 everlasting.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 God
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 promised not
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 only that
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 he'll dash
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 some of
00:18:50 --> 00:18:50 our hope
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 but he'll
00:18:51 --> 00:18:52 give you
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 better one.
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 Trials are
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 coming into
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 your life.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 If you know
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 God's character,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 you can trust
00:19:00 --> 00:19:00 him.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 God's grace
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 help us to
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 discern God's
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 plan in our
00:19:06 --> 00:19:06 suffering.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 The unchanging
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 character of God
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 are your hope
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 everlasting.
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 reading from
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 verse 57,
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 you come
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 near when I
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 call you
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 and you
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 say do not
00:19:21 --> 00:19:21 fear.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:22 You,
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 Lord,
00:19:23 --> 00:19:23 took up
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 my case.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 You
00:19:25 --> 00:19:25 redeemed my
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 life.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:26 Lord,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:27 you have
00:19:27 --> 00:19:27 seen the
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 wrong done
00:19:28 --> 00:19:28 to me.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:29 Uphold
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 my cause.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:33 God
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 had come
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 near in
00:19:35 --> 00:19:36 the fresh.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 He took
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 up our
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 case by
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 Jesus,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 who is
00:19:40 --> 00:19:40 the light
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 of all
00:19:41 --> 00:19:41 mankind,
00:19:42 --> 00:19:42 that shines
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 in the
00:19:43 --> 00:19:43 darkness.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:44 In
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 Matthew
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 chapter 14,
00:19:46 --> 00:19:46 silent,
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 verse 22,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 the disciples
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 of Jesus
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 was in a
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 boat in
00:19:51 --> 00:19:51 the dark
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 of night,
00:19:53 --> 00:19:53 buffered
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 by waves
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 and wind
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 against them.
00:19:58 --> 00:19:58 Shortly
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 before dawn,
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 Jesus went
00:20:01 --> 00:20:01 out to
00:20:01 --> 00:20:01 them,
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 walking on
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 the water.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 They were
00:20:05 --> 00:20:05 terrified and
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 cried out,
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 and Jesus
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 immediately
00:20:08 --> 00:20:08 said to
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 them,
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 take courage,
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 it is I,
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 do not
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 be afraid.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 It was
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 still dark,
00:20:17 --> 00:20:17 maybe in
00:20:17 --> 00:20:17 the trite
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 light,
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18 where Peter
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 could not
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 see clearly.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 So he
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 replied,
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 Lord,
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 if it is
00:20:23 --> 00:20:23 you,
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 tell me to
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 come to
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 you on
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 the water.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 He
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 stepped out
00:20:29 --> 00:20:29 onto the
00:20:29 --> 00:20:29 water,
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 after hearing
00:20:30 --> 00:20:30 Jesus
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 answer,
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 come.
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 He had
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 to rely
00:20:34 --> 00:20:34 on the
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 voice of
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 Jesus to
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 walk towards
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 him,
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 because the
00:20:38 --> 00:20:38 light of
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 the dawn
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 had not
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 fully
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 shone.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:42 But when
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 he saw
00:20:43 --> 00:20:43 the wind,
00:20:44 --> 00:20:44 he was
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 afraid and
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 beginning to
00:20:46 --> 00:20:46 sink,
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 and he
00:20:47 --> 00:20:47 cried out,
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 Lord,
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 save me!
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 And
00:20:50 --> 00:20:50 immediately,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 Jesus
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 reached out
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 his hand
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 and caught
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 him.
00:20:56 --> 00:20:56 You of
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 little faith,
00:20:58 --> 00:20:58 why do you
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 doubt?
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 I can
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 imagine the
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 dawn of
00:21:03 --> 00:21:03 light shining
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 through as
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 Jesus reached
00:21:06 --> 00:21:06 out and
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 caught the
00:21:07 --> 00:21:07 sinking
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 Peter,
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 who was
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 crying out,
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 Lord,
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 save me!
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 The light
00:21:13 --> 00:21:13 of hope
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 shined
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 through as
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 Peter and
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 Jesus climb
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 into the
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 boat,
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 and the
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 wind dies
00:21:21 --> 00:21:21 down.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 In our
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 suffering and
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 pain,
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 in our
00:21:27 --> 00:21:27 sorrow,
00:21:28 --> 00:21:28 allow
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 yourself the
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 time to
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 sit in
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 silence and
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 describe what
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 you see and
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 how you
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 feel.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 Take as
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 long as
00:21:39 --> 00:21:39 you need.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 Do not
00:21:42 --> 00:21:42 suppress or
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 stifle any
00:21:44 --> 00:21:44 of your
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 emotions.
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 After you
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 remember all
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 that God
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 has allowed
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 happening to
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 you, in
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 that darkness,
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 call to
00:21:55 --> 00:21:55 your mind
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 the great
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 love and
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 compassion of
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 the everlasting
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 God.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 In his
00:22:02 --> 00:22:03 everlasting hope,
00:22:04 --> 00:22:04 you can say
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 to God,
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 Lord, if
00:22:07 --> 00:22:07 it's you,
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 tell me to
00:22:09 --> 00:22:09 come to
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 you on
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 all the
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 trouble and
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 sufferings,
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 to step
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 into the
00:22:15 --> 00:22:15 sea of
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 uncertainty and
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 worries.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 Even if it's
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 dark and I
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 cannot see
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 clearly, I
00:22:22 --> 00:22:22 will follow
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 your voice to
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 find you.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:25 And if you
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 get afraid
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 while walking
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 towards Jesus
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 and begin
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 to think,
00:22:31 --> 00:22:31 cry out,
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 Lord, save
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 me, Jesus'
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 saving hand
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 with the
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 hole from
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 nail on the
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 cross will
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 reach out in
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 the light of
00:22:41 --> 00:22:42 hope to
00:22:42 --> 00:22:42 catch you.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:43 The
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 everlasting hope
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 will emerge
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 and shine
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 through after
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 each eclipse
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 and darkness
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 because great
00:22:51 --> 00:22:51 is the
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 faithfulness of
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 our everlasting
00:22:53 --> 00:22:53 God.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 Our
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 benification
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 pastor, Nick,
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 has recorded a
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 song to help
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 us reflect on
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 God's great
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 faithfulness and
00:23:03 --> 00:23:03 give us something
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 to call to
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 our mind.
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 So let's
00:23:06 --> 00:23:06 listen and
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 reflect and
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 join in praise
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 to our King
00:23:10 --> 00:23:10 of Kings.