Psalm 54 | Summer of Psalms

Before we continue, just by way of clarity for

the Christian Education Fund, that is one of

the two funds that our diaconate oversees. They

oversee the Christian Education Fund and they

oversee the Benevolent Fund that we have in the

church. And as I was recognizing just the different

kind of faith -based schools that we have in

the area, the CEF Fund is an associative... fund

for our Reform Christian Day Schools. So that

would be your Lansing's, your Highland, your

Crown Point, and your Ileana. That that fund

is there to help promote and sustain those schools.

My recognition of knowing that there are other

kind of private faith -based schools in our area

mainly is because right now there's a lot of

wait lists going on in a lot of those churches.

God is doing, or in those schools, God is doing

an amazing work in a lot of those schools. And

I don't know if you guys are aware, but Highland

Christian, the association, there's a lot more

to approve. over the last couple months, a sale

and a purchase of a school in Hammond. And so

one of the things we're going to see is kind

of the extension of that Reformed Christian Day

covenant kind of school day model in Hammond,

which is exciting, and that's going to be a new

chapter for everyone, but I just wanted to cover

that, especially as we brought in new deacons.

You still have to come to orientation, deacons,

tomorrow, but that is one piece that you will

learn about. Today we celebrate a significant

moment, right? In the life of Munster Church,

we just witnessed and were a part of actively

the installation of elders and deacons. People

called to serve and to shepherd and to lead.

This is not just a formalized process that we

do kind of just for whatever. It is a reminder

that leadership in the church is the matter of

divine calling. God in his sovereignty. gives

us this process and we can trust it, as the Bible

says, a trustworthy process. But in contrast,

as we kind of mark this important occasion, we're

also reminded that leadership within the church

goes hand in hand with the relationships we build

with the body of believers. I always say that

you guys called me to lead, that if I'm leading

and no one's behind me, you guys have not called

me just to go for a walk by myself. Same goes

with the elders and deacons that are already

installed, the new ones that have been installed

as we go and start this new chapter of leadership.

So whether it's elder or deacon or member or

pastor, we need to be intentional about how we

live together in Christ. I think that is the

key piece, is in Christ. And Psalm 54 speaks

to the trust that we have, especially in moments

of celebration, and as we're going to see today,

hardship. These are tough psalms for David to

write. There has been slander, there has been

gossip, there has been trust that has been broken.

In this psalm, David is facing betrayal from

the Zephanites. They went to Saul to kind of

give David up. And what we see is he turns to

God in prayer. And I think that that reaction

to me, you know, when people wrong me or when

people harm me, we have just a very kind of flesh

-like reaction to want to harm them, right? And

that's where I, especially in kind of counseling

psychological terms, we learned very early on

in my degree was hurt people hurt people. And

I know for a lot of us, we've been unfortunately

victims of that, or we may have been the cause

of some of that hurt. But that cycle of hurt

is there. Until you bring God into the equation,

until there's a prayer for forgiveness and a

turning of whatever thought, word, or deed it

is. David's situation wasn't just about survival,

but for his need for community, his need for

God's people to care for one another in times

of distress. So as we walk through this psalm

today, it's a prayer that I'm sure all of us

have prayed or I can guarantee one day you will

pray. Asking for God's deliverance. God's deliverance

is such a powerful thing in our life, whether

he's delivering you from some hurt and pain that

you've caused yourself or other people have caused

on you, or delivering you for stop hurting other

people. That deliverance works both ways. When

God opens our eyes to our sin, that's a big deal.

We shouldn't just be like, all right, and just

kind of move on. No, that is a big deal. That

God's deliverance is a necessity in life. And

it's a necessity for us to create intentional

and supportive relationships in the body of Christ.

The body of Christ. And here's how you know that

the body of Christ is active and doing a good

job. When they are there for you in difficult

times. Even difficult times that you've caused.

The church should be a place where we know we're

going to screw up. We're going to hurt each other.

Sheep are going to bite sheep. It happens all

the time. Shepherds bite sheep. Sheep bite shepherds.

We could get into the analogy all day, but it

would probably get weird. But understand that

God's deliverance is there for all of us. Myself

included. The five that were installed included

in all of us. But the first is when life gets

difficult, it's recognizing the difficulties,

not making it more difficult, and at first, stopping.

When we talk about repentance, you talk about

it as turning 180, and it's not always just this.

Sometimes it is. But I think there's a really

holy moment when we're walking, whether in a

sin or whatever, that point where we have to

pause and we have to reflect. of what God is

doing. That God may be bringing this up, may

be bringing a correction, a discipline, or calling

you to help and love and support. You have to

pause first. I don't know about you, I love just

walking. I don't want to pause. I don't want

to stop. I don't want to reflect. And unfortunately,

then God has to do it in a pretty aggressive

way, and it hurts. So let's start first with

a prayer for rescue. First two verses that David

has, a prayer for rescue. Psalm 54, starting

with verse 1. O God, save me by your name and

vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer.

Give ear to the words of my mouth. I think this

is a beautiful way to start. It's a plea for

rescue. David recognizes that he is surrounded

by the enemies who have betrayed him, but he

knows that his only hope lies in God's deliverance.

And here's the thing. For the believer, That

deliverance can look one of two ways, maybe three.

He can deliver you out of it. Those people can

accomplish their goal, which ultimately for David

was to kill him, and David knew he'd be with

God forever. Or that third way be some kind of

reconciliation. I don't think that's what David's

looking for this time around, the third one.

It was either take my life, oh Lord, or deliver

me out of this by getting the people that are

hurting him. Save me, O Lord, by your name. Vindicate

me by your might. His prayer is a cry for immediate

action from God. Let's pause there for a minute.

That word immediate is a funny word. That word

immediate is a stressful word, is a frustrating

word. It's a word that we can get angry by because

we want God to answer us or to deliver us or

to free us from immediately. And why do we do

that? Ever thought about that? Why do we want

immediate deliverance? Anyone want to take a

stab at it? If you're a guest here, I like to

ask questions and wait for responses. If they're

really hard, I'll put dinner or lunch or coffee

on it. There's a weight to the scale of reward.

Why do we want it immediately? Because we're

what? We're scared about something. If it's done

immediately, I don't have to be scared anymore.

Someone else? Say that again, Doug. I think that's

what Rick was talking about being scared of.

We don't want to suffer. All this bad stuff's

been happening to me. I don't want to suffer.

I want it out. And what kind of God are you that

makes me suffer a little while longer? Or, we're

the one doing the hurting and the pain, and we

just want to stop. We want it to be okay. We

want the forgiveness. We just want to act like

nothing happened. Both hold true. We want it

done immediately because we're scared and we

don't want to suffer because we don't like consequences

for our actions. I whisper that because I could

say it loudly but half of you would probably

leave because we all do it. But our actions have

consequences. The actions of those that were

betraying David had consequences. We see it throughout

the scripture. David's cry is an acknowledgement

that he is not alone in his struggles. His enemies

have sought to isolate him, to destroy him, but

he knows that God's deliverance will restore

him. Where the enemy wants to destroy, even if

you're the one at fault, the Lord wants to restore.

God is about restoration. He's about raising

you up, putting you back together, even when

you are your own humpty dumpty and you fall and

you break. He wants to be there to put you together.

David's prayer is for rescue. In essence, it's

a prayer for restoration, to be brought back

into that right relationship with God and his

people. This is crucial when we think about leadership

and community in Munster Church. No matter what

board you're on, whether you're on a committee,

whether you're an elder or a deacon, maybe you're

going to be one of the three cadet counselors

or one of the teachers going into Lighthouse.

You are a part of a team. And that's why leadership

is so important. Because it's not just about

managing tasks. It's about being present for

one another in times of distress. Elders, deacons,

especially the five new guys. I can't promise

you an easy orientation is going to be fun. We're

going to talk about a lot of stuff tomorrow,

right? But I have no idea what the next day is

going to be. That's unfortunate about it. You

already signed your name. But that's the unfortunate

thing about the life of the church because it's

filled of sinners. It's led by a sinner. Its

leadership are sinners. Elders and deacons, leaders

in the church are called to build relationships

that reflect God's justice, mercy, and compassion.

I don't care if you're, like I said, a teacher

on a committee. I don't care if you're on building

and grounds and your job is to help beautify

the church or fix the doorstop back there that

breaks every other week. Whatever it is, we are

called to reflect those things. There's a responsibility

there. Lord's Day 12 teaches us that the name

of Christ is a powerful name. That it is in Christ's

name alone that we are rescued from sin and evil.

Just as David prayed for rescue by God's name

too, we are reminded that our salvation is found

in Christ alone. That is the name by which we

gather as a church. It's the name that unites

us as a body. And it is through his name that

we are... power to build those intentional relationships

that reflect his love. But here's the flip side

to that restoration, that God's name, Christ's

name, is also about reconciliation. He came to

restore broken relationships between God and

humanity and among his people. If you are in

Christ, and I am in Christ, and we are in conflict,

hurt and pain, both ways, one way, doesn't matter.

If you are in Christ, I am in Christ, we should

be able to restore, but there's still fear and

there's still consequences. Yes, would I love

it if we could just take a portal out of that

conflict, bloop, right, and go over and find

ourselves without all of it? Absolutely. Not

going to happen until we're in glory. We are

called to reflect Christ's reconciling work,

ensuring that no one in our community is left

isolated or forgotten. You're going to see some

changes over the next couple months and years

in the way elders engage their districts, right?

The way that we want to be intentional with getting

together as a body of Christ. You're going to

see that. You're going to hear that. We want

you to be a part of that. It's very exciting.

But we need to know that God is the one who's

doing the restoration, and we need to reflect

on that work. And it starts with prayer. One

of the things, and we started Evan, and you're

going to hear more about it at the congregational

meeting, but starting in July, Evan is going

to become our pastoral intern. He's in seminary,

and that's going to be part of his role. And

one of the things that Evan will be tasked with

in his internship is to resurrect, good church

word, our prayer ministry. And I know that there

are many of you that have been a part of that.

It actually made it on our history board about

how intentional we are to pray. And it's not

that we've forgotten how to pray. It's not that

we just don't pray at this church. We do it every

Sunday. But one of the things that I'm excited

about starting again is the praying apart. That

we're going to have a rotation of people for

a half an hour before service come and lift this

church up in prayer. And then the beautiful thing

is that it's going to be raised then to prayer

with the elders and deacons in intentional time

right before service. Right? That I then take

the prayers of those, of that group to my seat

as I'm preparing for the service. And really

what I'm doing is just playing over and over

the 1990s Bulls entry, like just to get myself

hyped up for coming up. Don't worry about it.

It's my curse. But understand that we want to

be praying as a people. We want a prayer night

during the week. These are things that we need

to get back to. And David reflects that today.

He reflects why we need to do it. Praying not

only for our own needs, but the needs of those

around us. So in this season of leadership transition,

ministry transition, new ministry starting up,

ministries continuing this fall, we need to bring

it to God in prayer. We need to commit to praying

for our leaders and one another. We need to bathe

in the name and authority of Jesus to 14 Ridge

Road and all of the ministries that come out

of this. I was reminded by a congregation member

a couple months ago, you know, that as these

ministries are starting up, Satan is set to attack

them. Of course. Why not attack during the startup

mode? Because it's easier than to just let it

go. It's too hard. It's too bad. We don't have

the right people. Done. We need to ask God to

guide us in building those relationships to reflect

love and mercy and justice. But first, we need

to acknowledge something. The reality of betrayal

and evil. Verses 3 and 4 remind us of that. When

David writes this, For strangers have arisen

against me. Ruthless men seek my life. They do

not set God before themselves, Selah. Behold,

God is my helper, and the Lord is the upholder

of my life. David acknowledges that evil surrounds

him. His enemies are not just hostile, but active

in plotting against him. These are not strangers,

but those who know him. that have betrayed him.

In the face of this betrayal, David does not

deny the reality of evil and calls it for what

it is, wickedness. The wickedness that seeks

to destroy him. And here's the rub, friend. You

and I have wickedness in us. I don't revel in

saying that, right? We don't have the, you know,

what would wickedness do, right? That would be...

WWWD, and that's just dumb. But understand that

we have that war going on in us, and it's which

one are you going to feed today? Which one are

you going to feed tomorrow, your wickedness or

your righteousness? All of that is the work of

the Holy Spirit. Not that the Holy Spirit's calling

you to be wicked. Don't hear that. But when we

are being wicked, we have that conviction. That's

the Holy Spirit saying, stop what you're doing,

pause, and turn. Because, friend, we have that

inside of us each and every day. Betrayal and

evil are real. And we are not exempt from experiencing

them. And we're not exempt from doing them. Betraying

others, right? Being evil towards one another.

Yet despite this betrayal, David still trusts

in God that he will deliver him. David's honesty

in acknowledging the evil he faces is an invitation

for us to do the same. That's what I love about

David. That's why he kept his anointing. Life

within the church as a community is not free

from difficulties. At times, there might be a

betrayal. There might be a misunderstanding or

a hurt. But again, if you're in Christ and I'm

in Christ, we can figure this out. But you want

to know what kills that? Rumors. You want to

know what kills that? Gossip. There's a reason

why discipline in the church, a mark of the true

church, is done in a confidential way. Did you

hear how both were charged this morning? Keep

all sensitive matters among you. That might be

within their person. We try not to do that as

elders and deacons for having one person carry

that burden. That is too hard for any man. But

within the small group of elders or the elders

themselves, the diaconate, whether one, two,

or all of them, or the council, the thing that

hurts the most as I work with pastors throughout

our denomination and outside of our denomination

are pastors that can't trust their leadership.

They can't trust their leadership when things

of confidential natures get breached. What a

mistrust, distrust, and breaking of trust when

that stuff happens. The scripture makes it very

clear that we are to be witnesses in the highs

and lows of life. Maybe as we're working through

a conflict in the church, what makes that conflict

worse, what makes that scar last, what makes

that bruise very visible? Gossip. When things

go out into the church, people that should have

no knowledge of what is going on because sensitive

manners need to be taken seriously and sensitively

get out. And you may say, oh, but I'm not a gossiper.

But I will put that in a prayer request tomorrow.

I may even make it anonymous. Some of the things

that I've heard in the church in 20 years, right?

It's astounding to me how people use prayer requests

as gossip. You understand, I only say first names

because you all say your last name's weird and

I don't want to get it wrong, right? I don't

go through diagnoses on stage because unfortunately

I prayed the wrong cancer over somebody and people

get upset. We keep it simple. Why? Because God's

complex. He gets it. Our prayer list is simple,

right? Because it's A, not our story to tell

all the time, but God knows. You can pray for

this person for being in the hospital. You don't

have to pray that you just be with the hands

of the doctors for that colonoscopy. You can

laugh. That's weird. Why would we put that down

there? Just pray for the procedure. God knows.

When it comes to hurt and pain and gossip, I

have heard it more times than not. In prayer

groups, in small groups, all of these things.

We just want to pray for the Smiths. As they

go through their divorce. What? That information

should not be shared. Yet we do it and guise

it at prayer requests. That's so dumb. And it's

hurtful. Why do we have to do that? Just say

we pray for the Smiths. The Smiths are not getting

divorced, by the way. That was just a name I

made up. I don't even think we have Smiths here,

so it doesn't matter. But understand, we do that.

And that is how sheep can hurt sheep. Let's get

to our catechism. Lord's Day 12 speaks of the

reality of sin and evil in the world. Christ

is our prophet, priest, and king, actively confronts

evil on our behalf. Through his death and resurrection,

he overcomes the power of sin and death. Even

the sin and death we cause each other. As members

of the body, we are too called to confront the

evil in the world around us. relying on Christ's

victory to equip us in the battle, and that is

not just sharing someone else's thought online,

but actively confronting, actively talking, actively

working through that reconciliation. Acknowledging

the reality of evil does not mean giving in to

the fear or the despair, the fear or the consequences,

right? As Rick and Doug talked about, and those

are true. We are not called to flee those. Sometimes

God needs to sit us there in front of all of

that to teach us. I guarantee most, if not all

of us, have been on the receiving end of that

look in the mirror. And we ask you guys to do

that, and myself included, the last week of every

month. As a community, we must support one another

in this battle and build relationships that are

honest and open about struggles we face while

pointing each person to the victory of the cross.

Building those relationships and creating community

that is honest first starts with confessing our

sins and our struggles. Not trying to put on

our Sunday best, not trying to put lipstick on

a pig, but being honest with where we are in

our lives. our struggles. So let's commit to

walk with one another through life's challenges,

knowing what David knew, that God is faithful

to deliver us. And as we land the plane, we land

the plane in confidence, right? Confidence in

God's deliverance. Verses five through seven,

where David writes, he will put the evil to my

enemies. In your faithfulness, put an end to

them. With a freewill offering, I will sacrifice

to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord,

for it is good. For he has delivered me from

every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph

on my enemies. Now that's an interesting way

to put it, right? That David is looking for God

to intervene and deliver him from his enemies.

There are things, right? There are imprecatory

psalms that David wrote. 16 maybe, in all of

the Psalms. And that is literally, God destroy

my enemies. And you could read that a little

bit here. In our context, I don't think we're

going to pray that, right? Especially if our

enemies are one another in the church. That prayer

ministry is going to be real bad if that's what

our goal is, right? So -and -so said this about

me, get him. That should not be our prayer ministry.

Deliver me, but first look inward. We need to

look inward, as David did, expresses his confidence

in God's deliverance, even before his enemies

are defeated. David speaks with the assurance

that God will repay the wicked and deliver him

from their hands. But David doesn't direct God

in how to do it. Friends, we love to do that.

When someone hurts us, or when we get brought

into a conflict, we love. to try to direct as

a conductor to the band of how God should sick

him. That's not our role. Our role is to give

it to God, to leave it in his hands, and allow

him to do the work. David's confidence in God's

faithfulness is unwavering, and he responds to

God's true deliverance with gratitude and with

worship. Confidence in God's deliverance is not

based on current circumstances, but on God's

proven faithfulness. God has been faithful in

your life. Lean on those times when life gets

hard. Lord's Day 12 teaches us that Christ is

our ultimate deliverer. His victory over sin

and death gives us complete confidence that God

will deliver us from all harm. In Christ, we

have the assurance that God's promises are true

and we can confidently trust in him, even when

we're walking in that sin. As a church, we are

called to live with the same confidence, knowing

that Christ already has secured the victory.

His confidence should shape the way we relate

to one another, encouraging others to always

trust in God's deliverance, to live with hope,

no matter the trials that we face. So let's commit

to being a church that builds relationships of

hope and encouragement. Our relationships should

reflect the hope that we have in Christ. Check

those relationships this week, friends. If your

relationship with one another here in the church

is based on gossip or drama or whatever, stop

it. Because that doesn't reflect the call of

Christ. That does not reflect and do justice

to the deliverance that God has given us in this

life. And whether we're here today in this and

it's a small thing that we really can easily

do or it's massive and go, this is going to hurt.

This is going to take some work. God deliverance

is real, and we need to live with confidence

in that faithfulness. Psalm 54 calls us to trust

in God's deliverance, especially in times of

hardship, betrayal, and opposition. It also calls

us to build a community that reflects God's faithfulness

and deliverance, supporting one another through

life's challenges. So as we celebrate the installation,

of new elders and deacons, as we walk into this

week with your opportunity to start praying for

them and their families daily, let us remember

that we pray for all of us, that we all have

an active part in the body of Christ. The toenail

can't say to the earlobe, I don't need you, so

we need to pray for all of us as we try to do

this thing called church here at 214 Ridge Road.

So my summer challenge. Let's commit this week

to building intentional relationships within

our church family. Let's seek out those who are

in need of support, offer a listening ear, a

word of encouragement, a prayer for deliverance.

Together as a community, we will grow in faith,

trust, and confidence in God's faithful deliverance.

Let's pray.