A Psalm-Worthy Faith
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Psalm-Worthy Faith
Psalm-Worthy Faith is faith that trusts so deeply in God’s sovereignty that it can honestly communicate every thought to Him.
A person with Psalm-worthy faith:
Has a relationship with God
Has Confidence in God’s Word
Faith in God’s Plan
David didn’t wait for others to write Psalms about him. His Psalms are a record of one who had a relationship with God, confidence in his word and faith in His plan.
We talk a lot about relationships. Relationships in the context of the church, in our marriages, with our children and community. And we acknowledge that for truly deep and vulnerable and clear communication to happen, we must have a good relationship. It is so often said that the biggest problem in Marriages is communication. When we are not able to address a concern with someone for fear of what they may say or we fear how they may react to it, we are acknowledging that our relationship is not so great, and when we never get past the small talk to the real issue, we are not communicating because the relationship is not strong.
On the other hand, if the relationship is not strong, it is normally due to lack of communication. We may blame bad communication on our relationship problems, whether at home, at church, or at work, but we can’t communicate without a good relationship.
It is a little like the dilemma of many young people who find themselves looking for a job, and all the employers want someone with experience, and they won’t hire someone without experience so the inexperienced person is left wondering what in the world they are supposed to do to get the experience.
Well, communication and relationship are the same way. It is a bit of a conundrum, a dilemma, a quandary. You see, you can not have truly great communication without relationship, and you cannot have a great relationship without good communication. The solution for the person who needs experience to get the job is a job that offers training or apprenticeship. And the employer who offers the inexperienced person an opportunity takes a risk with their own money, with the possibility that it won’t work out, or the person will be incompetent, but on the other hand, the person may be grateful and have a bond of loyalty to the one who gave them a chance.
Relationship and communication must go hand in hand. You can’t have a relationship without communication, and communication does not happen without a relationship. Now perhaps you are thinking to yourself that you can communicate and not have a relationship. However, this is really not true. I could go to a restaurant and place an order and not know the person who takes my order. Yet we have a relationship, however superfluous it may be. It is a transactional relationship. I expect to state my order, pay the money and receive a meal. It is not a deep relationship, but if I took time to have a short conversation, the relationship could grow just a bit, and if I were a regular customer, perhaps over time I could know that person well enough to develop a friendship.
Of course, this will not happen at many restaurants today, because we place our orders on an app on our phone and simply pick it up, often without even speaking to a real person. Companies have decided in the name of efficiency and cost effectiveness, it is much better for them if they can get you to place your order on the app rather than actually interacting with a real person. And as much as some of those conveniences are helpful, and during covid these things have exploded, it has taken away more and more of our interactions with people.
We have modern day hermits living among us. Whether for concern of getting sick or for convenience, many people have given up more and more of the personal touch. There’s a reason why hermits in movies and cartoons are always shown to be a little bit nutty, because that is what happens when you lose all face to face personal contact with people.
We must have a relationship to communicate, and we must have communication to have a relationship. But not all relationships are equal. A transactional relationship like I just mentioned is normally a very shallow relationship. It is not a Marriage. It is not a brotherhood, or sisterhood. It’s just lunch.
(pause)
If we want to have a deep, meaningful relationship with God, we need to communicate well with Him. He greatly desires that. The chief end of man is to enjoy God and glorify him forever. He created us to be in relationship to Him. He wants to have a great relationship, and that means He wants 2-way communication. That is love.
That means we listen to Him, respond to how he speaks to us through His creation, and through His word. We do that by doing what we are doing now. He speaks to you through preaching. You need to do this every day, by reading His word, and you need to both speak and listen to him in times of prayer. He has given us a great example of this in the Psalms.
The Psalms show us how a person with a deep relationship with God builds that relationship with faith that can honestly express to him all that we are going through. Our fears, our disappointments, our frustrations, our pain. And also, the Psalms show us how we can and must express to God our praise and honor Him with our lips. The Psalms are wonderful for a person’s prayer life, for helping us to express ourselves to God. This is why so many people will tell you their favorite verse is from the Psalms, or their favorite bible reading is in the Psalms.
So it is important for us to take a look at those Psalms, and as much as they can be meaningful to us, they can be even more meaningful when we know the circumstances that the Psalm writer was dealing with when those Psalms. In other words, what was going through the head of the one who has written downtime Psalm? This can help us in our sympathizing with the writer. Our passage from 1 Samuel 21 gives us a wonderful opportunity to do just that, because 2 Psalms were written by David on the day of the events we are about to read, Psalm 56 and Psalm 34.
And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
Background: Gath is about 25 miles SW of Nob, where David was previously. He traveled from Nob, where Ahimelech had given him bread and Goliath’s sword. Now he goes to the very hometown of Goliath, bringing with him that same sword. It is a testament to the fact of the fear David had of Saul that he would seek to take refuge in what would otherwise be a really terrible place for him to hole up! If anyone would have hated David, it would have been the people of Gath, who had seen their hero, Goliath, killed by David. And yet David felt safer there than he did sticking around Saul. It seems David would prefer to be in physical danger over dealing with the toxic Saul.
So David shows up there, and he is recognized. Those who recognize him point it out to the king, so he decides to put on a little act. He foams at the mouth, he claws at the doors. We see here that sometimes acting like a crazy person is strategic.
So David is playing this part in order to save his life. If he acts like a crazy person, the King will not see him as a threat, and that is just what happened. Not only that, but there is a bit of humor here, since the king makes this comment about having so many madmen around, he doesn’t need another one! This may be as close as we get in scripture to someone saying “I’m surrounded by idiots!”
Psalm-Worthy Faith is faith that trusts so deeply in God’s sovereignty that it can honestly communicate every thought to Him.
A person with Psalm-worthy faith:
Has a relationship with God Has Confidence in God’s Word Has Faith in God’s Plan
David didn’t wait for others to write Psalms about him. His Psalms are a record of one who had a relationship with God, confidence in his word and faith in His plan.
Now let’s take a look at one of those Psalms. Knowing what David went through that day, we see how he honestly communicates with God. He has a relationship with God, confidence in God’s Word, and faith in God’s plan.
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
So we know the thing that was happening here. We just saw how David, fleeing from Saul, goes first to Nob, then to Gath, and finds himself in danger there. David just can’t catch a break. Every time he turns around someone is trying to kill him, and he is on the run from Saul, the king he was loyal to, not to mention his father-in-law and the father of his dearest friend. Here is David’s honest communication with God:
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
David’s example to us here is that though he already is aware that God knows his thoughts, he is pleading with God. He recognizes his own need to speak these thoughts to God. Someone said to me once that we should never complain to God. Well, if that is the case, then the Psalms would be a poor example for us in our prayers, since they are filled with complaints, frustrations, and even frustration against God.
But the Psalms are a good example to us, since we can learn that we can speak to God honestly, even in our complaints, without sinning. I think about 40% of the Psalms are imprecatory, meaning the person is actually asking God to punish his enemies through God’s active involvement in the current situation. Yes, we can express our frustrations to God, but we must do as David did, and at the same time have faith in him:
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
David has stated his frustration and fear, and now he returns to a common declaration he makes again and again in his life, that he will trust in God.
All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
We see here that David is now asking God to intervene to the harm of his enemies.
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Malachi wrote of a book where God remembers, and scripture speaks of his knowledge of all things, including our intimate thoughts, hurts, and disappointments.
Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
Again, a declaration of his faith in God.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
So we see that David, when it comes to his relationship to God, wears all of his emotions on his shirtsleeve. He is stressed, he is fearful, frustrated, angry, and it may seem like a conflict, but even in those thoughts he continually returns to a stature of faith and praises God. You see here our example is before us: We can cry out to God with our hurts, and our complaints, and fears, and ask him to help in our conflicts, and he indeed desires for the type of intimate relationship where we would do this. And yet at the same time, we must remember to have the faith in him that says even in the trials, we will trust, nay, not only trust, but even praise!
What frustration do have? Speak out in your time of prayer, and tell God! What fears? What hurts? What pains? He knows, and yet he wants to hear from you. And not only silent prayer, though there are times where this will be the case, but speak out loud your prayers to him! Speak as though he hears you! Speak as though he loves you! Speak as though you believe in Him!
And when you have poured out your heart to him in your complaints, and hurts, and frustrations, always return, like David did, to a stature of faith that praises God in the midst of your trial!
I speak often of how the Bible interprets itself, how the Bible offers application of each passage if we would but search for it. Our passage today finds additional meaning and application in the Psalms.
Psalm-Worthy Faith is faith that trusts so deeply in God’s sovereignty that it can honestly communicate every thought to Him.
A person with Psalm-worthy faith:
Has a relationship with God Has Confidence in God’s Word Has Faith in God’s Plan
Now we move to Psalm 34, which is one of my favorite Psalms because it was my preaching professors favorite, and he told me that he knew best. Both Psalm 56, which we just went over, and Psalm 34 were written on this same day, the day that David went to Gath, and found himself in danger, and acted all cray cray. He was put out of the city, which was better than being put to death in the city. And David recognized that God was worthy of praise, because he continued to protect David. He protected him from Goliath, he protected him from Saul, and he protected him from Achish, the king of Gath.
David is expressing what faith he has in God, and it is a Psalm-worthy faith. He has a relationship with God that he is so at ease with God he can speak honestly. He has confidence in God’s word. God had given word through Samuel that David was to be king, and despite his current situation, David trusts that God’s Word will come true, and that God’s plan will be completed. Let’s look at Psalm 34:
Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
In the book of Joshua, one the keys to Joshua’s success would be to meditate, a word that literally translates to mumble, Joshua was to meditate on the Book of the Law, God’s Word, day and night. He was told that the book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth. So it isn’t just a mere thinking about, or reading it silently, but to speak it.
And so David says, perhaps recalling Joshua here, that he will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth, or some translations say will always be on my lips; the song Aaron Shust wrote was based upon this verse. “You praise shall ever be on my lips”
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
We should boast in nothing other than the Lord, and even Paul said he would only boast in his own weaknesses. Why? Because boasting in your own weakness is an acknowledgement that nothing could get done other than when God intervenes and uses us to His glory. When he uses us, weak vessels, in his service, we can boast in him.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
Magnify, to grow up, to make strong, to become great or important.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Not only did David have his prayers heard, so we can as well.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Sometimes fear of the Lord leaves us trembling in fear of the sin we have committed, and rightly so. But better yet is to have a fear of Him in the sense of a healthy respect that would keep us focused on serving him well and winning the battle against sin in our lives.
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
One of the ten commandments!
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The man born blind, healed by Jesus, said: John 9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
How many among us this morning are brokenhearted, or crushed in spirit? I have good news! The Lord is near!
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Psalm-Worthy Faith is faith that trusts so deeply in God’s sovereignty that it can honestly communicate every thought to Him.
A person with Psalm-worthy faith:
Has a relationship with God Has Confidence in God’s Word Has Faith in God’s Plan
We see once again the beauty of scripture, how it connects, every part to each other. For here in 1 Samuel, we see a short narrative about David, in desperation, taking a chance, realizing he may be in danger, acting like a fool, escaping with his life. By itself, this passage may not tell us much, but when we look at Psalm 56 & Psalm 34, we can see a bit more. And then we see in the account of the crucifixion that What David said in Psalm 34 about himself was indeed not only about himself, but was a predictive prophecy that applies to Jesus Christ!
And so the connections in scripture continue, and the more I study, the more exciting it is, that I can see how miraculous this book is. Really the Bible is more than a book. It is a library. 66 books, 40 authors, and the more you study it, the more it reveals to you about how in control of everything our God is! It shows how well he planned out his redemptive plan for us to be restored in relationship to Him!
And that is God’s communication with us. He wants a relationship with us, and He has given us an amazing set of books in the Bible to communicate his love and plan for us! God is the creator, and more than anyone of us will ever understand, he knows that relationship and communication are inseparable. Deep relationship means deep communication. So sad it is that many people go all though life never knowing how to really communicate, and therefore never having deep relationship.
And there are books written, classes offered, counselors standing by, that help people to communicate better. Those are all helpful. If any truth is out there, it is God’s truth. A secular book on communication can be very helpful, but God has given us a better way. Throughout scripture he shows us how to communicate, and the Psalms are a big part of that. David has shown us a way to communicate with God himself!
So we started with a conundrum: Communication is needed for great relationships, and relationship is needed before we can communicate. So perhaps you feel distant from God relationally. What can you do? In some relationships we begin by being the main talker. When I first dated Jenelle, she thought I talked a lot. And over time I have learned to listen better. Some relationships begin where you are the listener at first. But here is the not so secret secret: Whether you are listening or talking, you are communicating.
If you feel your relationship with God is not as deep as you would like, your strategy may be to listen more and talk less; for others, it may be to talk more and continue listening. You see, if you are listening to God by hearing sermons and teachings, reading the Bible, but never opening your mouth to speak to Him, the communication is incomplete, and therefore the relationship lacks depth. On the other hand, you may speak an awful lot to God and never read his Word or pay close attention to preaching and teaching, and you may need to make more effort to hear Him through the means He most often speaks to HIs people, which is through His Word.
Perhaps you are in a third category; you don’t talk to God much, and you don’t put much effort into finding out what He wants to say to you. But he desires a relationship with you. Relationship does not happen in a communication vacuum. And good communication does not present itself where little or no relationship exists. Rather, they must always be pursued together.
This morning we have seen one of the all-time greats at communicating with God. We have a look into what is usually a very private affair, one’s conversations with God. We see these beautiful Psalms and for many of them, we can look back in scripture to see what David was going through when he wrote it. Psalm 51 is another great example of this. When Nathan the prophet confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba, we see how he pleads with God for mercy, and confesses his sins without making excuses. There are many examples of how we can speak to God.
We don’t need to be a poet like David, we don’t need to write down every prayer, though that may help some of you writers. But all of us need to continue a lifelong effort to communicate ever better with our God. It is the same for the married couple, it is the same for the lifelong friend, it is the same with business partners, it is the same in the church. It we desire good relationships, ever growing in depth and love, we must work on our communication, and our communication with God should be the #1 priority in our lives.
Psalm-Worthy Faith is faith that trusts so deeply in God’s sovereignty that it can honestly communicate every thought to Him.
A person with Psalm-worthy faith:
Has a relationship with God Has Confidence in God’s Word Has Faith in God’s Plan
David didn’t wait for others to write Psalms about him. His Psalms are a record of one who had a relationship with God, confidence in his word and faith in His plan.