Testimony After Trial
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsBrief message on the occasion of the National Day of Prayer, 2024.
Notes
Transcript
Trials are what encourages prayer and leaning upon the Lord.
A young woman named Anne Steele had encountered one trial and disappointment after another. Her mother died when she was three, and when she was nineteen she suffered a severe hip injury that left her an invalid. Eventually she fell in love and was engaged to be married, but the day before the wedding her fiancé drowned.
Later Anne Steele penned the following song:
“Father, whate’er of earthly bliss Thy sovereign will denies,
Accepted at Thy throne of grace, let this petition rise:
Give me a calm, a thankful heart, from every murmur free!
The blessings of Thy grace impart, and make me live to Thee.”
Ms. Steele’s story reminds me of David’s words in 2 Samuel 22. Our theme verses for this year’s National Day of Prayer are take from...
29 For you are my lamp, O Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
What is quoted here is a tribute for the power and strength God gives His warriors. And we can insert the church in this equation.
All that we do as a church is enabled by and fueled by the Lord and His Holy Spirit.
But strategic to those things is prayer. What we have in 2 Samuel 22 is a hymn of praise, otherwise known as David’s Psalm of deliverance.
The writing of this poem takes place after Saul and Jonathan are dead. Saul, Israel’s first king and David’s major antagonist, hunted David until the end of his reign. Jonathan, Saul’s son, was David’s best friend, like a brother.
Moreover, peace is made with the Gibeonites, a people that Saul had been at war with. And David has been delivered from Saul. 2 Samuel 22:1
1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
David is expressing his gratitude to God and recalling the Lord’s faithfulness during some of his most trying times.
To read through this psalm, David says the following:
God is great (verses 2-4)
I was low (verses 5-7)
The Lord was my support (verses 8-19)
I was careful to make decisions that honored the Lord (verses 20-28)
God enabled me to live for Him and accomplish much (verses 29-31).
David was humbled at God’s help to him throughout his life. And we ought to be humbled too, when we reflect on the Lord who helps us in any and every circumstance. John 15:5
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
It reminds me of the fact that God works within us and around us. Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
As we pray tonight for our nation and various things that concern us, know that we serve a God is mighty in us. 1 John 4:4
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
God works in you. That is unique. He is not distant, but He is near. He is not unaware of your circumstances, but is in partnership with you, working things out for His glory. Romans 8:28
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Andrew Murray, who died in 1917, was a South African author and pastor. Murray pastored churches in Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town and Wellington, all in South Africa. He was a champion of the South African Revival of 1860. Murray was quoted as saying that missions is “the chief end of the church.” He said this about God’s work:
“The humble man has learned the secret of abiding gladness. The weaker he feels, the lower he sinks, and the greater his humiliations appear, the more power and the presence of Christ are his portion.”—Humility and Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray
I am convinced that our study of God’s word and prayer are the means by which we come to understand God’s faithfulness and be humbled by it. Psalm 51:17
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Tonight, we’ll be praying for different areas in our nation. As we lift up these areas to the Lord, may we ask with a sense of expectation for Him to move. Each person will come to the podium. Introduce their specific area of prayer, followed by 2-3 minutes of silence, then they will lead us in prayer.