Well, good morning, friends. Thank you for that warm welcome, Dave, and I'm glad to be able to help out this morning, and I will keep remembering Joel and Orlina in their time of grief. Let's come and read God's Word together, and we're reading Psalm 85. So let's stand for the reading of God's Word, Psalm 85. Lord, you were favourable to your land. You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath. You turned from your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield as increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps away. Amen. May God bless to us the reading of his word. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, What a privilege it is to come and hear from your word. We thank you, you are the God who speaks to your people. Lord, we thank you for the blessing it is now to come and listen to your word and to hear it preached. And we pray, Lord, that you would speak into each of our lives, that you would encourage us if we need encouragement, that you would rebuke us if we need a word of rebuke. And so Lord, we do pray that we would love your word more as a result this day. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please take your seats. Well, how often have you heard these words, are we there yet? Or how much longer? You said that 10 minutes ago and we're still not there. Well, if you've traveled with kids, I'm sure these are familiar words. And even when children are not present as adults, we're often thinking the same thing. Long journeys can be discouraging. Well, you're also on a journey in life. Your Christian walk is described as a journey. We're looking forward to the end of that journey. We look forward to coming home and being with the Lord. But along the journey, you may often ask, are we there yet? On that journey, there are ups and downs. One moment, everything's going well. You are elated. You love to be with God's people. You love to worship God. But the next moment, you are discouraged. and your heart grows cold and indifferent. You see no point in being with God's people. You feel nothing in the worship of God. What is your experience of the journey? Where are you? Are you currently on a high or are you on a low this morning? And if you're on a low, how are you to keep going in the Christian journey? Well, Psalm 85 shows how you are to respond. Now, we are unsure of the context to this psalm. It is assumed that this was written after the exile. God's people, they were allowed to return to Judah. There's much excitement, there's much joy, but their expectations were not met. This was not the golden era for Judah that was anticipated. The rebuilding of the walls and the temple were slow, faced much opposition. The excitement of returning home had died down. Life was hard. There were many disappointments in his post-exilic time. And you too may have had a lot of expectations in your journey of life, whether expectations in your work or expectations with your friends or with your family, in your marriage, in your achievements, or in your retirement. And instead, you have faced difficulties and disappointments and discouragements. So I want you to notice, turn to God in your discouragement. Bring your sin to him, for in him there is peace because of the work of Christ. So firstly, you are to remember God's grace in the past, verses one to three. Remember God's grace in the past. So the first thing to do in your discouragement is remember God's grace. God is good. and he has been gracious to you. That's why the psalmist remembers him. Notice that the psalmist is focused on what God has done in verses one to three, where he says, you have been favorable, you have brought back, you have forgiven, you have covered all their sin, you have taken away, you have turned. This is all God's doing. The psalmist rightfully acknowledges God's work Too often when we are discouraged, we look inward. Woe is me is all that we can think of. We list all our hardships. No, you are to lift your eyes beyond yourself and remember what God has done. He has shown you the greatest of mercies. Great, because you do not deserve his grace. What is it that God has done for the people? Well, he's been gracious to them. He has released them from their captivity. He has forgiven them of their iniquity. He has dealt with their sins. They have been covered. And as a result, God is no longer angry. His wrath has been turned away. That is what you, as one of God's children, enjoy. And this is all in the past tense. This is what God has already done in your life. As a child of God, you know God's grace. You've been made new. You've been brought from darkness to light. In him, you've been made alive. Now we might not be sure of the context of the psalm, but we know the writer of the psalm, the sons of Korah. Korah, you may remember from the book of Numbers, he led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. And so against ultimately God, for God was the one who'd placed Moses and Aaron in their positions of authority. And Korah's uprising led to the death of thousands of Israelites, for they followed him in his rebellion. Cora and his household, they were judged when the ground opened up and swallowed them up. Now, interestingly, the sons of Korah were not included in this judgment. And we aren't sure exactly why they were not included. Possibly they were older sons, and so they stood apart from their father's wickedness. And instead, they stood with God. Well, God in his graciousness, he did not cut off the line of Korah completely. And so the sons of Korah are living proof of God's grace. They owe their very existence because God was gracious to them. And so as a result, they lived their lives in dedicated service to God, ever thankful to their gracious Heavenly Father. And so they are an encouragement to us, for if God is willing to save them, he will save you. And it's important that you too look back and remember God's grace. Winston Churchill said, those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And so in a similar way, you must know your own history and be reminded of how God has been gracious to you and continues to be gracious to you. You don't need to be discouraged. Yes, you may have hit rock bottom, but with God, you're not without hope. Remember how he has already been good to you. And God has not changed. He has not now become cold and remote. No, he continues to be gracious and loving. And so as a child of God, you know this. You have experienced this. and God will continue to be gracious to you. God doesn't know change. So no, even in your disappointment, in your discouragement, hold onto the truth that God is a gracious God. That's what you're to remember. Well, secondly, pray to God in your discouragement, verses four to seven. So after looking to the past, now consider your present discouragement. We're not told what the discouragement was that was on the heart of the psalmist, but the devil likes to use discouragements. And he uses discouragements to lead you into sin, to think or do something foolish. When that happens, you need restoration. And that's what the psalmist is praying for now. He's lost the joy of knowing God. And he asked God to cause his anger to cease. Why would God be angry? Maybe a friend comes up to you and begins by saying, don't be angry with me, and straight away you wonder what they have done. Or a child says to his mom or dad, don't be angry with me, and automatically you know they have done something that they should not have done. So the psalmist has done something. Only sin will cause God to be angry. But in verses one to three, God has turned away his anger. Why would God be angry again? Well, God hates sin. And if you continue in sin, you bring displeasure to God. You quench the Holy Spirit. You insult his gracious, his grace shown to you. And sadly, as Christians, we can have this licentious understanding of grace, the freedom we have as a result of being in Christ does not mean that you are now free to sin. Instead, you're free to serve. The false belief of thinking you're free to sin demonstrates only that you are enslaved to your sin. An idol has come into your life. An idol that says it can offer to you more than what God can give. An idol that says the blessings you have in God, the green pastures, the quiet waters that you enjoy in God, that they do not compare to the pleasures that this idol has to offer. And yet this idol never delivers. It may give you a short buzz, but it stops. It can't be lasting. Instead, it leaves you even emptier. It leaves you depressed. It leaves you feeling dead inside. James Montgomery Boyce says, sin causes you to lose many blessings. These cannot be recovered, they are gone. But God can give new opportunities and new blessings. If you are one whose life has been ruined by sin, making your life a spiritual desert, you need to return to the one who can make your life fruitful again. If you turn to God, he will return to you and restore you. This picture's for us, just how serious sin is. You may have completed a first aid course, and if someone stops breathing, you have to resuscitate them. They need air, they need to be revived. Only God can revive you, your idols, your sin. They will only suffocate you. That's why the psalmist is crying out for restoration. He wants to be made alive again. He wants restoration. Well, Jesus is life. That's why the psalmist goes to God for in him, he can be revived. Well, how are you doing in your Christian walk? Has something taken you away from God? Are you feeling empty this morning? no longer feeling the joy of your salvation. Like the psalmist, cry out to God to restore you. And notice the word again, revive us again. The psalmist has done this before. He squandered God's grace. And maybe you're thinking, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep coming to God asking for forgiveness. But in God, there is mercy. In him, there is salvation. Ortland says, for every again of our sin, there is an even greater again of his grace. This is the God you come before. Yes, he is angry with your sin, but he never stops giving out his mercy if you repent of your sin. Too often, we lose hope. We think, there's no way that God will have me back this time. But this speaks more of how we operate. We're unwilling to forgive. We have a limited number of chances, and when they're up, we say it's over. That's not the way that God operates. While we would never have ourselves back, that is not God. God's love is unfeeling, and we will later see why. But his unfailing love is why you are to plea before him. In him there is restoration. He will revive again and again and again. So cry out to God for restoration. Well, thirdly, wait to hear from God and do not commit folly. Verse eight. So in your discouragement, you've looked to the past and remembered what God has done. You brought your prayer to God and asked for restoration. Well, now what are you to do? Well, you must wait upon God and listen to what he has to say. Now, some people are talkers, and they talk about their problem, and you hear every detail. They verbalize everything. When you try and interject, when you try to give them advice, they don't want to hear it. They instead want to keep talking about their problem. And in many ways, we are all like that before God. You're all doing the talking. You're constantly giving excuses. but are you ready to listen? Verse eight, the psalmist resolves to hear God. The opposite of hearing God is described here as folly. Folly is when you forget God and you do life without him. It's a lack of regard to the promises of God. It's not trusting that the peace he offers is better than anything else that this world has to offer. As a result, it will lead to complacency. We live in a world of distraction. Our phones are constantly in front of our faces. We have earbuds in our ears. We are bombarded with signs and images. And this noise distracts us from God and hearing his voice. We do not hear him. And sadly, we do not want to hear him. We would prefer to listen to the lies and the emptiness that this world has to offer over the truth that God speaks. Isn't that evident in the church? People have no appetite for God, and that is seen in their lack of commitment to God's word. And so sadly, many churches have reduced their time in God's word to maybe a few minutes. I do not say this for you to become proud because you like to listen to long sermons. No, it's easy to spend time in God's word and still not be listening. Sadly, there are many professing Christians who are at church every Sunday, sitting under God's word, but they do not live their lives in accordance to God's word. They're not truly listening. Instead, they are committing folly. Well, how about you? Are you committed to God's word? There should be an excitement as you approach God's word. For his word is truth. His word is powerful. His word will bless you as you seek to live by it. And you will know what is right, what is wrong. And God's promises will encourage you. And so join with the Psalmist in verse eight saying, I will hear. I am listening to what God has to say to me. Just consider the excitement that we have when there's a release of a blockbuster movie or a new season of your favorite TV show. What about the excitement of coming to hear God's word and to know peace as a result, a peace that surpasses all understanding? Martin Luther says, for feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God, not else is worth believing. I'll trust in God's unchanging word till soul and body sever, for lo, all things shall pass away. His word shall stand forever. If you want to live your life to the fullest potential, you must resist the folly of this world. But instead, listen to God. Well, fourthly, through the work of Christ, you have eternal peace with God. Verses 9 to 13. So while you wait, you listen to God's word, and whatever it is you're facing, You are to remember the future you have to look forward to is certain, is sure, because of Christ. Remember Paul in that prison cell. He was waiting upon God. While he waited, he rejoiced. He had joy. It wasn't because his prison cell was comfortable. No, his joy is found in God. He had confidence because he knew that he was eternally secure. And these final verses speak of the hope that you also enjoy. There is no denying that life is difficult. We live in a suffering world, and this is normal. For the Christian, there is this glorious future. And in these final verses, we read of this evocative poetry. This is not a dry, systematic theology textbook. No, these words are written to excite you. That mercy and truth meet together. That righteousness and peace kiss. And then we read of how this has a cosmological effect. Both heaven and earth are transformed. What incredible words. What a picture the psalmist gives us of mercy and truth, of righteousness and peace. Kidner writes, the climax is one of the most satisfying descriptions of concord, spiritual, moral, and material to be found anywhere in scripture. But where do these words come from? Well, these are similar words to that which God used to reveal himself to the Israelites in Exodus 34, in verse six. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth. The psalmist is using the characteristics of God and how they come together. for all who are in God, all who are part of his kingdom. We read of this in Romans 14, verse 17. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. How is that possible? How can God be righteous? and yet show us his peace, for we are unrighteous. How can God show us mercy and yet uphold truth? Well, these words are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. John describes Jesus in John 1, 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse nine in our text, we read, of glory dwelling in our land. This is the glory of Jesus Christ. John describes him full of grace and truth. Grace and truth is the Greek translation of love and faithfulness. And this grace and truth, Christ makes available to you. John 1, 17, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And so it is through Christ that we are reconciled to God. The curtain in the temple is torn. The way back to the garden is open. We can now dwell with God in his kingdom. Colossians 119, for it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. One commentator writes, when Jesus bore our punishment on the cross, love and holiness kissed. They were both fulfilled at once. Love without holiness is mere sentiment. Righteousness and law without a grasp of grace is pharisaicism. The gospel keeps truth and love together in our lives. Christopher Ashe writes, Christ is our peace, our salvation, our glory, our grace and love, our truth and faithfulness, our righteousness, our only and all-sufficient good. And so Christ is therefore both just and the one who justifies us. The result is peace, a permanent peace, because God has accepted the work of Christ on our behalf. If it was not permanent, then Christ would have died in vain. No, the work of Christ is sufficient. That's why you are to fear him. You are to put your trust in him and know this personally. The work of Christ has cosmic effects. It affects heaven and earth as we see in these remaining verses. There is a transformation. Faithfulness, or truth, springs up from earth. That's only possible because of the work of Christ. He makes us faithful. Righteousness is able to look down from heaven at this world. because we are no longer unrighteous. Christ has transformed us, that we are now in him and in his righteousness. Beuys writes, the harmony that is in God will also pervade and dominate God's creation. And this peace is seen in the prosperity that our world will enjoy. Not only are we reconciled to God, we are reconciled to each other. Christopher Wright says, God's purpose was not to invent a production line for righteous individuals, but to create a new community of people who, in their social life, would embody those qualities of righteousness, peace, justice, and love that reflect God's own character and were God's original purpose for humanity. It begins with individuals, but it creates a community that reflects God in this world. This is the revival that needs to happen in the church, for the church to make an impact in this world. And ultimately, this will happen when there is a new heavens and a new earth, which this psalm points to. This is the eternal peace that you have to look forward to. Now it is incredible to think that Jesus Christ sang this psalm knowing that he would be the one who would bring about the fulfillment of these final verses and that it would be through his death. Verse 13, he would know that his righteousness would be the path that each one of you would walk in if you fear him. For in Christ, your path is one of righteousness. You can look forward to an eternity with him. This is a confidence you have because of the peace that he established between you and God. So turn to God in your discouragement. Bring your sin to him. In him there is peace because of the work of Christ. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for how you have called us to be your children. You've put us on this Christian journey, and yet, Lord, we find it hard. We're easily discouraged. And so help us to look to the past and remember your graciousness to us, so we would cry out to you again and again that you would restore us. Help us, Lord, to wait upon you and listen to what you have to say rather than commit folly. We thank you for Jesus Christ, for it is in him that we are made righteous. In him we have peace with you. And so we can look forward with confidence to being with you to all eternity. Lord, I pray that you would revive each one of us today. Encourage us in our walk with you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's close by singing the remainder of the psalm, Psalm 85B. In stanza seven, we read, together matter, truth and grace, while righteousness and peace embrace. True faithfulness springs from the ground, from heaven righteousness looks down. And it's through Jesus Christ, he fulfills these words. Let's stand and sing Psalm 85B.