WEBVTT 00:07.347 --> 00:09.188 [SPEAKER_00]: I came across a motto this week. 00:10.008 --> 00:12.989 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the motto of the University of Western Australia. 00:13.629 --> 00:17.691 [SPEAKER_00]: And their motto is quite simply Sikh wisdom. 00:19.591 --> 00:19.991 [SPEAKER_00]: It's good. 00:21.052 --> 00:21.572 [SPEAKER_00]: It's solid. 00:22.906 --> 00:28.529 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a nice thought, but perhaps kind of in a fairly vague fridge magnet sort of away. 00:29.710 --> 00:39.796 [SPEAKER_00]: Like one of those little blackboards you might see out the front of a bookshop that has a cute little saying on it that everyone agrees with and goes, hmm, yeah, that's good. 00:40.296 --> 00:44.759 [SPEAKER_00]: But possibly walks away and doesn't do anything more about. 00:46.632 --> 00:54.036 [SPEAKER_00]: Two weeks ago, Linda shared with us about how a collection of the Psalms that we find in scripture are praised Psalms. 00:55.117 --> 01:01.601 [SPEAKER_00]: And then last week, Tim delved into quite a contrasting collection of Psalms, which are the Psalms of lament. 01:02.321 --> 01:07.064 [SPEAKER_00]: This week, we are examining together yet another group of Psalms. 01:08.024 --> 01:12.327 [SPEAKER_00]: These ones are small, it's a small collection, and yet very profound. 01:12.667 --> 01:16.029 [SPEAKER_00]: The group of Psalms that we call the wisdom Psalms. 01:18.250 --> 01:18.890 [SPEAKER_00]: Good morning. 01:19.230 --> 01:20.691 [SPEAKER_00]: My name is Karen Malone. 01:21.291 --> 01:27.513 [SPEAKER_00]: It's been a while since I preached here at one, so I wanted to just introduce myself to you as we start this morning. 01:28.414 --> 01:30.995 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a privilege to be here sharing with you. 01:31.055 --> 01:36.517 [SPEAKER_00]: For those of you who don't know me, my husband Rick and I first moved into this area as newlyweds. 01:37.117 --> 01:41.199 [SPEAKER_00]: And the very first Sunday after we got home from our honeymoon, we attended one. 01:41.239 --> 01:43.920 [SPEAKER_00]: We came and visited this church in our local area. 01:44.720 --> 01:47.141 [SPEAKER_00]: And that was twenty eight years ago, this September. 01:47.861 --> 02:03.715 [SPEAKER_00]: So we've been attending one church ever since, and we've brought up our children, Addy Jacob and Hudson here, and for a season I was part of the ministry team as the young adults pastor, before moving into the world of education, which is where I find myself now. 02:04.236 --> 02:10.702 [SPEAKER_00]: So I wonder, as we begin this morning, as we open scriptures together, would you start please by joining me as we pray? 02:12.557 --> 02:24.212 [SPEAKER_00]: Father, we thank you so much that this morning has already seen testimony to your goodness and a real celebration of what you are doing in our midst and in our lives. 02:25.073 --> 02:30.260 [SPEAKER_00]: And the truth that you are so real and so present and so active. 02:31.501 --> 02:35.343 [SPEAKER_00]: in our community, in our world, and in our individual lives. 02:35.744 --> 02:46.269 [SPEAKER_00]: Father, I pray that as we open your word together this morning, Lord, that you would highlight to each of us what it is that you would like us to dwell deeper on. 02:47.110 --> 02:53.333 [SPEAKER_00]: What it is that you want us to lean into and what it is that you want us to take away and take to heart. 02:54.114 --> 02:55.495 [SPEAKER_00]: I pray this in Jesus name. 02:55.975 --> 02:56.215 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 02:57.760 --> 03:01.762 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's begin by sitting with this idea of wisdom. 03:02.742 --> 03:06.304 [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, this is not a new or a unique concept. 03:06.844 --> 03:15.569 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to dig very far into the teachings of the world's major religions, both ancient and modern, to find references to wisdom. 03:16.401 --> 03:22.065 [SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom literature and individuals who have been held up as being wise people. 03:22.705 --> 03:36.434 [SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom from King Solomon, from Confucius, from Socrates, and if we bring it a little bit forward, from Victor Franco, from the Dalai Lama, and even would you believe these days, from a dog called Louis? 03:38.983 --> 03:46.468 [SPEAKER_00]: Scientific wisdom, sorry, scientific research into wisdom, has spiked in the last three decades. 03:46.788 --> 03:51.051 [SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of nice when you get old because three decades doesn't sound as long as it used to. 03:52.632 --> 03:54.253 [SPEAKER_00]: So it has really spiked. 03:54.313 --> 04:01.458 [SPEAKER_00]: There has been an increase in the number of psychologists and other researchers who have started to look into this. 04:02.499 --> 04:13.004 [SPEAKER_00]: So much so that in the period of the nineties there was about seventy or so research publications made in various medical journals. 04:13.764 --> 04:17.746 [SPEAKER_00]: In the last ten years that has grown to seven hundred and twenty. 04:18.526 --> 04:24.331 [SPEAKER_00]: Lots of examining what it means to be wise, what are the hallmarks of a wise person? 04:25.072 --> 04:38.785 [SPEAKER_00]: And I read an article this week that analyzed all of those more recent studies and it concluded this, that as the world becomes more complex and polarized, and as the future of humanity more uncertain, 04:39.845 --> 04:51.432 [SPEAKER_00]: It is increasingly clear that people need more than just knowledge, intelligence or skill to manage the challenges and failings of modernity. 04:54.194 --> 04:59.718 [SPEAKER_00]: Certainly wisdom is connected to knowledge, but it goes further. 05:01.320 --> 05:15.605 [SPEAKER_00]: Whereas knowledge or understanding maybe about acquiring information, about something or developing a particular skill set, you and I both instinctively know that wisdom is more than just knowledge. 05:16.706 --> 05:26.870 [SPEAKER_00]: We can probably all think of a highly intelligent person, a very knowledgeable individual who isn't necessarily wise, who likes what we would think of as wisdom. 05:27.970 --> 05:29.791 [SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom is more than knowing. 05:31.452 --> 05:42.705 [SPEAKER_00]: It's about discerning, it's about perceiving what is true and right and then applying what we know in order to make sound judgments and decisions. 05:43.346 --> 05:44.887 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me put some legs on that for you. 05:45.468 --> 05:49.473 [SPEAKER_00]: I quite enjoy reading books about high-altitude mountain climbing. 05:49.973 --> 05:51.173 [SPEAKER_00]: It's narrow, I know. 05:51.793 --> 06:06.616 [SPEAKER_00]: And in the world of high altitude mountain climbing, there exists a common understanding that if you're going to make an attempt on the summit of a very high mountain, you need to have a firm turnaround time. 06:08.116 --> 06:16.938 [SPEAKER_00]: The turnaround time is the time at which no matter where you are on the mountain, no matter how close you may be to the summit, 06:18.246 --> 06:23.191 [SPEAKER_00]: If you hit your turnaround time, then you turn around and you head downhill. 06:24.693 --> 06:30.739 [SPEAKER_00]: Ignoring a turnaround time exponentially increases your risk on the mountain. 06:31.359 --> 06:39.167 [SPEAKER_00]: And in many cases, has led to injury and sadly death of mountain climbers who have ignored their turnaround time. 06:40.088 --> 06:51.696 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know climbers on Mount Everest have wisely turned around only two hundred metres away from the summit because they reached their turnaround time? 06:52.097 --> 06:54.258 [SPEAKER_00]: Why not because they had frostbite? 06:54.618 --> 06:59.222 [SPEAKER_00]: Not because they had high altitude sickness, not because there was a storm blowing in. 07:00.829 --> 07:07.056 [SPEAKER_00]: But because they had previously discerned what was right before they even began their climb. 07:07.597 --> 07:17.548 [SPEAKER_00]: So when the time came, as agonising as it was for them to turn around, the wisest path for them was the one that headed back down the mountain. 07:19.310 --> 07:21.352 [SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom is not just knowing something. 07:22.520 --> 07:31.972 [SPEAKER_00]: It's being able to apply what you know to make discerning life choices, even when it's hard and even when it comes at a cost. 07:33.191 --> 07:35.592 [SPEAKER_00]: So what are the wisdom Psalms all about? 07:36.252 --> 07:39.953 [SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom Psalms are sometimes called Torah Psalms. 07:40.453 --> 07:48.014 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we have a look at what this word Torah means, we find that Torah can be understood as pointing the way. 07:48.834 --> 07:54.856 [SPEAKER_00]: So wisdom or Torah Psalms have at their heart a sense of giving direction 07:55.938 --> 07:58.880 [SPEAKER_00]: and giving instruction for the way to go. 07:59.180 --> 08:05.986 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's have a little look at a few examples of the sort of wisdom we read when we open up some of the wisdom sounds. 08:08.187 --> 08:10.669 [SPEAKER_00]: The book of sounds actually begins with a wisdom sound. 08:11.269 --> 08:21.017 [SPEAKER_00]: Someone versus one to two says blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way of the sinners 08:23.425 --> 08:33.635 [SPEAKER_00]: in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. 08:35.176 --> 08:39.520 [SPEAKER_00]: Someone goes on to draw a comparison between two types of people. 08:40.141 --> 08:43.965 [SPEAKER_00]: Those whose delight is in the law of the Lord or God's way, 08:45.430 --> 08:52.673 [SPEAKER_00]: And those who choose to live apart from God and according to this Psalm choose to walk in step with the wicked. 08:53.533 --> 09:03.117 [SPEAKER_00]: These verses from Psalm one set up a pattern that we see repeated in many of the wisdom Psalms, that of a contrast between two ways of living. 09:04.137 --> 09:10.780 [SPEAKER_00]: The choice between this way in line with God's pattern for life or that way, which is not. 09:12.378 --> 09:19.502 [SPEAKER_00]: and not just the choice, but the Psalms also explore some of the consequences for the choices that we make. 09:20.042 --> 09:24.565 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's a sampling of some of the gems that we find in the wisdom Psalms. 09:24.585 --> 09:30.288 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm thirty seven verse eight says, refrain from anger and turn from wrath. 09:30.648 --> 09:31.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Do not fret. 09:32.489 --> 09:33.889 [SPEAKER_00]: It leads only to harm. 09:33.909 --> 09:40.393 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm fourteen verses four and five, do all these evil doers know nothing? 09:41.932 --> 09:47.494 [SPEAKER_00]: They devour my people as though eating bread, they never call on the Lord, but there they are. 09:48.315 --> 09:54.037 [SPEAKER_00]: Overwhelmed with dreadful God is present in the company of the righteous. 09:54.057 --> 10:06.703 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm ninety-one verse two, this, I declare about the Lord, He alone is my refuge, my place of safety, He is my God, and I trust Him. 10:08.266 --> 10:18.194 [SPEAKER_00]: And Psalm one hundred and twelve, verse five, good will come to the man or woman who is ready to give much and fair in what he or she does. 10:20.036 --> 10:24.079 [SPEAKER_00]: Another wisdom Psalm, which actually popped up in one of our songs this morning. 10:24.260 --> 10:31.245 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm one hundred and nineteen declares, your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. 10:32.487 --> 10:36.090 [SPEAKER_00]: Just last week, my family were away on holiday together. 10:37.223 --> 10:47.920 [SPEAKER_00]: And we did this beautiful walk to a stunning lookout over some falls at the Lemmington National Park Southern Queensland. 10:49.269 --> 10:52.491 [SPEAKER_00]: The walk to get there was just over two kilometers. 10:52.551 --> 10:53.471 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not far. 10:53.891 --> 10:54.872 [SPEAKER_00]: But it was downhill. 10:54.892 --> 10:55.892 [SPEAKER_00]: It was not paved. 10:55.912 --> 10:56.873 [SPEAKER_00]: It was not sealed. 10:56.893 --> 10:57.833 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a downhill. 10:57.853 --> 10:59.074 [SPEAKER_00]: It was quite rocky. 10:59.794 --> 11:01.235 [SPEAKER_00]: There's quite a lot of tree roots. 11:01.615 --> 11:02.916 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason I'm telling you this. 11:03.636 --> 11:04.757 [SPEAKER_00]: So we stood at the lookout. 11:04.857 --> 11:07.038 [SPEAKER_00]: We watched this beautiful sunset. 11:07.978 --> 11:08.598 [SPEAKER_00]: It was stunning. 11:08.638 --> 11:09.479 [SPEAKER_00]: It was glorious. 11:09.539 --> 11:11.240 [SPEAKER_00]: It was one of those moments that we all have. 11:12.080 --> 11:15.104 [SPEAKER_00]: cameras out taking lots of photos as you can see on the screen. 11:17.227 --> 11:20.632 [SPEAKER_00]: We stayed there until the sun had completely set. 11:24.978 --> 11:26.280 [SPEAKER_00]: And then it was time to walk back. 11:28.392 --> 11:31.054 [SPEAKER_00]: No problem for about the first ten minutes or so. 11:31.214 --> 11:34.697 [SPEAKER_00]: There was enough residual light for us to see where we were going. 11:35.338 --> 11:46.547 [SPEAKER_00]: But the further we went, and the more the tree canopy closed in above us, the visibility started to drop until we were walking in pretty much complete darkness. 11:47.988 --> 11:49.209 [SPEAKER_00]: Did we have our phones with us? 11:49.709 --> 11:50.390 [SPEAKER_00]: Of course we did. 11:51.871 --> 11:52.591 [SPEAKER_00]: Did we use them? 11:53.512 --> 11:54.233 [SPEAKER_00]: Of course we didn't. 11:55.888 --> 11:59.811 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's a story in that which I don't have time for now, but I will tell you if you come and ask me later. 12:00.491 --> 12:08.017 [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't until we got to the very, very end of the track that we will literally shuffling carefully along. 12:08.157 --> 12:14.662 [SPEAKER_00]: I was holding Jacob's hand and Rick's hand, walking slowly and carefully so I was not to trip on a tree route. 12:14.922 --> 12:21.227 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was at this point that we collectively decided the time had possibly come that we actually needed some white. 12:22.571 --> 12:36.526 [SPEAKER_00]: So we turned on our phone torches and with light filling the path ahead of us, we suddenly found ourselves walking confidently, stepping with certainty and walking quickly. 12:36.707 --> 12:38.689 [SPEAKER_00]: We made it back to the car in no time at all. 12:40.121 --> 12:43.385 [SPEAKER_00]: God's word is described as a light to our path. 12:44.446 --> 12:46.669 [SPEAKER_00]: It illuminates the way that we go. 12:46.689 --> 12:50.334 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes our path safe and sure. 12:51.455 --> 12:57.363 [SPEAKER_00]: The word of God is practical, it's relevant, and it makes a difference when we apply it. 12:58.822 --> 13:09.908 [SPEAKER_00]: So broadly speaking, the wisdom farms focus on human behavior and the fact that we are faced with many choices every day about how we're going to live. 13:10.972 --> 13:23.015 [SPEAKER_00]: And like other wisdom literature in the Bible, think of Proverbs, think of ecclesiasties, the wisdom Psalms point us to embrace the pattern for living that God has given us. 13:23.855 --> 13:25.335 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't delve into them all today. 13:25.375 --> 13:31.736 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have time in one sermon, but I'd like us to focus now just on Psalm XIX. 13:32.437 --> 13:38.538 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm XIX is a Psalm of David, and in it he does three things that we're going to look at together today. 13:39.438 --> 13:43.462 [SPEAKER_00]: He firstly celebrates the way God is revealed through his world. 13:44.863 --> 13:48.386 [SPEAKER_00]: He celebrates the way God is revealed through his word. 13:49.307 --> 13:54.972 [SPEAKER_00]: And finally, he celebrates the way God is revealed through his work in our lives. 13:55.433 --> 13:57.655 [SPEAKER_00]: So come with me, let's open it up together. 13:57.675 --> 14:00.738 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to start by reading just the first six verses. 14:01.539 --> 14:02.159 [SPEAKER_00]: And it says this. 14:03.260 --> 14:05.581 [SPEAKER_00]: The heavens declare the glory of God. 14:06.261 --> 14:09.223 [SPEAKER_00]: The skies proclaim the work of His hands. 14:10.263 --> 14:16.126 [SPEAKER_00]: Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night, they reveal knowledge. 14:17.587 --> 14:19.087 [SPEAKER_00]: They have no speech. 14:19.187 --> 14:21.248 [SPEAKER_00]: They use no words. 14:21.628 --> 14:28.351 [SPEAKER_00]: No sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes out to all the earth. 14:29.192 --> 14:31.713 [SPEAKER_00]: Their words to the ends of the world 14:33.423 --> 14:35.785 [SPEAKER_00]: In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 14:36.525 --> 14:42.909 [SPEAKER_00]: It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 14:43.850 --> 14:51.375 [SPEAKER_00]: It rises at one end of the heavens and makes it circuit to the other and nothing is deprived of its warmth. 14:53.481 --> 15:05.626 [SPEAKER_00]: The apostle Paul picks up on this thought in his letter to the church in Rome when he says, for ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. 15:06.487 --> 15:14.250 [SPEAKER_00]: Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature. 15:16.502 --> 15:31.895 [SPEAKER_00]: both David and Paul encourage us to look and see and recognize the glory and the majesty of God as he is revealed in the magnificence of his created word. 15:32.435 --> 15:42.324 [SPEAKER_00]: David describes the creation as speaking without words and Paul insists that God's qualities can be clearly seen through his creation. 15:44.355 --> 15:52.159 [SPEAKER_00]: Look up, says David, look around you, see the fingerprints of God in everything that he has made. 15:53.720 --> 16:00.904 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you recall the last time that the natural world spoke to you of the awesomeness of God? 16:01.844 --> 16:06.447 [SPEAKER_00]: The last time you were looking and an amazing view are out to see. 16:08.248 --> 16:12.750 [SPEAKER_00]: And you are hit by that moment of its brilliance and magnificence. 16:15.362 --> 16:23.106 [SPEAKER_00]: David makes particular reference to the sun as it moves from one horizon to the other, illuminating everything. 16:23.166 --> 16:26.588 [SPEAKER_00]: He says nothing is deprived of its warmth. 16:27.768 --> 16:37.213 [SPEAKER_00]: He invites us to see the glory and the goodness of God in the master piece that is our natural world, but he then suddenly shifts his focus. 16:39.034 --> 16:41.997 [SPEAKER_00]: David is talking about how God's creation. 16:42.077 --> 16:43.818 [SPEAKER_00]: It's almost a hymn of praise. 16:44.118 --> 16:47.361 [SPEAKER_00]: We almost haven't even got into the wisdom sameness of it yet. 16:47.381 --> 16:59.572 [SPEAKER_00]: He's talking about God's amazing creation and then he suddenly shifts from a focus on how God has revealed through his world, to the way God has revealed through his word. 17:00.972 --> 17:13.799 [SPEAKER_00]: Tim Keller reflects that whilst creation reveals God to us in many ways, the scriptures, the word of God, provides specific guidance for how to live a righteous life. 17:14.459 --> 17:17.161 [SPEAKER_00]: So, Psalm nineteen versus seventy nine. 17:18.262 --> 17:22.424 [SPEAKER_00]: The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. 17:23.284 --> 17:27.807 [SPEAKER_00]: The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 17:29.170 --> 17:38.137 [SPEAKER_00]: The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart, the commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 17:39.298 --> 17:46.383 [SPEAKER_00]: The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever, and the decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. 17:47.948 --> 17:55.818 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you, but I think sometimes when we hear the word law, we might first think of rules or regulations. 17:56.359 --> 18:05.611 [SPEAKER_00]: We might associate law with being a law abiding citizen or breaking the law or those people who are law enforcement officers. 18:07.384 --> 18:12.788 [SPEAKER_00]: In our context where we think about those things, it's actually working out whether something is legal or not. 18:12.948 --> 18:18.251 [SPEAKER_00]: When we think about law and law-breaking, we think about whether something is legal or illegal. 18:18.271 --> 18:26.057 [SPEAKER_00]: It's completely legal in our society to have a gambling addiction, but that doesn't make it wise. 18:26.897 --> 18:33.202 [SPEAKER_00]: It's completely legal to do a lot of things that don't necessarily reflect a Christ-like life. 18:34.634 --> 18:42.641 [SPEAKER_00]: But if we notice the language that David is talking about, who would David use us here, we realize he's talking about more than what is legal or not legal. 18:43.361 --> 18:47.745 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not even just talking about the law of Moses or the ten commandments. 18:48.786 --> 18:55.272 [SPEAKER_00]: He's referring to all of God's instruction, the whole pattern for living as God intended. 18:56.467 --> 19:02.771 [SPEAKER_00]: David describes God's pattern for living in these verses as perfect and trustworthy. 19:03.851 --> 19:09.055 [SPEAKER_00]: He calls them right, and he says that they are in fact radiant. 19:10.135 --> 19:24.344 [SPEAKER_00]: He asserts that a life based around God's pattern for living is refreshing to us, not burdensome, that it provides wisdom for all, not just the people with the smarts, not just the highly educated or learned, 19:26.218 --> 19:29.720 [SPEAKER_00]: David declares that this is a joyful way to live. 19:30.800 --> 19:37.564 [SPEAKER_00]: When we embrace God's way for us, we're not signing up for a somber, serious life, or a heavy hearted life. 19:37.704 --> 19:44.528 [SPEAKER_00]: No, this life, if we live at God's ways intended to bring us joy, not trouble or stress. 19:46.383 --> 20:01.968 [SPEAKER_00]: And finally, with echoes of Psalm XIX, which we have both sung about and read about earlier, leaving according to God's pattern for our lives gives light to another wise dark path, making our way forward a clear and safe one. 20:03.568 --> 20:05.369 [SPEAKER_00]: God's ways are enduring. 20:06.569 --> 20:07.589 [SPEAKER_00]: They are unwavering. 20:07.910 --> 20:15.332 [SPEAKER_00]: He is not like the pop psychology wisdom that we hear from time to time, which changes its mantra with every new wave of culture shift. 20:16.103 --> 20:17.485 [SPEAKER_00]: Now he made us. 20:18.226 --> 20:19.187 [SPEAKER_00]: He knows us. 20:20.489 --> 20:26.417 [SPEAKER_00]: And he has provided us with wisdom in his word to live by that never goes out of date. 20:29.261 --> 20:32.987 [SPEAKER_00]: So after reminding us that God has revealed as glorious through His world, 20:35.118 --> 20:39.099 [SPEAKER_00]: David follows up the God's way of living there for must all, we're also be good. 20:39.819 --> 20:58.703 [SPEAKER_00]: If the one who crafted the majesty of a sunrise is also the one who imagined up humanity and brought your life and mine into being, then his insight into how to live it, how to live the life he's given us, is with us paying attention to. 21:00.203 --> 21:02.524 [SPEAKER_00]: It must be trustworthy, it must have merit. 21:04.174 --> 21:10.057 [SPEAKER_00]: David continues to talk about God's life wisdom and he says this of God's instructions. 21:10.137 --> 21:15.459 [SPEAKER_00]: He says they are more precious than gold than much pure gold. 21:16.099 --> 21:19.421 [SPEAKER_00]: They are sweeter than honey than honey from the honeycomb. 21:20.361 --> 21:27.684 [SPEAKER_00]: By them, your servant is warned and in keeping them, in keeping them is great reward. 21:29.445 --> 21:31.006 [SPEAKER_00]: David was a very wealthy king. 21:32.575 --> 21:34.537 [SPEAKER_00]: He knew the value of gold. 21:35.638 --> 21:39.582 [SPEAKER_00]: And he also understood the power that came from having gold. 21:41.183 --> 21:55.997 [SPEAKER_00]: He was no stranger to the comforts and the impact of having wealth and yet he emphasises in this Psalm how much more desirable it is to have God's word than to have wealth. 21:58.598 --> 22:11.187 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse eleven he says, in keeping them, that is, in keeping God's law, in keeping in step with God's pattern for life, in keeping them is great reward. 22:11.828 --> 22:14.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Just pause with me on this thought for a second. 22:15.771 --> 22:19.173 [SPEAKER_00]: Very often a reward is given at the end of a process. 22:20.014 --> 22:21.475 [SPEAKER_00]: So we have a dog called Murphy. 22:22.636 --> 22:27.420 [SPEAKER_00]: If I hold up a treat for Murphy and I tell him to sit, Murphy will sit. 22:28.380 --> 22:35.145 [SPEAKER_00]: He will obediently follow my command in order to earn that reward. 22:37.746 --> 22:41.549 [SPEAKER_00]: The reward David is referring to in this Sambo is quite different. 22:42.850 --> 22:49.735 [SPEAKER_00]: The Sam says, in keeping God's commands, there is great reward not as a prize at the end. 22:50.928 --> 22:54.692 [SPEAKER_00]: Not as a prize at the end of following God's commands, do we get a reward? 22:55.794 --> 23:00.399 [SPEAKER_00]: In the following of God's patent for life, that's where our reward lies. 23:01.821 --> 23:07.868 [SPEAKER_00]: We will live far more rewarding lives when we live the way the Creator intended us to. 23:09.730 --> 23:10.391 [SPEAKER_00]: So finally, 23:12.613 --> 23:16.057 [SPEAKER_00]: God is revealed also through his work in our lives. 23:16.417 --> 23:19.080 [SPEAKER_00]: Psalm nineteen versus twelve and thirteen. 23:19.881 --> 23:21.642 [SPEAKER_00]: But who can discern their own errors? 23:23.144 --> 23:24.565 [SPEAKER_00]: Forgive my hidden faults. 23:24.685 --> 23:27.248 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep your servant also from willful sins. 23:27.709 --> 23:29.671 [SPEAKER_00]: May they not rule over me. 23:30.692 --> 23:35.637 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 23:37.519 --> 23:44.982 [SPEAKER_00]: Early in this Psalm, David spoke about the sun shining, and he said that nothing was deprived of its warmth. 23:46.920 --> 23:53.683 [SPEAKER_00]: Dr Matthew Jacobie from Sons of Korra offers this reflection into this part of Psalm XIX. 23:53.723 --> 24:04.148 [SPEAKER_00]: He said, the Psalmist praise that God's word would indeed give him life by bringing to light the things that cause the death of his soul. 24:05.128 --> 24:15.853 [SPEAKER_00]: In this sense, he is praying that the glory of God reflected in the sun would shine like the sun in his heart, laying bare the truth. 24:18.270 --> 24:30.498 [SPEAKER_00]: David knew that it was more about glimpsing God through His world and His word that God is also revealed to us by the way He works in our lives and the way in which He transforms us. 24:31.238 --> 24:39.664 [SPEAKER_00]: The glorious God of creation and redemption is also the glorious God of personal relationship and redemption. 24:40.693 --> 24:51.601 [SPEAKER_00]: in Romans twelve verse two, Paul pleaded with the early Christians, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 24:51.821 --> 24:57.986 [SPEAKER_00]: Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good pleasing and perfect will. 25:00.768 --> 25:09.274 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it would be naive of us to assume that we were totally immune from the alternative wisdoms 25:10.215 --> 25:13.638 [SPEAKER_00]: that are offered by a billion different sources in our culture today. 25:13.658 --> 25:19.362 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a fascinating statistic that Mark Sayers shared a hundred years ago. 25:19.382 --> 25:23.605 [SPEAKER_00]: The average person would have been exposed to in their lifetime. 25:24.366 --> 25:33.073 [SPEAKER_00]: Approximately the same amount of information that would be included in a single edition of the New York Times newspaper. 25:38.578 --> 25:41.820 [SPEAKER_00]: Friends, we are not needing more information. 25:41.900 --> 25:47.904 [SPEAKER_00]: What we're needing is to know how to not drown in the information that we are immersed in. 25:50.426 --> 25:52.547 [SPEAKER_00]: You can find people offering financial wisdom. 25:52.867 --> 25:55.309 [SPEAKER_00]: You can find people offering relationship wisdom. 25:55.809 --> 26:04.515 [SPEAKER_00]: You can find wisdom on how to raise happy children, how to train up a happy dog, information to inform any possible decision you could ever want to make. 26:04.935 --> 26:06.897 [SPEAKER_00]: It is all at your fingertips. 26:08.207 --> 26:21.436 [SPEAKER_00]: Sayers goes on to describe how we live in a time of so much information and obsession around intelligence and smartness and yet at the same time as a culture we have neglected what it means to be wise. 26:23.598 --> 26:31.324 [SPEAKER_00]: John Markcomer, author of Practicing the Way and several other books asserts that we're all in the process of formation. 26:32.344 --> 26:35.767 [SPEAKER_00]: We're all in the process of being formed into something. 26:36.952 --> 26:42.376 [SPEAKER_00]: What we choose to lean into will determine what shape that formation takes. 26:42.977 --> 26:47.680 [SPEAKER_00]: He points out that this verse in Romans doesn't offer a middle ground. 26:49.242 --> 26:50.403 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no Switzerland. 26:51.283 --> 26:54.386 [SPEAKER_00]: You will be transformed or formed into something. 26:55.410 --> 27:02.934 [SPEAKER_00]: You will either be transformed to be more like Jesus or we will find ourselves conformed to the pattern of the world. 27:03.494 --> 27:05.175 [SPEAKER_00]: There is no neutral position. 27:05.995 --> 27:11.338 [SPEAKER_00]: And what we lean into plays a pivotal part in that process. 27:13.199 --> 27:15.360 [SPEAKER_00]: So here's the question for us this morning. 27:16.820 --> 27:18.461 [SPEAKER_00]: What are you leaning into? 27:20.402 --> 27:24.244 [SPEAKER_00]: What are you allowing to have influence over the way you think? 27:26.950 --> 27:32.232 [SPEAKER_00]: What are we spending time reading listening to watching? 27:33.672 --> 27:36.133 [SPEAKER_00]: Because these other things that will influence us. 27:37.553 --> 27:41.154 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the wisdom that ultimately will shape us. 27:44.115 --> 27:50.657 [SPEAKER_00]: We are immersed in a culture that encourages us very firmly to think about ourselves and to focus on self. 27:51.417 --> 27:52.237 [SPEAKER_00]: You do you. 27:53.098 --> 27:54.078 [SPEAKER_00]: Live your truth. 27:55.134 --> 27:56.915 [SPEAKER_00]: The answer is which you knew. 27:59.738 --> 28:04.582 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not even that the wisdom of the world is necessarily drastically evil. 28:04.962 --> 28:06.483 [SPEAKER_00]: It just falls so far short. 28:08.224 --> 28:13.088 [SPEAKER_00]: Because it's often based on human experience, which, although again, is not bad. 28:14.089 --> 28:14.830 [SPEAKER_00]: It's fleeting. 28:15.730 --> 28:16.531 [SPEAKER_00]: It's changeable. 28:16.871 --> 28:18.693 [SPEAKER_00]: And it differs from person to person. 28:19.213 --> 28:23.216 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're left then trying to decide who's experience is most relevant for me. 28:24.173 --> 28:27.415 [SPEAKER_00]: which particular guru do I resonate with right now. 28:28.035 --> 28:33.538 [SPEAKER_00]: But Psalm nine team tells us that God's wisdom is enduring and righteous. 28:35.199 --> 28:37.100 [SPEAKER_00]: And it is for every step of our journey. 28:37.500 --> 28:39.081 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not just for the big decisions. 28:40.281 --> 28:43.683 [SPEAKER_00]: It's for the daily small decisions that we make that all add up. 28:46.319 --> 28:53.063 [SPEAKER_00]: So where do we turn in this dizzying array of advice and possible different frameworks for living? 28:53.103 --> 28:55.805 [SPEAKER_00]: Where do we connect with the wisdom of God? 28:55.825 --> 28:59.587 [SPEAKER_00]: It is in a kind of lived out tangible way. 29:01.368 --> 29:02.309 [SPEAKER_00]: You know where we see it? 29:02.529 --> 29:03.630 [SPEAKER_00]: We see it in Jesus. 29:05.811 --> 29:08.753 [SPEAKER_00]: We see it in the way he related to his heavenly Father. 29:10.765 --> 29:17.793 [SPEAKER_00]: We see it in the way he related to others and took time even for the people who were so different from him. 29:19.875 --> 29:22.398 [SPEAKER_00]: We see it in how he invested his time. 29:23.820 --> 29:31.669 [SPEAKER_00]: And we see it in the way that he never took his eyes off the biggest story of God's kingdom. 29:33.360 --> 29:47.707 [SPEAKER_00]: Dallas will add in his book The Great A Mission says that the greatest issue facing the world today with all of its heartbreaking needs is whether those who identify as Christians will become disciples. 29:48.027 --> 29:53.390 [SPEAKER_00]: That is, students, apprentices, practitioners of Jesus Christ. 29:54.510 --> 30:02.456 [SPEAKER_00]: steadily learning from Him how to live the life of the kingdom of heaven into every corner of human existence. 30:03.417 --> 30:05.858 [SPEAKER_00]: Friends, this is what wisdom looks like. 30:07.279 --> 30:08.920 [SPEAKER_00]: It's about leaning into Jesus. 30:09.741 --> 30:17.086 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus who never invited people to convert to a religion, but rather to follow his way of life. 30:19.808 --> 30:22.971 [SPEAKER_00]: We have the privilege of God's Word in our hands. 30:24.120 --> 30:32.808 [SPEAKER_00]: We have a Lord and a King who invites actually instructs us to seek Him and whose ear is never closed to our prayers. 30:34.249 --> 30:41.495 [SPEAKER_00]: And we have His Spirit, who Jesus said would never leave us and would lead us into all truth. 30:42.596 --> 30:48.582 [SPEAKER_00]: We are, in fact, not lost on a vast sea of competing ideologies about life. 30:49.666 --> 31:03.092 [SPEAKER_00]: The Psalm served to remind us that God's passion for our lives exists for our good, and it flows from His heart of love, and that's what we can lean into. 31:04.132 --> 31:07.954 [SPEAKER_00]: We can lean in with confidence, and we can lean in with hope. 31:09.855 --> 31:10.535 [SPEAKER_00]: Would you pray with me? 31:13.888 --> 31:15.248 [SPEAKER_00]: Go be thank you for your word. 31:16.689 --> 31:22.530 [SPEAKER_00]: We thank you for the many, many ways in which it keeps pointing us back to you. 31:25.451 --> 31:36.614 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we thank you that you are for us, that you see us, that you know what it is to live at this time, in this space. 31:39.814 --> 31:41.995 [SPEAKER_00]: And Lord, you say to us, come to me. 31:43.970 --> 31:49.956 [SPEAKER_00]: because the pattern for life that you have for us, you have said is not a heavy yoke. 31:52.899 --> 32:03.690 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, as we go into this week, I pray that you will help us to lean into you and to find our firm footing and a light for our path in you alone.