The Cry and The Cup

Verse 21, verse 13 begins saying,

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord,

at an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love.

Answer me in your saving faithfulness.

And so on.

As I said earlier, this is our third time looking at this psalm, third of four.

So the next one will come to a conclusion.

And as we've seen going through this psalm,

David is obviously in great distress and great turmoil in his situation.

He's surrounded by enemies in so many different ways.

And there's mocking going on.

He's suffering.

He feels overwhelmed and sinking in the midst of it all.

We've seen that he came with a cry of trouble.

The psalm opens with these words,

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

There's obviously just something major going on around him.

He has a confession himself.

He's looking not at just others around him.

He's looking within himself and looking and seeing the faults within his own heart.

But he's crying out in the midst of that,

Don't let me be a stumbling block in any way to those who are your people

or those who would become your people,

that my witness would not fail.

And then the last time we were looking at this psalm,

we saw how his focus is towards God.

He remembers who he's praying to.

He recognizes the reproach, the unjust suffering he is going through.

It's all because, as we saw, for his seal for God.

He's not turning his back on God.

He's not allowing, although he feels overwhelmed,

he's not allowing the people to defeat him in any way.

His focus is always towards God.

He is close to God.

That's a great reminder to ourselves that we need to be close to God ourselves at all times.

Because when we feel these times of being overwhelmed,

if we have been distant from God in the good times,

how are we going to be able to draw near to God when the going gets tough, as it were?

So we are to be faithful and close to God at all times.

As I mentioned as well, this psalm, it's not just a psalm about David.

It's not just a psalm about his suffering.

It's a psalm that points us forward to the New Testament

and always pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ and his suffering.

And it's something we want to further reflect on this evening,

the suffering of Jesus in the midst of the suffering of David as well.

And especially as we think of approaching a communion weekend in just over a week,

we want to always be preparing our hearts as we come to worship God.

But especially at a time of communion when we are focused on the death of Christ,

the cross of Christ.

We are always focused on that.

But when we take communion, we are remembering his death in that particular way

as we take the bread and take the wine.

This psalm is a prayer, a prayer that David is offering up.

And although we would always love to have nicely polished prayers

and eloquent prayers where everything just flows from us,

we know so often that that is not the case.

We know so often we can come even as David is coming here,

just where everything seems to be just overwhelming him.

As we saw before, there's almost like there's not much structure in this psalm.

He's just jumping from one thing to another.

And yet as you go through this psalm,

especially as we come to the last part of it,

you see that as he's coming near, although he seems disorganized in the start,

there is always this just coming in towards God.

God calming him.

God reassuring him.

God comforting him.

And eventually, as we'll see, he comes praising God.

And that's really what prayer does.

Even when we feel distracted, even when we think we're disorganized so much,

prayer can calm us as we come close to God.

So we come to that point where we praise him,

that he is with us and that he hears our prayer.

And especially so as we come just to look at Christ,

to gaze on the beauty of Christ,

to see the cross of Christ

in all the reality, in all the horror.

And yet there he died for sinners,

that we might have life and have peace through him.

So we continue to see the situation of David here.

And just as we come into verse 13,

verse 12 just reminds us of the situation he was in.

I am the talk of those who sit in the gate

and the drunkards make songs about me.

The gate was a place where so many of the people met.

It was like a council chamber almost.

The important people would gather there

and they would talk about all the different things that were going on.

So they were all talking about David,

the important people.

But also, it says the drunkards,

even the drunkards are making songs about me.

He was the talk of the town,

ridiculed in so many ways.

But look at what it says in verse 13.

But as for me,

my prayer is to you,

O Lord.

And so there's two things we want to see this evening.

First of all,

we're going to see,

again,

just the cry of David.

The cry

and then the cup.

The cry and the cup.

His cry,

but also his portion at this time.

And we'll see just how that ties in with our Lord Jesus.

His cry

and the cup he had to bear

for us.

When you read through verse 13

down to verse 18,

you see there

David's prayer

just pouring his heart out

to God.

And it seems in some ways

to start

in a calm kind of way initially.

Yes,

that there's much trouble.

He's crying out

to my prayer

to be heard,

O Lord.

But he says,

at an acceptable time.

It's almost like,

I don't want to trouble you

just now,

God,

but

at an acceptable time,

O God,

in the abundance

of your steadfast love,

answer me

in your saving.

faithfulness.

He seems

quite composed.

But then,

the further down you go,

verse 16,

he's saying,

answer me,

Lord,

O Lord,

for your steadfast love

is good.

So again,

maybe just a little bit

more haste here,

but he's still

focused on

the love

of God.

God.

But then,

you see,

in verse 17,

the end of verse 17,

he's saying,

hide not your face

from your servant,

for I am in distress.

Make haste

to answer me.

So it's almost like

he's just going

through this,

in your own time,

God,

answer me,

and then make haste

and answer me.

What's keeping you?

But he's not

losing hope

in it.

And what we find

is that

he is still

specific in prayer

and focusing

on prayer

and again,

it's just different

ways that we can

pray ourselves.

We pray

the Lord's prayer

each Sunday

and we pray

the Lord's

will be done.

There's a sense

of patience

in that prayer.

your will be done.

We'll wait

on your will.

But that doesn't mean

that there isn't

occasions

when we plead

with God,

when we come

with a sense

of urgency

to God,

when we need

almost an answer

immediately.

We see it

throughout the Psalms

and in other prayers

in the scriptures.

The psalmist says

in other places,

make haste,

come quickly.

All of these

kind of prayers

are offered up

to God

where the sense

is,

we need you

now.

We almost

don't have time

to wait.

We need you

now.

And so it's a

reminder to us

that we can

pray in this

way as well.

Specific

prayers

to God.

God.

And it doesn't

mean that

he'll give us

exactly what

we're asking

for every

time.

But we

plead with

him for an

answer.

And that

he'll give

what we

need.

And this

is an

example,

as we see

as you go

through this

Psalm,

where David

perhaps isn't,

his prayer

isn't answered

just as he

wants it.

because you

see,

he's not

removed from

the situation

of his

enemies being

around him

and slandering

him.

But what we

see as we

go on is he

comes to a

point where

he's able to

praise God.

God gives

him what he

needs for

this occasion.

Not to remove

the situation,

but to calm

him in it.

And so

it's okay

for us to

plead earnestly

to God.

If you look

at the New

Testament and

instructions and

prayer in the

New Testament,

you notice

Jesus teaches

a parable.

A parable in

Luke 18 and

verse 1 where

it says,

and he told

them a parable

to the effect

that they ought

always to pray

and not lose

heart.

And he uses

the example of

a widow who

keeps bothering

a master.

And in verse

5 it says,

yet because

this widow kept

bothering me,

I will give

her justice so

that she will

not beat me

down by her

continual coming.

Jesus is there

talking about

prayer.

That if we

almost keep

pleading to

God in prayer,

we don't lose

heart in prayer

that yes,

he relents

and answers

our prayer.

And this is

based on who

God is.

And that's

how David

is coming

to God

in prayer

at all times.

He's not losing

hope,

he's not losing

faith in God.

You see it in

verse 16,

answer me O

Lord for your

steadfast love

is good.

According to

your abundant

mercy,

turn to me.

He knows

who he's

praying to.

He knows

God is a

God of

steadfast love,

an unchanging

love.

And he's a

God of

mercy,

abundant

mercy.

So he

knows God

can give.

And so he

keeps coming

to him in

this way.

Never do you

see him

coming and

say,

well,

I'll do it

myself,

Lord.

You're not

doing it in

my time or

my way.

I'll just

have to do

it myself.

Even when

he's asking,

come in

haste,

make haste

to answer

me,

he's saying,

hide not your

face from

your servant.

He's not

saying,

I'm going

to do it

myself.

He's always

saying,

Lord,

I know

only you

can do

it.

Answer

in your

acceptable

time.

Answer

me.

Make haste

to answer

me.

All these

different

situations,

he's still

trusting

God.

Because he

knows who

God is.

He knows

what God

is able

to do.

And as you

see in

verse 18,

it's talking

there about

the God

who is able

to redeem.

Throw an

ear to

my soul,

redeem me,

ransom me

because of

my enemies.

You see,

David pleads

with God

because he

is the

one who

is able

to redeem,

able to

save,

able to

ransom.

And both

these words

tie in

with what

we have

in Christ.

David

pleads

that he

would be

redeemed

by God

and God

heard his

prayer.

And we

know it

for ourselves

today

that God

is the

one who

can redeem

and ransom

us.

And how

do we

know that?

Well,

it's because

we look

to the

cross.

As we

read in

Matthew

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

chapter

27,

what we

see with

Jesus on

the cross

crying out,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

Why?

To redeem

his people,

to ransom

his people,

to pay

the price

for us.

he's

standing

in our

place.

He's

bearing

our

sin.

He's

redeeming

his

people.

So

that's how

he cries,

my God,

my God,

why have

you

forsaken

me?

To

redeem

his

people.

God,

there's

a story

used many

years ago

to illustrate

the meaning

of redemption.

There's

the story

of a

minister

of a

church

in

America,

in

Boston,

in

America.

Outside

the church

one day,

he met

this young

boy coming

along the

street,

and the

boy had

a cage,

a rusty

old cage,

and inside

the cage

were several

birds,

sort of

just

flapping

around

in distress,

wanting

out of

the cage.

And the

minister

asked the

boy,

where did

you get

those

birds?

And the

boy replied,

I trapped

them out

in the

field.

And so

the minister

asked,

what are

you going

to do

with them?

And he

says,

well,

I'm going

to take

them home

and I'll

play with

them for

a wee

while,

and I guess

I'll feed

them to

the old

cat at

home.

And the

minister's

reply was,

to offer

to buy

the

birds.

The boy

was surprised,

why would

you want

these birds?

They're

just useless

old birds.

They don't

even sing,

look at

them.

And the

minister was

adamant,

no, I

want to

buy these

birds,

I'll give

you two

dollars,

which was a

lot of

money at

that time.

And the

boy was

surprised,

why on

earth would

you want

to give

me that

kind of

money?

And he

says to

them,

you're

getting the

bad deal

here,

but I'll

take your

two dollars,

you take

the birds.

So they

did the

exchange.

And the

minister took

the cage out

to the back

of the church,

a garden with

trees out the

back of the

church,

and immediately

he released

the birds.

And the

birds flew up

into the sky,

into the

trees,

and there

they were

singing and

chirping away.

The next

Sunday he

took the

empty cage

into the

pulpit and

used it as

an illustration.

he talked

about Christ

coming to

seek and

to save

the lost,

and how

he paid

for his

people,

the ransom,

he redeemed

his people

by his

precious

blood.

And he

said,

this young

boy told

me the

birds couldn't

sing,

but as

soon as I

released them,

they started

to sing.

And he

was saying

it's a

reminder to

us all

that we

are captive

to sin.

We have

no joy

to sing

when we

are captive

to sin.

But when

we see

that Christ

has paid

the ransom,

Christ has

redeemed us,

when we

come to

know that

and to

experience

that,

our

cry

is changed

from a

pleading

to a

praise.

Instead

of,

Lord,

answer me,

answer me

in your

time,

answer me,

answer me

in haste,

we will

come

praising.

God is

able to

change

our

cry

from one

of pleading

to praise.

That's the

wonder of

the price

that God

has paid

for us.

To redeem

us,

to ransom

us,

he gave

himself.

himself.

So we

see first

then the

cry.

The second

thing we

see here

is the

cup.

And we

see that

in verse

19 to

verse

21.

Here it

says,

you know

you know

my reproach

and my

shame

and my

dishonor.

My

foes

are all

known to

you.

Reproaches

have broken

my heart

so that I

am in

despair.

I looked

for pity,

but there

was none

for

comforters,

but I

found none.

They

gave me

poison

for food

and for

my

thirst.

They

gave me

sour

wine

to drink.

Here is

the

experience

of the

psalmist

David.

This is

his cup

as we

would say.

This is

his portion,

his circumstances

at this

time.

This is

what he

has to

go through.

And all

of us

have a

cup to

bear.

All of

us have

a set

of

circumstances

to come

through.

And what

we see

here in

verse

19 to

21 is

his sense

of being

engulfed

by shame

and being

abandoned

of all

comfort.

There is

nowhere to

turn.

Reproaches,

this unjust

suffering,

it is

breaking his

heart.

He is

in despair.

I looked

and there

was no

comforter

to be

found.

But what

do you

see here?

Just like

back in

verse 5,

he says

there that

God knows.

In verse

5,

O God,

you know

my

folly.

Well,

here he

is saying

in verse

19,

you know

my

reproach.

So we

ask ourselves,

is there

any comfort

in these

words?

We see

there is

in the

knowledge

that God

knows.

God

knows

his

every

experience.

He knows

the cup

he is

to bear.

He knows

everything

that he

has to

go

through.

And he's

not blind

to it.

And he

knows

your cup.

He knows

my cup.

You look

back to

the days

of Exodus.

In Exodus

Exodus 2:23

2,

verse 23,

it says,

during those

many days,

the king

of Egypt

died.

And the

people of

Israel groaned

because of

their slavery

and cried

out for

help.

The cry

for rescue

from slavery

came up

to God.

And God

heard their

groaning.

And God

remembered his

covenant with

Abraham,

with Isaac,

and with

Jacob.

God saw

the people

of Israel.

And it just

goes on to

say this,

and God

knew.

And it

seems to

just end

there.

And God

knew.

What did

God know?

He knew

their suffering,

but he knew

what had

to be done.

And he

took action.

And here

as David

is crying

out,

you know

my reproach,

or as he

has in

verse 5,

you know

my folly.

We could

say he

knows our

sin,

and he

knows our

suffering,

and he

knows what

needs to

be done

about it.

And what

has been

done about

it?

Well,

God sent

his son

into this

world.

Because he

knew our

cup, he

knew our

portion, he

knew our

suffering, and

he knew we

could do

nothing about

it, but

he knew.

And he

knew what

to do

about it.

And as

we trust

God, we

can be

assured that

his desires

for his

people is

for good.

The New

Testament reminds

us that

Jesus' own

experience reflects

David's at so

many points.

death.

It's

Matthew who

remembers

this psalm,

the account

of Jesus'

death.

Matthew 27,

Matthew 27:34

verse 34,

where it

says, as

we've read,

they gave

him wine to

drink mixed

with gall,

and after

tasting it,

he would

not drink

it.

Really

following on

from these

words of

Psalm 21.

They gave

me sour

wine to

drink for

my thirst.

Now, why

wouldn't

Jesus drink

this?

Because the

wine was

like a

medication.

It would

have almost

put him

out.

And he

didn't want

this.

He was in

control at

every step

of the way.

He was our

redeemer,

our ransom.

He paid

the price

on the

cross.

Not

dulled to

any of

it.

He bore

our sin.

And why

was that?

Because when

you go back

to Matthew

26,

when Jesus

is in the

garden of

Gethsemane,

what does

it say

about the

cup there?

He says

he's praying

in the

garden of

Gethsemane

in chapter

26,

verse 39.

Going a

little further,

he fell

on his

face and

prayed,

saying,

my father,

if it be

possible,

let this

cup pass

from me.

Nevertheless,

not as I

will,

but as

you will.

He took

the cup.

He bore

our sins.

He died

on the

cross.

John Newton,

wrote a hymn,

in evil

long I

took delight.

I want to

close with

these words

as we think

for ourselves

and what the

cross means

to us.

In our

crying to

God,

and in the

cup that we

have in this

life,

should we not

look to the

cry of our

saviour,

as he

cried out

to God,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

And we

think of his

cry there,

and we

think of the

cup that

he took.

If it be

your will,

may this

cup pass

me by,

but not

my will,

but yours

be done.

And that

would help

us to

focus

ourselves

to the

cross,

and to

see what

Jesus has

done for

us.

John

Newton in

this hymn,

he speaks

about his

own life

transformed.

In evil

long I

took delight,

unawed by

shame or

fear,

till a new

object struck

my sight and

stopped my

wild career.

I saw one

hanging on a

tree, in

agonies and

blood, who

fixed his

languid eyes

on me, as

near his

cross I

stood.

Sure never

till my

latest breath

can I

forget that

look.

It seemed

to change,

to charge

me with

his death,

though not

a word

he spoke.

My

conscience

felt and

owned the

guilt and

plunged me

in despair.

I saw

my sins

his blood

had spilt

and helped

to nail

him there.

Alas,

I knew

not what

I did,

but now

my tears

are vain.

where

shall my

trembling

soul be

hid, for

I the

Lord have

slain.

A second

look he

gave, which

said, I

freely all

forgive.

This blood

is for thy

ransom paid,

I die

that thou

mayst live.

Thus, while

his death

my sin

displays,

in all

its blackest

hue,

such is the

mystery of

grace, it

seals my

pardoned

too.

With

pleasing grief

and mournful

joy, my

spirit now

is filled,

that I

should such

a life

destroy, yet

live by

him I

killed.

His life

was changed

by the

grace of

God, a

life lived

turning away

from God,

but looking

to the

cross, and

seeing his

saviour, who

shed his

blood for

him.

Draw near

to my

soul, he

cries in

the psalm,

redeem me,

ransom me,

because of

my enemies.

David got

answer, and

so did you

and I, when

our saviour

bore our

sins, and

so as we

prepare

ourselves for

the Lord's

supper, we

look to the

cross, where

he gave his

life, that

we might

come and

do this in

remembrance of

him.

Amen, and

may God

bless these

thoughts to

us.

We're going

to sing to

God's praise

and

conclusion.