How Do I Pray from the Misery of My Sin?

00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)

00:00:02.580 | - Welcome back to the podcast.

00:00:05.480 | We have been doing this podcast for almost a decade now.

00:00:08.840 | And over those 10 years,

00:00:11.040 | there have been some moving pastoral moments

00:00:13.720 | throughout those episodes.

00:00:15.740 | I remember one from a long time ago.

00:00:18.960 | I looked it up.

00:00:20.260 | It's way back in episode 131,

00:00:24.940 | episode 131 in Oldie.

00:00:27.320 | There, Pastor John was talking about

00:00:28.920 | important Bible verses to memorize,

00:00:31.440 | ones that he's found particularly useful in serving others.

00:00:35.080 | One such text was Psalm 130, verse three.

00:00:38.960 | If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

00:00:44.000 | O Lord, who could stand?

00:00:45.720 | There, Pastor John testified,

00:00:48.200 | quote, how many times have I knelt down,

00:00:51.460 | put my arm on somebody who has just been broken

00:00:54.800 | over some sin that they have committed,

00:00:58.320 | and I have been able to just pray over them this text.

00:01:02.400 | Lord, if you would mark iniquities, who could stand?

00:01:07.400 | That's a moving picture of a word spoken pastorally.

00:01:13.600 | And that image and that text comes to my mind

00:01:16.800 | when I think of today's sermon clip,

00:01:18.660 | because there's a question over

00:01:20.680 | how do we approach God in the midst of our brokenness,

00:01:24.120 | particularly in the brokenness we experience

00:01:26.400 | over our own sins.

00:01:29.360 | This very question gets answered robustly

00:01:31.280 | in Nehemiah chapters nine and 10.

00:01:33.840 | God's people are in distress,

00:01:36.200 | distress caused by their own sins.

00:01:38.840 | They know it, and they know they deserve

00:01:41.400 | the distress itself.

00:01:42.640 | So how do we approach God now?

00:01:46.000 | Here's Pastor John to explain,

00:01:47.180 | looking at Nehemiah chapter nine.

00:01:49.480 | - Starting with verse six, to the end of verse 37,

00:01:55.480 | the Levites are praying.

00:01:58.560 | This chapter is a prayer.

00:02:01.920 | They're praying to the end of verse 37,

00:02:05.440 | and they're crying out to you, oh God.

00:02:08.720 | The word you, in reference to God,

00:02:11.200 | occurs 30 times in these verses.

00:02:16.200 | What did they do?

00:02:17.840 | What did they say?

00:02:19.320 | How did they deal with God in great distress?

00:02:25.320 | And that's what we wanna know.

00:02:28.240 | How did they do that?

00:02:31.200 | Before we ask further,

00:02:36.200 | let's get more specific about the distress,

00:02:40.320 | 'cause this will clarify your situation.

00:02:43.000 | 'Cause there's some of you right now

00:02:45.240 | who are perhaps arguing with yourself,

00:02:50.240 | if not with me, what you're about to say

00:02:53.400 | is not gonna apply to me,

00:02:54.760 | 'cause you don't understand how I got where I am.

00:03:00.240 | So let's just see whether that's true or not.

00:03:04.000 | Back to verse 37.

00:03:06.460 | They're not just in distress.

00:03:10.360 | They are in a distress that they deserve to be in

00:03:15.360 | because of their sin.

00:03:18.200 | And they are in a distress that God himself

00:03:23.160 | put them in.

00:03:24.440 | So let's look at verse 37 to see that.

00:03:27.920 | The land, its rich yield

00:03:32.240 | that we're supposed to inherit as a promise.

00:03:36.080 | This land goes to the kings

00:03:40.440 | whom you set over us.

00:03:43.800 | The slave masters, you put them over us, God,

00:03:49.640 | because of our sins.

00:03:53.200 | In other words, the great distress that we are in,

00:03:58.320 | we deserve to be in.

00:04:00.400 | And not only do we deserve to be in,

00:04:02.720 | it's judgment sent from you.

00:04:04.960 | So now we get clarity for you on this.

00:04:11.400 | Some of you might be tempted to say,

00:04:15.380 | the rest of you in here,

00:04:18.000 | you can call upon God in your distress,

00:04:21.480 | but not me, because I sinned my way

00:04:24.600 | into the mess I'm in.

00:04:25.900 | And number two, God put me here

00:04:30.300 | as a discipline or a punishment.

00:04:33.320 | So the rest of you can go on about your merry way

00:04:36.400 | following this preacher and learn how to call upon God

00:04:39.160 | in your distress, because it just came upon you.

00:04:43.160 | It didn't just come upon me, I brought it on me.

00:04:47.440 | That's their situation.

00:04:49.800 | So if you're in that category,

00:04:52.720 | you dare not talk like that.

00:04:55.240 | Don't talk to God like that.

00:04:57.900 | Do not say to God, this text is not addressing my need

00:05:02.900 | 'cause I sinned my way into the mess I'm in

00:05:06.200 | and you brought it on me.

00:05:07.680 | That's irrelevant, that's the point of this text.

00:05:11.720 | These people are in a distress they deserve to be in,

00:05:14.840 | God put them in.

00:05:16.480 | None of you may escape the good news of this text.

00:05:23.480 | You have no right to tell God

00:05:28.720 | he can't give you good news.

00:05:31.920 | Oh, how many people I have dealt with over the years

00:05:38.440 | who tried to tell God they are beyond good news.

00:05:44.280 | And I get upset with them

00:05:47.480 | because they are belittling the cross,

00:05:50.920 | diminishing the blood, crying down the mercy,

00:05:55.000 | exalting themselves in their self pity.

00:05:58.360 | I won't have it, neither in this room

00:06:03.680 | nor in the counseling chamber.

00:06:05.800 | Don't tell God that he can't give you good news

00:06:11.720 | because you've sinned your way into your misery

00:06:14.480 | and God himself brought you under his discipline.

00:06:18.660 | That's exactly their situation.

00:06:21.480 | So we're in this together and we want desperately to know,

00:06:26.480 | so how do you approach God now?

00:06:29.600 | How do you talk to God in that situation?

00:06:34.400 | 'Cause that's what they're doing

00:06:36.040 | and I want to learn as best I can how they do it.

00:06:41.640 | So what do they do?

00:06:43.280 | It's astonishing what they do.

00:06:45.280 | They pray back to God

00:06:48.560 | the entire history of the Old Testament.

00:06:54.280 | This is the longest,

00:06:57.080 | maybe the right word is,

00:06:58.760 | this is the fullest retelling

00:07:02.720 | of the Old Testament in the Old Testament.

00:07:05.400 | So Jim Hamilton says in his new commentary,

00:07:10.000 | this is the fullest retelling of the Old Testament

00:07:14.820 | in a short space in the Old Testament.

00:07:17.560 | And it's a prayer.

00:07:18.840 | So they're telling God what God did for a thousand years,

00:07:23.040 | more than a thousand.

00:07:25.280 | That's a remarkable way to approach God

00:07:29.600 | in a deserved God ordained distress.

00:07:36.800 | So verses six to 31,

00:07:41.000 | they're telling the story of the Old Testament.

00:07:46.000 | Why would they do that?

00:07:48.480 | Here's why.

00:07:51.080 | God does not exist so that we can enjoy Bible stories.

00:07:56.080 | Bible stories exist so that we can enjoy God.

00:08:03.680 | And they desperately, desperately need to know

00:08:08.560 | is our God the kind of God

00:08:12.360 | in whom there's any possibility of enjoyment

00:08:16.640 | in our great distress, well-deserved, given by God.

00:08:21.640 | Any hope at all that there's a God in heaven

00:08:26.440 | that would give us hope that He could be enjoyed in this.

00:08:30.800 | That's what they need to know.

00:08:32.200 | And they know where to find the answer in the story

00:08:36.220 | 'cause that's what the stories are for, to reveal God.

00:08:41.220 | And they desperately need to know

00:08:43.680 | what kind of God do we have?

00:08:45.720 | Is it over for us?

00:08:47.560 | Or is He the kind of God that perhaps

00:08:52.640 | there might be some hope in a deserved, God-given distress?

00:09:00.100 | That's why they're retelling the stories back to God.

00:09:05.100 | Verses six to 15, the Levites celebrate the power of God,

00:09:12.060 | the righteousness of God,

00:09:18.720 | and the covenant-keeping salvation of God.

00:09:22.680 | Verse six, "You are," all caps, "the Lord."

00:09:29.200 | And you know what that refers to.

00:09:32.220 | Yahweh, "You are," that's His personal name.

00:09:35.040 | It's like, "You are James."

00:09:37.740 | Well, it's not James, it's Yahweh.

00:09:39.560 | You are Yahweh, and you know where the name came from.

00:09:41.960 | Exodus chapter three, verse 14,

00:09:44.160 | "Tell them I am sent you.

00:09:46.860 | "I am who I am."

00:09:49.040 | And the name Yahweh built on I am who I am,

00:09:52.320 | which means every time you see big L-O-R-D,

00:09:55.680 | this is God saying, "I am God."

00:09:59.280 | And I have no competitors, and I depend on nobody,

00:10:03.800 | and nothing, I had no beginning, I will have no end.

00:10:08.800 | Deal with me, because that is reality.

00:10:12.360 | That's God, every time He says, "You'll know I'm the Lord,"

00:10:16.740 | so they begin, "You are Yahweh."

00:10:19.960 | It's a good place to begin.

00:10:21.840 | You are absolute God.

00:10:24.320 | There's no negotiation going on here, at all.

00:10:28.640 | You don't negotiate with God.

00:10:30.800 | He is absolute reality.

00:10:33.020 | We are defined.

00:10:37.680 | He is definer.

00:10:40.040 | We are dependent.

00:10:41.360 | He is totally independent.

00:10:44.000 | Our being comes into being.

00:10:46.920 | His being has always been as inconceivable as that is,

00:10:51.920 | and how glorious.

00:10:55.240 | So we just begin here.

00:10:56.520 | This is a place of reverence, and humility, and lowliness.

00:11:01.200 | You begin your dealing with this God

00:11:03.680 | in your great distress.

00:11:05.240 | You are Yahweh, the great, and only, and absolute God.

00:11:10.240 | Verse six in the middle.

00:11:14.600 | "You have made heaven, and heaven of heavens,

00:11:18.260 | "with all their hosts, the earth, and all that is on it,

00:11:22.780 | "the seas, and all that is in them,

00:11:25.600 | "and you preserve them all."

00:11:29.920 | So you made everything.

00:11:31.600 | You uphold everything.

00:11:33.600 | "Therefore, the hosts," I like the translation,

00:11:37.040 | "armies, the armies of heaven, worship you."

00:11:41.080 | You are exalted.

00:11:43.600 | Verse five, "Exalted above all blessing and praise."

00:11:48.080 | So that's where you begin, right?

00:11:50.560 | In dealing with God, just lift him up.

00:11:54.560 | Now remember, these are people who are totally guilty,

00:11:57.800 | under distress, given by God, okay?

00:12:03.920 | So you lift up your soul in your guilt,

00:12:06.400 | and you lift up your soul in your distress,

00:12:08.880 | and you lift up your soul under the mighty hand of God,

00:12:12.400 | and you say, "You are God."

00:12:14.240 | That's a great place to begin.

00:12:17.000 | - Yeah, amazing.

00:12:17.840 | Don't tell God that he can't give you good news

00:12:19.640 | because you've sinned your way into your misery.

00:12:22.520 | That's a great point from a sermon preached

00:12:24.040 | on June 27th, 2014 at the Gospel Coalition

00:12:27.080 | Women's Conference in Orlando, Florida.

00:12:29.520 | It covered Nehemiah 9, verse one,

00:12:31.640 | all the way to Nehemiah 10, verse 39,

00:12:33.920 | and it is titled, "Responding to God According to His Word."

00:12:38.240 | If you have a great sermon clip for me, send me an email.

00:12:41.560 | Give me your name, hometown, the sermon title,

00:12:43.520 | and the timestamp of where the clip happens in the audio,

00:12:45.880 | and make a note of what stands out to you.

00:12:47.280 | Put the word clip in the subject line of an email

00:12:49.880 | and send it to me at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.

00:12:53.920 | That's an email address, askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.

00:12:58.120 | Well, do unbelievers get a second chance

00:13:04.280 | at salvation after death?

00:13:07.300 | It's a common question, very important one,

00:13:10.160 | one that means we need to look carefully

00:13:12.360 | at 1 Peter 3:19.

00:13:14.440 | I'm your host, Tony Rehnke,

00:13:15.400 | and we are rejoined in studio with Pastor John

00:13:17.080 | when we return on Friday to look at that text,

00:13:19.640 | 1 Peter 3:19.

00:13:21.880 | We'll see you then.

00:13:22.840 | (upbeat music)

00:13:25.420 | (upbeat music)

00:13:28.000 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

How Do I Pray from the Misery of My Sin?

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