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Staycation | Default Settings | PART 3
Praising the Lord is not the default setting at birth. Once we have full awareness of our "default settings" we learn how to have joy in the everyday. Join us as we challenge ourselves to change our default settings.
Series: Staycation,
Speaker: Pastor Jim Groves,
Scripture: Psalms 103:1-22, Mark 12:28-31, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 2 Samuel 6, Luke 21:1-3, John 7:38-39,
Video: https://www.facebook.com/avalonchurch/videos/396231907999935/,
Sermon page: https://www.avalonchurch.org/sermons/staycation-default-settings-part-3/,
Sermon Notes: 2020-07-05_staycation-part-3_sermon-notes.pdf,
Discussion Questions: 2020-07-05_staycation-part-3_discussion-questions.pdf,
Notes:
Psalms 103:1-22 NIV
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Default Settings
– we know what these are (printers, for example)
In 2005 the brilliant author and professor David Foster Wallace offered the commencement address at Kenyon College in Ohio in which he spoke about default settings:
“Here is just one example of the total wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe; the realist, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely think about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness because it's so socially repulsive. But it's pretty much the same for all of us.
"It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people's thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real.”
He continued:
“[And so] petty, frustrating [stuff] like traffic jams and crowded aisles and long checkout lines in the grocery store give me time to think, and if I don't make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I'm gonna be [upset] and miserable every time I have to shop.
"Because my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me. About MY hungriness and MY fatigue and MY desire to just get home, and it's going to seem for all the world like everybody else is just in my way.”
Wallace followed that with a clear statement to the seniors gathered that it’s a matter of choice to do the hard work of somehow altering or getting free of the natural, hard-wired default setting which is to be deeply and literally self-centered and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self.
Wallace, who was raised by parents who were atheists, spoke of one more default setting:
“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the best reason for choosing a God to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things—if they are where you tap real meaning in life—then you will never have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. Worship power—you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart—you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. The insidious thing about these forms of worship is that they are unconscious. They are default settings.”
Our message series, Staycation, is subtitled, “Chasing Joy in the Everyday.”
Three years after his commencement address, at the age of 46, David Foster Wallace committed suicide
He found no joy in the default settings
King David pens Psalm 103 with a full awareness of default settings. Look at how he begins:
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Ps 103:1-2 NIV)
--
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:1-2 ESV)
“Bless the Lord” or “Praise the Lord” is not the default setting at birth
Praise should be but is not very often natural
David writes an exhortation to himself – and shares with us as an example
The Hebrew word for bless is barak and has a distinct meaning of expressing joyful gratitude as an enrichment of God
That is, the praise (however expressed) will make more people aware of the person and works of the Lord, and so God’s reputation will be enriched
This act does not revolve around me at all – in fact, it only includes me as an undeserving recipient of the blessing of God
It is fully adoration
“All that is within me” (all my inmost being)
Mark 12:28-31 (NIV):One of the teachers of the law asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [Deuteronomy 6:4-5]
What does it look like to bless and praise with all that is within me?
I don’t know -- David doesn’t tell us
Probably because each of us is uniquely created by God and he relates to us and us to him as uniquely as a father does each of his children
What God receives as blessing and praise from you may not be his expectation for me, at all
I would guess that our immediate response to this question would include enthusiastic singing, perhaps even a little dancing or shouting
Doris caught up in Hillsong concert
Mike Smith understands that
King David would understand that
2 Samuel 6 records that when the ark of God was being brought into Jerusalem, King David was leaping and dancing before the Lord
But later he sits down and writes Psalm 103 because getting caught up in praise – which is good, by the way – is different than choosing and determining to praise
I would suggest that certain widow “blessed and praised the Lord”
Luke 21:1-3 (NIV): As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
It took all of her heart, mind, soul and strength to make that offering – and it blessed God
Let me additionally suggest that “all that is within me” changes over time
I loved Debbie with all that was within me when I was 20 and we got married
How that love looks is radically different (and significantly deeper and more intimate) 48 years later
So, while I cannot give you specifics, I can assure you that blessing and praising the Lord involves aligning all of who I am in intentional, God-centered adoration
With an audience of one
“And forget not all his benefits”
This is more than a mental activity – like “it slipped my mind”
It has to do with actions – intentionally make the effort not to forget
This is not just “don’t do something” – it is definitely “do something!”
David goes on to list so many things that God had done
But more to reveal God’s character than make a list of deeds
This is about who God is, not so much what he has done
God forgives – and heals – and redeems – and crowns with love and compassion
He satisfies and strengthens – and intercedes on behalf of the oppressed
He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love
Our Father does not stay angry or treat us as our sinful behavior deserves
Instead, he has compassion on his children and treats us tenderly
David is so correct
But David can only recite what he has seen in the past
He had no idea of how much bigger and better it would be for those of us on the other side of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah
He could have never imagined the magnitude of love that God would display by sending his son, Jesus, into the world to pay the final and full payment for sin
And neither could he have imagined the gift of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the role he would play in blessing and praising
John 7:38-39 (NIV): Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
David implores himself and all of us to do the hard work of changing our default settings so blessings and praise flow freely from within
Like John Molloy’s jelly-filled donut
Let me close by reminding you of a Kay Warren quote that Pastor Don shared last Sunday:
Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; all that is within me bless his holy name!”
My challenge to you this week – work on changing your default settings. Memorize and meditate on Psalm 103:1-2, them make the choice to praise the Lord.
In a world of social distancing you may not feel comfortable coming forward to ask for prayer or talk more about Jesus
But we really do want to hear from you and speak with you
Please take advantage of our text number 407-559-8210
Text the word “prayer” to make a prayer request
Text the word “life” if you would like to ask questions about following Jesus or to let us know you have already made that decision but would like some guidance on the journey
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By Pastor Don Dodge
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Praising the Lord is not the default setting at birth. Once we have full awareness of our "default settings" we learn how to have joy in the everyday. Join us as we challenge ourselves to change our default settings.
Series: Staycation,
Speaker: Pastor Jim Groves,
Scripture: Psalms 103:1-22, Mark 12:28-31, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 2 Samuel 6, Luke 21:1-3, John 7:38-39,
Video: https://www.facebook.com/avalonchurch/videos/396231907999935/,
Sermon page: https://www.avalonchurch.org/sermons/staycation-default-settings-part-3/,
Sermon Notes: 2020-07-05_staycation-part-3_sermon-notes.pdf,
Discussion Questions: 2020-07-05_staycation-part-3_discussion-questions.pdf,
Notes:
Psalms 103:1-22 NIV
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Default Settings
– we know what these are (printers, for example)
In 2005 the brilliant author and professor David Foster Wallace offered the commencement address at Kenyon College in Ohio in which he spoke about default settings:
“Here is just one example of the total wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe; the realist, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely think about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness because it's so socially repulsive. But it's pretty much the same for all of us.
"It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people's thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real.”
He continued:
“[And so] petty, frustrating [stuff] like traffic jams and crowded aisles and long checkout lines in the grocery store give me time to think, and if I don't make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I'm gonna be [upset] and miserable every time I have to shop.
"Because my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me. About MY hungriness and MY fatigue and MY desire to just get home, and it's going to seem for all the world like everybody else is just in my way.”
Wallace followed that with a clear statement to the seniors gathered that it’s a matter of choice to do the hard work of somehow altering or getting free of the natural, hard-wired default setting which is to be deeply and literally self-centered and to see and interpret everything through this lens of self.
Wallace, who was raised by parents who were atheists, spoke of one more default setting:
“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the best reason for choosing a God to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things—if they are where you tap real meaning in life—then you will never have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. Worship power—you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart—you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. The insidious thing about these forms of worship is that they are unconscious. They are default settings.”
Our message series, Staycation, is subtitled, “Chasing Joy in the Everyday.”
Three years after his commencement address, at the age of 46, David Foster Wallace committed suicide
He found no joy in the default settings
King David pens Psalm 103 with a full awareness of default settings. Look at how he begins:
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Ps 103:1-2 NIV)
--
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:1-2 ESV)
“Bless the Lord” or “Praise the Lord” is not the default setting at birth
Praise should be but is not very often natural
David writes an exhortation to himself – and shares with us as an example
The Hebrew word for bless is barak and has a distinct meaning of expressing joyful gratitude as an enrichment of God
That is, the praise (however expressed) will make more people aware of the person and works of the Lord, and so God’s reputation will be enriched
This act does not revolve around me at all – in fact, it only includes me as an undeserving recipient of the blessing of God
It is fully adoration
“All that is within me” (all my inmost being)
Mark 12:28-31 (NIV):One of the teachers of the law asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [Deuteronomy 6:4-5]
What does it look like to bless and praise with all that is within me?
I don’t know -- David doesn’t tell us
Probably because each of us is uniquely created by God and he relates to us and us to him as uniquely as a father does each of his children
What God receives as blessing and praise from you may not be his expectation for me, at all
I would guess that our immediate response to this question would include enthusiastic singing, perhaps even a little dancing or shouting
Doris caught up in Hillsong concert
Mike Smith understands that
King David would understand that
2 Samuel 6 records that when the ark of God was being brought into Jerusalem, King David was leaping and dancing before the Lord
But later he sits down and writes Psalm 103 because getting caught up in praise – which is good, by the way – is different than choosing and determining to praise
I would suggest that certain widow “blessed and praised the Lord”
Luke 21:1-3 (NIV): As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
It took all of her heart, mind, soul and strength to make that offering – and it blessed God
Let me additionally suggest that “all that is within me” changes over time
I loved Debbie with all that was within me when I was 20 and we got married
How that love looks is radically different (and significantly deeper and more intimate) 48 years later
So, while I cannot give you specifics, I can assure you that blessing and praising the Lord involves aligning all of who I am in intentional, God-centered adoration
With an audience of one
“And forget not all his benefits”
This is more than a mental activity – like “it slipped my mind”
It has to do with actions – intentionally make the effort not to forget
This is not just “don’t do something” – it is definitely “do something!”
David goes on to list so many things that God had done
But more to reveal God’s character than make a list of deeds
This is about who God is, not so much what he has done
God forgives – and heals – and redeems – and crowns with love and compassion
He satisfies and strengthens – and intercedes on behalf of the oppressed
He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love
Our Father does not stay angry or treat us as our sinful behavior deserves
Instead, he has compassion on his children and treats us tenderly
David is so correct
But David can only recite what he has seen in the past
He had no idea of how much bigger and better it would be for those of us on the other side of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah
He could have never imagined the magnitude of love that God would display by sending his son, Jesus, into the world to pay the final and full payment for sin
And neither could he have imagined the gift of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the role he would play in blessing and praising
John 7:38-39 (NIV): Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
David implores himself and all of us to do the hard work of changing our default settings so blessings and praise flow freely from within
Like John Molloy’s jelly-filled donut
Let me close by reminding you of a Kay Warren quote that Pastor Don shared last Sunday:
Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; all that is within me bless his holy name!”
My challenge to you this week – work on changing your default settings. Memorize and meditate on Psalm 103:1-2, them make the choice to praise the Lord.
In a world of social distancing you may not feel comfortable coming forward to ask for prayer or talk more about Jesus
But we really do want to hear from you and speak with you
Please take advantage of our text number 407-559-8210
Text the word “prayer” to make a prayer request
Text the word “life” if you would like to ask questions about following Jesus or to let us know you have already made that decision but would like some guidance on the journey