Psalm 39 - When Life Feels Fragile

I'm going to invite you to Psalm 39 in the time that we have remaining. Psalm 39, we're at together today and during the summer months. One of the traditions that we have here at ABC, one of the things that we love to take some time to do is spend some time in the Psalms. One of the reasons is just logistically, it makes sense with where we are in the summer as a church. And then there's a more spiritual reason than that. I'll give you logistically, here's the reason why it makes sense: during the summer months, people are very transient. Got a lot of plans and a lot of activities. Sometimes on Sundays people are just coming in and going out and, and because of that, we really don't want to start a series that strings together, but rather we look for places in the Bible that we can go where we can just do some one off messages that help us understand our own faith journey and what it means to grow in Jesus. And the book of Psalms is that beautiful place.

If you are familiar with the Bible, you'll know that there's 66 books that make up the Bible. 27 New Testament books, 39 Old Testament books, and 65 of those 66 books are primarily seen as God speaking to us. But what makes the Book of Psalms unique is this book is man's response back to the Lord. It's teaching us how to engage the Lord in light of who he is, what it means to really worship him. And not only that, it really helps us learn to walk with the Lord in every season of life. No matter what you might be going through, there is a psalm that speaks to it, and it helps us put words to what we're experientially going through to engage God in worship in every season that we're facing, whether we're on the mountaintop or we're despairing in the valley. The Book of Psalms is a worship song book of songs that inspires God's people as they learn to relate to the Lord in light of who he is. And some have looked at the book of Psalms and they've acknowledged that it's a grand literary work that really gives us the storyline of the Bible and teaches us how to experience God's presence wherever we are. And a lot of the Psalms are seen as worship psalms, and when Israel had gathered together, they would sing many of these psalms collectively as God's people. But some of them are also personal psalms for personal prayer and worship and your individual engagement of your walk with the Lord.

As we look at these Psalms, 150 chapters, this grand book we call the Book of Psalms, one of the things that's important to know is that this larger book is actually broken down into five smaller books. And in each one of these five smaller books, it ends with these benedictions. And the way it breaks down is Psalm 3 to Psalm 41 makes up the first book of the Book of Psalms, and Psalm 42 to 72 make up the second book, and Psalm 73 to 89 make up the third book, and 90 to 106 make up the fourth book, and 107 to really 145 make up the fifth book, and the first two Psalms as an introduction, the last five Psalms as a conclusion. When you engage the book, you'll find, if you take time today, for example, to read the first two chapters of the Book of Psalms, that the first chapter is very much an Edenic type psalm, meaning it goes back to the Garden of Eden, and it reflects on what a relationship with the Lord should really look like. And it compares our walk with the Lord to that of a tree of flourishing, much like the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, that we're designed to be connected to God. And when we are, there is life in that. And then Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm representing to us the King who ultimately rules, who will restore all things in his authority. And so it's mindful of really who Christ is in our life. And so that becomes the introduction.

And then in the first two books of the Book of Psalms, those chapters 3 all the way to chapter 72, it's helping us recognize what it's like to live in the kingdom of this king, reflective of King David, who's ultimately ruling during a lot of when the Psalms were written. But the true Messiah would come through a Davidic lineage. And so what it should look like in Jesus's kingdom as we come to know him, as it reflects on King David and his life. But then in Psalm 73 to 89, it recognizes that the Davidic kingdom is falling and failing. And so we become mindful in those Psalms of the brokenness of this world. But then in Psalm 90 to the very end, it becomes reflective of a king who desires to restore all things in him. And so as you look at these Psalms, it's telling us the biblical narrative encapsulated within these 150 chapters — that we were made to know God, the brokenness of sin has destroyed that relationship, but Jesus reconciles all things in him. So these Psalms walk us through that worshipful experience.

And then when we come to this particular section, Psalm 39, scholars will say that this particular psalm should be recognized within the collection of Psalms around it, because Psalm 38 is dealing with an individual who's repentant in his heart over things that he's done that has strayed his life from the Lord. And then in Psalm 39, he walks with us in reflection of where he is in that place as he's become repentant — what it means then, in reflection of his sinfulness, looking to the goodness of who God is. And then in Psalm 40, he's talking about a life restored in him. What does it mean when, in the midst of our sin, being forgiven by the Lord, to really be restored and delivered by the grace of God?

Now, one of the things that I think is important for us to highlight in this Psalm is really the very last verse in what David communicates to us, because everything that I just represented in the Psalms, and learning what it means to walk with Jesus, I think in verse 13, David sounds very contrary to that fact. Psalm 39, verse 13, he says this to God. He says, look away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more.

If you remember last week, we introduced the Psalms our first week in the Psalms with Psalm 15. And in Psalm 15, it begins this way where it cries out to the Lord, what does it look like to dwell in your presence? And the whole theme of the Book of Psalms was really how to walk in close proximity to the Lord, how to have a beautiful relationship in Christ. What does it mean for you and for me to draw near to Jesus? And we acknowledged this fact last week that when you become a believer, when you're saved by Christ and you belong to him, that you belong to him forever. In Romans chapter 8, it tells you you were adopted into God's family, and therefore you're called his. You're a child of the Lord. Not everyone is born a child of the Lord. But in John chapter 1 and verse 12, it tells us to those who received him, he gave the right to become the children of the Lord. So you're adopted into God's family. Nothing can change that. However, just because you belong to the Lord doesn't always mean you walk in close relationship with him. And so what does it mean to have that intimate relationship with the Lord? That was the cry of Psalm 15.

And now all of a sudden you get to Psalm 39 and it seems like David has lost his mind. Here he is in Psalm 15 wanting to be near the Lord. But then when you read verse 13, it's like now he's asking God to go away. And the question we should ask in reading this is, David, which is it? Do you want to be near God or do you not? And I think this is indicative of often what a relationship with the Lord can feel like, that there are times of our life where we want nothing more than to be close to him. And then there are other times in life where we're struggling with the joy of that relationship. And David in Psalm 39, he's walking us through that, but he's teaching us, in the challenges we experience in this world, what it means to know God and walk with him in every season of life. And he's helping us find permission to bring to God any of those emotions that we might go through in our faith journey — the difficulty and the sorrow and the confusion and adversity and anger, or even the joy and happiness of knowing him. What it means to bring to God the circumstances in which I find myself, and growing in my relationship with him so that ultimately he becomes the anchor of my hope.

In Psalm 39, David is doing this in the frailty of life. In fact, that's what we're going to talk about — when life feels fragile, what do we do? And maybe this morning you feel like you're right in that spot where you are, barely holding it together. Or maybe everything's going well for you and you don't even recognize how frail you are as a human being. But don't worry, Psalm 39 is going to help us all feel that way. What does it mean to know the Lord in the brokenness of our humanity? And how do I learn to walk with the Lord in it?

Well, Psalm 39 starts off this way, where David presents to us the avenues that he's pursued and how he's found them unsatisfying to his soul. And he does it through two categories. And I want to read it together. I'll give you what those categories are. But in verse one, he says it like this. I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. I will guard my mouth with a muzzle. So long as the wicked are in my presence. I was mute and silent. I held my peace to no avail. And my distress grew worse. My heart became hot within me as I mused. The fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue.

David is saying, I'm experiencing these challenges and I've tried to process through this through a couple of avenues, and I've discovered that this has not fulfilled me. And I would say those two avenues that David has tried to pursue — one is a secular avenue, and the other I would say is more of a religious sense, and I'm going to categorize it that way today because I feel like it's going to help us think through this. So there's this secular sense and there's this religious sense that he's trying to process through the circumstance that he found himself. And he's saying, this is not helpful. So he needs to discover another way. And this is what he helps us find in Psalm 39.

And so those two avenues — that secular sense I would describe more as an emotional center. In a secular sense, the highest achievement in a worldly mentality is yourself. The focus of life is yourself. And life is all about your happiness and whatever you want. That's most important because, well, life is about you. And so we have this tendency in a secular sense to elevate ourselves. And what often dictates what we do is our emotional desires. What's driving me, what I'm passionate about — we kind of live in that moment. That's what we want. That's what we go after. And David's saying, I've tried that, I've pursued that, and I've just let my emotions go. And what I've found in this is that all it really became was fodder for my enemies to use against me. I walked the path of my emotions and just letting my emotions lead. And it didn't help me. In fact, it turned against me.

So then I chose this religious path, that second path, and the way that I worked it out is I try to just bottle it up. I said things to myself like, God's ultimately in control and I should be joyful in the Lord because the Bible says so. And I just stuffed it down there, and I just pretended like things were okay when they weren't. And neither of those things worked for me. And truth be told, neither of those things ultimately work for us because we were designed to find our hope in something greater.

And so David then uses this psalm to teach us — not how we find ourselves satisfied in a secular sense or in a religious sense, but rather, how should we come to the Lord? In times of anger, in times of frustration and bewilderment and brokenness, in times of joy or happiness, how do I bring that to the Lord?

David helps us learn what that means. And reflecting on this Psalm this week, one of the things that I feel like the Lord made me mindful of is especially in terms of frustration or anger, how do we engage God that way? Because I think this is primarily where David finds himself in this passage. His expectations aren't being met. His experiences are weighing upon him, and he wants to know God in the midst of this.

So what does it look like? If I'm being honest, I think there's oftentimes what I hear in the life of Christians — and we'll say, don't worry, it's nobody here, you guys are great, you do things wonderfully, so we're talking about other people — but when we think about our walk with the Lord, sometimes I'll hear people say things like this: it's okay for you to be angry at God because God can take your anger. And in one sense, I think there's some truthfulness to it, because I think you should bring your emotions to the Lord, and even anger, because God takes those emotions and he helps us learn how to meet him in it, and he turns them into trust. He transforms it and turns it into trust with him. But I do think it's worth making a distinction between being angry with God and being angry at God. Because when we're being angry with God, we're saying, God, I don't understand, and I know you're in control. Lord, can you help me? Being angry at God runs the risk of coming to the Lord with such arrogance that you are assuming you know better than him. And in so doing, that's dangerous ground to walk on. Because what we might be saying by being angry at God is, I know better than God, or God owes me something. And that is the lie of the enemy from the beginning of the Bible. If you remember with Adam and Eve — Adam and Eve had very clear instruction from the Lord, but they felt they knew better than God. And so they took it to a different place.

Now, I think it is important to learn to bring your emotions to the Lord, and even anger, because when we bring our anger to the Lord rather than against the Lord, we're not making God an enemy as opposed to me, but rather a friend who cares about me. And so, Jesus, help me. Help me shape my life in this.

You know, sometimes I'll meet people that will say to me, I don't believe in God. And you'll ask the question, why don't you believe in God? And sometimes they'll take it to a difficult circumstance in life. And they'll say, because this happened to me. And they'll say, so if God was good, then he isn't sovereign and couldn't stop it, and therefore I don't want to follow him. But if he is sovereign and he didn't stop it, then he's not good, and I'm not going to follow him. And I would just suggest to us that perhaps in the middle of that, we've taken a position of judgment above God, and we fail to see the truth of who he is. Because one thing we've got to acknowledge in the midst of the gospel is the gospel screams at us the goodness of who God is, to the point that God on his throne was willing to become the servant of servants by taking on flesh and giving his life for you and for me, so that we be forgiven and freed in him. So this is very much not a God who is in opposition to you, but a God who is pursuing you so that you can find your life free in him.

So that when we find adversity in our lives, rather than look at God as the enemy against me, to understand what it means to come to him in the brokenness and just say, God, I'm feeling angry, and God, I don't fully understand. But here's one thing I know about who you are — you care about me in every season of life, to the point that I can see it in its physical self, because you became flesh and gave your life for me. So teach me, in the frailty of who I am, what it means to discover you in the brokenness of this world, knowing that you are my anchor and my hope.

And so David, in the challenges of his own life — and let me just say this, the circumstance he finds himself in Psalm 39 is due to what he has done in his own life, meaning David says, I'm repentant of my own actions. So the place of frustration and challenge that David finds himself is because of his own doing. And even still, God doesn't give up on him. So Psalm 39 becomes critical for us to discover that as God's people — what does it mean for you and for me to walk with the Lord in that?

I love the way that Peter says in First Peter chapter 5, many of us are probably familiar with this, but one of the things I love about this verse is that Peter was a fisherman and he chooses the phrase cast. And it's important to learn to cast whatever challenge you might face. He says, cast all your anxieties — I mean, you can fit anything in there: your fear, your anger, whatever battle you might be going through — learn to cast that. Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. And the reason Peter says that is because if you don't learn to cast it, you're going to end up carrying it.

What does it look like for me to do that? Even Job said in Job 13 verse 15, though you slay me, yet I will hope in him, because Job knows the ultimate hope in life. The ultimate answer is not simply God answering my challenges. Do you recognize that when you go through adversity in life, we tend to ask that question about ourselves — God, why does this happen? — wanting an explanation. But even if you get an explanation, it doesn't give you an ultimate hope. The greatest answer that you should pursue isn't a response in itself explaining why. The greatest answer that you can pursue is God himself, because he's the ultimate answer to all things — the reconciliation of everything that's broken. We may not understand in this temporal world the specific reason why something challenging might have happened in the moment, but one day you will be with the answer face to face, Christ himself, and all will be made known. So it's important for us to not just seek an answer, but the answer — the one who sustains me. And so David is inviting us into that.

So what does that look like for us to do that? Number one is this: allow the brevity of life to give me perspective.

Allow the brevity of life to give me perspective. This is where David starts. Because we have this tendency of living so much in the temporal that we wake up each day and we just simply live for what temporarily satisfies. I want to live for the moment. And David is saying there is wisdom in just taking a step back and asking yourself the question, what is this all leading to? Because if you don't take that opportunity to do that, you're going to live for temporal things in this world, and ultimately every one of those things will pass away and your soul will be left with nothing.

Even when it comes to Alpine Bible Church — get this, if you've been a part of ABC from the beginning, which we didn't start with very many people, so that can't be very many people in this room, that's wonderful. And if you're one of those people that were here early on and you're a part of ABC the rest of your life, or wherever you came to ABC, this is your church. Maybe this is the only biblically based church you've ever been a part of, and you are part of this community for all of your days. That's great. But can I just tell you, one day everyone will leave this church? You have to, because everyone in this room will expire. You think about the uniqueness of a gathering like this — I will just go out on a limb, if I had all the money in the world to bet on this, which I'm a pastor so I don't, but we could just acknowledge how precious this gathering is. This specific one this morning, because this is likely the only time everyone that is present in this room will be present in a room together again. And so whatever Jesus has given us in this moment, we want to live it for his glory. But we also want to take a step back and just put it into perspective.

And David does this in the psalm. He says in verse 4, O Lord, make me know my end. And what is the measure of my days? Let me know how fleeting I am. And behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath. Selah. Surely a man goes about as a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil. Man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather.

Saying we will live so much for the temporal, collecting all these things, and we don't ever take a step back and realize this doesn't belong to me. All of it. I found my identity and my worth and my satisfaction in all of it, and all of it is just circumstantial. All of it will pass away. And if I truly want to discover something greater, I've got to look beyond myself.

And this is where David's at. And I've got to tell you, if you take time to do this, the first place your soul finds is despair, because you get to the spot where you realize, oh, this is all coming to an end and I better have something I'm clinging to that outlives me. Something of longevity that invites me into an eternal perspective for which I can long and live for, rather than just get fixated on what's in front of me. Just to take a step back and consider the totality of what life is about.

Can I tell you, in my own trajectory of coming to know the Lord, my own faith journey in life, that it was this thought that became the primary catalyst for me in finding Jesus. I remember at Marshall University my first semester. I'm in that state of life where you're considering what are you going to do for the rest of your life? I didn't have a clue. And I remember staying up late at night just tossing and turning, thinking about it, kind of getting into my philosophical state of like, why am I even here? If I could figure out why I'm here, then I can figure out what to do. And if I am going to figure out why I'm here, there must be someone who put me here for a reason, because life seems to have order. And so if I could just discover what that is, then perhaps I could live the purpose for which I was created. Ultimately, that path led me to Jesus and the truth of who he was. And there was this moment in my life where I was wrestling on the inside, saying, but I really want to live for myself. But then I looked at the truth of who Christ was, and I gave myself over to it, recognizing the fragility of what life is. I was made for a greater purpose.

And David is saying to us, it's taking the moment in your life — that's what that word means at the end of verse 5. It's just saying, look, it does the soul good to pause here, to be mindful of these thoughts. Just say in your own soul, what am I doing? Is my life really living for more? Or am I just chasing the rat race of what humanity says should be important, forsaking God or only treating God like an afterthought? What does it look like to put him at the center of my being?

Richard Baxter — he was an Anglican minister who was eventually kicked out of the Anglican Church, and he continued the rest of his days preaching God's Word and writing several books. But he wrote this poem towards the end of his life when his health was failing. He said this:

Lord, it belongs not to my care whether I die or live. To love and serve thee is my share, and this thy grace must give. If life be long, it will be glad that I may long obey. If short, yet why should I be sad to welcome endless days? Christ leads me through no darker rooms than he went through before. He that unto God's kingdom comes must enter by this door. Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet thy blessed face to see. For if thy work on earth be sweet, what will thy glory be? Then shall I end my sad complaints and weary sinful days, and join with the triumphant saints the singing of Jehovah's praise. My knowledge of that life is small. The eye of faith is dim. But it's enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with him.

And Richard Baxter certainly familiar with the significance of having the Lord in our life. God, teach me the brevity of life that I may gain perspective.

So point number two is this: I can anchor my heart in a greater hope. God, help me discover the end of me so I can plunge the depth of you, to know you and to enjoy you all of my days.

And in verse 7 he says, and now, O Lord, for what do I await? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool. I am mute. I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. Remove your stroke from me. I am spent by the hostility of your hand. When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him. Surely all mankind is a mere breath.

You certainly see in this passage, especially in verse 11, David saying, I'm being disciplined under the hand of the Lord because of my own pursuits in life that were contrary to him. But he comes to this idea in verse 7. He recognizes that that was a false hope for his life and a sinful pursuit to give himself to. And so he says this phrase, my hope is in you — a beautiful thought.

You think about the circumstances of your own life. When life is going well, this becomes something we might say as Christians with just nice platitudes. You know, God, my hope is in you. You might say, yeah, Jesus, my hope is in you. But it's when life has rocked you and you realize how frail you are as a human being, how nothing outside of Christ is truly promised to you, that you start to look for something to cling to, the bedrock of your life. And it's in that state that those words come to life: my hope is in you. And we begin to realize, out of the things that God allows us to experience in this world, that it is critical for all of us not to find our identity in those things. Because at any moment, those things can be taken away from us. And my life was made to belong to Christ. I was made for relationship with the Lord. And this God pursued me by giving his own life. And it's not until I find my identity in him that I will remove myself from feeling bankrupt from the things of the world that are taken from me. And I realize what I have in God can never be robbed of me, because I have the richness in Jesus forever.

So if my goal in life is just to simply have a long life, or my goal in life is to simply be earthly successful, or to have a lot of wealth, or to fulfill my worldly dreams — to take that in that moment and put it to the Lord and realize that no matter how much I might pursue that with all of my being, none of it will fully satisfy, because my life wasn't created for those things.

In fact, he recognizes at the end of this passage, he says in verse 11, when you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume me like a moth. What is dear to him? Surely all mankind is merely a breath.

I heard this illustration once by a man named Randy Alcorn, which I'm reluctant to use him as an example because he's still alive today. I like picking dead guys because they can't disappoint you anymore. But Randy Alcorn's not dead. So if he messes up after this, please don't hold that against me. But he wrote a book once on Heaven, and he used an example of money. And I just pulled out a dollar bill because nobody cares about this. You don't have to worry about it. Nobody's going to take this at the end of the service. So here it is. We have a dollar bill. And Randy Alcorn said it like this. He said, you know, people have probably told you in life that you can't take this with you, which in some ways is true. But Randy Alcorn went on to say, but actually, I think you can. And let me just say this — I want to elaborate on his example, because money is something, but it's not the only thing. And I think it's worth just using this dollar and saying, let this dollar represent any resource, talent, or ability the Lord has given you. The Lord has allowed many things to pass through your hands in life. And Randy Alcorn went on to encourage — he said, but I want you to know, out of all the resources God has given you, the talents and abilities, that you actually can take it with you. And the way that you take it with you is to send it before you.

And what he means is this: truth be told, you don't really own anything, but rather all things created belong to the Lord. We simply become the stewards of the things which God has given us. And being stewards, we have the opportunity to use it for his glory. And that's what Randy was saying — in sending it before you, that when we use it for his glory, it not only glorifies the Lord, but it becomes a blessing to those around us.

Lord, teach me to see my life in light of who you are, and to use that life to steward the things which you have given me, to honor you and bless those around me. Jesus, help me to see what's important, not in the temporal things of life, but an eternal perspective in light of who you are. Not only teach me the brevity of who I am, but anchor my hope in you.

And sometimes in the losing of things of this world, that's where we're reminded of it. Because when we start to cling to things as if they are ours and our identity is wrapped up in them, when you lose those things, you lose yourself. My identity is my job, and then you lose your job — what happens? Or maybe you're a parent and your identity is your children, and your children go out and make terrible choices. What does that mean for you as a parent? And we steward these things to the glory of God, knowing that we're not ultimately in control. But there is one who is. And I want to glorify him with my life as I walk with him in every season, learning what it means to take that experience and bring it to God. Not to just be angry at God, but to bring my anger to God and say, God, this is where I'm at. But Lord, I know you're for me. So teach me to cling to the hope that is you rather than the things of this world. And in the joy of life and the creature comforts we might go through, God, in all the good things I might experience, Lord, let my life not lose sight that you are the giver of all of these good things, and cause my soul to worship in thanks because of you as my King. You are my hope.

So that we could get to point three, which gives me like three minutes: seek God's presence above all else.

And this is what David does. Verse 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. Hold not your peace at my tears. For I am a sojourner with you, as all my fathers were. Look away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more.

Now, this is interesting. It's like two different Davids talking here. In one sense he's like, God, listen to me, God, go away from me. And what David's saying in verse 12 is, God, let me walk in the beauty of your grace. And God, verse 13, remove the hand of your discipline — saying, Lord, I've learned my lesson. So Jesus, help me walk in the sweetness of your presence. David is desiring to enjoy the Lord. And David's hope is to experience the richness of Christ through happy circumstances rather than the adversity he's brought on his own self through poor decisions. He's saying, Lord, let me just know your sweetness in all things.

So David is teaching us, even when we're the ones that mess up, even when our circumstances might be our fault, that God is still good, that God loves us and cares about us more than anything. What the Lord desires is for you to draw near to him.

And guys, can I tell you, the reason we can do that so confidently is because of what Jesus has done for you. No matter how dark the day may be. And I think for us, one of the most beautiful passages that highlights that is in Matthew 27, when Jesus is hanging on the cross and he says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We're going to look at this chapter next week, because Jesus is quoting Psalm 22, which is a psalm that David writes, and it's a messianic psalm of what Jesus would ultimately do for us. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And Jesus is quoting this psalm reflective of the father abandoning him. I literally say, when Jesus is hanging on the cross, he's experiencing hell on earth. And the reason I say that is because what makes hell hell is the absence of God's grace. And when Jesus goes to the cross, what he bore on the cross is your sins and mine. And in bearing our sins, the father turns his back on the son. The beautiful relationship between father and son is now severed for the first time in history. It bewilders theologians. But Jesus on the cross is literally facing hell on earth for you and for me.

But I want you to see in the darkest of days in all of history, that this wasn't the end. It's the greatest of light that is to come through the resurrection of Jesus, that Jesus overcame it all for you and I. Jesus overcomes the grave, and he's declaring to us that no matter how difficult our lives may be, no matter how difficult the circumstances we might find ourselves in, there's always a greater hope and a brighter future in Jesus. Because Jesus overcame the darkest of days in all of history, that we could have life in him. And knowing that should endear our hearts to the sweetness of who God is. You love me in every season, whether I walk in obedience or disobedience. You're a God who does not turn his back on me. You're a God whose mercies are new every morning. You're a God who opens the door of opportunity for me to return to you and experience the joy of your presence. And therefore, it invites our hearts to just lay ourselves down.

I'll end with this. One of the most beautiful passages of Scripture — and I've got to share this quickly — is 1 Kings 19. This is right after Elijah faces the prophets of Baal and despairs into a deep depression, and God brings him out and tells him there are more people following after me. Elijah, don't give up. And he encourages Elijah to go and find Elisha. And when Elisha is chosen to follow Elijah, Elijah takes his oxen and he sacrifices them to the Lord. And when you read in this particular passage, it tells you in verse 19 that there were 12 yoke of oxen. A yoke of oxen — when they're plowing, two oxen are yoked together. And therefore having 12 yoked oxen, it's saying there are 24 oxen. What it's really telling you about Elisha is Elisha is a wealthy man, because only one man can steer this plow. And if there's 12 yoke of oxen, there are 12 plows tilling this land, which means he would have several employees and he'd have a lot of animals, a lot of things to care for. He has a lot of things. But what does he do when the Lord calls him? He sacrifices it all. He takes it all and he gives it to the Lord.

Now why does Elisha do that? I would propose this: he burns the ships because for him there is no turning back. Elisha didn't want the temptation of anything that this world would throw at him when things got hard, because he knew more than anything that the Lord alone was worth it. So in his life, he lays it all down to see the richness of God.

There are lots of paths in this world that we can follow that are broken. But when we understand the brevity of who we are as people, the ultimate hope which we have in Jesus, and we surrender it all before him as our King, the beauty of a relationship with God is made known.