Right Thinking in a Troubled World

Introduction - Take your Bibles this morning and turn to the book of Psalms. We will be in Psalm 77 this morning.

I would like us to deviate a few Sunday’s from our verse by verse study in the book of John and look at a couple of different passages concerning our heart and thoughts.

The main message that I would like to convey from the Word of God is “Right Thinking In A Troubled World.”

My friend how many would agree with me this morning that the world is troubled?

The Lord has a purpose for us in this troubled world. In fact, He has us here, if I may quote from the book of Esther, for such a time as this(Esther 4:14)…

How are we going to live for Christ in a troubled world like this? If things are going to get worse…How do we maintain a right thought life?

Once you find your place in Psalm 77 lets read together the entire Psalm.

Psalm 77 “To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph. 1 I cried unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My sore ran in the night, and ceased not: My soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: And my spirit made diligent search. 7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favourable no more? 8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? 9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 10 And I said, This is my infirmity: But I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. 11 I will remember the works of the Lord: Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. 12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. 13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: Who is so great a God as our God? 14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast declared thy strength among the people. 15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: The depths also were troubled. 17 The clouds poured out water: The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad. 18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook. 19 Thy way is in the sea, And thy path in the great waters, And thy footsteps are not known. 20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

Let’s Pray

We often heard it expressed, “You are what you eat.”

And how true that is, we ought to be good stewards of the body that God has given to us.

Many folks have been liberated from poor health or failing health simply by changing their diets and consuming foods that are whole foods.

We think about folks who struggle with things such as diabetes, and surely they have to pay careful or should pay careful attention to what they are consuming.

But I want you to consider this morning the power of our minds and how it affects our heart.

We might say it this way, “You are what you think.”

Dr. John Goestch stated this about this subject of right thinking, “The truth is, our behavior will change when our thinking changes. If you are stuck in a certain behavioral patter, you should question your thinking…”

We all know the verse in Romans 12:1–2 “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

I want to call your attention to the word ‘re-newing.’

In the using this word the idea is that we are to constantly go back to state of being made new by the Holy Spirit of God through conformity to His Word.

The other use of this word in the New Testament is found in Titus 3:5 where it states, “5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

My point is that this prefix “re” tell us that this will be an ongoing work the Lord is doing in our lives and an ongoing decision we must make to submit to Him. So as we go through these passages on the mind, I do not want you to get discouraged thinking this is a one-time process.

Just how powerful is the mind?

I will give you some secular examples:

What article attempted to shed light on what is referred to as “the placebo affect.”

A placebo is an administered medicine that is in fact fake. However, the patient does not know it is fake.

Now I am certainly not an doctor, but they claimed this “It is only now that the medical community is beginning to look at placebo drugs as a success and potential remedy. The placebo cure rate ranges from 15% to 72%. This is not a fluke occurrence nor is it  insignificant in what it means for humanity. What happens with the placebo effect is that the brain anticipates an outcome. The mind then communicates to the body the anticipated outcome and prepares the body for healing.”

One clinical psychologist was quoted as stating this concerning the power of the mind and pain. “Pain is highly responsive to each person's psychology and mindset,' Darnall said. Those who expect worse pain, ruminate on it and feel helpless about it - what's called pain catastrophizing - feel more intense pain, stay longer in hospitals after surgery and often require more painkillers. On the other hand, those who shift to a positive mindset feel less pain, spend less time in hospitals and require fewer pain medications.”

All that is being said here is that our minds affect our physical well being.

We do not have to go to the halls of science to discover this, We discover this truth in the Word of God. The Bible emphasizes this truth that we must guard and control what goes takes places in our minds… not only that but the Word of God gives careful instruction as to what we ought to think on and what we ought to reject…

In other words,

If you want to better understand yourself, draw close to the Lord.

Look in the mirror of the Scriptures and see what God reveals to you.

We have turned to the book of Psalms, which is located in the heart of our Bible.

The book of Psalms is in a section of scripture that we often called the “heart books” because they deal with matters of the heart.

The book of Proverbs for example is what we would call a heart book— it is a book of wisdom.

As we look in the book of Psalms we see these penman express what's going on in their mind and heart.

This song in particular gives us an example of a situation the Psalmist is expressing; the struggle He had in his mind and heart.

And as we will look at this Psalm, the psalmist lays describes his own struggles as well as the solution.

In the caption, this Psalm is attributed to Asaph.

We know that Asaph was a musician appointed by David (1 Chronicles 25:1; 6:39) for the service before the Ark of the tribe of Levi - the Kohathites.

“Asaph was a man of exercised mind, and often touched the minor key; he was thoughtful, contemplative, believing, but withal there was a dash of sadness about him, and this imparted a tonic flavour to his songs. To follow him with understanding, it is needful to have done business on the great waters, and weathered many an Atlantic gale.” (C. H. Spurgeon)

In Charles Spurgeon’s example —-weathering the storms on the great waters, He is saying that Asaph here dealt with much in the way of difficult experiences. Much in the same way we could speak of the sweet Psalmist David who took pen to hand and penned down His experiences with the Lord.

We might think of the difference of a news anchor talking about Hurricane Helene or Hurricane Milton from the news room — somewhere distant from where the storm took place and they are speaking as if they were there but surely were not. Whereas you talk to someone who went through the storm —- and experienced it—- this was Asaph.

The timing of the Psalm is not know, however, we can say without doubt that this was a time of affliction.

Whatever the case, much like today, the Psalmist had much going on.

This Psalm as we will see is laid out in a Chiastic structure.

As I have stated before, this is a literary device that uses structure to emphasize a particular thought.

In this case we have verses 1-6 containing one section (A), verses 7-9 we have another section (B), and then verses 10-12 their corresponding sections (A2) and 13-20 (B2).

If you will look up on the screen—- I have made a visual which I also placed in your notes to help understand this.

Hebrew poetry—uses the rhyming of thoughts to emphasize truth, rather than a rhyming of words.

So let us discover first what what the Psalmist discovers.

Notice first of all in verses 1-6, we will see:

I. The Occupation With Self vs. 1-6

As we work our way down through these first six verses, we see over and over again the word “I.”

At lease nine times we see the pronoun “I” and then if you add the pronoun “my” to that count you will find an additional 8 occurrences- 17 times in 6 sentences.

You will notice down in verses 13 through the final verse the shift to the word “Thou.”

This is the idea in this first section. It is the psalmist expressing the problems that were affecting him… He is not expressing how others are doing, but is admitting he is having a difficult time! Might I say this morning that too often we are found acting as if we have no problems at all… the psalmist may have had poor thinking in the beginning, but he was honest…

What will happen to us if our thoughts dwell solely upon ourselves? What happens when we begin to wallow in self pity and meditate on our difficulties?

Or we might say it this way, as I look at myself in this world and consider myself and my plight, what will be the result?

George Mueller once stated this, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

A. The Cry Unto God vs. 1

We see here from the beginning a ray of hope. It is an encouraging statement by the Psalmist.

Asaph says, Psalm 77:1 “1 I cried unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.”

1. This cry from the Psalmist is personal.

We might oftentimes ask others to pray for us, and we ought to ask others to pray for us, but we ought to pray ourselves.

It is not selfish to ask the Lord for help.

How do we know this?

Well the Bible tells us in dealing with the complexities of relationships and people we see in

1 Peter 5:6–7 “6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

In Philippians 4:6 we read, “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Prayer my friend is personal.

We do not pray through someone else, we pray directly to the Lord.

The Lord Jesus Christ in teaching His disciples to pray “Our Father which art in heaven…” (Luke 11:2)

We may pray with someone else in the case of corporate prayer.

Because of our Salvation wrought by our Savior, we do not have to go through any other man.

The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 2:5 “5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

2. The psalmist and his cry is audible.

Here the Psalmist cries unto the Lord…He speaks out vocally there— this difficulty was of such magnitude He could not be quiet, and we see the blessed assurance…. “He gave ear unto me.”

3. The psalmist and his cry is relational.

Listen we could stop right there and get help knowing that God is the God who sees, and He is the God who hears.

In Judges 10:14 we read, “14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.”

The relational part is important, my friend.

I stated at the beginning “You are what you think.”

What I mean by that is for the Christian, oftentimes success or failure occurs here in the mind.

The Bible tells us this in Hebrews 12:3–4 “3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself [external], lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. [internal] 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” (Your situation could be much more difficult)

But in order to get to the place where we need to be, with our heart in minds in tune with God and His Word, you must be a child of God.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ our High Priest has passed into the heavens, therefore we are given the privilege to come into the presence of God.

Hebrews 4:14–16 “14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

But and if you are not a child of God, you then are at enmity with God.

And that is the first order of business that must be taken care of in your life.

How can you cry out in mercy to God and have the assurance that He hears you when you are enemies with God?

Asaph’s cry was personal, audible and relational. He could say with surety, My God hears me!

Now we will discover as we continue that Asaph’s difficulty was not in that God heard Him, it was in His perception that God was not doing anything about it!

But notice what we in the next verse we see:

B. The Comfort That Escapes Me. vs. 2

Psalm 77:2 tells us, “2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My sore ran in the night, and ceased not: My soul refused to be comforted.”

Let us apply ourselves to the positive action at the head of this verse.

vs. 2“In the day of trouble I sought the Lord…”

The Bible says, Asaph sought the Lord— this will turn to good in the end.

At this present moment in a difficult way, but in the end we see the sun shining brightly.

Asaph’s thinking needs help, but praise the Lord He sought the Lord.

Unfortunately, a great many Christians never make it to a place of right thinking because they fail to seek the Lord.

I don’t think Asaph is a fair weather Christian—- I believe He loves the Lord…

There seems to be times when are troubles have no end.

They appear to cease not. The psalmist here describes such a time.

“In the crucible of life, believers may find themselves spiraling down into dark times of discouraging despair. These low valleys may even bring with them seasons of devastating depression. No one is exempt from such shadowy valleys, not even the strongest saint.” (HOTC)

Steven J. Lawson, Psalms 76–150, ed. Max Anders, vol. 12, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2006), 8.

The Bible shows us many examples of His choicest servants dealing with depression and troubling times.

Abraham - Genesis 15

David - Psalm 51

Elijah - 1 Kings 19

Jeremiah - Jeremiah/Lamentations

One expositor rightly said, “The Christian life isn’t about pretending everything is going great. This is one of the things that is so refreshing about the Psalms, particularly psalms of lament. If you don’t wake up every day feeling like a world changer, the Psalms are your new best friend.” (Exalting Jesus in Psalms 51-100 Platt)

David Platt, Matt Mason, and Jim Shaddix, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 51-100 (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2020), 249.

It could be that this trouble was dealing with his nation.

Perhaps it was that the trouble was a physical ailment.

It could be a difficulty dealing with Himself or with others. Regardless we see the psalmist sought the Lord.

And as we look at this, we might think— since He sought the Lord, what else could be required?

Is simply seeking the Lord here the solution?

Notice what the Bible says in the second clause, His “sore ran in the night, and ceased not…”

John Phillips stated this in His commentary, “Have you never found yourself doing that in a moment of anguish? Holding your hands out to the Lord in a gesture of despair? And still no answers come. Is God blind as well as deaf? Of course not! Then He must have some exceedingly good reason for not instantly relieving the situation.”

Example: “A father often has reasons for doing things that a little boy is simply not able to understand.”

There was the time in the life of John Phillips that he remembers a living room and palour in his house that was always left open. As a young man these rooms were off limits except on Sundays and when people visited, but he could still peer into the room. There was a time when his parents closed and locked the door. No one was allowed in and it troubled him greatly to know why this room was suddenly shut.

He had asked his parents and his parents ignored his pleas to see inside the once open room that now was shut. No answer came. When he was older though had long forgotten of the forbidden room he was told why it was closed for so long.

You see there were folks friends and family that would show up and quietly enter into the room and then come out and the door was locked again. It was that his grandfather who lived with them stepped into eternity and he was laid out in that room, as was the custom in that day. Friends and family would come by, but his parents did not want him at that young age to see the body of the now gone grandfather, so as not to give their son something they could aptly explain in a way he would understand. And so, the seeming silence was for a reason that at the time the child could not understand.

“There are some things, God in His goodness, simply does not explain. Like the psalmist, we pray despairingly, but it appears God does not answer. He knows that time will reveal everything, and if time does not, eternity certainly will. For then, “we shall know even as we are known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) (Phillips)

C. The Complaint Within vs. 3

Psalm 77:3 “3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.”

Charles Spurgeon says, “He who is the wellspring of delight to faith became an object of dread to the Psalmist’s distracted heart.”C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 313.

“He mused and mused but only sank the deeper.”C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 313.

You might as a Christian friend try to encourage the psalmist, “….Think about God’s goodness; meditate on his faithfulness.” The psalmist would reply, “That’s exactly what I’ve been doing! But,” verse 3, “when I think of God, I groan. When I meditate, my spirit becomes weak.” In other words, “None of the exercises of faith seem to be working.” Think, for example, of what it’s like trying to turn a nut that’s rusted. You can have the best wrench in the world, but if the nut is rusted, it’s nearly impossible to turn it. That’s how the psalmist feels.” David Platt, Matt Mason, and Jim Shaddix, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 51-100 (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2020), 249.

You see the Psalmist was well versed in the Scriptures. You say how do you know this?

Well if you look one Psalm over, Psalm 78 also attributed to Asaph—- you find that Asaph walks through all of Old Testament history.

We do not know exactly what troubled Asaph in this verse, but His thoughts of God or perhaps what God had done in times past troubled Him.

If it is as many expositors suggest that Asaph is contemplating what God allowed to happen to the northern kingdom, and what the prophets were prophesying concerning the southern kingdom —- and the coming storm approaching of Babylon—- perhaps the troubling thought was of God’s judgment to come.

Regardless we see that His thoughts of God were not thoughts helpful at this juncture, but troubling.

The word translated as ‘troubled’ means plainly his thoughts were yelling at Him.

We know that a key to learning is repetition.

I want you to see that repeated wrong thinking—- or meditating on that which is bad is not good.

Your thoughts become a terror to you!

How many have experienced the gut wrenching night of having not prepared for a big test that is to happen the next day? Your thoughts terrorize you… you think over and over again what is about to take place you contemplate how is everything going to go….

Dr. John Goestch in His book entitled What’s on your ming said this, “We must watch our thoughts for they are blueprints for our actions. A thought that dominates you inwardly will ultimately drive you outwardly.”

In other words, if I allow myself to meditate on the terrible situations of life, if I allow my mind to replay one bad situation after the next— it will affect my spirit.

Notice what the Psalmist states, “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed…Selah.”

He was overtaken—- his spirit was overthrown.

He was dominated, conquered by these negative thoughts.

He was in the place of despair, the pit of despondency, the pool of derision, the place of deseperation.

And so we see not only the complaint within, but the conflict taking place.

D. The Conflict Taking Place vs. 4

Psalm 77:4 “4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.”

Asaph moves from vocal prayer— to silent thought and anguish.

This conflict is so difficult, it is so deep, that He cannot sleep.

And unfortunately, it seems that the psalmist is now tracing this malady to the Lord Himself; that it is God who is holding His eyelids open.

Many of us would not dare to raise our fist to the Lord, but it kind of sneaks up on us… These latent carnal sinful thoughts —- seem to be waiting in the darkness only to manifest themselves in times of great difficulty.

This He signifies this by stating “thou” holdest mine eyes…

We see this conflict taking place, but then the comparison to the past.

E. The Comparison To The Past vs. 5

Listen my friends there are mountain tops and there are valleys… there is the ascending times… there are the descending times…

This is a slippery slope downward for He states in verse 5,

Psalm 77:5 “5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times.”

It seems that Asaph begins to make the comparison of times past to times present.

Again if this is a national crisis, perhaps it would be as you and I would say, “O remember how America use to be….”

If it was a personal crisis, perhaps we would say, “Remember the days of peace I used to experience… when everything was alright…”

Or perhaps, “Folks in the past haven’t dealt with what I am dealing with—- they saw good by the Lord, why can’t I have the victory?…”

Spurgeon again stated, “he contrasted his own mournful condition with all that was bright in the venerable experiences of ancient saints, and so complained the more.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 313–314.

F. The Communion With Self vs. 6

Psalm 77:6 “6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: And my spirit made diligent search.”

“He remembered the songs he once sang in the night that previously had comforted his heart. But looking back upon happier times only deepened his depression.” Steven J. Lawson, Psalms 76–150, ed. Max Anders, vol. 12, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2006), 9.

At this point it would seem that the psalmist had looked upon all his resources.

He looked to his own experience.

He looked to his own memory.

He looked to his own intellect.

Friend I want to close with a few thoughts—- as we meditate on this Psalm and come back to it next week.

The first is this:

There is hope.

Psalm 42:11 “11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

Praise God whose mercy endureth forever.

My friend understand the truth in Proverbs 13:12 “12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

You might say my desire is to be out of my plight— well the Lord has a purpose. My friend place your desire upon the Savior.

Romans 15:13 “13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

There is an expected end.

Proverbs 23:18 “18 For surely there is an end; And thine expectation shall not be cut off.”

My friend as dark as the day may seem there is an expected end.

After Elijah’s darkest depression—- God took Him to heaven in a whirlwind of fire!

Isaiah 41:10 “10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

There is with you Almighty God!

Isaiah 41:10 “10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

I would like to close with this verse:

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 “16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

II. The Outcome of Misery vs. 7-9

A. The Questions that Plaque Us.

There are three areas of concern mentioned by Asaph. We already know that Asaph is seeking the Lord for help. This is a wonderful thing. A christian ought to seek the Lord. But because of his situation, He that has darkened his day, he begins to ask about the reality of what he already knows about God.

The Question of God’s Presence.

He asks the question of God’s abiding presence. “Will the Lord cast off for ever?”

Psalm 16:11 tells us, “11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

The Question of God’s Pity.

The Question of God Promises.