You’re Not Alone, and Here’s Proof | Phil Kniesel

What if God’s presence has been with you all along, even when you didn’t feel it? In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks the final verse of Psalm 23 and reminds us that God’s goodness and love are not distant hopes, they’re daily realities. If you’ve felt forgotten or alone, this is a reminder that God is still pursuing you, and His presence goes with you into every moment.

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Transcript

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- Hey, this is Phil Kniesel, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- I'm sure every one of us knows about the risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee at Costco . It's good for those impulsive buys. You know when you buy a 400 pack of sticky note pads and bring it home and go, I don't think I'm gonna use this in my entire lifetime. It's really amazing the kinds of things that people do return at Costco. Employees were asked, what were some of the wildest items that you have had returned? And this is what they said. An individual returned a bag of crab legs with only one leg left in the bag. saying these weren't that good. Another person returned a 14-year-old play set for the backyard saying, my kids no longer use this at the end of every summer, they receive used air conditioners back. This goes for Christmas trees in January, and someone even returned a book because it had a bad ending, . Now, I'm not trying to give you ideas, I'm just saying it's wild what people return. And here's the thing. We all love guarantees. We love the things we can count on, things that we can be sure of. Maybe it's because the one thing that seems to matter most life has no guarantees. I know some of us wish we could return our body and get a new one, but it doesn't work like that in life. There are no guarantees. Well, maybe except for death and taxes, everything else, it's uncertain your health, your finances, your job, your kids, your future, your marriage. If there is a way to bulletproof these things, we all would. We want the macro things to be rock solid, but unfortunately we can't put a guarantee on any of that. The things that matter most seem to be the most volatile. And so if that is true, is there anything that we can bank on? Well, the Bible gives us some rock solid guarantees. We have the promise of God's love and protection in the book of Joshua Old Testament book we read, do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the Lord. Your God will be with you wherever you go. We have the promise of eternal life. John the disciple wrote, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. We have the promise of guidance and wisdom. James wrote, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you. There are more, but the point is we have multiple promises, multiple things that we can bank on that are found in scripture. I wanna give you two guarantees that I believe bring grounding for all the things that matter most yet seem to be the most volatile. We're finishing our series in Psalm 23, and this has been such a great series going verse by verse through this well-known, relatable and impactful psalm, it was written by King David at the end of his life as a kind of testimony about his life. He was looking back over his days, both good and bad, and he states all the things he knows to be true about God. And this isn't just head knowledge. These are the things that he personally experienced. And he begins the words of the Psalm with the Lord is my shepherd. It's almost like David went full circle at the end of his life, he was king. However, when he was young, he was a shepherd boy tending his father's sheep and he correlated the Lord as a good shepherd, as someone who truly cares about his followers, about his sheep. We know this is Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself said it this way, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I laid down my life for the sheep. And David was able to pen the words of Psalm 23 because of what he had lived through and what he had experienced. And I wanna read them to you and as I do, maybe just close your eyes and listen, this was David's story. Could it be yours? Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right path for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David recalls all these things that God has done for him in both good and tough seasons, things that he knows to be true, that God is beside him. God leads him, he protects him, he guides him. He's always with him. And so because of these things he can land on two guarantees, two promises that will never cease or change. Two guarantees that bring grounding for the things that matter most yet seem the most volatile. And here's the first one. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. Notice how David starts this statement. He starts it with the word. Surely this is not, maybe not hopefully not wishfully, but absolutely this is a confident affirmation. He's not hoping this is true, nor is he even writing this in faith, kind of like, I know I should believe this, but I haven't seen or experienced it. He's saying, no, this is a guarantee, this is truth. This is set in stone. This is a theological reality rooted not only in my experience, but in the character of who God himself is. You know, at one point in his life, David beat a giant man called Goliath. It was an epic win. At another point, he messed up with a woman called Bathsheba and committed adultery. It was a monumental loss. He dealt with the death of his children. He navigated a rogue son that wanted him dead. And with all these things he says, surely meaning this is what I know to be true, and I don't know what you've had to face or what you're facing, but friend, if you're walking through uncertainty, let surely be your anchor word. God's presence is not conditional on your performance or actions. It's promise because of who he is. Whatever your uncertainty surely is a promise. Paul writes these words to Timothy, an aspiring pastor. He says it this way, I know who I have believed and then convinced that he is able to guard what I've entrusted to him until that day. Do you hear the certainty in that? The writer of Hebrews says, let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful. Surely. And David in Psalm 23 isn't talking in maybes. He's not even saying, I'm pretty sure I left the garage door closed. He's saying, I know gravity's gonna work tomorrow. You don't need to feel it to trust it. It just is God surely friends is not like the weather app. And it doesn't matter if your faith is shaky or unsure. It actually reminds me of this time when the disciple Peter attempted to walk on the water as Jesus was walking on the water towards the disciples in the boat. And so Peter steps out onto the water and with confidence, he's doing this as Jesus is next to him. But when his eyes wavered, he sank. The certainty of the good shepherd of Jesus' hand was stronger than the uncertainty of the waves. And so Jesus grabbed Peter by the hand and he held them up. And David surely is the same thing. God's hand is there even when your faith is shaky. And so what is David so sure about? Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. Goodness means that which is beneficial, pleasant or favorable. It's the steady kindness and support of God. Love refers to the mercy of God, his faithfulness, his grace. It's unending never changing and it never fails. It's actually the same descriptor God used when he revealed himself in the Book of Exodus to Moses. God said it this way, the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. You could call goodness and love God's messengers. These are the things that you can always count on and notice David says, these things will follow me. He doesn't say these things are there if I reach for them or they're available if I choose to go after them or they're present. If I ask No, surely goodness and love will and there's that surety again, follow me. And the word follow means to chase after to pursue. So that means that God's messengers are lagging behind you. They're sprinting after you. Now we've all been chased by something, debt, deadlines, perhaps toddlers with muddy hands. Imagine being chased not by stress, but by kindness and grace, by goodness and love that refuses to give up. Scripture says it this way, because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. God is chasing you, friend. He's not waiting for you to earn his help. He's chasing you down with his grace, with his goodness, with his love. And so that means when you mess up, mercy is faster. When you drift, his goodness is hunting you down. Parents, have you ever lost your child in a store for even a moment when that happens, something like just sinks in your gut. That happened to me when our girls were younger and immediately it was just like, oh no, what's going on? The item I was interested in became menial and I had one goal, find the girls, search for them. And when I did find find them, I hugged them and I made them feel safe and secure. And that's so much like God's mercy and God's grace in our life. Paul writes it this way to the Corinthian church, and this is God speaking, my grace is sufficient for you. The word sufficient from the Greek means will be content. So that means when God is chasing us, he will always in the spiritual sense, give us what we need. And so it's kinda like this. God supplies perfectly measured grace to meet our needs for daily needs. There is daily grace for sudden needs. Sudden grace for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace. God's grace is given wonderfully but not wastefully freely but not foolishly. Bounty fully but not blindly. And there is someone who needs to hear this today. You feel you've messed up way too many times. You're that person who should know better. And yet there's this thing that always seems to get you. You're the person who wants to stop the addictive behavior and yet somehow it just rears its head. You're the individual who might even be embarrassed if you had to tell someone what you did. Friend, listen to me, God's love God's mercy. It isn't reactionary. It's relentless. Even when you're walking the wrong way, his goodness and his love are walking faster. Your mistakes may be chasing you, but God's mercy always catches you first. Surely your goodness and love will follow me. How long? All the days of my life. That's the long term guarantee that even beats Costco . This isn't just seasonal or circumstantial. David doesn't say it's chasing me when I feel it or as long as I obey. This is a lifetime guarantee of divine presence and divine pursuit no matter what. It's for all the days of your life, meaning not just the good ones, not just Sunday. It's for the days when your coffee spills and your prayers are dry. God's goodness and love, they're not limited to the mountaintops. They follow you into the valleys, into the desert and into your ordinary. Tuesday, God's messengers chase after you at another time. David underscores this when he wrote this in the Psalms, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you're there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. The prophet Isaiah in his Old Testament book, self-titled book, wrote this on behalf of God speaking, I love these words even to your old age and gray hair. Does anyone have gray hair like me? Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he. I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you. There's this time in the life of a guy named Elijah. He was a prophet that has a lot written about him in the Old Testament and he literally had one of the best moments of his life. God showed up, did something miraculously, and seriously it couldn't have gone better. But immediately after this, Elijah crashes because he hears that someone wants to take his life and depressed. He goes out into the desert and tells God he wants to die. And I think we've all been there. We know the highs and we know the lows. We know the moments when we feel like God is so good moving and working and the moments when we feel like God is absent and uninterested and maybe like Elijah, you too. You might feel a little depressed or overwhelmed possibly at at times you're even suicidal. And so if you've been there, are there. Understand there. Check out what God does with Elijah in his darkest moment. God doesn't say to him, alright dude, call me when this is over. Or I just did something amazing in your life and now this is how you're acting. No, you know what God does? He shows up in the desert and he provides food for Elijah. He then allows him the space to recoup with a nap. And sometimes all we need is a good nap. And then God also just speaks to him in a gentle whisper. His goodness and love met him in the desert after Elijah ran away. Hope city, God is not just the God of your best moments. He's the Lord of your worst Mondays, he's the king of your hardest scenarios. He's the ruler of your most complicated situations and he's not waiting for you to come to him. He's relentlessly pursuing you no matter what. You know, earlier in our worship time, we sang a song declaring the truth of this very guarantee. It was called The Goodness of God. It's a song written from the words of Psalm 23. And what I'd love for us to do right now is to sing it again after hearing this guarantee, after hearing these truths. And so I've asked Pastor Brett to come back and join me and he's gonna lead us in this very psalm. And so across our campuses, if you're at home singing in your kitchen, wherever you are in the house, let's sing this together. I love you Lord, but your mercy never fails me. Brett, come lead us. I love you,- Lord. Oh your mercy never fail.- It's from the moment that I wake up until I lay my head.- Until I lay my head,- I'll see- Hope city. Make this your story. All my life, God, you've been faithful- Until- My life you have been- Faithful.- Yeah, that's it. Here it your goodness is running after me. It's running after me. Let's sing that together.- Your goodness is running after, it's running after me, your running after. It's running after me, my everything.- God,- Let's- Take that again. Your goodness. It's running, it's chasing, it's pursuing you.- Running, running- After me.- And your is running after it's running after me- With- My life laying down. Surrender. Now I give you and your is running after running after me.- We're gonna sing this again. All my life you've been faithful. Make this your story to him- Until my life.- That's it. All- My life you have.- So I'll see of the- Gooding that one more time just with our voices, let's raise them up in this place- Until my life you have been saying,- This is your story,- All my my life, you have been so, so good with every that I'm able, I'll see of the goodness of God.- Amen. Amen. Thanks pastor. That's your first guarantee that brings grounding for the things that matter most yet seem to be the most volatile. Surely your goodness and your love will follow me. All the days of my life, David goes on and gives another I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Notice he starts the second phrase similar to the first. I will again declaring a sure thing, another promise, another unchanging reality, another certainty, just like surely is an anchor word for your life. So is I will. And what does this guarantee? I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now dwell means to settle into, to move in permanently. So this isn't like an Airbnb, it means to abide. And the house of the Lord isn't just the temple or the place of worship. He's not saying, I'm gonna move into the church. That'd be fun if we all did that for probably like five minutes, right? , The house of the Lord refers to God's presence that goes with us at all times. And it's not just for this life, but it's for eternal life. It means to enjoy the presence of God every single day no matter what. And David is almost bragging here. He's saying with confidence I can. I will walk through life with the constant provision and protection of God at another time in the Psalms, he said it this way. One thing I ask from the Lord this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple for in the day of trouble. He will keep me safe in his dwelling. He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. God's protection, God's provision, God's presence is with you, friends, all the days of your life on earth and in heaven. And that's what's so beautiful about Psalm 23. David closes by reminding us of an eternal perspective. That it's not just about the here and now, but it's also about forever. He reminds us that we shouldn't get so consumed with the present. And yes, life is good, life is challenging. However, there is life and then there is eternal life. And life before eternity is but a vapor, it goes fast. I mean, ask anyone my age or older and they tell you, time flies. In fact, I was just talking to someone the other day, I've known this person for decades and they just turned 69. And they said, I look at all my friends now and think, who are all these old guys I'm hanging out with? Life is quick, but eternity is forever. And it goes on and on and on and on and on. Amen. And to prepare ourselves for this, we need to make the best decision of our life to follow Jesus. And then we have the promise, the guarantee of being with him forever. David, he sums up Psalm 23 by giving himself and the reader an eternal Perce perspective. And honestly, we need this, don't we? Because our days seem hard and unfair. Just this past week, I've walked through some major things with people in our church. I did the celebration of life for a 42-year-old mom, hard. I stood by the bed of one of our board members who was in palliative care and he passed. He just retired hard. And those scenarios seem so unfair, so not right. And yet David reminds us in life we're gonna walk through the darkest valley. But remember on the other side is eternity. He's reminding us every so often just peek over the fence and look into eternity. Jesus said it this way. My father's house has many rooms that were not. So would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am in Revelation. In the last book of the Bible, it talks a lot about a time to come our life in eternity. And we read this and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling places now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. And here it is, he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away for the Christian, for the believer. Truly the best is yet to come. And the goodness and the love of God in this life are just previews for the glory that's to come. Friend, listen to me. You are not wandering aimlessly. You are heading home. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Two guarantees that bring grounding for the things that matter most yet seem to be the most volatile. Two guarantees that are determined by three words. Surely I will surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And so when you feel like you have nothing to stand on, when you, when you sense that everything around you is fleeting, when you can't get a grasp on anything, when you forget that life is just a precursor to eternity, remember surely I will. So no matter what you are facing, surely I will no matter where your path leads, surely I will no matter what kind of tension you encounter, surely I will. May you be reminded of these two certainties today. May you be encouraged by these truths. And may you remember when life is screaming otherwise. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What an awesome way to end. Psalm 23, what an awesome way to remind us who the good shepherd is and why we can trust him with our life. I'm gonna ask you to stand if you're able to. I want to close praying for you and over you. God, I thank you for these words that were inspired by your Holy Spirit that David wrote that are so relatable and practical to our lives. I thank you that centuries later we can look at 'em and they still ring true God, you are our good shepherd. And so I pray for my friends here today that they may just own the words of these psalms as their story, as their testimony. I pray for those who might just feel far from you, feeling like maybe they've done something too many times or your grace has run out in their life. They're not worthy. God, I pray today that they understand your goodness and love are chasing them down. And may they run into your arms as you're just ready to receive them. I pray for those who are walking through scenarios that are complicated, difficult, and hard. I pray that they may dwell in your presence, God, that they may walk in your presence, that they may know your presence, that they may experience your presence and they may know God, that they can depend and trust on you. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on eternity. Help us live our lives in the balance of today and forever. Help us to realize that the decisions we make today impact forever and keep us focused on what matters most in these days. And so, God, I just pray that for my friends today, and maybe you're joining us and this talk about forever, you're kind of saying, I'm not sure where my forever will be. You know the Bible says, if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and you confess with your mouth, you will be saved. You know what that means? It means that you will be with him forever in heaven. And it just begins with a decision in your life to say, I wanna follow Jesus. And so if that's you here today saying, I want to secure my eternity for forever with the Lord, I'm gonna pray a prayer that helps you begin your journey with Jesus. Why don't you join me in praying Jesus today. I see my need for you. I thank you for going to the cross. I thank you for dying for my sins, for forgiving me, for rising and offering me life and hope both now and forever. And so today I put my faith in you. I put my trust in you, and I wanna make you Lord and leader of my life, help me to follow you all my days. Help me to know what it means to just place my life into your hands. And thank you, thank you that I have that assurance and security of forever. And so I just give you my life today and begin this journey with you. And Lord, I pray over every individual, every couple and every family. And I ask as they go into this week, may they experience the good shepherd day in and day out. May they walk in the goodness and the love that you bring them. May they understand that you are chasing them, you are pursuing them. You will follow them into everything. And I pray for your presence to be so real, adamant, and effective through all things. May the words of the Psalm become the words that they quote over their life day in and day out. I thank you for the truth found in that and I pray this over and for my friends here in the powerful and incredible name of Jesus. Amen. If you prayed that prayer of surrendering your life to Jesus, I wanna say way to go. And uh, if you would be so kind just to scan the QR code that's on the screen. It's even on the seat backs in front of you. We'd love to get a digital booklet in your hand that talks a little bit more about knowing and following Jesus. And we'd love to get to know you as well in a big church. We'd love to get to know you personally. If you're joining in the house and you want prayer over anything, we're gonna have a prayer team available down at the front left, and they would love to pray for you. Now, before you leave, because this is our last Sunday in this psalm, I'm gonna read it to you one more time as a benediction, as a blessing over your life. Take this in friends. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leaves me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right path for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. Love you guys. Thanks for being in church today. Know that I'm cheering you on and praying for you. Have a great day.