God's steadfast love: security and joy in any circumstance

Well, good morning, everyone.

I'm going to be speaking this morning about resilience as I introduce these sounds,

but perhaps a really lovely form of resilience is Alan and Christine here before us this morning,

celebrating 50 years of marriage on Friday.

So.

Well, resilience.

Resilience and the need to build resilience has become very, very popular in recent years,

especially in response to the pandemic and terrible bushfires and floods and things like that.

We even had a commissioner for resilience at one point.

So what is it to be resilient?

Well, I think to be resilient is to be able to deal with whatever life throws at me.

Trauma, tragedy, adversity, threats, significant sources of stress that might come to us from verbal attacks or from relationships.

It means being able to absorb the blows that are part of everyday living.

But not only to absorb the blows, but actually to bounce back from them and be able to thrive in life.

And so I think buried into resilience, there's the notion of happiness.

That is a sense of being secure, a sense of being safe, a sense of being content and enjoying life.

That's got to be part of resilience.

And I think also then resilience needs a sense of peace.

We need to feel as if there's some order in life.

There's some sense of control.

Some sense that there is a pattern, a plan, a peace in the life in which we live.

And particularly in our inner landscape, in our hearts and minds.

And so here's where it gets really practical because resilience is sprooked at the moment from every level of society.

Right from governments, all the time talking about the need for resilience.

Right down to early childhood teachers are being taught now to teach children resilience.

It's the buzzword.

But as I listen into these conversations, I get the feeling that resilience is not much more than a new word for old-fashioned self-reliance.

Self-interested commitment to, dare I say, hassle-free living.

Wanting to blend in.

Demanding acceptance and perhaps even avoidance of conflict.

And so if I'm right in that, then the irony for us again as a nation and as a culture is

that the very notion of resilience that is being pushed and built is actually at odds with the realities of life.

And so I think people can chase resilience in terms of how our society is teaching

but never actually be able to be resilient.

Because the way they're building the resilience just doesn't work.

It's an odd sort of thing, isn't it?

In sharp contrast, I want to suggest this morning, in Psalm 11, 12, and 13,

we have three pictures of God's character, God's beauty.

Three perspectives which will deliver incredible resilience in times of crisis and attack.

Whether it's from external sources or from the internal source of our own hearts, our own minds.

And in the end, I keep saying that's why I'm drawn back to the Psalms regularly.

They really are my go-to piece of scripture.

Why?

Because I easily identify with David's struggles.

I easily identify with his confusion at circumstances.

Fear in the face of threats.

Weariness in the daily struggles for faithfulness to the Lord.

And yes, I have to say, even frustration.

Frustration with God.

As I try to make sense of my life from my perspective.

And I think the point is this.

As I come back to the Psalms, I think I've learned this from them over many years.

And that is, sometimes we only see God's answers when we actually ask the right questions.

Put it the other way around.

Put it negatively.

Sometimes we wonder what God's trying to say to us.

And that's because we're not asking the right questions.

So, this morning, I want to put before you and bring you with me into these three Psalms, these three poems.

What is it to lean into the Lord for true resilience in these three circumstances?

What is it to lean into the Lord for true resilience when, first and foremost, we're fearful and intimidated by the real threat of physical violence?

Now, Simon's going to come up and read Psalm 11.

And then we'll repeat this process over two more Psalms.

So, Simon, if you'd come up and read Psalm 11 to us.

Thanks.

Psalm 11.

To the choir master of David.

His eyes see.

His eyelids test the children of man.

The Lord tests the righteous.

But his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let him rain coals on the wicked.

Fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous.

He loves righteous deeds.

The upright shall behold his face.

So, David's starting point in this Psalm is a decision that he's made at some point in the past.

The Lord is my refuge.

In other words, David's already decided that the Lord is his place of safety.

His place of shelter.

His place of protection.

That's what a refuge is.

It's a beautiful picture.

And the important thing here is that that decision in the past shapes his response in this time of extreme crisis.

The immediate perspective before David is his faith.

The Lord is my refuge.

And the appealing but unacceptable option to David of flight.

The situation seems to be that ruthless, wicked enemies are on the attack.

They're determined to be rid of King David.

And determined to be rid of everything that King David as God's person represents.

It seems to be the threat of unexpected attack is constant.

They're lining up to shoot in the dark.

It's a terrible situation for him to be in.

And verse 3.

It's not really easy to decide what the foundations are.

But it seems like things are so bad that the foundations, perhaps the foundations of the nation, that is God's covenant, appears to be under threat.

It seems like everything is about to fall over.

And God's covenant was about God's special people being ruled and protected by God's anointed king in the context of peace and justice and righteousness.

And things have come to such a point that David fears that all of that is just about to be swept away, to be lost.

And then into that situation, it appears that King David's advisors said, listen, this is the time to pack up and run for the hills.

So if you look at the end of verse 1, where it says from flee like a bird to the end of verse 3, that's an inverted quotation mark.

So David is actually interacting with and reflecting back advice, well-intentioned advice he's got from his advisors.

And what's his advisors saying?

Well, the situation's lost.

Hanging around is futile.

Wicked have the upper hand.

So King David, the best thing we can say to you is head for the hills and hide.

Protecting yourself at this point is paramount.

Now David's response to that is really quite intriguing.

And then halfway through verse 1, he says,

How can you say to my soul, in other words, guys, I appreciate your advice, but how can you be telling me to flee?

How can you say to my soul, flee?

Flight was unacceptable.

And perhaps, depending on how you read the text here, I think even offensive to David.

Now, what would his concern be here?

I don't think he resisted the urge to fly because he was frightened of being considered cowardly as a soldier or as a king.

Now, I think why he resisted flight here is because he didn't want to be considered unbelieving or untrusting in the Lord of the covenant,

the one who had actually placed him there as God's covenant king in God's special people.

So for David to flee, I think in his mind, was to trash God's honor and God's reputation.

It wasn't about David, I think, if we can read between the lines.

His safety wasn't paramount.

God's honor was paramount.

And so in verses 47, we see that David opts for faith over flight.

And that's the picture, I want, of leaning into the Lord as his refuge.

Now, let's jump to verse 7 and then we'll come back and unpack it.

Now, here's the situation.

Terrible crisis.

Immediate threat.

Real threat.

Threat of life.

So how can somebody like David so consistently opposed, hated, and attacked,

how can he say in verse 7 with conviction,

the Lord is righteous.

He loves righteous deeds.

The upright shall behold his face.

That beholding his face is just a technical term throughout the Old Testament of being aware of God's presence,

being full of a sense of God's goodness and grace and protection and care.

In other words, the upright will know God to be a refuge.

So how can he say that?

Well, the answer is because David's got a much bigger perspective that he's living in the light of.

And that is longing to experience God's love and commitment and beauty.

Verse 4.

David leans into his knowledge of God's character.

And he does so by picturing heaven or God's city, if you want to call it that.

The foundations of David's city are shaken.

The future is looking terribly uncertain when David pictures in his mind's eye heaven.

Nothing shaky or uncertain about heaven.

God is in his temple.

God is in his throne.

His temple symbolizing his presence among his people.

His commitment to dealing with sin.

God is on his throne.

God is in his throne, symbolizing the complete sovereignty and power and ongoing rule of the Lord.

Again, it's hard to know what the whole thing with eyelids is.

But the best I can come up with is that, you know, something like,

the Lord is so powerful in this big world that seems to be so out of control

that just with a mere glance or in the blink of an eye,

God knows exactly what is happening, where and when.

That's how much control he has.

And it's in contrast to David's shaggy, vulnerable world.

Verse 5.

It's quite clear, I think, that David is totally in the dark as to God's purposes in his circumstances.

And we can well understand that.

But this is what David hangs on to.

That every one of his circumstances is being used by the Lord for his good.

That's the idea of God testing.

Testing, by definition, is evidence of God's love and commitment and grace.

And testing actually helps us lean into the Lord with a new confidence in his goodness

and his power and his love and his care.

Now, again, in the Psalms work on contrast all the time, verse 6.

Those who are David's enemies are also in the dark about God's purposes in their immediate circumstances.

They think they've got the upper hand.

But in the reality, they are being used...

Sorry, God will bring judgment on them.

They don't understand that however things appear, they cannot succeed, they cannot win.

They will not even survive.

Because the picture there is the picture of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And how just, again, in an eyelid, in a blink, in an instant,

God's judgment fell from heaven

and wiped away a whole generation, several generations, in those two cities.

Big perspective.

Neither seems to know what's going on.

One, those circumstances for King David, circumstances for good, for growth.

The other, imminent judgment and destruction.

Simon's going to read verse...

Psalm 12, my voice. Thanks.

Psalm 12.

To the choir master, according to the Shemineth.

A Psalm of David.

Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone.

For the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

Everyone utters lies to his neighbour.

With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts.

Those who say,

With our tongue we will prevail.

Our lips are with us.

Who is master over us?

Because the poor are plundered.

Because the needy groan.

I will now arise, says the Lord.

I will place him in the safety for which he longs.

The words of the Lord are pure words.

Like silver refined in a furnace on the ground.

Purified seven times.

You, O Lord, will keep them.

You will guard us from this generation forever.

On every side the wicked prowl.

As vileness is exalted among the children of man.

David's starting point in this poem is that God saves.

God is a saviour figure.

God delivers from the horrible, destructive expressions of sin and rebellion.

That's all around us in life.

God delivers from that into the good life of truth and right that God's image bearers were created to enjoy.

God delivers from the good life of truth and right that God saves.

God delivers from the good life of God.

God delivers from the good life of God.

And David longs for that because his world is filled with debased stuff.

Damaging, horrible, worthless words and communication.

And we can again identify with David's world and David's situation.

It seems to David that lies and deceit and manipulation and threats are what make the world go around.

Are the key to success.

While truth and righteousness is swept aside.

And those, quite literally, those who seek the Lord are a very critically endangered species.

As David sees it.

But then he starts to dig into what he sees.

And behind that facade of society niceness.

Political correctness as we would use terms today.

David sees something really ugly.

That is, when push comes to shove, people hate each other.

They compete with each other for permanence.

And achievement.

They're two-faced.

Double-minded with each other.

Saying one thing and doing something completely different.

And they do so, verse 4, with incredible arrogance.

Both with respect to those around them.

And especially with respect to God.

They boast that they will set their own pathway.

And that their own words will define and control that pathway.

And ultimately, they will not answer to anybody except themselves and their own words.

It's an incredible confidence.

It's an incredible arrogance.

And yet, David here sees it as totally debased.

And if we step back from it for a minute and ask the question,

well, what is it about language and reason that's so horrible when it's used like this?

And I think the answer is this.

This is at least the answer I can come up with this week.

That is, the two greatest gifts that the Lord gave his image bearers,

by which we can reflect his character,

is the gift of words or language,

and the gift of reason or thinking.

These are creative things that most reflect God's character.

But these two things are what's used most to destroy other image bearers.

To assert autonomy against God.

To build community and relationships which exclude God.

And make self a demigod.

And so, when we see words used like this,

it's particularly offensive, I think.

Particularly damaging.

Because something so good has been turned.

And therefore, because of its creativity,

in a sense,

excuse me,

in a sense we can say that people are really creative

in how they wound and destroy one another.

I'm sure we identify with King David's alarm

at the collapse of truth.

So again, a question.

Given that situation,

how could David in verse 7 and 8 then say,

you, O Lord, will keep them?

You will guard them from this generation forever.

Even as he says,

on every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

How can David say that?

How can David say that when he's so caught up in the daily evil of verbal wickedness and violence?

How can he remain confident of God's salvation and deliverance and protection and vindication?

Well, once again, it is confidence in God's character.

And it's expressed more clearly, most clearly, in that phrase, pure silver words.

The words of the Lord, verse 6, are pure words, like silver.

Pure silver words, which are powerful and effective,

and which are God's currency of communication.

And again, verse 5 and 6,

I think David is reporting what his advisor has said to him.

Only this time, his advisor is the Lord himself.

And God says, I will now arise.

I will place him in the safety for which he longs.

God is stirred to action

by the plight of those destroyed

or damaged by false destructive words.

And what does God do?

God speaks.

And the result is,

salvation is delivered.

God saves through his word.

Silver, in those days, was the currency of choice.

It was something that was easy to demonstrate.

It was pure.

It was the genuine article, you might say.

In currency and communication,

it got things done.

Well, I think that's the picture.

God's word is his currency to get done

what he determines to do in his world.

And what does his word do?

It exposes debased words.

Sinful rebellion.

Life built around lies and deceit and exploitation and autonomy.

And brings it to account.

And it delivers.

It delivers those who long to see God's name honored,

who long to serve him in truth and righteousness.

It delivers them into that very place they want to be.

The safe place of the good life lived under the Lord,

in his truth, by his words.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

Psalm 13.

To the choir master, a psalm of David.

How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.

Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.

Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him.

Lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love.

My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.

So, leaning into the Lord when fearful and intimidated.

Leaning into the Lord when battered and bruised.

And this Psalm 13.

Leaning into the Lord for his true resilience

when weary and distressed

by persistent inner turmoil of heart and soul.

David's starting point in this poem

that he believes God's promise of steadfast love.

He believes the promise.

But he's struggling to have any real or practical experience of it

because of inner turmoil.

It seems like in this Psalm,

he's just struggling.

He's overwhelmed with despair.

He's feeling at the point of this,

the battle in his heart, in his mind, is lost.

He feels as if he's actually shaken to the very core of his being,

the very core of his faith.

And I think we know only too well

the threat of external violence.

We know what it is to be battered by rubbish words.

But there's something also equally powerful

about our own internal struggles, aren't there?

It's pernicious.

It just chews away at you day and night.

Persistent gives you such black thoughts

and very little relief.

And King David describes this raging battle so well.

The bleakness.

The incredible persistence

with which that inner struggle can present.

And as I say, he's shaken to the very core of his faith

in God.

And it's in that point

that these questions start to come out.

Questions that are absolutely scary

to be even entertained in our mind.

Has God forgotten me?

That's a terrible question to form in your mind, isn't it?

Has God forgotten me?

Has he just got tired of me?

Because that's what we mean

when we say we've forgotten somebody.

We just get tired of their failures

or their whinging or whatever else.

We get tired and we move on to somebody else

that we perceive to be better.

Could God do that to me?

Or is God hiding his face from me?

And again, we think,

look, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying every day.

I want to be connected to the Lord.

I want to have a sense of richness and joy

and peace and calm before him.

But no matter how hard I try,

it seems there's no connection.

I just can't get a sense of his personal presence.

There's no felt experience of his goodness

or his grace or his mercy.

It's just darkness.

And run those two questions together

and they become a super scary question.

That is,

am I truly and completely loved

as God's word promises I am?

And friends, there's an equally scary answer

that goes to that.

And that is,

if we go with our feelings

or our circumstances

or our experience,

then the answer may well be,

no, I'm not loved

like I thought I was.

And so then the question becomes,

in Psalm 13,

again, the question comes out

in the last two verses,

five and six.

How could anybody like King David

so weary and distressed

by such terrible inner turmoil

say in verses five and six,

I will sing to the Lord

for he has been good to me.

Are those just empty words?

Is it just saying the right thing

but feeling something totally different?

I think that, again,

only comes from a perspective

of overflowing

with a new sense

of unshakable joy

and delight

in the Lord

and his constant love

and goodness.

The battles

on the inside

in our hearts

and mind

and our soul.

And my friends,

that's where the battle

is won also.

And it's won by focusing

on what is true

alongside

horrible feelings

and terrible fears.

If you look at verse three

and remember that

David is in the midst

of this raging internal battle

and yet he still speaks

relationally to the Lord.

Consider

and answer me,

O Lord,

my God.

David does not

give up his constant belief

that he is known

personally

by God

and indeed

in the blackness

of where he's at

in his internal

struggle,

that notion

that he's loved

by God

is the pinpoint

of light

at the end

of a very black

dark tunnel.

And verses three

and four,

he remains confident

therefore

that the Lord

will act

to protect

his reputation.

Not David's reputation

but the Lord's reputation.

The Lord will act

to protect

his own glory

against any

who will oppose him.

And what that means

for David is

that however

his experience

and his circumstances

feel,

it means he will

never be abandoned.

No matter

how tormented

in mind he is,

he knows he will

never be abandoned

because he is

the Lord's

and the Lord

is his.

And verses five

and six,

he's believed

in

and enjoyed

and been satisfied

with God's love

in the past.

past.

There's a real

personal sense

of God's presence

and comfort

and beauty

and delight

in the past.

And again,

we see that perspective

that comes through

so often

in the Psalms

that what he's

believed in the past

and what he's known

in the past

becomes the frame

and the reference point

for interpreting

what he's feeling

and struggling with

in the present.

And so focusing

on what he knows

to be true

about God

and God's character

pushes the darkness

of his inner struggle

back into

godly perspective.

Now,

what I'm not saying

is that it doesn't

push away the struggle,

doesn't make the struggle

cease,

it pushes it

into a godly perspective.

And this is something

I think we

shortchange ourselves

on.

The Bible is

realistic about life

and especially

realistic about

the inner turmoil

and struggle

that we have

all the time

or lots of the times.

And the Bible

encourages us

to believe

that this darkness

can last a long time

and it can cause

real distress.

darkness.

The Bible

never promises

anywhere,

as far as I can see,

that that darkness

will be relieved

in just a short

period of time.

It will shake us

from time to time

to the core

of our faith.

It will threaten

the overwhelm us.

But here's the rub,

my friends.

Darkness

is also

a mercy.

mercy.

It's a horrible

place to be

in one sense,

but in another sense

it's a wonderful

mercy.

How could I say

that?

Well,

there's no

better place

to learn

new appreciation

of God's love

and mercy

and grace

than in darkness.

There's nothing

that will help

us appreciate

the light

of life

than the darkness

of our inner struggle

when we feel

as if we're

on our own.

Because by

very definition,

light shines

into darkness.

That's what

the New Testament

tells us.

Light

gives us

comfort

that the

tunnel

will end.

It may be

a ways ahead

of us,

but there is

light at the

end of the

tunnel,

and that

light is

life.

That light

is God.

That light

is Jesus.

And ultimately,

that light

that is coming

toward us

will totally

dispel

darkness

because the

two can't

coexist.

And that,

my friends,

is the outcome

for King

David.

Focusing

on God's

character

has lifted

him above

his fears.

Hasn't totally

removed his fears.

Doesn't change

his circumstances

or the inner

struggle.

But it lifts

him above

those fears

and allows

him to have

a godly

perspective on

them again.

And that

is where he

gets his

comfort and

joy in the

tunnel,

in the

darkness.

happiness.

And there's

a delightful

anticipation,

therefore,

that he will

once again

see God's

face,

that he will

once again

have a real

and immediate

practical sense

of God's

presence

and God's

goodness

and God's

grace and

God's love.

So,

friends,

just moving to

the conclusion

now,

I want you

to take away

from this

morning that

true God-shaped

resilience is

in knowing

that God's

righteous character

is my refuge.

He is my

safety,

he's my

security.

He gives me

a peace that's

even greater

than physical

safety or

physical peace.

God's

enduring

word is

my salvation.

Quite

literally,

God saves

me and

delivers me

by his

word,

the Lord

Jesus.

The pure

word,

the true

word,

the word

that will

never be

debased.

It saves

me,

it defines

me,

it keeps

me,

and it

builds

me to

maturity.

And God's

love for

me is

unfailing

and generous.

And when

we grasp

that

perspective

then,

as David

himself

experienced,

we overflow.

What do we

overflow with?

Joy.

We overflow

with joy or

happiness,

praise.

Why?

Because we've

seen the

face of the

Lord.

And what do

we see?

Something that's

incredibly

comforting,

something that's

incredibly

beautiful,

something that's

incredibly

desirable,

and something

that's incredibly

satisfying.

And when

we have those

things all

tucked up in

our inner

landscape,

quite literally,

hell, we can

be going to

hell in a

basket,

as it were,

to use a

colloquial term

about the

awfulness of

life.

And we can

have joy and

peace and

security.

And all of

that means,

my friends,

that Jesus is

our ultimate

source of

resilience.

resilience.

As I've

said, quite

literally, he

is the word

of truth and

life.

He renews us

from the

inside out.

He puts us

in the place of

safety and

refuge, the

very place we

long for.

He enables us

to experience

joy and

demonstrate the

good life of

God's true

word.

I think, my

friends, I just

want to sum up

with Matthew

Matthew 11:28

11, verses

28 and 29.

Jesus says,

come to

me.

Come to

me, all

you who

struggle and

are weighed

down with the

struggle of

life.

And I will

give you real

rest, real

resilience.

Come alongside

me and learn

from me, for I

am gentle and

lowly in heart,

and you will

find rest for

your souls.

Happiness,

joy, freedom,

and delight.

All I give

you will be

helpful, good,

and satisfying

in comparison to

anything the

world offers

you.

So, friends,

let's remember to

preach that

gospel to

ourselves.

The gospel of

Psalm 11, 12,

and 13, made

clear in the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

rest.

And let's

remember to

move from our

circumstances to

engagement with

God in prayer.

That's what it is

to lean in to

the Lord.

Rehearse his

character.

Find new

confidence and

rest in his

true word.

Lord, let

that be the

shaper and

interpreter of

your circumstances.

Let your

perspective be his

security and

his joy and

his delight and

his satisfaction.

My friends, that

is the resilience

that we all long

to have in the

challenges of life.

Pray with me.

Lord, keep us

from going around

the old circle

time and time

again of

self-reliance

and trying to

create our

resilience from

our own

resources.

For, Lord, that

will just continue

to disappoint and

frustrate.

For we cannot

deliver to

ourselves, Lord,

that which we

long for.

Help us instead

to lean into

you, your

character,

your love,

your satisfaction,

your delight.

I pray in

Jesus' name.

Amen.