God's Abundance Stored for his Servants

David Cries Out Again: What we can learn

READ: Psalm 31:1-8

English Standard Version Psalm 31

1  In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

in your righteousness deliver me!

2  Incline your ear to me;

rescue me speedily!

Be a rock of refuge for me,

a strong fortress to save me!

3  For you are my rock and my fortress;

and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;

4  you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,

for you are my refuge.

5  Into your hand I commit my spirit;

you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.

6  I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,

but I trust in the LORD.

7  I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,

because you have seen my affliction;

you have known the distress of my soul,

8  and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;

you have set my feet in a broad place.

1. What can we learn:

- we learn to hate sin (vs. 6)

- we learn to hate idolatry (vs. 6)

2. In affliction, we can learn:

- that God sees us, if we have faith

- that God uses affliction, in our life, many times to hold on to things that matter, and that are eternal in nature. Even sometimes our afflictions may be loss of temporary things. This does not mean that the temporary things are not from God, at times, but affliction, is affliction. It afflicts us. and is a type of suffering. So if we see that God uses affliction, we can see that his purpose, won't change, even though our lives and circumstances may change. We can still have the same faith, through it. We can still have the same character, through it. But our surroundings may change. And in the eye of faith, can see that God "brought me to a spacious place" after the affliction. No matter what, we can trust God through the affliction. Whether we can identify or not the reasons. That is faith. Job, who can identify the reasons for his affliction? But he was blessed in the end.

Culture Battles, and “Faith” Battles

READ: Psalm 31: 9-18,

English Standard Version Psalm 31

9  Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;

my eye is wasted from grief;

my soul and my body also.

10  For my life is spent with sorrow,

and my years with sighing;

my strength fails because of my iniquity,

and my bones waste away.

11  Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,

especially to my neighbors,

and an object of dread to my acquaintances;

those who see me in the street flee from me.

12  I have been forgotten like one who is dead;

I have become like a broken vessel.

13  For I hear the whispering of many—

terror on every side!—

as they scheme together against me,

as they plot to take my life.

14  But I trust in you, O LORD;

I say, “You are my God.”

15  My times are in your hand;

rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

16  Make your face shine on your servant;

save me in your steadfast love!

17  O LORD, let me not be put to shame,

for I call upon you;

let the wicked be put to shame;

let them go silently to Sheol.

18  Let the lying lips be mute,

which speak insolently against the righteous

in pride and contempt.

Part of the afflictions that righteous people face, may possibly be that down deep they realize that there are good things for people of faith. And they become upset that righteous people can flourish.

Part of the affliction, could also be the battle of faith and the battle of David's God, against the idols of those who do not share David or the faith of Israel. The God that you bear, as you bear his name, you will also bear the kindness, or the hatred from those who do not believe in your God, depending on their ideas. Disruption to the people and surrounding context, of the world, can happen, just like in the book of Acts. God can seem to what stems the tide of a culture that is on the verge of destruction, and usually those who are pushing for the destruction of the culture will oppose God and his servants, because they have a different purpose in life. They mat "hate the guts" of the servants of God (vs.13)

It was like this in Egypt. When God was rescuing his people from Egypt, he also in essence was declaring himself, and proving his Name to the world, by judgments on the “gods” of Egypt. “Who can deliver like this?” shows that the true God was Yahweh.

God’s Purpose To Abundantly Bless And To Give Success To His Servants

READ: Psalm 31:19-34,

English Standard Version Psalm 31

19  Oh, how abundant is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you

and worked for those who take refuge in you,

in the sight of the children of mankind!

20  In the cover of your presence you hide them

from the plots of men;

you store them in your shelter

from the strife of tongues.

21  Blessed be the LORD,

for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22  I had said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from your sight.”

But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cried to you for help.

23  Love the LORD, all you his saints!

The LORD preserves the faithful

but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

24  Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the LORD!

Even though sometimes the success, as I have heard it before, is not as the world would say it. But as I have heard it said. Success, God's way, is the goal here. We want to be successful in our faith. If the end of our prayer for success, is God's glory, we can remember that the cross of Christ was success. Christ successfully fulfilled the purpose of the Father.

So we see here that there are abundant blessings that are held for the outpouring into the lives of God's servants and people, and sometimes it comes through the difficulties and afflictions of life. God wants to bestow his blessings, HIS blessings, in the sight of all, so that He will have complete, and seen as being the enactor of the complete victory for his servants and people.

We can also trust the judgments of God. We can do out best for God, and for his kingdom. We can build our love for him daily and moment by moment. And we can be encouraged and take heart in him. He will protect us, and through difficulties, we can trust that He has abundant blessing and good things for those who fear his name.

God bless!

Mike