Confidence in Crisis

Amen. If you have your Bible, and I

hope you do, go and make your way to the book of Psalms.

That's right about the. Middle of your Bible.

And then make your way to Psalm Chapter 4, Psalm chapter 4 this

Psalms 4 · chapter mention Psalms 4 · chapter mention

morning. Y'all I love the psalms.

I think that it's one of my favorite books in the Bible, and

for lots of reasons, but for the next several.

Weeks. Here this summer, June and July,

I want us to return to the Psalms and just walk through

some that we have not covered as a church family together.

You might wonder why I'm not starting in Psalm one.

Well. Because there's 100 and. 50 of

these things and we've preached some of them all right, and I'm

so glad there's so many, but we've already covered the first

3 so we're picking. Up where we left off, actually

a. Year and a half or two years ago

now, I'm picking up with some Psalms that we haven't covered

together as a church, as a church family.

Y'all hear Not only the Psalms. Some of my favorite, but

there's. Rarely a day that goes by then I

don't read. One of the psalms.

Personally, I get asked a lot. Called What's a good?

Plan to read my Bible and there's lots of options to go

with, but if you just wanted one, that would be as simple and

basic as I know how to tell you. If you would have a.

Plan to read. In the Old Testament.

If you'd have a plan to read in the New Testament and then put a

marker. Also in Psalms and Proverbs put

you 3 to 4 markers. In your Bible and read a chapter

in the old, read a chapter in the new.

Read a chapter of Psalms and maybe Proverbs and you'll get a.

Good, well balanced diet. Of scripture to help you.

Walk through the Word of God in about in a year's time.

Reading through the whole thing, if you stay on about that pace

now, by the way, there will just be certain days when you just

need to stop on one verse you read and not read.

Further, because God's speaking to you so much right there.

He just wants you to think and camp out on that, all right?

But we need a plan. When it comes to reading the

word of gone. Y'all, the Psalms are typically

short. They are straight from the

heart, they don't pull any punches.

They deal with real practical matters of life and therefore as

timeless in their application to us today as the day.

David. And so many of the.

Other writers wrote. Them all right now if you are in

the. Middle of a trial, if you're in

the middle of some sort of struggle right now, if you've

got a difficulty going on in your life to any degree.

You're going to find Psalm chapter 4 is medicine for your

Psalms 4 · chapter mention

soul. If you don't have any particular

trial or trouble right now, you still need to hear.

Learn and know what Psalm chapter. 4 says because as they

have said, well now for. Many years.

I don't know how often I've heard.

This you've heard this it's. Been put better than I know how

to put it if you're not. Going through a trial today?

You probably will. Tomorrow it's not a.

Matter of if, it's a matter of. When all right as well.

Known now with the Lord. Former pastor.

Tim Keller said once. You listen to this quote once.

You're in a crisis. There's no time to sit down and

give attention, study and learn the parts of the Bible you

desperately need. Do you hear what he said?

Once you're in the middle of a crisis, there's no time to sit

down and study and learn and process the truths of the Bible

you need right then in that moment, he says.

As a working pastor for nearly four decades, I have often sat

beside people who are going through terrible troubles and

silently wished they had taken the time to learn about more

about their faith before the tidal wave of trouble had

engulfed them this past week at student camp.

Which by the way, if I look off. Sound off or do anything off,

just blame it on a week of being on a gym floor in a bunk room

with a bunch of high school boys and all that goes with that.

All right, so I'm in a little bit recovery mode today, but we

had, what a great week. We had our speaker for the week.

Spoke of the chronic autoimmune disease, his 13.

Year old daughter has been diagnosed with and his battling.

And he says he still remembers. Being on the 10th floor of the

hospital when it all went down, when they discovered everything

that was going on. And he put it like this, he

said. You know what?

You don't develop your theology. On the 10th floor of the

hospital. You.

Deploy whatever theology you've got.

Because when life hits. And he put it when?

Life gets lifey. I like that statement.

When life gets lifey on you, it's too late to find out what

you You're going to find out what you believe.

You're going to deploy whatever theology you've got.

So Psalm 4 might be for you today.

Psalm 4 might be for you tomorrow or the next day.

Either way, this is applicable to our lives.

And Psalm 4 teaches us this real simple, this simple truth that.

I want you to see in your notes you can write down, I want you

to remember, is that Christians, Christians have confidence in

God in times of crisis. That's what this Psalm is about.

Christians are people that have confidence in God.

In times of crisis. Are you someone who has

confidence in God in times of crisis?

If not, I hope you become someone that has confidence in

God in times of crisis today. And Psalm 4 is going to walk us

through what that looks like, steps to take, actions that we

should take. But first, listen to the Word.

Of God. Here's what David writes.

To the choir master with stringed.

Instruments. The Psalm of David.

Answer me when I call. Oh God of my righteousness,

You've given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

Oh men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself.

The Lord hears when I call to Him.

Be angry and do not sin. Ponder in your own hearts on

your beds, and be silent, and offer right sacrifices, and put

your trust in the Lord. There are many who say who will

show us some good. Lift up the light of your face

upon us. O Lord, You've put more joy in

my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound in

peace I will both lie down and sleep for you alone.

O Lord, make me. Dwell in safety, Father I.

Pray that as we hear your word today that God, you would you

would open up our ears and let us hear.

Let us heed, let us believe and let us obey.

Let the Word of God do the work of God by your Spirit to mold us

and shape. Us in the image of Christ and to

draw people to Jesus. And it's in his name we pray.

Amen. We know exactly who wrote this

Psalm, we just don't know exactly the situation.

Behind it. Not that we.

Have to know the author King David was a a godly man, a man

after God. 'S own art.

He was far from a perfect man. He made some mistakes, some of

them. Major, but he was a.

Man, that was no. Stranger to trial and trouble.

This this. Could have been written,

perhaps? As a result of when David was

experiencing being haunted for his very life, when day and

night he was on the run hiding in caves because King Saul

wanted him dead, right? This could have been the time

when the Amalekites came and destroyed the city of Ziklag and

the survivors were so mad at David they wanted to stone him.

You ever had a day like that? Probably not quite that bad.

This was could have been the time when the revolt of Sheba.

Happened against David and. There was some who wanted to

take his throne. Then one day it was his own son

Absalom who was another trial that revolted and rebelled,

wanted the Kingdom from David. It could have been the

disastrous 3 year drought in the land that caused the leaders of

the land. Not only just to question.

David's leadership, but even to question God's leadership, what

I'm saying is we don't know what circumstance was behind this.

But we know that David was familiar with trial and struggle

and difficulty, and we know the same is.

True for us. So what do we do?

What? Do we learn from this Psalm?

If we're going to be people who trust God.

In times of crisis, who have confidence in God, what is that

going to look like? Here's the first thing it's

going to look like. In times of crisis, we learn

here, cry out in confidence to God.

Christians are people in times of Christ you shall who cry out

to God in times of crisis. You notice what David says?

Answer me when I call now when I first.

Read that my first reaction. Is like, whoa bro, that's that's

pretty bold to God, don't you think, David like that at first.

I just can't help but think about like when I want to say

that and praise God y'all. My wife Lauren's gotten so much

better about this, but there was a time in her life when I felt

like if you called. Her cell phone, 99 point. 9%

chance she wasn't going to answer anybody had somebody in

their life like that. It gets frustrating, right?

You're like, and especially in times that I'm like concerned

about her safety. You don't know her location.

She's not done the plan according to where I thought

she'd be, when she'd be. And I just want to say answer me

when I call, right? You're killing me over here,

right? All I can, all I can in picture.

Is like maybe from my selfish or me getting angry about it.

But David here is not doubting whether God's going to answer.

David is not disrespecting God. David is desperately crying out

to God. This is not a an ask born of

doubt or born of being jaded by God.

It's one out of desperation for God, out of his distress.

God, he is calling to the God he knows will answer.

He's making, if you will, a spiritual 911 call, right?

We teach our kids how to get a hold of first responders, don't

we? In times of emergency.

We ought also to be people that teach our kids and lead by

example and how to call in our first response being to call on

our Heavenly Father in times. Of crisis as David.

Cries that you notice he calls God by a title that,

interestingly enough, is only used here once in the whole

Bible. No other time is God referenced

with this title. Oh, God of my righteousness,

David is crying out to God, standing on a characteristic of

God, an attribute of God, that which he is staking his claim

that God, I know you're going to answer, you're the God of my

righteousness. Now, what in the world does that

mean, right? Well, we know that God is the

sole source. Of any and all righteousness.

That means what I mean is, let's be real clear, God is always

right and God is never wrong. And if we have any

righteousness, guess what? It's because we've received it

by God or been enabled by God to live it out.

In fact, the Bible puts. It as plain as this.

Our best efforts, separate from God, are like filthy rags in His

sight. That means they're unrighteous.

That means mankind is a major problem.

The God who is righteous. Mankind.

Me. You men, women, boys and girls

who are unrighteous. God doesn't dwell in the

presence of sin or unrighteousness.

He does not. He knows none of that.

And this is exactly why Jesus Christ came from heaven to

earth, because of our unrighteousness.

In His righteousness, Jesus Christ lived a perfectly

righteous life. Jesus Christ did no wrong and

all. And only did right.

Why, so He could go to the cross and all of our unrighteousness

be laid on Him. This is the good news of the

gospel that we sing about. If you've been born again,

you've understood this truth that Jesus Christ took all your,

all your filthy rags, and on him it was laid, and Jesus in your

place died for it. They are paid the price for it.

Why? So that if you would believe on

Him in faith, if you would receive the forgiveness for that

sin He paid for on the cross, He in exchange would take your

unrighteousness and give you His righteousness, cover you by His

blood, wash you clean, so that when God the Father looks at

you, He looks at you through the lens of the righteousness of

Christ. That's covered.

You and forgiven you. Do you know that's happened to

you? Do you know God as the God of

your righteousness? If so, you first realize you

have no native natural. Righteousness of your own.

But see, this is where if you've never come to Christ.

The honest truth is, your eyes have never been open to the fact

that you're unrighteous before God, that you've sinned before

him. That's a humble thing to have to

say, but it's true, and the Bible makes it clear.

And being born. Again, as a matter of calling on

God to save you and forgive you, notice next.

That part of David's. Confidence in calling to God is

grounded in God's faithfulness to Him in the past.

Notice what he says here. God, you've given me relief.

Notice that's past tense. You've given me relief when I

was in distress. David here is not getting

hysterical. He's getting historical with

God. Hey, God, you remember such and

such a time. God, you've been faithful to me

in the past. God, you've delivered me in the

past. God, you have provided for me in

the past, right? In fact, you could put like

this, David says. When I've been in a bond, when

I've been between a rock and a hard place, when I've been hard

pressed and under pressure, Literally the word relief in the

Hebrew means God when I was being.

Crushed when? I thought I couldn't breathe.

God, you enlarged me. God, you made space for me.

Can you picture that? Ever been when you felt like the

weight of the world was on top of you?

Maybe so rest, you couldn't breathe or you couldn't sleep.

And it was like you're backed in a corner.

You didn't know which way to go between a rock and a hard place.

And David's like, God, when I was there in the past, it was

like you expanded a space for me to take a breath and survive and

to thrive. God, you enlarged me.

God, you gave a space. For me, when the world

threatened to undo me. Christian, when a new crisis

comes, and it will, you ought to remember God's faithfulness to

you in the past. Why would God?

Why would God be faithful? To you in 10 trials and be

unfaithful to you in the 11th. God.

Always finishes what he starts. His Grace.

Is not sufficient. Sometimes it's sufficient.

Every time. God doesn't get tackled on the

10 yard line. Amen.

God finishes what He starts, what he promised to.

Do he's going to see? To completion, all right.

In times of crisis, we can. Crowd in confidence to God. #2

In times of crisis we see that we ought to remember that God

sees and hears you, that God sees and hears you.

This is. Verses 2 and 3.

We don't know. Again, David's exact.

Situation and we've obviously never been a king.

But David here obviously is experiencing.

Attack from those around him. There are those.

Who want to undo him? Who want to see his downfall and

his shame. David's got enemies to 1° or

another. We've all experienced what it's

like to have people opposed to us.

Amen. They may not want us dead

necessarily. They might have.

But we understand what it's like to have enemies.

We understand what it's like to be slandered.

We understand what it's like to be stabbed in the back or to

experience bullying or whatever that is.

And in fact, right, Christians, throughout history, this has

been the essential, you know, on the majority collective

experience of believers around the world.

Even right now as we speak, you go to most places around the

world. It's not a favorable thing to be

a believer. In Jesus Christ, I mean the

very. Country most in.

One of them the very most in the news right now, Iran has one of

the largest, fastest growing underground church movements,

Christian movements in the world right now.

More people are coming to Christ faster in Iran than about any

other country underground. And yet more people are paying

for their with their lives, for their faith in countries like

Iran to this day. This is the collective

experience of many believers around the world.

David and these verses 2 through 5 here he's not talking to God

and he's not talking to the reader directly.

He's talking to his attackers. To these people he.

Wants that. They want to see his downfall.

These people, by the way, we're probably.

Members of his own leadership. Probably.

People he knew well that he knew their names.

That he does administrative things with as a king of Israel,

right? And what he says here is, is not

directly to us, but it is it is indirectly applicable to us.

And he gives these 7 instructions in these verses to

these people. And here's the first one.

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly.

For himself, the. Lord hears when I call to him.

I love this. Essentially, Davis says.

Folks, listen. You would do well to remember

whose team I'm on. You would do well to remember

that I belong to God. You would do well to remember

that I've got God's phone number.

I talked to God, I've got his digits and God hears me when I

talk to him. That's that's basically what

David is saying. Now, you might say, Kyle, that

sounds kind of odd and even, I would admit, like next.

Time somebody wants to. Belittle you or harm you?

Or stand against you. It's probably not the best.

Thing to walk up to him and say, hey, you know what?

You need to remember I'm on God's team and God's on my team.

Like, that's probably not the right way to go about it, but

let me tell you what. Would be incredibly valuable for

you to remember next time you're belittled or attacked or

slandered or someone seeks your shame.

The most valuable thing that you could know is that you and God

are on the same team. That God's got your back.

That when you call out to God, he hears you.

That God sees you, That God knows what you're going through,

that God has promised to work all things for your good, that

God's going to fight on your behalf.

You need to know. You need to know when you're

attacked, when you're coming under pressure and threat, that

you and God are on the same team.

Let me just ask you, do you know that's true?

You don't have to tell. Anybody else that necessarily.

But you need to know. This is the first thing that

came to David's mind. Hey, God and I, we're tight.

And he tells his detractors, you ought to remember that, right?

What does he mean by what God has done?

It says that he calls himself God has set apart the godly for

himself. To be set apart means to be

identified and separated by God under his special care and

affection as his own is to be called out from the world to

belong to the family of God as a child of God.

By the way, if you've called on God to forgive you of your sin,

you've called on Jesus as your Savior.

This is when that happened. You were called out of the

world, your identity changed, you were born again as we sang

about. You were made alive, and now

you're a child of God in the family of God under the special

attention and care of God. In fact, by this next word, the

godly is literally the word for loved by God in the beloved.

I thought Kyle, God so loved the world.

Yes, he does, and he has by sending Jesus.

But God's special attention and special affection is on his

children. There is a care.

And there is a provision and there is a protection, and there

is a relationship there between God and His own that is

exclusive. Do you?

Know that you've been set. Apart by faith in Jesus Christ,

do you know that you. Belong to the.

Beloved, do you know whose team you're on when attacked?

Of course, if we're being honest, even if we know whose

team we're on, even if we know we've been saved and born again,

even if we know Jesus Christ personally, aren't there days,

let's be honest, when it still feels like maybe God's not

listening, God's not answering, and maybe we're tempted to ask

or wonder, God, are we still? Are we still on the same team?

Why don't you listen to the words of the author, well known

author CS Lewis? In his book Grief Observed, he

compares his prayer for his wife's healing from cancer to

knocking on the door as Jesus Christ instructed, and he says

he knocked until his knuckles were bloody and raw.

You ever been there when you were praying and calling on God

and keep knocking on the door to the point your knuckles were

bloody and raw? And then he says when I looked

at the door, I felt like it was double bolted.

And then I stepped back and he says I didn't just look at the

door, I looked at the house and it seemed like the lights were

out and nobody was home. To be honest, there are moments.

There's times there's seasons where God lets his children walk

through, times when maybe he doesn't answer in the time frame

we wanted. He doesn't give the answer we

hoped he would give. Or he allows.

Us to experience a moment where it feels like he's far away, and

it's in these moments, y'all that as children of God, we've

got to remember He has set us apart for himself.

That he does hear us when we. Call and he's working all things

for our good, even when we can't fully understand.

In times of crisis, you've got to remember God sees you and

hears you #3 in times of crisis, we learn, like David, to be

patient and to put your trust in God.

To be. Patient and put your trust in

God. This is verse four and five.

Be angry and do not sin, David says.

Ponder in your own your own hearts, on your beds and be

silent. Offer right sacrifices and put

your trust in God. David gets incredibly practical

here, and I want to. Unpack this for a moment, right

Remember. David is talking to people under

his leadership, Israelites, who are mad at God and mad at him.

Why are they mad at God and why are they mad at Him?

They're mad at God for the same reason when we get mad at.

God, you know why? When?

Life doesn't go our way. When life gets lifey or we're on

the 10th floor of that hospital are things and people are

speaking against us and life seems against us.

Oftentimes our reaction can be to get mad at God, blame God.

That's what's going on there. Blaming David, who's the who's

the physical leader among them as God's representative and

they're blaming God. They're mad at God, right?

David says to them, Hey, y'all be angry but don't.

Don't sin. Now that's easier said than

done. Amen.

This is, by the way, quoted in the New Testament here.

You know you can get it's not a sin to be angry at God.

God can handle your anger. He just says don't sin against

him. Don't sin against others and

your anger. Say how in the world?

Can I be angry at God and not, not sin?

David, like I said, gets incredible, incredibly practical

and I want to give you 3 things. Three things here.

I just kind of embedded this in your notes.

I think this is so clear here in the text.

Three things David says we can learn of how to be angry and not

sin against God. Number one is put yourself and

time out. Now those are Kyle's words.

Some of you like I didn't realize time out was in the

Bible. Oh, it's in the Bible.

It's right here. This is timeout.

For adult believers, all right for me and you, when we get

angry at God put. Yourself in timeout.

Listen what he says, go sit on your bed, be quiet and ponder

the promises of God. If that's not timeout.

I don't know what is. You ever send a kid to time and

go sit on your bed, be quiet and think about what you've think

about what you did or what you need to do, what you should do

or what I told you to do? Go think about the truth, right?

Literally. David says go get on your bed,

be quiet and ponder the promises of God.

Now let's just be honest, if you don't know the promises of God,

guess what you can't do? You can't ponder.

And guess what you're probably not going to do when you're

angry and mad at God? Go learn them.

You can go thinking about something else, you're going to

have anything and everything in your mind but the ammunition of

the truth to fire against and put out the flaming darts to the

enemy because you've not done the work before.

To learn what you need to know when your theology needs to be

deployed and not developed, he says, go put yourself in time

out and go think about the truth, right?

Instead of going to bed and laying awake and arguing and

brooding with God and rationalizing your anger and

telling God how he's wrong. This way, this way, this way and

this way. Go think on the promises of God

and let the promises of God calm and quiet your soul.

But you can't think. About what you don't know about,

which is. Why there's a daily plan to be

in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and in the middle?

Of the promises. Of God stockpiling ammunition

for the day you'll need to fire it.

At the lives of the enemy and for your own soul #2 Put

yourself before God in worship. Now again, what do?

We want to do when we're mad at God, stay home from church,

isolate ourselves, maybe walk away from the church.

We want to run away from offering right sacrifices.

We want to do anything else but worship, David says no.

Go put yourself in a position and posture of worship, or even

when you don't feel like it, when you don't feel like God is

worthy, go worship God like he's worthy.

Hebrews. 1315 says this through. Jesus let us continually OfferUp

a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that

acknowledge His name, That verse, that command is though on

the days you feel. Like it on the days you don't

feel like it. Because when we choose to act on

the worthiness and worth of God in worship God is in, we are in

a position for God to minister to our hearts and souls instead

of foolishly running away. And hardening our heart against

God. So put yourself in time out.

Put yourself before. God in worship.

And then three, put your trust in.

God and what I mean? By that is, don't run to other

things in the world to try to find peace for your soul.

Don't go find unhealthy coping mechanisms to help you get by.

Lean in on God more so than ever.

Put your trust in. God when writer says if we

communed with each other. Less and with God.

If men that is communed with each.

Other less and with God. In their own heart, more

allowing the heat of anger to cool in the silences of the

night, they would discover the futility of fuming and fretting

against God or man, it's been said.

That silt. Only settles in standing water.

In other words, all the dirt and debris in water only goes to the

bottom and lets the water clarify.

If the water is still but shaken up, it looks like a milkshake.

You get all stirred up. And you see, when I think often

times it's in these moments when we get still before God, that

God can allow all the silt of the storm that's raging in our

hearts to settle. We can see the truth, We can see

reality more clearly, the promises of God if we get still

before God. In times of crisis, be patient,

put your trust in God #4 in times of crisis, find your joy

in the Lord. Listen again to verse six and

seven. There are many who say, who will

show us some good? Lift up the light of your face

upon us. O Lord, You have put more joy in

my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

In times of crisis, find your joy in the Lord.

It says here there are many who say, who will show us some good.

You know what that question is? That question is this Who has

found anything worth living for? Who's found some real purpose

and meaning in life? Can someone show me something

that's not vain, that's ultimately not going to wear

out, or not going to die, or not going to one day be taken away?

Who can show us anything good? This is the question of people,

right, that are jaded with life. This is the words of pessimists

who only see life through the lens of their pain, that have

lost hope. These are the questions.

Of people who are mad. At God and mad at the.

World unbelievers most often talk like.

This, but it's possible for believers to talk.

Like this and facing. Such a question, David now turns

to the one. Place where the answer.

To such a question. Can be found David.

Cries out to God again. Now turning to God, lift up the

light of your face upon us. Oh Lord, oh God, give us food.

No, it's not what he asked. Oh God, give us health, wealth,

and prosperity. No, that's not what David asked.

Oh God, give us money in our bank accounts.

No, that's not what David asked. God give us safety by day and by

night. No, that's not what David asked.

What does David ask? God give us the one thing that

provides every other thing from which everything flows.

God give us your presence. God allow us to experience and

fellowship with you. God give us yourself.

Here we're just reminded y'all if you're looking to the world

to stuff something in the world into your.

Heart to satisfy it. It will not do it.

It won't do it. It doesn't matter what we have

in life. You know, we, we, we don't say

this oftentimes, but we have this.

Default in our human heart and by the way the human heart is

deceptive all right and we still.

Deal, even as believers that have been born.

Again with the sin, that's. Retained in our fleshly.

Nature that we daily. Have to die to.

If we don't die to it, we'll fall prey to its deception.

And one of the deceptions we keep defaulting back to, to our

old sin nature is this lie that the healthy, more wealthy and

prosperous we are, the happier we will be.

It is an illusion. It is an illusion.

The people continue to keep falling for it.

You know, if it was true, the happiest, wealthiest and most

prosperous on the planet would be the happiest.

And guess what? You know is true that that's not

true. You know it.

And yet we do. We keep falling for that, don't

we? We keep sometimes wanting to buy

into that lie. Why?

Because our hearts are so. Easily deceived.

What we need is God. The one from whom all things

flow and listen. The reason for that look?

How, David? Puts it in verse 7 you have put

more joy God in my heart than they have when their grain and

wine abound Now I. Know that when grain and.

Wine abound may not mean much to.

You, but this is the. Deal of what David is saying.

In the ancient world, abundance and scarcity followed and flowed

with the seasons. Like the grocery stores?

Didn't carry the same thing year round, all right.

And they didn't. Ship I mean they did some

shipping and stuff back then to get stuff around the, you know,

the known world, but basically. You were locally.

Dependent on the harvest to live that next year.

And guess what? Are harvest abundant every year?

No. So guess what?

When the years would come along that it's abundant, this is like

the highest of highs in the ancient world.

Guess what y'all? We're going to eat this week and

we're going to eat next week. And guess what I think we may be

the next year because this year's abundance, in other

words, he's saying is in the in the moments when life is at the

highest of highs. God, you've given me more joy

than that even provides a man or a woman, a boy and a girl.

God, you give more joy, you give more peace, you give more

happiness, God, than when anything and everything on earth

that can possibly be had by. A man or woman is given.

That's why he says God. Let the light of your face shine

upon us in times of crisis. Find your joy in the Lord.

Can I just ask you? Where?

Where? Are you finding your joy?

And is your joy. Sturdy when storms come.

Do you find your joy? Ripped out from under you when

anything's taken, or when anything in your life suffers?

Or is your joy in something that's unshakable, that's

untouchable? Just one more thing in times of

crisis, sleep in peace. Now, some of you are like, that

one's really easier said than done.

I don't know why it is the older you get.

You know, as kids, you seem to we sleep like babies.

And you know, as we start getting to adulthood and start

adulting and life gets lifey, sometimes sleep gets more

difficult, especially when under stress and difficulty.

And yet David finishes this Psalm.

But such confidence in God that he says even in times of trouble

and trial, he says, listen, I'm going to lie down and sleep and

listen to those next few words for you alone.

Not a lock on the door, not a gate at the entrance to the

neighborhood, not 4 walls, not a security system.

What allows him to sleep in safety and in peace?

God alone, which is the same truth for you and for me today.

So David says, despite the fact that I'm under attack, you

alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

It's been said like this, if God suffices for eternal life, how

did in the world does he not suffice for life and sleep and

even the day of our death on earth?

If he suffices for. Heavenly eternal life odyssey

not also suffice for everything now, a Vietnam veteran wrote the

following letter. He says in one of the battles I

fought in Vietnam, they were dead and wounded all around me.

Having gone three days without sleep, my ability to make wise

decisions was at a dangerously low level.

At 3, AMI found a hole in the jungle base, virtually under a

battery of. Cannons.

The heat of the jungle night combined with that of the

cannons which fired volleys about.

Every 20 seconds was insufferable.

Even in the stench of the gunpowder, the mosquitoes

relentlessly pursued their bloodthirsty duty.

And as I. Lay there this verse of

Scripture. Came to me now I.

Just want to stop there. For a moment.

This verse of scripture can't come to somebody who doesn't

know it. So here his theology is about to

be not developed, but what deployed in literal battle.

OK, this verse of Scripture came to me.

Why? Because he probably had a marker

in the Old Testament, a marker in the New Testament, and

somewhere in Psalms or Proverbs this promise came to me.

For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in a verse, a promise, a

truth, that a Psalm 4 came to him.

And he says, I think I had the best two hours of sleep in my

entire life. In times of crisis, you can

sleep in peace. You all Christians are people

that have confidence in God in times of crisis.

I just want to take a moment as we finish here and I wrestled

with how to close our time. John and praise team are about

to come out. We got a crisis going on on the

world stage right now. And the the deal is, is that we

know as Christians, the closer we get to the return of Christ,

things like this will only increase.

In fact, if you could. Just you could turn to Matthew

24 this afternoon if you wanted to, and just read the words of

Jesus, of how you're going to hear of wars and rumors of wars.

He says something after that, but he says don't be alarmed.

I love how he just drops that in there.

Hey, don't be afraid, nation's going to rise up against nation.

But don't get hysterical. Get historical, Lie down and

sleep in peace. Guess who alone makes you dwell

in safety? God.

Guess who you can take joy in even under threat?

God. He goes on in that burst to talk

about what's going to happen towards the end.

He talks about it every every nation, every people group will

hear the gospel, y'all. We're getting closer and closer

to reaching unengaged and unreached people groups with the

gospel of Jesus Christ. We're today one day closer to

the return of Christ than we were yesterday.

Obviously I just, I want to encourage, I'm not, I'm not

here. God hasn't called me to be a

political commentator, but he's called me to be a pastor.

And what? We know is God's.

People is that no matter what goes on, God is in control.

He's got the whole world in his hands and and you know what?

When when crisis hits, especially at this level.

The world is. Watching the church, whether.

They say they are or not your Co workers.

And your neighbors, they're watching you and and they're

wondering. Do you have joy and peace and if

you do, do you have confidence in crisis and if you do, why a

crisis always presents the church with one of the most

wonderful opportunities to witness to the goodness and.

Glory of Jesus Christ. And as your.

Pastor and things I just pray for us is a God allow us to walk

in confidence in crisis. You know you're not going to

share your faith. If you're not confident in your

faith. And as the storms increase, May

God give us just an unshakeable peace and unshakeable joy, even

as we pray. And we're going to.

Even pray today for. Peace and protection, and for

God's will and for wisdom for. Leaders and all these things,

but the Christian if you know Jesus Christ, you can walk in

confidence. Nothing can shake that.

No matter, no matter what happens, you can walk in

confidence in crisis. And I pray.

That's exactly what we do. Yeah, I'm going to pray and then

I'm going to invite us to stand and respond.

And I don't know if you have a crisis going on right now or if

you will tomorrow, but I just wonder if God lays on your heart

today a way he wants you to respond.

Maybe you want to come and pray. Maybe you want to come and pray

with me. Maybe you want to come and pray

with an encourage, or maybe you need to talk to me about

trusting Christ. Maybe you just want to put

yourself before the Lord in a way to say, God, this is I I

want to put and I want to have confidence in you.

I'm not sure I'm there, but God get me there.

God, these steps that I've heard help.

Me take them. Maybe you know exactly which one

God wants you to take. You say God help me, help me to

do that today and. Help me to be so confident that

I. Can even out of the overflow of

that give a witness to you Jesus, every conversation that

comes along every opportunity where people get to watch and

see what you're doing in my life as a result of your strength and

your provision. Father.

I want to pray that we would be people of confidence in crisis.

God that our attention be turned to you.

God, you would have your way in US today and as we respond.

To trust you, Father, to seek you.

To rest in you today, that you'd guide us in our response as your

people. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Would you stand with me at your family?

You come this morning and respond as the Lord leads you.