MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Sin 7-3-22

MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Sin 7-3-22

INTRODUCTION

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” by Isaac Watts (written 1707/published 1877)

1 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.

One of the first English-language hymns to use the word "I" and to focus directly on personal religious experience, "When I Survey" holds an important place in the history of hymnody. It offers an example of how Watts, sometimes called the father of English hymnody, enlarged the boundaries of English sacred song beyond the metrical psalms to include freer verse that readily lent itself to new musical settings.

www.selahpub.com - article about “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

“This is a kind of gem among the Psalms, and is peculiarly excellent and remarkable. It contains those deep, sublime, and heavy sufferings of Christ, when agonizing in the midst of the terrors and pangs of divine wrath and death which surpass all human thought and comprehension.” 

Martin Luther, cited by Charles Spurgeon

‬ “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!”

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭22:1-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I.  THE CRY OF ABANDONMENT

A.  The cry of his broken heart

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How near to us He is! Never perhaps in His whole life did He so completely identify Himself with His poor brethren of mankind. For here He comes down to stand by our side not only when we have to encounter pain and misfortune, bereavement and death, but when we are enduring that pain which is beyond all pains, that horror in whose presence the brain reels, and faith and love, the eyes of life, are put out--the horror of a universe without God, a universe which is one hideous, tumbling, crashing mass of confusion, with no reason to guide and no love to sustain it.

James Stalker - “The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ: Chapter 17”

B.  The cry of the forsaken

“My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

II.  THE CRY OF ALONENESS

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.””

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭22:6-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A.  Their appearance

“Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:12-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me;”

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭22:16‬a a‭NIV‬

1.  Strong bulls

2.  Roaring lions

3.  Dogs

B.  Their attitude

“All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1.  Gauging

2.  Gloating

C.  Their actions

“They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1.  Demonstration of the victims worth

2.  Demonstration of the executioners concerns 

III.  THE CRY OF ANGUISH

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:14-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A.  “I am poured out like water”

B.  “All of my bones are out of joint”

C.  “My heart is like wax”

D.  “They pierced my hands and feet”

IV.  THE CRY OF ACCEPTANCE

A.  The deed is done

“They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

B.  He has chosen the path

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.””

‭‭ John‬ ‭10:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

C.  The results are worth it

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

‭‭ Romans‬ ‭1:16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

V.  THE DARKNESS OF THE GLORY

This is beyond all others THE PSALM OF THE CROSS. It may have been actually repeated word by word by our Lord when hanging on the tree; it would be too bold to say that it was so, but even a casual reader may see that it might have been. It begins with, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and ends, according to some, in the original with "It is finished." For plaintive expressions uprising from unutterable depths of woe we may say of this psalm, "there is none like it." It is the photograph of our Lord's saddest hours, the record of his dying words, the lachrymatory of his last tears, the memorial of his expiring joys. David and his afflictions may be here in a very modified sense, but, as the star is concealed by the light of the sun, he who sees Jesus will probably neither see nor care to see David. Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. Oh for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet, as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in Scripture it is in this psalm.

Charles Spurgeon commentary of Psalm 22

“And Can It Be That I Should Gain” by Charles Wesley

And can it be that I should gain

An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain?

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God,

shouldst die for me?

He left His Father’s throne above,

So free, so infinite His grace;

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race:

’Tis mercy all, immense and free;

For, O my God, it found out me.

’Tis mercy all, immense and free;

For, O my God, 

it found out me

CONCLUSION

The cry of abandonment, the cry of aloneness, the cry of anguish, the cry of acceptance, the darkness of the glory

CHALLENGE

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers.  

1.  Have you felt the abandonment of sin?

2.  How have you experienced aloneness due to sin?

3.  When has anguish of sin overcome you?

4.  Have you accepted your need for a Savior?

5.  How are darkness and glory seen in the sacrifice of Jesus?   

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.