Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.northharris.freechurch.org/sermons/106147/11126-am/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] So we return to the Lord. He will return to us. So enable us, we pray, Help them, help us, we pray, to realise that Jesus has done everything to forgive us for our sin. [0:40] That the work is done and all we have to do is come believing in him and receiving the grace and the sure and certain hope that there is in Christ. [0:53] We pray for those today who may have hearts that are sore. Lord, you're always conscious of those who are grieving. And we pray for KTAC, especially in Grosby and Murdo and Rachel and their families. [1:10] We commit them to you and ask that you would comfort them and enable them each to come to the God of all comfort. We pray for others in Carloway and Bargus and Ness, the families of these fishermen. [1:25] And we ask, Lord, that you would comfort them and uphold them and draw near to them, help them, not to turn from you, but to turn to you, the God who is with us in every struggle that we have in this world. [1:44] We pray for those who would desire to be here today, but we are sick. Minister to them where they are, we pray. Lord, we pray for others who have no desire to be here, but who are healthy enough to come if they want to. [1:59] We ask, Lord, that you would work in their hearts. We don't look down on any such people because we know that none of us would seek God without the work of the Holy Spirit. So awaken, Lord, we pray, the hearts of many, that we may see more people coming to this place and to all the churches to hear the gospel of Jesus. [2:21] Help us to speak about Jesus in this place and help us that you're sent to far off places to speak about Jesus. We thank you for Merv and Lucy. We thank you for all that we'll share tonight about the ongoing work in Nepal and Kenya and Burma and different places. [2:39] Continue to sustain them, we pray, and help them as they go out with the good news about Jesus. So hear our prayers lead us and guide us in this time of worship. [2:50] Cleanse us, we pray, from our sin as we confess it. Empty us of all that is of self and fill us with the Holy Spirit that we may be in the Spirit on the Lord's day. [3:05] And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Boys and girls, would you like to come forward, please? Amen. How are you guys all today? [3:29] Good, good. Might put this on a little? Yeah. Thank you. Well, I don't have the thing with me to show you this morning, but I thought I would tell you some sad, bad news that we have in our house. [3:49] And it was about an iPad. Have any of you got an iPad? So, what do you do with your iPad? Do you watch stuff and play games? Olivia? Yeah. I've watched stuff and play games because it's not that you need to charge it and it's kind of going to listen. [4:07] It's kind of that you don't have it. This is exactly the problem with iPads, isn't it? Sometimes they can be great and you can sit and you can watch the football in your own little space. [4:20] Nobody bothering you. And sometimes iPads don't work so well. And so, this iPad that I had, we would use it for doing different kinds of things. [4:33] And then, I think it was last Thursday, couldn't find it, and I went through to look for it. It was in one of the girls' rooms and, Olivia, exactly what you said had happened. [4:44] They'd watched it until every last drip of juice power had gone out of it and then they just left it on the table. So, I took it through to the study and I went to plug it in and usually you've got to wait for a few minutes to let the power come through. [5:02] And then what happens, it comes to life, doesn't it? But you know what happened with this iPad? It wasn't even that old. When it's powered on, it was in something called recovery mode. [5:17] Ever heard of that? Well, hopefully you never will have to deal with recovery mode. Just did a picture of a sad iPad and a cable and it said, go to this screen, recovery mode. [5:29] I thought, what on earth is this? So, I went and I checked online to see, how do you fix an iPad that's in recovery mode? And, these people on YouTube were saying, oh, it's not that difficult. [5:42] All you have to do is you just have to plug it into your computer and then it'll say, do you want to update? Click update and it'll be good as new. I thought, excellent, that's good. Plugged it in, up came the box, selected update, waited forever for the thing to get to the end and at the end of the update, do you know what it said? [6:05] This iPad cannot be updated. If it cannot be updated, it must be restored back to factory settings. It's got everything that was on it, it's got to come off it. [6:18] Do you want to restore? And I thought, oh, no. I'll try update again. So, I tried it again and again and again. Nothing. So then I thought, oh, well, the last thing is I'll have to restore it. [6:34] Plugged it in, hit restore, waited forever for it to get to the end and you know what happened? Guess what happened? Did it work? [6:47] Didn't work. It came and it said, this iPad cannot be updated or restored. Exactly. [6:59] So what's it good for? It's good for nothing. It's good for the bin. Thanks, Corinne, for that word of encouragement. [7:13] It can't be. So, the bad news about the iPad is it can't be restored. And I said, I thought, why can't it be restored? And all the tech folks said, it's because something and it's corrupted. [7:27] Something wrong inside of it. Now, that's the bad news about the iPad. But here's the good news about us. In our hearts, we have a problem, don't we? [7:42] What's the problem in our hearts? What's it called, Olivia? It's called sin. But, is the sin in our hearts? Is there anybody able to fix us? [7:55] Really? Jesus. Exactly. And, is there anyone, anywhere, that Jesus isn't able to fix? [8:08] Okay? No. We're going to sing in just a minute the Psalm, Psalm 23. And it says in Psalm 23, He restores my soul. [8:23] And the great news for us is, it doesn't matter what we've done, we might have done really, really bad sins. And some people, I speak to them and they say, Jesus couldn't forgive me. [8:36] And I tell them the good news and say, yes, He can. There's no one anywhere, nothing that we've done, that Jesus can't fix. [8:48] And if we come to Him and trust in Him, He promises that He will restore our souls. So what's that iPad good for? [9:00] Nothing. It can be thrown away. Jesus never throws any of us away. He says, come to me and I'll restore your soul. [9:12] So let's pray, don't we? Let's close our eyes and let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank You that You love us and we thank You that even when we make a mess, even when our hearts sometimes are very dark, we thank You that You're able to fix us. [9:31] We thank You, Jesus, that You came into this world to take away our sin and to restore our souls. And we pray every one of us here that You would work in us, that You would take away our sin and that You would restore our souls and that You would make us well in our hearts. [9:52] So hear our prayers and help us, boys and girls and the older ones too, to say from our hearts, Lord Jesus, will You be my shepherd and will You restore my soul and give me a life that lasts forever. [10:07] And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing now and we're going to sing the modern version of Psalm 23. [10:18] The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. We'll stand to sing in just a moment. Amen. The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. [10:41] He makes me lie in pasture stream, He leads me by the still, still waters, His goodness restores my soul, and I will trust in you alone. [11:05] And I will trust in you alone. For your endless mercy follows me, your goodness will lead me home. [11:24] He guides my ways in righteousness, and He anoints my head with joy, and my cup is over, close with joy, I restore His beauty life, and I will trust in you alone. [11:54] And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. For your endless mercy follows me, your goodness will lead me home. [12:13] And though I walk the darkest path, I will not fear the evil one. [12:26] For you are with me, and you're broad and staff, and the comfort I need to know. [12:37] And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. [12:48] For your endless mercy follows me, your goodness will lead me home. [13:01] And I will trust in you alone. Okay, boys and girls, if you head through to Sunday's school in Thresh, and remember to be praying for them as they go. [13:12] And if we could turn, please, in our Bibles to two places, Psalm 107 and Mark chapter 4. [13:42] Psalm 107 and verse 4. [14:12] Psalm 119 and Mark chapter 5. [14:42] Psalm 119 and Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 4. Psalm 119 and Mark chapter 5. [14:54] And we'll read from verse 35 to verse 41. On that day, when evening had come, he, that's Jesus, said to them, that's the disciples, let us go across to the other side. [15:13] And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. [15:26] But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. [15:44] And the wind ceased. And there was a great calm. He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? [16:06] Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We're going to sing again to God's praise. And we're going to sing Mission Praise 1141. [16:19] We'll sing the Gaelic at the end today. Mission Praise 1141. You're the word of God the Father. From before the world began, every star and every plant has been fashioned by your hand. [16:33] All creation holds together by the power of your voice. Let the skies declare your glory. Let the land and seas rejoice. You're the author of creation. We'll stand to sing in just a moment to God's praise. [16:46] retrava daqui The Word of God, the Father, from before the world began, every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand. [17:18] All creation holds together by the power of your voice. Let the skies declare your glory, let the land of seas rejoice. [17:34] You're the author of creation, you're the Lord of every man, and you cry of love rings and across the land. [17:48] If you left the gaze of angels, came to sing and sing the lost, and exchanged the joy of heaven for the anguish of the cross. [18:07] With a prayer you read the book, with a word you still must see, yet how silently you suffer, that the guilty may fall free. [18:23] You're the author of creation, you're the Lord of every man, and you cry of love rings and across the land. [18:40] With a shout you rose victorious, rest in victory from the grave, and ascended into heaven, leading captains in your way. [18:55] Now you stand before the Father, interceding for your own, from each tribe and town and nation, you are leading sinners whole. [19:12] You're the author of creation, you're the Lord of every man, and you cry of love rings and across the land. [19:34] If I could ask you please to turn to Psalm 107, the psalm that we read just a few moments ago. And as we go there we'll pray, ask for God's help. [19:49] Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the psalm, and we pray now for the help of God the Holy Spirit, the one who inspired these words to be written. [20:04] We thank you that he is our teacher. He is the one who is able to illuminate our minds and stir our hearts. And we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would be doing that, that we would see Jesus, that we would see all that is offered to us in Christ. [20:24] And we pray that this wouldn't just be another day where we sit, come into church, sit for a while, have a cup of tea and then go. We pray that you would work in our hearts, that there may be someone even today who would come to Jesus for the first time and find the peace, the peace and restoration of soul that he alone is able to give. [20:56] We pray for the children. We thank you for them. And we ask, Lord, that in Sunday school that they would enjoy themselves, that they would sing praise from their hearts, that the words that they sing would remain in their minds all the days of their lives. [21:09] We can think back to Sunday school songs that we sang 50 years ago. And we pray that these words, that these messages would lodge in their minds and that you would work, Lord God, in their hearts, that they would, from the earliest of years, come to Jesus and not be hindered from coming to Jesus. [21:31] We pray for any of the young ones that might be sitting at home and watching even now. And we ask, Lord, that they too would commit their lives to Christ. And we pray not just for the young ones, we pray for the congregations around us, different denominations, wherever Christ crucified is preached. [21:50] We pray that, Lord Jesus, you would be building your church and adding to the number of those who are your people. We thank you that, Lord Jesus, you are building your kingdom. [22:01] And that kingdom crosses many boundaries of nations and denominations. So be at work, Lord, we pray, across the land that many today would give praise and honour to Christ as King. [22:16] And we pray these things in his name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. Maybe I could start by just saying that Psalm 107 is not where I expected to be this morning or last week. [22:38] We've been going through Matthew's Gospel for quite a long time here. For those who are visiting, you won't know that, but for most of us, we have been stepping through Matthew's Gospel and I expected to be going on to the next passage. [22:51] In fact, I'd prepared a sermon on the next passage, which was already by about Thursday night and Friday morning. And then last Saturday morning, I woke up with words in my mind and they stuck with me to the extent that I felt that God was calling me to set aside the Matthew sermon for a week or two and get back into the study and look at Psalm 107. [23:22] And that's not happened to me often. That might have only happened to me less than half a dozen times in the course of 20 years. So the words that were in my mind, the word that I could not, I couldn't get away from were these words from Psalm 107. [23:43] And the words in my mind were from the metrical version. The storm is changed into a calm at his command and will so that the waves which raged before now quiet are and still. [23:58] Then are they glad because at rest and quiet now they be. So to the haven he then brings which they desire to see. [24:08] Now last week, waking up, we were in the middle of a fierce storm. We only had power until halfway through the day if I remember rightly. [24:23] This morning, as I was reading this again and looking out the window, the sea was like glass. Absolute calm. [24:36] And so we can, in our mind's eye, see very clearly both situations, the storm, the calm. So this morning, I want to turn to Psalm 107 and then what I think will be a shorter sermon, I want to look at these verses and think about how they point us and to the rest, the peace, the calm, the salvation that he gives to those who trust in him. [25:09] Four points to take us through these verses. The first thing we'll see is a picture of our lives in this psalm. The second thing we'll see in these verses is that we are given here a prophecy that leads us to Jesus. [25:28] The third thing we'll see is the peace that is received in and through the Lord Jesus. And the last thing we are called to do in response to all that Christ has done is we are called to praise the Lord Jesus. [25:50] That gives us a structure for our thoughts. So first of all, we see in this psalm a picture of our lives. Now this is a psalm that was probably written about a thousand years before Jesus came into this world. [26:09] And this is a psalm that was for God's people and it remains today still for God's people. It's a psalm that speaks into our lives. [26:20] And the reality is our lives in this world can sometimes be stormy. And even as I look around in this room, I can think about a whole lot of situations presently and in the past that we've been through, that you've been through, that we could describe as stormy. [26:48] In verse 29, there is that reference to the storm. The storm is changed into a calm. [26:59] And the word in the Hebrew for storm is sahar. I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but we have two of them in and they've checked the pronunciation. [27:09] It's sahar. And the word in Hebrew literally means tempest or whirlwind. We're not talking about a breeze here that makes sailing a wee bit choppy. [27:27] we're talking about a storm that is a tempest, that's a whirlwind. The word that's used is a word that comes from the Hebrew word for hurricane. [27:41] So there's a ferocity in this storm. And for God's people, who first read this psalm, as they thought about their experience going back through the years, they had been through many storms. [27:58] We think about God's people back then and think about what they'd been through. Remember, in Egypt, they had been slaves 400 years. Many generations had experienced the storm of slavery and the harsh conditions in that place. [28:15] And then, after being released from slavery in Egypt, they wandered into the desert. and they're in this harsh desert wilderness for 40 years. [28:27] Again, this was a stormy experience. God's people, at the time of reading this psalm, they knew what it was like to be intimidated and attacked by nations that were hostile. [28:43] They knew what it was to be the subject of those who wanted to make war with them. they knew about storms. And David, the psalmist, we don't know that he was definitely the author of this psalm, but he might have been. [29:05] David, who may have written this psalm, certainly, he knew what it was like to go through storms in his life. And some storms that David went through were caused because of his own wandering away from God into sin, but many more of the storms that David and the Lord's people experienced were caused not because they were wandering away, but because they were following the Lord. [29:32] in a moment, we'll come back to Mark 4. And in that passage, we see the disciples and they're in a storm. [29:47] Why were they in a storm? Well, it's because they were with Jesus. Jesus was the one who said, we're going to the other side, come into the boat. [30:02] Jesus was the one who led them into the storm. They were in a storm because they were with Jesus. And you know, there are Christians in places today, places like Nigeria, places like India, Pakistan, North Korea, and they are living in a constant state of storm. [30:30] Why? Because they're following Jesus. And it's good for us, I think, to be realistic about the fact that in this life, we will go through storms. [30:52] Remember Jesus said in John chapter 16, verse 33, I think it is, in this world, you will have tribulation. You will have trouble. [31:06] You will have storms. This is a picture in the psalm of our lives. God's people will still experience storms. [31:17] God's people will still get sick. God's people will still grieve for those who may lose to death. [31:33] God's people will still come under attack. God's people will still struggle with loneliness and anxiety and depression, sometimes despair. [31:52] Spurgeon, who writes on all the psalms, and he writes helpfully on this psalm. Spurgeon, although it's maybe not something that's known to all of us, we maybe think of Spurgeon, he's the prince of preachers, he's a godly man, we can imagine Spurgeon just always, always just full of the spirit and always preaching. [32:16] Spurgeon was actually crippled by depression for big periods in his life. And he writes this, I think it was on the psalm that he wrote this, he wrote, I have suffered many times from severe sickness and frightful mental depression, seeking almost to despair. [32:38] Almost every year I've been laid aside for a season, for flesh and blood cannot bear the strain, at least such flesh and blood as mine. [32:51] A man of God, but he knew about the storms of this life, not least the storms that raised in his mind. So the point in application for us to note at the beginning is the Lord's people will experience storms. [33:13] That shouldn't surprise us. But the comforting truth is that the Lord knows when we are going through storms. [33:24] We may not know about the storms that we're going through, but God knows. He knows when we're going through storms, and he promises that he will never leave us, forsake us, but he will be with us in them. [33:53] And often what we experience is that the Lord draws nearer to us in the storm than we ever experience in the calm and the sunshine. [34:12] For the disciples that we'll see in just a moment again, they learned more about the love of Jesus and the power of Jesus in the storm than they ever did in the calm. [34:28] So we see in the psalm, particularly in the illustration of the storm, a picture of our lives, point number one. Point number two, we have in these verses a prophecy that leads us to Jesus. [34:44] Still in verse 29 of the psalm, he made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. [34:58] Now, if we think about this, first of all, just in a literal, in a natural way, think about the impossibility of what's being said here. Think about the absolute impossibility of calming a storm, of making the stormy sea in a moment be still. [35:25] Last weekend, Lois was away and she was due to come back home on Monday of this week. She was due to sail over on Monday, but with all the winds over the course of the weekend, we decided rather than her getting the ferry on Monday, she would just fly instead. [35:45] Because even though Monday was calmer, the sea, the sea, the sea, the sea, the sea, the sea on Monday will have a huge swell, so it's not going to be a comfortable journey. [36:02] The sea doesn't just become still. we may see that the wind sometimes becomes still, but even after the wind becomes still, the sea rages. [36:18] But in the psalm, we see that we have been directed to one who is able to make the storm be still, and someone who is able to hush the waves of the sea. [36:30] The question is, who can do this? And the answer is Jesus. We are being pointed in a word of prophecy to Jesus. [36:47] And in Mark's gospel, actually in all four gospels, we have eyewitness accounts of how Jesus did exactly that. So turn with me again to Mark chapter four. Let's just read these verses again from verse 35. [37:17] On that day when evening had come, Jesus said to the disciples, let us go across to the other side. That's the word of Jesus. Remember, he says we're going across. [37:30] And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was, and other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling, but he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. [37:48] And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace, be still. [38:01] And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. I wonder, did the disciples think about this psalm as they reflected upon what they were witnessing and what they were in the middle of? [38:25] because they knew the psalms. They weren't going to schools that had no Bible. They had the Bible drummed into them from the earliest of years. [38:36] They knew the psalms. They knew the Old Testament scriptures. Did their minds go to Psalm 107 as they were in this situation? Because the connections between Psalm 107 and Mark 4 are so clear. [38:50] The word Mark uses for storm, when he's describing this storm in verse 37, it means tempest. [39:03] It means whirlwind. It's the same word as Psalm 107. And Mark tells us about the waves of the sea, another clear connection, even with the phrase used within Psalm 107. [39:20] Mark tells us that Jesus, he hushes the wind and the sea like a mother hushes an angry child. And Mark tells us that Jesus made the storm be still. [39:37] Again, it's the same word, same phrase, as we have in Psalm 107. And the disciples, disciples, as they feel the fury of the storm, and as they see the intervention of Jesus, and witness what he affects, they ask this question, verse 41, who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? [40:11] and the answer to the question that the disciples were asking was found by looking back a thousand years to Psalm 107. [40:25] Psalm 107 is a prophecy that leads us to Jesus. Who is the Lord that makes the storm be still? [40:38] Well, it's Jesus. He is the Lord. He's the focus of Psalm 107. He is the Son of God, the one that Mark is writing to tell us about. [40:56] He is the author of creation, and it's because he's the author of creation, because he spoke creation into being, he is also able to speak, and the wind and the waves have to obey him. [41:14] Jesus is not simply a man. He is the God-man. He is the promised Messiah. [41:28] To Psalm 107, it gives us a picture of our lives and the storms that we go through. And Psalm 107 is a word of prophecy that leads us to Jesus. [41:42] Third point, peace in the Lord Jesus. Because that's what we see the disciples receiving. And we see also the preview of that in Psalm 107. [41:58] in Psalm 107, we go from storm to peace. Then are they glad, it says in verse 30, because at rest and quiet now they be. [42:12] So to the haven he then brings which they desired to see. They've gone from the storm of verse 29 to the rest, to the quiet, to the haven of verse 30. [42:27] And in Mark chapter 4, the disciples go from the storm to peace. And the question that we have to ask is, who brings the peace? [42:42] And the answer is Jesus. It was Jesus who brought the disciples to their desired haven. [42:53] The word for haven there can also mean harbour. And if we fast forward even further into the eternal realm, it can also mean city. [43:07] So it was Jesus who brought the disciples to the haven, the safety, the harbour that they desired to see. It was the Lord Jesus who brought the disciples to the other side, just as he promised that he would. [43:23] He said, let's go to the other side. And so they were going there because he spoke it into truth. And for these disciples, it had been terrifying in the storm, but the peace that they longed for, the peace that they desired to see, the peace that they were glad about when they received, was found in and through Jesus. [43:58] There is peace in the Lord Jesus. And that was true and that remains still today true. [44:13] There is peace for our stormy lives found in Jesus. peace. There is rest, restoration for our souls, for our hearts, found in Jesus. [44:32] There is a gladness that doesn't go away, but remains constant, because it's a gladness of heart and it's found in the Lord Jesus. [44:49] We just have to come to him and follow him as the disciples did. Peace in this world is in short supply. [45:05] we don't find that BBC News 24 gives us many stories about peace. [45:19] Peace we discover here is a gracious gift that Jesus gives to those who come to him and stay with him. [45:31] remember the scene before Jesus went to the cross, just hours before he went to the cross, and his disciples are anxious, they're troubled, understandably so. [45:48] And Jesus says to his disciples, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. [46:01] let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. So in this world of trouble and tribulation, we find that as we come to Jesus, we receive peace. [46:23] And if I can put it this way, the peace that we receive, it comes in daily packages. you know, we don't come to church and get a seven-day store and then just clear off into the world. [46:40] No, we have to come back to Jesus and keep saying to him, can I have that peace? I'm stressed out with this, I'm worried about that, I see a storm on the horizon, will you give me peace? [47:00] There's test results due, I'm worried about this appointment that's up ahead, will you give me peace? As we come to Jesus, day by day, some days, hour by hour, we taste the peace that he gives us. [47:26] But the full measure of that peace is found not here in this world, but it's found in the eternal haven, the city, the heaven that Jesus promises to bring us to if we're trusting in him. [47:49] And you know, it's good for us to think about heaven, we don't think enough about heaven. You know, we're only here for a wee while. [48:01] And then there's eternity. And if we're trusting in Jesus, there's heaven. If we're not trusting in Jesus, there's hell. [48:14] You should think about that too. Because that's a terrifying prospect. That's what Jesus came to save us from. But if we're trusting in Jesus, we have the promise that he will bring us to that haven, heaven. [48:36] And heaven is a place where there are no storms, no interruptions to the peace that Jesus gives. [48:47] Heaven is a place where there's no sickness, no sadness, no tragedies like we've heard of in our praying through. [49:00] No death, no funerals, no tears. peace. It's a place of peace. [49:14] And Jesus himself, John 14, said, I am the way to heaven. And if we come to him, if we trust in him, we have the promise. [49:28] It's a promise, it's a guarantee of a place in heaven. Amen. So the question for us to take for ourselves is, are we trusting in Jesus? [49:46] What a tragedy to be sitting and hearing about the Jesus who gives us all this peace, and be so close and not asking for it, sleeping through the invitation, distracted by all the trivial things of this world. [50:08] what a tragedy if that's going to be our final story. There is peace in the Lord Jesus. And that means so much for us even today, thinking even about ourselves as a congregation. [50:30] We grieve for Neil Cameron, who met with us with such warmth, death, and such love, and such love. [50:41] Death has taken him from this world. But because Neil trusted in Jesus, he is at peace. [50:55] peace. Jesus has taken him from this world through death to the haven he desired, to that place of eternal peace. [51:12] All who trust in Jesus will be brought by Jesus to the haven that they desired to see. there is peace in the Lord Jesus. [51:27] And the last point for us to conclude with is our response. What are we to do? We're to praise the Lord Jesus. Verse 31, let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works, to the children of man. [51:49] And that's the only fitting response. If we see today who Jesus is, as the author of creation, as the Lord of every man, if we see his identity as God the Son, the Savior, surely we must praise him. [52:15] And if we can see what Jesus did for us, in coming to this troubled world and experiencing the storms of this life with his people, remember, we do not worship a God who is distant and who looks at us from a safe distance. [52:33] Our God, his name is Emmanuel, God with us. Every trial and heartache that we could ever go through, he is experienced. [52:44] in coming to this troubled world and being the man of sorrows, he even experienced the storm of God's wrath, his wrath for our sin on Calvary's cross. [53:05] and he did it so that we will not perish. Remember the words of the disciples in the boat, in a way they're so insensitive, but we'd be no different. [53:24] They're getting thrown about in the boat and they wake up Jesus and they say, don't you care that we're perishing? And the whole reason Jesus came to this world was because he cared that those whom he loved were perishing and he had to come to save them. [53:51] And he did that by coming to this world and living for us and dying for us so that we could know eternal peace. [54:03] and eternal life. And if we see that and if we have received that, then the evidence of that will be in the fact that we want to praise the Lord Jesus. [54:19] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the psalm and for the realism of the psalm where we see the storms of this life. [54:37] Your people experienced that in past times, in ancient times, and we experience some measure of it still today. But we thank you that you are with us through every storm. [54:51] And we thank you, Lord Jesus, that there is peace that you give to us in the storms. And we thank you that there is peace that is promised that is eternal for all who believe in you. [55:09] So help us, we pray, every one of us, to believe, to come to the Lord Jesus and to receive that peace, that salvation, that satisfaction, that gladness of heart that only he can give. [55:25] and having received it, help us, we pray, not just in these moments, but with all our lives, to praise you as the God who is worthy of all our praise. [55:38] And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. You'll sing to conclude the words from Psalm 107. [55:49] Psalm 107 and verses, it's marked in the English, it's 29 to 31, and the words are on the screen. [56:01] The storm is changed into a calm at his command and will, so that the waves which raged before may quiet are and still. And we'll remain seated to sing in Gallic to God's praise. [56:12] Amen. the storm is changed in jackal. [56:31] Two stars. Whatever you would normally sing, you've got it. [56:42] another man's saying. How are you then? How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? [56:53] How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? [57:04] How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? How are you now? They're his son the market to him. [57:20] If we look at all of our enemies, our cheese are almost half of our weapons. [57:35] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [57:47] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [57:59] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [58:15] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [58:27] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [58:43] Oh, yeah. ... [58:59] ... ... ... [59:13] ... ... ... ... ... Okay. [59:36] Shushed in love. For the Lord be upon you. [60:04] Let's stand for the benediction. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forevermore. [60:19] Amen.