Four Battle Cries of the Tempted Soul

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE PSALMS

4 BATTLE CRIES OF THE TEMPTED SOUL

INTRODUCTION:

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA IS A GIGANTIC STRUCTURE WHICH COST AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF MONEY AND LABOR. WHEN IT WAS FINISHED, IT APPEARED IMPREGNABLE. BUT THE ENEMY BREACHED IT. NOT BY BREAKING IT DOWN OR GOING AROUND IT. THEY DID IT BY BRIBING THE GATEKEEPERS…TEMPTATION

JOHN PIPER SAYS THAT SIN (LUST FOR EXAMPLE) "GETS ITS POWER BY PERSUADING ME TO BELIEVE THAT I WILL BE MORE HAPPY IF I FOLLOW IT. THE POWER OF ALL TEMPTATION IS THE PROSPECT THAT IT WILL MAKE ME HAPPIER."

WE ALL FACE TEMPTATION, AND IT COMES AT US IN DIFFERENT FORMS, BASED ON WHAT OUR WEAKNESSES ARE.

THEREFORE, WE NEED A BATTLE PLAN FOR WHEN THE TEMPTER ATTACKS US.

CONTAINS WHAT I AM CALLING THE 4 BATTLE CRIES OF THE TEMPTED SOUL.

SO LET’S UNPACK THESE FOUR BATTLE CRIES…HERE’S THE FIRST ONE.

1. HEAR ME. (VERSES 1-2)

a. – 1 O LORD, I CALL UPON YOU; HASTEN TO ME! GIVE EAR TO MY VOICE WHEN I CALL TO YOU! 2 LET MY PRAYER BE COUNTED AS INCENSE BEFORE YOU, AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE!

b. DAVID DIRECTED HIS PRAYER TO THE RIGHT PERSON.

i. HE SAID, “O LORD, I CALL UPON YOU;”

ii. HE DIDN’T CALL UPON MEN, OR THE TEACHINGS OF MEN, OR THE WORLD, OR THE DEVICES OF THE WORLD.

iii. HE CALLED UPON THE ONE WHO HAD CREATED THE WORLD.

iv. THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD TRULY BRING RESOLUTION TO HIS ISSUE.

1. IT’S INTERESTING THAT DAVID DOESN’T EVEN MENTION THE NATURE OF HIS PROBLEM.

2. SOME SCHOLARS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT PERHAPS IT HAD TO DO WITH SAUL’S CONSTANT PURSUIT OF DAVID.

3. WHILE WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE WAS, WE CAN TELL JUST BY READING THE WORDS HE WRITES THAT IT WAS SOMETHING VERY HEAVY.

4. SOMETHING SO HEAVY THAT DAVID NEEDED DIVINE INTERVENTION.

c. YOU MAY BE HERE THIS MORNING AND FIND YOURSELF IN THE SAME SITUATION.

i. MAYBE YOU’RE NOT BEING PURSUED BY AN ENEMY WHO WANTS TO TAKE YOUR LIFE, BUT MAYBE YOU FEEL LIKE THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL IS PURSUING YOU.

d. AND LIKE DAVID, YOU NEED GOD TO HEAR AND RESPOND TO YOUR PRAYER…NOW…TODAY…THEN PRAY, LIKE DAVID DID…GOD, PLEASE HEAR ME.

e. OR MAYBE THIS MORNING, YOU WOULD RELATE MORE TO THE NEXT SECTION OF THIS PSALM, AND YOU, LIKE DAVID, WOULD MAKE THIS REQUEST OF GOD.

2. GUIDE ME. (VERSES 3-4)

a. – 3 SET A GUARD, O LORD, OVER MY MOUTH; KEEP WATCH OVER THE DOOR OF MY LIPS! 4 DO NOT LET MY HEART INCLINE TO ANY EVIL, TO BUSY MYSELF WITH WICKED DEEDS IN COMPANY WITH MEN WHO WORK INIQUITY, AND LET ME NOT EAT OF THEIR DELICACIES!

b. IT’S INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT DAVID NAMES THE AREAS IN WHICH HE HAS THE GREATEST STRUGGLE.

c. APPARENTLY, DAVID – AT LEAST AT THE TIME OF HIS WRITING OF THIS PSALM – HAD A TONGUE PROBLEM AND A PROBLEM WITH KEEPING COMPANY WITH SINFUL PEOPLE.

d. AND HE NAMED BOTH OF THESE AREAS OF STRUGGLE TO THE LORD, AND ASKED FOR HIS HELP.

i. FIRST, HE SAYS, “SET A GUARD OVER MY MOUTH; KEEP WATCH OVER THE DOOR OF MY LIPS.”

ii. WHY DID DAVID BEGIN HIS REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE BY ASKING GOD TO GUARD HIS SPEECH?

iii. IT MAY BE BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT ONE OF THE FASTEST WAYS A PERSON CAN GET INTO TROUBLE IS BY WHAT IS SPOKEN.

iv. THE BIBLE IS FILLED WITH REFERENCES TO THE DANGERS OF SPEECH.

1. A GOOD NUMBER OF THEM ARE IN THE BOOK OF JAMES.

2. JAMES, IN HIS LETTER, REFERS TO THE TONGUE AS:

a. SOMETHING WHICH CAN INVALIDATE A PERSON’S CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY ().

b. A SMALL MEMBER THAT BOASTS OF GREAT THINGS ().

c. A FIRE, AND A WORLD OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH STAINS THE BODY, AND SETS ON FIRE THE ENTIRE COURSE OF LIFE, AND ITSELF IS SET ON FIRE BY HELL ().

d. THEN JAMES SAYS THIS ABOUT THE TONGUE:

i. –10.8 BUT NO HUMAN BEING CAN TAME THE TONGUE. IT IS A RESTLESS EVIL, FULL OF DEADLY POISON. 9 WITH IT WE BLESS OUR LORD AND FATHER, AND WITH IT WE CURSE PEOPLE WHO ARE MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 10 FROM THE SAME MOUTH COME BLESSING AND CURSING. MY BROTHERS, THESE THINGS OUGHT NOT TO BE SO.

e. MAY WE ALL ASK THE LORD TO GUARD OUR SPEECH.

f. SO DAVID ASKS THE LORD TO GUARD HIS SPEECH, AND THEN HE ASKS THE LORD TO GUARD HIS HEART.

i. BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT WHAT IS UTTERED FROM HIS LIPS BEGINS IN HIS HEART.

ii. DO NOT LET MY HEART INCLINE TO ANY EVIL.

1. INCLINE – A WORD THAT MEANS “TO BEND TOWARD,” OR “TO STRETCH TOWARD.”

g. DAVID ASKED THE LORD TO GUIDE HIM AWAY FOR ANY INCLINATION TO EVIL; FROM ANY DESIRE TO BE A PART OF WICKED DEEDS; AND FROM THE COMPANY OF EVIL PEOPLE.

h. IF YOU FIND YOURSELF NEEDING TO MAKE THIS REQUEST OF THE LORD, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO A COUPLE OF THINGS.

i. FIRST, EVALUATE THE COMPANY YOU KEEP.

i. WE BECOME LIKE THE PEOPLE WE SPEND THE MAJORITY OF OUR TIME WITH.

1. SO IF YOU WANT TO LIVE A LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD, SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO PLEASE GOD.

j. SECOND, EVALUATE THE CONDITION OF YOUR OWN HEART.

i. BE VERY HONEST WITH YOURSELF ABOUT THE AREAS OF YOUR LIFE WHICH YOU KNOW ARE UNPLEASING TO THE LORD.

ii. AND THEN ASK THE LORD TO SET A GUARD AROUND THAT SIN, AND BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT AVOIDING THOSE THINGS.

k. DAVID ASKED THE LORD TO GUIDE HIM, TO STEER HIM AWAY FROM EVIL.

l. THEN HE MAKES ANOTHER REQUEST OF THE LORD…

3. CORRECT ME. (VERSES 5-7)

a. – 5 LET A RIGHTEOUS MAN STRIKE ME—IT IS A KINDNESS; LET HIM REBUKE ME—IT IS OIL FOR MY HEAD; LET MY HEAD NOT REFUSE IT. YET MY PRAYER IS CONTINUALLY AGAINST THEIR EVIL DEEDS. 6 WHEN THEIR JUDGES ARE THROWN OVER THE CLIFF, THEN THEY SHALL HEAR MY WORDS, FOR THEY ARE PLEASANT. 7 AS WHEN ONE PLOWS AND BREAKS UP THE EARTH, SO SHALL OUR BONES BE SCATTERED AT THE MOUTH OF SHEOL.

b. HE SAYS, “LET A RIGHTEOUS MAN STRIKE ME – IT IS A KINDNESS.

i. DAVID KNEW THE VALUE OF PEOPLE WHO CAN SPEAK TRUTH INTO HIS LIFE; PEOPLE WHO GOD COULD USE TO PROVIDE CORRECTION.

ii. HIS PRAYER WAS THAT HE WOULD BE RECEPTIVE OF THAT CORRECTION.

1. LET MY HEAD NOT REFUSE IT.

iii. DAVID KNEW THAT ONE OF THE WAYS TO AVOID TEMPTATION WAS TO SURROUND HIMSELF WITH PEOPLE TO WHOM HE COULD BE ACCOUNTABLE.

1. PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT AFRAID TO POINT OUT THE WEAKNESSES IN DAVID’S LIFE – WEAKNESSES WHICH COULD LEAD TO HIM GIVING IN TO TEMPTATION.

2. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT DAVID MAY HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS PSALM AFTER HIS ADULTEROUS AFFAIR WITH BATHSHEBA, AND ALL THE FALLOUT OF HIS DECISIONS.

c. MY ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOU IS THAT IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A BATTLE AGAINST TEMPTATION, LISTEN TO THOSE WHO ARE SPEAKING GODLY WISDOM INTO YOUR LIFE, AND AVOID THE LATER REGRET OF BAD DECISIONS.

d. THE PERSON IN THE THROES OF TEMPTATION SHOULD PRAY TO GOD FOR CORRECTION.

e. AND FINALLY, HE OR SHE MAY PRAY…

4. PROTECT ME. (VERSES 8-10)

a. – 8 BUT MY EYES ARE TOWARD YOU, O GOD, MY LORD; IN YOU I SEEK REFUGE; LEAVE ME NOT DEFENSELESS! 9 KEEP ME FROM THE TRAP THAT THEY HAVE LAID FOR ME AND FROM THE SNARES OF EVILDOERS! 10 LET THE WICKED FALL INTO THEIR OWN NETS, WHILE I PASS BY SAFELY.

b. MY EYES ARE TOWARD YOU.

c. IN YOU I SEEK REFUGE.

d. LEAVE ME NOT DEFENSELESS.

e. KEEP ME FROM THE TRAP.

f. LET ME PASS SAFELY BY.

g. ALL THESE STATEMENT MAKE UP DAVID’S PRAYER FOR PROTECTION.

CONCLUSION:

IT WOULD ALMOST SEEM AS THOUGH EACH OF THESE SECTIONS REPRESENT A DIFFERENT STAGE IN THE PROCESS OF TEMPTATION.

STAGE 1 – HEAR ME – TEMPTATION IS A CONSTANT ISSUE, BUT GOD, HEAR MY CRY AND ANSWER ME.

STAGE 2 – GUIDE ME – I’VE ALLOWED SOME OF MY BOUNDARIES TO SLIP, SO HELP ME GET BACK ON THE RIGHT PATH. DON’T LET MY MOUTH SPEAK OF, OR MY HEART BE DRAWN TO TEMPTATION.

STEP 3 – CORRECT ME – NOT ONLY HAVE I ALLOWED MY BOUNDARIES TO SLIP, BUT NOW I NEED YOU TO SEND PEOPLE WITH GODLY WISDOM TO HELP ME GET BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK.

STEP 4 – PROTECT ME – TEMPTATION IS SO CONSTANT THAT I NEED YOU TO INTERVENE. HELP ME TO KEEP MY FOCUS ON YOU AND FRUSTRATE THE EFFORTS OF THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE ME FALL INTO TEMPTATION.

INVITATION…