Help! I'm Feeling Attacked

Amen. You may be seated.

If you would turn in your Bibles to Psalm 86, I'm going to walk us through this for our good.

Imagine there is a pounding on your front door during dinnertime.

And before you have a time to react, your eight-year-old bolts from his seat, grabs the plastic stepstool, puts it in front of the front door, climbs up on it, and looks through the peephole.

Dad, there's this big hairy man outside, and he's kind of scary.

And he has a name patch.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Trouble.

Dad, there's a big hairy man whose name is Trouble, and he's knocking on our front door.

What do you do when Trouble comes knocking on your front door?

We all know that Trouble is coming.

And he wears different name patches.

Sometimes that name patch, instead of Trouble, says Cancer.

Sometimes that name patch says Job Loss.

Sometimes that name patch says Conflict or Criticism or Change or Persecution or Ongoing Debt.

Sometimes that name patch has the word attack on it.

You're being attacked.

When trouble comes knocking, when an attack comes knocking, what do you do?

Maybe you panic.

Maybe you shop.

Maybe you attack back.

Maybe you sleep.

Maybe you eat.

Maybe you watch.

Maybe you analyze.

Maybe you post on Facebook.

And in Psalm 86, when trouble comes knocking on David's front door,

in verse 7 he says this.

He says,

Psalm 86 is an example for us.

It shows us how to respond when trouble comes knocking.

Psalm 86 can be divided into three sections.

And each of these sections instruct us in a unique way of how to call upon our great God

when we need help in the day of trouble.

I'm guessing there's a lot of people in the room that know what trouble is,

but maybe need some help in knowing how to respond when trouble comes knocking.

So in Psalm 86, we're going to see three things in these three sections.

We're going to be shown how to seek God and call upon God with persistent prayers.

We'll see that in verses 1 through 7.

And then in verses 8 through 13, how to call on God with praise-filled prayers.

And then at the end, in verses 14 through 17, purposed prayers.

Psalm 86 is going to help us call out to God when trouble comes knocking

by persistent praise-filled and purposed prayers.

So let's look at verses 1 through 7.

This Psalm of David, this prayer of David.

And what we're going to see in these seven verses is that when trouble comes knocking,

we need to call out to God with persistent praying.

Persistence is being steady in a course of action,

especially when there's difficulties and obstacles and discouragement.

It's staying on target when things get hard.

That's persistence.

And in Psalm 86, we see this repeated pleading of God.

Follow with me.

I'm going to number them.

In verse, chapter 86, verse 1, incline your heart, O Lord.

That's the first pleading.

And then answer me, second pleading.

Preserve my life is the third pleading.

Save your servant is the fourth pleading.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, is the fifth pleading.

The sixth pleading is gladden the soul of your servant.

And then it goes on.

Give ear, O Lord.

Listen to my plea.

There are eight petitions that David makes in the first seven verses of this psalm.

It's kind of desperate.

But there is this persistence, this repeated seeking after God.

Because you will notice in almost every one of these verses in pleadings,

there is a direct reference to God somehow, some way,

either in an O Lord or an O God or in you.

Eight times, David cries out for help.

That's what all of these have in common.

They're all petitions for help.

Different ways, all crying out,

Help me, God.

Help me.

Troubles come knocking.

Help me, God.

Now, it's interesting that these aren't questions.

In the Hebrew, these are actually commands.

They're imperatives.

It's like David is telling God what to do.

Help me.

But you've got to take it like this.

Remember when Jesus was walking on the water and he calls Peter out to walk out to him.

And Peter goes walking out on the water to Jesus.

And all of a sudden, Peter becomes distracted by the wind and the waves.

Remember what happened?

Peter starts to sink.

And you remember what he does?

Oh, Lord Jesus, if you have a moment, please,

would you be willing to save me out of my distress?

He doesn't ask the question.

Peter says, save me, Lord.

It's a desperate plea for help.

And that is what is going on here in this Psalm of David.

It's not a question.

It's a pleading.

Pleading for help.

Now, you may be asking yourself the question,

well, wouldn't have one been sufficient?

Why eight?

It's very instructive for us.

Because I don't know about you, but when I am confronted with trouble,

when I feel like I'm being attacked,

it's going to take me a while to settle my heart in the goodness of God.

And what we see happening over these eight petitions is David calling to mind certain things,

we're going to look at it in a second,

to settle his heart before God.

When we're facing trouble,

it's going to take a little process of persistent praying

to settle our hearts on the truth of who God is.

There are a bunch of reasons in this Psalm for these petitions.

You'll notice it with the word for.

Incline your heart, O Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

Verse 2, for I am godly.

Verse 3, for to you do I call all the day long.

Verse 4, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Verse 5 is the greatest of all fours.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

David is persistent in his praying to his God,

and he persists until his heart settles on that great four in verse 5.

Who God is.

Yes, David is helpless.

Yes, David is living a life that he is seeking to be upright in God's sight.

Yes, in verse 2, he belongs to God.

In verses 3 and 4, yes, we see David turning to God, calling out to God.

But it's verse 5 that when his heart hits that truth about God,

it will change the tone of the psalm.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

The ultimate reason that David is persistent in his calling out to God for help

is because he knows that God abounds in steadfast love to him personally.

David knows that God has bound himself to him through a covenant.

That God has promised to be David's God.

And so David's prayers for help are being heard by a loving God.

All in the midst of a day of trouble.

When trouble comes knocking,

what motivates our persistent praying

is that God is abounding in steadfast love

to each of us who call upon him.

To us.

God has bound himself to us

through Jesus.

Through his blood.

God has committed himself

to us.

To hear us.

To act for us.

Because of what Jesus has done for us.

And so in verse 7,

when David prays,

in the day of my trouble,

I call upon you,

for you answer me.

David knows that God answers him

out of his steadfast love for him.

All this desperate pleading,

all this persistent praying,

all this staying on target

is staying focused on God

and specifically God's steadfast love.

Do we have any Star Wars fans in the house?

1977, the original Star Wars.

At the end of the movie,

Luke Skywalker is in his X-wing fighter.

R2-D2 is popped in the back.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

He descends into that canyon

in the Death Star.

He is cruising.

His aim is to drop two laser bombs

in the exhaust port of the Death Star

and blow it up.

Do you remember what happens?

TIE fighters come behind him,

start taking out dudes in his squadron,

and there's this guy from headquarters saying,

stay on target.

Luke is kind of like,

ah, I'm getting afraid.

Stay on target.

There's these towers shooting at Luke Skywalker.

They're shooting at him.

Stay on target.

And eventually he gets to the point,

the aim drops his laser bombs.

He's out of there,

blows up the point.

What it points to

is persistence,

staying on target.

And the target of Psalm 86

is not a Death Star.

It's God.

It's his steadfast love.

When trouble comes knocking,

we call out to God

with persistent prayers,

knowing that God's steadfast love

compels him

to not only hear us,

but to act on our behalf.

Which brings us to

the second stanza.

In verses 8 through 13,

when trouble comes knocking,

we must call on our great God

with praise-filled prayers.

Let me just point something out.

In order for you to get to verse 8,

you need to come through

verses 1 through 7.

In order for you to get to a point

where you're praising God

in the midst of trouble,

you need to first settle your heart

on who God is

and His love for you.

So when David prays

that prayer in verse 5,

in which he focuses on

God is good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love

for all who call upon him,

it changes his heart

and changes the tone

of his prayer.

Because now,

David moves in verse 8

from being focused

on his day of trouble

to be focused

on his God of glory.

In verses 8 through 10,

it's this theological center

of the psalm.

It's God-concentrated.

It is theologically thick

and wonderful.

So if you look at verses 8, 9, and 10,

it's all God-ward.

There is none like you

among the gods, O Lord.

That's Adonai.

All the nations you have made

shall come and worship

before you, O Lord.

For you are great

and do wondrous things.

You alone are God.

So they're all God-ward,

just like verses 1 through 7.

But verses 1 through 7

is pleading,

this is praising.

There's been a change.

In verse 8,

when we read,

there's none like you

among the gods, O Lord,

nor there are any works

like yours.

You could take that word gods

and it could be a reference

to angels

like you would see

in Psalm 8, 5.

But given verse 9,

all the nations you have made

shall come and worship

before you,

given the global scope

of this,

I am persuaded

that David is comparing

his God, Yahweh,

the God of steadfast love,

to all the gods

of all the nations.

And he's saying

there's no God like you

in all of it.

I play Smash Bros

with my sons

on Nintendo Switch.

And you get to pick

the character

you want to go

to battle with.

And when you go

to the screen

that has the options,

there's like 60 options.

And you know what?

I pick the one

unlike anyone else.

Captain Falcon!

what this is saying here

is that among

all the nations,

there's none

like Yahweh.

He is unlimited

in His power,

unrelenting

in His steadfast love,

and unrivaled

in His authority.

He is sovereign

over all the nations.

There are no works

like His.

He's created everything.

He delivered Israel

out of Egypt.

He delivered sinners

like you and me

through the cross

from sin.

And He is going to do

a work that is coming

in which He consummates

all things

and recreates

the heavens and the earth.

There are no works

like His.

And in verse 9,

David goes

deep ball.

He goes eschatological.

He goes outside

of this moment

of trouble

to getting a big picture

of what is coming

at the end.

All the nations

you have made

shall come

and worship

before you

and shall glorify

your name.

Shall come.

Shall worship.

Shall glorify.

He is helping us

see that when we are

in the midst of trouble,

there's a bigger picture

to consider.

God's fame

and glory

among the nations

for all time.

I'm reminded

of Philippians 2,

11 through 12.

Every knee will bow

and every tongue

confess

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of the Father.

When you're in the midst

of suffering

and trouble

and you go this way,

it has an effect

on your very outlook

on life.

that word kabod

or word glory

is the Hebrew word kabod

that,

excuse me,

and shall glorify

your name.

That word means

to be heavy,

to be weighty.

And so when David's talking

about all the nations

coming and worshiping

and giving glory to God,

he's saying

there's going to come

a day

when every knee bows

and every tongue

confesses

that God is God

to give him

the glory,

the weight,

the praise

he deserves.

This is the theological

hot spot of this psalm

and it's summarized

in verse 10.

Verse 10 is summarizing

8 and 9,

for you are great

and do wondrous things.

You alone are God.

You are great.

There's no one like you.

You do wondrous things.

Creation,

Exodus,

the cross,

the coming consummation.

You alone are God.

God.

This verse 10

is clarifying

verse 8.

Verse 8 says

there's none like you

among the gods.

And then verse 10 says

you alone are God.

What he's basically saying

all the nations

and their gods,

well,

we know

that there's actually

no other God

but our God.

So the Philistines

may espouse

their God,

the Egyptians

may espouse

their God,

and today

Muslims may espouse

Allah

but

there is only

one God

and in the words

of Isaiah,

I am the Lord

and there is

no other.

Do you see

what's going on here?

In the day of trouble,

verse 7,

we'll learn what that is

in verse 14,

but in the day

of David's trouble,

David is conducting

a private worship service.

He's given praise

and glory to his God.

There's only one God.

There is no other.

What David is helping us

to see

is how

to have a private

worship service

when trouble

comes knocking.

praying.

And what it requires

is this persistent

praying

down into

a settled

acknowledgement

of who God is

and then the realization

that God

is glorious

among the nations.

There's no one

like him.

There is none

but him.

And he is

full of

steadfast love

towards us.

So if the first part

of this stanza,

verses 8 through 10,

is the theological

hot spot,

verses 11 through 13,

we see David

responding to this.

He responds

in a number of ways.

In the first half

of verse 11,

he says,

teach me your way

that I may walk

in your truth.

I don't know about you,

but when trouble

comes knocking,

when I'm feeling

attacked,

what I can start

doing is

trying to chart

my own way

out of it.

Trying to figure out,

hey,

how do I

get through

this trouble?

And what we see

David doing here

is in the day

of trouble,

he recognizes,

he persistently

prays himself

to a place

where he's trusting

in God,

full of steadfast love.

He acknowledges

that there's no one

other than God,

the one and only,

and he says,

oh God,

because of who you are,

would you show me

the way through this?

Teach me your way

that I may walk

in your truth.

Show me

how to walk

through being

criticized.

Show me

how to walk

through being

in conflict.

Show me

how to walk

through when

unknown changes

are coming.

Show me

when cancer's

in my body

how to walk

through that.

Show me.

Teach me.

And then in the

second half

of verse 11,

he says,

in light of this

God,

who is unlike

any other,

he cries out

to this God,

unite my heart

to fear

your name.

Unite my heart

to fear your name.

I can't tell you

how many times

I've prayed

these seven words

over the last

two decades.

Unite my heart

to fear your name.

Because you alone

are God.

Unite my heart

to fear your name

in the midst

of all this trouble.

when the Bible

talks about the heart,

it's talking about

the control center

of a human being.

It's the place

where one's logic,

emotions,

and will

reside together.

Have you driven

by O'Hare

International Airport

on 294,

and have you seen

the major

control tower

that's directing

all things

going on?

Could you imagine

what's going on

in that control tower?

It's a little picture

of how the Bible

talks about our hearts.

It's the control center

of our lives.

We live out

of our hearts.

And what David

says here,

he says,

unite my heart.

Unite the core

of who I am.

And what that word

unite means is

to focus,

to aim,

to bring about

a singular focus

for my life.

Focus all that I am,

the core of my being,

on one thing.

Unite my heart

to fear

your name.

Tony Evans,

the preacher

down in Dallas,

talks about

the fear of the Lord

as taking God

seriously.

It's a reverencing

of God.

That's what

that fear means.

It's a ruling

reverence

for God.

I revere God

to such a degree

it is controlling

the way I live

my life.

So to fear God

is to be governed

by God.

He is my chief

concern

in the way

I'm living my life.

So when David says,

unite my heart

to fear your name,

he's saying,

God,

would you

bring about

a singular aim

of the core

of my being

on your

great name

that it governs

all that I do

in response

to God alone

being God.

Give me a singular aim

to live for your glory,

to live for your fame,

to live for your purposes,

to live for

your name.

When trouble comes knocking,

the temptation

will be to allow

your heart

to be controlled

by your trouble,

to be ruled

by the fear

of the unknown,

the fear

of repercussions,

the fear

of what people

think about me.

What David

is helping us with

is helping us

on the day

of trouble

to fear God

above all else

and to trust him

of how to move forward.

What we're learning here

is that we don't need

to be ruled

by our trouble

because God

is greater

than our trouble

and his steadfast love

towards you

is great

and unrelenting.

In verses 12 and 13,

we read how

David gives thanks

to God

and glorifies

God's name.

This is the evidencing

of a heart

that has been united

to fear God's name.

It results

in thanksgiving

and praise.

And so,

just to clarify,

if you're thinking

the fear of the Lord

is this

cowering,

shaking in the corner,

it is

praising God

and living

for his glory.

It is a freedom

to live

for God

and his honor.

And we see

in verse 13

how personal

this gets.

For great

is your steadfast

love towards me.

This is the second time

we've seen

steadfast love

show up

in Psalm 86.

He says,

for great

is your steadfast

love towards me.

You have delivered

my soul

from the depths

of Sheol.

Sheol is the

realm of the dead.

And what David

is saying here

is,

it's as though

he's saying,

I don't have to be

afraid of death.

It's significant

in light of verse 14.

I don't have to be

afraid of death

because I know

your steadfast love

for me

is abounding

even before,

during,

and after death.

life.

It's as though

David

has read ahead

in a Bible

he doesn't fully

have yet

to 1 John

that says,

perfect love

casts out fear,

even the fear

of death.

So here's a little

perspective.

If God

and his great

love for you,

brother or sister

in Christ,

if he and his

great love

for you

delivered you

from sin

and death,

which he has,

you do not

need to be

consumed

by the fear

and anxiety

of the trouble

knocking at

your door

right now.

Because God

has already

taken care

of the biggest

trouble

you had already

faced.

God has made

peace

between you

and him.

That's game

changer.

That's worthy

of giving him

praise and

thanksgiving.

For great is

your steadfast

love toward me.

You have delivered

my soul from

the depths

of Sheol.

When trouble

comes knocking,

we call on

our great

God with

praise-filled

prayers

that shape

how we

live.

Could you

imagine that?

A church

of God

praising God

in the midst

of various

kinds of

trouble?

people?

That's the

second stanza.

The third

stanza

in verses

14 through

17

can be

summarized by

saying,

when trouble

comes knocking,

we call out

to God

with purposed

praying.

Persistent

praying,

praise-filled

praying,

and now

purposed

praying.

there's

nothing in

this psalm,

Psalm 86,

that would

indicate David

had come

through the

trouble he

was facing.

By the end

of the psalm,

you're left

realizing he's

still in it,

still in the

midst of it.

This is a

place-in-time

psalm,

written in the

midst of

trouble.

He's waiting

on God to

act.

In verse

14, we

finally learn

the trouble

David was

facing.

Oh God,

insolent men

have risen up

against me.

A band of

ruthless men

seeks my

life.

They do

not set you

before them.

Insolent men,

ruthless men,

what they're

geared,

aimed at,

is to kill

David.

They're there

to take his

life.

Now, granted,

this is a little

bit more

significant than

being criticized

on Facebook,

but you can

still pick up

on the sense

of feeling

attacked.

This psalm

doesn't really

give us any

clues as to

when this is

taking place

in David's

life.

All we know

is what David

tells us,

and that his

life is in

jeopardy.

And it's in

jeopardy by

men who do

not fear

God.

They do not

set you

before him,

before him,

David says.

Verse 14,

but here's

what's

interesting.

David is

very purposeful

in identifying

who his

attackers are

because he's

also purposed

in quoting

the Bible.

He's making

a contrast.

He says,

okay,

God,

insolent men

have risen up

against me.

A band of

ruthless men

seeks my life

and they

know it

sets you

before them.

That's one

group.

Verse 15,

but you,

O Lord,

and then he

quotes Exodus

34,

6 and 7.

It's a quote.

He's quoting

his Bible.

David's praying

Bible here.

It's very

instructive.

He says,

but you,

O Lord,

are a God

merciful and

gracious,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness.

He's purposefully

contrasting

these two

groups of

people,

ruthless men

and his

God,

and their

posture

towards him.

These

ruthless men,

they are

full of

spite,

full of

hate,

quick to

anger,

abounding

in malice,

abounding

in ruthlessness

towards David

to take his

life.

David's God,

the God

who's bound

himself to

David,

the God

of Exodus

34,

6 and 7,

he's full

of mercy

and grace,

slow to

anger,

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness.

That's the third

time steadfast love

has showed up

in this

psalm

in the midst

of trouble.

David is

comparing and

contrasting

those people

who are

postured

towards him.

One group

seeking to

kill him,

God is

seeking to

be for him,

to demonstrate

his love

towards him.

So it's

kind of like

this,

David is

stepping back

and he's

saying,

okay,

insolent,

ruthless

men

compared to

my Exodus

34,

6 and 7

God,

full of

grace,

full of

mercy,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness

to me.

Who's

greater?

Who's

more glorious?

Who's

more praiseworthy?

Who's

worthy of

thanksgiving

and gratitude?

Who is

more

trustworthy?

who alone

is God?

That's the

one I will

fear.

Maybe you're

in the room

this morning

and you

have some

kind of

chronic

physical

trouble.

Let's

compare them.

Your

chronic

physical

trouble

compared to

the Exodus

34,

6 and

7 God.

Who's

greater?

Who's

more

glorious?

Who's

more

praiseworthy?

Who's

worthy of

gratitude and

thanksgiving?

Who is

trustworthy?

Who is

God in

your life?

If you're

experiencing

criticism from

other people,

you feel like

they're attacking

you and

you're tempted

to be more

concerned about

what these

people think

about you

than what

God thinks

about you,

compare them.

Which one's

greater?

Which one's

more glorious

and praiseworthy?

Worthy of

thanksgiving and

praise?

Who's

trustworthy?

Who is

God?

David is

purposefully

contrasting

these two

to help

us see

who shall

we fear

in the

day of

trouble.

We're to

ask God

to unite

our hearts

to fear

him.

More than

fearing change,

more than

fearing the

unknown,

fearing what

people think

about you,

fearing of

what's going

on in

your body,

we fear

our glorious

God.

That governs

our lives.

And in

verses 16

and 17,

David,

it's like a

springboard.

This truth of

who God is,

and verse 15,

David makes a

series of more

petitions.

He says,

turn to me

and be gracious

to me.

Give your

strength to

your servant.

Save the

son of your

maidservant.

Show me a

sign of your

favor.

More petitions,

more pleadings,

but these are

coming from

this solid

understanding

and resting

and who

his God

is and

his posture

of steadfast

love towards

David,

which brings

me to

another purpose

in this.

In verse

14,

David says

of these

insolent men,

they do not

set you,

God,

before them.

They don't

fear God.

But here in

17,

David makes

this request.

Show me a

sign of your

favor for a

purpose that

those who

hate me may

see.

What David

is seeing

here is an

opportunity for

his Exodus

34,

6,

and 7,

God,

to be

exalted

through this

trouble and

be seen by

his enemies.

For God to

be exalted

and glorified

and for David

to be vindicated.

As David

is praying

that God

would show

himself faithful,

he's praying

this with

those who

are attacking

him in mind.

that they

would see

and be put

to shame.

It's purposed.

It's a

purposed

praying in

the day of

trouble.

David is

governed by

God's

greatness and

it's informing

how he thinks

about people

in the day

of trouble.

He sees it

an opportunity

for God to

be exalted.

David.

And what's

got him

there

is a

series of

petitions

of praying

his heart

to settle

on his

God,

the God

of steadfast

love,

to recognizing

how awesome

and glorious

God is

and asking

God to unite

his heart

to fear

God's name.

And here

we have

now

purposed

praying

that God

wants those

attacking him

to see

God's

character

on display

working on

David's

behalf.

It kind of

raises the

question,

should we be

praying for

a sign

that God

would demonstrate

his character

on our behalf

in the day

of trouble?

Absolutely.

Pray away.

Ask God

to do

that.

But I

just want

to remind

you of

something.

We already

have the

greatest

sign.

The greatest

sign has

already been

given that

demonstrates

God's

steadfast

love in

action on

our behalf.

And that

sign is

the cross

of Jesus

Christ.

At the

cross,

God in

his abounding

steadfast

love

turned to

us and

was gracious

to us

in our

greatest

day of

trouble.

His

steadfast

love in

Christ saved

us from

an eternal

trouble over

our sin

separating us

from God.

So we

always,

if you're a

Christian,

have some

sign to

point to

on the

day of

trouble.

The cross,

God has

demonstrated

his love

for us

already.

So let's

say there

comes a

day when

you're in

the face

of trouble

and you

have petitioned

your way

down into

a settled

trust in

God's very

character.

Your heart

is saying,

oh God,

there's none

like you

among the

gods.

Unite my

heart to

fear your

name.

And that

you're like,

okay,

you know

what?

This is

tough,

but compared

to God,

it doesn't

stand.

And someone

comes up to

you on that

day of

trouble and

they say,

why are

you so

calm?

You know

what you

get to

say?

The cross.

God in

his steadfast

love is

taking care of

the greatest

trouble I

can face.

This is,

this follows.

This is

icing.

This doesn't

change my

trusting of

him.

We see

here,

purposed

praying.

Days of

trouble are

opportunities

for God's

glory.

When trouble

comes knocking,

we must call

out to God

with persistent

praying,

with praise

filled praying,

and purposed

praying.

And there's

where we find

help.

Psalm 86

is an

example for

us of

how to

trust God

in the

day of

trouble,

and to

find comfort

and help

from him.

And in

closing, I

just want to

add one

more thing.

You only

have a

certain amount

of this kind

of praying

you'll ever

do.

These prayers

in the midst

of trouble,

we'll only

pray them for

a short

while.

God.

Because there's

no need to

pray these

prayers in

the new

Jerusalem,

in the new

heavens,

in the new

earth.

There's no

trouble there.

There's only

fullness of

peace with

God,

yourself,

each other,

the new

creation.

So our

time is

limited in

praying in

the midst

of trouble,

but we'll

have trouble.

And when

we're either

being attacked

or there's

something going

on inside

of your

body,

on those

days,

we call

out to

our great

God who

has promised

to help

us.

Let's pray.

God, thank

you so much

for Psalm 86.

Would you

take your

powerful word

despite my

weak words,

and God,

would you

press it

into our

hearts so

that Psalm

86 would

sing to us

when trouble

comes knocking.

Lord, we

know that

you're the

sovereign over

all, that

when trouble

comes, you

don't bolt out

the back door,

but you are

with us in

all your glory

and all your

power and all

your sovereignty

to give us the

strength we

need.

God, help

us to

respond in

the day of

trouble in a

way that honors

you.

It's your name

we pray,

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.