Choosing to Trust, part 2

Let's go ahead and find our spots here quick.

We'll get started on Sunday School Hour as we turn back to Psalm 56 here this morning.

! Psalm 56 is looking at choosing to trust.

A faith that triumphs has a lot to do with the choices that we make in choosing to trust God.

Because, you know, we began last week with that question, you know, do you trust God?

Because that's really an important question in our life as we consider.

And oftentimes we would say as a believer, well, yes, of course I trust God.

But is it more I intend to trust God than the fact that we walk trusting God?

Because I think most of us could say we always intend to trust God.

But when life happens, it is where it comes out.

And we realize do we really trust God in the circumstances of life?

And we see that depth of our trust.

And so we're going to be looking here at a faith that triumphs.

And we saw with David here, as we see in Psalm 56, let's read the text here this morning.

As we begin here, it says,

Be merciful unto me, O God, for man would swallow me up.

He fighting daily oppresses me.

Mine enemies would daily swallow me up.

For they be that fight against me, O thou most high.

What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

In God I will praise his word.

In God I have put my trust.

I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Every day they rest my words, and all their things are against me for evil.

They gather themselves together to hide themselves,

and they mark my steps when they wait for my soul.

Shall they escape by iniquity?

In thine anger cast down the people, O God.

Thou tellest my wanderings,

But put thou my tears into thy bottle,

That they be not, and are they not in thy book.

When I cry unto thee, when mine enemies turn back,

This I know, for God is for me.

In God will I praise his word,

And the Lord will I praise his word.

In God I put my trust.

I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

Thy vows are upon me, O God.

I will render praises unto thee.

For thou hast delivered my soul from death.

Wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling,

That I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, as we just look here today about trusting you in the life,

Through the life of David,

And the challenges and things that he had,

That he experienced that we see the necessity,

But also the choice that we make and who we trust.

To trust in you, to trust in the truth of your word,

Or to trust in self.

Trust in the wisdom of the world.

You know, we make a decision on whom we're going to trust.

Lord, help us today as we'd spend a few moments to look at the principles here.

From your word, Lord, it might not just be hearers,

But doers of your word.

And Lord, we just ask it all in your precious name.

Amen.

You know, we've seen here as we began last week,

Looking at the life of David.

And we know David here was on the run,

And he had ended up in Gath.

We talked about that last week.

Gath was the hometown of Goliath.

And so here's David going to the very place where,

You know, people were going to give him a warm reception, right?

We know it was a challenge.

We know that it was a dynamic that even stirred his heart.

And we see these things taking place.

But we see here that David,

Though he was a man after God's own heart,

The Bible tells us,

David's writing Psalm 56

Against the backdrop of his experiences,

Along with fear is vulnerability in his season of life.

You know, those things are a challenge for us.

And we see here that David sees first that reality of fear.

We looked at this last week.

There in verse 3 where it says,

What time I am afraid, I will what?

I will trust in thee.

Because I want you to understand,

As a believer,

As one that trusts God,

Doesn't mean there's not going to be things that cause you to fear.

Fear is part of life.

You know, sometimes,

Well, I'm not scared of nothing.

You know, if somebody tells you they're not scared of anything,

It's probably pretty fearful.

Because they're trying to bolster themselves up

To think that they're powerful enough

Not to be afraid of anything.

Now, we learn through life,

There's things we don't have to be afraid of.

You know, if you remember as a little kid,

Little kids might be scared of the dark.

You know, darkness itself is not something to be afraid of.

When the lights go out,

We understand that that just helps you get a good sleep.

Instead of freak you out as a little kid.

You know, the little kid gets panicky when it gets dark.

Why? Because they have a misunderstanding

Of what does it cause them to fear.

They have these fears that come upon them.

And oftentimes,

It brings us to that reality

Of a fear in our life.

What time,

When we look at David here,

And we looked at the time that he was afraid here,

Because he had a genuine fear.

He was afraid of his life.

There were people trying to kill him.

Not figuratively,

But physically.

That dynamic was what he was facing

In the presence of enemies.

And we understand that,

Look at verse 2.

It says,

My enemies would daily swallow me up.

You know, David had some things to be afraid of.

And we understand that ultimately,

As a believer,

The devil's going to put out some things.

The devil's our adversary.

He's going to put some things that cause us to fear.

The question is,

What are we going to do with fear?

Because really,

That's the statement that David makes.

He says,

What time I am afraid,

I will trust in thee.

David's making a decision of what to do with fear.

And we're going to see here,

That he has those enemies,

And the plot of those enemies,

We saw there.

You know,

The untruthfulness.

You notice in verse 5 of Psalm 56,

It says,

They rest my words.

You know,

In other words,

They're wrestling his words around,

Trying to make him say something different

From what he meant them to be.

And we understand the importance

Of how people try to twist

The things of scripture.

I mean,

Today,

I'm amazed at the twisting of scripture

That goes on.

I'm amazed at how much it's twisted,

But what I'm amazed more

Is people who say they know the word of God

Get caught up in it.

There's,

I mean,

One thing about X

And Instagram

And Facebook,

There's more

What you might say

Soundbite theology

Floating around out there

That's wrong.

They rest the word of God.

You know what they do?

They rest the word of Christians too.

Trying to make,

Well,

So you mean this or that,

You know,

Or it's like today,

Let me give you an example

Of how they rest words,

You know,

You can tell them that

God calls something a sin

And how do they reply?

Why do you hate?

What are they doing with what's said?

They're wrestling those words,

They're twisting those words

To what they want it to be

And not what was said.

Because it's true,

God hates sin.

There's some things that God

Has declared that this is wrong.

It's not hateful,

But loving to tell you

Where the danger is.

But we see here also

They were unscrupulous,

You know,

They were ruthless.

Notice in verse 6,

They gather themselves together,

They hide themselves,

They mark my steps,

And they,

When they wait for my soul,

I mean,

These guys are out to get him,

You know,

And we see David walking through this,

And they were just waiting

For him to mess up.

You know,

Another good biblical example

Of this is Daniel.

You know,

We talked about that a while ago,

Daniel chapter 6,

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

And we see how Daniel

Had those other leaders

Trying to watch and observe him

To find anything

They could catch him up in

Or to twist.

So I want you to understand,

Those are things

That happen in life,

And sometimes those things

Can cause us to fear,

But we have to also be like David

And say,

I'm going to trust in God.

Make a decision to do that

Because notice here,

Not of the renewal

Or the reality of fear,

But the renewal

Of trust.

The renewal of trust,

And we looked at this

A little bit last week,

And we saw here

That when David said,

What time I am afraid,

I will trust in thee.

David's saying

He made a voluntary,

A volitional choice

Of what was going to direct him

Through the situation.

How was I going,

What things am I going to apply

To guide me through this?

That's a volitional choice.

It's a voluntary choice

On your part.

Because we have lots of voices

We can listen to

That we can choose from.

We have our voice,

You have somebody else's voice,

You have the wacko

On the internet voice,

You have the voice

From somebody in a book,

You have voices all over.

But when David says,

I will trust in thee,

You know what he's saying?

He says,

All these other voices,

Including my own,

I'm going to set aside

And I'm going to listen

To yours.

To put that as a priority,

That trust,

You know,

We understand that

He's not going to fear,

Notice in verse 56,

In verse 4,

At the end there,

In chapter 56,

It says,

I will not fear

What flesh can do unto me.

You know what David's saying?

Hey,

These guys have some authority

And power

And some influence,

Influence,

But they don't supersede

Who you are.

David doesn't negate

The fact that these people

Had ability to do something.

When you trust God,

Just says,

I trust the one who is above

And has more power

Than they do.

To trust in God

In that,

And trust,

And when we trust in God,

We're not trusting

Everything's going to work out

For the best

In the way we think.

You know,

I think that's another falsehood

That people have been told.

It's like,

Just trust God

And it'll all work out for you.

The problem with that is,

It'll all work out

The way you think

It's going to work out.

And you know what?

After you've lived a while,

You'll find out

That life doesn't always work out

The way you think it is.

We set plans,

We do things,

We set a course

And think this is the way

Everything's going to be

And we've got a smooth road

And life turns it upside down

And then we get confused.

Why?

I trusted you, Lord.

No, we trusted in what we wanted

And what we expected,

Not in what,

Who God is

And what God has said.

There's a difference

In that,

To trust Him.

You know,

We understand that reality

Of trusting Him

And we,

Even this morning,

You know,

The idea that it leads

To praise,

To thankfulness.

You know,

That choice involves

A deliberate decision

To praise God

And His word.

Look at verse 4 here

In our text.

It says,

In God,

I will praise His word.

Look down in verse 10.

In God,

Will I praise His word.

In other words,

What's David saying?

The decision is,

I'm going to focus,

I'm going to be thankful

That God has given me things

To give direction

In my life

To deal

With these things.

And we see here,

As we understand,

Psalm 33 verse 4

Psalms 33:4

Says this,

For the word of the Lord

Is right,

And all His works

Are done

In truth.

You know,

When we understand

The word of God,

When we praise God's word,

We ultimately praise

God Himself

For who He is.

And,

You know,

As you think about that,

You know,

Have you ever stopped

To consider

What are the things of God

You can praise Him for?

You know,

Think about who God is.

You know,

Oftentimes we mention God,

But have you spent much time

Thinking about who God is?

What does the Bible say about Him?

What's revealed to us

About who God is?

You know,

When you think about

That God is eternal,

The immutability of God.

I mean,

You can get a lot of

Big terms you might say,

But I want you to understand

That things of God

Being changeless,

That God is always faithful.

Have you ever considered

That God is independent

Of His creation?

His creation depends upon Him.

He doesn't depend

On His creation.

He stands alone.

How about God being intelligent?

You know,

The Bible says

That knowledge and wisdom,

You know,

He's the author of knowledge.

He's the author of wisdom.

You know,

Think about morally.

I mean,

Today,

Oftentimes people

Try to paint God

As immoral.

Bible tells us

That He's holy,

That He's just,

That He's loving.

He's the one

That sets the parameters.

You know,

When we understand this,

He's merciful,

He's gracious,

He's long-suffering,

His goodness,

His truth.

You know,

We could talk a lot

About the different things

Of God and who He is.

Sometimes it's good

To stop and think about

Who's the God that we praise?

Why is He worthy to be praised?

You know,

When we think about

Why is God

And His attributes

Of His,

That are revealed in His word?

When we understand

Who God is,

We understand

The necessity

To honor Him,

To praise Him.

When we understand

The importance

Of praising God's word,

God has given us

What we need

In our life.

You know,

We understand

That scripture

Is necessary

To understand God.

You know,

You have a movement today

That people want to

Make God

Who they want Him to be.

You know,

They want God to be

How they want Him

To be formed

Or thought.

And they'll look

At the Bible

And say,

Well,

I don't believe God is that.

You know what they're saying?

I want to build a God

That I want,

That I want to design.

I want a designer God.

That fits my image

And what I expect.

And the reality is

God says,

I am.

Here who,

This is who I am.

And in the Bible,

God reveals who He is.

Not who we want to try

To make Him to be

Or try to understand Him to be,

But who He is.

Now you might say,

Preacher,

That's a little heavy,

But, you know,

I want you to understand

It's important.

Because it goes back

To the message this morning,

How we think

Impacts us.

When we think correctly,

Things fall into line

Because when we understand

That Scripture is sufficient

For every need.

You know,

When we understand

That God has given us

His Scripture

To understand

How to walk through this life.

You know,

Scripture is clear

And provides clarity.

You know,

Deuteronomy 30

In verse 11

Says this,

For this commandment

Which I command thee

This day,

It is not hidden from thee,

Neither is it far off.

A few verses down

From that in verse 14

In Deuteronomy

It says this,

But the word is very nigh

Unto thee in thy mouth

And in thine heart

That thou mayest do it.

In other words,

God's not mysterious.

God gives us instructions

On what we ought to do.

The question is,

Are we going to follow Him?

David,

When he says,

I trust in God,

I'm going to trust God,

He says,

I'm not just giving it

A verbal,

He says,

I'm going to trust

What God says about it.

That's the principles

And the application

Of life

That Scripture

Has authority.

You know,

Oftentimes we forget

That Scripture

Carries authority.

Authority

Isn't in a commentary.

Authority

Isn't in

What some preacher

Says about it.

The authority

Is in the Word of God.

What does God

Have to say about it?

And what must

How do we need

To adjust to that?

We need to be fixed

Upon the things

Of God.

A little later

In Psalm 57

In verse 7

The Bible says this,

My heart is fixed,

O God,

My heart is fixed.

I will sing

And give praise.

You know,

When we understand

That's a choice

That we make.

It's volitional.

But it also

Has to do

With conviction.

You know,

We talked earlier

About the two aspects

Of choosing

To trust God.

There's the

Volitional aspect,

But whereby

We make a conscious

Decision

To place our trust

In Him.

Notice back

In our text,

Look at verse 3 again.

What it says,

What time I am afraid,

What's that next phrase?

What's the next two words?

I will.

That's a choice.

You know,

Today I want you

To understand

You have a choice

Of whether you're

Going to follow God

Or not.

Whether you're

Going to submit

To the things

And principles

That God has

Laid out or not.

When you're afraid,

It says you can

Trust Him.

That's a principle

That we know

From God's word

Because David

Chose to trust God

Because he was confident

That God was able

To help him.

You know,

He had a conviction

He was understood

Solidly that God

Was able to help.

To trust God.

To cast down

Those that had

Plotted against

To take his life.

You know,

Look at verse 7

Here in our text.

It says,

Shall they escape

By iniquity?

In thine anger

Cast down the people.

Oh God.

We see David

Affirm that God

Is able

To deal with those

That he's fearful of.

He's saying

God's able

To deal with the situation.

The question is

Are we willing

To let God

Deal with the situation?

Now,

I'll be honest with you

As people,

What's our first response?

Let me take care of it.

I can do

What I want to do

And we make this

All work out

But the reality is

Is that we need

To trust God

To say,

God,

I need to trust you

That you

Have the authority

And the power

To take care of the situation.

To work through

Those things

And we see here

Whether David

Was facing

The rage of Saul

Or the

Taunts of the

Philistine giant

Goliath

David recognized

That the battle

Was not his fight

But it was the Lord's.

You know,

David made that clear

In 1 Samuel 17

If you remember

We went out to

Getting ready

To go out

To fight Goliath

And he makes

This statement

He says,

For the battle

Is the Lord's

And he will give you

Into our hands.

It's interesting

David didn't say

He's going to give them

Into my hand

He said,

Into our hands.

In other words,

He says,

God,

I'm trusting you.

The same is for us today

No matter

What battle we face

Or the dynamics

Going on

We understand

That God

Is over

Those things.

You know,

Take a look over

To Psalm 24

For a moment.

Psalm 24

Look down at verse 8.

Psalm 24

In verse 8

The word of God

Says this,

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord

Strong and mighty

The Lord mighty

In what?

Battle.

Now I want you to understand

That's just not

On the battlefield

Of wartime

But that's in the battles

We face in life.

That God is mighty

In battle.

He knows how to deal

With the situation.

You know,

To be victorious

In battle

You need to know

Your enemy

And you need to know

How to overcome

The enemy.

You know what?

God ultimately

Is the one

That knows both.

He knows all there is

To know about the enemy

And he knows exactly

How to defeat him.

When we understand

That David

Recognized this

That God

Would secure

The victory

On his behalf

What he's saying

When I trust in thee

God I know

You're going to

Secure the victory.

It doesn't mean

David understood

How that was going

To come about

All the details.

You know

His old saying

That you know

The devil's in the details

There's a lot more

Truth to that

Because sometimes

We get caught up

And the devil

Gets a hold of us

Our fear

In things

As the details

Work out

Because it's not

Working out

In our expectation.

David said

I'm leaving

Those things

Up to the Lord

As we walk through

Because notice

Here look at verse 8

Thou tellest

My wanderings

Put thou

My tears

Into thy bottle

Are they not

Are they not

In thy book?

You know

Here's David

Feeling a little bit

Overwhelmed

David said

That he

This caused him

To weep.

You know

I want you to understand

That's a pretty

Powerful dynamic.

I remember

David had killed

The song about David

That got him in trouble

Was Saul killed

His thousands

And David his

Ten thousands

Here's a hardened

Warrior

Crying before God

Pouring his heart

Out to God

Saying I don't know

What to do

Life is feeling

Overwhelming

But I'm going to

Trust you

To trust him

And we see

That throughout

Scripture

God cherishes

Those things

And the prayers

Of the saints

Are important

To the Lord

And the solution

To our problems

You know

Sometimes don't

Come quickly

Or easy

We know

That God

Sees

Our tears

He cares

For our needs

And is able

To comfort us

I want you to understand

As you read

Through Psalm 56

David says

When I trust in thee

It was years yet

Before God

Overcame all those enemies

David didn't cry

Unto the Lord

And get resolution

The next week

It took a walk

Of trusting with God

Through the circumstances

And the situations

To say God

I'm going to walk

With you

Because we have

That reality of fear

But a renewal

Of trust

But also the rest

Of faith

The rest that we have

In him

The rest for the soul

You know

Because faith in God

Gives us the ability

To stand with confidence

And the strength

To continue

In the battles

We face

Knowing that our

Ultimate victory

Is secure

You know

We talked about that

A little bit this morning

In the morning message

Of trusting God

And it causes us

To be thankful

Knowing that God

Has things under control

We can confidently

Place our trust in God

Because we know

That he's on

Our side

Because we cannot

Just have the peace

Of God

Our peace with God

But we can experience

The peace of God

In our life

That rest of faith

Has to do with

The peace

That God gives to us

In the situations

Of life

When life seems like

I don't know what to do

Or how to do it

Or how it's going to overcome

It's trusting

That says

God has given me

Help and instruction

And guidance

And the things

That are needed

To accomplish it

That confidence

But also a continuance

Trusting God

Is not a one time thing

Salvation is one time

But trusting God

Is a continual

I want you to understand

To choose to trust God

You don't just wake up

One morning

And say

Okay

I'm going to trust God

For the rest of my life

It'd be nice

If it was that easy

But you know what

You can get up

And say that

But you know what

Pretty soon

Life's going to happen

And you're going to be

Faced with dilemmas

And situations

And dynamics

That you're going to

Have to say

Do I trust you God

Or not

Lord do you really

Have this situation

Or not

Because trusting him

Says God knows

About your situation

He knows the details

About it

And you know

God can bring you through

You know

Consider

Look down at verse 11

In our text

For a moment

David says this

He says

In God have I put

My trust

I will not be afraid

What man can do

Unto me

You know what he's saying

He says

I'm going to continually

Trust

God

Not just intellectually

But practically

I think this is the

Problem we have

Because there's two

Dynamics with trust

There's an intellectual

Trust

And then there's

A practical trust

Practical trust

Says God

I'm going to look

For the principles

In your word

That apply to this

Situation

And I'm going to

Put them into practice

Knowing that you have

What's needed

For the situation

An intellectual trust

Says God

I trust you

And then you go about

Doing your own thing

We can have an

Acknowledgement of God's trust

But that continual trust

Says I'm going to rely

Upon you

Not myself

I'm going to follow

Your principles

You know sometimes

That takes some effort

You know to actually

Look into God's word

Or to get some counsel

And say what does God

Say about this

How should I deal with it

Maybe it's dealing

With relationships

You know if

Any relationship

I'll put it this way

I believe any relationship

Can be mended and healed

If both parties

Practice God's principles

You know the problem

With most of it

Is even amongst believers

I trust God

But I'm not going to

Do what God says

They intellectually

Trust God

But practically

It's like

I can't

I mean let me

Give you a good example

In relationships

Sooner or later

If you hang out

With somebody long enough

They're going to

Make you mad

They're going to

Hurt you

Intentionally

Unintentionally

I'm surprised

All the ladies

Aren't like

Yeah

Just remember

You chose that

Lunkhead

He chose you

But you know

Often I cannot

Forgive them

You know the problem

Is Christ says

That we ought to

Forgive others

Because he forgave us

When we understand

That God says

How can I forgive

Because when I

Understand who God is

And how he forgave me

I can let go

Of that bitterness

And anger

Towards the other person

There's a practical

Thing saying

I trust God

But you know

What most people do

They say

I trust God

But I will not forgive

Because I want you

To understand

The problem is

The devil loves

To mess that up

I'll just clarify

Something

Because forgiveness

Doesn't mean

It didn't happen

Both parties

Might need some

Other principles

In there

Because sometimes

The hurt needs

Dealt with

Scripturally

What caused

The hurt

And both parties

In order for

Things to heal

Forgiveness

Is the salve

That's put on

To allow

Something to heal

Forgiveness

Is what is

Available

To heal

But then you

Have to put

Into practice

The things

That cause

The offense

What does God

Say about

Those things

That's trusting

God

To say

I don't

I might not

Be comfortable

With it

But God

Says this

What I need

To do

Therefore

I'm going

To put it

Into practice

Knowing that

God says

That it's going

To work out

For the best

If I follow

His word

Not it

Work out

For the best

If I choose

To do my own

Thing

And I want you

To understand

You can choose

To do the right

Thing

But somebody else

Might not

And it might

Not turn out

The way

You think

It ought

To

But it

Doesn't

Mean God's

Wrong

It just

Means somebody

Failed to

Trust God

Or trust Christ

And God

Still got you

David says

That when we

Walk with God

You can have

That trust

That's built

That continual

Dynamic

Knowing God

Is there

You know

The devil

Loves to try

To get us

To fear

Saying God

Doesn't care

About this

Situation

Let me give

You something

Practical

What time

I am afraid

I will trust

In God

You know

What it

Practically

It means

It's this

When the

Presence

Of fear

In my

Life

Comes

I need

To make

Another

Conscious

Decision

To say

I'm going

To trust

God

Right now

I'm going

To trust

God

In this

Situation

You know

Look down

In verse

13

Of our

Text

For thou

Has

Delivered

My soul

From death

Wilt thou

Not deliver

My feet

From falling

That I

May walk

Before

God

In the

Light

Of the

Living

As David

Is here

At the

End of

This

Psalm

He makes

A particular

Helpful

Observation

For us

That God

Has delivered

His soul

So that he

Could confidently

Walk in this

Life

He says that

This life

Is still in the

Context of

What God

Has

You know

I want you

To understand

There's some

Areas we

Need to

Trust God

The first

Area you

Need to

Trust God

Is for

Eternity

For salvation

You know

When the

Bible

Tells us

For God

So loved

The world

That he

Gave his

Only begotten

Son

That whosoever

Believeth in

Him

Should not

Perish

But have

Everlasting

Life

You need

To trust

God

For your

Eternity

You need

To trust

God

For your

Identity

Who you

Are

Who God

Made you

You know

Psalm 139

Tells us

This

It says

I will

Praise thee

For I

Am fearfully

And wonderfully

Made

Marvelous

Are thy

Works

And my

Soul

Knoweth

Right

Well

You know

For who

You are

That God

Made you

From the

Point of

Conception

Who you

Are

God knew

Everything

About you

You can

Have confidence

That God

Didn't make

Messed up

Choices

That they

Try to

Condem

God

With

I want

You to

Understand

Most of

The time

Especially

David

There's a lot

Of problems

With identity

Because people

Don't

Trust what

God

Has said

They don't

Put into

Practice what

God

Has said

How about

For your

Provisions

I mean

Philippians 4

19

But my

God

Shall supply

All your

Needs

According to

His riches

In glory

By Christ

Jesus

You know

How about

For your

Family

And you

Think about

Hannah

Who prayed

In

First Samuel

That

This child

That she

Prayed for

You know

She

Wanted

God

To

Give

Her

A

Child

And

And when

She

Gets

The child

If you

In

First Samuel

1 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

Chapter 1

It's

Interesting

If she

Tells God

Give me a

Child

That I

Will

Give him

Back

To you

You know

It tells

You know

It tells

You that

She

Understood

Something

Very

Important

That

The child

God

Gives

Is still

God's

For your

Service

You know

What you

Do

You know

As we

Trust God

It's

Important

To walk

With him

To trust

Him

But to

Understand

That you

Need to

Make a

Choice

When life

Comes at

You

And fear

Comes upon

Because

Fear

Presents

Itself

In a lot

Of

Different

Ways

But in

That moment

You need

To say

I'm

Going to

Trust

God

I'm

Going to

Find out

What God

Says about

The situation

And that's

What I'm

Going to

Put into

Practice

Because trusting

God isn't

Just intellectually

It's practical

In our

Life

In whom

Do you

Trust

Do you

Trust God

Let's

Pray

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