1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,760 Now, our title today is How To Pray When You Feel Like Giving Up. And I want to begin with 2 00:00:07,760 –> 00:00:11,460 the second line of the psalm. Of course we’ll get to the first, but I’m beginning at the 3 00:00:11,460 –> 00:00:24,360 second line where David says, How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to the mountain? 4 00:00:24,360 –> 00:00:30,480 So what’s happening here is someone is speaking to David, and what that person or people are 5 00:00:30,480 –> 00:00:36,799 saying is going straight into his soul. It’s going in his ears and it’s going right into 6 00:00:36,799 –> 00:00:42,580 his heart, and it’s really got to him. And what is it that these people or this person 7 00:00:42,580 –> 00:00:50,220 is saying to David? Verse 1, Flee like a bird to the mountain. In other words, the advice 8 00:00:50,340 –> 00:00:57,860 that is being given to David is it’s time to move on. Why? Two reasons are given. The 9 00:00:57,860 –> 00:01:02,660 first, For, behold, the wicked bend the bow! They have fitted their arrow to the string 10 00:01:02,660 –> 00:01:07,419 to shoot in the dark the upright of heart. So what’s being said there, obviously, is, 11 00:01:07,419 –> 00:01:12,879 David, there’s going to be trouble. You’re the target. Better get out of here. That’s 12 00:01:12,879 –> 00:01:18,519 the first reason for saying flee like a bird to your mountain. 13 00:01:18,519 –> 00:01:26,019 What’s the second reason? Verse three, If the foundations are destroyed, what can the 14 00:01:26,019 –> 00:01:31,320 righteous do? David, you’ve been doing your best, but we’re now in a really difficult 15 00:01:31,320 –> 00:01:37,860 situation. The very foundations themselves have been destroyed. Nothing you can do is 16 00:01:37,860 –> 00:01:43,919 going to make any difference now. You’d better just get out of here, that is what is being 17 00:01:44,320 –> 00:01:51,320 said, and this is being heard by David, it goes right into his soul. 18 00:01:51,959 –> 00:01:55,980 This question in verse 3, one of the most famous questions in the Old Testament of course, 19 00:01:55,980 –> 00:02:01,019 you know, when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? I think that’s 20 00:02:01,019 –> 00:02:06,099 a question that immediately will resonate with many of us. We look at what’s happening 21 00:02:06,099 –> 00:02:13,100 in our country today, we see that there used to be a sort of Judaeo-Christian consensus 22 00:02:13,600 –> 00:02:18,039 that widely across our culture there was a sort of acceptance that there is a God in 23 00:02:18,039 –> 00:02:23,199 heaven, that he gave ten commandments as a kind of rule to live by and we would print 24 00:02:23,199 –> 00:02:27,860 «In God we trust» on the money and so forth and so on. That may have been pretty thin 25 00:02:27,860 –> 00:02:32,600 for many, many people but at least it gave some kind of common consensus, foundation 26 00:02:32,600 –> 00:02:38,479 for life, and it certainly gave to us as Christians a marvellous opportunity to say well now there’s 27 00:02:38,479 –> 00:02:42,360 God, and that means that we have to think about where we stand in relation to God which 28 00:02:42,399 –> 00:02:48,139 takes you to sin, and our need of Jesus Christ as saviour. But you know and you don’t need 29 00:02:48,139 –> 00:02:53,139 me to tell you how very fast that is changing, how much of that is gone, how increasingly 30 00:02:53,139 –> 00:02:59,259 we live in a culture where people want to self-define God as whoever he, she or it may 31 00:02:59,259 –> 00:03:04,759 be as according to their desire. And there is a growing sense therefore that the very 32 00:03:04,759 –> 00:03:11,080 foundations of the culture are somehow being torn up, and what a challenge this is to the 33 00:03:11,080 –> 00:03:15,380 church. And so the question kind of speaks to us today. We hear this voice and it goes 34 00:03:15,380 –> 00:03:22,699 into our soul. Well, when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? 35 00:03:22,699 –> 00:03:26,559 It’s worth pausing to ask the question, who is giving this advice to David? He’s 36 00:03:26,559 –> 00:03:31,380 obviously hearing this and it’s going into his soul. And we’re not told who was saying 37 00:03:31,380 –> 00:03:39,779 this to David. But almost certainly these were the words of a friend who cared about 38 00:03:39,779 –> 00:03:46,360 these words deeply. And at one level, this was entirely reasonable advice. 39 00:03:46,360 –> 00:03:52,820 David, uh, got himself into, uh, some pretty dangerous situations in the course of his 40 00:03:52,820 –> 00:03:59,220 life. If, you know the story, you’ll remember that he had been chosen and anointed by God 41 00:03:59,220 –> 00:04:05,020 to replace the old King Saul who had been an absolute disaster for Israel. In fact, 42 00:04:05,259 –> 00:04:11,440 time, it did seem as if the foundations were being plowed up. But Saul was not ready to 43 00:04:11,440 –> 00:04:16,739 make way for David. He fought against David, resisted God’s anointed King, all the days 44 00:04:16,739 –> 00:04:23,399 of his life and made life extremely difficult for David for a period of years. 45 00:04:23,399 –> 00:04:30,399 Saul was a man who was given to fits of rage, and temper. And the Bible tells us in 1 Samuel 46 00:04:30,920 –> 00:04:37,920 in chapter 19 about an occasion where Saul, in a sudden fit of anger, reached for a spear 47 00:04:38,440 –> 00:04:44,359 or a javelin, and he saw David who was serving at that time in Saul’s courts. And he threw 48 00:04:44,359 –> 00:04:50,779 the javelin, trying to pin David to the wall against which he was standing. David moved 49 00:04:50,779 –> 00:04:57,420 very quickly and he was able to avoid the flight of the javelin, but only just. 50 00:04:57,559 –> 00:05:04,299 But as if things were not complicated enough, David was married to Saul’s daughter—can 51 00:05:04,299 –> 00:05:09,720 you imagine this? Her name is Mickel. And when David goes back to his home that night 52 00:05:09,720 –> 00:05:16,119 after the javelin-throwing incident, Mickel says to him, you’d better get out of here, 53 00:05:16,119 –> 00:05:23,839 David. Because if you don’t, Saul is going to kill you in the morning. In fact, already 54 00:05:23,980 –> 00:05:29,399 Saul had sent agents into the house of David—just to guard, because he wanted make sure that 55 00:05:29,399 –> 00:05:34,480 he didn’t slip out, or anything like that. And so you can read this story. Mickel actually 56 00:05:34,480 –> 00:05:42,279 let her husband down out of the bedroom window on a rope, and then—this is genius—got 57 00:05:42,279 –> 00:05:48,820 a stuffed dummy, and put it in the bed, so that when the agents of Saul came in in the 58 00:05:48,820 –> 00:05:52,200 morning, they would see this dummy from a distance. Oh yeah, he’s still there, he’s 59 00:05:52,200 –> 00:05:57,220 still sleeping, and nothing has changed, and thereby allow David time to escape. Hey, the 60 00:05:57,220 –> 00:06:01,260 Bible is the most marvelous book, by the way. Did you know all that’s in the Bible? It’s 61 00:06:01,260 –> 00:06:07,579 great, you should read it, wonderful, absolutely marvelous. This is exactly what David did. 62 00:06:07,579 –> 00:06:14,459 He escaped and he fled to the mountains, and it was exactly the right thing to do at that 63 00:06:14,459 –> 00:06:18,220 time. And there are times when that is the right 64 00:06:18,339 –> 00:06:23,540 thing to do. Jesus said, do you remember, this is Matthew, chapter 10, and verse 23? 65 00:06:23,540 –> 00:06:32,579 He said, when they persecute you in one place, flee to another. Isn’t that interesting? So 66 00:06:32,579 –> 00:06:37,579 Jesus is not saying, you know, here’s someone who’s under threat of their life. You don’t 67 00:06:37,579 –> 00:06:41,619 just stand there and say, well, kill me. No, if you have the opportunity, move on to the 68 00:06:41,619 –> 00:06:48,440 next place. And there’s an example of Jesus himself doing this, John chapter 8, fascinating 69 00:06:48,440 –> 00:06:54,119 chapter. It begins with people picking up stones to throw at a woman who had been caught 70 00:06:54,119 –> 00:07:01,239 in adultery. They wanted to condemn her. Jesus intervenes beautifully on this woman’s behalf. 71 00:07:01,239 –> 00:07:06,119 Ministers grace into her life, brings newness of life, so that she’s able to go on in 72 00:07:06,279 –> 00:07:11,899 an entirely new direction because of the encounter with Jesus Christ. But if you read on to the 73 00:07:11,899 –> 00:07:15,899 end of the chapter, it’s quite astonishing. Again, you find the same crowd. They want 74 00:07:15,899 –> 00:07:19,239 to pick up stones, and this time, they don’t want to throw stones at the woman. They want 75 00:07:19,239 –> 00:07:26,239 to throw stones at Jesus. But Jesus’ time had not yet come, and so he does not stand 76 00:07:26,880 –> 00:07:32,279 there and say, Hey, throw stones at me. The Bible tells us, this is John 8 and verse 59, 77 00:07:32,320 –> 00:07:39,140 Jesus hid himself—Jesus did this. He hid himself, and then he slipped out of the temple 78 00:07:39,140 –> 00:07:46,140 because his time had not yet come. So we all face multiple situations of difficulty 79 00:07:46,140 –> 00:07:51,760 in all spheres of life. And we’re faced with the question—we all have this—you 80 00:07:51,760 –> 00:07:58,760 know, Should I stay, or should I go? And these are never easy decisions. But I would certainly 81 00:07:59,440 –> 00:08:04,079 say—I think you would agree with this—if someone’s been flinging a javelin at you 82 00:08:04,079 –> 00:08:07,920 and is pointing a spear in your direction, it’s probably a pretty good time to run 83 00:08:07,920 –> 00:08:12,100 for the hills. What do you think? I think that that’s what I would do. And I think 84 00:08:12,100 –> 00:08:16,019 that David was exactly right to do that in that situation. 85 00:08:16,019 –> 00:08:23,019 But. We all know that for all the times where some change in life is appropriate, there 86 00:08:23,660 –> 00:08:30,660 is many, many, many more times when we just find ourselves plain discouraged and distressed. 87 00:08:38,260 –> 00:08:45,260 And whenever you face a situation like that, I’m telling you, Psalm 11 is for you. As 88 00:08:45,539 –> 00:08:50,979 when I face these situations. Psalm 11 is for me. 89 00:08:51,380 –> 00:09:00,859 This is about how to pray when you feel like giving up. And it’s of huge importance. 90 00:09:02,179 –> 00:09:09,179 Now notice how David responds to the well-meaning advise of his friends. He says, and here’s 91 00:09:09,340 –> 00:09:16,340 the first line of the psalm, “‘IN the LORD I take refuge.’” So how can you say to 92 00:09:17,340 –> 00:09:24,119 my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain? How can you say to me when the foundations 93 00:09:24,119 –> 00:09:30,840 are destroyed, what can the righteous do? So what does David do when he feels that everybody 94 00:09:30,840 –> 00:09:35,739 is against him? When he feels he’s up against the impossible? When he feels that what he’s 95 00:09:35,739 –> 00:09:42,020 doing isn’t accomplishing anything? Well, here’s what he does. He takes refuge in 96 00:09:42,020 –> 00:09:49,400 God. And the question, of course, is how do you do that? What did it mean for him to do 97 00:09:49,400 –> 00:09:55,299 that? And therefore, how can I do that when I find myself filled with frustration or with 98 00:09:55,299 –> 00:10:00,599 fear, and feel like giving up? That’s what the psalm is about. This is why it’s in 99 00:10:00,599 –> 00:10:06,159 the Bible, and it’s there for us, and we need it, often. 100 00:10:06,159 –> 00:10:09,780 So let me suggest to you, from this Scripture—and you’ll see, it’s just straight off what’s 101 00:10:09,820 –> 00:10:14,479 there in front of you, if you have the Bible, there—four ways to pray when you feel like 102 00:10:14,479 –> 00:10:19,440 giving up. And I promise you that if you will pray in this way, it will greatly help you 103 00:10:19,440 –> 00:10:26,859 to find new strength to persevere. Four ways to pray when you feel like giving up. 104 00:10:26,859 –> 00:10:35,799 Number one, challenge the voice of fear and frustration. You’ve got to do that. Challenge 105 00:10:35,900 –> 00:10:43,619 the voice of fear and frustration. Now, you see, that’s what he’s doing in verse one. 106 00:10:43,619 –> 00:10:52,440 How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain? He’s challenging the voice, 107 00:10:52,440 –> 00:10:57,679 challenging what’s being said right into his soul. He’s coming out against it. And you 108 00:10:57,679 –> 00:11:02,440 can see that this is fear and frustration. Look at what’s being said. Behold, the wicked 109 00:11:03,039 –> 00:11:06,919 bow, they’ve fitted their arrow to the string. That’s fear. David, you’re going to be harmed 110 00:11:06,919 –> 00:11:12,919 if you stick around here. That’s fear. And then if the foundations are destroyed, what 111 00:11:12,919 –> 00:11:18,359 can the righteous do? That’s frustration, obviously. Oh, what good can I do? That’s 112 00:11:18,359 –> 00:11:23,580 fear and it’s frustration. And so what David is doing here is he is challenging these voices 113 00:11:23,580 –> 00:11:29,299 that are going into his soul and might well take his heart captive. He’s pushing them 114 00:11:29,299 –> 00:11:31,440 out. He’s resisting them. He’s challenging them. 115 00:11:31,440 –> 00:11:38,280 And he’s saying how can you say these things to my soul? Now notice just by the way, he 116 00:11:38,280 –> 00:11:45,340 is not addressing God directly in the psalm. He doesn’t say, in you, O Lord, do I take 117 00:11:45,340 –> 00:11:51,780 refuge? He says, in the Lord, I take refuge. So this is what we might call a didactic psalm 118 00:11:51,780 –> 00:11:58,640 or a teaching psalm. What he’s doing is he’s teaching us a framework, a sandbox 119 00:11:58,739 –> 00:12:05,599 if you like, for praying when you feel like giving up. And here’s where it begins. 120 00:12:05,599 –> 00:12:14,559 There are times when we need to learn the art of speaking to ourselves in the presence 121 00:12:14,559 –> 00:12:23,640 of God. It’s what he’s doing. He’s challenging the thoughts of his own soul in the presence 122 00:12:23,640 –> 00:12:29,880 of God. Very important to do that if you’re going to be given the grace to persevere. 123 00:12:29,880 –> 00:12:33,520 Now once you see this, you’ll recognize this is actually something that occurs many, 124 00:12:33,520 –> 00:12:40,280 many times in the Psalms. This speaking to yourself, taking yourself in hand, challenging 125 00:12:40,280 –> 00:12:47,299 your worst thoughts or the worst advice that’s been given to you in the presence of God. 126 00:12:47,299 –> 00:12:54,159 For example, Psalm 103, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Praise 127 00:12:54,159 –> 00:12:59,599 his holy name. David speaking to himself there isn’t he? And he’s challenging himself. 128 00:12:59,599 –> 00:13:03,799 Great prayer to pray when you begin, at the beginning of a worship service. Bless the 129 00:13:03,799 –> 00:13:10,320 Lord, O my soul. He’s challenging himself to be up for praising God. Or Psalm 42, you 130 00:13:10,700 –> 00:13:17,700 find something very similar, why are you downcast, O my soul? Why are you so disturbed, in turmoil 131 00:13:19,080 –> 00:13:25,799 within me? He’s challenging the disturbance within his own soul. And here quite clearly 132 00:13:25,799 –> 00:13:30,880 he is challenging the voices of fear and the voices of frustration that threaten to take 133 00:13:30,880 –> 00:13:36,500 possession of his soul. And that’s very important to do in the presence of God. Challenge the 134 00:13:36,500 –> 00:13:42,539 voice of fear and frustration. You know I like to quote from Mark Lloyd-Jones. I feel 135 00:13:42,539 –> 00:13:47,739 that I learned so very much, especially from his writings. I never had the joy of knowing 136 00:13:47,739 –> 00:13:53,820 him personally. But one thing that Lloyd-Jones said many times that’s been so helpful to 137 00:13:53,820 –> 00:14:00,820 me was this, one of the big challenges, he would say, in the Christian life is that we 138 00:14:01,619 –> 00:14:07,419 spend way too much time listening to ourselves, and not nearly enough time talking to ourselves. 139 00:14:07,419 –> 00:14:14,419 If you think about what he’s saying there, we spend way too much time listening to ourselves. 140 00:14:15,580 –> 00:14:19,419 And what happens is that out of your soul there comes all this questioning and doubting 141 00:14:19,419 –> 00:14:23,780 and complaining. All of this and that. You listen to all these voices and the more you 142 00:14:23,780 –> 00:14:28,760 listen to them you go down and down and down and down and down. And what Lloyd-Jones was 143 00:14:28,919 –> 00:14:33,840 saying, and he takes it right over the Scripture here, that what we need to learn is the art 144 00:14:33,840 –> 00:14:39,020 of speaking to ourselves, of taking ourselves in hand, of instructing ourselves. Sometimes 145 00:14:39,020 –> 00:14:46,020 we say it this way, preach the gospel to yourself. Declare the truth to yourself. 146 00:14:46,020 –> 00:14:50,820 And friends, this is a huge part of prayer. You’re missing a whole world in prayer if 147 00:14:50,820 –> 00:14:56,440 you’re not doing this, especially in times of discouragement. What better place to take 148 00:14:56,440 –> 00:15:05,979 yourself in hand as it were, than in the presence of God with Jesus Christ right beside you? 149 00:15:05,979 –> 00:15:10,320 What better thing when you feel like giving up than to come into the presence of God and 150 00:15:10,320 –> 00:15:16,000 to get out in His presence with Jesus Christ beside you as He is, all that you’re afraid 151 00:15:16,000 –> 00:15:21,119 of, all that you’re frustrated about, lay it at His feet and then challenge the voices 152 00:15:21,419 –> 00:15:28,419 of fear and frustration. In God, I take refuge. That’s huge. Bring your worst thoughts into 153 00:15:29,340 –> 00:15:34,979 the open and then take yourself in hand and challenge the voice of fear and the voice 154 00:15:34,979 –> 00:15:40,419 of frustration right there in the presence of God. 155 00:15:40,419 –> 00:15:43,700 And you may need to do this in regards to your own worst thoughts, and you may need 156 00:15:43,700 –> 00:15:48,599 to do it with some of the well-meaning advice that comes to you from friends who are thinking 157 00:15:48,820 –> 00:15:54,559 speaking for your best, but actually they’re merely sapping your will and moving you in 158 00:15:54,559 –> 00:15:57,599 the wrong direction. 159 00:15:57,599 –> 00:16:04,520 Now we always want to think about how these Psalms relate to our Lord Jesus Christ. And 160 00:16:04,520 –> 00:16:09,260 course you read the psalm, it’s immediately obvious. Verse 2, we read about someone who 161 00:16:09,260 –> 00:16:16,260 is upright in heart. And what’s the experience of the one who is upright in heart, there’s 162 00:16:16,900 –> 00:16:21,940 only one who is ultimately upright in heart isn’t there? Our Lord Jesus. And what’s his 163 00:16:21,940 –> 00:16:28,940 experience? The bow is bent and the arrows are pointed consistently always at him. That 164 00:16:29,299 –> 00:16:34,119 was the experience of his entire ministry life wasn’t it? The Herodians, the Pharisees 165 00:16:34,119 –> 00:16:38,219 right from the beginning, they got it in for Jesus trying to trip Him up in his words and 166 00:16:38,219 –> 00:16:43,539 so forth, conspiring against Him again and again and again until ultimately He comes 167 00:16:43,580 –> 00:16:50,020 to the cross? So you can see Jesus all over this, but let’s ask this question. Did Jesus 168 00:16:50,020 –> 00:16:57,020 ever have the experience of having to resist the well-meaning advice of a friend? Does 169 00:16:59,820 –> 00:17:04,119 Jesus know what it is to have to challenge these kinds of voices of fear and even of 170 00:17:04,119 –> 00:17:09,859 frustration? And the answer to that of course is absolutely yes he’s gone through all kinds 171 00:17:09,959 –> 00:17:15,959 of testings just as we have. I can think of at least two occasions when Jesus had to do 172 00:17:15,959 –> 00:17:21,640 this. To challenge the voice of fear and frustration from a well-meaning friend. One that’s perhaps 173 00:17:21,640 –> 00:17:28,640 less well known is in Luke chapter 13 in verse 31. Some Pharisees were told came to Jesus 174 00:17:28,780 –> 00:17:35,780 and they said to him, get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. Isn’t that interesting? 175 00:17:36,680 –> 00:17:42,040 Of course, most of the Pharisees were enemies of Jesus, but not all of them. Some of them 176 00:17:42,040 –> 00:17:48,079 obviously were well disposed towards Him. Remember Nicodemus who came to Jesus at night. 177 00:17:48,079 –> 00:17:53,099 And here are some Pharisees who clearly value Jesus and value his ministry and their giving 178 00:17:53,099 –> 00:17:58,560 him some inside intelligence, they know that Herod’s after him. And they say, Hey, Herod’s 179 00:17:58,560 –> 00:18:02,300 going to kill you, you better get out of here and flee like a bird to the mountain, you 180 00:18:03,300 –> 00:18:09,459 And it’s the well meaning advice of friends, that we’re for you, Jesus, that’s why we’re 181 00:18:09,459 –> 00:18:16,859 telling you this. And of course, Christ had to challenge the voice of fear and of despair, 182 00:18:16,859 –> 00:18:22,420 and He said to them, go tell that fox, I, behold, cast out demons and I perform cures 183 00:18:22,420 –> 00:18:26,420 today and tomorrow, and on the third day, I will finish my work. I love that in other 184 00:18:26,420 –> 00:18:30,579 words, I’m not going to go anywhere. I’m just straight on with what I’m doing. 185 00:18:31,099 –> 00:18:35,459 I love the way He says, go, tell that fox. I mean, it’s hardly sort of appeasing your 186 00:18:35,459 –> 00:18:41,319 enemies. You know, tell, Herod. He’s a fox. But of course, the other occasion when Jesus 187 00:18:41,339 –> 00:18:44,760 had to challenge the well meaning advice of a friend, and you will have thought of this 188 00:18:44,760 –> 00:18:52,380 one, many of you already, much better known. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, 189 00:18:52,380 –> 00:18:57,579 the Son of the Living God. And then Jesus begins to tell his disciples that he must 190 00:18:57,579 –> 00:19:01,900 go to Jerusalem. He must suffer many things. He must be killed. And on the third day, he 191 00:19:01,900 –> 00:19:08,380 must rise from the dead. And you remember what Peter said, far be it from you, Lord, 192 00:19:08,380 –> 00:19:14,719 this shall never happen to you. Jesus, you, crucified, he’s saying. We love 193 00:19:14,719 –> 00:19:19,439 you. We need you. That is the one thing that can never, never happen. And remember what 194 00:19:19,439 –> 00:19:27,079 Jesus said to him, get behind me. So Jesus experienced a temptation that was shot at 195 00:19:27,579 –> 00:19:34,579 him from Satan through the very words of a friend who wanted to be protective of him 196 00:19:36,619 –> 00:19:40,699 and had no real discernment as to what the actual calling of God was in regards to his 197 00:19:40,699 –> 00:19:46,520 life. H.L. Ellison, the great biblical scholar, has said this really, really well. He says, 198 00:19:46,520 –> 00:19:52,760 The love of your friends will often create your most subtle temptations. That’s worth 199 00:19:53,000 –> 00:20:00,000 remembering. The love of your friends will often create your most subtle temptations. 200 00:20:01,660 –> 00:20:06,880 There will be at different points in life people who care about you very, very much, 201 00:20:06,880 –> 00:20:10,099 and they’ll perhaps be the first to say, Well, now, what’s the point in carrying 202 00:20:10,099 –> 00:20:15,140 on? You know, this is taking a toll of you. Nothing good will come of it. And these words 203 00:20:15,140 –> 00:20:22,140 go into your soul. And you need to challenge the voice of fear and the voice of frustration. 204 00:20:22,140 –> 00:20:28,619 That’s what David does. He says, now, look, in the Lord I take refuge. So how can you 205 00:20:28,619 –> 00:20:35,000 say to me, dear friend, flee like a bird to the mountain? How can you say, since I’m 206 00:20:35,000 –> 00:20:39,819 taking refuge in God, how can you say if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous 207 00:20:39,819 –> 00:20:46,640 do? So here is the first way to pray. And it’s 208 00:20:46,640 –> 00:20:51,780 crucial. That’s why I’ve taken the largest amount of time on it. You have to learn, and 209 00:20:51,780 –> 00:20:57,819 there is an art in this, what it is to come into the presence of God, and with Jesus 210 00:20:57,819 –> 00:21:04,920 Christ right there beside you, to challenge the voices of fear and the voice of frustration. 211 00:21:04,920 –> 00:21:15,859 Second, and more briefly, recognize the hand of God in the testing. Now, when David’s 212 00:21:15,859 –> 00:21:20,599 going through all of this, he recognizes that God is testing him. It’s twice in this 213 00:21:20,959 –> 00:21:32,199 5, the Lord tests the righteous. Verse four, his eyelids test the children of man. Remember 214 00:21:32,199 –> 00:21:40,219 that when the foundations are shaken, the hand of God is in the shaking. That’s worth 215 00:21:40,219 –> 00:21:48,180 writing down and trying to remember, when the foundations are shaken, the hand of God 216 00:21:48,219 –> 00:21:57,780 is in the shaking. And in this he is testing the righteous. Remember Hebrews chapter 12, 217 00:21:57,780 –> 00:22:02,119 the end of the chapter, you can check out there God says, Once more I am going to shake 218 00:22:02,119 –> 00:22:07,300 not only the earth, but also the heavens. And what is God doing when he shakes things 219 00:22:07,300 –> 00:22:13,920 that are the familiar foundations of our lives? Well, when he does that he shakes the things 220 00:22:13,939 –> 00:22:22,939 that are so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Derek Kidner has a marvelous 221 00:22:22,939 –> 00:22:33,380 comment on this. He says, The collapse of what is built on sand may be distressing. 222 00:22:33,380 –> 00:22:39,479 And I’ll just pause there for a moment, so just take that in. Here’s this huge marvelous 223 00:22:40,479 –> 00:22:46,400 house, and it’s built on sand, and now this shaking comes and the whole thing collapses. 224 00:22:46,400 –> 00:22:50,599 That’s very distressing. It’s a beautiful house. 225 00:22:50,599 –> 00:22:58,040 He says, The collapse of what is built on sand may be distressing. But it can also be 226 00:22:58,079 –> 00:23:08,359 a beginning. That’s powerful. God shakes what’s built on sand that something may 227 00:23:08,359 –> 00:23:14,760 be built on a better foundation that would never have been built if that which was built 228 00:23:14,760 –> 00:23:22,859 on sand were allowed simply to remain. And you know in a very real sense that is 229 00:23:22,880 –> 00:23:33,459 God had blessed him in many ways and the infrastructure of his life was 230 00:23:33,459 –> 00:23:42,619 very blessed–money, children, family, home. And you remember that in one day, the whole 231 00:23:42,619 –> 00:23:46,959 infrastructure of Job’s life was hit with multiple disasters. Well, it all happened 232 00:23:46,959 –> 00:23:53,560 in a day. And his wealth, that was represented by flocks and by herds, was completely plundered 233 00:23:53,560 –> 00:23:59,800 as the Beans came, took all these flocks and herds off. In the same day, a mighty wind 234 00:23:59,800 –> 00:24:06,699 comes and this marvellous home is completely collapsed. And what is even worse is children, 235 00:24:06,699 –> 00:24:10,939 all of his children were inside the house at the time and every one of them died in 236 00:24:10,939 –> 00:24:17,760 the rubble. It’s the story of Job. And so suddenly all of the infrastructure, all of 237 00:24:17,760 –> 00:24:22,540 the good gifts of God that—on which we naturally depend, all of the things that we think of 238 00:24:22,540 –> 00:24:32,780 as being foundational to life in this world, home, family, business, income, is all gone! 239 00:24:32,800 –> 00:24:41,599 And Job’s wife says, why don’t you curse God and die? See what she’s saying? Now what’s 240 00:24:41,619 –> 00:24:45,459 the point? Everything that we’ve lived for here, everything that we’ve worked for here 241 00:24:45,459 –> 00:24:50,540 is gone. And so obviously God has it in you. His bow must be bent and his arrow must be 242 00:24:50,540 –> 00:24:56,300 pointing in your direction. What’s the use of faith? What’s the use of keeping on, 243 00:24:56,800 –> 00:25:04,479 righteous life? Job, you are a righteous man, but when the foundations are destroyed, what 244 00:25:04,479 –> 00:25:13,540 can even the righteous do? Curse God and die, and it comes from the person right next to 245 00:25:13,540 –> 00:25:20,020 him. And don’t you think when the person he loved said that, that it must have gone 246 00:25:20,839 –> 00:25:28,660 right into his soul? How can you say to my soul? Job was hearing the voice of fear. He 247 00:25:28,739 –> 00:25:34,599 was hearing the voice of frustration, the voice of despair. But you know what? He challenged 248 00:25:34,599 –> 00:25:42,079 it, and he took refuge in God. And here’s what he said. It’s a beautiful verse, Job 249 00:25:42,579 –> 00:25:49,859 23, in verse 10. He said, God knows the way that I take, and when he has, noticed the 250 00:25:49,859 –> 00:26:00,819 word, tested me, I shall come forth as gold. When he’s tested me, I shall come forth 251 00:26:00,819 –> 00:26:01,339 as gold. 252 00:26:01,339 –> 00:26:06,859 So not only does he challenge the voice of fear and frustration that comes from his wife, 253 00:26:07,280 –> 00:26:17,280 but he recognizes the test that God has brought about in these very circumstances of his life. 254 00:26:17,280 –> 00:26:20,880 And he says, now God knows the way that I take, and when, when I have been tested, I 255 00:26:20,880 –> 00:26:27,880 will come forth as gold. And surely Peter the apostle must have had that verse in his 256 00:26:27,880 –> 00:26:32,560 mind. When he takes that same principle and applies it to all of us and he says, now look, 257 00:26:32,560 –> 00:26:37,819 we’re brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re all going to experience many trials of different 258 00:26:37,819 –> 00:26:45,459 kinds. And when that happens to you, understand what is going on. It’s rather like gold 259 00:26:45,459 –> 00:26:52,199 that is being refined in the furnace. And what will happen as you persevere through 260 00:26:52,199 –> 00:26:56,859 that test, when I’ve been tested, I shall come forth as gold, is that the gold is going 261 00:26:56,900 –> 00:27:04,459 to be refined, your faith will be proved genuine, and more than that, it’s going to rebound 262 00:27:04,459 –> 00:27:14,339 to praise, glory, and honor, when Jesus Christ is revealed. 263 00:27:14,339 –> 00:27:19,420 So how to pray when I feel like giving up? I’ve got to challenge the voice of fear and 264 00:27:19,420 –> 00:27:25,500 frustration. I’ve got to recognize the hand of God in the test. God, this is a test, and 265 00:27:25,560 –> 00:27:34,599 I want to come forth like gold in this test. I want to be a quitter in this test. I want 266 00:27:34,599 –> 00:27:40,900 to come forth like gold so that that will rebound to praise and glory and honor when 267 00:27:40,900 –> 00:27:44,900 Jesus Christ is revealed, because when the gold was put in the fire, it was refined, 268 00:27:44,900 –> 00:27:51,339 and the faith was proved to be genuine. And then here’s the third thing, challenge 269 00:27:51,339 –> 00:27:56,699 the voice of fear and frustration. Recognize the hand of God in the testing. Third, affirm 270 00:27:56,699 –> 00:28:03,420 the sovereignty of God at the hardest times. This is huge. Affirm the sovereignty of God 271 00:28:03,420 –> 00:28:09,900 at the hardest times. Now notice how David overcomes his fear and 272 00:28:09,900 –> 00:28:15,780 overcomes the frustration that’s being spoken into his life. He does it by fixing 273 00:28:15,780 –> 00:28:21,839 his mind and his heart on God so that from verse 4 onwards it’s almost relentless, it’s 274 00:28:21,839 –> 00:28:26,420 just the Lord, the Lord., the Lord., the Lord., the Lord.. 275 00:28:26,420 –> 00:28:32,319 The Lord is in his holy temple, verse 4. The Lord’s throne is in heaven, same verse. 276 00:28:32,319 –> 00:28:36,280 His eyes see. The Lord tests the righteous, verse 5. 277 00:28:36,280 –> 00:28:41,719 His whole soul hates the wicked. Verse 6, let him reignes on the wicked, for 278 00:28:41,719 –> 00:28:45,280 the Lord, verse 7, is righteous. He loves righteous deeds. 279 00:28:45,300 –> 00:28:48,979 The upright shall see his face. So you see what’s happening, here’s how I 280 00:28:48,979 –> 00:28:53,579 take refugee in God. Here’s how I challenge the voices of fear 281 00:28:53,579 –> 00:28:56,439 and frustration. I recognize the hand of God in the test and 282 00:28:56,439 –> 00:29:03,099 I lift my mind. And I just fix it on God is on the throne. 283 00:29:03,099 –> 00:29:06,780 God is in his temple. Of course, there wasn’t a temple in the 284 00:29:06,780 –> 00:29:11,140 time of David in the sense of the temple that was built in the time of Solomon. 285 00:29:11,140 –> 00:29:15,239 So what he’s saying there is, God is on the throne and God is with his people. 286 00:29:15,239 –> 00:29:20,300 That’s what it means. And he’s with me. 287 00:29:20,300 –> 00:29:23,500 And I can’t put things right when the foundations are destroyed. 288 00:29:23,500 –> 00:29:26,979 I can’t rebuild all the foundations, but God can. 289 00:29:26,979 –> 00:29:32,079 I can’t deal with the wicked, but God can, and he will. 290 00:29:32,079 –> 00:29:33,479 And you know, here’s the most wonderful thing. 291 00:29:33,479 –> 00:29:36,760 Look at it in the last verse. The Lord is righteous, 292 00:29:36,760 –> 00:29:44,800 and he loves righteous deeds. See, the foundations of righteousness 293 00:29:44,859 –> 00:29:49,979 never lie in a culture. They don’t lie in our culture. 294 00:29:50,000 –> 00:29:55,900 They never did. The foundations of righteousness lie in 295 00:29:55,900 –> 00:30:04,339 who God is and in what God loves. The Lord is righteous, and he loves 296 00:30:04,339 –> 00:30:09,780 righteous deeds. And so as Christians, we may experience 297 00:30:09,780 –> 00:30:12,819 all kinds of change in the world around us. 298 00:30:12,819 –> 00:30:15,459 All we’ve got to understand is that the foundation of righteousness 299 00:30:15,459 –> 00:30:23,560 never rested in the culture. It rests in who God is, and what God loves. 300 00:30:23,560 –> 00:30:28,680 And God is still on the throne. And when I feel like giving up, 301 00:30:28,680 –> 00:30:34,180 I need to get my mind and my heart fixed on him. 302 00:30:34,180 –> 00:30:37,140 So here’s how to pray. You should look at how you’re praying 303 00:30:37,140 –> 00:30:40,640 in times of discouragement and say, are these things there? 304 00:30:40,920 –> 00:30:43,640 This is what I need, this is how strength’s going to come. 305 00:30:44,920 –> 00:30:47,760 Challenging the voice of fear and frustration, recognizing the hand of God 306 00:30:47,760 –> 00:30:50,760 in the testing, affirm the sovereignty of God at all times, 307 00:30:50,760 –> 00:30:58,459 and here’s the very last thing just briefly. Anticipate the joy of the final outcome. 308 00:30:58,459 –> 00:31:02,739 Anticipate the joy of the final outcome. I’m just looking at the last line 309 00:31:02,859 –> 00:31:06,099 of the Psalm and it’s the best line of all. 310 00:31:06,099 –> 00:31:15,199 The upright shall behold his face. 311 00:31:15,199 –> 00:31:23,540 The upright shall behold the face of God. 312 00:31:23,540 –> 00:31:29,099 Is there any greater motivation and incentive for persevering through difficult times 313 00:31:29,099 –> 00:31:31,500 than this? 314 00:31:31,500 –> 00:31:35,099 I’m going to see the face of God. 315 00:31:35,099 –> 00:31:40,520 To a Christian believer that means all the world. 316 00:31:40,520 –> 00:31:43,660 And here you’re giving me this advice, you’re saying flee like a bird to the mountain. 317 00:31:43,660 –> 00:31:46,660 You’re saying what can the righteous do and all this stuff. 318 00:31:46,660 –> 00:31:49,099 No, I’m going to take refuge in God. 319 00:31:49,099 –> 00:31:54,219 And I’m going to live my life with perseverance because here’s what the outcome of it is 320 00:31:54,219 –> 00:31:55,699 going to be for me. 321 00:31:55,780 –> 00:32:02,979 Whatever happens in this world, I’m going to behold His face. 322 00:32:02,979 –> 00:32:07,099 And if you’re a Christian, if you’re in Jesus Christ, that’s going to be the glory, 323 00:32:07,099 –> 00:32:12,160 the greatest joy, that’s the outcome, that’s the beginning of all the joys of eternity 324 00:32:12,160 –> 00:32:13,160 for you. 325 00:32:13,160 –> 00:32:18,660 I shall behold His face. 326 00:32:18,660 –> 00:32:21,180 One story, and then we’re through for today. 327 00:32:21,180 –> 00:32:23,219 And it’s a true story. 328 00:32:23,219 –> 00:32:25,540 And a beautiful one. 329 00:32:25,880 –> 00:32:32,339 There were a British man by the name, now get this, by the name of William Montagu 330 00:32:32,339 –> 00:32:33,339 Dyck. 331 00:32:33,339 –> 00:32:40,979 You know when you’re called Smith you sometimes think, well, William Montagu Dyck, that’s 332 00:32:40,979 –> 00:32:42,319 a name. 333 00:32:42,319 –> 00:32:45,359 Well, here’s the true story of William. 334 00:32:45,359 –> 00:32:52,619 He was blinded in a sad accident at the age of just ten years old. 335 00:32:52,619 –> 00:32:53,699 Very brilliant. 336 00:32:53,699 –> 00:33:00,920 He went to university, and working through the disadvantages of his blindness, he graduated 337 00:33:00,920 –> 00:33:03,819 with very high honors. 338 00:33:03,819 –> 00:33:08,339 While he was in school, William fell in love with the daughter of a high-ranking British 339 00:33:08,339 –> 00:33:13,719 naval officer, and the two of them became engaged to be married. 340 00:33:13,719 –> 00:33:20,979 And shortly before the wedding, a short time before, William had the opportunity of eye 341 00:33:21,020 –> 00:33:25,520 surgery that had the potential to restore his sight, but it 342 00:33:25,520 –> 00:33:30,699 was a one-shot deal, and he knew that if the operation should fail, he would indeed be 343 00:33:30,699 –> 00:33:33,819 blind for the rest of his life. 344 00:33:33,819 –> 00:33:39,300 He has this operation, and of course immediately after the operation, eyes swathed in bandages, 345 00:33:39,300 –> 00:33:45,839 and because it was only a short time until the wedding, William insisted on keeping the 346 00:33:45,839 –> 00:33:50,020 bandages on his face until the day of the wedding. 347 00:33:50,040 –> 00:33:57,699 If the surgery was successful, he wanted the very first person he saw to be his bride standing 348 00:33:57,699 –> 00:33:58,859 beside him. 349 00:33:58,859 –> 00:34:03,160 Well, the day of the wedding arrived, and the guests assembled to witness the couple 350 0:34:03,160 –> 00:34:05,040 taking their vows. 351 00:34:05,040 –> 00:34:11,060 William is standing next to his father, and next to his father is the doctor, the surgeon, 352 00:34:11,060 –> 00:34:14,879 who had performed the operation on William. 353 00:34:14,879 –> 00:34:19,879 The organ trumpets the wedding march, the bride walks down the isle at the front of 354 00:34:19,879 –> 00:34:20,879 the church. 355 00:34:20,879 –> 00:34:22,699 And, can you picture this? 356 00:34:22,699 –> 00:34:28,760 As soon as she arrives, the surgeon whips a big pair of scissors out of his pocket, 357 00:34:28,760 –> 00:34:31,820 and starts cutting away at these bandages. 358 00:34:31,820 –> 00:34:34,959 Can you imagine the tension in the cathedral? 359 00:34:34,959 –> 00:34:40,840 And everyone in the room holding their breath, waiting to see, would William actually be 360 00:34:40,840 –> 00:34:46,620 able to see the woman who was standing in front of him? 361 00:34:47,120 –> 00:34:54,219 And as he stood face to face with her, a whole crowd in the congregation heard one sentence 362 00:34:54,219 –> 00:34:59,620 just echo through the whole place, as William said, 363 00:34:59,620 –> 00:35:06,620 You are more beautiful than I had ever imagined. 364 00:35:07,219 –> 00:35:14,620 Friends, one day you are going to behold the Lord’s face. 365 00:35:14,620 –> 00:35:21,159 And having walked by faith, not by sight, the bandages are going to be taken off for 366 00:35:21,159 –> 00:35:23,280 you. 367 00:35:23,280 –> 00:35:28,379 And you are going to see that his glory is greater than anything that you had ever imagined. 368 00:35:28,379 –> 00:35:35,379 And when you stand in his presence on that day, and you behold his face, 369 00:35:35,379 –> 00:35:43,300 you will be so, so glad that you persevered. 370 00:35:44,280 –> 00:35:47,100 Let’s pray together. 371 00:35:47,100 –> 00:35:51,719 I shall behold his face. 372 00:35:51,719 –> 00:36:02,959 I shall his power adore and sing the wonders of his grace forevermore. 373 00:36:02,959 –> 00:36:11,959 Dear Lord, until that day, help us to challenge the voices of fear and of frustration. 374 00:36:12,260 –> 00:36:19,260 Help us until that day, dear Lord, to recognize your hand in the testing. 375 00:36:20,939 –> 00:36:27,939 Help us till that day, dear Lord, to affirm your sovereign rule in all things. 376 00:36:28,600 –> 00:36:35,739 And help us, dear Lord, to anticipate with joy the final outcome 377 00:36:35,739 –> 00:36:43,840 through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, and everyone together said amen.