WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
You have been waiting long enough.
It’s time to listen for God’s voice.
The day is here, and the time is now, to find new hope in God alone!
Welcome to His House. Come and join in the hope we share of God’s never-ending love.
We will celebrate by singing and praising God!
Songs
Prayer
Prayer of Confession & Assurance
Confession:
Lord, we want the easy way out! When things go wrong, we want to find who to blame for our misfortune. When we don’t get what we want, we want to punish whoever prevents us from our goals and desires. We don’t want to look at the ways in which we have perverted your love for us. We treat you as though you are a puppet who will dance to our demands. We act like spoiled children who want everything immediately, and who will become sullen and spiteful if we don’t get what we ask for. We stopped listening to you. Systems of greed and injustice replaced your command to “love one another”. Now we come to you asking for forgiveness and healing. Our hearts and lives are empty without your love. Our spirits wither and die in this greedy wasteland. Give to us your life-sustaining bread. Heal our souls. Help us to truly worship you and to willingly work for healing and hope in this world. We ask these things in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
Assurance:
God has heard your cries and knows your anguish. In Jesus Christ, you are loved and forgiven.
Summer in the Psalms
A Quiet Mind
Today's Message: Pastors Marlee Page and Dave Page
Have you noticed that on some nights, as the lights go off and the house grows quiet, a restful hush seems to descend on everything around us, but not always on us?
Do any of you know what we’re talking about?
We lie on our bed and everything quiets and stills except our minds.
For some of us, a deluge of thoughts might keep us awake when everything around us seems to be shutting down for the night. Thoughts of work that’s not completed and tomorrow’s lists to accomplish. Thoughts of yesterday’s regrets and the next day’s needs.
Falling asleep may seem simple enough…
One sleep researched said, “All it takes, is a tired body and a quiet mind” (The Depression Cure, 207). Yet, the second half of this sleep formula sometimes feels like a wish that never comes true – a quiet mind.
Solomon, King David’s son said this of sleep:
Our Lord “grants sleep to those he loves.” (Psalm 127:2).
Calm and Quiet Mind
The psalmists knew just how easily anxious cares, losses, and unknown tomorrows could keep restful sleep away from them. They, like us, had spent hours in their beds, thoughts whipping through their minds (Psalm 77:1–3).
And yet, Solomon, David, and the other psalmists also knew that sleep really was possible, even on the most troublesome nights. Even when hunted in the wilderness (Psalm 3:5), or sunk down in sorrow (Psalm 42:8), or consumed with thoughts of life’s half-finished buildings (Psalm 127:1–2), they experienced the wonder of laying their cares before God, and laying themselves down to sleep.
The psalmists knew that a quiet mind could be theirs, even when a quiet life was not.
Now, often it is said that a quiet mind comes, in part, from common sense. If we drink coffee in the late afternoon or evening or try to sleep in the blue-light glow of our smartphones, we shouldn’t be surprised to find ourselves still awake at midnight. But, common sense, the way we tend to think of it today, is not ultimately what the Psalmists are getting at. You see, the Psalms repeatedly remind us that a quiet mind comes from the hand of our sleep-giving God, who, each night, draws near to our beds as the Lord who is our shield, our protector, our sustainer, and our deliverer.
The Lord Is Your Shield
Let’s read Psalm 3:
Scripture Reading: Psalm 3
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
The David of Psalm 3 had every reason to be anxious and every reason to lie down on a bed of sleeplessness. Chased out of the palace and Jerusalem by his own son, he now is forced to run and hide in the wilderness (Psalm 3:1–2). I can’t even imagine a scenario less welcoming to a good night’s sleep.
Yet sleep David did, and apparently without much trouble. “I lay down and slept,” he says (Psalm 3:5). But, how?
David’s words, just before these, tell us that it was his faith that sent him to sleep.
“I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill.” (Psalm 3:4)
Do you remember one of the questions we asked you before we left for our time away?
When was the last time you cried out to God?
David, King of Israel, was used to reigning in the palace of Jerusalem. He once sat atop the throne with absolute authority, incredible power. Yet David knows that even when his own throne sits empty, or occupied by a treasonous son, God’s throne is always and completely full.
David didn’t need to reign on his throne in order to sleep; he just needed God to reign on His.
For David, if God was on His throne – His character sure, His covenant with David firm – then David could sleep, even in the wilderness.
We know that for some of you, your cares may be many and feel very close at hand, just like David’s enemies. This is why we want you to always remember that your God is mightier and closer.
We may lie down tonight in some wilderness of helplessness, feeling hunted by worries or circumstances far beyond our control. We may feel entirely vulnerable before some seemingly dark uncertainty. Maybe you’re waiting for that diagnosis, you have some job insecurity, perhaps a relational problem with widespread implications. Even then, our God still sits on the throne of grace and mercy, completely sovereign.
He is, by night, “a shield around me,” and by morning, “the one who lifts my head” (Psalm 3:3).
Your cares may be many and feel like they are rising up against you; but your God is mighty and rises above all.”
Psalm 23:1-2
The Lord Is Your Shepherd
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. (Psalm 23:1–2)
Those who have ever attended to livestock of any kind know that most often they only lie down for one reason – to rest or sleep. Sheep are like this.
Close your eyes with us for a moment and picture the familiar green pastures of Psalm 23 painted with mounds of snoozing wool at rest beneath a shepherd whose faithful care assures them,
“I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).
How many of your restless nights find their cause in a fear that we shall, in fact, want? That the new morning will not bring new mercies, that tomorrow’s bread will not come? How often does the sleepless hours of our nights suggest that we do not then, trust the Lord to be our shepherd?
How strange and sad it would be to see a sheep anxious and fearful beside the rod and staff, bleating as if it walked alone? Yet, so often, that’s us.
Consider this, on nights where you feel that kind of anxiety, one could hardly ask for a better bedtime confession than “I shall not want.”
So, then, if the Lord really is our shepherd, then our needs do not require a worried and wakeful mind. Our God can do far more in our sleeping than we can do in our waking. Whatever needs tomorrow holds, His provision will be sufficient.
“He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” (Psalm 147:4)
Among the many kinds of restlessness that the psalmists bring to their beds, the absence of hope may be the most common. Throughout the Psalms, we read of midnight weepers (Psalm 30:5), of wakeful, comfortless souls (Psalm 77:1–2), of saints whose tears stain their bed sheets (Psalm 6:6). The absence of hope often makes for a sleepless mind.
Can we ask you to do something tonight if you aren’t enjoying a restful sleep? Should you find yourself awake, turn, and look out your window.
Can you see a hundred shimmering stars, and look beyond them to the billions more? Your God,
“ determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” (Psalm 147:4).
Now, a thought like that might, at first, make us feel smaller than ever, our hopeless hearts, too humble for God to be aware of much, lest do anything about. But the psalmist would say, ‘NO, NO, NO, don’t think that way.’ If God names the very stars, then he has certainly not lost sight of you. God knows the name of every star, and you can be sure that He knows your reasons for feeling hopeless or burdened or overwhelmed.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,” the psalmist says (Psalm 147:3).
As surely as He knows the name of every star, He knows your anguish and fear. He is for all His people, the great Healer of hearts and Binder of wounds. Think of each of those stars as a promise, shining from the heavens above, like a lullaby song that then sends you to sleep.
Psalm 3:5
Verse 5 – Hebrew verb ‘ysn’ – to fall asleep
David was able ‘to fall asleep” up to his neck in trouble, surrounded by enemies.” Charles Spurgeon writes of this particular verse in Psalm 3,
“There is a sleep of holy confidence; God help us so to close our eyes!”
Now, we want you to see something else here as well. David says he woke again. Though exposed to many enemies, David lays his head on the chest of his God, sleeps happily in safety and security, and then, awoke in safety. Why? “Because the Lord sustains me.”
Conclusion
Let me close by leaving you with this thought:
God Invented Rest
There are some things that are kind of a surprise in life. What I mean by that is, there are some things you just wouldn’t expect. Take for example: the idea of taste. What a cool idea! The idea of taking a bite of a donut for me is always a breathtaking experience. Or take the always satisfying flavour of a piece of apple pie. What about the amazing sensation of pizza? Cheese stretching out from your last bite. That was all God’s idea.
Liver though, – nah, I don’t think so! That’s obviously the Devil’s work.
God created the world in six days and on the seventh he rested.
It’s not that he was tired. Rest is more than simply regaining strength. Rest is about a stopping work long enough to enjoy what you have created. God’s rest is rooted in the idea that what has been done is good and worthy of enjoyment. His rest is not a rest of exhaustion but the rest of satisfaction.
Hebrews 4:9-10
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:9–10.
God’s ultimate rest is the gift of salvation. This is the peace that defies understanding. The world does not comprehend the rest we enjoy in Jesus.
Yet in spite of that, the promise of God remains through the word of His Son.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This is the “rest of faith” that Jesus promises in Matt. 11:28–30. The ‘rest’ of Matthew 11:28 is salvation; it is a gift that we receive by faith. The ‘rest’ of this passage is what we find day by day as we take His yoke and surrender.
So, as you go to sleep tonight, think again of that word ABIDE. Our Jesus’ hands are ready to keep you and hold you safe. And in the gentle strength of his hands is a quiet that can calm the loudest mind, waking or sleeping. Believe me – I know this myself.
Trust that He is with you, no matter what you’re going through. Whether it’s a health issue, mental, financial, work related, home related; whatever it is that’s going on, we want you to know that you have a God who is with you. He loves you and sent His Son to be with you to give you this great hope!
The point of David’s psalm is trusting in God. Trust in His promises. Trust that He won’t abandon you, He won’t leave you standing alone. He will be with you. In truly knowing that, you can have rest!
Would you pray with me?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, do we really dare to believe this could be true? That is a question that often goes unspoken but envelopes our hearts and minds. Lord, help us in our unbelief. Help us to be courageous enough to accept the love that you have for us and the power you have to forgive and heal our souls. We live in a time of great hostility, fear and strife. It is easy for us to succumb to the terrors and forget that you are with us at all times, seeking peace and hope. You have asked us to be instruments of peace and justice. To do this we need to change our attitudes and practices to reflect your love and compassion and not be vehicles for our greed or need for approval. Jesus, the Bread of Life, has taught us the importance of serving others, and in that service, we will honor you. Create in us hearts that are eager to serve and witness to your love. Open our lives this day and pour your healing mercies into them, that we may be messengers of hope to all we meet. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.
Benediction
Go forth and live as Christ in the world.
Speak and live with integrity as you journey through this new week, knowing that God will satisfy your every need and lead you to a victorious life.