From Distress to Divine Freedom: Embracing God's Deliverance

Now the great thing about the Bible is that it's a book that presents its truth to us in so many different forms. That is one of the great marvels of the Bible. You get truth presented directly, didactically, explicitly, but it's also presented in many other different ways. It's presented in history, presented in pictures, images, illustrations. Indeed, there is almost no end to the variety of ways in which the truth is presented to us in the scriptures. [00:40:52]

The glory of the Bible is that it is so comprehensive, and in particular, I think we should thank God for this, that it not only gives us this great and glorious teaching, but it gives it us also in terms of experience, in terms of history. Now, if that is a proposition that is more or less true of the whole of the Bible, it is in particular true of this Book of Psalms out of which we take this 118th psalm for consideration this evening. [00:55:00]

The trouble with people who don't believe in the Bible, the real reason as to why people don't believe it and why they don't know anything in consequence of the nature of the Christian life and of the Christian experience is just this very thing: that they're wrong in their fundamental view but also at the same time are entirely lacking in experience. They don't know, they haven't tried it, they haven't put it to the proof. [00:59:28]

The Christian life is often misunderstood as narrow and joyless, but in reality, it is a life of vastness and abundance. The psalmist's testimony in Psalm 118:5 refutes these misconceptions, showing that true freedom is found in God. The world often equates freedom with self-expression and material gain, yet these pursuits lead to a life of distress, bound by the limitations of the physical and temporal. [01:04:46]

The psalmist's deliverance from distress to a "large place" symbolizes the transition from a life of spiritual confinement to one of divine freedom. This freedom is not just an escape from worldly pressures but an entry into a life of purpose, meaning, and eternal hope. The Christian life, therefore, is not about escaping reality but embracing a greater reality—one that transcends the visible and temporal. [01:09:48]

The joy and gratitude of the psalmist invite others to join in the celebration of God's goodness. This joy is rooted in the eternal nature of God's mercy, offering a life of purpose, meaning, and eternal hope. The Christian journey is marked by ever-expanding horizons, where each step is an opportunity for deeper understanding and greater intimacy with God. [01:14:40]

The life which is without God and without Christ is a life of distress. It's a small life, it's a narrow life, it's a little life. Is this possible, say someone? Well, let's see, let's examine it. Let's examine it in these terms. I'm here to suggest that the life which is not based on God is a small life as regards its outlook, that its very outlook is a confined one. [01:16:40]

The moment you become a Christian, your mind really begins to work, and you see everything in a new way. You see deeper beauty, greater thought, greater possibility. Everything expands, and of course, judged from the standpoint of achievement, it's exactly the same thing. You find you're growing from day to day, growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. [01:23:49]

The Christian life is a journey of ever-expanding horizons, where each step is marked by deeper understanding and greater intimacy with God. This journey is not about escaping reality but embracing a greater reality. The joy and gratitude of the psalmist invite others to join in the celebration of God's goodness. This joy is rooted in the eternal nature of God's mercy. [01:29:00]

The life to which we are delivered is just the exact opposite of all I've been saying. I called upon the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a large, in a wide place. That's your gospel. I am come, said our blessed Lord, that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly, life which is life indeed. [01:32:00]

The Apostle Paul is an old man. He writes his very last letter, which is his Second Epistle to Timothy. Here is at the very end of his life. Do you remember how he puts it? Listen to this. This is the way to end. Oh, how it expands gloriously at the end. He says, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. [01:47:55]

The Christian life is a life that puts you into a wide and a large and a broad place. Let me complete the hymn I've been quoting: His forever, only his, who the Lord and me shall part. Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart. Heaven and earth may fade and flee, firstborn light in gloom decline, but while God and I shall be, I am his and he is mine. [01:51:14]