14.6.26 Evening Thanksgiving Service: Living In Light of Communion

[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] Thank you.

[1:00] Thank you. It's a very pleasant day. It's lovely to gather together again.

[1:34] I think this weekend for me I've had two very big surprises. The first was this morning when David announced, oh, we're doing an after church fellowship and I'll be grilling you for a little while.

[1:47] But that wasn't the big surprise. The big surprise was when he invited me for a run on Saturday morning and said, it's okay, I'll just be a short 11 miler. Suddenly, friends, had a real severe case of cramp and a bad ankle injury.

[2:03] But no, it's lovely to be together and to open up God's word with one another and to grow in our faith and to share in fellowship. And so we'll get started tonight by singing to God's praise together.

[2:16] The words of our singing will come up. Psalm 103, verses 1 through to 5. O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord, and all that in me is. Be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless.

[2:31] Let's stand if we're able and we'll sing together. Amen. Be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless.

[3:14] Bless, O my soul, the Lord I want, and not forget to be.

[3:32] Of all his gracious benefits, he hath be stoned on thee.

[3:49] For thine iniquities, to the most gracious we forgive.

[4:07] Who thine diseases, all our faith, the kingdom of heaven will be.

[4:22] The kingdom of heaven will be. Through God, criticizing my life, but thou, to death mayst not go down.

[4:43] Who thee with loving kindness doth a tender mercy's come?

[5:01] Who with abundance of good days doth satisfy thy birth?

[5:19] So that in that vehicle change renew it is by you.

[5:40] Well folks, having sung and praised God, now let us pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather again tonight.

[5:52] And we pray for all that will take place this evening. We thank you for over the course of last night and this morning, you are the God who made your presence known amongst us. You are speaking to our hearts, you are encouraging us, and you are maybe challenging or convicting us.

[6:09] You're maybe calling us again to yourself. Well Father, we would ask that once again you would do the same this evening. Lord, give us a realisation tonight, that even though the world offers us pleasure in all its forms, real and lasting joy only comes from you.

[6:28] The material and the physical and even the emotional, Lord, it will one day give way to the spiritual. It was Jesus who said, what good is it if we gain everything, if we gain all the money in the world, and all the fame, and all the pleasure, and all the happiness, if the cost of it is our soul, if the cost of it is our peace with you, what will it gain us, Father?

[6:54] Our Lord, he was telling us, it won't gain us anything, because one day when we die, we will leave all those things behind. Instead, Father, we are encouraged, we are called upon to prioritise our spiritual life, to prioritise our souls.

[7:09] And Lord, as we were reminded, as we opened your word this morning, it's in Jesus we find that we can do that. He who left the riches of heaven, became a man and died on the cross for us, so that we may know spiritual peace with you.

[7:26] Lord, we look to you in his name, and we pray, Father, that we would prioritise properly. Lord, give us a desire to grow our faith. Give us a desire to take the things of God seriously.

[7:40] Help us move forward in our life. Help us to leave the past in the past. And Lord, pick up the future that you have offered to us. As Lord, we have sung to you, we now pray to you.

[7:52] And we ask, Lord, that your grace would meet us in our need. Father, we remember the other services taking place across our land today, and we ask that in every way, the name of Jesus would be made known.

[8:06] The name of Jesus would be lifted up and magnified, and that you would equip your church to share him throughout the week. Lord, bless our efforts in sharing the gospel.

[8:18] We particularly remember tonight our loved ones who do not yet know you. We particularly pray, Lord, for those who are on our minds, who, Lord, have yet to say, the Lord has saved me.

[8:31] Lord, you know who they are, individual to each and every one of us, but collectively known to you. And so we lift them up, Father, and we pray, would you touch their souls tonight?

[8:43] Would you raise up someone who can speak to them and be used by you that they would come to know you as their Lord and Savior? Lord, use a means that only you know to show them the truth that you are what matters most.

[9:02] And so, Lord, we want to pray for all those in our community, those in our homes, those even in our service tonight, who are still struggling to know where they stand spiritually.

[9:13] Remind them, Father, that you are the God who is calling out to them. You are the God who has given your Son for them, and your Son gave his life and now offers to give his Spirit.

[9:25] And so, Father, we look to you. Would you bless us and would you encourage us? Would you be in our midst tonight, Lord, and would you be gracious to us? Would you speak to us as we open up your Word and bless us?

[9:38] For, Lord, we ask it all, undeserving, but in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I've got a few young folks in the church tonight.

[9:51] I like that. That's a good thumbs up. Oh. Right? Yeah. I like that. Got a smile here. Okay. I won't comment on who makes the cutoff.

[10:03] Right. A few young folks. I want to ask you just a really simple question, okay? Do you like surprises? You do. Interesting.

[10:14] I wonder what would happen if we ask the older people if you like surprises. Oh, that's strange, isn't it? They don't seem to like surprises, but you do. Do you think surprises are great?

[10:26] I think they're awesome. Do you think all surprises are great? Hmm. For example, if you were to go into the kitchen and somebody, as a surprise, had put out a giant bowl of popcorn, five tubs of ice cream, three bowls of Haribo, and said, have as much as you like, would that be a good surprise or a bad surprise?

[10:50] Good surprise. You down for that one? Yeah. What about this then? A little while ago, I was walking around my house in my socks, and I walked into the living room, and as I stood on the carpet, all I heard was squelch.

[11:04] I looked up, and there was a great big hole in the plaster, and there was water pouring down through the ceiling, and I thought if I stand here, I could get some shampoo and have a shower.

[11:16] Do you think that was a good surprise or a bad surprise? You are right. It was a bad surprise. See, not all surprises are good.

[11:28] Some are very good. Some are not so good. Sometimes in life, something happens, could be at school, could be at home, could be with your friends, and you don't expect it, and you think, oh, I don't know how to feel about that.

[11:42] For example, recently, I woke up, and on the end of my bed, I found this. Do you think this is a good surprise or a bad one?

[11:57] Would you like to wake up and find one of these? Yeah? Bet you would. Well, as I was thinking about surprises, one of the things I was reminded is that there is one person who you cannot surprise.

[12:14] You know that? You can surprise everybody in this room. Okay? You jump up behind a chair and go, boom! They'll all be surprised. Don't do that, though. Right? Okay? But there's one person, it doesn't matter what you do, you'll never surprise them.

[12:28] Do you know who that is? It's God. It's God. You can't surprise God because he knows everything. And that's actually really good news for us because that means, see, when we get surprised, we can say, Lord, I don't know how to deal with this.

[12:44] I'm not sure what to do right now. Can you help me? When you get really surprised in life, you can always turn to God and he will help you. I'm going to read for you a little verse from the Bible.

[12:58] Okay? The Bible says, because God never gets surprised and he knows all things and he knows what goes on in your life, he says, you can always rejoice.

[13:09] You can pray continually. You can give thanks no matter what's going on. But that's what God wants you to do.

[13:22] Now I've got one last surprise for you. You paying attention? See this bag? It's empty. Thank you.

[13:32] Thank you for listening so well and it's so good to see you out at church tonight. Friends, we are going to continue in our praise, our sung praise.

[13:47] The words will come up on the screen for us. I think we have just sung that one.

[14:00] That's a surprise. Have we got how deep the Father, what was the first one? 987, here is love vast as the ocean.

[14:13] There we go. Mission praise, 987, here is love vast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood. When the prince of life, our ransom, shed for us his precious blood.

[14:29] Let's continue our praise. We'll stand if we're able and we'll sing together. Here is love, vast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood.

[14:54] When the Prince of life, our ransom, shed for us His precious blood. Who His love will not remember, who can cease to sing His praise.

[15:15] He can never be forgotten, throughout Him's eternal days.

[15:27] On the land of crucifixion, at Him's open deep and wide.

[15:38] Through the floodgates of God's mercy, through the mass and gracious mind. Here is love like mighty rivers, Lord, incessant from above.

[15:59] And His peace and perfect justice, is the guilty world in love.

[16:11] If you have your Bible, please open it up with me to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 this evening is our text.

[16:27] I'm going to be reading for us from the NIV, and the words will be on the screen for your convenience. We're going to be camping out in this psalm tonight, and making our way through it, and thinking about it.

[16:41] And so we're going to come and sing it in a moment, from the Gaelic version. But before then, we'll read together. This is God's Word. Psalm 103, a psalm of David.

[16:55] Praise the Lord, my soul.

[17:25] The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.

[17:38] The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbour His anger forever.

[17:51] He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him.

[18:07] As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

[18:22] For He knows how we are dust. For He knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass. They flourish like a flower of the field.

[18:34] The wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord's love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children's children, with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

[18:53] The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word.

[19:06] Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will. Praise the Lord, all His works, everywhere in His dominion.

[19:17] Praise the Lord, my soul. Amen. May God bless the reading of His word to us tonight. We're going to come back and think about that shortly, but before then we're going to sing together, this time in Gaelic, Psalm 103, and use this opportunity to prepare our hearts to listen and hear what God's word says.

[19:41] The Lord our God is merciful and He is gracious. We'll remain seated for our singing. Amen.

[20:04] I hear you from your hand.

[20:34] I hear you from your hand.

[21:04] I hear you from your hand.

[21:34] I hear you from your hand.

[22:04] I hear you from your hand.

[22:34] I hear you from your hand.

[23:04] I hear you from your hand.

[23:36] I hear you from your hand.

[24:08] I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand.

[24:20] I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. And Lord, I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand.

[24:32] I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I hear you from your hand. I wonder, friends, how many of you would describe yourself as forgetful?

[24:48] A few eyebrows were raged there. Ever forgotten a birthday? Ever forgotten a car, MOT, or an appointment? If I'm honest with you, truth be told, I am pretty forgetful. I forget where I put my phone. I forget people's names. Sometimes, confession time, I forget why I walked into a room.

[25:10] Anyone else get that? You walk in there and you think, what on earth am I doing in here? Why did I come in here? Well, Psalm 103 deals with a very serious and costly kind of forgetfulness.

[25:24] It deals with us forgetting the Lord, forgetting his goodness, forgetting his mercy, forgetting what he has done for us. And that's why I chose this psalm for us tonight, because this morning, what did we do?

[25:41] We celebrated communion. And what is communion? It's an act of remembrance. And so the danger that now faces us is that we, having remembered, begin to forget. That we go back to our week, back to our routines, back to our daily lives, and everything that we remembered this morning becomes a distant memory. That's why we need Psalm 103, because what it teaches us is how we are to live in light of communion. How we are to live in light of communion. So let's think about what the Psalm says to us, shall we? First up, Psalm 103 says, this week, wake your soul up. Wake your soul up. Look again at what David said in verse 1, if you've got your Bible open. Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being.

[26:46] Praise his holy name. Now notice with me, straight away, what's David doing here? David's talking to himself. You see, the next time someone criticizes you and says, oh, you're talking to yourself again, you can now say, well, it's entirely biblical, thank you very much. David is doing that, isn't he? He's not talking to a room. He's not preaching to a crowd. He's talking to himself.

[27:08] And what's he saying to himself? He's saying, come on, soul, wake up. Come on, you can't drift through life. You can't take God's mercy for granted. You can't run on autopilot spiritually. No, he says, you've got to get to grips with your spiritual life and you need to praise the Lord with all your inmost being. You need to praise his holy name. Friends, I wonder if you have ever had that experience when you are driving that you suddenly kind of come to and you think to yourself, how did I get here? Ever had that? It's okay to admit it, safe space and all, but you're driving along the road and it's a road you obviously know well. You take the turns, you change the gears, you go through the junctions, you indicate, well, some of you indicate, right? But then you pull up at your destination and you suddenly realize that you have no recollection of the past 10 miles.

[28:13] And you wonder, has someone else been driving? And so it's like your mind tries to catch up with you, isn't it? You start retracing the route and you wonder, did I stop at that junction? Was that light red? Was that a pothole or a tourist?

[28:32] Well, folks, sometimes we do that with our spiritual life. We just run on autopilot. We don't really think about our souls. We don't really think about our spiritual health. We just kind of go day by day with whatever. We maybe come to church, but we don't really feed our soul.

[28:51] We read our Bible, but we don't invest all that much time in it. We pray, but let's be honest, it's only when we need something or something's happened and we have to react. Well, if that's you tonight, if that speaks to you tonight, then you have to do what David does here. You've got to say to your soul, it's not good enough. It's not good enough for me to be lazy with my faith. It's not good enough for me to be careless about my spiritual condition. It's not good enough for me to let other things keep crowding God out. Why? Because Jesus deserves nothing less than my best. That's why.

[29:37] This is why David says, I'm going to praise the Lord, not when it's convenient. That's not what he says, is it? He doesn't say, I'll praise the Lord on Sunday between the hours of 11 and 1230, depending on how long the minister goes on for, and six to seven. No, he says, with all my inmost being, with all my heart, and with all my desires, and my ambitions, and my plans, and my time, and my money, I am going to praise the Lord. Why? Because he deserves nothing less than my best.

[30:16] You know, if you remember the hymn, When I Survey the Wonders Cross, you know that one? Yeah, good. Isaac Watts wrote that hymn when he was thinking about communion. He came to the realization in it that what Jesus had done was so great, that even if he had the entire world, all the money, all the gold, all the properties, all the land, if it was all his, and he were to give it to God, it would not be an offering that was worthy of the greatness of Jesus. You remember how it went? Where the whole realm of nature of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Can you imagine tonight, friends, the difference it might make to your life if you were to copy David's prayer, and begin to pray it each morning? Why don't you try it this week? Each morning, speak to your soul, and tell it to wake up.

[31:33] So, first up tonight, how do we live in light of communion? We wake up our souls. But once we have done that, what comes next? Well, David shows us. Second thing we're told is, you've got to look at what you've got. Look at what you've got. Sometimes that's a phrase we use with children, isn't it?

[31:51] When children are perhaps taking things for granted, complaining because they're not getting something, maybe acting a little spoiled. What do we have to do? We have to tell them, hey, just think about all that you've got for a moment. Let's have a little gratitude.

[32:07] Well, friends, there is a very real danger that we, even as adults, that we can act like spoiled children spiritually with the Lord. You know how's that? We can be very quick to expect things from God, and we can, when we don't get things, accuse him of holding out on us. This is why when David wakes his soul up, he goes on to say in verse 2, praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

[32:40] I wonder if you are part of an organization that gives you perks, or part of a company that gives you benefits. You know, you sometimes are part of a company, and they say, well, we've got an online portal, and if you go on there, you'll get discounted rates on a hotel. Or you might work for an employer, and they say, well, if you go to that garage, you'll get 10% off on your tires. Or there is that great big supermarket, isn't there, that like to send you vouchers through the post if you scan your club cards. Yeah, I've got lots of these kind of things. My problem, though, is I always forget that I've got them. You know, I used to have one of those wallets that had so many store cards in it, I actually forgot what stores I had cards for. Some of you may have purses like that as well.

[33:27] And so if you were anything like me, because I would forget, I would book the hotel, and it'd be full price. I'd go get the tires, full price. I'd go to Tesco's, I would forget to scan the club card, never mind bring the vouchers. For me, it was always after I would remember, I had a discount for that.

[33:49] I had a benefit I could have used there. Well, friends, there's a danger we do that with God in our spiritual life, that we forget all the things he's given to us to help us in our faith. All the things he's given to you that he's expecting you to call upon, he's expecting you to rely upon, he's expecting you to use on an ongoing daily basis. And yet, because of our forgetfulness, we're not doing it. If you want to see what this is, just have a look at the list that David gives us.

[34:21] Verses 3 to 5. What's God giving you? What's the benefits of being a Christian? God forgives all your sins. He heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the pit.

[34:33] He crowns you with love and compassion. He satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Do you know what David is saying there?

[34:46] David is saying in plain terms, in your life, when you feel like you have let God down one too many times, as a Christian, the benefit is he forgives you. When you feel like life has completely broken you, he will heal you. When you feel small and you feel overlooked and you feel forgotten, he will crown you with his love. When you feel the things you have chased in life and you've sacrificed your soul over them and they have left you empty and wanting more and lacking contentment, he will satisfy you. When you feel worn out, stressed out, prayed out, and all cried out, it's God who will renew your strength. Friends, that's what you have in the Lord. And so not only does David say, hey, wake your soul up tonight, he also says you've got to live with these realities at the forefront of your mind. You've got to experience them in the everyday. Don't just come to church and talk about them as if it's a nice idea. When you get up tomorrow and you go to your work, you take this with you. When you go into your home, no matter what's facing you at home, you bring this with you. When you're with your friends, when you're in the hospital, when you are in an argument, when you are struggling and you're suffering and you're feeling guilty or fearful, you bring back to your soul, you bring back to your soul a reminder of what God has given you in Jesus

[36:25] Christ. He didn't give us this, friends, to talk about. He gave us it to experience. So how do we live in light of communion? Number one, you've got to wake your soul up. Number two, you've got to remember what you've got. Thirdly, friends, we need to measure God's mercy. I'm going to take a little breather for a second and get a sip of water. You probably have not noticed this, but sometimes when I'm preaching, I get a little excited. Okay, it's very hard to notice, but now I've said it, I'm sure you will. If you think about all that I've just said for a moment and just let it just sink in, just let it simmer down. It's quite amazing, really. God forgives, he heals, God satisfies, he renews. It's quite amazing. It's great news. But you see, here's where the struggle begins to enter in. Because many of us are going to hear that and we might think, well, Dan, that might be true.

[37:40] But is it true for me? You see, friends, we often think like that because we share an experience tonight. There is a struggle with sin that takes place in every single one of our lives. You know that?

[37:56] You and I, we are no different. You are no different from the one beside you, before you, behind you, and in front of you. You and I have the same experience. We are all struggling with sin.

[38:10] We do wrong things. We say wrong things. We think wrong things. Friends, there is deep inside your heart a vault. It's the vault where you put in all the worst things you've ever thought and said, the things you want no one else to know. And you've put it in there and you lock it up and you'll be horrified if anybody else knew what was going on inside you. Well, friends, one of the oldest tricks in the devil's playbook is he comes along and he says to Christians like you, Christians like me, he says, listen, all of that is true. But just not for you.

[38:50] And friends, when we think about it, we begin to get worried. Because think about all the things we've done. Think about all the times we've failed God. Think about all the times we've promised the Lord. I promise you, God, I will never, ever do that again. And before the week's up, you've done it.

[39:16] And so, friends, the reason that that lie of the devil sounds so believable is because it's partly baked in the truth. We are sinners and we have done all of that and even more. But what I want to remind you of tonight, what I want to say to you is that if you think like that, not only have you misunderstood yourself, you have misunderstood God. Because God is a merciful God. God is a loving God. God is a kind God. And as you live out the Christian life in light of communion, what you're going to need to learn to do is always measure your sin in light of God's mercy. That's the key. You've got to measure your sin in light of God's mercy. You know, I remember when I was a little bit younger, like last week or something, but I was trying to measure something for a little bit of DIY. And I was trying to do my very best. So I had the tape measure out. I was being very careful, you know, measuring twice, cutting once, all very professional stuff. The problem I had though on this occasion, friends, is that I was using a measuring tape that only had feet and inches. Now I'm a modern guy, so I work in centimeters and millimeters, right? And some of you are looking at me with sheer horror on your face, as if to say, what is wrong with him? But see, for me, centimeters and millimeters, that makes sense.

[40:51] Feet and inches. You need a maths degree for that stuff. Three and nine-eighths and two and seven-fourths, I just don't get it. And so on this day, I had the tape measure. There was a moment I tried the old Mr. Bean. It didn't work. So I got the measure tape out again, too long. Tried again, too short.

[41:13] Threw that bit of wood again, threw that bit of wood away, tried again. Friends, it wasn't working for me. Why? Because I was using the wrong measure.

[41:26] Well, we can make the same mistake with God. We can use the wrong measure in order to understand them. You look at your circumstances and you think, that'll tell me what God is like.

[41:39] Or you look at your mood and you think, this'll tell me how much God loves me. Or you look at your failures and you think, this will tell me whether or not God will forgive me. Well, friends, you do any of that, you're never going to get a right understanding of God because that's the wrong measure.

[41:55] You can't measure God by your mood. You can't measure him by the mess you have made of your life or the weak. You can't measure his goodness by how hard your life is and the circumstances you're in.

[42:06] The only way you can ever measure God is you have to listen to what God has told you about himself. And what has he told you? Well, verse 8 shows us.

[42:18] After all, he inspired these words. The Lord is compassionate and gracious. He's slow to anger, bounding in love. He'll not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever.

[42:33] Now, note this. If you're listening to that lie, it's all true, but not for me. Listen to verse 10. He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities.

[42:47] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

[43:01] You hear those wonderful words? When you want to know who is God, when you wonder, what does he think of me?

[43:12] Well, friends, read verse 8. Read verse 10. Or remember the Lord's table. You know what communion is? Communion is a sermon preached from the lips of Christ titled, There is more mercy in me than there is sin in you.

[43:29] And so this week, if you want to live in light of communion, don't measure God by your performance, or by your religious efforts, or by your failings and circumstances.

[43:43] Measure them by his mercy. Lastly, let's bring things to a close. You want to live in light of communion, you have to learn to rest in the Father's compassion.

[44:02] Let me come back to the psalm for a moment. I want you to notice something with me. Up till now, David's really emphasized God's forgiveness. He's talked a lot about our sin. But now in verse 13, he moves very specifically to our weakness.

[44:18] As he says, Friends, in order to capture this, I just simply want you to use your imagination as we finish up tonight.

[44:42] I know it's been a long day, and it's summertime, and actually summer has showed up tonight, and it's quite warm in here. And so just with me for a moment, picture a waiting room.

[44:56] Not a grand room, not a beautiful room, just one of those ordinary hospital waiting rooms. Plastic chairs all around the perimeter, table in the middle with some old magazines on it.

[45:10] In our waiting room, we've got a few people sitting waiting. One's playing on their phone, one's looking at the floor, and one's pretending to read. Every so often, a nurse comes in, and she calls out a name, and someone who's in that room gets up and follows her out.

[45:28] Leaves the rest, though, still waiting. Now, if you're passing by our waiting room, you might happen to say, well, it's just a waiting room. But friends, you will know there is no such thing as just a waiting room if you're doing the one who's waiting.

[45:46] Because you see, in a waiting room, every person carries a weight. Every chair holds a burden. Think about the first chair with me.

[45:59] The first chair, we've got a man sitting there who's just retired. He was looking forward to the good years, the easy years, the years he would put his feet up and take things slower, spend his time in the garage or the garden, playing with the grandkids.

[46:14] And not now. Now he sits in our waiting room in the chair of sickness. Cancer has taken his strength. His calendar's now just run by appointments for chemotherapy.

[46:27] In every way, his body is failing him. And yet you know what David reminds us in this psalm? The Lord knows his frame. The Lord remembers that he is dust.

[46:40] Oh, then we've got another chair. We've got a lady sitting in it. She was once sharp as a pin. She kept her workplace organized. She knows everybody in her community. She knew every birthday.

[46:52] She always remembered to send a card. But not now. Now she sits in the chair of confusion. Dementia has taken her mind.

[47:04] Names slip away. Days get muddled. Family members forgotten. And yet what's our psalm say? The Lord knows her frame.

[47:17] The Lord remembers that she is dust. And then we've got a young man in our last chair. Now you'd look at this young man and you'd think, he shouldn't be in here.

[47:28] Got no walking stick. Got no bandage. Looks to be healthy and happy. But what you can't see is that he's sitting in the chair of a hidden heaviness.

[47:40] He's got a darkness in his mind that won't shift. And it's the kind of darkness that people can't see. And so they come up and they try and help by saying, come on, cheer up. It'll be alright tomorrow.

[47:51] And he knows all that. And yet, no matter what he does, the darkness won't leave him. And yet what does our psalm remind us?

[48:03] The Lord knows his frame. The Lord remembers that he is dust. Well friends, we could keep walking around that great waiting room of life tonight.

[48:14] And if we did, maybe you will see yourself in it or maybe in the years to come you're going to find yourself in it. There's the chair of old age. There's the chair of chronic pain.

[48:25] There's the chair of Parkinson's. There's the chair of exhaustion for caring for a loved one. But what David tells us in this psalm is that whilst we may know or may not yet know what chair we will sit in, the Lord knows.

[48:41] And the Lord is not repelled by our weakness. The Lord is not offended at our weakness. The Lord is not put off by our weakness. The Lord is aware of it. And if you are feeling that weakness tonight, the Lord is there for you.

[48:55] He is there to help you. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

[49:07] You know, friends, if you doubt that, all you have to do for one moment is think about Jesus. Because you see, when Jesus was in heaven, looking in on that great waiting room of life, what did he do?

[49:21] Did he stand back from it? No, he entered into it. He experienced weariness. He knew sorrow. He knew tears.

[49:33] He knew pain. He knew death. And why did he know all of this? He knew it so that he could give us the hope that one day he's going to come and he's going to call our name.

[49:50] He's going to say, I see you in the great waiting room of life. And I'm taking you home to be with me. In the meantime, though, what are we going to do?

[50:05] What are we going to do while we're waiting for that day? We're going to rest in the Father's compassion. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

[50:22] As we finish up tonight, friends, I want to ask you, if you have never yet prayed about your weaknesses, or maybe tonight you find yourself relying far more on your strength than you do on his strength, why not take a moment this evening to pray and ask the Lord to help you rest in his compassion?

[50:48] How do you live in light of communion so that you don't forget it? Speak to your soul. Wake it up. Remember what you've got, all the benefits.

[50:59] Measure God by his mercy, not your sinfulness and not your circumstances. Rest in the Father's compassion, for he knows we are but dust.

[51:12] Let us pray and we'll bring this all to a conclusion. our great and good God, thank you for the weekend that we have enjoyed together. Thank you for your word which is so powerful in sustaining us.

[51:27] Thank you for your Holy Spirit who brings it back to us throughout the week. We would ask now, Lord, that you would speak to our souls a message of comfort and peace, that you would uphold us in our trials and in our difficulties, that in our Lord's weary nights and long days, that we would rest in your compassion knowing that one day you'll call us home to be with you and on that day, Lord, it will be wonderful for we will know rest for all eternity.

[52:00] But until then, Lord, keep us in your mercy and grace. Help us, Lord, not to run on autopilot to be, but to get serious about our spiritual life.

[52:12] Lord, we thank you for all that you have given to us. We thank you, Lord, most of all that you are the merciful and gracious God. And so, Lord, as we bring our communion weekend to a close, we thank you for your presence that's been with us.

[52:29] We praise you, Father. We, Lord, know that you have declared your love to us in the word and so now in prayer we declare our love to you. You are a great God and we do not love you as you deserve to be loved, but we ask that you would accept our broken love.

[52:47] For, Lord, we ask that you would cover us in the forgiveness of Christ. Father, bless the congregation here. May they, Lord, grow in strength, not simply numerically, but spiritually.

[53:01] Would they be prepared, Lord, for the future that lies ahead of them, whether it be good or whether they be bad, that, Lord, you would be such a key part of their life, that, Lord, whatever comes their way, they would know your presence and peace.

[53:18] Father, bless us, go with us and forgive us, for we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, folks, let us finish up our time together.

[53:33] We're going to sing Mission Praise 755. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.

[53:49] Let's stand, if we're able, we'll sing together and please remain standing afterwards for the closing benediction. when I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my gracious gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.

[54:40] For it in Lord that I should boast in the death of Christ my God.

[54:58] All loving things that charm me most I sacrifice by sacrifice and to His blood by grace by grace by grace From his head, his hands, his feet, Sorrow and love, no wrinkle down.

[55:36] In exerct love and sorrow need, Our thoughts compose so rich a plan.

[55:54] Where the whole realm of nature bind, And where an offering fire disroars, And so amazing, so divine, He wants my soul, My life, my love.