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00:00:00 one two three testing testing one two three testing one two three [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music]
00:11:30 thank you [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign hey good morning and welcome to First Baptist Church I'm going to start with a serious question this morning okay who did not enjoy the unforgettable concert last night did not enjoy it should be you should be out of this building you enjoy it right yeah great I think everyone had a great time didn't you amen I haven't watched it yet so I'm coming tonight but I've heard a lot of great
00:14:37 things about last night's show but you know what we gathered here this morning for one purpose only which is to worship our God Psalms 86 9 extols all nations whom you have made shall come and worship before You O Lord and they shall glorify your name and that's what we will do this morning you know it's always amazing that you can gather as a body of Christ to worship Our God who's good who's loving who's forgiving let us always always remember the price that Jesus appeared on the cross for our
00:15:13 sins that painful death on the cross so that we can be reconciled with our father in Heaven so before we begin this morning service kind of encourage all of us to truly focus on Jesus alone right now think about what he has done in your life in my life and prepare to give him all praise and glory to all worship through this service through the word that our brother Gideon will share with us this morning amen Church so can I invite all of us to get on our feet and let's give him old [Music] cause to see my sins
00:16:22 [Music] [Music] light of the world he stepped down into darkness let me see [Music] is [Music] you in my voice church just worship him so here I am to worship here I am to bow down here I am to say that you're like you're all together all together [Music] only you came to the Earth [Music] so here I am here I am here I am to say that you're my God you're all together all together [Music] Here I Am to Worship here I am here I am together [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'll never know how much it costs to see
00:19:24 my sin upon that cross [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] how much it costs [Music] give my answers [Music] [Applause] [Music] here I am here I am to say that you're my God [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] man I keep [Music] my voices [Music] [Music] who roses [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] roses [Music] won't die [Music] [Music] lifted up again [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] this is my Revelation Christ Jesus crucified foreign [Music] and I sing beneath the waters that Christ is
00:25:02 [Music] [Applause] [Music] I love you [Music] I stand a new creation that ties [Music] no fear of condemnation my faith and Justified [Applause] I will rise as Christ was [Music] Christ [Music] [Applause] and now in here I'll rise as you are risen declare your rule and ring my life confess your lordship and glorify your name your words stand Eternal your kingdom knows no end your praise goes on forever and on and on again [Music] [Applause] [Music] myself [Music] I can't see [Music] [Music] [Applause]
00:28:11 [Music] as Christ was [Music] foreign [Music] testify [Music] [Applause] [Music] now I Rise let's see one more time [Music] as Christ was [Music] church I want us to respond today to Psalms 97 verse 1 to 12. I will read the odd numbers and please respond with the even numbers the Lord Reigns let the Earth be glad that the Distant Shores rejoice [Music] fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side [Music] the mountains melt like Wax before the Lord before the Lord of all the Earth what happened to me please
00:31:04 [Music] all who worship images are put to shame those who boasting Idols worship him all you gods [Music] For You O Lord are the most high over all the Earth you are exalted far above all gods [Music] light is shed rejoice in the Lord you who are righteous oh sorry light is shed upon the righteous and Joy on the upright in heart rejoice in the Lord you you are righteous praise His holy name and may the Lord bless the reading of his word Joyce in in him [Music] we praise you God [Music] you worship you for who you are
00:32:12 in your perfect nature of God heal our Brokenness to the glory of your son Jesus Christ and we come before you humbled and grateful Lord we want to confess our sins before you knowing that it is only true you're finished work on the cross that can lead us to Salvation and this eternity with your God so Church if you want to take a few moments to just reflect on misgivings our Brokenness and think of what Jesus has done on the cross for you and I the price that he had to pay in full death that he endured so that we
00:33:05 can have life with him [Music] amazed in the presence of Jesus [Music] High wonderful in my soul shall ever be [Music] marvelous [Music] is I'm gonna see that first verse again [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] singing I'm marvelous how wonderful and my soul ever lost [Music] [Music] you too my sins and my sorrows he made them is very real people [Music] my sins and my sorrows you made this very [Music] burden to Calvary suffered and died [Music] song shall ever be come marvelous how wonderful please
00:37:19 [Music] [Music] [Applause] marvelous how wonderful is my savior's love for me [Music] and entering some in glory his face I at last shall see it will be by Joy through the years to sing ing [Music] wonderful is my savior's love for me singing how marvelous [Music] [Applause] marvelous how wonderful it is [Music] how wonderful and my song shall I be [Music] come Church [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] Jesus Christ who couldn't imagine so great of Mercy but I could fathom such boundless Grace
00:42:14 [Music] myself [Music] us has spoken I am forgiven the king of kings [Music] [Music] [Music] Jesus Christ [Music] God and seal the promise your very body began to breathe out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grief has no claim on me church I wanna hear you sing today [Music] [Music] side the glory [Music] to your place [Music] Jesus Christ [Music] praise the one who sets me free [Music] Jesus Christ [Music] foreign Church [Music] let us remain standing as I lead us in prayer let us power his
00:46:07 listen to the word of God taken from psalm 84. how lovely is your Dwelling Place Lord Almighty my soul yearns even faints for the cause of the Lord my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may have a young a place near your altar Lord Almighty my king and my God blessed are those who dwell in your house they are ever praising you blessed are those whose strength is in you whose heart are set on pilgrimage Lord we thank you for your word taken
00:46:54 from Psalm 84 which reminds us of The Wonder of being in your presence it is indeed a wonder even to think we can have such access into your presence because you are a holy God and we are but sinners but you have made it possible not by our works but by your grace and through the finished works of our Lord Jesus Christ yes our souls should yearn for you Lord and yet often we find ourselves being distracted by the cares of this world we rush about hurrying from place to place task to task thinking that we are
00:47:34 accomplishing something [Music] and we use our business as a measure of our success not so often we fail to pause and stop to reflect upon life to contemplate to read your word and to pray and to commune with you foreign let it not be so let us constantly remind us to use your means of Grace to equip ourselves and to come into your presence to enjoy your presence and to pray to you Lord we thank you for your daily provisions the psalm reminds us that you even provide for the swallows and The Sparrows
00:48:25 who have their nest we thank you for your common Grace for material possessions more importantly oh Lord we thank you for the relationships that we have not only with you but with our family members with our loved ones and the relationships that we have with each other in FBC as the family of God as the spiritual family Lord may we ask we may we never take all these things for granted and help us to be mindful to always maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond that we have in Christ Jesus so
00:49:04 that love covers a multitude of sin Lord Lord you have said that blessed are those whose strength is in you and whose hearts are set on pilgrimage yes Lord we are on a journey towards the celestial City and sometimes O Lord our journey is fraught with hardship with bumps with obstacles Lord help us not to rely on our own strength and our wisdom to navigate this dangerous path that we are owned for often oh Lord Satan would come and tempt us Lord we pray that we might rest in your word and in your strength O Lord
00:49:50 as we journey together help us O Lord to serve one another with humility and to uphold one another and to Spur one another on O Lord in our journey towards you Lord we pray for our nation O Lord election is coming Lord is an opportunity for us to have our say and we pray Lord that we would not take this task lightly Lord we pray for the nation that you will raise up leaders Lord who would govern wisely and with integrity Lord we also pray for the covet situation that seems to be a rise in the numbers of kovic cases again in the
00:50:32 countries surrounding us and also within the country we ask the Lord that you'll be merciful to us Lord and that you I pray Lord that the the virus May indeed be contained and that soon oh Lord it will be over and that you will protect your people a lot in the nation against this sickness Lord we thank you for your word and we ask the Lord that you are illuminate our hearts and our minds as we listen to the preacher later on we pray Lord that your spirit O Lord May indeed not only inform our minds but to transform Our Lives
00:51:12 now we would like to remember those of us who are sick and we commit to you our brothers and sisters who are currently suffering Lord we pray for at least young trans Houston Daniel Craig Jennifer Kong Judy Lim Juliet Han Joy Anderson launch Hermann perella and Nancy Fernando Professor tan Rose Leon Rama Naidu Shirley law tan lesu Yap Ming Kian Lord we stand by our brothers and sisters and we pray that you grant us the right perspective to their circumstances indeed you are a God who heals but help us to process our pain
00:52:01 our suffering oh Lord so that we may properly Lament and give you the glory may you give us the courage to pray that your will be done Lord we thank You O Lord for we pray all this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ amen [Music] Hallelujah [Music] Jesus Christ [Music] thank you very much thank you very much please be seated thank you very much and let's give a great clip of appreciation to our worship team we now come to a time of offering a belief the slides yes this is a time where we give back a
00:53:44 portion of the much that we have received from our Lord Jesus Christ the Bible tells us that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to the Lord all that we have actually comes from God and we are but stewards of all that we have do not feel obliged to give if you are here for the first time the Lord's work is supported by his own people and whatever we give it is the leadership's responsibility to make sure that they are put to good use for the work of ministry to help those who are needy in the
00:54:24 community so let us you know I'll give you some time the way we give these days is of course electronically most of you will be familiar with how to do that the business registration number for do it now is bt76 you can now take off your phone and proceed with your giving but for those who wants to give cash there's also a couple of boxes back there whereby you can drop your money let us pray for the offering [Music] dear humbly father we thank you for the much you have given us [Music] and all we are doing now is but to
00:55:07 return to you a portion Lord you have promised us that for those who give cheerfully and generously you would indeed bless them but the greater blessing oh Lord is in the thought of giving back to you and we pray Lord that you grant us wisdom the leaders of this church especially in the usage of these funds we thank you in Jesus name amen all right welcome um I see that a lot of people I have actually gone out of town I guess because it's a long weekend but nevertheless I there might be some newcomers amongst us which we like to
00:55:45 acknowledge you uh if you're here for the first time I'd like you to raise your hand all right anybody here for the first time welcome sister I see a hand raised there all right welcome indeed anybody from this side yes ah a couple of hands over there welcome welcome now do not rush off at the end of the service uh you know you would have received a packet of information All Right From the Ashes uh in it you'll find uh what we're about as a church all the different activities and we'd like you to stay back so that we get a chance
00:56:24 to get to know you better as well all right now [Music] also welcome to those people who are online okay I forgot about that okay announcements we have three uh very important announcements to make the first is the upcoming AGM now this is a once a year meeting there are actually two agms the first one are for those who are registered with the society uh Registrar of society okay that meeting starts at 1 30 and finishes at two uh if you want a copy of the accounts you can collect a hard copy from the
00:57:01 office but you have to request it uh for those who are members of FBC Ros you're most certainly a member of FBC e okay and that is the English congregation here now I can't stress enough the importance of you attending as members of the church now if you are not sure whether you're a member of the church please by all means go to the office and see whether you are a registered member okay but if you are a registered member I would encourage all of you to come we prefer that you come here physically but if you are
00:57:39 providentially prevented from coming you know because you are sick or whatever you can still participate like online okay uh there will say a link that has been sent to you now if you're a member of the church it is important for you to come because we'll be voting we need a quorum we'll be voting uh certain resolutions and we need uh your presence and your vote really matters we will also be given an account of uh the financial uh situation of the church all right and various matters and I'll be chairing that
00:58:11 meeting so please make it a point to come next Sunday um FBC e-agm starts at uh 2 15 okay uh next prayer meeting I can't also stressed the importance of this enough uh it's next Saturday on the 29th of October this is happening at the transit Lounge at the car park below now especially if you are a Ministry head come together and let us pray together and commit our Ministries to the Lord next Jungle Gym talk I'm sure most of you will be aware by now that we actually have a jungle gym right up on the foyer sea just above the
00:58:58 garden calf today we have something very special our parents okay you can bring your kids up there and while the children are playing we have organized a talk for you next and the talk will be by Dr Lee Ching Lee again a member of our church and she is an expert in nutrition and and a dietitian a dietitian okay and she's going to teach you how to get your preschoolers to eat healthily how to eat their broccolis and carrots and potatoes I guess okay and I guess preschoolers are up to the age of six okay I guess it
00:59:38 helps for Dr Lee who has a very good cook in her husband all right Richard so snacks will be provided right I think those snacks are actually for parents I'm not sure whether those snacks are healthy or not uh okay but come anyway all right and listen to uh this is important information for those who have children okay I now pass the time off to Bernice all right who has a very special announcement to make uh on a very special event called song of songs all right Ken come [Music] laughs [Music]
01:00:54 [Applause] thank you good morning church and um I'm here today to introduce to you this song of songs concert all right it is an evening of contemporary jazz with Ken and friends so what you have heard just now is just a sneak peek of what's going on on that night so I want to tell you that the details will be 26 November Saturday 8 p.m at this beautiful FBC main Auditorium all right so I hope that all of you will be able to make it and I want to tell you what's special about this so we are going to rearrange
01:01:30 hymns we'll be playing mostly hymns and some CCM the content Christian music we are going to rearrange all of them into the with the fusion of content Jazz so what you have heard just now actually it's our new Arrangement okay we have a group of very professional team uh the live band They are all very passionate with the music and they are all come with this uh profile music background we have uh vocal Jazz play uh singers as well and and um I just want you to know about this and just come all of you are
01:02:06 invited regardless of Ages or all age you can just come and um this concept besides just to I invite you to come and enjoy the music actually it is a part of our cultural mandate we are carrying this uh cultural mandate and we hope that through this un we'll be able to reach out to your friends to the people outside there bring them nearer to the gospel bring them to church through this kind of cultural event so I hope that you'll be able to make it um you can scan the QR code some feedback saying that this page is very
01:02:41 beautiful so I encourage you to take out your phone and just to take a scan of this um record now there are a lot of details about our band members and this event all the days and all tickets are selling at 20 Ringgit per ticket all right and you can get the tickets uh at the booth outside without opening the booth every Sunday or you can get it from the office during the weekdays or you can get through online as well just scan this QR code and you will be able to get through to the do it now and
01:03:10 online payment all right so I hope you see you there any question you can just ask me or can outside of this haul later on thank you today's scripture reading is taken from Psalm 22 reading from the nmv for the director of music to the tune of the dough of the morning a sound of David my God my God why have you forsaken me why are you so far from saving me so far from My Cries of Anguish my God I cry out by day but you do not answer by night but I find no rest yet you are enthroned as the Holy One
01:04:05 you are the one Israel Praises in you our ancestors put their trust they trusted and you delivered them to you they cried out and was saved in you they trusted and were not put to shame but I am a worm and not a man scorned by everyone despised by the people all who see me mock me they hurl insults shaking the heads he trusted in the Lord they say let the Lord rescue him let him deliver him since he Delights in him yet you brought me out of the womb you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast
01:04:52 from birth I was cast on you from my mother's womb you have been my God do not be far from me for trouble is near and there is no one to help many bulls surround me strong Bulls of Bashan encircle me roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint my heart has turned to wax it has melted within me my mouth is dried up like a portrait and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth you lay me in the dust of death dogs around me a pack of villains and
01:05:39 circles me they pierce my hands and my feet all my bones are on display people stare and gloat over me they divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment but you Lord do not be far from me you are my strength come quickly to help me deliver me from The Sword my precious life from the power of the dogs rescue me from the mouth of the Lions saved me from the haunts of the wild oxen I will declare your name to my people in the assembly I will praise you you who fear the Lord praise him all you
01:06:25 descendants of Jacob honor him Revere him all you descendants of Israel for he has not despised or scorned the suffering of The Afflicted one he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help from you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows the poor will eat and be satisfied those who seek the Lord will praise Him may your hearts live forever all the ends of the Earth will remember and turn to the Lord and all the
01:07:07 families so the Nations will bow down before him for Dominion Belongs to the Lord and He rules over the Nations all the rich of the earth will feast and worship all who go down to the dust will kneel before him those who cannot keep themselves alive posterity will serve him future Generations will be told about the Lord they will Proclaim his righteousness declaring to a people yet unborn he has done it this is the word of God thank you Michelle for doing the scripture reading and once again is my joy and privilege
01:07:59 to be standing here sharing you from the word of God we are in the last week of October and soon it will be Christmas but before the customary series of sermons on the Advent we are now doing a mini series on some selected Psalms two weeks ago brother Pete brother Victor was here and he took us through Psalm chapter one and this morning we are to examine Psalm chapter 22 now from the heading on top of the text we know the psalm 22 was written by King David which may prompt you to ask if this is
01:08:39 the sum of David why show the picture of Jesus on the cross in this opening slide the answer is right at the beginning of Psalm 22 where David begins with an anguish cry my God my God why have you forsaken me you see these are the exact words uttered by Jesus when he was hanging on the cross from Matthew 27 46 and hence this picture of Jesus on the cross in fact there are many verses in Psalm 22 that are repeated in Matthew 27 in the account of the crucifixion of Jesus you see he met Psalm 22 is a prophetic
01:09:23 psalm that points to a future event that is the suffering and death of Jesus Psalm 22 pairs with Matthew 27 which describes the momentous event of the cross more accurately Matthew 27 is the Fulfillment of Psalm 22. hence when we study Psalm 22 we should also see through the lens of the cross of Jesus now a study of Psalm 22 is also very opportune because for the longest time we have been doing the a long series on the Book of Matthew which we began back in 2020 I remember preaching on Matthew chapter 1
01:10:07 sometime in December 2020 2020 so our long-running series on Matthew has actually stretched for almost two years and with today's sermon on Psalm 22 slash Matthew 27 we shall wrap up our series on on Matthew perhaps it's more than a coincidence that I started this series on Matthew and I should be the one ending it shall we first Commit This Time To God In Prayer Our Father in heaven grant us today A Renewed understanding of the Cross and the atoning death of your precious son as we examine Psalm 22
01:10:51 May these verses also help us in the conduct of our faith especially when our faith is severely tested we also we ask this of you in the name of your son amen now first let's take a quick look at the pulpit schedule next Sunday and also the Sunday after next Elder Arnold will do two sermons back to back based on the passage from Genesis 47 learning from the life of Jacob and after that Pastor Louis will do a standalone sermon based on a passage from II Timothy verse chapter 2. okay with that out of the way let's
01:11:35 begin many many years ago in an earlier phase of my career I was the regional sales manager of a Trading Company a subsidiary in the brijaya group one day one of my salesmen came into my office and happily announced that he had successfully closed the sale of a truck load of mineral water to a mini market in kuchalama the invoice value was a 90 000 ringgit and my salesman had collected a one-week check about 10 days later he hurried to see me with a panicked look on his face because the check had bounced
01:12:23 we both rushed to the mini market only to find that the shop had already closed down and the whole place empty oh no how was I going to tell my boss I got worried I was convinced that he will give me the sack well Steve how was I going to tell my wife darling I'm so sorry I just lost my job will she also tell me to get lost the next morning I gathered my courage and I went to see my boss the executive director of the brijaya group by the name of Mr Young and I was driving to KL I I thought that
01:13:03 if I offered to pay the the money I could save my job but how on Earth was I going to find the money Mr Young listened to me with a very stunned look on his face it's like sheepishly related to him what happened and guess what I wasn't fired he didn't say much except these pointed words you know I doubt that you would have left this happen if these Goods had belonged to you in your mind the goods belong to the company not you and that's why you didn't bother to exercise due diligence I in order the quick confession
01:13:52 he also added Mr Lee never forget that the company has just paid a very high fee just for you to learn something 90 000 Ringgit is very high school fee you can imagine a sense of relief that engulfed me as I was driving back to my office in PJ it felt like a huge burden lifted off my shoulder the 90 000 Ringgit That was supposed to pay to be paid by the customer but the customer had disappeared someone had to pay the debt I didn't have the money but my boss showed me mercy and you had the company absorb the debt
01:14:36 huge relief let me perhaps also add that I suspect that the reason why he was so kind to me is because I was one of his favorite employees it's good to be a favor of your boss now as I often do this is just an appetizer to the sermon and I shall come back to this 90 000 Ringgit story later we are ready to dive into Psalm 22. now although I mentioned this now that Matthew 27 is the Fulfillment of Psalm 22 and that we should study this sum through the lens of the cross but let's spend some time to examine Psalm 22 in and of itself
01:15:23 and later only in segment two of the sermon we will use this sum as a springboard to look at Jesus on the cross as I mentioned this now Psalm 22 is the sum of David 's writing style his his unique brand of poetry is evident throughout the 2031 verses but because it's this it's a sum immediately before the much more famous Psalm 23 Psalm 22 has often been sidelined because it takes it sits next to a favorite sum it naturally assumes a diminished position but Psalm 22 is far from being a lesser sum
01:16:08 is a very important sum not just because it's a prophetic Psalm pointing to the crucifixion of Jesus but because it is an intense sum with the author pouring up his emotions from deep within his soul as he sings into a deep crisis what is experiencing can be very helpful to us whenever we we go through dark and stormy days in our life and so we have much to learn from this Psalm in this respect let me Begin by appreciating the structure of the Sun from a bird eyes View much of Psalm 22 is the lamentation sum
01:16:53 in the first two thirds of the text we find David in the in a state of deep anguish across the first part of this first part covering 21 verses his pride and play and pain cry out from from between the lines again and again he petitions God to do something anything help me deliver me rescue me save me he's desperate and he has come to God to seek urgent relief but then suddenly from verse 22 the tone changes dramatically as the sum abruptly shifts from a sum of lamentation to a sum of praise in this second part
01:17:42 David bursts into exuberant praise he's now in the in the heightened state of elation over what God has done Praise Him honor him reveal him bow down before him we see such words jumping at us from all over the passage and hence let me present you this simple two-part structure in psalm 22. we have in part one the first 21 verses detailing David's plight and War as he felt deserted by God followed by part two the remaining ten verses declaring David's praise and worship after God had delivered him
01:18:27 both parts are as different as they as night and day now what I found what I find really remarkable is this when I heard Dr Peter's sermon last Sunday he was preaching on on Zach and on as hezekiah's prayer for healing now if you missed that sermon you should follow it on YouTube when Peter was expounding hezekiah's prayer last Sunday actually from Isaiah 38 verses 10 to 20 it occurred to me that the format of that prayer is very similar to that of Psalm 22. in the first part of hezekiah's prayer
01:19:04 he was also lamenting he was also bearing his soul to God I cried I moan I waited to quote what Hezekiah wrote and then suddenly in the second part of his prayer he was overflowing with praise to God he has spoken to me you restored me you kept me again to quote Hezekiah you notice the pattern here Pride followed by Praise their troubles turned into Triumph eventually God responded to David and Hezekiah alike with rescue and restoration respectively now does that mean that God will surely answer a believer's
01:19:54 petition for healing when he suffers say from terminal illness the answer is yes eventually sometimes God grants healing during your time on Earth sometimes after your time on Earth but eventually he will restore your broken body if not now then when you arrive at your Eternal home we are promised in Revelation 21 you will wipe he will wipe every tear from your from their eyes there will be no more death or Mourning or crying or pain and hence is a question of time I've said it before everything will be okay in the end
01:20:43 if it's not okay it's not the end all will be well plight will be followed by Praise And this is our first lesson from psalm 22. I'm actually getting ahead of myself what we really want to do is to discuss what's happening to David in the midst of his ordeal in part one of Psalm 22. as we briefly saw this now David's Lamentations are not unlike hezekiah's both are both both were overwhelmed by us by utter helplessness and they poured out their anguish to God last Sunday Peter taught us the essence
01:21:26 of biblical lamentation biblical lamentation is the way we process pain it helps us to deal with suffering I'm not going to repeat what Peter preached but what I have learned is that lamentation is the language of loss and disorientation and we can direct it at God because we have a we have an intimate relationship with him and this is evident both in David's Psalm and in hezekiah's prayer but I picked up some differences between the two we now take a closer look at the lamentation part of David's sum
01:22:02 now compared to the corresponding part in hezekiah's prayer one difference is in terms of timing Hezekiah wrote what he wrote after his illness and Recovery he penned his words in retrospect and that's why he wrote it in the past tense Hezekiah I cried I moan in contrast David wrote the first part of Psalm 22 while in the midst of his Despair and distress he penned his words in tears and that's why it's an apartment it's in the present tense I cry I find no rest perhaps because of this David's Lamentations come across as more intense
01:22:50 more desperate he's in the middle of it more interesting more interestingly it's also more complex let me explain now reading the first 21 verses of Psalm 22 is not hard to detect a substructure a noticeable pattern that betrays the upheaval in David's mind this is what it looks like right from the get-go he starts lamenting and then he studies himself and looks for some some affirmation but then he continues to lament again followed by another round of affirmation down and up down and up continuing from verse from from verse 11
01:23:42 David is down again and this time it's even longer and more depressing lamentation stretching almost a quarter of the of the chapter before he finally ends part one with a heartfelt petition to God now cross all these verses we see David on an emotional roller coaster one moment feeling crushed and the next moment finding confidence he's caught in cycles of negative emotions and positive thoughts certainly there were many times in David's life when he felt completely helpless prompting him to to compose such an
01:24:21 anguish some I can think of two such episodes in his life one is early in his life when Saul tried to kill him David had to go into hiding the other was when his son Absalom rebelled against him and David had to run for his life it's in such desperate times when David resorted to writing as he directed his his despair to God he wrote many many lamentation Psalms notably Psalm 22 38 69 988 102143 we're not exactly sure what's happening in his life when he when he wrote this particular sum but of all the lamentation sums I I
01:25:09 listed none is as depressing as psalm 22. how so now let's Now scan the text in more detail we won't go through every verse first in verses 1 and 2 there's a deep sense in David that God has abandoned him God seems so far away but then we know David as the apple of God's eye from Psalm 17 verse 8. he's a favorite of God I know what it's like to be someone's favorite but despite that God chose chooses to remain silent as if indifferent to his pride my God I cry out by day but you do not answer and then out of nowhere
01:26:03 in the next few verses he recalls how his ancestors trusted in God how they cried out to God and God delivered them they will not put to shame and hence he concludes that God is a faithful God and he begins to brief the measure of confidence but this didn't last long in the next three verses David starts to feel miserable again and this time it's because he's saddened by how people Everyone is ridiculing him people he know deriding him they Mock and insult him vertically it feels forsaken by God and
01:26:41 now horizontally he faces contempt from possibly people who are close to him in the middle of this David again manages to contain his his grief this time he reminds himself that he has trusted God for the longest time verse 9 you make me trust in you even at my mother's breast this is just a poetic way of saying okay he has trusted God all his life and similarly in verse 10 from my mother's womb you have been my God meaning all his life God has been his God nothing has changed again this affirmation is only temporary
01:27:26 because for the third time David sings even deeper into his despair from verses 11 to 18. he now laments about enemies surrounding him encircling him threatening him he uses metaphors of angry beasts to describe his enemies Bulls lions dogs in verses 14 and 15 in the middle he expresses his fears in the face of grave dangers he writes that his heart has melted like Wax and hence we see the trajectory of David's Lamentations spanning across three fronts forsaken by God scorned by people threatened by his
01:28:18 enemies but as we notice they are all punctuated by moments of confidence building we do not know how long this lasted this is back and forth up and down mood swings weeks months maybe even years in any case it's these cycles of Davis Lamentations and affirmations that make Psalm 22 unique and very relevant to those in similar situations Believers going through a prolonged and severe crisis they also experience an emotional rollercoaster ride what David went through squares with what they are going through
01:29:02 and for this reason some to need to speak to them in a very real way it was only once in my life when I was facing a prolonged and severe crisis more than 30 years ago we don't go into details I was I was shuttling between elementations and affirmations for two years it felt as if I was caught in a tug of war between the heart and the mind the mind is the seed of rational thinking it knows that God is faithful he remembers the many faithful acts of God in the past and hence it promotes confidence in God in times of crisis
01:29:41 this is what happened to David in those moments when he found affirmations the heart on the other hand is the seed of emotion it's more susceptible to fears and worries and and anxieties and it tends to exaggerate the problem and hence it brings about despair in times of crisis it is what happened to David as he sang deeper and deeper in his Lamentations in other words the first part of Psalm 22 attle Beach with heart and the mind within David but in the end his mind prevailed and it's good that he didn't finish with
01:30:24 even more lamenting but with a passionate plea to God for help Based On A Renewed confidence in God when he declared in verse 19 You Are My Strength You Are My Strength and this came from the mind and here lies the second lesson for us from the text the first lesson earlier is that all will be well in the end but before that day when all will be well when things are not well when we lament we should learn from David he recalled God's faithfulness in the past he acknowledged that God had been his
01:31:04 God all his life and despite his dire situation he was able to press his petitions to God in confidence by saying You Are My Strength which brings us to part two versus 22-31 now earlier I showed you how David Stone changed dramatically here in part two and we notice how these verses are saturated with with the theme of praise and worship but remember in David's first lamentation in verse 2 how God seemed to be silent well did God eventually answer him yes obviously or else why would he be so full of lavish for for God in his praise
01:31:59 in verse 20 24 it tells us so explicitly that God has not despised the suffering of The Afflicted one the affected one referring to himself and furthermore God has not hidden his face from him but he's listening to his cry for help God has heard David in his Affliction God answered him even though he felt earlier that God didn't answer no it's evident that that David is saying all this after God has delivered him but in part one we saw that David was writing these Lamentations verses while he was in Dire Straits
01:32:39 and that's why they are Bible scholars who believe that there's a Time gap between part one and part two during which God intervened in David's life meaning that David first wrote the first 21 verses while he was in great distress and then added the the next the next the next 10 verses later after God had saved him but just just a technical point the more notable feature about Patu is how the writer develops the theme of praise and worship throughout the passage in in verse 22 he begins with a vow to
01:33:16 declare God's name to his people however most translations render the word people as Brethren or brothers and so is a rather small group of people what we have here is possibly David testifying to those close to him how God has been faithful to him and then in verse 23 he implores the descendants of Jacob the descendants of Israel meaning all the Israelites to praise God to honor him to reveal him not as the king assuming that his King at that point in time David certainly has the standing to mobilize the entire
01:33:56 nation to praise God because he's a God who listens to the cries of those who are afflicted starting with him himself he's asking all his subjects to join him in worship but that's not all in verse 27 he then makes a prophecy that because God is such a faithful God all the ends of the Earth all the families of the of the Nations will one day worship God now obviously this hasn't happened yet but it will take place during the future Millennial rule of Christ on Earth in any case do you notice the the ever
01:34:36 widening circle of people praising God from David personally to his Brethren to the nation of Israel and cascading to the whole world and as if that is not enough at the end of the chapter look at the end of the chapter David makes another prophecy that even posterity meaning future Generations even people yet I'm born they will also praise God and this includes us today and here lies the third lesson from psalm 22. why is David describing future generation praising God it's because God's faithfulness is from
01:35:18 Everlasting to Everlasting he was a fit he was faithful to his people in the past from Verses 4 and 5 earlier and he will be faithful to his people in the future Psalm 119 verse 90. your faithfulness extends to every generation this third lesson complements the second lesson that is God will not hide his face from those of us who were Afflicted to borrow words from verse 24. because he is a faithful God we can say you are my strength we have examined Psalm some 22 but mostly from the position of David the
01:36:06 author writing about his his own situation we now move to the segment of the sermon where we Face the same text but with the cross of Jesus superimposed on the verses now as mentioned at the start Psalm 22 is a prophetic Psalm pointing to the atoning death of Jesus now there are many Old Testament passages where if you infuse Jesus into the text it comes alive and Psalm 22 is one such passage it has a secondary Messianic layer of meaning even as we study Psalm 22 from this New Perspective the two-part structure
01:36:51 in the text is unchanged but with different headings earlier in in earlier part one was David's plight and War now is Jesus Agony from the torture of the cross earlier part two was David's praise and worship now is Jesus accomplishment through the Triumph of the cross let's jump into part one and I shall first offer you some some general comments when analyzing Psalm 22 Bible scholars are much amazed by how some of the verses can be read as a portrayal of death by crucifixion it is as if the writer knew what it was
01:37:38 like to be nailed to the cross there are specific details in the text describing a man crucified now we like the time to examine every single detail but the most telling is in verse 16. they pierced my hands and feet very explicit describing crucifixion another example is in verse 14 all my bones are out of join describing the the awkward and strained position of a victim hanging on the cross his hands are stretched horizontally and vertically he has to keep pushing up with this with his feet in order to gaps for air
01:38:23 yet another example is in verse 15 my mouth is dried up like a port shed an allusion to a person suffering from extreme thirst on the cross but what is even more astonishing is that crucifixion as a form of capital punishment wasn't invented until about 400 BC that's about 600 years before David wrote Psalm 22 David had no knowledge of crucifixion it wasn't invented yet he had never seen a man crucified and yet a crucified man is depicted in his psalm there is only one way to explain this when David was writing Psalm 22 and he
01:39:11 wrote it one thousand years before Jesus went to the cross when David was writing Psalm 22 he was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit knowingly or unknowingly he was prophesying Jesus death on the cross needless to say the description of Jesus on the cross in Psalm 22 they all came to pass in the New Testament according to one Ralph Manchester in his book examined the evidence the author listed 23 specific details in Psalm 22 that found fulfillment in various New Testament verses on the crucifixion of Jesus
01:39:55 and of these six I found six I found in Matthew 27 alone as I said earlier Matthew 27 is the parallel text of Psalm 22. now to illustrate how something you need to has already been fulfilled the person of Jesus and his death now let me show you verses from Psalm 22 and their corresponding verses in Matthew 27. Psalm 22 verse 1 my God my God why have you forsaken me fulfillment in Matthew 27 46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice my God my God why have you forsaken me now I mentioned this at the beginning of the
01:40:31 sermon Psalm 22 7 all who see me mock me fulfillment in Matthew 27 41 the chief priests the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him another one also Psalm 22 uh Psalm 22 7 they hurl insults shaking their heads fulfillment in Matthew 27 39 all who passed by hurt insults at him shaking their heads we have time for one more Psalm 22 verse 18 they divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment corresponding verse in Matthew 27 35 The Divided is closed by casting lots now incidentally John also wrote the
01:41:23 same thing about how Jesus clothes were divided by Lots but John added in John 19 24 this happened that that the scripture might be fulfilled and then he quoted Psalm 22 18. and so it's explained as they that the account of Jesus on the cross had clearly been woven into the verses of Psalm 22. although David was lamenting about his own situation now matching verses in Psalm 22 to those in Matthew 27 might have been the mandentas reserve for for Bible scholars but it was a necessary exercise now so that you're not falling asleep
01:42:14 let me now switch gears to make things more interesting and I shall pick up one unusual verse in psalm 22. to demonstrate how incredible the sum is as a prophecy of Jesus death on the cross and that's in verse 6 but I'm a worm and not a man I'm a worm of course worm here is a simile a kind of metaphor and David wrote this during his second round of lamentation well the language is understandable because it was in the depths of his despair he felt that God you know found him maybe unworthy you know to respond to
01:42:59 he saw himself as nothing more than a worm the lowest of creatures have you heard people labeling themselves a worm I have heard wives calling their husband a worm maybe because he just lost his job but it is more than meets the eye the metaphor of a worm that David used to describe himself goes much deeper in the Old Testament there are two main Hebrew words used for worms Rima and Tola Rima or Tola Rima means just that a worm nothing more and often it refers to maggots but Tola is different strictly speaking is not a worm
01:43:55 but an insect looks hardly like an insect although its common name is Scarlet worm you've never seen this before in ancient times they would Harvest these colored worms in order to extract a red dye to dye their fabric red and that's how they got their red cloth and that's why in the English Bible Tola is sometimes translated as worms referring to this this thingy or sometimes translated as colored referring to the to the red color the red dye that extract from these things no there is there's much more
01:44:42 when a female's colored worm is ready to lay eggs which she does only once in in a lifetime she would attach herself to to a brunch or trunk of a tree and after the eggs are hatched the baby worms will stay under the body of the of the mother feeding on her until they are sufficiently grown now this only lasts a few days at which point the mother worm dies and the red dye inside her would throw out it would spill out to stain the wood and also Splash on the body on the baby worms now when David wrote
01:45:31 I am a womb he used the Hebrew word Tola not Rima do you realize what's going on do you see the deeper metaphor similarly Jesus was attached to a tree I mean he was nailed to a wooden cross and as he was dying his Blood Stained the wood of the cross and the blood he shed also splashed on Earth meaning washing away our sins the breath of the symbolism is really breathtaking goes to show how deep Psalm 22 is now before we wrap up part one of Psalm 22 from the perspective of the cross I wish to spend a couple of minutes to
01:46:25 address a rather basic question that is why did Jesus have to die now if you are a new believer this question May be lurking in your in your head a follow-up question might be why did Jesus have to die on the cross now the answer is found in verse 3. it's because God is a holy God and this is echoed at the end of the text in verse 31 which speaks of God's righteousness because God is the holy God he demands that his people to be holy he says in Leviticus 11 44 I am the Lord your God be holy because I'm holy
01:47:10 but ever since the first man Adam fell into sin Humanity has been engulfed in sin you and I sin but because God is Holy sin causes us to be separated from him the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death meaning the penalty of sin is death we are talking about eternal death it can be described as Eternal separation from God but God in his Mercy had the only sinless man in the person of Jesus to bear this penalty for us so that we need not be separated from God and that's why Jesus had to die now all
01:47:52 this is basic bible stuff but I wish to offer you another angle which is to see sin as a debt you see after they are hatched the babies colored worms they feed on them on the mother womb so that they can survive they feed on her until she dies the mother worm the taller worm dies so that the baby worms might live in the same way Jesus died so that we might live it is death by substitution and legally speaking Jesus Paid the debt of our sin which is death so that we don't have to pay that debt that debt
01:48:42 and that's why I started the sermon with the 90 000 Ringgit story the customer was supposed to pay the debt but he ran away and somebody had to pay the debt as the head of seal the unpaid that fell on me but thankfully my boss decided that the company would shoulder the debt and as a result I was free from paying that debt and so what happened on the cross is that the death of sin which belongs to us which is death it was charged to Jesus and he paid it with his life he paid it on our behalf and from this
01:49:18 angle we can better appreciate what Paul wrote in college Colossians 2 we owe a debt because we broke God's law but God forgave us that debt he took away that debt and nailed it to the cross Paul further elaborated in the second Corinthians 5 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might find we might become righteousness of God in other words while Jesus hung on the cross he was carrying my sin and your sin in fact he was carrying the sin of the whole of humanity past present and future
01:50:00 the whole weight of the sin of the whole world was upon his shoulders the magnitude of that load is beyond imagination Jesus was paying the penalty of everyone's sin literally everyone and that's why his death had to be the worst form of death imaginable which is the cross because crucifixion was the worst form of death at that time even today there is no execution that can match the cruelty of the cross do you know that the word excruciating means very painful comes from two words X meaning out of
01:50:45 and cruciate which has the same root as the word crucify the magnitude of sin of the sin that Jesus was carrying was so great that even the sky became dark as Jesus was hanging on the cross as recorded further down in Matthew 27 45. Dayton tonight during the last three hours of his crucifixion and this is even hinted in a verse 2 of our texts I cry out by night but I find no rest and because the one who had no sin was now shouldering the sin of the whole world God who is the holy God had to separate from Jesus as he hung on
01:51:29 the cross which caused Jesus to cry out my God my God why have you forsaken me this was the most anguished cry in human history for Jesus separation from God was much much more painful than all the pain he had to endure before and during his crucifixion some people take separation from God lightly Ralph Manchester the author of the book I showed us now he was an atheist before he came to Faith and as in atheist he had no interest whatsoever in a relationship with God he even denied the existence of God
01:52:16 those who deny or reject God they will one day find out the sheer pain of Eternal separation from God to wrap up Psalm 22 we take one last look at this part two of our text earlier we saw the reaction of David after God delivered him from his Affliction he was bubbling with high praise to God he went on to describe a widening circle of people praising God from himself to his Brethren to the whole nation to the ends of the of the earth and even to Future Generations but I didn't explain the real reason why
01:52:57 this was happening actually David did provide a clue at the end of the chapter in verse 31 a clue as to why this this widening circle of of Praise of God is happening kids of of worship take place because God has done it he has done it at the end of the chapter done what God has executed his Plan of Salvation for mankind Those whom he redeems they praise him across space and time the atoning death of Jesus on the cross has brought many sons to Glory the suffering of the one the suffering of one has brought about
01:53:49 the salvation of many including us who find our glory in the cross for which we must praise God unceasingly profusely we praise God for what Jesus has accomplished on the cross the cross started with Agony but ended in accomplishment before he breathed his last Jesus said it is finished from John 19 30. mission accomplished done one last load of Interest here we see here in Psalm 22 ending with these words he has done it he has done it but there are there are translations they render this as he has
01:54:37 finished it there's one translation that says he has done it and that it is finished indeed Psalm 22 begins with an anguish Cry of Jesus my God my God why have you forsaken me but isn't it wonderful that something need to ends with the triumphal words of Jesus it is finished to conclude the sermon let me uh offer you a takeaway from psalm 22. especially to those who are in despair and who are afflicted earlier we picked up three lessons from this Psalm but here is something you should bear in mind and it comes from
01:55:21 from looking at Psalm 22 simultis simultaneously from from the standpoint of David and also from the anger of the cross the takeaway is this when David wrote this psalm he was suffering much but when Jesus was nailed to the cross he suffered much much more David was in pain but Jesus endured pain of a far greater proportion and for this reason whenever the going gets tough for you remember that Jesus is able to empathize with you because on the cross he experienced he went through much pain and suffering
01:56:06 while walking on this Earth he faced rejection and hostility he tasted disappointment and hardship he knew what it's like to have a broken body there is nothing that you are going through that he doesn't understand take comfort in these thoughts as you renew your confidence in God shall we pray Our Father in heaven May the cross of Jesus give us much confidence and strength whenever we battle dark and stormy days of life Keep Us near The Cross we pray so that we will always be able to say in the cross in the cross be our Glory ever
01:56:53 and we ask this in Jesus name amen thank you brother Eden Cheryl rise to respond in our closing Zone Jesus [Music] free to all of healing stream flows from Every Mountain [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] in the cross [Music] beyond the river [Music] in the cross [Music] but beyond the river what's up foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign as we close today's worship service please remain for the benediction [Music] people of God receive now blessings from the Lord may God keep you near the cross of Jesus
02:00:53 by whose blood you have received forgiveness of sin may God keep you near the cross of Jesus who can understand you in your suffering may God keep you near the cross of Jesus to Grant you strength and rest when you are weary and may God keep you near the cross of Jesus to keep you and guide you all the days of your life go now in the peace of God Amen the service is over God bless you in the coming week I do stay back for Fellowship in the Garden Cafe see you all next Sunday foreign [Music] foreign
02:02:12 [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music]
