When Trouble Is Near And God Is Far

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Psalms.

Book of Psalms and we're on chapter 22 this morning.

! We're taking a break from our series in Genesis to continue our summer series walking through

! The book of Psalms.

And this morning we've come to one that ought to sound fairly familiar to you, at least in

a few verses.

Even if you're not completely familiar with all of Psalm 22, you should recognize some of

the words here because the gospel authors take this Psalm of David and apply it to the

crucifixion and the suffering of King Jesus.

So Psalm 22, when you found that in your Bible, let's stand together in honor of the reading

of God's Word.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?

Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer.

And by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted.

They trusted and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued.

In you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man.

Scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me.

They make mouths at me.

They wag their heads.

He trusts in the Lord.

Let him deliver him.

Let him rescue him, for he delights in him.

Yet you are he who took me from the womb.

You made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

On you I was cast from my birth.

And from my mother's womb you have been my God.

Be not far from me.

For trouble is near and there is none to help.

Many bulls encompass me.

Strong bulls of Bashan surround me.

They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water.

And all my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax.

It is melted within my breast.

My strength is dried up like a pot shirt.

And my tongue sticks to my jaws.

You lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me.

A company of evildoers encircles me.

They have pierced my hands and feet.

I can count all my bones.

They stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them.

And for my clothing they cast lots.

But you oh Lord do not be far off.

Oh you my help come quickly to my aid.

Deliver my soul from the sword.

My precious life from the power of the dog.

Save me from the mouth of the lion.

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brothers.

In the midst of the congregation I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord praise him.

All you his offspring of Jacob glorify him.

And stand in awe of him all you offspring of Israel.

For he is not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.

And he has not hidden his face from him.

But has heard when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation.

My vows I will perform before those who fear him.

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied.

Those who seek him shall praise the Lord.

May your hearts live forever.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord.

And all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord.

And he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship.

Before him shall bow down all who go down to the dust.

Even the one who could not keep himself alive.

Posterity shall serve him.

It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn.

That he has done it.

Father.

We praise you for the great work of salvation.

We praise you for the gospel of Christ.

And again we pray now as we open up this text together.

Lord would you speak.

We pray in Jesus name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Amen.

I'm not sure where you were about nine years ago about this time.

But I know exactly where I was.

I was glued to my television.

Watching the NBA finals.

Where King James LeBron had led the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Right into a battle.

With one of the greatest teams ever assembled.

The 73 win Golden State Warriors.

As in 73 wins and only nine losses.

Now for the entire season.

Y'all don't look too impressed by that.

That's the best record in NBA history.

Okay.

Nobody's ever done it.

Nobody had ever won 73 games in a season before.

And nobody had ever come back from being down three games to one in a finals series before.

That is until King James climbed back from the brink of elimination.

Pulled off what was thought to be impossible.

And completed the most unlikely unbelievable comeback in NBA history.

Why in the world are we talking about this?

Because it's June.

And yes the finals are on.

But more importantly.

Because this morning as we look at Psalm 22.

What we see here in this text is another seemingly impossible comeback.

King David is on the brink of defeat in this text.

The odds are stacked against him heavily.

It looks like there is no way out for King David.

And to make matters worse.

It seems as if God himself doesn't even care.

David here.

He articulates something that we all feel from time to time if we're honest.

But maybe sometimes are afraid to say out loud.

He says God have you left me here in my trial?

God don't you care what I'm going through?

My God.

My God.

Have you abandoned me?

Of course as we'll see.

No.

God has not forsaken David.

And while the psalm begins in turmoil.

It ends in triumph.

And against all odds.

The king lives another day.

And he lives to tell the tale.

And the glory of a God who saves.

If I could sum up the song in one sentence.

I would do it like this.

The king's unlikely deliverance.

Leads to the king's universal declaration.

I'll say that again.

This is the big idea here.

The king's unlikely deliverance.

Leads to the king's universal declaration.

So let's look at it together.

And we'll see it here in three parts this morning.

This will be our outline.

If you're taking notes.

And I try to make it a little easy for you to follow along.

Three parts this morning.

First.

In verses 1 through 11.

We see the turmoil of the king.

The turmoil of the king.

As you look at the text.

Verses 1 through 11.

They sort of give us this sort of internal dialogue.

We see the interplay here between turmoil and trust.

And trial and truth.

It's like David is recording this conversation with himself.

And we get to listen in as he's both expressing his pain.

And reminding himself of the truth.

And you know Christian.

Sometimes Christians need to be reminded that it's okay to do both.

The world that we live in is tough.

In a sin cursed world.

We experience things like pain.

And loss.

And grief.

And sorrow.

And hardship.

It's okay.

David shows us all through the Psalms.

It's okay both to see that.

And to express that to the Lord.

But Christians also.

They face these trials by reminding themselves of the truth.

And so let's look here at what David has to say.

Verses 1 and 2.

He says he feels abandoned by God.

My God.

My God.

Why have you forsaken me?

Why have you abandoned me here in my suffering?

Why are you so far from saving me?

Why are you so far from my groanings?

This is David the king expressing a feeling that we've all experienced at some point or another.

God seems to be off duty when we need him most.

It's not as if David hasn't been reaching out.

David says he's praying.

He's calling out day and night.

Day and night.

And yet he gets no answer from the Lord.

His radio silence.

I've had this experience before where it seems like I can get Amanda on the phone anytime I want.

Very quickly.

She's usually very responsive.

I usually call and she usually answers unless I am in a moment of urgent need.

And then at that time, for whatever reason, that phone call gets lost in the airwaves.

She decides for whatever reason at that time, she's going to take a break from her phone.

And the call doesn't go through.

The bad news is that sometimes we pray and God doesn't immediately answer, does he?

Sometimes it seems like God has turned his phone off.

David is in turmoil because it seems like God is not answering and he feels abandoned by the Lord.

That's the feeling.

But now look here at the truth.

Verse 3.

Yet, he reminds himself, yet you are holy.

Enthroned on the praises of Israel.

You are holy.

You know, whatever is happening to us in our life, it doesn't change the fact that God is holy.

And good.

And praiseworthy.

And righteous.

God is not only good when things are going good with us.

He is good.

Period.

Period.

He is praiseworthy.

Period.

Period.

David reminds himself of this.

Not only this, he reminds himself in verse 4 that God has been faithful.

He reminds himself of God's past faithfulness.

In you our fathers trusted, he says.

Verse 4.

They trusted and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued.

In you they trusted.

And they were not put to shame.

And no doubt David knew the stories of how God had worked in the life of his people.

He knew the stories of the exodus.

He knew the stories of the wanderings in the wilderness.

He knew the stories of the conquest in Canaan.

He knows God has worked to deliver before.

And there's a tension here now that David feels.

I know you're faithful.

I know you've delivered before.

So what about me?

I'd venture to say we've all experienced this before as well.

We have seen and we have heard stories of God working for others in powerful ways.

We've heard stories of God working in our friends' lives.

This guy gets a raise.

This guy seems so happy.

This guy's family is just so perfect.

This guy has so many friends.

He says, well God, what about me?

What about David?

He says, verse 6, I am a worm and not a man.

He reminds himself of another truth here, doesn't he?

A less popular truth.

He reminds himself in verse 6 of his unworthiness.

I am a worm, he says.

This trial, whatever it is, we don't know the exact context of this psalm,

but this trial has brought David to this place where he sees God as high and lifted up

and holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel, worthy of worship,

and himself as a lowly worm, unworthy.

He's come to this place where he acknowledges, God, I need you, but you owe me no response.

I need you, but you owe me no favor.

You don't owe me a thing, and yet I'm going to call out to you in faith

because you are good, you are holy, you are faithful, you are merciful,

you are powerful to save, and I have no hope apart from you.

What a wonderful place to be.

Now sometimes, intense, prolonged, terrible suffering is the tool that God uses in our lives

to bring us to that place of total dependence on him.

David calls out to the Lord as a weak, needy, unworthy man.

This is exactly how God wants us to come to him.

And look how other people respond to this.

Everybody around him mocks him and makes faces at him,

and he's become the laughingstock of everybody around him.

They mock him, say, he trusts in the Lord, let him save him.

Let the Lord rescue him, he's putting his faith in him.

Yet, verse 9, here's another reminder of the truth.

Verse 9, I'm mocked for trusting you, yet, why do I trust you?

David says, you've made me trust you.

I'm ridiculed for calling out to you, but you have put this trust in my heart.

From my mother's womb, you have been my God.

As he faces this trial, he reminds himself of God's eternal purpose in his life.

God chose him, not the other way around.

God put that trust in him, not the other way around.

God has taken him and preserved him and cared for him and provided him since he was a child in his mother's womb.

And surely, if that's true, God will not abandon him now.

Now, what a comfort it is to know, Christian, in times of trial,

in times of suffering,

that God himself has taken it upon himself to save you.

God chose you in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

That God called you to himself and gave you the gift of faith.

That God has adopted you into his own family.

That God did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.

How will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

If you belong to him, take heart.

He will never leave you, nor forsake you.

So then, in light of this truth, David prays,

Lord, be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

In fact, we see some of the trouble in the next several verses.

Second point, we see the terrorizers of the king.

You see the terrorizers of the king.

Here in verses 12 through 18,

we get a look at the enemies here that are taunting David and terrorizing King David.

He says in verses 12 and 13, there's danger all around.

The strong bulls of Bashan are surrounding him.

We don't know what in the world the strong bulls of Bashan are, do we?

But in this context, the bulls of Bashan were strong and well-fed and meaty and terrifying animals.

This is language of a terrifying enemy.

He compares them to lions roaring with their mouths open,

jaws ready to clamp down and devour.

Down in verse 16, he compares them to dogs,

and this isn't like a golden doodle or a Bernese mountain dog.

These are vicious, dirty creatures that carry disease and eat from the garbage,

lick the sores of the dying.

This is a picture of enemies that are dirty and hungry and violent and strong,

and they have him surrounded and they're ready to pounce.

These are terrible enemies.

Not only this, David says he's in terrible pain.

He has no strength to fight these enemies.

Look how he describes his pain in verse 14.

He says, I am poured out like water.

All his bones are out of joint.

The pain is so intense.

He says in verse 17, he can count all his bones.

Just imagine that.

You know what it feels like when you have a fever

and you feel like you can just feel every little ache and pain.

He's saying that every single bone is crying out to him in intense agony.

His heart is melted within his chest.

His strength is no better than a broken piece of pottery.

His mouth is so dry that his tongue sticks to his jaws.

You add it all up here.

The bones don't work.

His heart doesn't work.

His tongue doesn't work.

His strength doesn't work.

His muscles don't work.

Nothing works.

The king is broken.

God himself lays him in the dust of death.

And all those vicious enemies start to circle around him like vultures around a carcass.

They cast lots for his clothing.

They're ready to celebrate and declare victory over the king.

Ask yourself, why would anyone want to kill God's anointed king?

Why would anyone be this eager to come and to tear apart God's anointed king?

Of course we know time and time again David went into battle.

David faced enemies.

It's not unusual for a king to have enemies that want him dead.

But we have to remember this isn't just any king, isn't it?

There is a spiritual dimension here that we need to understand.

There's a spiritual conflict that's driving this assassination attempt on King David.

The seed of the serpent is trying yet again to snuff out the seed of the woman.

We saw all the way back in Genesis 3 this promise from the Lord.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her seed and your seed.

The offspring of the serpent will wage war against the offspring of the woman

until the time comes when that promised offspring will crush the head of the serpent

and end the conflict for good.

Don't you know?

Satan knows the promises God made to David

to bring about the promised Messiah through him,

to give him an eternal kingdom.

Of course the enemy wants him dead.

Up until the point when the Messiah finally came,

the seed of the serpent is trying to snuff him out.

But now that he's come,

guess who he's after?

Now that the Messiah has come,

guess who the enemy is after?

If he can't have the king,

he will come after the citizens of the kingdom.

If he can no longer cut off the head,

he will lash out at the body.

The church, we, the church,

are God's own offspring.

We're citizens of the kingdom of God.

We are the very body of Christ the King here on earth.

Why should we be surprised?

That we also face great and powerful,

dangerous enemies.

We face enemies that are more numerous than dogs,

that are stronger than bulls,

that are more vicious than lions,

and enemies that want us dead.

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

brothers and sisters,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers

over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil

in the heavenly places.

The world is an enemy

with all its allure and enticements.

The flesh is an enemy.

Our flesh is weak and prone to wonder.

Our appetites are not always for the Lord in this life.

And the devil is an enemy.

That great enemy prowls around like a roaring lion,

seeking someone to devour.

How in the world can we face such great enemies?

What strength do we have to fight against them?

Where do we turn when we're overwhelmed

and under intense attack?

Look what David does here in verse 19.

He turns yet again with trust in the Lord.

I love this.

He prays yet again.

Do you notice that?

Do you see the persistence of the king?

He feels abandoned by God.

God, you're not picking up.

So what does he do?

He prays.

He's not getting an answer for his prayers

day and night, day and night, day and night.

So what does he do?

He prays.

He's mocked for trusting in the Lord

and for calling out to him.

So what does he do?

He trusts the Lord.

The enemies are at his throat.

God still has not delivered.

Seems like the end is near.

So what does he do?

He prays.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off.

O you, my help, come quickly to my aid.

Deliver my soul from the sword.

My precious life from the power of the dog.

Save me from the mouth of the lion.

Now when we're going through it,

you know what I mean, going through it.

Don't treat prayer and trust

as halfway solutions to your problem.

Some of y'all are problem solvers.

That's me.

I want steps to take,

things to do,

ways to resolve.

I want out of that situation immediately

and I want to take a step to get there.

David prays.

He doesn't give any action steps.

There's no step one, step two, step three.

It's simply, I have nothing.

I need you, Lord.

Prayer and trust.

Prayer and trust.

Prayer and trust.

And when that doesn't work,

prayer and trust.

God's people must learn to persevere in prayer.

Jonathan Edwards.

He says,

It is very apparent from the word of God

that he often tries the faith

and patience of his people

when they are crying to him

for some great and important mercy

by withholding the mercy

sought for a season.

And not only so,

but at first,

he may cause an increase

of dark appearances.

And yet he, without fail,

at last prospers those

who continue urgently in prayer

with all perseverance

and will not let him go

except he blesses.

Christian, if you are facing something

that feels like it's about to eat you alive,

remind yourself of the truth.

God is good.

God is holy.

God is faithful.

God is worthy.

God owes you nothing.

God has given you everything.

God has called you to himself in faith.

And then pray and trust.

And when that doesn't seem to work,

pray and trust.

David here shows us

what it looks like to persevere in faith

and tremendous suffering.

And what we see next

is that against all odds,

God intervenes

and finally answers.

God saves the king

and he lives to tell the tale.

So the rest of this psalm,

verses 22 through 31,

show us third,

the tale of the king.

Look there starting in verse 21.

This is a complete reversal

here in the rest of the psalm.

Starting at the end of verse 21,

he's prayed,

he's prayed,

he's prayed,

he's prayed,

he's near the end

and finally the end of verse 21,

he says,

you have rescued me.

You've rescued me

from the horns of the wild oxen.

God seemed absent,

but now he has come

in delivering power.

Trouble was near

and God was far,

but now everything changes.

God has come near

and the trouble fades

into the background.

The king was good as dead,

but now he lives

to tell the story.

Verse 22 says,

I will tell of your name

to my brothers.

In the midst of the congregation,

I will praise you.

He can't keep quiet.

He gathers the people around him

a little bit like

what we're doing right now.

He gathers God's people together

and he proclaims

the great work of God

on his behalf.

And then he calls them

to join in with him,

doesn't he?

You who fear the Lord,

praise him.

All you offspring of Jacob,

glorify him.

Stand in awe of him.

All you offspring of Israel,

this God is worthy

of our praise

for what he's done.

Great salvation

leads to great proclamation.

Unlikely deliverance

leads to universal declaration.

Christian,

this ought to be

the response of our heart

to what God has done

for you in Christ.

I love when we get

to celebrate a baptism.

We get to hear a testimony

of the grace of God

in somebody's life

to save them

and to bring them

to saving faith in Jesus.

You know,

that is a miracle, church.

That is unlikely deliverance,

isn't it?

We get to hear the story

how somebody went

and shared the gospel

with them,

whether it was mom

or dad

or a friend,

a neighbor,

a co-worker.

They begin to listen

and to hear it

in a new light

all of a sudden.

At some point,

maybe it was suddenly

and maybe it was over time,

but it was like

the lights came on

and they got it.

They saw their desperate

need for Christ.

They saw their unworthiness

and they saw God

as their only hope.

They trusted him to save.

That's a miracle.

And we as the congregation,

when we hear

that sort of testimony,

what do we do?

We stand in awe of him.

We stand in awe

of the God

who works unlikely salvation

in sinners like us

every day.

Our salvation

is a story

of unlikely deliverance.

Now, if you're a Christian,

you know this firsthand

that God does not despise

or abhor the affliction

of the afflicted.

God does not turn his face

away from his children.

When we cry to him,

he hears and he answers.

And if you're not a Christian,

what good news is it

for you to hear this morning

that the Lord loves

to save the weak?

The Lord loves to save

the unable

and the unimpressive

and those who can't

help themselves.

The Lord loves to save

those who call on him

in faith and trust.

Your situation's not too bleak

or too dark

or too low.

You are not too far gone

from the Lord to save.

The king's salvation

is reason for all

of God's people,

all Israel to rejoice,

but not just Israel.

Verse 27.

He says,

all the ends of the earth

shall remember

and turn to the Lord.

All the families

of the nations

shall worship before you,

he says.

This is not just reason

for Israel to rejoice.

This is now expanding

to the praise of the nations

coming in for the Lord.

For kingship belongs

to the Lord

and he's not just

king of Israel.

He is king of the nations.

They will eat

and worship

and celebrate

and rejoice

and be satisfied

together.

All the earth

as one people,

generation after generation

after generation,

from people to people,

nation to nation,

will hear

and give glory

to the Lord

as they tell the tale

of a king

who saves.

David

had a great story

to tell.

of the amazing power

of God to save.

But of course,

we know,

don't we?

This psalm

ultimately

is pointing us

forwards

towards an even

greater salvation

for an even

greater king

from an even

greater enemy.

And those who know it

live to tell

an even greater

story of God's grace

and power

in redemption.

This psalm

is pointing us

forwards

to the coming

king Jesus.

Jesus'

suffering

was far

greater

than David's.

He was surrounded

by his enemies.

He was

mocked

and

beaten

to the point

of death.

He was whipped.

He was

cursed.

He was hung

on a cross.

His hands

and his feet

were pierced

and for his

clothing

they cast

lots.

Should you

ever be

tempted to

think that God

doesn't care

about your

suffering?

Look to the

cross of Christ

and remember

God himself

has come

and stepped

into

our suffering

to redeem

what's been

broken

and lost

by the

fall.

If anybody

knew the

pain of

suffering

it was

Jesus.

Not just

physical

suffering

of King

Jesus

he felt

the anguish

of David

as well

as he hung

on the

cross

he quoted

this very

psalm

my God

my God

why have

you

forsaken

me?

There's a

mystery

here

it's hard

for us

to fully

grasp the

weight of

these words

isn't it?

Jesus

the God

man

suffered

and died

bearing

the full

weight

of the

wrath

of God

against

the sin

of his

people

he made

him who

knew no

sin

to become

sin

for us

so that

in him

we might

become

the righteousness

of God

the son

of God

became man

so that

in his

flesh

he might

bear

the wrath

of God

for the

sins

of his

people

as near

to death

as David

was

King

Jesus

actually

descended

fully

to the

grave

his enemies

divided

his garments

among them

for his

clothing

they cast

lots

he was

really

truly

completely

actually

dead

and all

the enemies

rejoiced

the seed

of the woman

has been

snuffed

out at

last

he's been

finally

defeated

or so

they

thought

as great

as David's

comeback

was

the victory

of King

Jesus

is that

much

greater

when Jesus

quotes this

psalm on the

cross

of course

yes he's

identifying

with the

anguish

of David

but he's

also

pointing us

forwards

towards the

end

you know

Jesus knows

how this

psalm ends

he knows

it ends

with salvation

and proclamation

and sharing

the story

of the

victory

of the

king

and the

glory

of God

for the

praise

of the

nations

Christ

knows

on the

cross

that even

as death

approaches

he will

live to

tell the

tale

I will

tell your

name to

my brothers

in the

midst

of the

congregation

I will

praise

you

as great

as King

David's

proclamation

was

Jesus

is even

greater

all the

earth

will bend

the knee

and give

glory to

God

for who

he is

and what

he's done

in the

salvation

of the

king

Christian

if you

are

suffering

if you're

not now

gird up

your loins

prepare

yourself

if you

are suffering

if it feels

like trouble

is near

and God

is far

would you

look to

Christ

who

was

forsaken

for you

would you

look to

Christ

and see

the holiness

and the

faithfulness

of God

on display

would you

look to

Christ

and see

your

unworthiness

and God's

graciousness

would you

look to

the cross

of Christ

and see

the salvation

planned by

God the

Father

before the

ages

began

would you

look to

the cross

of Christ

and see

all of our

enemies

defeated

and would you

look to

the empty

tomb

and see

his deliverance

and our

deliverance

in him

and until he

comes again

would you

tell the

tale

of the

king who

defeated

death

Christ the

king has

come

and conquered

and will

come again

to bring

full and

final salvation

and we

his people

will eat

and worship

and be

satisfied

for the

rest of

eternity

let's pray

Lord

we praise

you for

your power

and your

grace

and your

goodness

and your

holiness

on display

in the

gospel of

Christ

if there

are any

here who

feel far

from you

if there

are any

here who

are suffering

who have

cried out

day and

night

feel like

they get

no relief

no answer

Lord would

you draw

near to

them

remind them

this morning

of your

nearness

to them

in Christ

if there

are any

here who

don't know

you

we pray

that you

would draw

them to

yourself

in faith

we love

you Lord

we pray

this in

Jesus name

Amen

Amen