Psalm 13
Notes
Transcript
· Intro: Good morning GPC! Would you turn with me to Psalm 13? This morning we’ll be in Psalm 13. It’s truly no coincidence that this psalm is right after Psalm 12. They are very similar psalms and they share a lot of important applications and truths.
o As you turn there, let me make a few announcements. (APP- check out facebook AFTER SERVICE, our link is there- download, make a profile, check it out! Access sermon libraries, etc. no third Wednesday)
o Would you please stand with me for the reading of God’s word?
§ This is God’s Holy Word. (Read, pray, you may be seated, drink)
· One of my favorite things as a kid was to read missionary biographies. I still love doing it today. I find and always have found it to be so convicting and encouraging. There’s many great missionaries who faithfully served the Lord who will never have a biography written about them, but there is one more well-known missionary today that I want to talk about.
o He was a unique man, a man of deep conviction, a man who was determined that nothing would stop him and a man who was far from perfect. That man was Adoniram Judson.
o Whether you’ve heard his story before or not, let me challenge us to hear it with new ears.
§ Judson served as a missionary to what is now Maynmar, at the time known as Burma. He left the US in 1812, one of the first missionaries from America to ever go overseas.
§ Even before we get to his time in Burma, we must understand his dedication to what the Lord had called him to. Famously, he wrote a letter to propose marriage to his wife Ann. He said in it, “We shall probably experience seasons when we shall be 'exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. We shall see many dreary, disconsolate hours, and feel a sinking of spirits, anguish of mind, of which now we can form little conception. O, we shall wish to lie down and die. And that time may soon come.”
· I don’t know about you, but that’s not the traditional Hollywood proposal.
· But yet, there’s such a deep, rawness to it that is commendable.
o Those words would also ring true.
o After a short time in India, Judson went to Burma. During his time in Burma, he was imprisoned, he labored, his first child died, his wife died, his second wife died and so did his third! By the end of his life, 7 of his children would have died to before reaching adulthood! He was also extremely sick much of his life over there!
§ Further, it took 6 years for a single man to believe and it took almost 10 to translate the New Testament!
§ It was a difficult life. It was hard. It was hot, it was discouraging and it was at times I’m sure very sorrowful!
· So what kept Judson going? The same thing that we see in Psalm 13; he trusted God! Listen to what he said about these trials, “If I had not felt certain that every trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.”
o Today as we come to Psalm 13, our main point really mirrors that.
Our main point is that: MAIN PONT: We can rest and rejoice because of the Lord’s faithfulness!
· Body: This week as we examine Psalm 13, we get to see David crying out in struggle before resting and rejoicing, knowing that the Lord is faithful! Similarly to Psalm 12 this psalm’s context is a little obscure.
Spurgeon says of this, “All attempts to find it a birthplace are but guesses. It was, doubtless, more than once the language of that much tried man of God, and it is intended to express the feelings of the people of God in those ever-returning trials which beset them.”
o In other words, we don’t know exactly when the psalm was written and that’s ok! It’s ok because the language is common and is something that we can relate to!
o We can relate to trials that seem to come over and over and over again! This psalm is a psalm of comfort on those days where we feel overwhelmed and where we feel defeated!
§ This psalm is a psalm to go to when we think, “HOW MUCH LONGER? HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING? WHY ME LORD?”
· Honestly, we see the relatability in the first 2 verses as David Despairs. David asks 5 questions in the first 2 verses of Psalm 13. Pay attention to those as we read these verses.
o He cries out, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”- Psalm 13:1-2
o David asks:
§ “How long O Lord?”
§ “Will you forget me forever?”
§ “How long will you hide your face from me?”
§ “How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?”
§ And finally, “How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”
o These questions are not just questions that David has asked! Honestly, have you ever found yourself asking one of these questions? Or two of them? Or three?
§ I have! It’s easy to ask these questions! It’s easy to feel honestly a little discouraged and to wonder if the Lord will forget us forever! It’s easy to wonder if we will ever get out of our hard time!
· How often do you ask, “WHY IS THIS GOING ON? WHY NOW? WHY DO I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS?”
· Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it is; I can relate to David’s questions! I can relate to David’s frustrations!
o When you think you hit your breaking point and you find yourself at the end of your rope, what do you do?
o In David’s case, he cries out to God asking questions!
o David is totally defeated; totally run down! He just wants to quit!
§ When I was in college I was watching a show on Netflix with D.J., one of my roommates. In the show, a character was dumped by his first girlfriend. In his sorrow, he literally walked dragging his backpack and just collapsed in a dirt pile outside his house. George Michael, the character, was entirely defeated!
· That’s where David is! He’s just collapsed under the weight of his sorrow!
o Have you ever heard of Broken Heart Syndrome? This is a real thing actually! When you got through an extremely difficult time, your heart releases excess stress hormones and it gives you a condition sometimes known as Broken Heart Syndrome, or by its scientific term- Stress-induced Cardiomyopathy.
§ Basically, after you go through a difficult time, specifically an event with difficult emotions, your heart is temporarily weakened.
· The person going through it has a slightly enlarged but weakened heart which leads to chest pain, shortness of breath and other discomforts!
· My point is, these emotions that David is feeling are real! How low is he? HE’S BROKENHEARTED!
· I don’t know that his heart was swollen, medically speaking, but he sure seems to be at the bottom of a pit!
o David feels trapped and forgotten about! In the midst of all that he faces, he finds himself wondering; WHERE IS GOD? WHERE IS MY GOD RIGHT NOW?
o We too find ourselves in this spot sometimes, but, as we’ll see throughout this psalm, we can rest and rejoice because the Lord is faithful!
If our Lord WAS NOT faithful, or if we DO NOT KNOW GOD, then what hope do we have in trials?
YET PRAISE THE LORD, REJOICE IN THE LORD, FOR THE LORD IS FAITHFUL AS WE’LL SEE TODAY!
· In David’s second section, he PLEADS WITH GOD! David says, “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.”- Psalm 13:3-4
o David here uses an imperative in his question. He says, “YAWHEH, ELOHIM, (LORD MY GOD), WON’T YOU SEE ME AND ANSWER ME?”
§ David is hurting! In a similar way to Psalm 12 and many other psalms, David feels abandoned and he feels hopeless! He feels totally unseen and desperate!
§ David doesn’t have anything going right for him from an earthly perspective. Put yourself in his shoes! His enemies are triumphing, his foes rejoice at his downfall, and, as he says in verse 3, HE FEELS LIKE HE IS ABOUT TO SLEEP “THE SLEEP OF DEATH!”
· David feels so overwhelmed that he feels like he could die!
o Broken heart syndrome? That’s David! He has genuinely no idea how he will make it through this situation!
o And if we honestly and humbly put ourselves in his shoes, our response would be the same!
§ Consider the life of the man we discussed in our introduction, Adoniram Judson. Do you think he found it easy to trust the Lord as he was literally hung upside down in a Burmese prison, hanging by his toenails as he rotted away- literally? I DOUBT IT! He was heartbroken in many ways; burnt out by a seeming lack of success and hurting as he was in prison!
· Yet, did he give up? NO! He continued on! HE HAD FAITH AND HE PLED WITH GOD!
o He even continued his translation of scripture, nourishing himself on the word of God on a daily basis! WHAT AN EXAMPLE FOR YOU AND I!
o But thinking of our own lives, consider that hard trial! Consider that time when you felt that God was far from you.
· Consider how you felt going through a hard time in your life! Maybe you’re going through one now! Consider how overwhelmed and exhausted you felt!
o That’s where David was! We may be tempted to read this as figurative language, but I don’t think it is!
o If you’ve found yourself in the midst of a REALLY HARD situation, you know that these are real emotions!
o I’ve mentioned broken heart syndrome and genuinely, I think David was going through it!
§ His world felt like it was closing in on top of him and he felt desperate!
§ He felt like there was only one way out of his physical calamity; for him to sleep the sleep of death. From earthly eyes, that does seem like the only option.
§ Yet, this isn’t just physical. David feels emotionally exhausted as he sees his enemies and his foes rejoicing and prevailing, or succeeding against him!
· This is so similar to psalm 12! There will always be people that rejoice and celebrate when followers of the Lord stumble and struggle!
· Our job though isn’t to battle our foes or to seek revenge, instead, we ought to follow David’s lead. David CLINGS TO GOD!
· David knows that THE LORD IS GOOD! HE HAS FAITH AND CAN REST KNOWING THAT GOD IS FAITHFUL!
o Even as his enemies seem to prevail, David has confidence in the Lord!
§ We see that confidence play out as David has BIBLICAL HOPE, or “A CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF A GUARANTEED RESULT,” something that we see in verses 5-6.
· As we look at verses 5 and 6, we see arguably one of the most powerful statements that David makes over the course of this psalm. David makes a RESOLUTION OF REST AND REJOICING!
o David says, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”- Psalm 13:5-6
o Look at the sudden turn from verses 1-4 to verse 5! In verse 3 David says that he may die and in verse 4 David talks about his enemies triumphing over him and GLOATING over him!
§ Now in verse 5, David’s entire mindset has shifted! What we see from David here is a resolution to PRAISE GOD AND TO PRAISE GOD ALONE!
§ David says that he has trusted in the LORD’S STEADFAST LOVE! The word used here for steadfast carries a connotation of mercy and kindness!
· It is an undeserved love! David uses that word here intentionally! He is showing that he knows his place and how he is saved only BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY!
· David is repeating his trust in God as he says this!
· Then, David says that his HEART SHALL REJOICE!
· He will rejoice because he has been saved!
o He can rest in the steadfast love of God that he TRUSTS and then he can REJOICE!
o Likewise, when we see God move and when we see God answer our prayers, we shouldn’t just move on from it! We should rejoice!
§ How easy is it to say, “Well, that bad time is done, let’s move on.”
· But really, we should be saying, “PRAISE THE LORD THAT HE RESCUED ME! LET ME GIVE PRAISE!”
When I was in Trinidad and Tobago, THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION THE WOMAN HOSTED BECAUSE SHE WAS ABLE TO BUY A HOUSE- the trial was done, but she didn’t just move on; she GAVE THANKS! She even made clear that she WANTED US TO STAY with her that first week down there BECAUSE she was SO BLESSED WITH THIS HOUSE!
· We are called to REJOICE! Don’t miss that! I can’t stress this enough; REJOICING MUST BE A PART OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES!
o David continues to rejoice as he says, “I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
§ How wonderfully has the Lord dealt with us? Do you ever stop to consider that? The Lord has been unspeakably merciful to us! We are blessed beyond what we could ever deserve
· Even as we go through trials and difficulties, we can still REST IN THE LORD, knowing, AND I MEAN KNOWING WITH CONFIDENCE, that the LORD HAS BOUNTIFULLY DEALT WITH US!
· We can have confidence as Christians because we KNOW GOD AND WE KNOW GOD’S GOODNESS FIRST HAND!
· David’s cry here really mirrors our main point! As we know God, as we see God moving and working, we are encouraged and we are able to rest and rejoice because we see that the LORD IS FAITHFUL!
o David here in Psalm 13 is really showing us what BIBLICAL HOPE looks like in practice! David confidently expects God to save him!
§ Notice, there isn’t a verse 7 where we see David say, “Then God killed all my enemies.” There is no post-script! David is working from a place of faith and of hope!
· David has CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD and it is WELL-PLACED!
o David does not see at that exact moment how this will work out, but HE DOES NOT NEED TO!
· Conclusion: As we wrap up this morning, let’s take some time to apply the principles of Psalm 13 to our own lives. Today, I really want to directly address us in two ways.
First, if you have not placed your faith in Jesus, let me ask, “Where do you go during hard times? What do you turn to?”
o GOSPEL AND HOW JESUS IS OUR SHIELD AND OUR SHELTER! HOW THE GOSPEL IS ULTIMATE PROOF OF GOD’S STEADFAST LOVE!
· Now, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, I have three steps that we should take as we reflect on Psalm 13. These are:
o REROUTE
o REST
o REJOICE
· See, regardless of whether we are going through a trial or a hard time, we can become distracted from the things of God! We can become distracted and can find ourselves in a trap of jealousy or comparison, or we can become run down by the very nature of our world!
o So, my challenge to us is to REROUTE, REST and REJOICE!
§ I’m not here offering self-help, this is exactly what David lays out in this psalm!
· See, in verses 1-4, David is so real and honest about his issues! David GOES TO GOD and he lays out his struggles to God!
o David CONFESSES TO GOD! Honestly, before we can even get into our 3 R’s, we have to understand the importance of confession!
§ Confession is not popular in the “American” definition of Chrsitianity. Deep down, ingrained in our culture is a desire to be self-sufficient, a desire to need no one and factually, that just isn’t possible!
· Confession in this case is not about sin, although we have seen David do that many times; instead, confession here is ALL ABOUT David going to God and saying, “GOD, I NEED YOU! ONLY YOU CAN DO THIS GOD!”
· David begins by confessing his situation and by CRYING OUT IN AGONY!
o Honestly, verses 1-4 mirror many of the psalms. But then verse 5-6 give us our 3 R’s to take away today, that all remind us of our main point, “We can rest and rejoice because of the Lord’s faithfulness!
§ David shows us what it looks like to REROUTE in verse 5 as he immediately goes from SORROW AND AGONY TO TRUST AND FAITH!
· David REROUTES HIS THOUGHTS FROM HOW HARD EVERYTHING IS TO HOW THE LORD IS FAITHFUL! David clings to God! David takes control of his emotions and he MEDITATES ON GOD!
o Think of Psalm 119:105! God’s word is a lamp for a feet and should guide our paths!
§ David is doing that! He takes his negative and hard emotions and counters them with Biblical truth!
· In other words, he REROUTES HIS MIND TO GOD!
· For us, We must REROUTE our mind back to the Word of God!
o I see two super helpful spiritual disciplines in this; meditating on scripture (don’t just put your Bible down and forget it) and memorizing scripture (memorize what you are reading! Memorize a passage like psalm 13!).
o Our next two R’s stem from that.
o After David REROUTES HIS THOUGHTS TO THE LORD’S FAITHFULNESS AND STEADFAST LOVE, we see David able to REST AND REJOICE!
§ David can rest and no longer is on the verge of collapse because he doesn’t have to be perfectly pulled together!
§ David doesn’t have to worry because no matter what man tries to do, man is not ultimately going to prevail against him!
· That’s what David is crying out in verses 5-6. The Lord loves him and mercifully and bountifully deals with him! That right there allows him to rest!
o No longer will David sleep the sleep of death!
o David can truly rest in the Lord! In the same way, when we are CONFIDENT IN THE LORD, we can have TRUE REST in the LORD!
§ We don’t have to be on guard; instead, we can let go and rest in God!
§ For us, we live in a world that is constantly going, contstantly anxious. It no longer matters where you live, this is the case! Statistics are eye-opening about this. Our society is more anxious than ever before and it’s everywhere!
§ But, we don’t have to burn ourselves out with it! Instead, we can take a break and REST not because of our sufficiency, but because of WHO GOD IS! When we face trials and we just feel exhausted, we can CLING TO GOD AND TRULY LET GO!
§ This isn’t some country lyric; I’m not talking about letting Jesus take the wheel, I’m saying that if we truly TRUST GOD, the wheel isn’t ours in the first place, so we can experience TRUE REST!
§ And from our rest, we can rejoice! We can REJOICE because we see our CREATOR GOD MORE CLEARLY AS WE REROUTE OUR THOUGHTS AND AS WE REST IN GOD!
· See, trials aren’t a bad thing! Trials are hard, but they give us a chance to focus more clearly on GOD! Part of that is that trials let us see GOD’S FAITHFULNESS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL!
· And when we see it; when we acknowledge that it wasn’t anything we’ve done, but that it’s all about what GOD HAS DONE, that’s something that leads us to truly cry out and REJOICE!
Simply put:
We must REROUTE our mind back to the Word of God!
We must REST in the Lord's Faithfulness!
We must REJOICE because God has been so good to us!
o Our trials and our difficulties should lead us to REROUTE our thoughts to God and WHO GOD IS, especially HIS FAITHFULNESS, which gives us HOPE and reminds us THAT GOD IS WITH US, and then those trials should also lead us to REST IN God and as we do that, we should REJOICE IN WHO OUR GREAT GOD IS!
o Let’s pray.
Benediction: Psalm 18:46-49
The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and subdued peoples under me,
48 who rescued me from my enemies;
yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
you delivered me from the man of violence.
49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing to your name.