Psalm 31

Stay awesome.

We're going to look at Psalm 31 tonight.

So we're going to read it through.

! It's quite a long psalm.

And I don't know how you'll find it as we read it through.

Statements, prayers, reflections.

So let me read to you Psalm 31.

For the director of music, a psalm of David.

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.

Let me never be put to shame.

Deliver me in your righteousness.

Turn your ear to me.

Come quickly to my rescue.

Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name, lead and guide me.

Keep me free from the trap that is set for me.

For you are my refuge.

Into your hands I commit my spirit.

Deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

I hate those who cling to worthless idols.

As for me, I trust in the Lord.

I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.

You have not given me into the hands of the enemy,

but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow.

My soul and body with grief.

My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning.

My strength fails because of my affliction

and my bones grow weak.

Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbours

and an object of dread to my closest friends.

Those who see me in the street flee from me.

I am forgotten as though I were dead.

I've become like broken pottery.

Another reference to the jar there.

For I hear many whispering, terror on every side.

They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, Lord.

I say you are my God.

My times are in your hands.

Deliver me from the hands of my enemies,

from those who pursue me.

Let your face shine on your servant.

Save me in your unfailing love.

Let me not be put to shame, Lord,

for I've cried out to you.

But let the wicked be put to shame

and be silent in the realm of the dead.

Let their lying lips be silenced,

for with pride and contempt,

they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

How abundant are the good things

that you have stored up for those who fear you,

that you bestow in the sight of all,

on those who take refuge in you.

In the shelter of your presence,

you hide them.

From all human intrigues,

you keep them safe in your dwelling

from accusing tongues.

Praise be to the Lord,

for he showed me the wonders of his love

when I was in a city under siege.

In my alarm, I said,

I am cut off from your sight.

You heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

Love the Lord, all his faithful people.

The Lord preserves those who are true to him.

By the proud he pays back in full.

Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the Lord.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word.

And as we look at it together on this hot evening,

I pray that you would give us clarity and attention.

And that Lord, most of all,

you would give us your spirit to teach us.

You show us what we need to hear from you this evening.

Amen.

I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

What do you do when people treat you badly?

How do you respond when you find yourself facing problems?

This morning, we had a lovely glimpse of what we do

when we're hitting walls,

when we're hitting a Red Sea.

How do we respond?

Well, our response this morning was to be still and trust God.

So it's similar, but slightly different tonight.

In Psalm 31, we see how David responds to those questions.

And it's a psalm which has been repeated,

and you might pick up the, as we've read through it,

you might have picked up where other times in Scripture

some of these words are repeated.

This is a prayer of David,

and he's expressing his trust in God.

But Jesus, let's just wait for this.

But Jesus, on the cross,

prayed these very words.

You would have been very familiar as we read them.

He trusted himself to God his Father.

Jonah is also referenced in this.

And Jeremiah, particularly,

if you read through Jeremiah,

broken pottery,

and that phrase that comes on,

that comes again and again.

See if I can find it here.

Oh, I'm on the wrong page.

What people are saying about him.

Sorry, I haven't got the reference here,

and I can't find it immediately.

We'll come to it as we come along.

Let me tell you quickly the flow of the passage,

because it might help us to begin to get it into our heads.

Because as I say, there's a lot in it.

The psalm opens with David in verse 1,

giving a one-sentence overview of the whole psalm.

Verse 1,

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.

Let me never be put to shame.

Deliver me in your righteousness.

So the good news is,

if you've understood that verse,

then you've got an understanding of what's to come.

And if you fall asleep,

you've just got to remind yourself of that verse, all right?

Because that is essentially what the psalm is about.

Then David goes through then,

and in verses,

he makes a journey twice.

Verses 1 to 8,

David calls out to God for help,

and finds God as his refuge.

Verses 9 to 22,

he does the same thing.

He again calls out to God,

and finds God to be his refuge again.

But this second journey is even more helpful than the first journey,

because he goes into a lot more detail,

and starts to unpack what his problems were,

and what the solution is.

And we begin to really feel,

not just here,

but we begin to really feel,

his predicament,

the trouble he's in,

but then the joy he knows in finding the Lord his refuge.

The psalm then ends with Psalm 23 and 24,

with David exhorting us to love and trust the Lord,

to be strong and take heart.

I'm not going to read these chunks again.

That was my plan,

but as we've read it through already,

I'm just going to refer you to various sections,

and you can read them through as I'm speaking.

So first of all,

we see David's distress in verses 9 to 13.

If you read through that,

you see that he's calling to God to be his refuge.

Why does he need refuge?

From who does he need deliverance?

Well, he describes there in verses 8, 11, and 15,

that he needs refuge from his enemies.

So David's enemies are what is causing all of the problems he is facing in Psalm 31.

You see in verse 4,

they're setting a trap for him.

Verse 13,

they're plotting to take his life.

Verse 15,

they're pursuing him.

Verse 18,

they're lying and speaking arrogantly against him.

So how does he feel facing these plots,

these lies,

these troubles from his enemies?

We see there in verses 9 and 10,

read those through again to yourself,

as I'm just explaining this bit.

We see his emotionally and physically,

he's a wreck.

It's strong,

strong language.

He's in distress.

He says his eyes grow weak as he weeps with grief.

He's consumed by anguish.

That word comes up there a couple of times.

Anguish,

a big word.

His life with sighing,

his strength fails,

and his bones feel weak.

Emotionally and physically,

he's a complete wreck.

He's also in verses 11 to 13,

he's the contempt of his neighbours.

Even his closest friends see him

and are horrified when they see him.

Passers by in the street,

we're told run from him.

He's become like a smashed vase

or a broken plate.

Broken and useless.

Many whisper against him

and are even plotting to take his life.

Extreme language, isn't it?

But it is extreme

so that it makes the point

of David's complete distress

and anguish.

This wasn't a walk in the park for David,

this psalm.

It wasn't a happy days, happy days.

He was going through the mill.

But why did he write these things?

He went through those things,

but why has he bothered to record them?

Why has God caused this portion

of scripture to be written down

for us to read tonight?

Well, one thing,

one thing is that we have to see,

first of all,

the depth of despair and anguish

that David was experiencing

to see the greatness of God

in restoring him

and rescuing him.

The greater the disaster,

the greater the display

of power and glory

of the rescuer.

We had that tonight,

didn't we,

in the Corinthians reading?

And we had that this morning as well

with facing the Red Sea.

When you're facing a big problem,

the rescue is even greater.

But it's also perhaps

to show us tonight

that a Christian

and even a godly Christian

can experience similar trauma.

And if you're undergoing

some form of distress

or trouble at present,

it doesn't mean

you are failing as a Christian.

David's trouble from his enemies

was usually because

he was seeking to follow the Lord.

So distress, anguish, hard times

don't mean that you're not

following the Lord.

We see here, though,

that David finds God

to be his refuge

in all these troubles.

And whatever situation

you're finding yourself in

at present,

physical or emotional weakness,

perhaps,

or perhaps even being

misunderstood or rejected

by others,

these things David was facing,

for you too,

God can be a refuge

if you trust him

as David did.

So we're going to look at how,

very quickly,

at how God was

David's rescue.

And here we'd be looking

at verses 19 to 22.

So again,

flick through those

as you're hearing me.

It's interesting

that although

he was deeply distressed

and the psalm

is filled with

these problems he had,

it's filled

in an even greater way

with confidence

and hope in God.

You can do this maths

yourself later,

but you'll have to

trust me for this.

You know,

psalms are written

in kind of lines,

it's poetry.

With 17 lines

of Psalm 31

dwell on David's problems

and 54 lines

express his trust

and deliverance

by the Lord.

So that's encouragement

to us this evening.

How did David

find refuge in God?

I've got

four things quickly

to say on that.

The first one's

really obvious.

he called out to God.

He asked God

for help in verse 2.

Verse 2,

be my rock of refuge,

a strong fortress

to save me.

And verse 1,

verse 5,

verse 15,

he's again calling

for deliverance.

It seems obvious,

doesn't it,

that if you want

to find refuge

in God,

you have to call out

to God

to help you.

Although it's obvious,

it's what we fail

to do very often,

isn't it?

We hit a red sea,

we're feeling like

broken pottery,

and what do we do?

We try and muddle through

and we try and

be the strong man,

strong woman,

when God just wants us

first of all

to call out to him.

But also,

we see here

in this psalm

that he trusted

God's faithful character

completely.

So God's character

comes out big

in this psalm.

He speaks in verse 7

of God's love.

He speaks in verse 19

of abundance

of blessings.

And in verse 3,

he says,

for the sake

of your name,

lead and guide me.

In other words,

because of who you are,

because you are faithful

and because you can be trusted,

because you are

completely faithful,

I can trust you

completely.

For the sake

of your name,

to show your glory

in who you are,

rescue me

from this situation.

We see also,

thirdly,

he committed himself

to that God

he completely trusted.

Verses 5 and 15

say this,

these words we know

the Lord said on the cross,

into your hands

I commit my spirit,

that's what Jesus said.

David also added,

deliver me,

Lord,

my faithful God.

Verse 15,

David says,

my times are in your hands,

deliver me from the hands

of my enemies.

So it's interesting,

isn't it,

we've got God's hands

coming up here.

How can God,

I was thinking about this,

how can God have hands?

God is a spirit.

But of course,

it's a picture language,

isn't it?

And the hands of God

here are repeated

to show the

securest place to be

in your deepest distress

is in God's hands.

So David had complete trust

that he would be delivered.

It didn't mean for him

that he wouldn't go

through problems,

and it doesn't mean

that for us either.

But God will be with us

to take us through them.

We are in his hands.

And lastly there,

he found shelter

in God's presence.

Verse 15,

no, verse 16,

sorry,

in verse 20.

Verse 16,

let your face shine

on your servant.

Save me in your unfailing love.

Verse 20,

in the shelter

of your presence,

you hide them

from all human intrigues.

You keep them safe

in your dwelling.

So David says

that those who take refuge

in the Lord

are kept safe,

because they are sheltered

in his presence.

We have a God

who doesn't act remotely

in fixing our problems,

but one who walks with us,

whether it be

through the Red Sea,

whatever our issues are,

whatever our problems are,

he walks with us

through those problems.

He's a personal God.

We can't look at this psalm

and not see, though,

how we see Jesus in it.

Christ,

the fulfillment

of this psalm.

How do we see Jesus?

Jesus,

God's anointed king.

Strong hint,

particularly in the early psalms,

David,

God's anointed king,

reflects,

albeit poorly,

but he reflects Jesus,

God's super-appointed king.

God's anointed king.

God's anointed king.

How does he,

how does David reflect Jesus?

We can see here

from the grief and anguish

in verses 9 to 13,

that in Christ's human experience,

particularly in the cross,

he suffered these very things,

the emotional and physical suffering

of verses 9 and 10,

the rejection of those around him

in verses 11 and 12.

And note this,

they conspire against me

and plot to take my life

in verse 13.

The cross of Jesus,

isn't it?

Yet Jesus,

even on the cross,

trusted his father,

placed himself

in the father's hands,

and committed his spirit

to the father.

So how did Jesus reflect

David's trust of the father

in a fuller way?

Well,

we take those,

two of those same headings

we were looking at for David.

He committed himself

to God,

to the God he completely trusted.

And he took,

and about the shelter

in God's presence.

Those two things.

So first of all,

he committed himself

to the God he completely trusted.

In the Garden of Gethsemane,

Luke 22,

we see Jesus in anguish

as he faces the cross.

He prayed,

Father,

if you're willing,

take this cup from me,

yet not my will,

but yours be done.

And from the cross,

when all was finished,

in Luke 23,

Luke 23:46

verse 46,

we're told,

Jesus called out

with a loud voice,

Father,

into your hands,

I commit my spirit.

So can you see here

from those references

in Luke

how Jesus

perfectly submitted

to his father

who he loved

and trusted

completely.

Jesus,

the perfect king,

trusting his father

perfectly.

Now this next one

is a bit more tricky.

David found

sheltering God's presence

in verse 15 and 20.

But on the cross,

Jesus,

of course,

did not find

shelter in God's presence,

but rather God's anger

when he was bearing

our sin.

But

so that you and I

may find shelter

from God's wrath

and find shelter

in God's presence.

because of Jesus,

we can run to God

and find that shelter

we need

from everything

that comes

against us.

We experience it

when we turn to the Lord,

don't we?

First of all,

he forgives our sin.

We have shelter

from the consequences

of our sin.

But as we

turn to him

throughout our Christian life

with our problems,

we find shelter

in his presence.

if we take time

to be

in his presence.

So because of Jesus,

we can run to God

and find shelter

from whatever

comes against us.

I played a little trick

on you earlier.

You thought it was

coming to an end,

didn't you?

I am coming to the end now.

Our response.

What do you think

our response should be

from hearing about

God being our refuge

and how he walks with us

through our problems

and how he is our loving

and powerful God?

What should our response

be when we see

what Jesus did for us

on the cross?

Thankfulness.

Thankfulness to God,

the Father,

for his love for us.

Thankfulness to Jesus

for his love for us,

his death in our place.

Thankfulness for Jesus

for his faithfulness

to his Father

in going right through

for us.

But David's application

in the psalm

to the reader today

is at the end

and I love this

in a passage

where you get the application

at the end.

All right?

And it's in verse 23

and 24.

I'm going to read

that to you.

Love the Lord,

all his faithful people.

The Lord preserves those

who are true to him

but the proud he pays back

in full.

Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope

in the Lord.

Because of Jesus,

we can take to heart

this exhortation

and we can experience

the refuge of God

as it is explained

through the whole psalm.

So the application

is two things.

Love the Lord,

the faithful God

has rescued us

and will continue

to be our refuge.

Consider what he's done

for you.

How can we not love him?

The call here

is to be faithful

and constant

in our love for him

as it has been for us.

How do we do that?

We remind ourselves

daily of who God is

and what he has done

for us.

Just what David

was doing in this psalm.

And we remind ourselves

of the refuge

we have in Jesus.

Be strong

and take heart.

So when our problems

loom large,

whether they be

the Red Sea

or something else,

we hope in the Lord

who delivers those

who trust

and wait for him.

So

we wait for him.

We stand still

but we call on the Lord

and stand still.

Okay,

let me just pray

and then back to Nathan.

Oh,

then we're finishing.

Okay,

let me just pray

to finish.

Father,

thank you for this psalm.

Thank you for

what you've shown us

even on this hot evening.

Thank you that

our confidence

is not in ourselves.

Our hope is not

in ourselves

but our refuge

is in you.

Thank you for Jesus

that took

your wrath

in our place

so that we could

find shelter

in your presence.

Lord,

help us this week

as we spend time

with you

as we read our Bibles

as we pray

to take shelter

in you

and to draw

our strength

from you

to find you

as our refuge.

Go with us now

in Jesus' name.

Amen.