100:00:00,160 –> 00:00:08,860One way to measure your grasp of truth and we hear the truth every Sunday we200:00:08,860 –> 00:00:13,880read the truth every time we open the Bible but one way to measure your grasp300:00:13,880 –> 00:00:18,020of truth is to take an honest look at your prayer life. Welcome to Open the400:00:18,020 –> 00:00:22,139Bible with Pastor Colin Smith I’m David pick and glad you could be with us500:00:22,139 –> 00:00:26,740today. Colin that’s an encouraging idea to honestly look at your prayer life.600:00:26,740 –> 00:00:32,200We’ve been hearing about Asaph a worship leader under David and he experienced a700:00:32,200 –> 00:00:36,900great deal of discouragement. Part of his prayer life was confession of his800:00:36,900 –> 00:00:42,660frustration and ultimately confession of sin. Yeah he came to a place where he900:00:42,660 –> 00:00:46,060felt like giving up. He says my feet had almost slipped. Here’s a man in full-time1000:00:46,060 –> 00:00:51,400ministry and he’s going through a crisis of faith a Godly man. This can happen to1100:00:51,540 –> 00:00:57,599a mature Christian suddenly finds that circumstances have led to a place of1200:00:57,599 –> 00:01:03,619great great darkness and the good news is that God brought him through this and1300:01:03,619 –> 00:01:07,959what we’re about in this series is finding out how God did that for him so1400:01:07,959 –> 00:01:12,040that we can see how God will do it for us and we’ve seen that God caused him to1500:01:12,040 –> 00:01:16,800stop and to think and then to pray and that’s where we’ve got to in Psalm1600:01:17,440 –> 00:01:22,400He’s beginning now to pray because he’s seeing his own heart and some of1700:01:22,400 –> 00:01:27,519the things that were there that he never saw before because his life is under the1800:01:27,540 –> 00:01:32,059light of the Word of God in a whole new way. It’s very wonderful and God is1900:01:32,059 –> 00:01:36,279turning him around in order to get him established again so that he won’t give2000:01:36,279 –> 00:01:39,760up but so that he’ll be able to persevere in all the ways in which God2100:01:39,760 –> 00:01:41,379is leading him.2200:01:41,379 –> 00:01:45,820As you heard, we’re today looking at Psalm 73, verses 21 to 232300:01:46,220 –> 00:01:49,220as we begin the message Confess. Here’s Colin.2400:01:49,980 –> 00:01:52,480This is the third in a series of2500:01:52,500 –> 00:01:58,540five messages on the psalm in which a godly man tells us about how God brought2600:01:58,540 –> 00:02:03,860him through a great crisis in his life and I want us to remember this2700:02:03,860 –> 00:02:11,300especially this morning that Asaph was a godly man. He was a spiritual leader.2800:02:11,300 –> 00:02:16,220He ministered before the Ark of the Lord. He was the kind of man to whom every one2900:02:16,220 –> 00:02:19,940of us here would have looked up with great honour and respect.3000:02:19,940 –> 00:02:27,160Asaph remember didn’t just read the scriptures. In the mercy of God and by3100:02:27,160 –> 00:02:31,660the inspiration of the Spirit he was allowed to write part of the scriptures3200:02:31,660 –> 00:02:36,639under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. I cannot imagine a more3300:02:36,639 –> 00:02:42,720intimate experience of the Spirit than that can you? To be directly inspired to3400:02:42,720 –> 00:02:47,639write a part of the Bible itself. That’s the man we’re talking about. Now I want3500:02:47,639 –> 00:02:51,720us to keep that in mind as we come to these verses today. This was a man who3600:02:51,720 –> 00:02:58,160walked with God. But in this Psalm Asaph tells us that there was a time in his3700:02:58,160 –> 00:03:05,639life when he almost lost it. That’s verse 2 my feet had almost slipped he says3800:03:05,720 –> 00:03:09,919I looked as we saw a couple of weeks ago I looked at what was happening in the3900:03:09,919 –> 00:03:13,220world I looked at what was happening in my life I could make no sense of these4000:03:13,220 –> 00:03:18,899things I could no longer see any point in pursuing a godly life I almost gave4100:03:18,899 –> 00:03:25,440up he says now to tell you over these weeks I’ve just been struck again and4200:03:25,440 –> 00:03:31,619again by the relevance of this song all of us go through times like this it4300:03:31,619 –> 00:03:34,320doesn’t matter how long you have been a Christian4400:03:34,320 –> 00:03:39,059it doesn’t matter how mature you are as a Christian believer circumstances4500:03:39,059 –> 00:03:43,979will come in your life and they will take you by surprise suddenly you find4600:03:43,979 –> 00:03:47,779yourself where ASAP was and you’re struggling with thoughts in your own4700:03:47,779 –> 00:03:54,580mind that you never imagined would ever be there some of us here will have been4800:03:54,580 –> 00:04:02,539plunged into an esaf experience even since this series began and some of us4900:04:02,679 –> 00:04:09,740will find ourselves in an ASAP experience that begins before the series ends5000:04:10,339 –> 00:04:18,040The good news is that God knows how to bring you through an ASAP experience5100:04:18,040 –> 00:04:25,720Isn’t that good news this is why we have some 73 is health tells us how God5200:04:25,720 –> 00:04:31,640brought them through the crisis by taking them through a five-point turn5300:04:31,640 –> 00:04:37,239The first thing he discovered was that he needed to stop and we saw those verses5400:04:37,239 –> 00:04:41,89915. If I’d gone he’s seeing in verse 15 where my thoughts were going where my5500:04:41,899 –> 00:04:44,440inclinations were leading me at that time5600:04:44,440 –> 00:04:48,600I would have let everybody down I would have betrayed your children he says to5700:04:48,600 –> 00:04:49,100God5800:04:49,100 –> 00:04:53,079He had to make a decision to stop I will no longer go down the track of these5900:04:53,119 –> 00:04:53,959thoughts6000:04:53,959 –> 00:04:58,799he will no longer follow where his discouraged mind is going and we saw6100:04:58,799 –> 00:05:02,040that the first step to climbing out of a black hole6200:05:02,040 –> 00:05:06,179the first step to turning your life around is not getting an answer to all6300:05:06,179 –> 00:05:09,179your questions but it is making a decision6400:05:09,959 –> 00:05:15,959Stop. And then the second thing we saw last week that Asaph had to do was to6500:05:15,959 –> 00:05:17,000think6600:05:17,339 –> 00:05:22,640Asaph said I went into the sanctuary and what did he find there? The6700:05:22,640 –> 00:05:26,320ark of God that spoke of God’s truth he remembered God’s truth6800:05:27,040 –> 00:05:31,640he met with God’s people he considered the ultimate outcome of the lives of the6900:05:31,640 –> 00:05:34,500wicked and the righteous and he says, that turned me around7000:05:34,500 –> 00:05:41,279that gave me a whole new perspective. Now the title of today’s message as you see7100:05:41,519 –> 00:05:49,420confess confess means admitting to God the things that are wrong in your life7200:05:49,420 –> 00:05:56,040and very simply today we’re going to find out how to do that and why it is so7300:05:56,040 –> 00:06:05,160important. Now as soon as Asaph gets his thinking straight is very significant in7400:06:05,239 –> 00:06:11,459the psalm that then He begins to pray. That’s His testimony. He’s telling us7500:06:11,459 –> 00:06:18,959very simply that prayer flows out where truth flows in. In fact one way to7600:06:18,959 –> 00:06:24,459measure your grasp of truth and we hear the truth every Sunday. We read the truth7700:06:24,459 –> 00:06:29,519every time we open the Bible. But one way to measure your grasp of truth is7800:06:29,519 –> 00:06:33,820to take an honest look at your prayer life. Because where truth is flowing in7900:06:33,859 –> 00:06:40,799prayer will flow out. I spent two days this week in Minneapolis with about 4008000:06:40,799 –> 00:06:44,279other pastors from our denomination talking about the importance of our8100:06:44,279 –> 00:06:48,920Statement of Faith. It’s a very important thing. If you’re a member of this church8200:06:48,920 –> 00:06:55,660you will have signed off on the church Statement of Faith but you can affirm a8300:06:55,660 –> 00:07:01,079Creed that God is able to do all things but actually have very little confidence8400:07:01,380 –> 00:07:05,980that He’s really able to help you in what you’re facing now. You can sign off8500:07:05,980 –> 00:07:09,839on a Statement of Faith that says that you believe we are all sinners but have8600:07:09,839 –> 00:07:14,720very little awareness of sin actually in your own life right now.8700:07:14,720 –> 00:07:21,899Now that’s where Asaph was but God met him in the sanctuary and the evidence of8800:07:21,899 –> 00:07:30,559it was the prayer that flowed out from him afterwards. Now as we come to these8900:07:30,600 –> 00:07:35,299verses today, this is the toughest part of the whole psalm. You need to brace9000:07:35,299 –> 00:07:42,559yourself for this. This is brutally honest, but here’s the good news.9100:07:42,559 –> 00:07:49,760The kind of honesty that we find here is the honesty that leads to a changed life.9200:07:49,760 –> 00:07:57,640When my heart was grieved, verse 21, and my spirit was embittered, I was senseless9300:07:58,579 –> 00:08:04,299and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.9400:08:04,299 –> 00:08:07,519Now, we’ll come to the detail of what Asaph says here in a moment.9500:08:07,519 –> 00:08:14,760But let’s start with the big picture. This is a confession of sin.9600:08:14,760 –> 00:08:20,559A confession of sin, remember, from one of the most godly men who has ever lived.9700:08:20,559 –> 00:08:23,119And that teaches us the first thing that we’ve got to grasp today,9800:08:23,359 –> 00:08:30,500which is that confession is a normal part of a healthy Christian life.9900:08:30,519 –> 00:08:34,599Confession is a normal part of a healthy Christian life.10000:08:34,599 –> 00:08:38,039And remember the Apostle John says in the New Testament,10100:08:38,039 –> 00:08:42,940if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just,10200:08:42,940 –> 00:08:47,280and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10300:08:47,280 –> 00:08:51,200And John wrote these words to who? To Christians.10400:08:51,200 –> 00:08:53,059To the children of God.10500:08:53,059 –> 00:09:01,380And then he added to Christians, if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves.10600:09:01,380 –> 00:09:06,159In other words, if you cannot see anything in your life right now that you could appropriately10700:09:06,159 –> 00:09:10,739confess as sin to God, you are simply not seeing clearly.10800:09:10,739 –> 00:09:12,559You’re blind.10900:09:12,559 –> 00:09:17,440You are not in touch with reality, you’ve got the blinkers on.11000:09:17,640 –> 00:09:24,000And if we’re walking around thinking that there is no sin within us, we are deceiving11100:09:24,000 –> 00:09:26,559ourselves.11200:09:26,559 –> 00:09:31,739So confessing our sins is not some kind of aberration of the Christian life, not something11300:09:31,739 –> 00:09:34,780abnormal, not some sign of dysfunction.11400:09:34,780 –> 00:09:38,820It is a normal part of a healthy Christian life.11500:09:38,820 –> 00:09:45,340Now, how this confession is to be done, of course, has been a matter of great debate11600:09:46,140 –> 00:09:48,140throughout history.11700:09:48,140 –> 00:09:54,039Many of us were brought up in a tradition where you were taught to confess your sins11800:09:54,039 –> 00:10:00,780to a priest, and there may be some value in that, but there is no place in the Bible where11900:10:00,780 –> 00:10:06,340God says that you must confess your sins to a priest.12000:10:06,340 –> 00:10:11,940In the 16th century, there was a great movement to get behind some of the traditions that12100:10:11,940 –> 00:10:17,500had piled up in the Church over the centuries on top of the Bible, and to discover what12200:10:17,500 –> 00:10:22,340the Bible actually said about the key points of our faith.12300:10:22,340 –> 00:10:29,179The reformers, who led this movement, saw that we need to confess our sins to God.12400:10:29,179 –> 00:10:36,820They discovered the great truth in the Bible that in God’s eyes, all believers are priests,12500:10:36,919 –> 00:10:42,260and that Jesus Himself is our great high priest.12600:10:42,260 –> 00:10:47,739One of these leaders, a man called John Calvin, who was a wise pastor, said that we are to12700:10:47,739 –> 00:10:57,419confess our sins to God, but that confessing a particular sin to another person could be12800:10:57,419 –> 00:10:58,520helpful.12900:10:58,520 –> 00:11:03,599Especially if, having confessed our sins to God, we are still struggling to find peace13000:11:03,599 –> 00:11:06,059in our hearts about it.13100:11:06,059 –> 00:11:10,900In that situation, he said, you can go to a pastor, you can tell him, or you can go13200:11:10,900 –> 00:11:15,520to another mature Christian, and tell them, you should seek some help if, having prayed,13300:11:15,520 –> 00:11:17,039you have not yet found peace.13400:11:17,039 –> 00:11:18,099Don’t just leave it there.13500:11:18,099 –> 00:11:19,840Go and get some help until you do.13600:11:19,840 –> 00:11:23,719This is the priesthood of all believers.13700:11:23,719 –> 00:11:28,280You can go and get the help of any priest, including the one sitting next to you right13800:11:28,280 –> 00:11:30,719now.13900:11:31,599 –> 00:11:38,500And by the way if someone does come to you and shares some burden that’s upon their conscience,14000:11:38,500 –> 00:11:42,799here’s your responsibility.14100:11:42,799 –> 00:11:49,780Your job, if a person tells you about a sin in their life, a struggle in their life, is14200:11:49,780 –> 00:11:56,080to help that person grasp the promises of the gospel in relation to that particular14300:11:56,080 –> 00:11:57,080matter.14400:11:57,080 –> 00:12:00,280The ways in which we can help and encourage one another.14500:12:00,280 –> 00:12:08,320James says, confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed.14600:12:08,320 –> 00:12:13,880So here’s what we’re saying, that the Bible tells us we are to confess our sins to God,14700:12:13,880 –> 00:12:18,320but if you find in a particular situation that you are still struggling to find peace,14800:12:18,320 –> 00:12:22,679you are at liberty — not obligation, but liberty — to share that with a pastor or14900:12:22,679 –> 00:12:28,719a Christian brother or a sister so that he or she may help you apply the promise of the15000:12:28,719 –> 00:12:33,119Gospel to that particular matter, so that you may find peace.15100:12:33,119 –> 00:12:38,400No believer should be struggling at length with unresolved issues of guilt.15200:12:38,400 –> 00:12:40,719They are to be brought to Christ.15300:12:40,719 –> 00:12:45,320If you have not yet found peace, get the help of a brother or sister alongside you to pray15400:12:45,320 –> 00:12:50,679it through until you do find peace, because God wants you to confess so that you may know15500:12:50,679 –> 00:12:56,219that you are forgiven, and live in the liberty and the joy of it.15600:12:56,679 –> 00:13:01,799You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and a message called Confess.15700:13:01,820 –> 00:13:07,900Our series is all about Asaph in Psalm 73, a Godly man who is struggling in his faith15800:13:07,900 –> 00:13:11,979and how God met with him and turned his life around.15900:13:11,979 –> 00:13:15,559If you ever miss one of our messages, don’t forget you can always catch up or go back16000:13:15,559 –> 00:13:23,140and listen again online at our website openthebible.org.uk or on your favourite podcast site, and those16100:13:23,140 –> 00:13:27,559are easily found by searching for open the Bible U.K.16200:13:27,559 –> 00:13:31,659Open the Bible is supported by our listeners and this month we have a brilliant offer for16300:13:31,659 –> 00:13:35,840you if you’re considering starting to support open the Bible in that way.16400:13:35,840 –> 00:13:39,700I’ll be talking to Pastor Colin later on in the programme about that offer, so I hope16500:13:39,700 –> 00:13:41,219you’ll stay with us.16600:13:41,219 –> 00:13:42,599Back to the message now.16700:13:42,599 –> 00:13:43,599Here’s Colin.16800:13:43,739 –> 00:13:53,080Now I have to tell you that the confession of sin today hardly seems to appear on the16900:13:53,080 –> 00:14:00,179radar for many Christians, and it is astonishing when you look at history, that throughout17000:14:00,179 –> 00:14:04,419the history of the church, Catholics have confessed their sins to the priest.17100:14:04,419 –> 00:14:11,239Protestants have confessed their sinfulness in public and deprive it to God, but honestly17200:14:11,380 –> 00:14:17,659it seems that in many spheres confessing our sins is just disappearing from worship17300:14:17,659 –> 00:14:20,039altogether.17400:14:20,039 –> 00:14:33,760We celebrate God, we celebrate ourselves, we do not confess, and if we do not confess17500:14:33,760 –> 00:14:39,200we will not change, and that is not New Testament Christianity.17600:14:39,200 –> 00:14:45,440The whole point of the Gospel is that it changes a person, it never leaves you as you17700:14:45,440 –> 00:14:53,559were and the Apostle Paul says to Christians in 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 517800:14:53,559 –> 00:15:00,760– examine yourselves, examine yourselves, test yourselves he says to believers.17900:15:00,760 –> 00:15:06,179I think it was Socrates, wasn’t it, who said the unexamined life is not worth living,18000:15:06,179 –> 00:15:07,539he was right.18100:15:08,159 –> 00:15:13,640Now you see this is what Asaph does in these verses before us today and it’s a wonderful18200:15:13,640 –> 00:15:19,580example, when his mind was straightened out by the truth what does he do next?18300:15:19,580 –> 00:15:24,799He’s able to see what’s been going on inside his soul and that leads him to confession.18400:15:24,799 –> 00:15:29,039You see before God turned on the light in his head he was in the darkness, he didn’t18500:15:29,039 –> 00:15:33,380even know the muck that was going on in his own soul, he couldn’t see it clearly, but18600:15:33,380 –> 00:15:42,500when the light goes on now he is in a position to confess because he can see clearly.18700:15:42,500 –> 00:15:47,260So confession obviously then is not a sign of some dysfunction in the Christian life18800:15:47,260 –> 00:15:56,299it is a normal part of a healthy Christian life, it is the evidence that you can see!18900:15:56,299 –> 00:15:59,859And if you’re not confessing it probably means you’re very blind.19000:16:00,859 –> 00:16:08,659Now here’s the second thing, confession exposes what’s hidden in your heart.19100:16:08,659 –> 00:16:13,020First thing was confession is a normal part of a healthy Christian life second, confession19200:16:13,020 –> 00:16:19,419exposes what’s hidden in your heart and here we look a little more detail at what Asaph19300:16:19,419 –> 00:16:22,059says in his confession.19400:16:22,059 –> 00:16:27,979Verse 21, When my heart was grieved.19500:16:28,200 –> 00:16:33,219Now these verses then open up what was happening in Asaph’s heart, remember the heart of19600:16:33,219 –> 00:16:39,520a godly man, what had been happening in that heart before he came into the sanctuary and19700:16:39,520 –> 00:16:43,479God turned on the light in his mind.19800:16:43,479 –> 00:16:47,979These things had been hidden even from Asaph himself.19900:16:47,979 –> 00:16:51,739He didn’t understand, Godly man though he was, what was going on inside his own soul,20000:16:51,739 –> 00:16:54,859he was not self-aware.20100:16:54,859 –> 00:16:58,440So when he came into the presence of God, God turned on the light and he saw things20200:16:58,440 –> 00:17:06,199in himself that he had not seen before, and that was why he was able to make this confession.20300:17:06,199 –> 00:17:17,199Now the confession he makes is searching and profoundly helpful, when my heart was grieved.20400:17:17,359 –> 00:17:26,819Now when your heart is grieved, there are some sins to which you will be especially20500:17:26,819 –> 00:17:30,380prone and you need to be aware of what they are.20600:17:30,380 –> 00:17:35,900We are going to find them and see them clearly in these very verses.20700:17:35,900 –> 00:17:43,719When things do not go your way, the sins of Asaph will be crouching at your door.20800:17:44,699 –> 00:17:50,439Notice the three sins, therefore, that Asaph confesses so that you can be on your guard20900:17:50,459 –> 00:17:54,479against them, especially at times when your heart is grieved.21000:17:54,479 –> 00:17:59,459Because they are going to be near to us at these times.21100:17:59,459 –> 00:18:04,619Number one, my spirit was bitter.21200:18:04,619 –> 00:18:07,219That’s his first confession.21300:18:07,219 –> 00:18:11,979My heart was grieved and my spirit embittered.21400:18:11,979 –> 00:18:16,880Now, it may be that my heart was grieved and my spirit was embittered.21500:18:16,880 –> 00:18:19,619They’re actually two ways of saying the same thing.21600:18:19,619 –> 00:18:23,680That is often the pattern in Hebrew poetry.21700:18:23,680 –> 00:18:29,599But we all know that you can have a grieved heart without a bitter spirit,21800:18:29,599 –> 00:18:36,780so I’m suggesting that the first sin that Asaph confesses here is a bitter spirit.21900:18:36,839 –> 00:18:45,540Lord, I see now what’s been happening, I became bitter.22000:18:45,540 –> 00:18:49,540There were things in my life that made no sense to me.22100:18:49,540 –> 00:18:56,640And what happened was I was soured towards you and soured towards other people.22200:18:56,640 –> 00:19:01,000I saw how you were blessing others more than me, and it churned away at me.22300:19:01,000 –> 00:19:03,300Self-pity came in.22400:19:03,300 –> 00:19:09,579I began to feel sorry for myself my spirit was embittered.22500:19:09,579 –> 00:19:14,180I didn’t see it before, Lord.22600:19:14,180 –> 00:19:18,060But now I’ve come into the sanctuary and you’ve turned on the light in your presence, I sure22700:19:18,060 –> 00:19:20,699see it now.22800:19:20,699 –> 00:19:23,420This is my confession.22900:19:23,420 –> 00:19:26,500My spirit was bitter.23000:19:26,500 –> 00:19:31,219Second, my heart ruled my head.23100:19:31,380 –> 00:19:40,699Look at this, When my heart was grieved, I was senseless and ignorant.23200:19:41,540 –> 00:19:47,540Now these two words, senseless and ignorant, are words about the mind.23300:19:47,540 –> 00:19:49,140So you see what he’s saying.23400:19:49,140 –> 00:19:55,339When my heart was grieved, when my emotions were stirred up, everything I knew and believed23500:19:55,339 –> 00:19:57,939about you, oh Lord, seemed to just fly out the window.23600:19:57,939 –> 00:19:59,359You know how this happens.23700:19:59,359 –> 00:20:05,680You got your faith, and then you hit some crisis, and when the emotions get going and23800:20:05,680 –> 00:20:10,819somehow your heart rolls your head, and everything you ever said you believed about God suddenly23900:20:10,819 –> 00:20:12,239seems to fly out the window.24000:20:12,239 –> 00:20:14,900I started thinking like an unbeliever thinks.24100:20:14,900 –> 00:20:20,140I started to talk to my friends in gloomy terms, as if there was no God, no help, no24200:20:20,140 –> 00:20:21,739hope, no future.24300:20:21,739 –> 00:20:23,739What was I thinking about?24400:20:23,739 –> 00:20:25,020I was senseless.24500:20:25,020 –> 00:20:26,160I was ignorant.24600:20:26,199 –> 00:20:33,280I let my heart roll my head when my heart was grieved.24700:20:33,280 –> 00:20:34,319And then look at the third thing.24800:20:34,319 –> 00:20:39,380Remember the sins to which we’re especially prone, at times when we are grieved.24900:20:40,459 –> 00:20:43,119I was acting on impulse.25000:20:44,579 –> 00:20:51,920When my heart was grieved, I was like a brute beast before you.25100:20:51,920 –> 00:20:52,920Now what does that mean?25200:20:52,979 –> 00:20:58,739Well, the point about a brute beast is that, of course, the animals act on impulse.25300:20:59,619 –> 00:21:08,099One of the great gifts that God has given to men and to women is the gift of reason, logic, reflection, analysis.25400:21:08,260 –> 00:21:10,780These gifts are not given to the animals.25500:21:11,400 –> 00:21:14,219The animals act on impulse.25600:21:15,739 –> 00:21:18,619And Esau says, this is what I was doing.25700:21:18,640 –> 00:21:20,000I was not acting on reason.25800:21:20,020 –> 00:21:21,479I was acting on impulse.25900:21:22,280 –> 00:21:29,719When my heart was grieved, I was just being pushed around by the impulses of bitterness and of unbelief and of despair.26000:21:29,839 –> 00:21:33,819No wonder my feet had almost slipped.26100:21:34,400 –> 00:21:38,640That is why you and I have to submit all our instincts to what?26200:21:38,880 –> 00:21:39,780The word of God.26300:21:40,660 –> 00:21:50,739So that we can discern and discover what impulses I need to fight against and what impulses I need to follow.26400:21:51,920 –> 00:21:54,180Great insight there from Pastor Colin.26500:21:54,680 –> 00:21:58,380Asaph is struggling and his life is not going as he’d hoped.26600:21:58,920 –> 00:22:03,219Meanwhile, people around him who have rejected God seem to be thriving.26700:22:03,819 –> 00:22:05,119So, he is confused.26800:22:05,260 –> 00:22:06,439He’s ready to give up.26900:22:07,260 –> 00:22:08,760Maybe you can understand that.27000:22:08,839 –> 00:22:09,739Maybe you’ve been there.27100:22:09,760 –> 00:22:12,260Maybe you’re there right at this time.27200:22:12,739 –> 00:22:15,420The good news is, God can turn us around.27300:22:16,520 –> 00:22:18,660Our series is called, I Almost Gave Up,27400:22:19,060 –> 00:22:21,819and if you miss one of the series, you can always catch up27500:22:21,819 –> 00:22:24,079or go back and listen to any you might have missed27600:22:24,420 –> 00:22:28,520online at our website, openthebible.org.uk.27700:22:28,959 –> 00:22:32,300And there you will find all the messages which have already gone out on air.27800:22:32,800 –> 00:22:36,880You can also find them as a podcast and those are on all the main podcast sites.27900:22:36,920 –> 00:22:42,199Search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe if you want to receive regular reminders.28000:22:42,760 –> 00:22:45,520Don’t forget, you can also find Open the Bible28100:22:45,520 –> 00:22:47,859daily on our website and as a podcast.28200:22:47,880 –> 00:22:51,800And that’s a series of short 2 to 3 minute daily reflections28300:22:51,959 –> 00:22:56,160based on pastor Colin’s teaching and read in the UK by Sue McLeish.28400:22:56,680 –> 00:22:59,619Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners.28500:22:59,739 –> 00:23:02,439It’s you that keep us online and on the air.28600:23:02,660 –> 00:23:05,619If that’s something you’re considering doing this month,28700:23:06,400 –> 00:23:10,800This month, if you’re able to begin a new direct debit to the work of Open the Bible28800:23:11,000 –> 00:23:16,339For £5 per month or more or a one-off gift of £50 or more,28900:23:16,540 –> 00:23:19,959We’d love to say thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin29000:23:19,959 –> 00:23:27,079Smith’s book for all who grieve along with five lovely greetings cards with a verse from Psalm 23.29100:23:27,699 –> 00:23:30,000Colin, what is in this book that you hope29200:23:30,199 –> 00:23:33,880that someone who is grieving will be able to take from it?29300:23:34,079 –> 00:23:36,000Well, you know, I think when we experience29400:23:36,199 –> 00:23:39,640loss in life, we often feel that God is at a distance.29500:23:39,839 –> 00:23:43,719You know, what does God know about this and where is God in all of this?29600:23:43,920 –> 00:23:46,719And sometimes we feel that he is very, very far away.29700:23:46,920 –> 00:23:47,880Indeed.29800:23:48,079 –> 00:23:49,479But, you know, the thing that’s been most29900:23:49,680 –> 00:23:54,479striking to me in pondering the book of Lamentations and the journey30000:23:54,560 –> 00:23:59,439through grief that we all at some time in our lives have to endure.30100:23:59,640 –> 00:24:04,400What’s been most striking to me is that Jesus knows about the path of sorrows.30200:24:04,599 –> 00:24:10,479He’s described in the Bible as the man of sorrows who is acquainted with grief.30300:24:10,680 –> 00:24:15,719So no one wants to walk on the path of sorrow and loss.30400:24:15,920 –> 00:24:18,800But, you know, when you do, you’re walking30500:24:19,000 –> 00:24:23,040at a place where Jesus Christ himself can be found.30600:24:23,119 –> 00:24:24,880He walks sorrow’s path.30700:24:25,079 –> 00:24:27,000He’s very familiar with it.30800:24:27,199 –> 00:24:29,880And Steve, my greatest motivation in writing30900:24:30,079 –> 00:24:33,439this book is to try and help and encourage people who are going31000:24:33,640 –> 00:24:37,959through grief, sorrow and loss to find the company of Jesus Christ31100:24:38,160 –> 00:24:40,640as they walk this very difficult and painful path.31200:24:40,839 –> 00:24:43,800So Colin’s book, For All Who Grieve, is our31300:24:44,000 –> 00:24:48,479gift to you along with five lovely greetings cards with a verse from Psalm31400:24:48,479 –> 00:24:53,079Number 23. When you set up a new direct debit to the work of Open The Bible31500:24:53,280 –> 00:24:58,439for five pounds per month or more, or one-off gift of fifty pounds or more.31600:24:58,640 –> 00:25:01,619Full terms and conditions on our website31700:25:01,900 –> 00:25:05,520openthebible.org.uk and you can give online31800:25:05,719 –> 00:25:10,880for Open The Bible, for Pastor Colin Smith and for myself, David Pick.31900:25:11,079 –> 00:25:13,079I hope you’ll be able to join us again next.32000:25:19,479 –> 00:25:22,640Have you ever been told to follow your heart?32100:25:22,839 –> 00:25:26,880Find out why your heart may not be as reliable as you think.32200:25:27,079 –> 00:25:29,380That’s next time on Open The Bible.