Life's Ups and Downs

Turn with me this morning in your Bibles to Psalms 31.

Psalms 31.

Does everyone have a worship guide this morning?

Raise your hand if you do not.

I want to make sure that everyone has a worship guide.

Everyone has a worship guide this morning.

Last week we looked at Psalm 63.

As Absalom was beginning to come against his dad.

And today in Psalms 31, we're going to be looking at Absalom and his men.

And when you look at 2 Samuel 15, and you need to read 2 Samuel 15 if you want to see the story about how Absalom really overthrows his dad, his kingdom.

He was meeting at the gate, telling people that were trying to go to see the king, that if he was king, he would do this and he would do that, and that he would do a better job, basically, than his dad.

And he was saying that his dad doesn't really care.

So, I mean, it was really just unbelievable all that he was saying about his dad.

And then once David's loyal men came to him and they said to David in 2 Samuel 15, verses 13 through 16, they literally said, Absalom is here, coming to besiege the kingdom or to attack the kingdom.

2 Samuel 15:13–16

And they also added, they said, and Absalom has stolen the hearts of the men.

In other words, the majority of the leadership and the men in the kingdom in David's reign had turned against him and turned to Absalom.

In fact, even his closest counselor.

So instead of, and this shows you the heart of God as well as the heart of David.

Instead of staying and fighting, because when that statement was made, David's men that were still loyal to him said, King, we'll do what you want us to do.

In other words, they were saying, we're ready to die with you on whatever it takes to keep the kingdom.

And David looked up and he said, No.

I do not want the kingdom hurt.

I do not want innocent lives shed.

He said, Let's go.

Get our possessions, get our people, and let's go.

And he left behind some concubines and wives to take care of the kingdom.

But he left before Absalom and his army got there.

So throughout those Psalm 63, and now we're going to go to Psalms 31, we see this period of time, and we really don't know how long it was, but uh two, three years, we don't know.

We don't know.

But it was a it wasn't overnight that he was run out, and then the next day he took back the kingdom.

It was some trying months and years here, and in the midst of this, he's writing psalms, he's taking notes, like we he's journaling probably, and from the very beginning of this uh conflict between he and his son, and and everything's going on.

And so basically, what we get in Psalms 31, which is probably one of the greatest Psalms for you to read when you're really in trouble.

In fact, Psalms 31 through Psalm 63, all those Psalms really are as David in the midst of some major problems.

But Psalms 31 is one that every one of us go through because we see the ups and the downs and the downs and the ups.

So, Psalms 31, put a star by it.

Put your outline in it.

Because next time you face a crisis, you want to go here.

You want to go here.

Our greatest times of prayer spring from our greatest times of need.

Can I get an amen?

And the Psalms of David repeatedly illustrate for us the fact that most of the Psalms were birthed through grueling trials and troubles of David's life.

That's why the Psalms are so beautiful and so enriching to read.

Because it's David opening his heart to God.

Not in, yes, there's some of joy, but most of them, or a lot of them, were birthed out of problems and troubles and trials and discouragements and even some defeats in his own life.

So, as we look at this, remember those unbelievable situations.

So, Psalms 31 could be set also.

Let me tell you what's really beautiful about this.

Let me tell you why I think this is such a special psalm.

Because in Psalms 31 could be set in the days, no doubt, when Absalom was rallying the people to side against David.

But let me tell you something else.

Look at verse 5.

And this is a special verse.

Into your hands I commit my spirit.

Now, who else said that?

Hundreds and years later.

Jesus.

The last seventh word on the cross, he said, into your hands I commit my spirit.

So not only was this Psalm a psalm of David, but now we see Jesus in the New Testament dying, the last words he spoke were the exact same words.

And then when you go back and you do a reference check on those words, you see not only was it Jesus, and not only was it David, it was Jonah and Jeremiah and the writer we don't really know of Psalm 71.

They all use it.

So I'm thinking if this is the last words Jesus spoke on the cross, talking about a psalm that is gonna open the heart of the Lord to us, it's gotta be this psalm.

What a beautiful picture.

We're gonna, you I really get, for me, I God said, hey, this is this is me showing you my heart.

So as we look at Psalms 31, the fact that Jesus prayed from Psalms 31 in his final moments of agony suggests that this study, as we study this prayer, and this is what it was, is David's right, and we're also studying the heart of the Lord.

And indeed the details of this Psalm tell us the story of Jesus.

So, three things this morning.

Psalms 31 for comfort when we're as one of the greatest for comfort when we're in trouble, when we're in trying times.

There's three things that God taught me that I want to share with you this morning that I think is just powerful.

Three things I want us to see in this Psalm.

Number one, verses 1 through 8 in Psalms 31, we see that David says, I'm gonna take refuge in the Lord and pray.

That's the first thing.

David reflected on the past to, hey, to find his strength in the present.

When you are down and out and you don't know where to turn, and I've been there several times.

Amen?

I've been there.

You've been there.

One of the greatest, should I say, assuring facts in my own life that I know it's gonna be okay, even though we're at that time it may not seem like it's gonna be okay, but I know it's gonna be okay because God's gonna see me through.

Why do I know that?

Because he's done it in the past.

He's never left me out there to dry by myself.

Never.

He's never, he's always had my back.

So David is reflecting this.

Notice what he says.

He says in verse 1, and it's beautiful.

He says, In you, O Lord, I put my trust.

Let me never be ashamed.

Deliver me in your righteousness.

Bow down your ear to me, deliver me speedily, be my rock and refuge, a fortress of defense to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Therefore, for your name's sake, lead me and guide me.

Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for you are my strength.

Into your hand I commit my spirit.

You have redeemed me, O Lord.

You have rescued me, O Lord.

You have taken care of me, O Lord, God of truth.

I have hated those who regard useless idols, but I trust in thee.

He says, All those that put their trust in their dead idols, I put my trust in you, the living God.

And then he says, I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy, for you have considered my troubles, you have known my soul in adversities, and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.

Wow! Wow! Notice he says, I put my trust.

Hasat is Hasa, the Hebrew word.

It means to seek refuge.

It means to flee for protection.

It means to hope in.

Beautiful saying, he was fleeing from his kingdom for protection from God in this context.

He's saying, I am fleeing to you, God.

I don't care what's going on.

I know they're after me.

I know they're wanting to take my life, they want to take my kingdom, they want to take my family, but God, I am fleeing to you for protection.

Powerful.

Powerful.

He's crying out, Psalms 46, 1 would say, God, you are my refuge and strength, the very present help in time of trouble.

That's what he's crying out.

Now notice, notice verses 1 through 4 I just read to you.

What is he doing?

He's calling upon, he is calling upon God for help, acknowledging his complete dependence on God.

Now, what's this?

Six things he says in these few verses.

Look at what he says.

Verse 1, he asks God to keep him from being put to shame by his enemies.

See, let me say something.

When you and I profess that we are Christians, okay, for us to bow down to trials, tribulations, and troubles and the persecution which comes from Satan himself, is really a bad testimony for our living true God.

Because God says, and Paul says, if God be for us, what come on, church, say it.

If God be for us, so he's saying, Lord, don't let me be.

Don't let me put you to shame.

Lord, don't let my enemies win.

Don't let my enemies take my life.

And yes, I'm sure there's some fit fear there, but notice he's concerned more about God's testimony.

Do you realize when we're in trouble, God's testimony, whoo, this is good.

God's testimony's on the line.

Is that not good?

And we have to remember that.

He says, I don't want, he says, I don't want the record books.

Let me ask you something.

If Absalom had won and killed David, would we be reading all these beautiful Psalms?

No.

It'd have been over.

Who would have wanted to trust in a God that a man after God's own heart got killed and was overthrown by disruptive, disobedient son?

No.

Notice the second thing he prayed.

David asked God to deliver him from his crisis.

Look at verse 1.

He says, David reminded the Lord of his righteousness.

I meant man.

He dared to boldly call upon God to deliver him because delivering him was the right thing to do.

He said, Hey, God, I'm your man.

You've called me, you've given me, hey, my mission.

This is your purpose for my life.

Now, Lord, boldly shall I come into the throne of grace and receive mercy in time and need.

Hebrews 4, 12.

Then notice the third thing.

David petitioned the Lord to hear and deliver him quickly.

Verse 2, bow down thy ear.

Now that paints a vivid picture of God bending down from heaven and placing his ear right in front of David.

Woo! I almost had a spell studying that the other morning.

Realizing when I'm in trouble, when there's a major need, all I got to do is look up and cry unto the Lord, and God's, I can just picture God saying, Yes, son, I'm here.

I'm right here.

Don't worry.

Don't give up.

Don't get discouraged.

Don't get dismayed.

I'm right here.

I got you.

My ear's right here.

Wow.

Bow down.

By the way, this is a psalm, folks, that you can pray just like David prayed.

And I encourage you to do it.

Then notice the fourth thing.

And by the way, Jeremiah 33, 3.

Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

He'll deliver you just like he did David in ways you don't even think.

Amen.

And then watch.

The fourth request, verse 2, was that the Lord be his rock and fortress.

Having already professed that he was fleeing to the Lord for refuge, notice what he says.

David implored God to keep him safe from the threat and loomed over his life and kingdom.

And we saw that when we looked at Psalms 121.

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence my help cometh.

My help cometh from the Lord which made the heavens and the earth.

And that's exactly what David did.

Can I get an amen?

And then fifthly, look at what he said, verse 3.

He expressed full confidence that God would preserve him.

David's fifth request was watch, for the Lord to lead him to safety for his namesake.

Now, anytime you say for the namesake, the Lord's name, any of the Lord's names, or when it says the Lord's name, it refers to his honor.

It refers to his character.

Here's another thing.

It refers to his reputation.

The Lord Jehovah, Jehovah Jirah, the Lord that provides.

Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace.

Jehovah Rapha, the God that healeth.

So when you see the Lord's name, here's what David said, saying back to the Lord, hey, Lord, your name, your honor, your character, your reputation is on the line.

Wow.

Pretty good, isn't it?

If David was overthrown, it would not only be shameful in him, but also bring reproach to the Lord.

That's what he's saying.

And then look at the sixth thing.

David asked God to set him free from the net.

Look at the net, verse 4.

The net or trap into which he had innocently fallen.

In the case of Absalom's rebellion, Absalon and his men falsely accuse David before the people, winning them over to Absalom's unholy side.

And we know that.

Unable to do anything to control this.

Now, I'm not sure that's the case.

I think David, remember, I told you I think Absalom was David's favorite son.

And I think David let Absalom get away with stuff possibly he should not have let him get away with.

He could have confronted Absalom once he heard about what Absalom was doing at the gate.

That didn't happen overnight.

It took months, months, maybe even a year or two, for him to win the whole kingdom over to his side.

But I think Absalon in down deep, I mean David down deep in his heart toward Absalom thought that he would come to his senses.

He knew he loved his dad, he thought, and that he would never do anything really to hurt his dad.

Have we ever been guilty of that with our kids?

So there's two of us.

Okay.

Thou shalt not lie.

The Lord's name refers to his honored reputation.

And I thought about the verse that David pinned, Psalms 23, the prophetic Psalm, where he says, He restores my soul.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness' sake.

Wow.

That is so good.

So good.

So David cries out, take refuge in the Lord.

And how did he do that?

He called upon God for help.

Look at B.

He commits himself to God in verse 5.

Look at what he says.

After pouring out his fearful heart to God, look, look what David did.

He said, I commit my spirit into your care.

His spirit life was in God's care because God is the God of truth.

David rested in the assurance that God would do what is right.

Can I say this?

God always does what is right.

Can I get an amen?

I kind of call this really the Old Testament, Romans 8, 28.

Into thy hands I commit my spirit.

My spirit I commit to you, God.

In other words, I'm all yours, God.

You do with it what you will.

That's powerful.

Very powerful.

But that's what he's saying.

David expressed, look at it, that the Lord had redeemed him, had ransomed him, had rescued him, had preserved him and delivered him in the past.

All those things from Saul, from the bear and the lion, from all the enemies he had fought.

He said, You've delivered me.

I'm in your hands.

I'm your man.

Therefore, because in fact the word redeem here in the Old Testament is interesting.

When you do a word study on the word redeem in the Old Testament, seldom is it used for atonement in the Old Testament, but that it is usually used in means to rescue from trouble.

So David is saying, I know how you have redeemed me from all these other situations and circumstances that I have been placed in.

God serving you, you've redeemed me.

And I know as Benji was singing, you'll do it again.

You'll do it again.

Powerful truth.

The primary meaning here is either that, and this is, it's kind of in the Hebrew words what we call in the perfect tense.

And here's what that means in the perfect tense.

It's something that you know that's already a completed action.

It's already been done.

So basically, David's crying out because of his past.

Therefore, you have redeemed me in the past, you have ransomed me in the past, and I know you're gonna do it now.

Wow.

Now that's confidence, folks.

That's courage.

And by the way, as David placed himself completely in God's care, he could never imagine that years, hundreds of years later, the Savior, Jesus Christ, would repeat his exact words as he suffered for our sins in Luke 23, 26.

And by the way, these blessed words, into thy hand, I commit my spirit, has been used by hundreds, thousands of martyrs for the cause of Christ, especially those that were burned at the stake for the cause of Christ.

Stephen, when he was being stoned.

Remember what he said?

I commit my spirit to you, Father.

Wow.

Powerful.

And then C, not only did David call upon God for help and commit himself to God, but notice he confessed his confidence in God in verses six through eight.

When we look here, look at verses six, which I I read to you 6 through 8, David turned to God for refuge with the unwavering conviction that the Lord would protect him.

He despised those that clung to the lion vanities.

In other words, he says, I'm not.

Basically, what he's crying out, he's saying, Absalom and them are no longer trusting in you.

And all my enemies in the past that have trusted in their lying vanities, they're their false gods.

Those gods that, hey, that did have, that didn't live.

They weren't living gods.

He says, all of those have passed and been destroyed.

So, Lord, you're gonna do none, hey, no less than what you've done in the past.

You're the real God, you're the living God, you're the Elohim, you're the Jehovah.

You will what?

Come through.

I can see his heart just going out.

Unbelievably.

In fact, David's confidence was also rooted in the past faithfulness of the Lord in verse 7.

This was not David's first confrontation we know with crisis.

And notice what it says.

I'm gonna rejoice in your mercy, in your unfailing love.

The Lord had faithfully considered, and notice it says in verse 7 that he had seen the afflictions he faced and he had known Yeda is a Hebrew word, personally felt and identified with the anguish of David's soul.

I never thought about this as so much as in depth.

The word Yeda here, he's saying, God is saying to David in verse 7, he is literally saying, I not only know what you're going through, now watch this.

He says, I feel your pain.

Now watch.

When he says that, this is powerful.

I mean, this is really, I'm I will be glad and rejoice in your failing love, uh failing love, for you have seen my troubles and you care about the anguish of my soul.

Notice this.

This is a prophetic statement because he's literally saying, God, you know, you feel me, you know my affliction, you know how I'm hurting.

And how do we know he's exactly right?

It's because the Lord Himself, hundreds of years later, cries out, last words on the cross, into Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

He knew what David was going through.

Now listen, here's a comfort.

I don't care what you're going through right now, what you've been through, what you're gonna go through, he will feel it and know exactly the affliction you're going through.

He'll feel it with you, he'll hurt with you, and he'll see you through.

So when you make, when you say these words, and I've said them, you just don't understand.

You don't know really what I'm going through.

You ever said that?

Two of us again.

Mercy.

Have you not had Job's friends try to tell you why you're going through trouble and you just look him right in the face and say, You just don't understand?

Who made you my Holy Spirit?

You just Hey, can I say something?

Does it matter that they don't understand?

Yes and no.

Yes, so they can help comfort you.

Yes.

But they can comfort you and still not understand.

Can I get an amen?

I do that a lot in the ministry.

Now, if you've been through what they've been through, you do understand and you feel what they feel.

When when when we deal with ladies and moms that's lost children, we've been there.

Susan and I know exactly what that means.

We felt it.

We know.

We know what you.

Hey, when you lose a loved one or you lose a mate, I know what you're going through.

I know what you felt.

When my wife died in my life, I know.

But I got good news.

As much as you want us to understand, let me tell you who really understands.

Jehovah Jirah.

The Lord that healeth.

Hey, Jehovah Rafi, the Lord that healeth.

Jehovah Jrah, the Lord that provides.

But you know what's good?

Hey, I can hurt with you, but I can't intervene and take you through.

I can be with you through, but I can't take you through.

But God can.

And God will.

That's good.

And that's good.

He knows.

He knows.

His comp.

His compassions fail not.

His mercies are new every morning.

Great is thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3, 22 and 23.

Woo! Thank you, Jesus.

And then in verse 8, the Lord had faithfully delivered David from his enemies, protecting him from every attack.

In spite of the many attempts of his foes to stop him, David had prospered.

The king was careful to attribute his success to the Lord who had enlarged his influence and kingdom.

Notice what he says in verse 8.

His feet stood strong and safe, all because of the faithfulness of God.

Now here's a thought I want to leave with you.

With this, these principles here in this first point.

The applications here are just limitless.

They abound in every statement of this passage.

Look, what should we do when we are smacked with insurmountable crises and troubles and pressures, and some of us are there now.

Here, first, here we do.

Here's what we do.

We should flee to the Lord, realizing that He can protect us and can deliver us.

Proverbs 18, 10.

I don't know if it's on there or not, but if it's not, write it down.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower.

The righteous run in and they are safe.

Whoa, that's good, preacher.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run in and they are safe.

They are safe.

And then, secondly, we should pray specifically and fervently about our situation.

Notice how David's praying here.

Specifically.

I'm telling you.

In fact, James 5.16 says a fervent prayer that is a, hey, is of a righteous and man and woman will not return void.

It's effective.

David was praying instead of worrying.

Well, if we'd do more praying than worrying, we'd be okay, wouldn't we?

Amen.

You know what we do when the major situation comes?

We we do pray real quick.

Here's what we do Lord, have me.

Or we say, help.

And then we start thinking about how we can figure it out.

How can we work through this?

What can I do?

And that's the wrong thing.

It's like, Lord, you've helped me before.

I don't have a clue.

And you've promised you will instruct me and teach me in the way that I should go.

I need your guidance now.

Now.

Not tomorrow, but now.

And that's what David's doing here.

He's just crying out.

The righteous cry, whoo! Thank you for another one.

Psalms 34, 17.

They may be, I can't remember.

I'm memorizing and study so much.

The righteous crying the Lord hears and delivers out of, there it is, and delivers him out of what?

Wait, wait, some troubles?

A few troubles?

Now that ought to make everybody say, hallelujah! All troubles.

Not some.

Not just the big ones.

But all.

It stunned me for a minute.

I said, okay, Lord, how my mindset.

So you I looked at him in the face and I said, So you don't care about the little troubles?

No, I can handle them.

I said, Oh, you can.

Have you ever thought about if you cried to him in the little troubles, you might not have to handle the big problems?

Boy, the Lord gave me that.

And he looked at me kind of dumbfounded.

He said, Man, I never thought about that.

I said, Well, how many big troubles do you have?

He said, I've had quite a few, and I'm in one right now.

I said, Well, maybe next time you ought to try to pray in little troubles.

Because if you can't deal with little problems, they're gonna get bigger.

Little problems don't go away.

Think about no, I'm not going there.

Let's go.

We got a lot to do today.

And I'm, oh, that would have been bad.

Okay.

Now notice the third thing.

First of all, he fled to the Lord.

Secondly, he prayed specifically and fervently about the situation he was in.

He prayed instead of worry.

He prayed instead of relying on his own resources and prayed instead of wallowing in self-pity.

A lot of times that's that gets us.

He didn't do that.

But notice the third thing.

He recalled the occasions that God had helped him in the past.

The fact that you live to face this crisis is proof that God takes you through.

Amen.

Have you ever thought about that?

In fact, I wrote this down, put a star by it.

God can be trusted every time.

All right.

He loved you so much that he gave his son to die for you.

Now let me ask something.

If you really believe that, do you think that he would waste his son not to help you and carry you through the crisis that you're going to face after you've been saved?

That's not a loving God.

He didn't pay that price to see you be defeated.

He paid that price for you to be victorious.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Why?

Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph.

Always.

So, Romans 8:31, if God be for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

You read all the way through 39.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

When we empty our hearts in prayer to Him and our fears and doubts, we give to Him, place them on His back, our fears disappear.

We will be given God's glorious peace.

Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4, 6 and 7.

Can I get an amen?

Isn't that good?

Remember what Jesus said in John 10, 27 through 29?

Listen to this.

You gotta hear this.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them.

They follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man's able to pluck them out of my father's hand.

Jesus said that.

He's got you.

Can I get an amen?

It brings me to the second thing.

Not only do we take refuge in the Lord and pray, but number two, verses 14 through 18, we trust in the Lord.

David looked above his troubles to the one greater than his troubles.

His family was divided, his kingdom was falling apart, and his life was in jeopardy.

All of these were beyond his control.

After describing his desperate condition, watch.

David again declared that he was taking refuge in the Lord, trusting totally in him.

I mean, he laid it out.

He said, God, this is what's going on.

My son's trying to overthrow my kingdom, my family's falling apart, and he's trying to kill me.

Protect me, Lord.

I mean, he just lays it out.

Here we go.

Look at A.

Here's what he did, verse 14 and 15.

Powerful.

Look at what he says in verses 14 and 15.

Unbelievable.

14, 15, here's what he says.

But as for me, I trust you, O Lord.

I say you're my God.

Whoo! But I'm trusting you, O Lord, saying you are my God.

Then he says, verse 15.

I love this verse.

Put a star by it.

It's one of my favorite that I memorized early in my ministry.

My times are in your hands, always in the hands of God.

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.

That's a good verse to memorize and pray.

I'm telling you, especially when they start coming after you.

And if you're doing anything for God, they're going to come after you.

Yeah, they are.

Hey, I've been accused, abused, and I meant misused.

Did you hear what that preacher said?

Next time somebody tells you that, would you do give me the pleasure?

Would you say, no, but let's ask him?

Really?

Let's ask him.

Folks, look at me.

Trust me.

You don't have to worry about what I'm thinking or what I'm saying.

I tell you anyway.

And if you think I've got a problem with you or you got a problem with me, if you'll let me buy you a cup of coffee or a donut, we'll eat a donut.

Or we'll take you to eat something, sit down and just talk it out.

We can leave there.

Hey, still maybe disagreeing, but at least in a civil, Christ-like way.

I get to hear your heart, you get to hear my heart, and then we pray about it.

And if we can I say something, you can't be out of fellowship with a brother or sister, and I'm saying this because the Lord's Supper coming up.

You cannot be out of fellowship with a brother or sister or with your pastor and partake of this Lord's Supper worthily.

Hello?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6 17, now listen, he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Do I agree with my wife on everything?

Most certainly not.

Our taste, we are as opposite as you could ever be.

Am I not?

When I know I like something, I know before I even ask her she's gonna like something else.

Especially with furniture.

Oh my goodness.

What man in here likes floral?

Come on.

I mean, it's just that's our furniture.

She did, you know, we're different.

And I finally just gave in and said, okay, you do it, you do it, you do the house, you do the house.

But don't mess with my garage.

The other day she was trying to get in my garage.

Oh now we can do it.

Uh-uh, and go back over there.

It's she sheds covered.

But really, think about it.

No, I'm being serious here.

Now listen to me.

I laughed because I knew that was pretty serious.

But you can't, you can't, folks, honor the Lord in everything we do.

Honor the Lord in everything we say.

Don't talk about your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Don't do that.

They're being talked enough outside.

Don't do it inside.

You know what turns people away from Christian, real Christianity?

When they see real Christians that are carnal, acting like they're lost, having bad attitudes, bad language, and bad reputations.

And by the way, you can't stay there if you're really saved.

If you're carnal, God's gonna get you.

He'll get you.

He'll get you.

You don't have to do it.

Defend not yourself, vengeance is mine, I will replay.

And by the way, he took care of Absalom.

Right.

He ended up getting killed.

You don't mess with God's man.

You don't mess with God's ministry.

He trusted in the Lord.

He confessed, my God, and that his future was in his hands.

Can I get an amen?

He says, You're my God.

I'm in your hands.

So, hey, save me, deliver me.

He knew that his ministry wasn't finished.

Can I get an amen?

Isn't that what he said?

That's exactly what.

And by the way, he said, the Lord.

You know what the Lord means?

It's Yahweh.

Ooh, this is awesome.

See, most people read that and just go, Yahweh Jehovah.

That means he's the God of Israel who makes covenants and keeps them without fail.

He said, You've made a covenant with me.

Woo! Get ready, get ready.

David said, You've made a covenant with me, and you don't break your covenants.

When you got saved, he made a covenant with us.

When we got saved, he made a covenant with us, and he doesn't break his covenants.

And then notice what he said.

And then he said, Oh, hey, he said, not only you're the Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, then he went on, he says, You're the God of Israel who makes covenants and keeps them without fail.

Then he said, You're the Lord, you're Jehovah, which is God, which means Elohim.

I mean, Jehovah was Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Then he said, But your God, Elohim, the God of creation, the God who's strong, powerful, one who rules over everything, which means you rule over my life, and you rule over Absalom, and this is your kingdom.

So move.

Then look at.

Verse 15 he says, My times are in your hands.

You're in control.

You're in control.

In fact, when you look at 1 Chronicles 29, verses 29 through 30, we see that he says about David, all the affairs and details of my life are in God's hands.

1 Chronicles 29:29–30

What a beautiful statement.

When they were writing, everything about David was written in 2 Samuel.

He said, All the details of my life are written and are in your hands.

Can I say this?

If you and I really mean that, we're in good shape.

Because, here we know, you know this.

You know what that means.

That's Romans 8.28.

Church, what?

We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who called them according to his purpose.

And then he presents the following request to God time and time again.

Verses 15 through 18, he goes right back, and David invokes a common.

Hey, David needed God to overpower them, to exercise both his strength and his sovereignty.

You know what he says?

Now, this gets you, this is pretty, pretty.

My times are in thy hand.

Deliver me.

From the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me.

Now, notice what he says.

Now, he also tells them how to take them out.

Then he goes on, he says, They've been talking about me, they've been making fun of me.

You God, make thy face to shine upon thy servant and save me from the mercy.

Now, powerful statement there.

Anytime in the scriptures, you go through the scriptures, you see when God's face is shining upon his people, he has favor with his people.

Anytime you see in the scriptures that he's turned his back or his face, he has disfavor with his people.

So David's saying, David made a, and this is this is what you and I do.

David thought that God had turned his back on him.

He was misguided.

And you see that in verse 22.

He says, You've severed.

Have you turned your back on me?

And then he realized, no, God would not do that.

But that's what those symbols meant.

If he wasn't showing favor, they would think that he had turned his back on him.

Let me tell you something, God never turns his back on you.

Now, what God doesn't like is your sin.

But he loves you.

But he hates your sin.

Can I get an amen?

So that's what he's talking about.

And then you gotta write this down.

Do I have numbers 6, 24 through 26 back there, Jason?

I wrote this down and I said, I want my whole church to pray this every morning.

Listen to what David evokes a common blessing among the Hebrews in verse 16.

Notice what it says: make thy face to shine upon thy servants, save me for thy mercy's sakes.

Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon thee.

Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

In other words, he said, the only way you're going to shut them up is kill them.

That's not, you don't have to pray that.

Let thy lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against thy righteous.

But now let me show you the blessing.

He's evoking the blessing out of Numbers chapter 6, verse 24 and 26.

Numbers 6:24

And what a beautiful it was it was the blessing of Aaron.

And here's what it says: The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

Pray that every morning.

Get up in the morning and pray that for you and your family and your church.

Let's agree.

Can we agree to start doing that as a church?

Let's start praying number six, 24 through 26 for us and our family and our church.

Can we do that, church?

Think a minute.

You got to hear that again.

It's so beautiful.

The Lord bless thee.

The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

Don't you want that for you, you and your family and your church and your work, your businesses?

Businessmen.

I'm looking at Wade and I'm thinking about Todd and all the Benji all.

Pray that for your business.

Every morning.

Type it out.

What I'd let's say, let's type for you ladies that know how to do all that, let's make a good picture of it and just put it up right there where you see it every day.

The Lord's face or countenance is a symbol of his favor.

Now, okay.

David prayed that his image be put to shame.

Now, let me give you a thought here.

A couple of thoughts, and we're going to wind it up.

David trusted God to fulfill his purpose for his life.

Oh, it's so good.

He says, Nothing escapes your attention, God.

You have a purpose for my life.

Our steps are directed by you.

And he knows that when we're going through trying times, it's for our benefit to teach us.

To teach us.

James 1, 3 through 4.

And then he says, regarding the statement, my times are in your hands.

He says, I know that you're under con, that I'm under your complete control.

And then last thing I'm through.

19 through 22, he says, Praise the Lord.

And here's why he says, Praise Him.

Verses 19 through and 20.

Because of this goodness to believers.

David glorified God for his great, abundant, exceeding, overflowing goodness.

Now look, comparing it to a precious treasure the Lord has stored up to lavish upon those who fear him in verse 19.

Briefly stated the fear of the Lord as a reverence for God.

And hey, thanking him for, and by the way, this is what the Lord's Supper does.

So I'm leading into the Lord's Supper right now.

Because at the end we're going to go to the Lord's Supper.

What he's saying here is the Lord's Supper is part of because of the goodness of the believers, a reverence toward God that leads to establishing a relationship through him through the cross.

The Lord's Supper means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

It means that you have taken the bread, which means that his body was broken for you.

He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him with his stripes.

We are healed.

And that the grape juice, the blood, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

So as we partake in a few minutes of the bread and of the grape juice, we literally say that we thank you, God, for sending your son to die for us so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

He was broken and bruised and bled for our freedom from sin and Satan.

Wow.

So it's because of the goodness to believers.

And then the second thing, verses 21 through 22, because of his unfailing love and kindness.

Blessed be the Lord, for he hath shown me his mercies and kindness in a strong city.

For I said in my haste, I am cut off.

Remember, I told you he he was saying that God had turned his back on him for a moment.

From before thy eyes, nevertheless, thou heard, thou hast heard me the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

And then he goes on and he says, Hey, you heard me.

Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentiful, rewarding the proud doer.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart and ye that hope in the Lord.

Wow.

Two thoughts and I'm through.

And then we'll partake of the Lord's Supper.

Did I get all your blanks filled?

Did I miss any, honey?

I get to preach it.

Huh?

What?

Oh, okay.

All right.

Yeah.

I got them.

Ready?

Two valuable lessons.

Number one.

We should always praise the Lord for his goodness to us.

You remember Luke 17?

Remember the ten lepers?

They came to Jesus and begged Jesus to heal them?

And he did.

Healed all ten.

And then what happened?

They all left except one.

Nine of them walked away, never to thank him, never to love him, never to bless him, never to follow him.

But one came back.

Are we not guilty of that sometimes?

We ask God to bless us, to answer our prayers.

And we kind of then go back to doing our own thing.

Not serving him like we said we would.

Now there's no doubt.

When I, hey, hey, there's no doubt in my mind, those ten lepers, when they came to Jesus, they said, Jesus, if you're who you say you are, you're the Messiah, you're the healer, if you heal me, I'll follow you.

Yes, sir.

But only one did.

It's not too good of a percentage, is it?

Powerful.

May we be careful to do Hebrews 13, 15.

May we be careful to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.

That is the fruit of our lips.

Hallelujah.

Giving thanks to his name.

And then the second thing, we should never doubt God's love when trouble comes.

We should never doubt God's love when trouble comes.

Far too often, like David, we're quick to assume that God has forsaken us when some crisis arises.

But as believers in Jesus Christ, we have a covenant relationship with God.

He has promised that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from Him.

Romans 8, 35 through 39.

So when catastrophe or crisis strikes, people often, where's God?

Here's the answer.

He's right here.

When 9-11 hit, the big cry was, Where's God?

You know what I said?

He was there.

What ended up?

About 3,000 people ended up dying.

Do you realize how many people were normally in those two towers?

Over 135 people at one time?

I mean, 135,000.

I mean, you read the history and go back and read the books written on 9-11, you'll see how people didn't go to work that day.

It was I God was there.

He was there.

Hebrews 13, 5.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all the day long.

We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay in all things, but more than conquerors.

Through him that loved us.

Wow.

Do you love him this morning?

Do you love him this morning?