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Don't Waste Your Sorrows | Timothy J. Keller [Psalm 126:1-6]

Series: Trusting GOD in Difficult Times

Welcome to Gospel in life! Thank you for joining as we go thru this special series of meditation by Timothy Keller trusting GOD & difficult times.

This series is meant to encourage you to trust GOD more deeply & to meditate on HIS Word & what it promises to give you strength and hope in difficult times & now here's today's meditation.

1.] Tears Are Seeds For Joy

The title of this reflection is do not waste your sorrows I want to read just verses five & six of Psalm 126 those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.

Those who go out 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 carrying seed to sow will 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗷𝗼𝘆 carrying sheaves with them now.

This is a remarkable metaphor in which your sorrows your tears are like seed—which when sown properly 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗷𝗼𝘆.

——————————————————————— The implications of the metaphor are at least these two—the first implication is that it is possible to waste your sorrows. ———————————————————————

Imagine a farmer going out with a sack of seed and he is supposed to be sowing it all over, but instead what if he just dumped it in one spot?

That would be a waste of seed.

There wouldn't be a harvest.

There might be a few fruit that grew up right there, or maybe nothing. It would be a total waste & it's possible.

Therefore to grieve in such a way that doesn't produce any fruit in your life at all & although it's possible to just dump especially when you are grieving.

That's actually a very good metaphor.

It's possible just cry, yell & scream—and basically not see any real fruit in your life from it. So it's possible to waste your sorrows.

From: 2020-05-07

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2.] Don't Waste Your Sorrow

But secondly the most intriguing part of this idea here is this metaphor is that the joy is produced by the sorrow.

You see we all hope & believe that joy will follow sorrow & there are passages of the Bible where it says Psalm 30:5 weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

And most of us think yes! We were very sad, but we're hoping GOD brings joy in our sadness.

Time is over, but this is going beyond that.

Revelation 21:4 | ⁴ HE will wipe away every tear from their eyes—& there will be no more death or 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴/𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴/pain, for the former things have passed away.”

It's not just saying that a joy follows sorrow; it is saying that joy is actually produced by the sorrow!

2.1] What can that possibly mean?

What it can mean is that sowing seed the sadness & the grief actually makes you, can make you a happier person in the long run!

And if you sorrow in the proper way now: How could that possibly be?

The answer is I mean I don't know what the Psalmist knew, but what we know because we're Christians is this if you look to JESUS this can come true.

[a] First of all JESUS is the ultimate example of someone WHO brought joy out of sorrow; JESUS CHRIST literally brought joy, brought us joy out of HIS weeping, HIS pain and HIS mourning was substitutionary.

HE stood in our place & therefore when HE took our punishment, HIS weeping was the ultimate sowing in tears and it brought the ultimate harvest of joy.

Now when I see HIM dying, so that I could live when I see HIM going through all this incredible grief & sorrow..

……………………………………………………………………………… So HE could bring joy to the world that enables me to sorrow in a far better way. ………………………………………………………………………………

[b] Why? Well first of all when I think of HIM suffering for me, I won't suffering guilt I won't sit there and say well maybe I am suffering because GOD is punishing me.

No JESUS took my punishment.

[c] Secondly I won't when I'm suffering I won't suffer in self-pity & anger, I won't say how dare GOD let this happen to me!

I said wait a minute GOD suffered more than I did, so I can someday live with HIM forever & that gets over yourself pity & your anger &

[d] Of course thirdly, when I see HIM suffering for me, I can suffer in patience because I say look HIS Disciples did not understand what was going on when HE went to the cross...

……………………………………………………………………………… HE said whatever it is, HE could look at GOD to bring good out of this & GOD did of course so when I see HIM suffering for me, it makes me patient. ………………………………………………………………………………

It gets rid of my anger & self-pity. it also gets rid of any sense that I might have of guilt and you know what happens then?

I become reliant, leaning on HIM, humbling myself & when it's over, the sorrow creates a new Christlikeness [1 Peter 4:1]..

An ability to depend on GOD and not on my circumstances. [who hopes in what is seen?]

Romans 8:24 | Future Glory [2 Cor 5:1-10] ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?

JESUS CHRIST was the ultimate example of sowing tears that reap joy & if you watch HIM suffering for you.

If you keep your eye on HIM when you suffer your sorrows will not be wasted. But they'll bring long- term great joy.

3.] JESUS Prime Example for Persevering

And now here's Tim & Kathy Keller for a short time of Q&A on today's meditation going thru difficulty.

And even tragic times and coming out on the other side with nothing to show for it seems to me to be the ultimate waste.

I mean you talked about people who try to just put their mind somewhere else. I find in myself, other people, there's a tendency to just put your head down & grit your teeth.

And wait for it to be over, rather than using it as a learning opportunity. Come up with some things that people can do to make a tragic time—or bad time into a learning experience.

The reason I ask this is because we're told in Scripture we are supposed to comfort other people with a comfort that we received so if we didn't receive any comfort..

If we haven't done anything to amass comfort —then we can not share out to other people; then we've just wasted the whole thing & it's doubly tragic.

So how do you amass those things that you're going to be able to share with other people?

———————————————————————— I actually think that the main way you do that is you should be doing as a Christian anyway. ————————————————————————

But under the suffering—so it's a little bit like the, what you'll often see before a batter gets up into the batting box, he won't be just have a metal bat or some other bat..

It's something heavier, so that when he finally sheds all the heaviness & he goes back to just having the bat, will feel very light in his hands

The practice bat is weighted that's right & then the real one is light; you see how he has a real bat, the one he's really gonna use along with the practice bats

……………………………………………………………………………… And so when you've just read the Bible, pray, go to Church, take the sacrament, reach out, & help people under your suffering.. ………………………………………………………………………………

It just feels awful & yet Paul says our slight and momentary affliction is achieving us an eternal weight of glory—which far outweighs them all and right before he says that though our outer body is wasting away.

Or inwardly we're being renewed every day and what that simply means, I think is that when you just do the normal things..

Use the means of grace to obey GOD, to be kind to other people—especially reading Scripture & especially the Psalms & praying when you have that practice bat on you.

……………………………………………………………………………… Then when it goes away, you're gonna find and I have grown—I have become more patient I have become more caring, I've become more loving.. ………………………………………………………………………………

Because what's happening is your inner spiritual person's being developed, is like lifting weights in the gym.

Exactly like that, you feel weaker, you feel worse, you feel terrible. Exactly like I don't like this & yet you're actually getting stronger.

……………………………………………………………………………… Psalm 126:1-6 | ¹ A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers. ………………………………………………………………………………

² Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

³ The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy. ⁴ Restore our captives, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. ⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, bearing a 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗷𝗼𝘆, carrying sheaves of grain.

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