Concert in a Cave

Turn, if you will, to the passage, part of the Bible that we read together in Psalm 57.

! Psalm 57.

The title of the psalm is,

To the choir master according to Do not destroy a miktam of David when he fled from Saul in the cave.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God, Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He will send from heaven and save me.

He will put to shame him who tramples on me.

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness.

Concerts are put on usually in places like the O2 Arena or Wembley or places like that.

And in the past there have been very peculiar venues where concerts, places of praise, have happened.

Places of praise have taken place.

Mumford and Sons, a very famous band, they played a gig on a train at one time.

The Beatles apparently played on a rooftop.

And Johnny Cash famously had a concert in a prison, in Folsom Prison back in 1968.

But the oddest place that I ever heard a concert taking place in was about a band called Queen of the Stone Age.

I never ever heard them.

Maybe you know about them.

Who played a concert in a salt mine in Malta.

And it was two and a half thousand feet below ground.

So they played this concert in a cave to a very, very small audience.

Very, very odd and very, very unusual.

Psalm 57.

In Psalm 57 we have David and it sounds like he is having a concert.

He is having a time of praise in a cave.

He is having this time of praising God in a place that you would never expect.

In a cave.

The title tells us he is fleeing from Saul.

He was trying to kill him.

And he fled to a cave.

How do we know that he is praising?

Because verse 7 to 11 tell us.

My heart is steadfast, O God.

My heart is steadfast.

I will sing.

Remember where he is.

He is in the cave.

He is fleeing persecution.

I will sing and make melody.

Awake my glory.

Awake harp and lyre.

He is calling the musicians to play.

I will awake the dawn.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples.

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

David is having a concert, as it were, in a cave.

In the most difficult of circumstances.

And my question for us tonight is, how on earth can he do that?

How can he do that?

In the face of trouble and persecution and his life is in danger.

How can he praise the Lord in such a strange place?

Well, verses 1 to 3 give the answer.

And it's very simple.

And it's going to be very simple tonight.

He can do so.

He can concert in a cave because he knows three things.

He believes three things.

He focuses on three things.

Three things.

He reminds himself of three things.

God's protection.

God's purpose.

And God's...

And I've forgotten the third thing.

Promise.

God's protection.

God's purpose.

And God's promise.

And each of these is reflected in the verses.

Each of the verses that we're going to look at tonight.

And what was true for David is true for you and for me.

If it's true for David, it is true for us tonight.

If we have a cave experience.

If we have a challenging experience.

If we're in an experience where life is really tough.

And life is really difficult.

And who isn't in that situation tonight?

Can we praise the Lord?

Yes, we can.

When we follow David's example.

First of all, he reflects on God's protection in verse 1.

Be merciful to me, O God.

Be merciful to me.

For in you my soul takes refuge in the shadow of your wings.

I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by.

Where David was in a place of real danger.

In a place of real dilemma.

He focuses on the fact that he is actually safe.

He is safe.

He is safe under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty.

Not that God has wings.

Friends, you know that.

God doesn't have wings.

God is not a bird.

But it's imagery.

It's images that the Bible uses to depict what God does.

And how God is a protector.

Just like a bird protects her young.

So God protects all those who will come and take refuge under his wings.

And I love that image.

I love that image because it's very much a maternal image.

Even though God does not have gender.

You know that.

God is not male or female.

God is spirit.

Infinite, eternal and unchangeable.

But he chooses to describe himself in ways that are both paternal, like a father.

And also maternal, like a mother.

And he uses that imagery particularly when he describes God as having wings under which he can find safety and protection.

And the Bible uses this imagery again and again.

In the image of God's wings and protection and safety under the wings of God.

Under the wings of the Almighty.

In Exodus 19, Moses says,

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians.

How I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

A beautiful passage.

A beautiful picture of God carrying the Israelites on his wings.

Taking them to safety.

Taking them to a place of safety under a place of protection.

And in Psalm 91, we sang it together there tonight in verses 1 to 4.

The psalmist David talks about being covered under the wings of the Almighty.

Friends, tonight, David was able to sing because he knew God's protection.

God's protection surrounding him like wings surrounding the wings of a bird surrounding her little ones.

Doesn't it echo the words of Jesus outside of Jerusalem?

Where Jesus in Matthew 23, he's looking at this city that's bound for destruction.

And he says,

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you.

How often I would have longed to protect you.

Longed to save you.

Longed to gather you.

As a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.

But you would not.

But that same protection that the Lord depicts and that David depicts for us is the protection that we are offered tonight.

That we are promised tonight.

That we are provided tonight.

In our cave.

Whatever our cave is.

Whatever our challenge is.

Whatever our difficulty is.

We can be assured of the Lord's protection.

Which is maternal and majestic.

Which is personal and permanent.

You know, recently we'll have heard.

It's been in the news over the last couple of years.

How Prince Harry, when he stood down from his royal duties.

One of the problems with that was that his close protection was removed.

He no longer had the promise and provision of close protection wherever he went.

Because he was no longer deemed to be undertaking royal duties.

And he complained.

And I think he went to court about that.

Because he wanted to be protected.

But he didn't have it anymore.

That will never happen to you or me tonight, friends.

In Christ, we are children of the living God.

And we are children of the King.

We are royal children.

And his protection will never ever be taken from us.

He will never ever remove his close protection.

He will never ever lift off his wings.

So that we are not protected.

That does not mean to say.

That we are not going to go through hard times and difficult times.

It does not mean to say that we will not be hurt either.

But we will not be harmed.

There is a difference.

We will be hurt.

Things will cause us pain.

But they will not be for our harm.

Why?

Because we are under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty.

He has promised never ever to leave us vulnerable in that respect.

It is an amazing story.

You remember that story.

I am sure the kids here tonight will have heard this.

The story of the mother hen.

A farm yard went on fire.

And everything in the farm yard was lost.

The farmer was at his woods end because everything was burnt to a cinder.

And he lost everything.

And all his sheep and cattle and stock and barns and everything else was lost.

And as he was surveying this awful scene of just total devastation.

He hears the chirping of these little chicks.

And he was wondering where is this noise coming from?

And he sees this burnt to death mother hen.

And he realizes the chirping of these chicks is coming from under this hen.

And lifts the dead body of this poor hen.

And finds these little chicks underneath.

The mother hen refused to move.

Even though fire came upon her and upon her chicks.

Refused to move so that she would save her little ones.

You see they knew protection under the shadow of her wings.

And that friends is the protection that you and I have tonight.

We are protected.

It was George Whitefield I think who said that we are immortal until God says otherwise.

Believe that.

We are absolutely immortal.

Nothing can touch us unless God allows it.

And we will never be taken away from this world until God says that is the time.

We know the Lord's protection.

Do you know the Lord's protection tonight?

Do you know the protection of Jesus?

Which has taken away God's judgment from us ultimately and forever.

Because he bore that fire of hell for us.

So that we would never ever suffer that.

And promises to be that protective loving presence for us and to us all the days of our lives.

David could sing concert in a cave because he knew God's protection.

David could sing or concert in a cave because he also believed in God's purpose.

Look at verse 2.

I cry out to God most high.

To God who fulfills his purpose for me.

So David is in this cave and he believes that he's in this cave according to the purpose of God.

Remember what it is friends.

Remember what is chasing him or who is chasing him.

He doesn't dismiss the fact that that is all under the purpose of God.

He attributes this to the purpose of God.

Even where he is at that time.

He doesn't see it as random.

He doesn't see it as accidental.

He doesn't see it as meaningless.

He sees this cave experience.

This fearful experience as part of a loving, sovereign, omnipotent father who chooses motherly imagery to communicate his deep love.

As well as fatherly imagery as well.

To impress upon him,

I love you and I'm going to look after you.

Stuart Townend's hymn, The Perfect Wisdom of Our God, describes this idea of purpose perfectly and wonderfully.

A line goes,

And that's what David is saying.

Lord, I'm choosing your perfect will in your perfect way and I can praise you for that.

I'm choosing to believe that nothing happens by accident and everything happens by design and it's all according to your purpose.

And that gives me stability and strength to be able to praise you in the cave.

Even when Saul was trying to kill him,

He was able to praise God because of his purpose.

So what is God's purpose?

What are we to remember when we're in this cave?

When we're in this place of challenge and difficulty?

How are we?

What are we to remember so that we too can maybe even move?

Sometimes it can't happen immediately.

Sometimes we take a time to get to that place.

But to, like David, concert in that cave.

Praise from that prison.

What is God's purpose in each of our circumstances and situations?

There's three things.

The first is God's glory.

Everything is for God's glory.

That's the supreme purpose of our lives.

Remember the shorter catechism opens with what is the purpose of our lives?

Or it's actually what is the chief end of man?

Man's chief end.

Our purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

That's the whole reason for our living.

Everything God does, therefore, is ultimately to display his glory.

And that means to display who he is.

His holiness.

His majesty.

His wisdom.

His justice.

His love.

So that in all that God does in creation or in redemption or in providence,

which just means how our lives work out,

we need to have God's glory in mind.

So when David says,

praying to God who fulfills his purpose for me,

for me rather,

David isn't saying that God's,

God's going to help me achieve my goals in life.

But what he is saying is,

God is going to achieve his glory through my life.

Even in a cave.

Even through a cave,

God is going to achieve his glory.

Creation displays the glory of God, doesn't it, friends?

The heavens, God's glory, do declare.

The cross displays God's glory.

There's no greater place, I don't believe,

that the glory of God is seen than in the cross,

where God's justice and love kiss together,

where Jesus takes the justice of God,

and through that, taking our sins upon himself,

we can know the love of God,

being kissed by God in mercy and love.

What glory is seen upon the cross?

And your life and my life in the cave,

our cave experience shows the glory of God.

How can your cave experience tonight reflect God's glory?

What is it about that experience

that's going to show who God is

and show how wonderful he is?

He works in the cave,

and he works through the cave at all times.

And what we need to do is reflect on that

and remember that it is all for God's glory.

So God's purpose is his glory.

Secondly, it's our good.

God's purpose is for our good.

David knew that.

We know that.

We know Romans 8 and 28,

that in all things God works.

God works all things together

for the good of those who love him.

It's not that all things are good.

Certainly Saul seeking to kill David,

you couldn't say that was good.

Certainly wasn't good.

But he works all things for good.

God takes the worst things of life,

the cave experiences of life,

the awful things of life,

and he will work them out for our good.

Everything.

Not just some things or even most things,

but all things.

God's purposes, friends,

are never bare sovereignty,

but they are fatherly sovereignty,

loving sovereignty.

He loves us.

He cares for us.

And he will work all of our cave-like experiences,

like he did with David,

for his glory and for our good.

Think of Joseph in prison.

Joseph had a tough deal.

I mean, he was in a pit with his brothers

who were going to kill him,

and then he went to Egypt,

and then he was thrown into another pit

through no fault of his own.

He was faithful.

And for years and years,

he was in a cave,

in a pit-like experience.

He was struggling,

not just day after day or week after week,

but year after year.

And at the end of it,

what was the good in that?

What was the good in that?

Well,

Joseph's experience meant

that he was risen to prominence,

and he then fed the world.

Remember that song,

Feed the World.

Well,

Joseph literally did feed the known world

because it was in famine.

But that was for his good.

That was the experience for his good eventually.

Or think of Paul and Silas in prison.

Paul and Silas.

David is running away.

Paul and Silas couldn't run away.

They were in Philippi,

and they were preaching the gospel,

and they were arrested,

and they were flogged.

And friends,

listen,

flogging is not beating somebody up.

Flogging was horrendous.

You could be flogged

to within an inch of your life.

They were flogged,

and mocked,

and beaten,

and put in the inner stocks,

in this most,

most,

you know,

high security part of a prison.

Couldn't get any worse.

And what are they doing?

They're singing hymns,

and praising God.

And we might look in this scenario,

and say,

what are you doing singing hymns,

and praising God?

You're in a terrible cave-like experience.

Well,

look at the good that came out of that.

What good came out of that experience,

friends?

The jailer was saved.

It was through that experience,

through Paul and Silas,

going into that jail,

that the Philippine jailer said,

what must I do to be saved?

And Paul said,

believe in the Lord Jesus,

and you will be saved.

You might have thought,

what was the good in that?

And here's the answer.

A jailer was saved.

And ultimately,

I think,

think of Jesus.

You look at his experiences,

a man of sorrow,

acquainted with suffering,

who plumbed the deepest cave,

the deepest depths,

who went to hell itself,

friends.

That's what he did.

The darkness on the cross

is hell.

It's been banished

from the presence of God forever.

He went there.

And you might look at that

and think,

what was the point in that?

What was the good in that?

Well,

so that you could be saved

and that I can be saved.

You see,

God does work

all things together

for our good.

And he works our cave experiences

together

for our good.

He does so

so that we can,

through time,

also,

with David,

concert

in the cave.

His purposes

are his glory

and his good,

our good rather,

and then

our growth.

He takes us

into these caves

as he did with David

to transform our lives,

to grow us.

Basically,

I think it's

to save

and to sanctify us.

That's really why.

How many people

have come to know Christ

through the most difficult

and challenging

of circumstances?

Cave-like.

Very often,

he takes us

to fearful pits

and mighty clay.

He takes us

to Woodsen Corner

to take us

to an end of ourselves.

And often,

that is where

we cry out to the Lord.

Psalm 107

says it again and again

as he depicts

the experiences

of these people.

They cry out to the Lord.

The Lord uses

cave-like experiences

to save us.

Maybe tonight

you're in a cave,

an awful cave,

a dark cave,

a terrible cave,

and you're not saved.

And the reason is,

that's what God

is going to use

for his glory

and for your good

and ultimately

for your growth,

for you to come

to Christ

and to believe in him

and to rest in him

and to know peace

and joy

in following him

and living for him.

He uses these caves

like experiences

to save us

but also to sanctify us.

Those of us here tonight

who are grey-headed

or getting there,

you know more than any

that the hard experiences

of life

are the ones

that have matured

and refined

and grown us up

in ways

that we wouldn't

otherwise choose.

Life experience

with the Lord

teaches us

that.

And the Lord

in cave-like experiences

for us

is actually,

the ultimate purpose

for us

is to become

Christ-like.

that we will become

conformed

to the likeness

of Jesus

who himself suffered

like no man suffered.

So that he not only

walks with us

in suffering

but he begins

to make us like him

in suffering.

In suffering

in ways

we would not choose

and we would not ask for

but the Lord

chooses

in his sovereign purpose

to bring us

to them.

So,

how can David

sing

or concert

in that cave?

How can he do that?

He can do that

by knowing God's protection

by knowing God's purpose

by reflecting

on God's purpose

in that experience

and I ask us all

tonight

to reflect

on God's purpose

for us

where we are

that we might also

like David

be able

to move forward

in praise.

So it's God's

protection

and God's purpose

and the third

and final reason

that David

is able to concert

in the cave

is because he trusted

in God's promise

in verse 3.

He will send me

from heaven.

He will send from heaven

and save me.

He will put to shame

him who tramples on me.

God will send out

his steadfast love

and his faithfulness

and he uses these words

steadfast love

and faithfulness

again throughout the psalm.

These are very,

very important words.

David knew

and could sing

God's praise

because he believed

that God was going,

God's promise was

he was going to save him

from the cave-like experience.

He says,

he will send from heaven.

He will save me.

There's no may

or might

or perhaps

90% sure

he will save.

How does he believe that?

Because that

is God's promise.

God always promises

to save.

God always promises

to redeem.

And he does so

as David says,

sending from heaven

his steadfast love

and his faithfulness.

These are two very important words

in the Bible.

Chesed and Emet.

Two words that describe

they're variously translated.

But when Jesus

comes into the world

full of grace

and truth,

that's what's been echoed.

David is looking forward

to the time

when God is going

to send forth

his steadfast love

and faithfulness

in the person of Jesus

to save us,

to redeem us,

to take us

from a fearful pit

and from the mighty clay

as Psalm 40 says.

And to set our feet

upon a rock

establishing

my way.

And so David

could sing

in a cave

because he knew

and trusted

God's promise

that this cave

is temporary.

It's not going to last

forever.

He believed that God

would bring him out

into a spacious

place

because he always

and inevitably

does.

Do you remember

that awful

incident

way back

in 2018?

The young boys,

the Thai soccer team,

this soccer team,

these boys,

12 boys

of age 11

to 16,

they were training

football,

doing football training

and they went

into this cave

and the caves

in that part

of the world

go kilometers

down and deep.

And they went

in there

and then there

was this awful

flood

and they got

trapped.

They got trapped

in this cave

about four kilometers,

I think it was,

below ground

or into the rock

and they couldn't

get out.

There was no way

that they could

get out.

They were truly

trapped in a cave

and then through

amazing ingenuity

and incredible

bravery.

They were there

for nine days.

They were brought

out one by one.

One by one

in the most amazing

way.

Check it out

for yourselves

how it happened.

But they were

brought out

one by one

to safety,

much to the praise

and thankfulness

of the world

around them.

But it's a wonderful

picture of what

God does.

We're like these

boys.

We cannot save

ourselves.

We need a rescuer.

We need somebody

to carry us

out one by one.

And that is

Jesus

who does that.

He saves us

individually

in our cave-like

experiences.

He touches our

heart individually

in our cave-like

experiences.

He speaks to us

generally

and corporately

but he will always

deal with us

individually.

Take us

one by one

out of this

cave that we're

in.

and into

a spacious

place.

And one day

one day

he will lead us

into the most

spacious place

of all.

Into that place

without boundary.

Into that place

without time.

Into that place

which is the new

heavens

and the new

earth.

When Jesus

died

he went into

the ground.

He died.

He suffered for

our sins.

He went down

into the grave

and then he

came up again

and he says

just as I have

died and risen

again so you

too when you

die you will

rise again

and you will

go and be

with me

forever

and forever.

And so

tonight on this

Lord's Day

evening as we

begin another

week there's one

thing for sure

friends tonight.

We are all

either in or

going to experience

a cave-like

experience at

some point in

time.

And through

Christ and in

Christ we need

to learn that

we can

concert in

that cave.

We can sing.

We can rise

above what the

world and the

flesh and the

devil is pressing

in on us to

think and to

feel and to

focus our minds

and our hearts

on the Lord

on his

protection

and on his

purpose

and on his

promises to

us all

in Christ.

And so our

Father in

heaven we thank

you that your

word remains

true to us

tonight.

Thank you that

though these

words of David

were written

thousands of

years ago

they reflect

our own

experiences

tonight and

we recognize

that your

word speaks

to us for

that reason

life does not

change and

the Lord does

not change and

therefore we

can trust in

you.

Will you help

us Lord?

Will you help

us to like

David reflect

his attitude?

Will you teach

us and help

us to encourage

one another so

to do as well

so that in

Christ and

through Christ

we might all

grow in

maturity.

We might all

be led to

help others

to lift up

our eyes to

God to lift

up our eyes

to heaven

and to

even in

the worst

cave-like

experience to

know that

we can

praise your

name for

your steadfast

love and

your faithfulness.

We ask

these things

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

We're going

to sing our

final item of

praise now and

this is Psalm

23 in the

Scottish Psalter.

Psalm 23.

We're singing

the whole of the

psalm and the

tune is Amazing

Grace.

Page 229.

Page 229 in

our psalm

books.

Psalm 23.

The Lord's my

shepherd I'll

not want.

And it

ends in

verse 6.

Goodness and

mercy all my

life shall

surely follow

me and in

God's house

forevermore my

dwelling place

shall be.

Psalm 23.

If you can't

stand, let's

stand and we'll

sing this to

God's praise.

The Lord's my

shepherd I

not want.

He

makes me

down to

lie.

In

pastor

drink

he

e

Again, I need to walk just there

Within the paths of righteousness

In far his own things say

Yet though I walk in death's dark air

Yet when I fear the death

For thou art with me on thy wall

Has thou become for still

My table high has furnished

In presence of my cross

My day blower does

With oil anoint

And mine above her cross

Goodness and mercy all my life

Shall surely follow me

And in God's eyes forevermore

My dwelling place shall be

And now may grace and mercy and peace

From Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Be with you all. Amen.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.