Northside Church - Sydney
Stop. Revive. Survive. – Week 1: Psalm 8
We're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well now here's a trivia question for you. Which psalm is permanently on the lunar surface, on the face of the moon? Which psalm is permanently on the face of the moon? Oh, could it be the one we're looking at today? Is that the answer? Correct, that is the answer. Back in July 1969, when the Apollo 11 crew made that incredible history-making journey to the lunar surface, they took with them a silicon disc, it's about the size of a 50 cent piece. And on that disc is a message of goodwill from 73 of the then-world leaders, and including a message from Australia by our then Prime Minister, Mr John Gordon. Before the Pope, Pope Paul VI, he chose psalm 8 as his message to anybody who may pick it up on the lunar surface in the years to come, and I guess it's understandable when you look at verses 3 and 4. When I look at the sky, which you have made, the moon and the stars, which you have set in their places, so that was the Pope Paul VI, he chose psalm 8, so it's up there on the lunar surface, or in a studio in Burbank, depending on which of the theories you subscribe to. If you're the conspiracy theory, well, it didn't make it, it's there somewhere in California. But most of us, I think, would believe that it's up there on the lunar surface, a little silicon ship. Guys, psalm 8, like so many of the psalms was written by David, and probably used in temple worship among the ancient Israelites, way back many, many centuries before Christ. It's a majestic psalm. It's a psalm that speaks of the marvels of God's creation, and for anyone who's getting a little weary on the road of life, anyone for whom life has become a bit of a drudgery. Anyone in need of a shot of reassurance of God's presence and power, this psalm is crammed with golden nuggets, just waiting to be panned, and we're going to pan a few of them this morning. In fact, David, the writer of psalm 8, provides several keys in the quest for spiritual and emotional survival. And this fact alone should have already grabbed their attention, because there's not one of us in this auditorium who is not in need at some point or other of spiritual revival and refreshment. It could be that that's where you are right now. It could be that's where you are right now, given what's happening in your life. The Christian journey is not easy. The journey of life is not easy. At any one time, we're only a breath away from grief, from loss, from disappointment, from financial uncertainty, from conflict, from doubt, from fear, and a wide range of other emotional and relational and spiritual problems that can, that can leave us bewildered, confused, dejected. If you had a look at my diary of the last week, you would see the number of times when both among you people as my congregation and among others out in the community, I've had a lot of exposure to these sort of things. And under these circumstances, we look out for one of those "stop, revive, survive" kind of signs, because we need something to refresh and reenergize our spiritual. What does David have for us in Psalm 8? Look here's the first thing. He unquestionably affirms the greatness of God. That's where he starts this Psalm. Now listen, it's easy to sing about the greatness of God. We've done that this morning in those beautiful songs. It is easy to give assent to the greatness of God, mental assent. But it's something else to trust implicitly in the grace, in the greatness of God, to believe that he is above and beyond all things, that there is no circumstance of life in which we cannot have confidence that he will get us through in his strength. The two are very different. You can sing about it, but to live it, to really believe it, to really embrace it, to take it in as part of who you are, the greatness of God. It's a very different thing. We've just seen this amazing series on the book of Acts, and of course the central character is Paul. And there's a man for him. The greatness of God was more than just a religious slogan on his t-shirt. More than just one of the songs he might have pumped out when he was worshiping in some of the churches he established, he was a man who lived out the greatness of God in the way he pressed through obstacles, in the way he overcame difficulties, in the way he rose above setbacks, and Paul's unswerving belief in the greatness of God is beautifully captured in Philippians 2.13. It's really his signature testimony. Philippians 2.13, we know it's so well. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things, the greatness of God. He really believed it, acknowledging the greatness of God is where this song begins, and it's where we, you and I, which is where we need to begin, if we are to survive the tough times of life, and if we are to rejoice in the great positive seasons of life, which doubtless some of you are also moving through. Now, linked to this point is the second key that David provides, and it's this. He acknowledges the importance of childlike faith. Did you get that verse, read for us just a moment ago, by Melanie, verse 2? Your praise, your praise reaches up to the heavens, it is sung by children and babies. Friends, would you agree with me, one of the greatest gifts God has given to this church at this particular point in our history is the presence of babies and children, more than we have ever had in the 28 years of our existence on this site. There are more babies. There are more children in our midst than there have been at any other time. And this is such a blessing. Why for a number of reasons? Here's a couple. Because the presence of children in the body of believers reminds us of the childlike qualities we should all be nurturing, we should all be acquiring if we are to survive and thrive on the road of discipleship. What did Jesus say? Unless you come as little children, you will not enter, understand, appreciate the kingdom of heaven. The presence of children helps to keep optimism alive because we're reminded constantly, "Hey, this church has a future." I read some time ago, about three months ago, they say that the Anglican church in England will be out of business at its current rate in 20 years, and I was shocked. And they explained that the reason was because the reason is because the average age of Anglicans in the UK at the moment, and it may not be much different in some of our denominations in Australia, the average age is 60. And it's at 80, when people for physical reasons, apart from anything else, are not always able to come to church. It doesn't apply here. Our 80 years are very robust, they're here. But in other places where there's not the level of energy and commitment. And so they're saying, "Well, in 20 years' time, if the average age is 80, then that church has gone." My question is, where's the leadership? Where are the pastors and the leaders that should be devising ministries to attract young families, young children, right here and now, to ensure the future of the church? Who's failed, who's been complacent, who's just let the church drift to that point? Praise God, we don't have that problem here at Northside. The presence of children that increases the level of optimism because you realize, "Wow, we've got a future." The presence of children helps to intensify the level of joy, because by their very presence children can cause people to smile and be happy, can't they? Why their very presence? I was up at Roanaw Show Hospital this week, made a number of business up there, and I've got to know a lift at one point. And as you expect in hospitals, it was pretty sad there was somebody there, and he's some kind of attachment with a little wheel, a little trolley there, and somebody else was on crutches, and somebody else is in a wheelchair, you think, "Wow, there's a lot of suffering here." And then a new mum got on board with a little baby, and I just changed the whole atmosphere. "Oh, how old is she?" It was Ben, actually, which didn't, I thought, "I wish I could tell that person who said that. There's one way to get around that problem of wondering if it's a boy or a girl. You know the secret here, don't you? The secret is to talk to the child and say, "And what's your name?" And the mother or the father's not going to let that one go, and you just hope they don't say something like Robin or Cameron, which can be interchangeable, "What's your second name?" But it's just a little technique, I'm offering it to you this morning, just to say that moment of embarrassment where you get the sex wrong, if mothers don't like that. Now, you know what, Jesus wants to use this verse in some eight. He wants to use the derivative of this verse to rebuke the cynicism and the negativity of the religious leaders of his day. It's pulled straight out of Psalm 8. The incident with Jesus is over in Matthew chapter 21, and you can check it. It's a time when Jesus has just healed a whole bunch of people in the temple, and there's tremendous joy and exhilaration because you've got a whole bunch of people healed in one hit, and it seems like the children start to go off as well because here it is in Matthew chapter 21, and it says that the children are shouting and praising God in the temple. And then there's this verse, this sad, pathetic verse, it's verse 15. Have a look at it, it's this rockship. The chief priests and the teachers of the law became angry, some versions say indignant. When they saw the wonderful things he was doing, and the children shouting in the temple praise to David's son, so they asked Jesus, do you hear what they're saying? I mean, can you believe this? Jesus says, indeed, I do. Haven't you ever read this scripture? You have trained children and babies to offer perfect praise, and it's a derivative of this verse in Psalm 8. I've got to tell you, it's a bleak old day when people start becoming indignant about what God is doing. It's a bleak old day when people start to start to put down children because they're praising God and getting excited about their faith. That's a pretty sad day. But that's what happens when people are motivated by self-interest, and that was the case with these leaders. That's what happens when people are blind or what God is doing. The new things he's trying to do in his church, the change is the innovation. If you're getting indignant about that, well, this is what happens, see? It's a very bleak day. When this level of negativity, or this level of a negative reaction sets in, it's really time for stop, revive, survive. You've got to really have a good hard look at what's going on in the life of that particular community. Well, look, thank God for the presence and the praises of our little children. Wow. And thank God for their simple faith and trust. We can all learn from it. It's a way of reviving and surviving in the Christian faith. Praise God for the little ones in our midst. And there's more coming next year. I've heard about our first baby next year. Well, you'd love to know, wouldn't you, but now I can't tell you. But all will be revealed in due course. There's something else I love about David and this psalm. It's something that's often hard to achieve. But when in God's strength we can achieve it. It makes all the difference to the health and the vitality of our walk with God. And here it is. As we read the psalm, we notice that David is looking up. He's not looking down. Look at verse three. Verse three. "When I look at the sky which you have made and the moon and the stars which you've set in their places." Why is David so filled with optimism and praise and thanksgiving? Why are his words so motivational and inspirational to travellers in need of a spiritual stop, revive, survive? It's because his gaze is heavenwood. His gaze is heavenwood. He's looking above the everyday. He's looking above the mundane. He sees problems, friends. He doesn't see possibilities, rather. He doesn't see just problems. He sees opportunities, not just obstacles. Now, what are you seeing today in your life? What are you seeing in your experience right now? Are you seeing possibilities or only problems? Are you seeing opportunities or only obstacles? When I look at the sky, I get her eyes upwards, you know? No, he's not guilty of a head and the clouds approach the life. Don't believe that. Or is he artificially glossing over the hardships of life? It's simply a matter of perspective. It's a matter of priority. It's a matter of spiritual orientation. That's what it is. One of the things we city folk miss out on compared to our country cousins is the opportunity to see those beautiful sky vistas, you know? You just don't sit in the city and it's one of the regrets. I mean, I'm a city slicker, but I do recognise that out in the country, you get a beautiful sky. I remember as a teenager, living in Perth, we used to get a place called Morrowa, near Geraldton for Easter camp out in the wheat fields of Western Australia, beautiful. The whole camp was set around a wheat farm. The guys would sleep in the machinery shed and used to try to avoid sleeping under the harvester. If you were a rough sleeper, you kind of wake up in the middle of the night, fair chance of decapitation. You should choose my sleeping spot very carefully. All the girls would sleep over in the shearing sheds. Then came the nights, the long walks through the wheat fields. Those camps were pretty intense and you either had a young lady on your arm by the first or second night or just a sheer spiritual quality of the teaching meant that that didn't even matter because you just had that chance to just, I had both, mainly sky. But I think, looking back, just the magnificence of the sky, the night sky, I think that's where without even realizing it, I think that's where it's that spiritual uplifting moment. I think it's where God started His work of eventually calling me under the pathway that He called me on to. But here's something else. You notice David is asking the ultimate question. Look at verse 4. He's asked, "It's all in this one psalm. It's fantastic. You've got to read this this week." He asks, "What are human beings that you think of them? Me and mortals that you care for them. Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? What's God got planned for my life?" Friends, these really are the ultimate questions and they really need to be asked regularly by each one of us. They really do. Why? Because our ability to ask these questions and to formulate answers in God's strength largely determines our ability to self-analyze and everyone must become proficient at self-analysis particularly in the spiritual sense, "How am I doing? How strong is my faith? How's my walk with God? In what ways do I need to grow?" These are one of the many benefits of mentorship when you've got somebody who speaks into your life at that level. Looking back in my Christian life, I think the moments when I've been prayerfully asking these sorts of questions have generally been the curtain razor to me moving into the next phase of my walk with God. These are the questions I ask before I train for the ministry. These are the questions I ask before we venture into this project. These are the questions I ask regularly before we move into all the different areas of ministry. And you notice in this Sam, as David is asking the question, he's finding purpose, meaning and dignity in the answers he receives. He really is. Verses 5-8. Listen to this. You made them, that's us, inferior only to yourself. You crowned them, us, with glory and honour. You appointed us rulers over everything you made. You placed us over all creations, sheep and cattle, the wild animals too, the birds and the fish and the creatures of the seas. Wow. Friends, are you excited by the answer to that question from the Bible as to what is the human being? Does that answer? It really excites you, as it excites me. If you're the secular humanist says, "Well, man, it's a little more than an evolutionary accident." Yeah, he's got the ability to think and to create and to achieve, but no capacity to relate to the divine. Uh-oh. Gosh. How inadequate is that perspective in light of this passage? How inadequate is that viewpoint of humanity, whereas we in the Christian church, we are agree with God's assessment of his creation. We draw incredible strength from the fact that God's intention right from the outset was to create male and female in his own image. Now, I know some of you think you have God-like bodies, but that's not what we're talking about here. Being created in God's image is being created with the capacity to think, to feel, to forgive, above all to love, and to relate to the Creator. And of course, Genesis 131, God looked at what he'd created and he declared it to be good. And here's David in Psalm 8, asserting that we are God's workmanship, and we enjoy unprecedented status in the creation order right up there just below God himself, a little lower than God himself. Now, friends, this incredible reality, this amazing privilege is not meant to make a smug or arrogant. We're right up there. Right next to the big guy. Now, as John Piper, who was in Sydney recently, as he has said in one of his books, it's about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made us small and the universe big to say something about himself. That's a powerful point, isn't it? He made us small and the universe big to make a point about himself. In other words, given the vastness of God's creation, who are we that he should care for us? But in that caring, in that desire to reach out to us and give us a level of dignity and meaning in life in doing that, he places an incalculable value on you and me. And that's why the Christian faith is no other source of positive self-esteem other than in the Christian faith. That's the one that lasts. That's the one that will take you through to eternity. Look, friends, I don't know how you see yourself this morning. I'm not a chance to talk to you all. I know some of your situations. I don't know how you see yourself this morning. You might be fantastically positive and really rejoicing praise, God, that's great. But you might be going through a season where you feel a bit inadequate, a bit confused. You might be feeling bewildered, maybe guilty, maybe uncertain. Maybe anxious. I don't know how you feel or how you see yourself. But I do know, based on this passage, I do know how God sees you. I do know how God sees you. He sees you as precious. He sees you as full of promise and potential. He sees you as totally lovable and desirable to him. Do you believe that? Can you take that in? That's how God sees you. And that's how he saw David all those years ago. And more than anything, he wants us to walk in the victory that's available only through Jesus. And this man didn't even know Jesus. He's got these incredible spiritual insights. It could be you're in need for a stop, revive, survive, little spiritual diversion, a chance to draw deeply on the grace and the refreshment available through the Holy Spirit. How do you do that? Pause today to affirm his greatness. Rediscover the beauty and the simplicity of childlike faith. Look up, not down. Focus on every positive thing you can list in your life. Be prepared regularly for self-assessment. Who are you? How are you traveling? How are you doing on the road of faith? What's God's next thing for you? Have a real thinking. Pray about that. I've all been carried by the knowledge that God has destined you for greatness. He's destined me for greatness. He has destined us to share in the greatness he has already established. It's got future implications and it's got implications for right here and now. The Psalm begins with this verse, it ends with this verse. Look at this. Oh Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world. Your praises reach up to the heavens. We as Christians participate in the greatness of God. It's not some elusive thing that we get in eternity. We can live in that greatness right here and now. Positive, victorious because we are children of a living God. Let's bear in prayer, shall we?