The Small and Passing Darkness

In London there is a church not too far from Buckingham Palace that I would love to be able to visit some day. That church is the historic Westminster Chapel and the man that stood in the pulpit at that church for 30 years is a man that I consider to be not just a great preacher but quite possibly the greatest preacher since the Reformers. I believe that this man if anything, is the greatest preacher that England has produced in the past 100 years. In my mind the only British preachers that rival him are Charles Spurgeon and George Whitefield. This man is a personal hero of mine and if you aren’t sure who I am talking about, I am talking about Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Lloyd-Jones became the pastor of Westminster Chapel at a very interesting time in history. The day before he became their pastor, World War 2 broke out in Europe. It would only be a matter of time before Nazi aircraft would begin to bomb London practically on a daily basis and they did not take a break for the Lord’s Day. On one particular Sunday morning, Lloyd-Jones came to the pulpit and as was his custom, he started to pray and as he was praying, the familiar sound of air raid sirens began. So, what did Lloyd-Jones do? He prayed louder. Soon you could hear the Nazi planes getting closer and closer and then came the ominous whistle of the bombs. But Lloyd-Jones kept on praying. He prayed louder and louder until the sound of the planes and the sound of the explosions drowned out his voice. A bomb dropped so close to Westminster Chapel that windows shattered and the plaster of the walls tore apart. But Lloyd-Jones kept praying. The man who gave the announcements came and dusted Lloyd-Jones off and he started preaching. What an amazing picture of the Christian life. The world seems to be falling to pieces but you carry on the work of the ministry. Why this great boldness? For one, Lloyd-Jones believed that the most important work in the world is the work of preaching the Gospel. The other reason is because despite what was going on around him, Lloyd-Jones had complete trust in his Heavenly Father. Lloyd-Jones wasn’t the first to have this and knowing the promises of Scripture, he won’t be the last. In fact, we see this in action in the very Psalm that we read this morning in Psalm 3 in the life of David. What I want to do this morning is look at 3 presences: The Presence of Darkness, The Presence of God, and the Presence of Peace. Our big idea for this morning is this: Becoming a Christian does not remove the presence of trials and adversaries in our lives. However, the God of peace and comfort is our God and every road that the believer walks is still in the palm of God’s hand. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and then we will look at what David says in Psalm 3:

Psalm 3 NASB95

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, “There is no deliverance for him in God.” Selah. But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.

The Presence of Darkness (Verses 1-2)

What I want us to do this morning is divide this Psalm by the 3 Selah’s that we see within the passage. That word selah could have a couple of different meanings. Sometimes it would be used to point out to the reader of a stopping point. It was like the scenic overlook of the Psalm where the writer was telling the audience to take a moment and let this sink in. The Psalms were also the hymn book of Israel so selah could also be a musical annotation for the singers or for the musicians. When we see selah in the Psalms, it would be wise for us to stop and meditate on what the Lord has said in these verses and that is exactly what we are going to do today. There are 3 selah’s in Psalm 3: At the end of verse 2, the end of verse 4, and the end of verse 8 and that is how we will divide up our morning. What is it that David says in Psalm 3:1–2 “O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, “There is no deliverance for him in God.” What was it that caused David to cry out like this? What were the circumstances of this desperate cry? Something clearly happened and it wasn’t just a case of the Mondays that pushed David to saying this. No, this is in response to an incredibly dark time in David’s life and if you looked at the title of the Psalm just before verse 1, you see that David wrote this psalm as he fled from his son Absalom. Now we don’t have time to talk about everything that went into that but in 2 Samuel 15, we see this event come to pass. David had a son named Absalom and at one point in Absalom and David’s lives, Absalom murders his brother Amnon in revenge. This causes Absalom to flee Jerusalem but David so greatly loves his son that he sends Joab, the general of Israel’s army, to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem. 2 whole years pass by after Absalom returns to Jerusalem and David doesn’t once go to see him. He eventually does but as these years go by, Absalom starts to conspire against the king. Absalom starts to win the favor of the nation, so much so that 2 Samuel 15:6 says that he “stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.” Absalom then sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel with the message of, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” This is exactly what happens and in verse 12 we see that the conspiracy was strong because people were being added continually with Absalom. What does David do? This king so greatly loved by the people? 2 Samuel 15:13-17

2 Samuel 15:13–17 NASB95

Then a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” So the king went out and all his household with him. But the king left ten concubines to keep the house. The king went out and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house.

David fled and history seems to point to the likelihood that David didn’t leave for a day and come back. No, David was gone between 2-4 years. This man had already fled once from the attacks of Saul and now the familiar life has returned to him and his family. As you can see, these are dark days for David. These are days of great uncertainty for him and for his family and those that chose to follow him and we can see this darkness and pain in the first 2 verses. In verse 1 we see David acknowledging exactly what we saw in 2 Samuel 15:12. Absalom has not gone after his father with just a handful of discontent Israelites. No, a vast number of individuals that we can probably assume were faithful to David have now completely turned on him. This pain is not just a paper cut to the ego of David. This is a deep, soul agonizing hurt. You see it’s one thing to have people that are on the perimeter of your life not liking you it is another thing entirely when the person that hates you is your own child, your own spouse, your own parent. That is a deep, deep wound. These people that are out to get David, they don’t just attack him physically, they are attacking him spiritually! They are saying that their is no way that God can deliver him, that there is no way that God could save him. What this multitude is seeking to do is make David question who God is. They are trying to make him question if God is really good, if He is really just, if He really is the God that can save. They are attacking the faith of David. They are hoping that he will be so overwhelmed through pain, through fear, and through worry that the sure anchor of His salvation won’t appear sure anymore. Charles Spurgeon said, “It is the most bitter of all afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for us in God.” Mankind are creatures of hope. If you take away their hope, they have nothing left. What I want to do just quickly is encourage those of you here today where you feel a lot like David. You may not have fled from your home because one of your children is trying to kill you but you may be here today feeling the pain of soul crushing darkness. You may not have armies assembled against you but you may be here today having your faith criticized. You may be here today and have children that hate you. You may be going through a crises as work or in your marriage or in the classroom. Whatever it may be, you feel like the whole world is against you and the world is falling on top of you. Can I encourage you in this way and say that you need to be honest with yourself and with God about your situation? Understand God already knows the situation you are in. God already knows that every hour we need Him. One of the most important things that you need to do in your life is to recognize that just because you are a Christian, that does not mean that your life becomes simple or easy. Be honest with God about your feelings, be honest with God about your struggles! If David was called a man after God’s own heart and he went through trials, why would we think that we never would? Notice what David does in this Psalm, he admits to God the pain in his situation! He doesn’t act like it’s just another bad day, he is brutally honest about his situation. He says “God here is the situation, here is who is against me, here is what they are saying” and instead of him acting like “I’m a believer so let me just put on a happy face,” he tells God exactly what is going on! Look, being a Christian does not mean that all you have done is learned how to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when times are hard. No, part of being a Christian is recognizing your weakness! You recognize the weakness of who you are without a Savior and you recognize that you are powerless to do anything to save yourself! The Bible is very clear that we will go through hard times, God is very clear that life is not easy! Do you remember what Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12–13? He says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” Even Jesus Himself says in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” He doesn’t say you might have tribulation or you have the capacity to go through troubles, no He says you have tribulation. But He also says take courage because He Himself has overcome the world. Friends, the dark that you feel surrounding you, the hurt that you are going through is not a sign that God doesn’t love you. Think of what Jesus went through. Jesus went through quite a bit in His 33 years of life that I think we all would say look like troubles. He was homeless, He was hated by His countrymen, rejected by His people, persecuted by His enemies, and crucified. Do you think that God loved Him any less? No, God loved Him perfectly and if we belong to Christ, the very love in which God loves Christ, He loves us in the exact same way. Be honest with God about the darkness and the trials and the adversaries that you have. What is the answer to those worries? A sure confidence in the presence and person of God.

The Presence of God (Verses 3-4)

Turn again to Psalm 3:3–4 “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain.” We turn from the presence of darkness and the presence of adversaries to the presence of God Himself. David recognized his problems but he also recognizes his protection. David recognizes who are these adversaries in comparison to God? What strength do they have in comparison to the God who created everything with just a word? What damage can they do in comparison to the God who can cast the sinner into hell at a moments notice or raise a dead body up as if it were nothing? Dear friends, there is not a single trial in your life that looks big in the eyes of God. This is not to minimize your pain but what could possibly look big or challenging to God? David recognizes this. His faith doesn’t cause him to act like the issues aren’t there. His faith allows him to recognize that it is not his enemies that are sovereign over all things, it is God that is sovereign over all things. What does God’s presence bring with it? How does David describe it? He says, “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me.” Now we could have a sermon just on those 9 words. We could have a sermon just on those first 4 words! David’s adversaries say there is no deliverance, no salvation for him in God. “But You, O Lord!” That’s a selah moment right there. David doesn’t say, “This is what they say, but I say!” No there is full submission there is full dependence on the Lord. It doesn’t matter who they are! What matters is who God really is. And for the Christian He is a shield about me. Now this shield is not like Captain America’s shield that is like a glorified frisbee. No, this shield that David has in mind is more like a large rounded door that covers the entire body and leaves nothing vulnerable to the enemy. That’s why David says that God is a shield about me or a shield around me because there is no part of David’s life that is not under the sovereign eye of God. There is no part of his life that the God of all creation does not have claim over. Every element of David’s life and the life of the Christian is shrouded completely with the presence of God. David also says that God Himself is David’s glory. This is coming from the greatest king that Israel ever had. This is coming from a man that received glory from the nations. But the king of Israel recognizes the King of Kings. David may be king over Israel but he serves the God who is king over all and he recognizes that the only true lasting glory is the glory that comes from God. Is Christ your glory? David also says that God is the one who lifts his head. These adversaries were doing all that they could to bring David’s head down. They were doing all they could to weigh him down and crush him. God lifts him up. Just as God lifts the head of every lost sinner that turns to Him in faith. Every prodigal that comes home will find the warm and loving embrace of a Heavenly Father that loves them more than they could possibly imagine. James Montgomery Boice said, “As soon as David turned his thoughts to God he was reminded of how strong God is, and his foes, even the formidable armies then flocking to the side of his rebellious son, seemed manageable. He tells us three things about God. First, God was a shield around him. God had been a shield for him on earlier occasions; He would prove himself to be so again. Second, God would lift up his head, even when he was severely cast down. Sin beats us down; God always lifts us up. We can expect God to do that for us, even if we do not see Him doing it right now. Third, God answers the psalmist when he cries aloud to Him. God always answers, though not always at once and not always as we wish.” This is what we have in God. This is what is offered to us in Christ Jesus. A redeemer, a strong tower, a lifting up for the downcast. Understand, Christ is the head of the Church and if the head is above water, the Body cannot drown. Have you recognized that? Take full advantage of the selah moment that is found at the end of verse 4 and recognize that this is who God is! God hears you in the midst of your troubles and all the assembled armies of the world cannot make enough noise to interrupt the connection between you and the Lord. When you fully recognize who God is, when you really see the presence of God in your life, you can have the presence of peace and this is the result as we see in verses 5-8.

The Presence of Peace (Verses 5-8)

Psalm 3:5–8 “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be upon Your people!” What does David do when he recognizes the presence of God in his life and grasps tightly on faith? He goes to sleep. When you are anxious, isn’t sleep the hardest thing to get? I’m sure all of you know what sleepless nights feel like. If anyone had an excuse to have a sleepless night, it was David. At any moment this vast army of Absalom could come upon him and slaughter him, his family, his people. How on earth is David able to do this? Because the Lord sustains him. David could be completely surrounded by ten thousands of enemies yet God in His mercy allows David to sleep. The same God that sustains you when your head hits the pillow is the same God that sees to it that you will wake up in the morning. In fact, Spurgeon said that God’s sovereignty is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his weary head at night. The Christian is the only person in the world who can have perfect peace. Even in this world the way that it is, even with all the trials that you are going through, you can go through it with the full confidence that God is for you and not against you. Paul says in Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It surpasses all comprehension! How so? Because the peace is not an intellectual peace. It isn’t a peace that can be brought about by human hands of human means. It is entirely an alien peace because it cannot be possessed unless it is first given. You don’t create it; it is entirely from the heart and hand of God. To have the peace of God is to be able to look through all the dark of the world and to completely recognize that that darkness can’t stop the light from shining through. Do you want to know where I think we see one of the greatest images of what this looks like? It comes from the Lord of the Rings. If you haven’t picked up on it by now, is Brady really preaching if I don’t make at least one reference to the Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia? Probably not. Now if you have somehow gotten this far in life and haven’t watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you are missing out. I really do think that it is one of the few trilogies that is perfect. Not only are the movies perfect, the books are absolute classics and the books actually have what I believe are some of the most beautiful and moving images of anything that has ever been put on paper. There is a moment in The Return of the King, the last book, the last movie that so perfectly captures what David writes about in this Psalm. Samwise Gamgee is traveling with Frodo to destroy the ring and they stop to rest. Frodo and Faramir are able to fall asleep but Sam is restless. He can’t shake the worry, the weariness, the anxiety of what they are going through but J.R.R Tolkien says this in the book: “Sam struggled with his own weariness, and he took Frodo's hand; and there he sat silent till deep night fell. Then at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his masters, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo’s side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.” Do you see the connection? Do you see the similarity? Sam catches sight of something far above himself, far above all the troubles of Mordor and he realizes that the beauty which is above squashes all the darkness that is below. Sam holds onto something higher and greater than Himself and that is the very thing that we must do as well. Here is the great promise for all Christians: In the end this shadow that we feel so surrounded by will finally be seen as nothing more than a small and passing thing. Apart from Christ there is only darkness. There is only an insurmountable weight of fear, worry, anxiety, and hurt. But in Christ Jesus we see that there is a marvelous light. There is a light that drives away all the darkness. Friends, my greatest longing is that you would be able to experience this peace. My greatest prayer is that you would know the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. This peace can only come through Jesus Christ. At the end of verse 8, David reminds us that salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation, be it a physical rescue from danger or a spiritual rescue from the wages of sin and death, all salvation comes from the Lord. You did not save yourself, you cannot save yourself. Salvation has always been a gift from God. It has always been faith alone by grace alone through Christ alone and I will never get tired of preaching that message. How can we know that we can possess such peace with God? Because on the cross God the Father ceased being a shield for God the Son. On the cross, the glorious Son of God became a curse on our behalf. On the cross, God the Father did not lift the head of His only begotten Son. On the cross, Christ cried out to the Father but the Father did not speak from His holy mountain. Jesus endured all of that so that we could fully partake in what David speaks of in verses 3-4. Jesus did all of that so that there would never be a moment where God would cease to lift our head, to cease being a shield about us, to cease sustaining us. Jesus endured all of that so that we could have peace with God and eternal life. If Jesus is willing to go to that length for you, why would God cease loving or caring for you now? But also know this, the God of perfect peace is also the God of perfect justice. God will not let sin go unpunished. Psalm 3:7 says that God has smitten all of David’s enemies on the cheek and has shattered the teeth of the wicked. God will have the final word. All the enemies of the cross of Christ have not escaped God’s notice. Jesus so greatly loves and connects to His people that all the assaults and persecutions of the Church, He feels as a direct assault on Himself. Do you remember what Jesus says to Saul in Acts 9? He doesn’t ask, “Saul why are you persecuting my Church? Why are you persecuting my people?” No, He asks, “Saul why are you persecuting ME?” Sinner do you dare to go to war against the God of the universe? Do you dare to go against the One that at this very moment holds you over the pit of hell like a spider holds its prey with a web? The God of Scripture, the Righteous King of the Universe, will not let your sin go unnoticed. God Himself will see to it that every wrong is made right. Friend, you need Christ now. There is no point in waiting until tomorrow. You need a Savior today! You need the Lord to sustain you today! Because the Righteous Judge will judge the living and the dead! The time is coming where every single person will stand before the throne and will be asked: What did you do with my Son? And there will only be 2 answers. I rejected Him, I blasphemed Him, I persecuted Him, I crucified Him, I sinned against Him, that’s answer number 1. Answer number 2 is, I did all of that but I fell at His feet for mercy. I did all of that and trusted Him to save me because I could not do it myself. I did all of that and undeserving as I am, He has saved me. Not because of my works, but solely because of His. Hebrews 9:27–28 says, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Dear friends, is the coming of Christ the white star that you see in this world of shadows? Is it Him that you hold onto? Can you say with David that your salvation belongs to the Lord? Today is the day for you to be made right with Jesus Christ. Each and every one of us leaves here today with a decision to make: Will I follow Christ wherever He may go? Wherever He will take me? Is Christ your shield? Is Christ your glory? No one who comes to Christ leaves with a downcast head. Christ promises us in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” Now is the time to come to the Lord. My prayer is that every single person who leaves this room today could truly say that the Lord is a shield about them and that Jesus Christ is the God of their salvation. If you feel like you cannot do that, please let Ken or I or one of the elders talk with you after the service. Don’t put off to tomorrow what needs to happen today. So dear Christians, I don’t know the struggle you are going through right now. I know that I have struggles that I am going through right now. But we serve a God of peace. We serve a God of comfort. Trust the Lord to sustain you a little bit longer. This darkness won’t last much longer. The sins of the world and the trials of life have an expiration date. Paul tells us in Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” The last enemy to be destroyed is death. David knew what was going on around him. He didn’t try to pain a pretty picture over the things that he was going through. Real pain was involved but he knew God. Faith in Jesus Christ can accomplish some incredible things. Martin Luther, the great reformer, said, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain, that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” You can stake your life to the God of all grace. The safest place that you can be is in the arms of Jesus. Faith is what we hold onto when the bombs of this world fall down around us. It is faith in a Living God that let’s us go to sleep at night in peace because we know that it is God who wakes us up. Salvation belongs to the Lord and may His blessing be upon His people. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.