Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves.
On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test.
He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone.
Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe.
But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away.
When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified!
Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce.
After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest.
Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path.
Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow.
It was his father.
He had been there all night long.
(Our Daily Bread.)
This boy may not have been in an actual shelter, but he had refuge close by.
He had a protector who would protect him.
You see this boy thought he was alone.
He thought he had no one and nothing around him.
Yet, he did.
He had his father who loved him right there.
That is what this Psalm tells us today.
We read in this Psalm that when we take refuge in God He will perform amazing acts of kindness and love to us and provide refuge for us.
He is our rock and our fortress.
His steadfast love and shelter is available to all who seek Him.
Just as we read the David saying in Ps. 31
The first point we see is in the first 8 verses.
When Evil is Committed: Trust God’s Strength (vv.
1-8)
David is the chosen King who is a man after God’s own heart.
He was chosen to rule and reign in Israel forever.
He is to have a permanent rule in the nation for eternity.
He is the King of king’s for the earthly people of Israel.
He is the greatest king to them.
Yet, many sought to have him removed and taken out.
He was the King but others wanted to be the King.
It is because of this great promise that God made him that he is calling out and saying “let me never be put to shame.”
He applies this to God in verse 3 by saying “for your name’s sake.”
If he was to be shamed it would be a shame to God’s name who had made these great promises to him.
He was banking on the Lord’s pure and perfect character to guard him and keep him from harm.
He was depending on God’s pure and perfect character to shield him when evil was committed against him.
He sought God in his difficulties because he knew God is faithful and true to protect and guide him.
Do you trust God to do this for you.
Do you trust Him to guide you correctly in life?
Do you trust Him to do these things for you and give you His strength when evil is committed?
This evil may be from another person or it may be a form of illness.
It may be any number of things in this life but the question remains, Do you trust God’s strength when these times hit, or do you trust your strength?
If you trust God’e strength we see three things he does for you.
Two are in the positive affirmation and one is in a negative connotation.
He guides you.
(V.
3).
When we trust His strength He will guide us and show us the way.
We need to rest in Him and say something like, “I know I don’t know what is happening nor do I know why, but you do and I know you know the way.
Please show me what to do and how to do it.
All the while please be my refuge and shelter and fortress Lord because I need one severely.”
He redeems us.
(V.5).
In this verse David says he has committed his spirit into the hands of God.
He has given his life to Him and his full trust.
This means that his life has been deposited into God in His trust as money in a bank.
His life and safety is in the Lord and he knew he was safe in God’s hand.
Do you?
Trust me it is safe and well in His hands.
You will not be delivered into the hand of the enemy (v.
8).
We are His and forever will be.
We will not be delivered into the hand of the enemy because the enemy is in defeat.
His forces and those who are like him are still after us to harm us, but we may fall by their hand but our life will never be their’s.
We are the Lord’s alone and He will never hand you over.
Just as the young Indian boy realized his father was near him all night, we too can know that shelter but through the dark and dreadful night.
But we can still be hurt and feel pain.
We can still have struggles.
So...
When Others Hurt You: Seek God’s Mercy (vv.
9-18)
Have you ever been so tired and worn out that you just couldn’t go anymore.
You were worn out and just exhausted.
Much like this woman who after the exhaustion that a new born will bring and several sleepless nights, she grabbed some cereal and milk and poured herself a bowl.
Being tired, she put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard.
She realized it later when she opened up the fridge and saw the cereal in there.
She immediately checked the pantry, and sure enough, the milk was there.
But that was not the end to the story.
The next morning, she remembered what she did so she told herself to put the milk in the fridge.
She has no idea how it happened, but history repeated itself and somehow, the milk ended up back in the pantry.
Two almost full jugs of milk went to waste she felt like a mindless zombie who could not even put milk back where it belonged.
This is exhaustion and weariness that causes strength to fail, your bones to feel as a waste and your life to feel like it is whisping away.
But this is from normal living and the joy of a child.
The struggles David is speaking of is from the hurt and grief caused from others.
The hurt they put on you either physical or emotional.
It will all bring you down and make you feel wearied and worn.
Maybe the hurt is not from a person but from an illness.
Maybe it has you worn and bedraggled.
Whatever it is, whether it is from the backstabbing of “friends” or the outright assault from others, or illness; seek God’s mercy it is there for you.
David called out to God to be gracious to him (9), for His face to shine on him (16), called again to not be put to shame (17), and for the evil ones speech to be stopped (18).
He trusts in “you O Lord” because he is “My God.”
Is He your God? Can you say the same thing?
Do you seek His mercy when times and situations are hurtful or rough?
Or do you still seek the grace and mercy elsewhere?
And then struggle more because what you thought would fix the situation only makes it worse?
When we seek the Lord when we have been hurt there are again three things He does for us.
He gives strength to the weak and weary (vv.
9-10).
He will fill you with grace and mercy.
As He told Paul in 2 Cor.
12:9 “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
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