Series Text: Assorted Psalms

Series Subject: Seeking and securing joy in the life of the believer  

Series Purpose: To help listeners who are running on empty refuel their spiritual joy

Series Relevance: All believers experience a time in their journey where they feel like they're running on empty. Such a time calls for a refueling of their spiritual joy. But how do they do it? They must explore the troubling feeling, gain a renewed perspective of God's awesomeness, and then allow the rediscovered joy to consistently manifest itself in their daily lives.          

Series Big Idea: Believers can refuel their spiritual joy by adopting a new perspective on God that manifests itself in their everyday lives.

Title: Running on Empty

Subtitle: Finding contentment in spite of current circumstances

Text: Psalm 42:1–11

Subject: Why we feel like we're running on empty and what we can do about it

Purpose: To help listeners understand why they feel like they are running on empty, and offer the most crucial step in remedying their current state   

Relevance: God not only offers us a joy-filled life, but he commands it. When we're running on empty, it's our responsibility to partner with him in refueling our spiritual joy. We must learn how to biblically examine the reasons why we feel the way we feel and make the necessary changes in our attitudes and actions.

Big Idea: Joy begins with a change of perspective about God.

Introduction
• Illustration: Idaho Farmer and His Truck [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Some of you have a spiritual life that feels like that truck: tired, run down, little horsepower, pistons aren't firing, and the carburetor's clogged.
• God not only offers us a joy-filled life, but he commands it in the Bible.
• It's possible for a person to seek and secure a joy they may not presently possess.

Psalm 42
• In Psalm 42, we see the evidence of personal emptiness.
• Unending despair and sadness (v. 3)
• Faded memories (v. 4)
• Drowning in life's pressures (v. 7)
• A feeling of being abandoned by God (v. 9)
• Feeling that the world is against you (v. 10)
• Illustration: No Reason to Live [see Illustrations and Quotations below]

Four things that drain your joy
• Your tank leaks. You encounter brokenness or a leaky loss in life.
• You've put the pedal to the metal. You've spent too much time racing around.
• You've filled up with the wrong octane. You're designed to run on a relationship with God, but you've pursued the wrong fuel.
• You've had too much city driving, too many starts and stops.

Panting
• It is possible to have inner contentment and purpose in spite of our circumstances.
• Total change begins with transformed thinking—specifically, how we think about God (Romans 12:2).
• The Psalmist was thirsty, gasping, longing, and knew that the source of his refreshment would only be found in God (14 times in this Psalm, he thinks about God).
• The Psalmist's joy may have been jeopardized, but he knew the one who was the fountain of all joy.
• Many scholars believe that Psalm 42 and 43 were originally connected (42 shows man's great despair, while 43 shows man's great joy).
• 1 Peter 1:8
• Joy begins with a change of perspective about God.
• Illustration: Receiving the Reality of God [see Illustrations and Quotations below]

Conclusion
• Psalm 107:9—God satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Idaho Farmer and His Truck
A Texas rancher was visiting an Idaho farmer. The proud farmer showed him around.

"Here is where I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. Over there I built a playset for my kids, next to the doghouse," said the farmer.  

The land was tiny—maybe 2 acres—and the Texan rancher was surprised by its relatively small size. "Is this all your land?" he asked.

"Yes," the farmer said proudly. "This is all mine!"

"You mean this is it? This is all of it?" the Texan wondered.

"Yes, yes; this is really all mine!"

"Well, son," said the Texan, "back home I'd get in my pickup truck before the sun would come up, and I'd drive and drive and drive, and when the sun set, why, I'd only be halfway across my land!"

"You know," the Idaho farmer quickly replied, "I used to have a truck like that."

No Reason to Live
Hunter S. Thompson, the so-called gonzo journalist, committed suicide on February 16, 2005, leaving instructions that his ashes should be shot out of a cannon, which happened in August of the same year. Thompson was 67 when he died, and his family and friends said that he was in pain from hip replacement surgery, back surgery, and a recently broken leg. He had talked about suicide for years.

February was a particularly grim month for him because football season was over. The brief suicide message, scrawled in black marker and titled "Football Season Is Over," reads:

No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always [cranky]. No Fun—for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax—This won't hurt.

At the bottom of the page, Thompson reportedly drew a "happy heart," the kind found on Valentine's Day cards.

Receiving the Reality of God
"God's reality in our world is like gently falling rain. We each have a bowl in our hearts and minds in which we can easily catch God's reality—if we just hold it before us. But it makes all the difference in the world whether our bowl is turned upward—or downward. A person without guile will turn their bowl upward—ready to receive the truth about God, if God really exists."

Title: Topping Off the Tank

Subtitle: Tapping into the reservoir of holy joy

Text: Psalm 65:1–13

Subject: How we can rediscover joy by simply standing in awe of God

Purpose: To help believers tap into a reservoir of holy joy by renewing their perspective of the awesome nature of God

Relevance: One of the chief ways a person can refuel their spiritual joy is by renewing their perspective of the awesome nature of God. They must learn ways to behold the beauty of God, reflect on the salvation of God, wonder at the works of God, and harvest the bounty of God.   

Big Idea: True joy is the overflow of our renewed perspective of God's awesomeness.

Introduction
• Happiness is found when our circumstances change. A sick family member gets better, a financial debt gets paid off, or we finally land the job we want.
• Joy is a different experience. It isn't based on our changing circumstances or dependent on things getting bigger, better, or brighter.
• Joy is a distinctly spiritual disposition, an attitude or a deep-settled confidence that God is in control of your life.
• While happiness precariously teeters on the external conditions of my life, joy can overflow not because circumstances have changed, but because my perspective of God has.
• True joy is the overflow of our renewed perspective of God's awesomeness.
Transition: Today, we learn how to top off the tank—how to refuel spiritually—with a look at Psalm 65, a harvesttime psalm of joy and celebration of an awesome God.    

Behold the beauty of God.
• Psalm 65:1–2
• The writer was about to burst with joy because of the beauty of God.
• Thirteen times in this passage, he reflects on God and what God does, and it filled him not only with worship, but a wondrous joy.
• We might be tempted to think that our joy comes from thinking that God makes much of us, but our joy comes from gazing at God, from making much of him.
• Illustration: John Piper on God's Great Splendor [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• The magnitude of our joy is based on the magnificence of what we adore.
• Behold the beauty of the Lord, and your heart will begin to overflow with joy.
• Stop long enough to answer the question: "How great is my God?"

Reflect on the salvation of God.
• Psalm 65:3–4
• Rescue is always a reason for rejoicing.
• Illustration: Heroic Rescue in New York Subway [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Throughout the Bible, God's saving work is frequently linked with joy. For example, John the Baptist leapt in his mother's womb, angels sang at Christ's birth, there was celebration over finding a lost sheep.
• In Psalm 65, you'll notice two sides of salvation mentioned: the present removal of sin (v. 3) and a future home with God (v. 4). 
• God chooses us to come and live with him—what more could fill us with joy?

Wonder at the works of God.
• Psalm 65:5–8
• The awesome deeds of God are an answer to us—acting on our behalf, defending us, enacting justice on our enemies, saving us, sustaining us, helping us, restoring us, and redeeming us.
• When we think of how God is at work, we cannot help but have joy.
• Illustration: Recent Converts View Biblical Miracles with Awe [see Illustrations and Quotations below] 
• The reservoir of your joy is filled when you wonder at the works of God.

Harvest the bounty of God.
• Psalm 65:9–13
• It is God's nature to fill and to make fruitful, and when God produces fruit, we experience enormous joy.
• The farmer plants the seed, God produces the crop, and the people are glad in the harvest.
• There are two ways to harvest the fruit of joy: be filled with the Holy Spirit and be faithful to your holy calling.
• Your joy may be found in discovering your giftedness and serving as God made you.

Conclusion
• Ephesians 3:20–21

John Piper on God's Great Splendor
"No one goes to the Grand Canyon or the Alps to increase his self-esteem. This is not what happens in front of massive depths and majestic heights. But we do go there, and we go for joy. How can that be, if being made much of is at the center of our health and happiness? The answer is that it is not the center. In wonderful moments of illumination, there is a witness in our hearts: soul-health and great joy come not from beholding a great self but a great splendor."

Heroic Rescue in New York Subway
After entering a New York City subway station in the first week of 2007, 19-year-old film student Cameron Hollopeter suffered a seizure while waiting for a train. As his body convulsed out of control, the young man stumbled down the platform and fell onto one of the tracks—directly in the path of an inbound train. Fortunately, a 50-year-old construction worker named Wesley Autrey noticed his distress.

Standing on the platform with his two young daughters, Autrey realized that nobody else in the station was going to help. According to later interviews, he decided: "I'm the only one to do it." Placing himself in great danger, Autrey jumped down onto the tracks and grabbed hold of Hollopeter. With only seconds to spare, he rolled with the younger man into a drainage trough cut between two tracks. An instant later, the train cars thundered just inches over both of them. Amazingly, neither man was injured.

In the ensuing days, Autrey was rewarded handsomely for his bravery. Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented him the city's highest award for civic achievement, calling him "a great man—a man who makes us all proud to be New Yorkers." Autrey was also given $10,000 from Donald Trump, a trip to Disney World, and a year's supply of MetroCards from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. His boss even bought him a "hero" sandwich.

When asked about his invitations to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Autrey noted, "good things happen when you do good." Still, he is modest about his new status as the Hero of Harlem. "I just did it because I saw someone in distress," he told reporters. "Someone needed help."

Other observers respectfully disagree. Elliot Sander, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, called Autrey's rescue "a death-defying act of bravery. We truly have not seen anything like this … . He was at the right place at the right time and did the right thing."

In the end, Wesley Autrey is just glad that he could help. "It's like a fairy tale come true," he said. "What better way to start the year off than saving a life?"

Recent Converts View Biblical Miracles with Awe
Mark Galli tells the following story in his book Jesus Mean and Wild:

A group of Laotian refugees who had been attending the Sacramento church I pastored approached me after the service one Sunday and asked to become members. Our church had sponsored them, and they had been attending the church only a few months. They had only a rudimentary understanding of the Christian faith, so I suggested we study the Gospel of Mark together for a few weeks to make sure they knew what a commitment to Christ and his church entailed. They happily agreed.

Despite the Laotians' lack of Christian knowledge—or maybe because of it—the Bible studies were some of the most interesting I've ever led. After we read the passage in which Jesus calms the storm, I began as I usually did with more theologically sophisticated groups: I asked them about the storms in their lives. There was a puzzled look among my Laotian friends, so I elaborated: We all have storms—problems, worries, troubles, crises—and this story teaches that Jesus can give us peace in the midst of those storms. "So what are your storms?" I asked.

Again, more puzzled silence. Finally, one of the men hesitantly asked, "Do you mean that Jesus actually calmed the wind and sea in the middle of a storm?"

I thought he was finding the story incredulous, and I didn't want to get distracted with the problem of miracles. So I replied: "Yes, but we should not get hung up on the details of the miracle. We should remember that Jesus can calm the storms in our lives."

Another stretch of awkward silence ensued until another replied, "Well, if Jesus calmed the wind and the waves, he must be a powerful man!" At this, they all nodded vigorously and chattered excitedly to one another in Lao. Except for me, the room was full of wonder. I suddenly realized that they grasped the story better than I did.

Title: Unleaded Living

Subtitle: You might be a joyful person if …

Text: Psalm 126:1–6

Subject: What a life of joy looks like on an everyday basis

Purpose: To show the substance of genuine joy in a person's life

Relevance: What should real joy look like on an everyday basis? Knowing the answers to that question—and living accordingly—will stir more joy within your life. You might be a lifelong person of spiritual joy if you have vibrant worship, glad contentment, hopeful optimism, and overflowing generosity.    

Big Idea: A joyful person is committed to vibrant worship, glad contentment, hopeful optimism, and overflowing generosity.

Introduction
• Illustration: Riffs on Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be a Redneck If … " [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• You can tell what kind of person someone is by the evidence their life—whether or not they are filled with joy.
• But what is the spiritual substance of genuine joy?
• Our chief text, Psalm 126, will offer some answers.
Transition: What I want you to see in this passage is what joy looks like in the life of a person who has it. "You might be a joyful person if … "

You might be a joyful person if you have vibrant worship.
• Psalm 126:1–2
• True joy and genuine worship are inseparable.
• The way in which we worship God is an undeniable indicator of our joy, for genuine joy bursts forth in unfettered praise.
     - Isaiah 60:5; 1 Samuel 18:65; Psalm 28:7; Malachi 4:2
• Cut loose, raise your hands, lift your voice, applaud God's greatness, laugh out loud, and wiggle a little.
• Illustration: Executives Choose to Act Like Children [see Illustrations and Quotations below]

You might be a joyful person if you have a glad contentment.
• Psalm 126:2–3
• Sometimes it's easier to see the good of what other people have been given than what you have been given.
• Contentment is a characteristic of true joy.
• If I am satisfied with the boundaries, portions, and pleasures of God, then I don't need to seek anything else for my joy (there is confidence that the sustenance and supply in my life is directly from the hand of a good God).
• Illustration: Lottery Winner Only Wants New Nylons [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Has the joy of who God is—and is to you—so filled your heart that there is no room or reason for anything else?

You might be a joyful person if you have hopeful optimism.
• Psalm 126:4
• Joyful people are positive, confident, and full of faith; they are not pessimistic, negative, critical, or complaining.
• Illustration: Disabled College Student Full of Optimism [see Illustrations and Quotations below] 
• When Christ fills our hearts, nothing can jeopardize our joy.

You might be a joyful person if you have overflowing generosity.
• Psalm 126:5–6
• It is in the nature of godly, joyful people to overflow blessing into the lives of other people.
• Joyful people reflect the object of their joy and overflow with generosity.
     - 2 Corinthians 8:1–2
• Illustration: Lee Strobel Impressed by Impoverished Family's Example [see Illustrations and Quotations below]   
• Don't hold back; let your joy overflow in rich generosity to others.

Conclusion
• Illustration: Unleaded Fuel Leads to Better Health [see Illustrations and Quotations below]
• Unleaded joy: A healthy, free, authentic joy that manifests itself in very specific ways.
• You might just be a joyful person if others can see vibrant worship, glad contentment, hopeful optimism, and overflowing generosity in your life.   

Riffs on Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be Redneck If … "
In his stand up comedy, Jeff Foxworthy is known for his funny one-liners about rednecks.

"You might be a redneck if your wife has ever said, 'Come move this transmission so I can take a bath.'"

"You might be a redneck if your school fight song was 'Dueling Banjos'"

"You might be a redneck if you've ever given rat traps as gifts."

"You might be a redneck if you've ever used a weed eater indoors."

To be fair to all the rednecks, I did a little research this week and found out:

You might be a caffeine addict if you can't remember the last time you blinked.

You might be a dog lover if you decide to have kids so the dog will have playmates.

You might be a cat lover if you snap your fingers and pat the sofa beside you to invite your guests to sit down.

You might be a kindergarten teacher if loud noises cause you to impulsively flick the light switch on and off.

You might be a bad cook if anyone has ever broken a tooth while eating your homemade yogurt.

You might be an engineer if you have no life—and can prove it mathematically.

Executives Choose to Act Like Children
When the stress of work gets to be too much, an increasing number of executives are escaping from the cares of this world in less conventional ways. Instead of simply retreating to the beach, to the mountains, or a golf outing, many adults are acting like children.

At California's Camp GetAway, an adult can participate in sing-alongs, water balloon fights, kickball, s'mores around the campfire, and a sneaky excursion out of the cabin to toilet paper the cars and cabins of other campers.

Some adults opt for the increasingly popular Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camps, where even unskilled participants can join in a jam session with real rock musicians.

Helen Oseen founded The Ultimate Pajama Party, a camp where older women can don their pajamas, pillow fight, and sit on the bed and share confidences late into the night. Oseen began the camp after "identifying in my own life that I worked a lot and didn't play very much."

Author Christopher Noxon coined the phrase "rejuveniling" in his book Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-Up. A father of three living in Los Angeles, Noxon said: "In a world where pressure and problems pile on non-stop, more grown-ups are seeking a vacation from their adult side."

Lottery Winner Only Wants New Nylons
Thelma and Victor Hayes struck it rich. In August of 2005, the Canadian couple won more than $7 million (Canadian) in the lottery.

There are a few additional facts that make the story interesting. According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, Thelma and Victor are one of the oldest couples ever to win such a large jackpot. At the time they won, the Hayes' had been married 63 years, and both of them were 89-years-old.

During a televised interview, Thelma and Victor were asked the typical question, "What are you going to do with the money?" The couple responded that, at this stage in life, they were unlikely to become "giddy high spenders." In fact, they intended to remain in the retirement home where they lived.

While her husband planned on buying a Lincoln Town Car, Thelma's personal shopping list contained only one item. She told reporters, "I'm getting a new pair of nylons."

Disabled College Student Full of Optimism
There was a disabled college student who had to travel back and forth from classes and other school activities on crutches. Around campus, he had an unusual talent for friendliness and optimism. One day, a student asked him what had caused his deformity.

"Infantile paralysis," he replied briefly, not wishing to elaborate on his difficulties.

"With a misfortune like that, how can you face the world?" inquired his classmate.

"Oh," replied the young Christian, smiling, "the disease never touched my heart."

Unleaded Fuel Leads to Better Health
Beginning in 1923, lead was added to gasoline to enhance engine performance in cars. But over the next several decades, scientists and engineers discovered that lead was harmful to the environment and even human health! In 1970, Congress enacted the Clean Air Act to eliminate lead from fuel. By 1980, all auto manufacturers traded leaded gasoline for unleaded fuel. Doctors immediately noticed a coordinate reduction of lead in the blood levels of patients!

Lee Strobel Impressed by Impoverished Family's Example
While working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Lee Strobel was assigned to report on the struggles of an impoverished, inner-city family during the weeks leading up to Christmas. A devout atheist at the time, Strobel was mildly surprised by the family's attitude in spite of their circumstances:

"The Delgados—60-year-old Perfecta and her granddaughters, Lydia and Jenny—had been burned out of their roach-infested tenement and were now living in a tiny, two-room apartment on the West Side. As I walked in, I couldn't believe how empty it was. There was no furniture, no rugs, nothing on the walls—only a small kitchen table and one handful of rice. That's it. They were virtually devoid of possessions.

In fact, 11-year-old Lydia and 13-year-old Jenny owned only one short-sleeved dress each, plus one thin, gray sweater between them. When they walked the half-mile to school through the biting cold, Lydia would wear the sweater for part of the distance and then hand it to her shivering sister, who would wear it the rest of the way.

But despite their poverty and the painful arthritis that kept Perfecta from working, she still talked confidently about her faith in Jesus. She was convinced he had not abandoned them. I never sensed despair or self-pity in her home; instead, there was a gentle feeling of hope and peace."

Strobel completed his article, then moved on to more high-profile assignments. But when Christmas Eve arrived, he found his thoughts drifting back to the Delgados and their unflinching belief in God's providence.

"I continued to wrestle with the irony of the situation," Strobel writes. "Here was a family that had nothing but faith, and yet seemed happy, while I had everything I needed materially, but lacked faith—and inside I felt as empty and barren as their apartment."

In the middle of a slow news day, Strobel decided to pay a visit to the Delgados. When he arrived, he was amazed at what he saw. Readers of his article had responded to the family's need in overwhelming fashion, filling the small apartment with donations. Once inside, Strobel encountered new furniture, appliances, and rugs; a large Christmas tree and stacks of wrapped presents; bags of food; and a large selection of warm winter clothing. Readers had even donated a generous amount of cash.

But it wasn't the gifts that shocked Lee Strobel, an atheist in the middle of Christmas generosity. It was the family's response to those gifts. Strobel writes: 

"As surprised as I was by this outpouring, I was even more astonished by what my visit was interrupting: Perfecta and her granddaughters were getting ready to give away much of their newfound wealth. When I asked Perfecta why, she replied in halting English: 'Our neighbors are still in need. We cannot have plenty while they have nothing. This is what Jesus would want us to do.'

That blew me away! If I had been in their position at that time in my life, I would have been hoarding everything. I asked Perfecta what she thought about the generosity of the people who had sent all of these goodies, and again her response amazed me. 'This is wonderful; this is very good,' she said, gesturing toward the largess. 'We did nothing to deserve this—it's a gift from God. But,' she added, 'it is not his greatest gift. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. That is Jesus.'

To her, this child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything—more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security. And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus—because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters.

They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty; they knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition; they looked heavenward for hope, while I only looked out for myself; they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material—and something made me long for what they had.

Or, more accurately, for the One they knew."

David Daniels is the senior pastor at Pantego Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas.