We've been already announcing this several times, but for the family ministry retreat that's taking place really soon, if you have still yet to either pay the registration fee or whatnot, please be sure to take care of that. If you have any questions, ask our brother Jason Choi. I'd like to highlight a Basics in Christianity class.

So that's a class that we offer. It's a 10-week course, so it's kind of lengthy, but it's an important class for any of you who are, let's say, newer to the faith. It covers the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith, and so we'll cover theology, but also it serves as our church's introduction to membership class.

And so it speaks a lot, or we cover a lot about why we do what we do. So from those foundational doctrines, a rationale and philosophy for ministry. So I encourage you to sign up for that. It begins September 4th on Sunday from 9.30 to 10.30, and you can either sign up by emailing me directly or, again, stop by the welcome table and they'll be happy to just sign you up for that.

Okay? Lastly, for our young adults, the post-grads, there is a date set for Beach Fellowship, which is September 10th, so please mark your calendars and save the date for that. More information and signups for that event will be posted on the Berean Facebook page or also on our website as well.

Okay? All right. Well, please turn your Bibles over to Psalm chapter 31. Okay, Psalm chapter 31. And I'm going to be reading from verse one through five. I wish that I had time to go over the entire chapter, but we'll focus our attention on one through five and cover all the major themes in this chapter.

So it begins by saying, for the choir director, this is to be sung, a Psalm of David. "In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge. Let me never be ashamed. In your righteousness, deliver me. Incline your ear to me. Rescue me quickly. Be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me.

For you are my rock and my fortress. For your name's sake, you will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me. For you are my strength. Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth." Let's take a moment to pray.

God, we thank you again this morning that truly you do not leave us on our own, for we would be utterly in ruin if we were by ourselves. But God, we thank you that your grace pervades, that your love abides, and that your presence is always around us. Father, I ask that by faith we would be cognizant of the fact that you are our hope and our strong rock.

I ask, Lord, that you would encourage us with your words this morning and help us, Lord, by having insight to ultimately be transformed as well. We thank you, Lord, it's in Christ's name. Amen. Okay. Well, I want to highlight to you an Olympic athlete, just because the Olympics are going on and we've been watching at home.

And I'm pretty sure you've heard of her and you've heard her name. Her name is Yusra Mardini. And her name is significant because she is one of 10 refugee athletes. There is a team of athletes who are competing in the Olympics games who are refugees from different countries. Yusra happens to be a Syrian teenager, only 18 years old, and she is an Olympic swimmer.

And she has been competing and she made headlines when, in her heat, she was first place. Unfortunately, now, obviously, as time has gone by, other athletes have gone forward, but she came on the news with great attention. And I caught my eye because I read on the highlights, Christian from Damascus.

Okay. And it's quite wild because I've been currently studying through the book of Acts with our youth group students. And she happens to come from a Christian family who has fled Syria. Okay. And the reason why it becomes, the story becomes even more amazing is because she tells of a story how while she was growing up, she was training for the Olympics under the Syrian nation, right, as represented for the Syrian nation.

And she was training with her sister and she was training with other people. But living in a war torn, with such civil unrest, she said regularly there would be holes in the roof the next day she would come because of bombings, because of the violence that was happening. And ultimately, they had to flee.

It was not like they had a choice. They had to flee Syria because her home was absolutely destroyed. Okay. And I can't imagine that. But she tells of the story, her whole family then got into, the plan was they got into a boat. Okay. Syria, if you'd imagine that kind of like a Palestinian land, they're just north of Jerusalem area.

Okay. And the plan was for their whole family to get onto a boat and then travel upwards towards Europe. Okay. Now the boat, this isn't like a ship. This isn't like a big boat. It's a tiny raft with a motor on the back. And supposedly it was made for eight people, but there was 18 or 20 people on this boat.

Okay. So they're traveling and they travel to Lebanon, make a stop, they travel to Turkey, and then they're making their way towards Europe. On their journey, the motor gives out. So what do they do? Some of the guys jump in, they start trying to swim and pull the boat.

They gas out so they get in, but they hear these Olympic swimmers, they get in the water. They swim for three hours in the cold water, pushing this boat with people. Right. And then finally they make it to Germany. When I read that, I was like, what in the world?

That's crazy. But as you imagine that, can you imagine just picture that scene where these young girls are swimming in the water, cold, open water. This isn't like your nice calm pool, but open waters, swimming for their lives, for the lives of the people on the boat. And then to finally reach ground.

What it feels like for your feet to touch the land. Why do I say that? It's because in the passage that we read, King David says, "In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge." It is like that woman finding finally the land that she's been going for. The refugee has found refuge.

King David was a refugee in some sense or another. He was on the run. And he has found his safety, his landing in God. And for us this morning, I want to encourage you, this is a testimony from King David to us. And he's challenging the generations to come with song in this chapter to take refuge in God and to have hope in Him.

But see, here's a huge question is, I get it when somebody is swimming for, let's say, the edge of the pool. They're swimming for something like land, right? But how do you take refuge in a person? In God? You don't see Him, right? You don't audibly hear Him. How do you take refuge in this God?

And that's what we're going to be tackling today. How we need to take refuge in the Lord. But how do we do that? How do we do that? Now, in order to begin, let's take a look at verse 1 through 3, our first section. Okay? Our first section. And here David says again, "In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge." That is his introductory summary statement.

And then he makes his requests. He says, "Let me never be ashamed. In your righteousness, deliver me. Incline your ear to me. Rescue me quickly. Be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me." And this first section, I'd like to call, right, as our encouragement to take refuge in God, to request safety.

Right? To request safety. Essentially all King David is doing at this point, at the second half of verse 1, he's saying, "Please, guard me." Right? When he says, "Please never let me put to shame," he's not simply just talking about his reputation. As though he's overly concerned about, "Oh, how do people think of me?" Right?

He's not ashamed as to be put down. And he's desiring that kind of protection and preservation from God. And then he asks that God would listen and that God would be to him that rock. And my question to you is, not simply, "Hey, you should ask God," but, "Have you been asking God?

Have you been going to God with this kind of request?" I mean, I know that we regularly go to God with, "Give us our daily bread. We pray for our meals." Many of you students pray for grades, pray for strength to study. Many of us sometimes pray for things to go well with our work and families.

But have we cried out in this way? If you look, he makes a further petition. Okay? Further petition. Give me a second here. Okay. A further petition in verse 9 through 13. He says this, "Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress." Now, we typically don't talk like that.

It's like, "Oh." You don't come home after a hard day at work and like, "Honey, I'm so distressed." You know? We use different terms, right? And typically it's things like, "Dude, I'm so wasted. Like I've got no energy. I'm spent." And that's exactly what he's talking about. Because look at the next words that he says.

"My eye is wasted away from grief. My soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow and my ears with sighing. My strength has failed because of my iniquity and my body has wasted away. Because of all the adversaries, I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors.

And an object of dread to my acquaintances. Those who see me in the street flee from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many. Terror is on every side. While they took counsel together against me, they schemed to take away my life.

Dang. King David went through some hard times, huh? He really did. He really did. And you know, maybe some of us could relate to those words, but we know that King David has gone through life circumstances that are truly terror on every side. Where he felt like his life was at risk.

And I believe that this chapter, it doesn't say specifically what circumstance of life he was in, but I believe there is a specific historical occasion to which this testimony comes to us. Please turn your Bibles over to 1 Samuel, okay? Please turn your Bibles over to 1 Samuel chapter 23.

And I believe this is a story to which King David is referring to. There's so many corollaries and so many connections. Okay, 1 Samuel, okay, chapter 23. And as you guys go there, I want to give you guys a little bit of context. King David's really young, okay? So added to the idea that, wow, he must have been like anxious.

He must have been stressed. Yes. He's a young man, okay? Because only several chapters ago, okay, remember like David's the one who fought Goliath, but when he fought Goliath, he was a young little boy with a sling, right? And then a few chapters later, when he's being anointed as king, they went through all the brothers and David was so young, everyone was like, "The what?" Right?

So my point being is, by context, David is really young. He's pretty young right here. And the scenario is King Saul has already been rejected by God. Chapter 15, Saul sins against the Lord by taking position he's not supposed to, and Samuel said, "Saul, you've been rejected." And then King David has already been anointed and said, "This is the one who's going to be king and will reign." So Saul now, he's just in fit.

He's just enraged. He's in jealousy and he's trying to desperately hold on to the little authority that he has. Well, actually he still has a lot of authority, but he's trying to hold on with dear life. And he is willing, as you know the story, he is very willing to kill David.

As a matter of fact, he's not only willing, but he's on a manhunt. He's on a search and destroy mission to go kill this man. Okay? And that's where we drop in in chapter 23. What's happening is King David is speaking and praying to the Lord. And because David is God's man, God is going to use David to fight other nations.

Who is he fighting in this moment? The Philistine nation. They're big, they're powerful, they're armed. Okay? And what happens is in verse one through three, it says, "Then they told David saying, 'Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Cala and are plundering the threshing floor.' So David inquired of the Lord saying, 'Oh Lord, shall I go and attack these Philistines?' And the Lord said to David, 'Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Cala.'" Okay, cool.

We have a kind of mounting scenario. God is commanding David and his men, "Go fight. Go fight for this small nation and deliver them and go fight the Philistines." Right? But look at the voice of the men. In verse three, it says, "But David's men said, 'Uh, behold, we are afraid here in Judah.

How much more than if we go to Cala against the ranks of the Philistines?'" Right? You get what's happening? It's like, they're like, "We've been running away from Saul for a while now. We're already scared. Why in the world are we going to go and fight for a nation that's not even ours?" Right?

And so David, essentially what he does is he's like, "Uh, yeah, okay, I'll go ask God again." You know, it's kind of like if any of you are in the workplace, your boss, like CEO or president says, "I want this done by tonight." And you got to go tell your team, like, "Sorry guys, we got to stay here and go and get this done by tonight." And they're like, "What?

No, we can't." And you play this middle man like, "Oh, shoot." I'm just painting for you this picture because I want you to feel like how much anxiety and stress David is under. If you've ever been in a situation like that at work, it's incredibly stressful. The pressures of the boss on you, "We need to get this done." Your team's like, "We can't." "Okay, what do you do?" Right?

So David goes back to God and says, "Do we really need to do this?" And God says, "Yes, go." But situations get worse. Sometimes when the ball gets rolling, it just gets worse and worse and worse. And I know perhaps you guys have felt like that before, where somebody experiences, I don't know, let's say like getting towed, and then they realize that from towing, they lose their license, and it just gets worse and worse and worse.

Okay? I don't know if he's in here, but I'm using a specific analogy right now. In either way, it's getting worse for King David. What happens is this. They go to Kayla to fight, but then check out verse 7. It was told to Saul that David had come to Kayla, and Saul said, "Ha, God has delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself by entering a city with double gates and bars." You can just see Saul like, "Wah!" You know?

"I've got him!" David has given away his position. David was on the run, and now he's been revealed where he's going to be in a city, and now Saul and his soldiers are marching toward Kayla. And then David gets really shocked, and he's like, "Oh my goodness." So David actually asks God, "God, will the people of Kayla that we just saved, I mean we just saved their hide, are they going to deliver me to Saul?" And God says, "Yes.

Kayla is going to deliver you into the hands of Saul." And David's like, "What in the world?!" Right? And then so what happens is, basically Saul is coming down to kill David. But in that moment, God says, "Go," and then King David goes into the mountainsides, the hills, to take refuge.

And then look at verse 14, it says, "David stayed in the wilderness in the stronghold, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand." That's pretty wild for a young boy, young man, to experience.

Now I don't know if you guys have struggles in your life. I am guessing you do. Okay? As a matter of fact, you know, recently I had a really good talk with a brother at church, and we were talking about like, what do people in OC actually need? Probably the most thing we need is just like more education, another step in a career, like that's what we feel like we need.

But that's not reality, is it? Right? Because we all have experiences where we feel like we're hurt, we're pain, we're trials, we're anxiety, and we have stress. And if you are young and you feel like, "Pretty much my life has been good." Maybe you come from an affluent family, you know, you've gone to the best schools, you've got a job right after, and you're like, "I've got money, time, and freedom.

I'm pretty good. I'm healthy too." If you live long enough, your parents might get sick, your parents might die, your family members might not be healthy, you might be hurting, you'll have a relational strife, you'll have letdowns, you'll have pressures from your bosses. And one time or another, you're going to feel, whatever degree it is, whether it's up here or down here, you're going to feel pain.

Yes? And if you're living life thinking, "No, I won't." I'm just telling you right now, yes, you will. Okay? Yes, you will. But the fact of the matter is, King David is able to give personal testimony that throughout that time, although I was, yes, in the wilderness, I had a stronghold.

Although I was in the hillside, running away, and Saul was after me every single day, God did not deliver me. That's King David's testimony in chapter 31. That's his experience. For us, I don't know what your wilderness is. I don't know what you're going through. But do you have a testimony testifying to the fact God has been very faithful?

Because that's what we need to do. And my challenge is, have we been asking God, "God, be my stronghold, be my strength within those moments." Because that's what we see King David do. By way of transitioning into it, I want us to realize as a second point, that this asking, this seeking, this having dependence on God, is a learning process.

Okay? It's a learning process. And we all know that. But the thing about it is, King David actually talks about it. Take a look at verse 21 and 22. He says, "Blessed be the Lord, for he has made marvelous his loving kindness to me in a besieged city." So that's why I think this is specifically referring to 1 Samuel 23.

But then check out verse 22. "As for me, I said in my alarm, 'I'm cut off from before your eyes.'" So what does he say? "When I was surprised, when I was first inflicted with that kind of pain, how did I feel? I felt like you didn't even see me.

I felt like you didn't even care." And he mentions earlier, "I felt like the guy who nobody even knows about because everybody assumes he's dead." That's how I felt. I felt like a broken vessel. What do you do with broken vessels? What do you do with broken cups? Broken dishes?

Do you like sweep it back up and say, "Oh, precious thing," and put it right back into the cupboard? You throw it away. That's how he felt. And I'm willing to guess that here in OC, even if you have a nice paying job, a nice house, and a nice looking family, there are still internal pains that you go through.

Yes? I'm willing to bet that because I've been through stuff. I feel like I have a great life. From the outside, I feel like I have a really, I don't know what else to say, but a super blessed life. Amazing church, amazing family. I have parents who constantly look out for me.

I have an awesome brother who's like my second dad. I've got Pastor Peter, the elders. I have shared so many times when I first came into this church, I was the one newcomer for the entire church, and the whole church love-bombed me. They did. And this is a unique thing that I was just so blessed with.

The first six months of church, we'd always go out to eat. I never paid for a single meal. It was crazy. And after six months, like, "Hey, guys." I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. But humanistically speaking, on a very superficial level, I have an amazing life. Probably a life that maybe a lot of people are like, "Man, you have it so easy." And in many ways, I do.

But does that mean I'm free from internal pain? Free from stress? Free from worry? Free from anxiety? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Here, I want to show you that there is a reality of the learning process of depending on God. And King David goes through that. He says, "Initially, my eyes, or when I was alarmed, I thought like this." And then he says, "Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my supplication when I cried out to you." Right?

"When I cried out to you." But my challenge to you guys is this, is we have pains, you know? I'm just saying right now, we have pains, but do you cry out to the Lord, even with the small stuff in your life? Because I'm going to make the case to you, you absolutely need a refuge in your life.

You absolutely need a stronghold, a fortress, somewhere dependable, a safe haven for you to go. And that is found in God alone, amen? But regularly, because maybe we go to other stuff, because we go to friends, because we go to possessions, because we typically only trust ourselves, we've gone to many different things.

Or, because we trust ourselves, we've convinced ourselves for the small stuff, I don't need to cry out to God. I don't need to ask for help. And a lot of us don't ever open up to say, "God, I need you to help me." But you absolutely need it. You know, there was a time for me, personally, I remember very distinctly, I've used this in a sermon before, and Bia knows exactly what I'm talking about, where I was in school last year in seminary, was in school part-time, working part-time, church part-time, and I had like multiple facets of my life, newly married, two years into it, you know?

And I was getting up early to go to school, I was getting up at five, drive to LA, go to school, come drive straight down, go to work, and then I get off work around 8.30 or 9, come home, eat, and then just study, and then crash. And then one of these nights, I don't know what it was.

I don't know if it was because the day didn't go well at work, and then I got my first C in seminary in my senior year. I was like, "No!" And then I was lying in bed, we were about ready to go to sleep, lights are out, and Bia leans over and she's like, "Are you crying?" You know, because I was just like, I was just like in the moment of like, "This is too much!" You know, like, "I can't take this!" Like, "I don't know." Now the thing about it is, you know, just like some of you who are in college, you know, when you guys come and tell me like, "Oh, it's too hard, I'm too busy," and then you guys cry, I'm just like, "You pansy." I'm pretty sure like an older parent who, you know, went through a previous generation, they had hardship.

They, you know, some of the, like my parents' generation, they come from that war-torn generation, you know? And so when they think of hardship, they don't think like, "Oh, so you're tired." So they're looking at me like, "You pansy," you know? But here's the truth of the matter is, if I don't know how to go to refuge in what is seemingly small, yes, I was weak in the moment, I was young, and I didn't know how to handle it, so I started crying.

But if I didn't know how to find refuge in that moment, what makes me think I'm going to find refuge when harder things come in life? Right? If you're not going to God with the smaller things of your life, do you think you're going to go to God with the bigger things in life?

You might say, "Yeah." No you won't. You don't know how to swim there, you don't know how to ask, you don't, you have never had that interaction. How are you going to trust a God with big things when you can't trust Him with little things? My argument is you absolutely need a refuge in God for everything.

And Christ was trying to teach us, "Even for your daily bread, you need me." But for some odd reason, we've convinced ourselves, "No, I don't." And that's sad. That's dangerous. And I want us to be prepared. If we live long enough, we are going to experience things where we're going to cry, and we're going to cry out.

And I'm not just preaching this because of what's been going on in the past several weeks, but I want you to know that, yeah, in the past several weeks, many of us have been heartbroken because of Emily's passing. And I think about stuff like that, you know, as a parent, I've counseled several people who've lost their children, and there are just things you cannot fix.

When I was overburdened with work, my initial reaction was, "Okay, I just need to clamp down and work harder. I just need to use my time better. I just need to enlist the help of my wife. I just need to enlist the help of my pastor. I need to enlist the help of this person." And that's typically what we do.

I need to do X, I need to do Y, I need to do this. But when stuff in life happens that are way beyond us, you can't do anything. So where else are you going to turn? And it's not just because of what's happening with that family, but if you just imagine for a moment how many people in this room alone right now have parents who have cancer, have brothers who have cancer, have cousins who have cancer.

I think we've been fooled to think the regularity in life is peace and comfort and health, but actually for most of all generations past, all of history, peace and comfort was the irregularity. Rather, hardships and suffering was what's regular. My question is, do we understand the process of trusting in God and turning to Him?

Have we cried out to Him? Have we learned to ask God, "God, You're different from the ground that the woman landed on because she couldn't tell the ground, 'I'm weak, come help me.'" But because God is a person who loves, who cares and sees, you can ask God, "God, come be my rock.

Come be my shelter. Come be my strength." Amen? Amen. Now, as we think about that, King David, as he's learning then in this progress and in his learning, he comes to a point where he starts to express his confidence in God. And that's our next point, that you will build confidence.

Build confidence in the person. Verse three and four, he says, "For you, you are my rock and my fortress. For your namesake, you will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for you are my strength." That to me is awesome because you see this genuineness.

Isn't this the case for most of us? "God, please help." But I believe it. You are my help. There's this mixture. There's this mixture of request and confidence. There's this mixture of you're asking, but you already know. Right? This is typical. This is very typical of the Christian as he experiences, or she experiences, wrestling in pain in life.

That as we're asking God, "God, you are my fortress." I mean, sorry, "Be my stronghold and save me." At the same time, he's saying, "You are my fortress. You are my help." And so this is the kind of perspective that we're always trying to strive for. This is what we're fighting.

This is the spiritual battle in our mind and in our hearts, isn't it? To gain that perspective that is of the word of God and of spiritual truth. Right now, I'm confused. But God, you know what's going on. Right now, in the moment, I feel like you're not helping me.

But I know you are the great helper. Right? Right now, it hurts a lot. But I know this isn't forever. I know your grace abounds. There is this growth and perspective that needs to happen. And this is exactly what Apostle Paul challenges us to have. There is a passage in 2 Corinthians 4.

It says, "For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look." Okay? "As we look, not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." There is this bigger perspective that Apostle Paul is challenging us to have.

The people that he's talking to, they have been afflicted with much persecution. He himself, beatings and stoning and whipping and mocking. And then he says, "There is this light and momentary affliction I endured, but I only see it as light and momentary because I see a bigger perspective of God." Right?

He has his sights on what's eternal. And that's exactly what we need. I know, again, not for us, our immediate response, typically to pain, is to look at the pain. Why did it happen? Isn't that typically the first response we have? You start looking at the pain, you're like, "Why?

Who did it? And what's going to happen to me after? How do I get that guy?" So rather than looking for refuge, rather than getting a bigger perspective, we go to the armor, we get some weapons, and we're like, "Okay, I'm going to kill this thing." You know? I feel like that's typically how we respond to things.

But rather, the Scriptures are teaching us, we need to broaden our horizon to see the God who is greater. He is a refuge. There is this cool place in Arizona, it's called Montezuma's Castle. Truthfully, they say historically it has nothing to do with Montezuma. I don't know why it's called the Montezuma's Castle.

Have you guys ever heard of it? It's in Arizona, Flagstaff. Just Google it for a picture sometime. I wish I had a photo on the screen. But it's a pretty amazing thing because there's this huge wall, and it's a cliff, basically, but it's curved like this. So it's like a big arch.

But then on this huge four-story wall are engraved, are carved out caves. And you can tell people were living there. And people said that people, when they were fighting the indigenous people and stuff like that, they would run into this castle for safety and fortress. King David, remember, he's actually running through the wilderness, running away from ambush and raids by King Saul.

And he's literally taking shelter, probably on a hill, with a huge rock. And then he's saying in his mind, "God is like this. This is my God." He's trusting. He's being encouraged. And he's seeing it for himself that God is protecting him. My challenge to you is, I hope you guys have your eyes open so that even if right now you're going through pain, even if right now you're going through trials, you can at least look back into your life for moments to which God has been faithful.

Moments to which God has brought you through, moments to which God has ministered to you. Because from your own personal experiences, you're going to gain that kind of confidence. You will build this idea that God is dependable. Because on one level, I can believe God is dependable because of the testimony of people like David.

Throughout history, God has been faithful. To the generations from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, all these people, God has been faithful to them. How can I not trust him? That's one way. I can believe that he's faithful because of the testimony of other people and I see it, but it is a stronger testimony when he has been faithful to your own life.

And those small testimonies start building for you a greater dependency in God. Does that make sense? It's just like any other thing. It's just like any other thing. In sports, if you have a superstar who is a basketball player and there is this idea or there is this moment where someone needs to be clutch, you don't get the guy who has been 0 for 7.

The guy who has been proven to be clutch every single time, what do you do? You say, "Here's the ball." I might be a 6'6", tall, be able to dunk, run fastest, whatever, but I still say, "That guy who has proven to be clutch, what do I do? Here's the ball." Right?

That's what I'm talking about when I say we need to gain this kind of confidence that King David expresses in his life towards God. Now, I want you to focus on that analogy for a moment because there is some weird interplay of different concepts with all that we're talking about today, about trusting God and being dependent on the Lord.

Because what comes first? Do I just blindly trust somebody? This is when maybe some of you, you told a friend, "Oh my gosh, this week has been so hard. I really don't know if I can go on. I feel like quitting." Then someone says, "Trusting God." You're like, "Okay, you're no help." Because all it sounds like is just that kind of idiomatic, "Just believe.

Just do it." It's just kind of like, "It doesn't help me that much." So that's why I'm saying you have to have this testimony. You have to build a confidence. You have to see his character. That's what I'm telling you. So what comes first, though? Do I have to first see, "Okay, God, prove yourself to be dependable.

Who else have you, give me your resume. Let me see in the Bible first. Who has he done this for?" And then I trust him? Or do I trust him first? Or what needs to happen? And obviously it's a both interplay of one contributing to the other. You're seeing that he is dependable, reliable, and absolutely faithful.

The one who is true, and what's more, as you trust him, that builds greater confidence in him as well, because now you have a personal experience that you've risked with him. Right? You've risked yourself and been vulnerable with him, and he's proven himself to be true. But there's another concept I want to throw into that mix, which is for you, if you want to truly depend on God, there needs to be actually a handing over of the ball.

Right? So look what it says in verse five. Turn your eyes there. He says, "Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth." And in some translations, God of faithfulness. What is he saying? The last point is going to be true, submissive dependency.

There is a submissive dependency unlike any other dependency that we practice in the world. Right? And there is a kind of trust that we practice in pain, in trial, in suffering, that we perhaps don't practice in any other context. In more like the, you know, wishy-washy mainstream Christianity, there has been this phrase, "Let go and let God." In my mind, that makes no sense.

What does that even mean, "Let go and let God"? Let go and let God do what? There's a problem here. What needs to actually happen is in the context of suffering, okay, I know this is going to get a little bit, I need to explain it. So let me have all your attention so I can explain it clearly.

And this is what I'm going to say. Specifically to the context of suffering, there is a battle of the will. Okay? Every single moment in your life, there needs to be a reconciliation of two wills. Is it going to be God's will for your life or is it going to be your will?

And regularly as a Christian, your will continues to die and gives way to the will of God, right? That reconciliation and the battle of the two wills becomes all the more prominent when we suffer. Because it's when we suffer when our desire, when our will, when our whatever it is that we want becomes strongest.

And so even in this moment, there has to be a submission. And to me, when someone says, "Just let go and let God," it's confusing because what if God doesn't want to relieve you yet? And yet you're sitting here like, "Don't worry, God's going to relieve you, so just let go and let Him do it." God has purposes for us to which we don't even know.

What if God desires to allow us to go through certain things so that we would be grown, so that we would have our eyes open, so that we would wake up? What if God desires for us to do those things just like the blind man so that he receives glory?

What if like Apostle Paul says, we're to suffer because of the sake of the gospel, for the building up of this church, for the magnification of Christ? Those purposes I don't know yet. But how can I demand, "God, in this scenario, I want you to do what I want." And so there is this profound, profound element of you and me and King David, I can ask.

It's okay to ask. Why? Because God's our Father and He loves us. He's told us, "Ask me." You don't have because you don't ask. But then even when, let's say, our questions are being unanswered, there is a decision for us. Am I going to put that into God's hands or am I going to hold on to it?

And the longer we hold on to it, the more painful it will be. And so Dr. Greg Harris, one of my professors, I remember that he had lost a child. And I remember praying with him and I remember him sharing with me the story. And I remember him vividly telling me that it was like God asking me to put the daughter into his hand.

And my professor writing about it in his book, I couldn't let go. And again, I think about Aaron and Tina and how hard it must be. There are things in life that we can just readily let go. I really wanted my job to succeed. It was a huge burden, but I could let go because I fail all the time.

You know? My schooling, yeah, I wanted an A, but I could let go. It's just a grade. But there are things in life that are much difficult, isn't it? If God said, "Put it in my hand." Like, if it was my kids. But for us, we have to realize that true dependency on God requires that kind of willingness to surrender.

Right? And then for us to trust, God is the author of my life from beginning to end. He's not the God who just started my life and then now it's just been going awry. He is the author from beginning and end and therefore, he will write the conclusion. And so then, even if I die and even if I go through this, there, you take control.

That's where we need to be. That's the kind of dependency we need to have. And that's the kind of dependency that Christ said, "Did you know that this very verse, verse five, 'Into your hand I commit my spirit'" doesn't that sound so familiar? That was Christ. That was Jesus Christ saying to his Father.

I mean, truthfully speaking, you've probably heard this many times. The cross of Christ is the most backwards thing in all of history to all mankind. The most pure, perfect, obedient one being punished on the cross. The one who has dignity, the one who has glory being shamed on the cross.

It's absolutely backwards. It shouldn't be. But Christ says, "Lord, into your hand I commit my life." You know who else said this? Stephen, when he was being martyred. He was a faithful one who was serving the church. He was a faithful one who knew the scriptures. He was sharing the gospel in the synagogue.

And then the Jewish people who were to be religious, they get angry at him, they mob him, they gnash their teeth at him, pull him, and they stone him. And what does he say? "To you I commit my spirit." This is the words of the apostles. This is the words of the saints.

This is the words of the martyrs. John Haas, Martin Luther. These were the words of men who trusted and understood. God is so good, he will preserve my life even through death. And I pray that we all would be ready to say that too. We might not be in like a world of pain right now.

We might not be in a world of hurt right now. But my challenge to you again, even for the small things in your life, are you going to God? Is he your refuge? He has to be. He has to be. So Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 1, he says, "Therefore do not be ashamed to the testimony about our Lord.

Nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace." He says, "Which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do." Listen to this.

"I am not ashamed, because I know whom I believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day." That's so cool. That's the kind of perspective I want. That's the kind of perspective I pray for you. I pray that whatever the circumstance, whatever the issue is, whatever the pain is, that you would have such a confidence in God, that you would be willing to ask, "God, help me." It's not just okay to ask, it is commanded to ask, it is good for you to ask your heavenly father for help.

Is it wrong for you to ask God to remove pain from your life? No, it is not. It's not wrong at all. Ask God for relief. Ask God for help. Ask God for strength. Ask God for protection. But I pray that we would also be submissive and dependent enough, and trust him enough, that if the good God and the author of my life sees it fit that I go through it all, then may it be so.

Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our father, we trust you because you are our God. We trust you because you have delivered so many. And father, we trust you because you have already delivered us and freed us from our own sin, from our own plight, and from the weakness of our own power.

I pray, father God, if there is anybody in here who is hurting, that the love of God would fill them. And God, that you would let them know that you preserve all of your children. And God, that they can be strong and have heart and courage because there is hope in the Lord.

We pray this for the Choi family. We pray for this for everybody who is around, who has family who is hurting. And as we know, father God, sometimes the greatest pains is when we see pain in the people around us. I pray all the more that this would cause us to desire so eagerly to share the love and light of Christ.

There is no hope anywhere else but in you, Lord. We thank you in Christ's name, amen. Why don't we just take the next couple of minutes just to really reflect on the message that we heard this morning. (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) (moves to gentle music) ♪ My hope is built on nothing less ♪ ♪ Than Jesus' blood and righteousness ♪ ♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame ♪ ♪ But wholly trust in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ My hope is built ♪ ♪ My hope is built on nothing less ♪ ♪ Than Jesus' blood and righteousness ♪ ♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame ♪ ♪ But wholly trust in Jesus' name ♪ ♪ Lord, Lord, Lord ♪ ♪ Christ alone ♪ ♪ Cornerstone ♪ ♪ Weak made strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ (moves to gentle music) ♪ When darkness seems to hide His face ♪ ♪ I rest on His unchanging grace ♪ ♪ Every high and stormy gale ♪ ♪ My anchor holds within ♪ ♪ My anchor holds within the veil ♪ ♪ Christ alone ♪ ♪ Cornerstone ♪ ♪ Weak made strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ (moves to gentle music) ♪ He shall come with trumpet sounds ♪ ♪ Oh may I then in Him be found ♪ ♪ Trust in His righteousness alone ♪ ♪ Faultless to stand before the throne ♪ ♪ Faultless to stand before the throne ♪ ♪ Christ alone ♪ ♪ Cornerstone ♪ ♪ Weak made strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Christ alone ♪ ♪ Cornerstone ♪ ♪ Weak made strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Christ alone ♪ ♪ Cornerstone ♪ ♪ Weak made strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love ♪ ♪ Through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ - Let's pray.

Father God, Lord, you are our cornerstone, Lord. We find our refuge in you, Lord, 'cause we know that you are eternal, Lord, and everything on this world is temporary, Lord. We understand, Lord, that you mean everything to us, Lord, that without you, Lord, there is no life, there is no purpose to live.

We have no worth because we find our worth in you, Lord. So would you just continue to just allow us just to be able to strive after you, that we find our comfort and trust in you, just knowing how much you really mean to us, Lord. I just pray just for this time of offering, Lord, that we will be giving with hearts that want to give, Lord, hearts that want to serve you and please you in this way, Lord, that our offering will be pleasing to you, Lord.

So, yeah, I just pray just for this time of offering. I just pray this all in your name. Amen. ♪♪♪ ♪ I'm forgiven ♪ ♪ Because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted ♪ ♪ You are condensed ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well ♪ ♪ Your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ Amazing love.

♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my King, would die for me? ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ In all I do, I honor you ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ I'm forgiven ♪ ♪ I'm forgiven ♪ ♪ Because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted ♪ ♪ You are condensed ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well ♪ ♪ Your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my King, would die for me?

♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ In all I do, I honor you ♪ You are my King. ♪ You are my King ♪ ♪ You are my King, Jesus ♪ ♪ You are my King ♪ ♪ You are my King ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my King, would die for me?

♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ In all I do, I honor you ♪ Why don't we all stand for our closing praise? ♪ ♪ Lord of every age. ♪ ♪ Lord of every age. ♪ Author of our faith.

♪ ♪ The first, the last, the same. ♪ ♪ The name above all names. ♪ ♪ Crown of majesty. ♪ ♪ Lord, His Prince of Peace. ♪ ♪ Known by God's right hand. ♪ ♪ The world at His command. ♪ ♪ The world at His command. ♪ ♪ Jesus, Lamb of God, how great you are.

♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ Every knee bows down at your renown. ♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Merciful High Priest. ♪ ♪ Lover of the least. ♪ ♪ Generous in need. ♪ ♪ Protector of the mean. ♪ ♪ Sacrifice to death.

♪ ♪ For us you fight the wrath. ♪ ♪ You die the world to save. ♪ ♪ To overcome the grave. ♪ ♪ To overcome the grave. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Jesus, Lamb of God, how great you are. ♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ Every knee bows down at your renown.

♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ You reign forever. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Jesus, Lamb of God, how great you are.

♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ Every knee bows down at your renown. ♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ Jesus, Lamb of God, how great you are. ♪ ♪ There is no other Savior. ♪ ♪ Every knee bows down at your renown. ♪ ♪ There is no other Savior.

♪ ♪ ♪ Amen. Let's all bow our heads in prayer. Our God, we want to thank you and pray that this week and the weeks to come, Lord, you would continue to help us walk in your presence. And God, that we would ever draw near to you so that there would be true intimacy, Lord.

That our confidence, our strength, our motivation to continue to walk in faith would not come from possessions, would not come from circumstance, and definitely not from our own might. But God, that we would experience true spiritual power. That no longer are we resting on the weak and incapable strength of man, but God, that we be resting in you.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy. To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.

♪ God sent his Son. ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus. ♪ ♪ He came to love, ♪ ♪ heal and forgive. ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ to buy my paradise. ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ my Savior this. ♪ ♪ Because he lives, ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow.

♪ ♪ Because he lives, ♪ ♪ all fear is gone. ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ he holds the future. ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ just because he lives. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪