Antidote for Anxiety

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I'd like us to stand together as we read Psalm 11, verses 1 to 7.

Psalms 11 · chapter mention

We're going to do things a little differently today.

I would like you to participate with me in the reading of Psalm 11.

The words are on the screen behind me.

I'll start by reading the first verse, then you read the second verse, I'll read the third verse.

You get it.

We'll go through the Psalm that way and we'll all be all together on the last verse, verse 7.

Let's begin.

In the Lord.

I take refuge.

How can you say to my soul See as a bird to your mountain Together.

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The Lord is His.

The Lord is Throne as he is.

His eyes be whole and His test the sons of Him.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence.

His soul hates On the wicked.

You will raise your hands.

Fire and mistle Burning in the Lord shall no tear Together, for the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness.

The upright will behold His face.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thank you, you may be seated One summer evening A couple.

They were out in their backyard Roasting marshmallows over a nice fire in their backyard and all of a sudden they heard sirens down the In the neighborhood, and so a fire truck stopped in front of their neighbor's house.

So they ran next door, saw smoke coming from the neighbor's house.

The neighbors had evacuated and were standing outside watching the fire consume their house, and when they turned they saw their neighborhood family Came over to watch and they were all carrying large forks With marshmallows on them.

Hmm, awkward.

Reminds me of Southwest Airlines commercial.

Want to get away?

Have you ever wanted to get away?

I have.

From time to time.

We're all going to have situations in our life that will make us anxious and afraid, and we want to get out of there.

Could be investments crash, cars break down, roof sleek, jobs get lost, health fails, relationships break down, whatever it is.

The question, though, is how are we going to respond, as believers in Jesus, to the temptation to worry and be afraid?

What I like about Psalm 11 is King David gives us an antidote for the poison of anxiety.

You're going to learn three things to hang on to when we're anxious and afraid God's sovereignty, god's presence, god's righteousness.

In Psalm 11,.

David is in trouble.

He has reason to panic.

We're not sure what the trouble was, but it was pretty serious.

His kingdom and his reign were being threatened by someone or something.

David's counselors are worried for David's safety and they come to him urging him to get out, get free.

David's counselors appeal to him on the basis of the threats they can see.

Psalm 11, verse 2, for behold, the wicked bend the bow.

Psalms 11:2

They make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright heart.

For behold, the counselors are saying can't you see what's happening?

What are they asking David to be worried about?

Well, bending the bow to shoot in darkness.

That phrase could mean an actual threat against him, his life, or they could just be describing how the wicked they knew were slandering him, threatening David, spreading evil rumors to undermine his authority.

In any case, david's counselors are extremely worried.

They're urging him to get out of town.

And they're afraid because it sounds to me in the passage that they're not undermining David openly.

They're plotting against him secretly, in darkness.

That's what the counselors are really concerned about.

They don't really know who all's involved and that could be coming from anywhere.

Psalm 11, 2,.

They make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright heart.

The counselors are telling David, you got to get out of here.

There are assassins about wicked people somehow infiltrated the palace and are scheming against you.

David, it's time to get out.

Flee for your life.

There's a danger of a coup.

Get out of town.

Run like crazy.

And second, the David's counselors argue and they're worried because if the coup is successful, they say the foundations will be destroyed.

Now, verse 11, 3, the foundations are destroyed.

What can the righteous do?

The foundations here refer to the order of society, the government's authority and the rule of law.

If that goes and the wicked take over, it's going to be catastrophic for the nation.

David, you need to save yourself, save the nation, get out of here.

They're trying to strike fear in him.

They don't want the wicked to come to power.

David's counselors are anxious and are afraid by the threats they see and are urging David their counselors get out of town.

But we read that David refuses to panic and flee.

He rebukes actually the counselor's advice and tells them what he's doing instead.

Here's what he says in verse 1.

In the Lord I take refuge.

How can you say to my soul flee as a bird to your mountain.

The word order in that verse is emphatic.

David doesn't say I take refuge in the Lord.

He says in the Lord, I take refuge.

David is placing his complete trust in the Lord, his God, and that is keeping him from panicking about his threatening circumstances.

But why is he doing that?

Instead of using his power to thwart these evil schemes, he's in power.

He has all kinds of resources at his disposal.

He says you know what?

In the Lord I take refuge.

How do we trust the Lord, like David did?

I'll tell you how.

The Psalm tells us by having good biblical theology.

He does it by remembering who the Lord is.

I love it when Nehemiah and the returning exiles start to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.

Returning from Babylon, they started rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem and their lives were being threatened.

People didn't want to do that or succeed, and it made everybody afraid.

Here's what Nehemiah said to them.

When I saw their fear Nehemiah 4.14, I rose and I spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people Do not be afraid of them.

Here it is.

Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.

Where's your theology?

What have you learned from the Scripture about who God is.

He's great and awesome, and so fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.

Don't be afraid.

Remember the Lord who he is.

That's a sense of what David's going to tell us.

David trusts the Lord because of three things he believes is true about the Lord he serves, beginning in verse 4.

He says you know what the Lord is in his holy temple.

The Lord's throne is in heaven.

Let's take that apart a bit.

First, david trusts the Lord because the Lord's throne is in heaven.

The Lord's throne refers to his sovereign rule above everything, above all.

His throne is in heaven.

He rules over it all.

David is reminding himself of good theology that people on earth are not in charge.

He is God, is in heaven, far above and over everything on earth, and he has a plan and purpose for David and for you.

David.

Actually, I think here is personalizing his theology, which I would suggest we do too.

He's not just saying God is sovereign.

That helps him overcome his anxiety and fear.

He's saying God is sovereign over me, he's controlling me.

Personalizing theology is going to go a long way in helping us through our fears, anxieties and so on.

So he is sovereign, his throne is in heaven and if we believe that is true I mean, if we really believe that's true in our heart of hearts, not just here but here then we put our trust in the Lord by surrendering control of our life to Him.

Some of our anxiety is brought on because we like to think we're in control and we like to remain in control.

We don't like it sometimes when the Lord surprises us with something out of the blue.

We didn't expect that.

That's not how I saw things going.

It's like the taxi driver.

Man hailed a taxi to get to his business meeting.

The taxi driver is proud and he says you know what?

I love my job.

I'm my own boss.

Somebody tells me what to do.

Oh yeah, turn left here Right.

Modern people think that if the world gets out of control, then the world's out of control.

If we can't control it, then it's out of control.

So what David's counselors are trying to get at?

But you know what?

That's not a very comforting thought unless we have a bit of humility.

The Scripture declares that God will work things out according to His glory and good.

But since we like to be in control of our own life, we're going to get no consolation from the idea that God's in control if we don't humble ourselves and say you know what?

I'm just a child, I'm not in control.

I don't understand what God's doing, but I'm going to trust Him anyway.

David knows the truth.

Lord is on His throne in heaven.

He's in control, not those who are threatening Him.

So when we're tempted to panic, we need to remember good theology the Lord is on His throne in heaven.

You know, sometimes I think we're like the child in the backseat of a car with a play steering wheel, thinking he's the one steering the car.

No, he is not.

When we're tempted to panic and worry, we trust in the Lord by giving God full access to steer our life any which way he wants and thanking him for how and where he takes us.

That's what the apostle Paul, I think, was getting at partially when he said in Philippians 4, 6, and 7, you don't want to have no anxiety about anything.

In everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, tell God what your requests are First.

He adds with thanksgiving.

I think how can you thank him before it happens?

Because he's thanking him.

He said however you work it out, I'm going to give you praise.

Let your requests be made known, and the peace of God, which passes all our sin, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Have no anxiety about anything, but everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving that your requests remain to God and God will answer those specific requests for you.

He doesn't say that you leave it to God to answer how he wants and then you know what will happen.

He will give you peace and comfort, knowing he's in control.

The second reason David is trusting the Lord is because he knows the Lord is with him.

That is what David actually means when he says in verse 4, the Lord is in his holy temple, while God's throne is in heaven.

Remote.

For David, god's temple meant God was here with us.

Now, the temple, or in David's case the tabernacle, is the place where God dwelt with his people.

In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was where you went to experience the presence of God in fellowship with him.

David knew the Lord was with him, and when David was in God's presence and this is true for us as well when you know you are in his presence, you will feel safe.

Psalm 23-4,.

David said I fear no evil.

You know why?

Because you're with me.

You're riding your staff.

They actually comfort me.

Psalm 4, verse 8,.

Psalms 4:8

David says in peace I will both lie down and sleep.

You know why?

Because you alone, lord, make me dwell in safety.

That was his confidence.

The Lord is in his holy temple, he's with us, he's with me.

Finally, david is trusting the Lord because he's confident.

He's got good theology.

The Lord will always do what is right.

Always, if he's in control and he does something, it's always going to be the right thing, always.

That was his confidence.

He will always do what is right by him and others.

The Lord is righteous and just and he knows exactly what's going on in my life.

He hears the threats, he sees the wickedness.

He knows exactly what's going on.

The Lord sees the injustice in our lives and I can trust him to do what is right.

The Lord sees the hurt in my life.

I can trust him to make me whole.

The rest of the Psalm goes into this confidence of God's righteousness.

After he says the Lord is in his holy temple.

The Lord is thrown as in heaven.

His eyes, behold, his eyelids test the sons of men.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked.

The one who loves violence, his soul hates.

Upon the wicked he's going to reign snares, fire and broomstone.

Burning wind will be the portion of their cup.

The Lord's righteous, he loves righteousness, and you know what the upright will behold his face.

They'll know him Because he will always do what is right.

See, the Lord sees and evaluates what people are doing, even in the dark.

You know that when he says that the Lord tests the righteous and the wicked.

Testing can mean examining, evaluating, refining.

But the point is he sees everything going on.

He knows how you're being treated.

He knows how to help you, how to help you through a difficult situation and in his righteousness he will use it for your good and his glory.

You can be confident of that.

That's good theology.

God always does the right thing.

Now listen to me.

God always will do the right thing in response to our response to life under his throne.

Think about it.

And the wicked will receive his judgment, the righteous will receive his grace.

Behold his face, may God.

Those who are righteous, by the way, are Biblically defined as those who believe in God and trust in Him for their salvation.

In Psalm 11, the antidote for anxiety, for David and for us, begins with personalizing the truth of good Biblical theology.

Can't say that's strong enough.

I'm just confessing this has ministered to me in a powerful way.

These three things, I hang on to them.

They're non-negotiable truths from the Scripture.

God is sovereign over me, god is present with me.

God will always do what is righteous and good concerning me.

Always, if any of those has a tear in it, we're going to be afraid and anxious.

I'm telling you it's going to happen.

We doubt it.

In Psalm 27,.

Let me move to that Psalm.

David again said that he went to the temple to see and contemplate the Lord's presence and beauty.

And men Did he love that.

You know why he felt safe there because the Lord was there.

Let me read it the Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the defense of my life.

Whom shall I dread?

When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemy's, they stumbled and fell.

You know what, though a host and camp against me, my heart will not fear though war arise against me.

In spite of this, I shall be confident.

One thing I've asked from the Lord that I shall seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life To behold the beauty of the Lord, to meditate in his temple, for in the day of trouble.

He will conceal me in his tabernacle, meaning I will seek to be in his presence In the secret place of his tent.

He'll hide me.

He'll lift me up on a rock.

You know, in reality, for an Old Testament believer, you never did see the glory of God.

Only the high priest did once a year, at the day of atonement, through a blood sacrifice.

The Old Testament believers did not have direct access to the glory and presence of God.

If you remember in Exodus, when Moses asked to see the Lord's glory, god said he couldn't do that because it would kill him.

But the Apostle John tells us that in Jesus we'd be held the glory of God.

He is God's very presence who dwelt among us, the new temple, and Jesus has given us access to God through his sacrifice for our sins once and for all.

Here's the thing If you have Jesus, you have the presence and glory of God residing in you.

Paul says it this way Apostle Paul, and 2 Corinthians 4-6.

For God who said let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Listen to me If you have his presence in your heart and his truth in your head, you can face anything.

Could I urge you to believe in Jesus if you never have, and be safe now and forever.

Let's pray, father, thank you that when Jesus died for our sins, he really conquered the curse of death and freed us really from all of our fears, the ultimate fear of death.

Thank you that you're thrown, as in heaven you're always in control, even when it feels like things are out of control.

Thank you that you're righteous and you always do what is right and good and help us, lord, when troubles come, to trust in you and not be afraid.

I pray in Jesus' name, amen.