Well, eager to look into the Word, and I'm going to preach a sermon on the last of the Ten Commandments. So I'm going to preach a sermon on the 10th commandment, which sometimes can seem like a whimper when compared to the rest of the commandments, but is really a crescendo.
So if you want to open with me to Exodus chapter 20, I'm going to read all the Ten Commandments, including the prelude. So we'll read Exodus 20:1-11. 17. And I'll pray and we'll dive in. Exodus 21:1-17. And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 6 days you shall labor and do all your work, but the 7th day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in 6 days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the 7th day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. And then our text for the morning: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'
Let's pray. Well, Father, thank You for Your Word. It's an awesome thing that You speak to us at all. And we know because we've read the book of Exodus, when You speak, the skies thunder and mountains shake. And we want there to be a shaking in our lives this morning as You speak once again through Your Word. So will You shake us free from bondage to the world and shake us free to find all our joy and satisfaction in You. We are weak and You are strong. We can't hear unless You give us spiritual ears to hear. We can't see unless You give us spiritual eyes to see. We can't desire You Unless You cause us to taste and see that You're good, we can't obey You. Unless You give us hearts and wills to do what pleases You, we can't even stay focused for 40 minutes without Your help. So, will You cast out the evil one who loves to cause our minds to go astray and loves to sweep up Gospel seeds? Meet us now in our weakness and give us strength. Use Your powerful Word to meet us in our need and transform us. Change us, we pray, into the men and women that You want us to be for our good and Your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, I wonder if you noticed something about the 10th commandment that makes it unique among the commandments. The other 9 commandments tell us what to do or what not to do. But the 10th commandment goes straight for the heart. So rather than forbidding a particular sinful action, this commandment forbids a particular attitude of the heart.
Now, God always goes for the heart. We know that, don't we? But there is a way in which He goes for our hearts in this commandment that makes it unique. The other commandments generally start with the outside, with particular behaviors and we have to work our way to the inside as we make application. But the Ninth Commandment starts on the inside and works itself out. This commandment is meant to govern inward desires. That is, it's not as much about what we do as it is about what we want to do. So it makes explicit the fact that God requires inward as well as outward obedience to His commandments.
So we need to ask, what exactly does it mean to covet? Well, like I've already said, it means to desire or to crave or to yearn for. So it's a neutral term. It's not a word that we use much in our everyday speech anymore, but there is a common Christian expression that uses it. We hear people say, or maybe we even say sometimes, "I covet your prayers." By which we simply mean I desire that you pray for me. So this is a neutral word. God is the one who created us with desires. And many of them are not bad desires.
6 · The pastor provides a catalog of legitimate human desires—hunger, companionship, marriage, children, better employment—to illustrate that God often uses godly desires as motivation to attain His purposes for us, reinforcing that desire itself is not the problem
It is not necessarily a bad desire to crave food when you're hungry. It's not necessarily bad to desire companionship or marriage or intimacy. It's not necessarily bad to desire children. It's not necessarily bad to desire a better job. It's not necessarily bad to desire a better lot in life. And I could go on and on because very often God uses our godly desires to motivate us to attain what He has for us.
7 · The pastor shares his pastoral practice of asking counselees "What do you want?" as a starting point for discerning God's will, illustrating that God-given desires are a legitimate guide to His purposes when properly assessed
So very often folks in my church come to me asking for counsel, trying to ascertain God's will for their life. Maybe they have some choices before them, I will always ask them, "What do you want?" What do you want? And then once we get that on the table, we'll work together to assess whether those are God-given, God-shaped desires to get them to where God wants them to be.
8 · The pastor transitions from establishing that desire is neutral and God-given to raising the central question: if desire itself is not the problem, why does the 10th commandment forbid it? This pivot moves the sermon from clarification to explanation
Now you know what I'm talking about, right? I just want to make sure here at the outset to say that desire itself is not the problem. God made us for desire, which means we have to ask, well, then why is desire forbidden in the Ten Commandments?
9 · The pastor expounds on Exodus 20:17 by categorizing what is forbidden: possessions (house), people (wife, servants), job (ox, donkey), and the catch-all "anything that is your neighbor's," revealing the comprehensive scope of the prohibition against sinful desire
Why are we told twice in one commandment to not covet? Well, we begin to understand what sinful craving is when we consider what's forbidden. What we're forbidden to desire. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house." In other words, don't sinfully desire your neighbor's possessions. Or, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or servants." In other words, you shall not sinfully desire your neighbor's people. "And you shall not desire his ox or donkey." Those animals were used for work purposes, so I think the intention is to not sinfully desire your neighbor's job. And then comes this phrase: "Or anything that is your neighbor's." In other words, it's a catch-all. Do not sinfully desire anything.
10 · The pastor defines sinful coveting as desire for anything not rightfully ours, characterizing it as misplaced, inordinate, ungoverned, and selfish desire—desire that has broken free from the boundaries God has set
So again, what's forbidden in the 10th Commandment? What is sinful coveting? Well, sinful coveting is when we desire anything that is not rightfully ours. So this commandment is about misplaced desire. It's about inordinate desire, ungoverned desire, selfish desire for, like the text says, anything.
11 · The pastor establishes that the law functions as a mirror revealing our sinfulness, asserting that every person in the room wants the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time for the wrong reason—desire corrupted by sin—showing our need for a Savior
Here's what's true about us. When we look into God's law, His commandments, we see ourselves reflected back to us. So it shows us who we are. And so it shows us our need of a Savior. But here's what's true about everyone in this room. It's so true about me. We often want the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time for the wrong reason. Maybe that's worth repeating. We often want the wrong thing in the wrong way at the wrong time for the wrong reason. This commandment is about desire corrupted by sin.
12 · The pastor provides a diagnostic test for detecting when desire becomes sinful coveting: when our hearts say "If I only had X, then I'd be happy," revealing that our desires have overruled our hearts and something other than God has become our functional source of happiness
It's about when the desire for anything overrules our heart. So how do we know when our hearts are overruled and our desires become sinful? Coveting? Well, here's a gauge. It's when our unsettled hearts say, if I only had blank, then I'd be really happy. If I only had blank, then I'd be happy. And that blank can be, like I said, like the text says, anything.
13 · The pastor provides a comprehensive catalog of potential objects of covetous desire—material possessions, personal attributes, relationships, circumstances, ministry positions, health—demonstrating the universality of the "if only" mentality and how it can attach to absolutely anything
If I only had a bigger house. If I only had a newer car. If I only had a better entertainment system on which to watch the game. If I only had nice clothes. If I only had the latest gadget. If I only had her looks, his intellect, his talent, their marriage, her single life, children. A husband like that, a wife like that, that salary, that promotion, that vacation, that ministry position, that personality type, his popularity, better grades, less pain, a restored relationship, my health back, and on and on and on. If I only had that, then I'd be really happy.
14 · The pastor asserts the theological criterion for rightly ordered desire: our desires are misplaced when God is not enough, and the only legitimate object to complete the sentence "If I only had X, then I'd be happy" is God Himself
Our desires are misplaced desires when God is not enough. The only true fill-in-the-blank for that statement is, "If I only had more of God, then I'd be truly happy."
15 · The pastor establishes the structural and theological connection between the 1st and 10th commandments: both are fundamentally about idolatry, with the first commanding exclusive worship and the 10th commanding exclusive desire, bookending the Decalogue with the demand for wholehearted devotion to God alone
So you see how this commandment bookends the first commandment. The first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me. God is saying, love me, treasure me, prize me, relish me, be satisfied in me, find all your joy in me above all else. And now here in the 10th commandment, he says, let me so fill you that you desire nothing more than you desire me. This commandment, like the first commandment, is concerned with idolatry.
16 · The pastor supports his claim that coveting is idolatry by citing Colossians 3:5, where Paul explicitly equates covetousness with idolatry, showing that the New Testament restatement of the 10th commandment makes this identification explicit
Now, where do I get that? Well, the Apostle Paul says it outright in Colossians 3:5, which is a restatement of this commandment in the New Testament. Put to death, therefore, he says, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
17 · The pastor defines idolatry in three parallel formulations: allowing anything to occupy God's place in our life, anything that occupies God's place that isn't God, and desiring anything more than we desire God—all converging on the same reality of displaced worship
So what's idolatry? Idolatry is when we allow something, anything, to occupy the place in our life that should be occupied by God and God alone. That's idolatry. An idol is anything that occupies God's place in my life that isn't God. Or we can define it like this: we commit idolatry whenever we desire something more than we desire God.
18 · The pastor expounds on why God hates coveting by translating the act of sinful desire into its implicit theological message to God: "You are not enough"—a comprehensive indictment of God's sufficiency, provision, protection, fulfillment, sovereignty, and rule, making clear why coveting is so offensive to God
And God hates idolatry. He hates sinful coveting. And He hates it because when we covet, when we desire anything more than we desire God, we say this to God. We say to God, "You are not enough. I need something more. My life is not full enough. It's not fun enough. You're not good enough. You're not enough in this situation, Lord, so I desire something more. You're not providing enough. You're not protecting me sufficiently." You're not fulfilling me in the way I need to be fulfilled. So I'm going to desire these other things to fill the gap between what I need and your inadequacy, Lord. You who are sovereign and sovereignly reign and rule over all of life, you who determined what I have and what I don't have, well, you're wrong. And I'm not happy with your rule in my life. I want that more than I want what you want for me. In fact, I want that more than I want you. That's what coveting says to God. And so we see why God detests it.
19 · The pastor illustrates the nature of coveting through the universal experience of toddler behavior in the nursery: the most popular toy is always the one another child has, demonstrating that coveting is fundamentally about preferring what another has over what God has given us
We're like the toddler in the nursery right now. And I'm not making a comment on anyone's parenting. This is true because of sinful human nature. Do you know what the most popular toy is in the toddler room? Right now. I don't even know what toys we have in our toddler room at our church, let alone what toys are in this toddler room. But I do know which one is the most popular. You know which one? It's the one that the other toddler has. I'm no longer satisfied with this one. I want that one. Eh, give it to me. I want it. That's what coveting is. I want that, not this, Lord.
20 · The pastor signals the sermon's structural turn from diagnosis to prescription by emphasizing the gravity of the 10th commandment as the climax of the Decalogue, which penetrates to the deep interior of the heart to reveal what we truly want—the Word functioning as a mirror
It's serious, isn't it? That's why this commandment comes at the end. It is the climax of the Ten Commandments. This commandment asks us, what do you really want in life? This commandment takes us to the deep interiors of our heart and sees where our desires are really focused. This is the Word of God being like a mirror.
21 · The pastor turns from indictment to good news: God prohibits coveting not to restrict us but because He loves us and knows that sinful desires doom us to perpetual discontent, since things break, people disappoint, and circumstances change—He wants better for us than restless frustration
Now here's some good news. God knows our real needs and he knows what we really want in life. He's not concerned with what we feel like we need and think we want. He looks into our hearts and he tells us not to covet because he doesn't want us to live a life of, of restless Discontent, never getting our desires fulfilled. I mean, how much misery and frustration in life is caused by our own discontent? God wants us to see that as long as we're seeking our ultimate happiness in things and people and circumstance and position and privilege, we will never find real satisfaction. Things break. People disappoint. Circumstances and situations always change. Sinful desires doom us to a life of discontentment. And God loves us too much to leave us there.
22 · The pastor restates the 10th commandment positively: its ultimate aim is contentment in God—being so filled with His love, grace, goodness, kindness, and care that we desire nothing more than we desire Him and His provision
And so the positive statement of the 10th commandment is: Be content. Do not covet. But instead, be content. Be content in Me, God says. Be so filled with My love and My grace and My goodness and My kindness and My care that you desire nothing more than you desire Me and My provision.
23 · The pastor introduces Paul's teaching on contentment in Philippians 4:11-13, where Paul declares that he has learned to be content in all circumstances—brought low or abounding, plenty or hunger—and can do all things through Christ who strengthens him, setting up Paul as the model of commanded contentment
We're to follow the example of the Apostle Paul. Here's what he says. You might want to turn here. We're going to spend a little bit of time in Philippians. Philippians 4, we'll start there. Verses 11-13. Paul says this: "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger." abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
24 · The pastor heightens the force of Paul's statement by emphasizing its context—written from a Roman prison awaiting possible execution—and expressing his own desire for such contentment, inviting the congregation to imagine having this contentment in their own lives
That is an extraordinary statement. A man sitting in a Roman prison awaiting possible execution tells us that he's learned in whatever situation he's in to be content. That gets my attention. I want that kind of contentment. Imagine a life with contentment.
25 · The pastor defines biblical contentment as Paul uses it: being satisfied and at peace in Christ in all situations, desiring nothing beyond Jesus, having no unfulfilled desires in Him, experiencing no miserable discontent—a comprehensive state of rest in Christ alone
So the first thing we have to ask is, what is contentment? Well, to be content in the way Paul uses the word here is to be satisfied and at peace in Christ in all situations and in every circumstance. Doesn't that sound good. At peace in Christ in every circumstance. It's to desire nothing beyond Jesus. In Him, there are no unfulfilled desires. In Christ, there is no miserable discontent.
26 · The pastor expounds on the scope of Paul's contentment by showing that it held in both extremes—poverty and plenty—and that even when Paul's earthly desires were fulfilled, his primary desire remained fixed on Christ, not on the circumstances themselves
Paul's desires were satisfied in Christ when he was brought low when he faced hunger, when he was in need, and Paul was satisfied in Christ when he abounded, when he had plenty and abundance. Even in times of fulfilled desire, his main desire was satisfied in Christ.
27 · The pastor draws hope from Paul's repeated use of "learned" in Philippians 4:11-12, establishing that contentment is not innate or instantaneous but acquired through education—there is a school of contentment in which we can all enroll, which is deeply encouraging for those struggling with discontent
Now, here's something I find really encouraging, and I think it will encourage you too. Paul makes it clear in this text that he learned contentment. He says it in both verses 11 and verse 12. I have learned to be content. This can be learned. Are you not feeling content this morning? Well, it's okay. We can learn to be content. Paul didn't just wake up one day and find himself totally content in Christ completely independent of his circumstances. Contentment is something he acquired. It's something we can acquire. There is a school of contentment and we can all enroll.
28 · The pastor expounds on Philippians 4:13, restoring it to its proper context of contentment rather than generic empowerment: the "all things" Paul can do is "all circumstances," and the strengthener is Christ—contentment is learned in the school of Christ through His strengthening presence
And here's what Paul tells us about the education. Contentment is learned in Christ. It's in the school of Christ that we learn contentment. Look at verse 13 again. It's a text that's often ripped out of its context, but we know now that the context is contentment. "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." The strengthener here, the "Him," is Jesus Christ. So I can do all things through or in Christ who strengthens me.
29 · The pastor explains that the secret of contentment is Christ constantly infusing Paul with everything he needs, enabling him to face all circumstances—then raises the critical question of how we tap into that Christ-given strength that produces satisfaction and peace regardless of what we have or lack
Paul says that he is made strong for all things in the One who constantly infuses him with everything he needs. That's the secret of contentment. I can do all circumstances, I can do all situations in life in Christ who constantly strengthens me. And when we ask, well, how do I learn to tap into that strength? That leads to that kind of contentment? Where does the strength in Christ come from that leads to satisfaction and peace in Christ no matter what? No matter what we have. No matter what we don't have. No matter the situation we find ourselves in. No matter the circumstances of life.
30 · The pastor provides the answer to the question he just raised: we tap into Christ's strength for contentment when we learn that Christ is enough—Paul's contentment flows from having learned to be satisfied with Christ alone
Here's the answer. The answer is that we tap into that strength from Christ when we learn that Christ is enough. Paul has learned to not covet and instead be content because he's learned to be content to have Christ alone because Christ is enough.
31 · The pastor supports his claim that Paul learned Christ is enough by citing Philippians 3:7-8, where Paul counts everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, considering all things rubbish in order to gain Christ—the foundational text for Paul's contentment theology
Now, where do I get that? Well, he's already said it in chapter 3 of Philippians. So flip back, look at verses 7-8. He says, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain." Christ.
32 · The pastor draws out the theological implication of Philippians 3:7-8: treasuring Christ above all else is the main mark of a contented Christian and the source of strength in every situation—Paul writes "loss" over the pile of all good things because Christ alone is the treasure that counts
The main mark of a contented Christian is that we treasure Christ above all else. That's how we can be satisfied and at peace in all situations. That's how we can have all the strength we need in every situation. We treasure Christ. Paul counts everything else as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Knowing Christ is what counts. So Paul puts everything, even every good thing, in a pile, and he writes "loss" over that pile. The only treasure for Paul, the only treasure of life that counts, is Christ.
33 · The pastor expounds on the magnitude of Christ's worth: Christ is greater than all the good things of the world combined—He is the treasure of holy joy that satisfies all desires, not a means to something else but the end itself, which is why God lovingly commands us not to covet lesser things
And what Paul is saying here is that Christ is far greater than all the good things of this world piled into one. So put all the good things in life together and they still pale in comparison to the surpassing worth of Christ. Jesus is the treasure of holy joy that satisfies all our desires. Jesus is never the ticket that we cash in to get to what we really want, to what really satisfies. Jesus is the treasure. And he's the only treasure that ultimately satisfies, which is why God says, "Don't covet." It's because he loves us and so wants what's best for us.
34 · The pastor intensifies his exposition of Philippians 3:8 by explaining that "rubbish" is a strong, even vulgar word (dung), emphasizing the shocking magnitude of the comparison Paul makes: everything in the world is like excrement compared to Christ—which raises the rhetorical question, why would we desire anything over Him?
This is so true that Paul not only writes loss over the pile, but he also writes the word rubbish over the pile. And remember, it's a pile of everything and everyone in the world. It's everything good and everything and everyone else in this life is like rubbish compared to gaining more of Christ. And I probably don't have to tell you that the word translated "rubbish" is a strong word. In fact, it's a vulgar word. Everything else, absolutely everything, is like dung compared to Christ. It's all trash compared to Him. Why would we desire anything over Him?
35 · The pastor reframes the prohibition against coveting positively: God doesn't want to stifle desire but to redirect it—He wants us to covet Christ because Christ is all we need, and if that's true, He ought to be what we mainly desire (with a direct challenge to the congregation: "Do you believe that?")
God doesn't want us to stifle our desires. He just wants our desires to be rightly aimed and so not misplaced. He wants us to covet Christ because Christ is all we need. Do you believe that? Do you believe that sentence? Christ is all I need. And if He's all we need, He ought to be what we mainly desire.
36 · The pastor catalogs the comprehensive sufficiency of what God gives us through Christ—life, forgiveness, righteousness, transformation, eternal reward, presence, Holy Spirit, victory over death, co-heirship, eternal life, and the entire ordo salutis—then asks rhetorically, "What else do you need? What else could you possibly want?" articulating God's own answer to our coveting
Think about it. God gives us Jesus. He just gives us His Son and He says, "Here, learn that He's all you need. Through Him you have life." In Him you have the forgiveness of your sins through His death and resurrection. Through Him you have a righteousness that makes you acceptable in My sight. Through Him comes the power that transforms you and causes you to obey Me and please Me and leads to eternal reward. Through Him all your temporary sufferings and trials are storing up an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison. Through him, I am always with you and will never forsake you. Through him, you have the Holy Spirit living in you who will guide you to all truth and will make you more like Jesus and will give you fruit and gifts to use in the service of others. Through him, death has no dominion over him, and you will dwell with me forever. Through him, you have become the co-heir with Christ of all I possess. Which is everything. Through Him you have the promise of eternal life with Me, a life of fullness of joy and pleasures forever. Through Him you are chosen, called, redeemed, reconciled, justified, adopted, sanctified, and you will be glorified. What else do you need? What else could you possibly want? That's what God says to us.
37 · The pastor defines contentment as believing Romans 8:32 with the heart: if God did the hard thing of giving His Son, He will certainly do the easy thing of giving us all we need in Him—contentment rests on trusting God's logic of grace
To be content is to believe Romans 8:32 with all our hearts. "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" God has already done the hard thing of sending His Son to suffer and die for us. He'll certainly do the easy thing and give us all we need in Him.
38 · The pastor develops a robust theology of divine sovereignty and providence as the basis for contentment: whatever we have is what we need, whatever we don't have is what we don't need—God is sovereign, and our present circumstances are exactly what He intends, which should eliminate coveting
To be content is to realize that whatever we have is what we need, and whatever we don't have is what we don't need. I mean, think about it. We're talking about the God of the universe. This is the God who speaks all things into being. If God wanted you to have more right now, you would have more. If God wanted you to have a different job, you'd have a different job. If God wanted you to be in a different situation in life, you'd be in a different situation in life. What you have and where you are is exactly what God intends you to have and where He intends you to be.
39 · The pastor applies the doctrine of providence directly to the congregation: they are positioned exactly where they are to learn contentment in Christ and stop desiring what leads to discontent—God wants us to have insatiable appetite only for more of Him (grace, goodness, mercy, nearness)
And you are positioned where you are with what you have to learn to be content in Christ and stop desiring what will only lead to discontentment. God intends for us to have an insatiable appetite, an insatiable appetite for more of His grace and more of His goodness and more of His mercy and more of His nearness.
40 · The pastor proclaims the good news of sovereign grace in sanctification: God will teach us contentment, change our hearts from self-centered to Christ-centered, and so fill us that there's no room for coveting—this is promise, not mere exhortation
God will teach us contentment. He will change our hearts. Isn't that good news? God will change our hearts so that we really trust Him with all our lives, with every detail of our life. He will take our self-centered, self-serving, self-loving, discontent hearts and turn them into Christ-centered, Christ-serving, Christ-loving, Christ-satisfied hearts. He will teach us contentment in the school of Christ. He will so fill us that there's no room for coveting.
41 · The pastor pivots from God's sovereign work to human responsibility: we must want to learn, we must go to school—this requires becoming like Asaph, whose psalm will model how to pursue the contentment God promises to give
But you know what? We must want to learn. We must go to school. And so we must be like Asaph, the psalmist.
42 · The pastor introduces Psalm 73:25-26 as the song of a soul satisfied in God: desiring nothing in heaven or earth besides God, trusting Him as strength and portion forever even when flesh and heart fail—and declares this posture "possible" for us
Here's what he wrote. Psalm 73:25-26, familiar and beloved passage of Scripture. Whom have I in heaven but You. And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. That's possible. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
43 · The pastor connects Psalm 73 to Philippians 3, recognizing the same theology of satisfaction in God across both testaments, and reminds the congregation that this psalm is meant to be prayed and sung by us—it's not just observation but participatory worship
Now that sounds to me a lot like the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3. This is the song of a soul satisfied in God. And the Psalms, this psalm, is meant to be prayed and sung by us.
44 · The pastor transitions from exposition to pastoral application by raising the honest question: what if I can't authentically pray Psalm 73:25-26? What if I desire other things more than God? This moves the sermon toward concrete instruction for the struggler
So I want to ask, what if I can't pray those verses with authenticity? What if I'm sitting here right now and I recognize there are other things that I desire more than I desire God? What do I do?
45 · The pastor applies the psalm to those struggling with coveting by showing that Asaph himself was a coveter who almost fell away because he envied the prosperity of the wicked—the first step is to acknowledge our weakness as the psalmist did, recognizing that our flesh and hearts fail and go after broken cisterns
Well, the first thing we need to do is acknowledge our weakness, just like the psalmist did. Our flesh and our hearts fail. They go after the broken cisterns of the world. They covet. The psalmist was a coveter. He admits that at the very beginning of the psalm in verses 2 and 3. He says this: But as for me, my feet almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. So he almost fell away. Why? Verse 3: For— here's the reason— I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He slipped. He saw what others had that he didn't have, and he wanted it. He coveted. He desired prosperity more than he desired God.
46 · The pastor expounds on the consequence of Asaph's coveting from Psalm 73:22: misplaced desires made him brutish, ignorant, beastly toward God—coveting dehumanizes us and degrades our relationship with God
And in verse 22, he describes the result of his misplaced desires. He says, "I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast towards You, God."
47 · The pastor traces Asaph's path from coveting to contentment through Psalm 73:17: he went into the sanctuary of God, where he saw the end of the wicked and prosperous and realized everything is rubbish in comparison to God—he sought God and his perspective was transformed
Now, how does he get from there to, "I don't desire anything in this world more than I desire You"? How does he get there? It's verse 17. He says this: "I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end—the wicked, the prosperous. In other words, he sought God. And he saw that everything, including all good things, are rubbish in comparison.
48 · The pastor provides concrete application for those who cannot sincerely pray Psalm 73:25: (1) Recognize weakness, (2) Confess, (3) Repent, (4) Trust God's forgiveness in Christ, (5) Turn to Christ and get to know God through Jesus by seeing His glory, (6) Read His Word where He never stops revealing Himself—the fight of faith and the battle against coveting are both fights to see Jesus
So what do I do? What do we do if we cannot pray, verse 25, with sincerity? Answer: Recognize your weakness. Confess to God that your flesh and your heart have failed. Repent. Ask Him to forgive you, and He will because of Christ. And then turn to Christ and get to know God through Jesus. See the glory of God in the face of Christ. The fight of faith is a fight to see Jesus. The battle against coveting is a fight to see Jesus. Get to know Him. Read His Word to you. You open this book and He never stops speaking to you. He never stops speaking to you about who He is and what He's promised to be for you. Your strength, everything you need, all you could possibly desire.
49 · The pastor concludes with two equations summarizing the sermon's logic: (1) Jesus + nothing = everything, (2) Jesus + everything else = still everything—when we know Christ to be everything, coveting will end because we'll stop desiring what cannot satisfy and start coveting the only one who brings true contentment, Christ Jesus our Lord
Get to know Christ by the Spirit through His word, and here's what you'll come to realize. You'll realize that this equation is really true. There's a book with this title, but I've been using this equation before the book was published. And he doesn't really mean what I mean by it, but here's the equation: Jesus nothing everything. Here's another equation: Jesus everything else still everything. And when we know Christ to be everything, it will be the end of coveting what cannot satisfy of coveting the only one who can bring true and lasting contentment, Christ Jesus our Lord.
50 · The pastor closes the sermon with prayer
Let's pray.