Chris McCurley: Good morning. Thank you, Steve. Thank you for that song before the lesson because that goes well with what we're gonna be talking about this morning. If you wanna turn to Psalm seventy four, I wanna echo what Blake mentioned in the opening about the tidwells and the excellent job that they did overseeing BBS. And all the volunteers, I don't want to start naming names because that never goes well. You leave somebody out, but we had so many here and even prior to yesterday that set up, they gave their time and their energy and their effort to make certain that BBS went well and smoothly, and it takes an army to do vacation Bible school anyway, and appreciate Corey and Emily spearheading that. It was a great day. So thank you for all who participated in that. So there's a guy by the name of John York who wrote a book called To the wilderness, a five-act journey to story. And in that book, he makes this claim. Every story is basically Jaws. What do you think? I think he's on to something. You think about it, every story has a monster that is attacking, and a hero has to step in and save the day. Now that monster may be an animal, it may be a human being, but every plot line, virtually every plot line is the same. And John York uses Jaws as a template to say you have this animal that's terrorizing the community, and a hero has to step in and save the day. Every story is basically Jaws. And you think about the biblical narrative, and that's really really true of the story of the Bible. You ever noticed how many times monsters Are mentioned in Scripture. You have the Leviathan and the Behemoth in Job. Some try to assign modern day animals to these figures like a hippo or whatever. That really doesn't fit the description. You have Leviathan, you have Behemoth, you have the dragon in Revelation. In Daniel, it talks about the beast of the sea. Have you noticed how many times monsters are mentioned in Scripture? Have you noticed how many times God's enemies are described in snake like language? Why do so many times God's enemies take on the persona or at least the imagery of a serpent or a dragon? Maybe you've never really thought about it. But this is crucial to the biblical narrative. It's important to our story as we read through the entire Bible, but especially the Psalms. Look at Genesis 1 and 21. There it reads: So God created the great sea creatures, and every living creature that moves. With which the waters swarm according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Now the surface, this passage seems rather benign, rather tame. We just read past it. God created, it was good, but sea creatures here is tanin in the Hebrew. And it means dragon, serpent, or sea monster. And this word always carries with it the connotation of evil, chaos, and disruption. It's also important to understand what was going on in the culture of Israel at this time. What were they thinking? What was the wisdom of the day? And you know that one of the biggest enemies of the Israelites was Babylon. And Babylon had their own God. That God was Marduk. And they believed that Marduk. Defeated the great sea monster Tiamat. And after defeating Tiamat, Marduk used the body, the blood and guts and everything of the deceased Tiamat to create the world. And so you have that narrative bumping up against the narrative of creation that we know to be true and historical. God creating order out of disorder. And so this is really just showing, among other things, that God. Is above all other gods, lesser gods, especially the God of Babylon, Marduk. So let's recap. There are these beasts or these monsters in scripture that are evil and cause chaos and disorder. They are rivals of God. More specifically, they are rivals of creation, and they exist to disrupt God's good order. You remember that when God created everything, he created order out of disorder. And so these chaos monsters are here to cause the order to become disrupted and to cause chaos, to d disrupt God's good order. The serpent is our first introduction to a chaos monster. And from this point on, when the biblical authors want to talk about evil, they do so using serpent language or serpent imagery. And here's the thing about the serpent or the nakash. He's not satisfied with being an independent contract. Others to join him in his mission. God wants us to partner with him in his mission to save the world to the church. But you know, Satan wants to partner with you to cause chaos and disruption. He knows that he is a defeated dragon, but at the end of the day, he wants to take as many people with him as possible. And as you know, Adam and Eve took the bait, they acted autonomously. d you know, and that caused disruption. Chaos ensued. They were kicked out of the garden. But God was still at work, and he promises to send a snake-crushing savior to deliver God's people. Genesis three, one through five. Excuse me, Genesis three, fifteen. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So we're just a few pages into the Bible, and we already are introduced. To the major plot conflict of scripture, right? Good versus evil, God versus the dragon, chaos versus peace. It's the story of Jaws, really. You have a chaos monster that is trying to disrupt and cause chaos, and then you have God who is bringing order as the hero. But all along the way, we see this monster imagery. For instance, Cain and Abel, again. We're not very far into the Bible, we find the first murder. Cain murders his brother Abel. We see Moses and Abraham and people who were who were good people for the most part, but they had major character flaws. You see with Moses, for instance. God calls Moses to partner with him and his mission to rescue the people from Egypt out of slavery. And Moses is apprehensive. What if I tell the people they don't believe me? And God. Sends a new word with Moses. He sends signs with him because anytime God sends a new word, he sends signs to accompany it. And so he tells him, Take your staff and throw it on the ground, and it becomes a serpent. He picks it up again and it becomes a staff again. So is that coincidence? I think not. There's this serpent imagery that we find throughout scripture. God is rescuing his people, but he's also rescuing them. From the power of the serpent, the ancient force of evil. Isaiah reminds the Israelites that God has the power to protect them from their enemies. I want you to notice what image he chooses. Isaiah 51. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord, awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Rahab here is not. The woman who hid the spies. Rahab here is a unique image. It's the Hebrew title for the dragon. It literally means the one who rages. Ezekiel uses some monster language. Speak and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, My Nile is my own, I made it for myself. Ezekiel isn't just calling Pharaoh a name. He uses the term dragon intentionally. He is making a connection between the earthly, the physical kingdoms, and the evil powers that stand in rebellion against God and his good order. And so Pharaoh is a chaos monster that brings destruction and is the antithesis of peace. And that brings us to a An important point about these chaos monsters that we read about in scripture. And that is humans can put on the dragon outfit. They can put on the monster costume. And in fact, they do several times through scripture. We found it with Cain, we talked about a while ago. We we find it with Pharaoh. We find it with with Nebuchadnezzar. There are many enemies of God. And there are those who who are not necessarily enemies of God that played the role of the chaos monster for here and there, you know, like we talked about Abraham and and David and and people who had good intentions but messed up and they played the role of the chaos monster. They brought disorder and disruption to their lives. Those who refuse to follow God's plan or who don't follow God's plan and live out his ideal are playing the role of the dragon. But there's always a but, right? God's good plan cannot be thwarted. His garden ideal is going to be fulfilled, even though the dragon is hard at work. You enter Abraham. God chooses Abraham and tells him that he is going to make a great nation from him, a new people. And as you know, things don't always go so well there, yet the promise still stood. It was still intact. Then God installs David to be the king, the ruler over his people, and he obviously has. some major character flaws, but Abraham and David are still part of this covenant partnership that will ultimately be fulfilled in this new human that is coming, this future image bearer, this future snake crusher who will deliver God's people and bring order to the chaos. That's Psalm seventy four. But before we jump into Psalm seventy four, I I want to ask you a question. I want you to think about this question and I want you to let it resonate in your mind as we go throughout this psalm, and it's this What is your chaos monster? What is your chaos monster? What what is what is that thing in your life that disrupts order that brings chaos? Don't say you're kids, that's too easy. What what is the what is the one thing in your life that brings chaos? What's your monster? Name your monster. Is it cancer? Is it dementia? Is it Alzheimer's? Maybe a divorce? Is it you? Are you a chaos monster for somebody else? I hope not, but if you are, I hope you'll fix that. Maybe you're bringing disorder to somebody else and you need to fix that. Maybe you've put on the costume of the chaos monster. What is taunting you? And maybe you've prayed to God about it, maybe you've asked him To step in and to do something, how long, God, are you going to allow me to deal with this? How long am I going to have to face this dragon? When are you going to do something? If you've ever prayed to God and you've ever asked him those questions, then Psalm 74 is your psalm. This Psalm is for you. 74 is a poem of lament. We talked about protest and lament earlier in this series. The big question posed by the psalmist. Who in this case is a Soph, he asks, How long? God, that is the big question. How long, God? The Psalter is speaking not only for himself, but he's a spokesman for the people of God, for Israel. The Israelites have undergone calamity of unparalleled proportions. They have been overwhelmed by tragedy. Jerusalem has fallen, the temple has been destroyed, the prophets are gone. A dragon, a chaos monster by the name of Babylon has overcome them and is controlling their land so that now they are foreigners in their own country. They are left to wonder, has God abandoned us? Does he even care anymore? Verses one through three. God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pastor? Remember your congregation which you have purchased of old? Would you have redeemed to the tribe of your heritage? Remember Mount Zion where you have dwelt? Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins. The enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary. This is a psalm that is initially a plea of reprieve. We've talked about this before, but notice how Asaf lays it all out on the table. This has a lot to teach us about prayer. Have you laid it all out before God? He just vomits it all out before God. He lays it out there. The Psalms are honest expressions of the heart. And in this case, Asa feels cast off, abandoned. Remember, he's speaking for the people as well. But even though he feels forsaken by God, he goes to God in prayer, which is always the best first step. And notice how he appeals to the relationship. Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old. He's speaking of how Israel was redeemed from slavery. He's going back to the Exodus story, which the Psalmists did quite often. In fact, the people of the Old Testament did quite often. They go back to that story because it means everything for them. And Soph is saying, You've done it before, God. Are you going to do it again? And if so, when? How long are you going to wait to rescue us? We're your people. Have you forgotten about us? And then notice Verses four through eight. Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place. They set up their own signs for signs. They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees and all its carved wood. They broke down with hatchets and hammers. They set your sanctuary on fire. They profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. They said to themselves, We will utterly subdue them. They burned all the meeting places of God in the land. A chaos monster is loose in the temple. A serpent, a dragon has gotten loose in the temple, and he has breathed fire, and he has burned everything to the ground. Verses nine and through eleven. We do not see our signs. There is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long, how long, O God, is the foe to scoff, is the enemy to revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them. It's like God has has cut off all communication. He's gone dark. He's ghosted the people. Kind of like maybe when you texted your kids and they didn't text back and you're like, I know that phone is permanently attached to their hand. Maybe they even have a a a watch. So you know they're getting your communication, but they don't text back. Or maybe it's like playing hide and seek. You ever play hide and seek with someone who's really good at it? They're so good at hiding you never can find them. Takes all the fun out of it. The Israelites through a sopher asking, How long, God? Are you playing some divine game of hide and seek? Are are are you trying to get us to find you? I I mean, when are you gonna come out of hiding? When are you gonna do something about the chaos and the calamity? Forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand, take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them? I think of Napoleon and that famous portrait of him with his hand in his coat. I think we have a picture of that. Remember this picture? And the psalmist is saying, Take your hand out of your cloak, take your hand out of your coat, please, and do something. Use that hand to smite the dragon. Yet God, my king, is from old, of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by your might. You broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan. More monster language, right? You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You split open springs and brooks. You dried up Ever flowing streams. Yours is the day, yours also the night. You have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter. Did you catch it? Sea monsters, Leviathan, wilderness creatures. my, right? It's the monster motif that we started with. The point the psalmist is making is that these chaos monsters don't stand a chance. That God could do something because he's done it in the past. He brought order to the disorder, and he can do it again, but for whatever reason he's choosing not to. Our lives are nothing but chaos now, Asof says. Where there was order, where there was peace, all of that is gone. And how long are you going to let this happen? Please do something, God. Why are you letting the enemy win? Of course, all you have to do is go back to the beginning of this psalm to understand why the people were dealing with what they were dealing with. But here's what's interesting about this psalm. It doesn't resolve the problem. It doesn't fix anything. A soft just goes back to describing what's wrong. Notice how the Psalm ends. Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs and a foolish people reviles your name. Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beast. Do not forget the life of your poor forever. Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame, let the poor and needy praise your name, arise, O God, defend your cause, remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day. Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually. Here's the irony of this entire story, this entire psalm. Israel is playing the role of a chaos monster. They are the ones crying out for help, and they are in this situation all because they have played the role of the chaos monster. They have put on the monster outfit, and it has brought them to this predicament. That's what happens when you turn to other gods, when you turn to idols, which is what Israel did. They turned away from God, they acted on their own, and they followed other gods. And so God uses a chaos monster by the name of Babylon. To come in and hopefully bring them into compliance. But that's the irony of all of this. They are in this position because they themselves had worn the monster outfit. They turned to lesser gods, and it brought all this chaos and this disruption. And the poet speaks on behalf of the people as he cries out to God to slay the dragon, to bring peace and order again, and God doesn't immediately do away with this disorder. He lets it simmer. Showing that God doesn't always act on our timeline. He doesn't always follow our time frame. He doesn't always even change our circumstances as bad as we would like for Him to. Let me ask you. How many of you have prayed this prayer? I I would bet in a church this size, in an auditorium this this morning full of people, that at least a few of you have prayed this prayer. Remember, the Psalms are a prayer book for the exiles. You encounter the Psalms to meet with God and to hear the entire story of God's kingdom being sung back to you in poetry. So when you open your Bible. When you open your Bible, when you study the Psalms, you're doing the exact same thing that God's people were doing way back then. You are meditating on God's law as you wait for Jesus. And these prayers become our prayers. Their prayers are our prayers, and virtually all of us can relate to this prayer, which is wonderful because e all of us have either dealt with our own chaos monster, are currently dealing one. With one, or we will at some point in the future. We all face an attack from the dragon. We don't know why, when, where, or for how long, but at some point we're going to have to deal with the dragon. He is roaming around seeking someone to devour, and as long as he is, we're going to have to deal with him. But we have an advantage that the Israelites did not. We could see the end. We can see how this whole story plays out. Revelation twelve. And a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his head seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore her child he might devour it. You never see that in nativity scenes, do you? A dragon waiting for Jesus. She gave birth to a male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness and Where she has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. For most of at least the first part of next year, we're going to go through Revelation, all of it. And so a lot of this we'll save till then it'll make more sense. But the dragon's fate is sealed. And some of you may think, Well, Chris, it sure doesn't feel like it. I mean, you say I'm a winner, but I I feel defeated more than I feel like I'm winning. If this is winning, I'd hate to see losing. I know we win in the end, but why do why do I feel mortally wounded in the here and now? But what what seems like defeat, eventually, eventually it is victory. And defeat can be a path to victory. Suffering can be a path to victory. And I know that sounds like pie in the sky or or some trite little religious saying, but it's not fluff. Because scripture is clear that this life is preparation for something bigger. And this preparation may include hurts and heartaches and hang ups. Just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean that it's nonsense. Back in the seventies, Jerry Garcia described what I feel on occasion very well. Maybe you feel it as well. I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time. I was saying the right things, but I must have used the wrong line. I was on the right trip, but I must have used the wrong car. My head was in the right place, but I'm run wondering what it's all good for. Can you relate? Sometimes life just doesn't make sense. Sometimes there's no order. It's just it's just controlled chaos. Like my friend Kevin Turberville used to say, A plus B equals C until it doesn't. Paul wrote, and we know. That for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. This verse, and many more like it, mean nothing if God is not in compl complete control over our circumstances. God creates order out of the chaos. The question then becomes what do we do in the meantime? What do we do until we have the ultimate victory? How do we cope with defeat as winners? Well, sometimes you just gotta sit in your grief. And I know that's not the answer you want to hear. And and I know that that's that's difficult to do, but sometimes you just have to sit in your grief and cry out, How long, God? The psalmist shows us this. It's okay to do that. It's okay to ask questions of God. It's okay to pour it all out on the table and tell everything you're feeling. But sometimes in your grief you just gotta sit with it. Sometimes you just lament because that's all you can do. We're not good at that in our culture. We struggle with it. When somebody is dealing with grief, we want now, now, don't cry. Why? Why can't I cry? Crying is necessary, it's needed. It's good for us at times. God endowed you with emotions. Use those emotions for your betterment. But I would say this. And if you watch the videos about my cancer updates on Facebook, you've heard me say this before. I sit with my grief at times, but I don't take my shoes off. Don't get comfortable in your grief. It's okay it's okay to sit with it, it's okay to lament, it's okay to cry out to God how long. Just don't get too comfortable. Because God didn't bring you this far just to bring you this far. He's taking you somewhere. And one of the beauties of this life is that it's going somewhere. Doesn't mean I don't have my questions, doesn't mean that I don't cry out to God and ask how long. It doesn't mean that I I don't ask him to defeat this dragon sooner than later. But sometimes you just deal with it by sitting in it for a moment and lamenting. I want to close this morning with a poem. written by Ruth Calkin. It's entitled In the Morning. And it goes like this. Today. Lord, I have an unshakable conviction, a positive, resolute assurance that what you have spoken is unalterably true. But today, Lord, my sick body feels stronger and the stomping pain quietly subsides. Today. Tomorrow. If I must struggle again with aching exhaustion, with twisting pain, until I am breathless, until I am utterly spent, until fear eclipses the last vestige of hope, then, Lord, then grant me the enabling grace to believe without feeling, to know without seeing, to clasp your invisible hand, and wait with invincible trust. For the morning. Some of you are just trying to get through the day. Because this monster you're facing has just overwhelmed you. You feel defeated. You feel like you can't get back up. Grieve. Lament. Don't take your shoes off. Get back up and keep moving forward in faith, knowing that God is going to bring order and peace to the chaos in your life. Let's pray. Most kind and gracious heavenly father. We love you. And while we have questions, God, we trust in you. While we cry out how long we know, Lord, that you are in control, and we pray for peace. We pray that you bring order to the chaos in our lives, and we pray, Lord, that we can have an invincible faith through it all, that we can live our life as victors. God, thank you. That there is hope and that this life isn't all that there is. We love you, and it's in your son's precious name we pray. Amen. One question for you as we close. Are you ready? Are you ready? If our Lord was to come back today and gather us all up, would you be a sheep or would you be a goat? Are you ready to go with him and to be with him for all eternity? And if not, why would you not take care of that this morning? We can help you. Steve has an invitation song. We invite you to come as we stand and as we sing.