When Life Gets You Down - Be Encouraged

THE PSALMS

INTRODUCTION:

JAMES CASH PENNEY (WHO STARTED J. C. PENNEY STORES) MADE SOME UNWISE COMMITMENTS AND BECAME VERY DEPRESSED. HE WORRIED SO MUCH THAT HE DEVELOPED SHINGLES. HE WENT TO SEE HIS DOCTOR WHO ADMITTED HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, BUT HIS CONDITION BECAME WORSE. ONE NIGHT HE WAS PRESCRIBED A SEDATIVE THAT QUICKLY WORE OFF, AND HE AWOKE BELIEVING THAT HE WOULD DIE THAT NIGHT. HE WROTE LETTERS TO HIS FAMILY AND FELL ASLEEP.

HE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING AND WAS SURPRISED THAT HE WAS STILL ALIVE. HE HEARD PEOPLE SINGING “GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU” IN THE CHAPEL AND WENT IN. HE LISTENED TO THE SINGING AND MESSAGE WITH A HEAVY HEART, BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED. HE LATER SAID, “I REALIZED THEN THAT I ALONE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY TROUBLES. I KNEW THAT GOD WITH HIS LOVE WAS THERE TO HELP ME.”

HE SAID THAT FROM THAT DAY FORWARD HIS LIFE WAS FREE OF WORRY, AND IT WAS ALL BECAUSE HE REALIZED THAT GOD WOULD TAKE CARE OF HIM.

…I KNEW THAT GOD…WITH HIS LOVE…WAS THERE TO HELP ME…

DO YOU KNOW THAT?

BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T, YOU NEED TO.

GOD, BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR YOU, IS HERE TO HELP YOU…

TO HELP YOU OVERCOME WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE FACING…

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS…

A NEED FOR FORGIVENESS…

THE ASSURANCE OF HIS PRESENCE…

DELIVERANCE FROM SOMETHING THAT IS HOLDING YOU IN BONDAGE…

GOD IS HERE TO HELP YOU…

ONE OF THE BEST PLACES IN THE BIBLE TO LOOK FOR ENCOURAGEMENT, ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THAT CHRISTIANS FACE TODAY, IS THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

SO FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE ARE GOING TO LOOK INTO THE PSALMS FOR ENCOURAGEMENT.

TODAY, AS WE LOOK AT , WANT YOU TO SEE SOME ENCOURAGING TRUTHS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO JOIN OUR HEARTS TO…

BECAUSE ALL OF US EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY…

AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY BE FACING, THE BEST ENCOURAGEMENTS COME FROM THE GOD OF ENCOURAGEMENT.

SO I WANT YOU TO HEAR THESE WORDS THIS MORNING…

THESE ENCOURAGING WORDS…

HERE’S THE FIRST THING I WANT YOU TO SEE…

1. GOD HAS THE ANSWERS YOU NEED.

a. LOOK AT VERSES 4 AND 5.

i. – 4 MAKE ME TO KNOW YOUR WAYS, O LORD; TEACH ME YOUR PATHS. 5 LEAD ME IN YOUR TRUTH AND TEACH ME, FOR YOU ARE THE GOD OF MY SALVATION; FOR YOU I WAIT ALL THE DAY LONG.

b. THE WORDS OF THE PSALMIST REMIND US THAT WE CAN MAKE THESE REQUESTS OF GOD BECAUSE GOD IS CAPABLE OF FULFILLING THESE REQUESTS.

c. DO YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO?

i. ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU HIS WAYS.

ii. “WAYS” REFERS TO A MANNER OF CONDUCT.

iii. FOR THE CHRIST-FOLLOWER, THE EXPECTATION IS THAT WE CONDUCT OURSELVES IN A MANNER THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH…

iv. SO IN ORDER TO KNOW WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, WE NEED TO ASK FOR, AND THEN FOLLOW THE WAYS OF GOD.

d. DO YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE TO GO?

i. ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU HIS PATHS.

1. THAT WORD “PATH” IS A WORD THAT SPEAKS OF A PERSON TRAVELING IN A GROUP.

2. AND IT REMINDS US THAT THOSE OF US WHO CLAIM TO BE CHRIST-FOLLOWERS ARE PART OF A LARGER GROUP OF BELIEVERS WHO ARE WALKING THE PATH OF FAITH.

3. AND SOMETIMES, FOR MANY REASONS, THE PATH GROWS DARK AND DIFFICULT TO SEE.

4. BUT THERE IS COMFORT IN THE FACT THAT GOD KNOWS WHERE HE IS GOING, AND IF WE WILL FOLLOW HIM, WE WILL ALWAYS BE ON THE RIGHT PATH.

e. DO YOU NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH?

i. ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU HIS TRUTH.

ii. THIS REQUEST FOR TRUTH ASSUMES MUCH MORE THAN HEAD KNOWLEDGE.

1. IT ASSUMES THAT THE PERSON WHO IS LEARNING THE WAYS, THE PATHS, AND THE TRUTHS OF GOD WILL ACT BASED ON THAT KNOWLEDGE.

f. SO BE ENCOURAGED THAT GOD HAS THE ANSWERS YOU NEED.

2. GOD IS ALSO EAGER TO SHOW MERCY.

a. – 6 REMEMBER YOUR MERCY, O LORD, AND YOUR STEADFAST LOVE, FOR THEY HAVE BEEN FROM OF OLD. 7 REMEMBER NOT THE SINS OF MY YOUTH OR MY TRANSGRESSIONS; ACCORDING TO YOUR STEADFAST LOVE REMEMBER ME, FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR GOODNESS, O LORD!

b. DAVID CALLS ON GOD TO REMEMBER HIS MERCY AND HIS STEDFAST LOVE.

i. AS OPPOSED TO REMEMBERING THE SINS OF HIS YOUTH OR HIS TRANSGRESSIONS.

ii. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MORNING…

iii. GOD IS READY AND WILLING TO FORGIVE YOUR PAST SINS – THE SINS OF YOUR YOUTH…

iv. AND HE IS READY TO FORGIVE YOU PRESENT SINS – YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS…

c. BECAUSE HIS LOVE IS A STEDFAST LOVE, AND HIS GOODNESS IS BEYOND MEASURE.

i. “STEDFAST” IS A WORD THAT MEANS UNFAILING, OR NEVER CHANGING.

d. SO DAVID IS ASKING GOD NOT TO JUDGE HIM BASED ON HIS SINFULNESS, BUT BASED ON THE MERCY OF GOD.

3. GOD IS PRESENT.

a. LOOK AT WHAT DAVID ASKS OF GOD IN VERSES 16 THROUGH 18.

b. TURN TO ME.

i. THAT WORD “TURN” IS A WORD THAT SPEAKS TO ONE’S ORIENTATION.

1. AND IT LITERALLY MEANS, “TURN TO FACE ME.”

a. AS IN, “SHOW ME THAT YOU TRULY CARE ABOUT ME; THAT YOU ARE TRULY CONCERNED.”

2. SOMETIMES, WE JUST NEED TO BE REASSURED THAT GOD IS INTERESTED IN US.

3. AND FRIEND, YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT, EVEN THOUGH GOD IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SITUATION…

4. HE DOES NOT OVERLOOK THAT WHICH WE ARE GOING THROUGH.

5. BUT HIS INTEREST IS BEYOND THAT, BECAUSE HE’S NOT JUST INTERESTED IN HELPING YOU IN YOUR SITUATION…

6. HE IS INTERESTED IN YOU!!!

c. AND HE CAN BRING YOU OUT OF YOUR DISTRESS.

i. I CANNOT KNOW WHAT LEVEL OR WHAT TYPE OF DISTRESS YOU MAY BE IN THIS MORNING, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS.

ii. I SERVE THE GOD OF CREATION, THE GOD WHO MOVES MOUNTAINS, AND THE GOD WHO COMMANDS NATURE.

iii. AND IF HE CAN DO ALL THAT, HE CAN SURELY KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING YOUR DISTRESS TODAY.

iv. AND IF HE CAN DO ALL THOSE THINGS, AND KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING YOUR DISTRESS, SURELY HE CAN BRING YOU OUT OF THAT WHICH DISTRESSES YOU…

v. MOST OFTEN, IT IS SINFUL BEHAVIOR THAT CAUSES THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF DISTRESS IN OUR LIVES.

vi. BECAUSE GOD HAS WIRED US WITH THE ABILITY TO KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG…TO KNOW WHAT IS PLEASING TO HIM AND WHAT IS NOT…

vii. WHEN WE COMMIT INFRACTIONS AGAINST HIS NATURE AND CHARACTER, OUR SPIRIT FALLS UNDER THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WE RECOGNIZE THE GRAVITY OF OUR SIN.

viii. THAT BEING THE CASE, DAVID MAKES ANOTHER REQUEST HERE IN THESE VERSES…

d. FORGIVE ALL MY SINS.

e. HERE, THE PSALMIST IS ASKING GOD TO BE HIS CONSTANT COMPANION, TO BRING HIM OUT OF HIS DISTRESS, AND TO FORGIVE HIM OF HIS SINS…

f. AND WE SHOULD ASK THE SAME THING OF HIM…

CONCLUSION:

THERE IS MUCH MORE ENCOURAGEMENT IN , BUT I WANT TO BE A GOOD STEWARD OF YOUR TIME, SO LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU TO MARK IN YOUR BIBLE, AND THIS AFTERNOON, TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO SLOWLY READ THROUGH THIS PSALM, REMEMBERING THAT DAVID WAS MAKING ALL THESE REQUESTS BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT GOD WAS ABLE TO DO WHAT HE WAS ASKING.

AND MAYBE THIS MORNING, YOU ARE READY TO STOP TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF, AND YOU ARE READY TO TRULY TRUST GOD…

I MEAN TRUST HIM WITH EVERYTHING…

MAYBE YOU NEED TO LET GOD LEAD YOU…ASK HIM TO KNOW HIS WAYS, HIS PATHS, AND HIS TRUTHS.

MAYBE YOU NEED THE MERCY OF GOD…PERHAPS YOU’VE SLIPPED A BIT IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, AND YOU NEED TO BE REMINDED OF HIS STEDFAST LOVE AND GOODNESS…ASK HIM TO REMIND YOU OF HIS MERCY…

OR MAYBE THIS MORNING, YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW THAT GOD IS PRESENT…THAT HE TRULY IS INTERESTED IN YOU…

ASK HIM TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF HIS PRESENCE, TO DELIVER YOU OUT OF YOUR DISTRESS, AND TO FORGIVE YOU…

LET’S PRAY…