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January 22, 2022 7:00 am
Welcome to through the song a weekend ministry of the truthful overtime will study all 150 songs with pastor Don Greene from Cruz Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio were glad you're with us is over the Psalms. Now, as we join our teacher in the truthful.
Well, it's a pleasure to welcome you to our Tuesday evening study as we open God's word to Psalm 60 this evening, perhaps for those of you watching over the live stream may be seeing us for the first time or cure visitor here for the first time we are a church that believes in the absolute authority of God's word.
We believe that the Bible is the very word of God that he has revealed himself to us in the 66 books of the Bible and that he save his people from their sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as he gathers people into his family and into his spiritual family. He calls them into a local body called the church where we are to teach the word of God and sing his praises. And that's a little bit of an overview of why we do what we do. We believe that God saves sinners through faith in Christ freely and completely forgiving all of their sins. In a moment when that person recognizes that Christ is the only Savior and that he made a sacrifice for sin, to atone for sin on the cross and so we gather together to study God's word and on Tuesday nights we've been going through the book of Psalms one by one, and this evening we come to Psalm 60 and I'm going to read that to begin with.
All start in verse one and will pick up the inscription in just a moment. Psalm 60 verse one says, oh God, you have rejected us, you have broken us.
You have been angry over store us. You have made the land quake you will split it open helix breaches for toddlers. You've made your people experience hardship you have given us wine to drink, that makes us stagger you have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth cell that your beloved may be delivered save with your right hand and answer us. God has spoken in his holiness, I will exalt.
I will portion out Shechem and measure out the Valley of suck off Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim also is the helmet of my head. Judah is my scepter. Moab is my wash bowl over Edom I shall throw my shoe shout loud over Celestia because of me who will bring me into the besieged city who will lead me to Edom have not you yourself, oh God rejected us and will you not go forth with our armies.
Oh God. Oh, give us help against the adversary for deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we shall do valiantly and it is he who will tread down our adversaries. There are some contrast in the song that on first read, make it a little bit difficult to understand, perhaps because it seems so incongruous in the one hand as you start to Psalm David is saying God you've rejected us. You've broken us you been angry with us, and yet when you get to the end of the song he saying through God. We shall do valiantly and it is he who will tread down our adversaries. That's quite the the change quite the distinction in tone and as you continue reading on through it, you find that that there is this community prayer that is being made and yet God speaks in the middle of the Solomon asserts his sovereignty over different regions of the land and so there's a there's some back and forth in the song that we want to account for and will do that as we go through the Solomon moment together but one of the things that one of the things we might help us kinda preparer our minds as we enter into this Psalm.
This evening is to recognize something that we all know by experience, especially as Christians you enter into a season of life or things are going well and you find that God is blessing the things that you are doing your encouraged maybe your your reading Scripture and in your finding that your times with the Lord, are our suites and especially vibrant and there's just this general sense of of well-being and prosperity that comes upon you and your encouraged in life and then suddenly out of seemingly nowhere, a setback comes a a problem comes into your life that that seems to overwhelm the prior enjoyment of life that you seem to be knowing you say where did this come from, and that suddenly becomes the focus of all of your all of your thoughts and intentions in the Baha'i that you were living on now has become a low you will know something about that, by personal experience, don't you well. It was no different for King David King David as he took his throne, began his reign with a great bit of prosperity in second Samuel, as you read about the life of King David. You'll find that in second Samuel chapter 5, he became king and in second Samuel six. He brought the ark of God back to Jerusalem to great fanfare victory after victory. And then in second Samuel chapter 7 God established a covenant with David is one of the most critical passages in all of Scripture, God promises David a throne forever throne on which the Messiah himself would one day sit and so there is this there is this great prosperity. There is this great success that is going on in David's life and after these things in second Samuel, you'll find that David has a string of impressive military victories as well turn over the second Samuel chapter 8, as were just setting the context for this song. Second Samuel chapter 8 in verse one it says now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them and David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines, he defeated Moab and measured them with the line, making them why down on the ground and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive in the Moabites became servants to David bringing tribute. Then David defeated hey that Azor the son of Rahab King of soba and he went to restore his rule at the river.
David captured from him. 1700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers and David hamstrung the chariot horses but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots when the Aramaeans of Damascus came to help pay that days are King of soba David killed 22,000 Aramaeans.
Then David put garrisons around the Aramaeans of Damascus and the Aramaeans became servants of David bringing tribute and the Lord helped David wherever he went, and so you get this picture of these great military conquest. David was engaged in after God had established him as King made a covenant with them. The that secured his posterity long into the future that would sit on his throne and so David is David is at the top of his game, so to speak.
He is having great success. And yet, as you come to Psalm 60 you find from the inscription that even at that time of success. There was a big defeat that came into his life. Look at the inscription of Psalm 60 with me now it says for the choir director.
According to Shushan Edith which is simply a musical tune called translated the Lily of testimony, a victim of David to teach. This is a song that's designed to be instructive to people in their situations. When he struggled with a ram not. Hurrah I am in with a ram soba. This is what we were reading about in second Samuel eight while David is having these battles and these are northern areas north of Israel.
If you picture the Mediterranean Sea. A kind of oblong sea between Europe and northern Africa over at the northeast corner on the right hand corner up at the top there is the area which is being spoken of here with these geographic reference references and you would wonder how can there ever be any problems in light of what David is going through with what he sees there with what's happening is he's winning victories he's the new king. The ark of God is established in Jerusalem. He has this covenant.
Everything is going right. And yet, in this inscription, we find that there were problems down to the South, Joab returned it says there in the inscription and smoked 12,000 of Edom in the Valley of salt. Edom was a southern nation down to the to the south of Israel.
And while David is having these major conquests up north.
The exposed southern area was attacked by Edom, and there were some military defeats going on. Word got to David about those things and he had to send one of his commanders, Joab down there to bring things into control and so apparently the defeat was quite serious, down to the South and in the midst of his conquest, David finds that he's got problems in the midst of his triumph.
Psalm 60 is David's prayer after he received the bad report about what was going on in the South but before Joab went and took control of the situation. That's the historical context for this song and it tells us something that's very instructive and helpful as we anticipate going forward in life. As we walk with Christ. What can we expect what sometimes happens to us. Well, we find that we can have setbacks even in the midst of our greatest triumphs, that as you are on the top of the world in life that it should not surprise you or or stun you to realize that that something goes wrong in the midst of it. We remember that we live in the midst of a fallen world, where things do not always go our way and and we learned that even in the midst of success that we not take it for granted because defeat comes even to the best of God's servants in the best of their times what Psalm 60 does is it gives us a pattern.
It gives us a model to respond when those things happen. The Psalm gives us a a pattern in which to pray and to deal with these things from an earnest perspective that leads us out to trust and faith. On the other side in the first five verses you could say that you see the agony of defeat. If you're taking notes that would be our first point for the Psalm this evening.
You see the description of the agony of defeat. Psalm 60 is a what you could call a community lament by which we mean it is a prayer of sorrow given by multiple people in the midst of their their defeated situation.
It mainly addresses. Psalm 60 mainly addresses God in the first person plural through Outlook at verses one and two with me and notice the plural pronouns in this is David writes on behalf of the people of God, you have rejected us, you have broken us.
You have been angry all restore us. You have made the land quake you have split it open helix breaches, for it totters. There's something very remarkable in this opening to verses that in areas where the complete sovereignty of God is not taught make absolutely no sense in areas where it is promised to God only wants to bless you that God only wants you to be prosperous and happy and anything bad happens must be from Satan because it couldn't come from God. Psalm 60 verses one and to set all of that false teaching into its proper perspective. Notice what David is doing here David is directly attributing the setback to the hand of God says God our losses in our reversals or something that you have done. Look at the language with me again. He addresses God in verse one, he says, oh God, you have rejected us, you have broken us. You have been angry. You have made the land quake you have split it open again and again and again, using various pictures to describe the loss that they have had to send God you have done this, you have brought this to pass in our lives and we are laid low before you as a result, David uses two images to describe the the devastating power, and the devastating effect of the defeat. Look at it there in verse two he describes it like an earthquake. He says you have made the land quake you have split it open. He says this is this is like the shaking of a violent earthquake that is come upon us, and things are now unstable things are shaken things are broken God in the situation that you have brought the past we find ourselves shattered and then he compares it.
Also, to the effect of being intoxicated. He says in verse three, again attributing the outcome to God. He says you have made your people experience hardship you have given us wine to drink, that makes us stagger and so he says God this unexpected defeat has has left us confused. It's left us staggered. We did not see this coming. Oh God, we have been we have been knocked down.
We have been brought low.
We are we are broken. We are shaken and it's it's like were a drunk man who is so confused that he can't even think rightly about it, you know, things like that in your own life. Don't you when when relational conflict comes or when circumstances suddenly conspire against you and you don't even have the mental clarity to think about it properly to think about it clearly. While this is the very thing that is being described by the people of Israel as they make this prayer to God.
Taking all of these things together the images of an earthquake and a drunken man is a is a way of saying that the people are dazed they are not backed by what has happened in this is not what you would expect when God had just installed a man after his own heart to be king and there were so much triumph all about them. Where did this come from a what can we say about this. How should we understand spiritual life in light of Psalm 60 beloved recognize that even in your highest times of triumph.
God may bring you low through a reversal in another area of life. Maybe relationships are great, but a financial reversal comes maybe your career is going well, but suddenly there's an injury or sickness to someone close to you that brings this all to lighten brings things into a new perspective and suddenly have something that is heavy on your heart when before you were simply full of joy and not facing any difficulties when they came. This can happen in the life of the church.
Also, churches enjoying the prosperity that comes under the preaching of the word of God and the good fellowship of of people with one another, but then something happens. There's something comes into the life of the church from outside or from within side and all of a sudden you're you're preoccupied with the problem that's going on. Well, we shouldn't think that out about that, as though there suddenly ate a sudden change in God's view of us look once you're in the family of God. God's favor is always upon when God accepts us through faith in Christ. When you put your faith in Christ and God receive you into his family he receives you as his child, as his family as as one who belongs to him.
Scripture describes the people of God as those who are the apple of his dear and precious in his side accepted in the beloved. Scripture also teaches us something else says it, whom the Lord loves he reproves he disciplines he he he he brings difficulties into life in order to teach us and to shape us so that unbroken success wouldn't become that which would cause us to be proud and forget our God.
Scripture speaks of that speaks of a prayer that says God don't let me be so full that I forget who my God is so the question becomes, then what do you do after the defeat.
What you do when when a sudden reversal has come upon you and in your days, your confused your broken in and how can I respond.
How can I restore my spiritual equilibrium. How can I get my feet back on the ground after after this well in verse four of Psalm 60 you get a sense of what God would have you to do and where God would have your mind go says in verse four, you have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth Salah your Salah meaning stop and think about what's just been said banner being like a flag and what does a flag represent what is the nation's flag represent what the symbol isn't it. It's a symbol of a country's values, its people, its commitments you've ever traveled overseas and, perhaps, been in a a dark and difficult country where things are very foreign to you and you see an American flag.
Those of you that are Americans so maybe it takes an Australian flag to rally around like that. Either way, the flag of your homeland and you see the flag of your homeland and it it it it stirs you and you say that's what that's that's an identification with my people. This is where this is where I live. This is the land that I love and it it stirs hope within you.
Even when you're on foreign territory. What David is saying here is that God is given a banner to his people that they can rally around that can stir hope within them. What is the banner of God's people banner of God is his truth the banner of God is his character. As we go through these setbacks, we look for the banner of the flag so to speak that is waiving that reminds us that God has revealed his truth in his word and that God is a faithful God to his people as we remember the word of God. Now, on the other side of the cross we remember the cross of Christ. We remember that he loved us and gave himself up for us, we remember the sovereign work of God and that he is always faithful to his people and what does that do in the midst of the defeat rally's hope it rallies encouragement you rally around these things that are the central core commitments of faith, the central core truth is that that animate the very reason that we exist spiritually and say oh yes I remember who God is in the midst of this, and that gives me hope. Beloved, just going back for a moment to recognize and to go back to verses one and two as we talk about these things look back at those verses with me as David says God you've rejected issue broken as you been angry, made the land quake you've made your people experience hardship, you know, the, the tendency is to want to minimize in sorrow and difficulty to minimize the sovereignty of God, as if to excuse him from responsibility for the hardship that you're going through. Beloved, don't make that mistake don't make that mistake. That is a wrong way to think God is sovereign over everything in your life isn't T. God has numbered the hairs on your head. God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. God has appointed the length of your days. And God is at work and absolutely everything that happens. And even though you may struggle to understand why God has brought a particular hardship into your life at a given time. What you must understand is the fact that God has brought it into your life is an indication that there is a good purpose in it.
Even if you can't perceive it right now even in that which brings you low which brings you discouragement which brings you to the end of your rope reset.
I don't know if I can get out of bed this morning. In light of what's going on you don't sacrifice the sovereignty of God to that because the sovereignty of God in your hardship is the certainty that you have that there is a hand leading you and there is a good purpose in it, even if it's painful at the moment.
Never ever sacrifice the sovereignty of God for the sake of excusing him from your hardship is very sovereignty of God that gives you a hope and a certainty that there is a purpose for your hardship and that there is also a way out of your hardship ahead. We must cling to that, we must know that to be true. That is the banner that you can rally around as you walk through your trials and fear God in the process. Look what David says in verse five.
Is he turns the corner so to speak, in the agony of his defeat. He says you've given a banner to those who fear you in verse five he says that your beloved may be delivered save with your right hand and answer us all beloved look at that verse and let that elevate off of the page, so to speak. I'm speaking metaphorically better not elevate off your page literally, but let that highlight in your mind. Let your mind. Let your mind go to that person and and rest in it and see what it has to say to you that even in your sorrow and defeat. You are the beloved of God for those of you that know Christ.
The God has his affection on you, and therefore, because he has his compassion on you. You can have certainty that he cares about the situation that you find yourself in, no matter how dark and difficult it might be that his his care is certain and that he has a plan and an ability to deliver you from it.
In his good time. Look at verse five with me again that your beloved may be delivered all God in the midst of this defeat, as I am brought low in the midst of this old God. The prayer becomes because you are who you are because you are God over this because you are God over my soul and that you care for your people. Oh God, now I have a basis upon which to make this request.
Save with your right hand and answer us God's right hand being a metaphor for his power, God, exercise your power motivated by your love in order to deliver us from the present setback that we find ourselves in. That is what the banner of God leads you to do. God help us win a victory that we cannot attain on our own and there in verse five you see a good measure of the spiritual result that God is trying to bring to pass, when he brings hardship into your life. Look at their that your beloved may be delivered save with your right hand and answer us. What is the spirit of that prayer except this. It is a spirit of prayer that is marked by humility and dependence on God. Beloved, when God brings you low as I know he is done for some of you here to die in some of the most painful ways possible. And I say this to help you and strengthen you not to be critical when God brings us into those low times of defeat. He is doing a spiritual work in your heart that is of great value.
He is teaching you humility. He is teaching you dependence.
He is he is reducing the level of pride in your heart so that you would turn to him and depend upon him in humility. You learn that this world is fallen, all beloved, stay with me the lessons that we learn in the Valley are so profound and so significant and so necessary.
You learn that this world is fallen in your trials and your defeats and therefore watch this you learn not to love it. You learn not to cling to it. You learn not to make this world and what happens in this life. The object of your highest affections and highest aspirations right. Michael's nodding his head. He knows when these things happen. You learn something really significant that is really difficult to come to grips with a one level that is painful but yet is utterly liberating in the head. You start to cultivate a mindset that says you know what is. I look about what's happening to me here and I see what's happened in the lives of others.
I can only say this is a child of God.
This world is not my home.
This is not where I find my satisfaction. All of this world brings sorrow. It brings trial it brings setback and ultimately from a physical sense, this world is simply a path to the grave for me.
What's to love. What's to like about that and wordy pivot from that you pivot toward a greater affection a greater appeal, a greater love greater aspirations and motivation same God.
You are my hope you are my joy. You're the strength of my life. You are what I love. Not this world because this world brings these kinds of defeats.
This world is the occasion for all kinds of sorrow and so God I turn away from placing my hope in circumstances and wanting things to go a separate way because I realize how vulnerable and passing it is in God brings that into your life so that you would learn to treasure him above all else and find the greatest satisfaction of your heart in him. In the New Testament since in Christ alone that you would treasure more than anything on earth the one who shed his blood for the salvation of your soul, the one who came from heaven in order to give his life on Calvary, a sacrifice for your sins, one who raised his son from the dead is the same one who will raise you from the dead and all of a sudden the things of this world you just realize are so transient that are so temporary let my heart find something where it can rest that is stable and unchanging, and the only place that you find that is in the Lord Jesus Christ and if your defeats, your sorrows, your trials would wean your affections off of this world and teach you to love Christ more exclusively and more highly and more pre-eminently beloved. Your trials are a good gift from God to because he is using them to bring you to him self for God. You are my banner and God based on that. I appeal to you for deliverance in the midst of these times.
Beloved at such such a simple thing to say. I'm almost embarrassed to say it because it's such a truism that such an axiom. It's so obvious that we need to factor this into the way that we approach spiritual life things will not always go our way. Things will not always go your way and sometimes the reversal will be very sharp and very painful. It will be the phone call in the middle of the night.
That tells you there's been an accident and you need to come quickly. It will be the sickness that is going to be a long time in recovery and on it goes. I don't need to illustrate it for you realize that when that comes that God is bidding you to turn to him for help and to learn in a humble sense of dependence. A fresh measure of what it means to walk with him.
When that happens. What do you find when you turn to God when you turn to him and his word.
When you turn to them for who he really is what you find in the midst of the agony of defeat. Point number two you find the assurance of his sovereignty.
The assurance of his sovereignty, sovereignty, a word meaning the gods in control, that God runs the universe that he is he is in charge and nothing knocks him off of his throne even the worst of our trials in response to that prayer for deliverance.
In verse five. God responds in verse six look at it there with me is a lot of geographic references in the verses that follow that will summarize very quickly here to show what is being said. Verse six. God has spoken in his holiness, I will exalt. I will portion out Shechem and measure out the Valley of Sica's Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the helmet of my head. Judah is my scepter. Now if you're reading the Bible for first time without a Bible Atlas or some sense of geography that that verse makes no sense whatsoever. Does how how the world can you make any sense out of that.
Well, this is why we value the tools that God has provided for his people to be able to look in the study and to understand things that you know you could pray over this verse for for days and days and days and if you never look at a map and I don't have any idea what it means. Well what's going on here is this God is mentioning various regions of the land of Israel to show that he is sovereign over what happens there. He says he will portion them out and give the land to his own. Notice how he says Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim is is the helmet of my head. Judah is my scepter. It's mine, it's mine, it's mine, it's mine. God says it all belongs to me as an assertion of his dominion, his power and his authority. And here's the here's the key beloved is God is saying this in response to his people in the context as their land has been the subject of an attack that they have lost momentarily. What's God saying here. Except this he saying because this land belongs to me. It is my prerogative to dispense it as I see fit. And all of a sudden God as God speaks and asserts his authority over the land, you realize that the appeal to him must meet with success because God determines what happens in his land. In Genesis, Shechem, and suck off for the first two places that Jacob settled in after he had met his brother Esau look back at Genesis 33 for just a moment the first book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 33 in verses 17 and 18. This historical illusion illusion, not illusion. This historical illusion within a is referring back to the time that Jacob began to settle in the to the land. In Genesis 33 verse 17 Jacob journeyed to suck often built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock.
Therefore, the places name suck off now. Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan.
When he came from pattern a ram and camped before the city. Jacob is starting to settle into the land and God was with him at that time and gave him that land as the foothold of his possession. These places these areas were on opposite sides of the Jordan River. The point for Psalm 60 being this God gave that land to Jacob from the very start of the beginning of the people of Israel. God was with Jacob, then now in this time of military setback when the land is being attacked by foreign hostile powers God saying, in effect, I'm still in charge here.
This land still belongs to me and I have no power dispossessing those who have attacked turning back attack is not a problem for me because this land is mine.
I determine what's there might my people first settled there back in Genesis and today David in the midst of your rain. I am still in charge. There fear not the point. In Psalm 60 is God is still with the descendents of Jacob in the land he saying he's asserting his sovereignty showing his faithful love and what he says here beloved is a true child of God through faith in Christ as those who walk with Christ through this life and taste sorrows in the salt of tears. 11 hear the word of God here this evening. God can deliver his people, and God will deliver his people. We can say that with utter certainty because God is sovereign and he loves his people and he's faithful to them so that even though we go through the valley from time to time, even though the Valley is deepened and nighttime comes and there's no moon in the sky say where my going where do I turn I can't see my next step from where I'm standing here, you remember your sovereign, faithful, loving God and say yes he can deliver me, he will deliver me. You remember the words of Scripture says no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man and God is what is faithful and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. This is this is the way of God with his people. Beloved, we we we have to humble ourselves in the midst of our trials and recognize that that that God has brought something into your life. First of all that is painful and sorrowful, we sympathize with that. But you can't collapse under the weight of the trial, you must teach yourself to to think biblically, to think theologically to to consciously pull yourself out of that mental realm of discouragement and say let me remember right now who my God is in the gods in control of my situation. God is faithful to me. The final chapter has not been written yet. The outcome of the store isn't known. I must trust God for what lies ahead and realize that even in the midst of the sorrow he will provide a way forward even if I don't see it right now and you say to yourself, especially under the as we listen to the word preached together here this evening as we sit under the word of God under the influence of his word. You realized it has to be that way because this is who God is and it can be no other way and therefore that's always the key word. Therefore, because God is who he is. The sorrow isn't the end of me. There is a turning to this yet to come were God will show his faithfulness and I will rejoice in his goodness when he does and sometimes that's the only sliver of light that you have going forward is the bare promise of God to be faithful to you. Listen, listen, you won't know that promise is all you need until God has removed every other prop that supports you in life.
It's only when you come to the darkest spot in the darkest road in the darkest night and you see one star in the sky that gives light there's one place in the sky that is giving light to to draw your eye into give you direction will beloved. It's when everything that would otherwise give you hope in this life the way that things would go when all of that is wiped away, then you learn the great exceeding infinite value of the bare promise of God that he will never leave you nor forsake you. And in that time. Beloved, you are growing spiritually in that time, God is maturing your soul so that in the loneliness in the reversals in the painful bad health, and the conflict of family and the sorrows of other manner of life. You learn that that promise is enough for me. You learn experientially that the promise of God is enough to satisfy my soul and you never learn the great value until everything else is taken away and all of a sudden you look at your defeats from a completely different perspective and you say the whole point of this is to teach me about the greatness of my God and the sufficiency of who he is and that I can trust him going forward back. Psalm 60 verse seven says Gilead is mine. Manas is mine. Gilead was an Israelite territory to the east of the Jordan River Manasses straddled the river on the west side. Ephraim and Judah were the primary tribes of Israel. Ephraim, a strong tribe that provided military protection protecting the nation like a helmet on the head scepter Judah being the scepter, a symbol of the rule.
David came from the tribe of Judah and now was the king symbolizing God's rule. Judah, symbolizing the rule of God Ephraim, symbolizing the protection of God. God is saying. I have established protection and rule in the midst of my people and we are meant to rely on that. In other words, this is a resounding statement that God is the God of Israel, and today 2000 years later we still say God is the God of his people that he hasn't changed in the intervening 2000 years but nothing of the rise of foreign nations or corruption in the political system or anything. None of that has not got off his throne. None of your sorrows have diminished his sovereignty in any way whatsoever. None of the family trials. None of the broken marriage.
None of that has diminished the rule of God and as we embrace that as we think on that as we accept it as we believe it. All of a sudden, we have a position of strength with which to live our lives going forward. Now in verse eight God turns his attention to the enemies of Israel, and he speaks in metaphors of the most derisive kind. He says Moab is my wash bowl and over Edom I shall throw my shoe shout loud oaf list you because of me.
What's he saying he says Moab is his wash bowl well in those days, a servant would bring a basin or pot to be used for bathing purposes to his master, or even to be used as a toilet was the most menial low position when he speaks of throwing the shoe master would come into the room and toss his shoes over toward a slave to take care of menial task of menial incident indicating that I'm in charge here. You do what I say God is saying these enemies of my people are like my servants. I view them with disdain and hate, and though they had momentary ascendancy as they attacked the people of God and God allowed them time to prevail over his people, so that his people would learn to trust him and would be disciplined just be more faithful to him. God here speaks of their enemies and says in the big picture of things I am going to humble them.
I rule over your enemies, and he speaks in a way that is utterly denigrating, utterly humbling to them, saying there is no future for them other than to be a slave of mine in a slave not in a positive sense in which we are slaves of Christ. They are servants of God will deal with in judgment so those who are hostile should simply shout and describe praise to him shout in fear. The whole picture here in in verses six and seven and verse eight is this. We just we just love the way principles come out of the pictures of Scripture gives us God rules over his people in love and faithfulness. And God rules over his enemies. Injustice those who rise up against God and against his purposes will ultimately find that he judges them and cast them away. You can do that because the sovereign it doesn't matter how strong they appear to humanize God laughs at those who oppose him for his people. We find comfort in the protection and the rule in the love and the mercy of our God and that power with which he defeats his enemies is the same power by which he protects his own and we live under the benefit of that sovereign rule and so you see the description of the agony of defeat in the first five verses then you see this assurance of sovereignty. In verses six through eight, and then you turn to verse nine and you see the final section of the Psalm, which is the appeal for help.
The appeal for help saw the agony of defeat. The assurance of sovereignty and now the appeal for help.
Beloved. This brings out the. The humility that this is designed to bring to us. Think with me here about the big sections of the Psalm in the midst of the feet. We remember that God is sovereign and what does that do that gives us the basis to appeal to him to help us in light of God's sovereign power over his people and their enemies. It is clear that God must go forth for the battle is in vain. Look at verse nine and 10.
David says who will bring me into the besieged city who will lead me to Edom have not you yourself though God rejected us and will you not go forth with our armies. Oh God, what's he doing here. He's pleading with God in humility. He's humbling himself saying God you must lead us into battle or the battle will be lost yet again. Oh God, you rejected us in the past we seen what it's like when somehow you choose not to protect us when you expose us to our enemies for time God you must go with us or we will lose yet again says you are God. But we are here in our defeat and what that teaches you to pray in the midst of your sorrows is this God. If you truly rain and you truly are sovereign, then you were raining you were ruling in the midst of our defeats and that teaches us not to presume on your grace that teaches us watch this my friends my brothers and sisters in Christ. Watch this. This teaches us to actually ask God for the help that we need and not simply go forward. Presuming on it to humble yourself to the point where you actually stop what you're doing you open your Bible, you read the word of God, and you humbly come before him and and with your mind engaged. Say God I am in a position of sorrow and and defeat here. Please help me using rain overall youth who have set your love on your people God please help me and all of that brings greater urgency to the request for help. Look at verse 11 were David says all give us help against the adversary for deliverance by man is in vain as you as you walk out of here tonight to reengage the problems that are bigger than you are with this verse be the encouragement with which you approach God. God help me because God this is too big for me to handle. I can't solve this God therefore help me because if I come up with a solution on my own. It's just going to be vanity, emptiness, and I'm to be back in lost yet again. God, I depend not on my own strength I appeal to you for years and having made that request will give us help.
Oh God, you, and on the note of triumph that Psalm 60 is designed to bring you to after the defeat.
Having made that request.
Faith sees the answer before it manifests itself in time through God. Look at verse 12 through God we shall do valiantly and it is he who will tread down our adversaries, God gave them the victory.
The inscription says that Joab went down to Edom and Slough 12,000 men. In response, you can read more about that further on in second Samuel eight were out of time or we would turn their blood. Let me just give the you for very simple principles to help frame your thinking when it if he comes into your Christian life is going to say these real quick and it's hard to believe when I preach as long as I do so routinely that I really like to just reduce things to the simplest of principles because I think that gives clarity to your thinking. The simplest principles meditated on faithfully over time will give strength to your soul and give you a way forward when you are under the pressure of sorrow and trial number one. What should you do when a defeat comes in your life and light light of Psalm 60, number one see the hand of God. He still rules over you.
Remember that God is in charge, even when it seems like circumstances are out of control. See the hand of God. Secondly, let the love of Christ encourage you to pray blood in the midst of in the midst of the hardship.
Remember that Christ gave himself voluntarily on the cross to save you from your sin. Remember that he's a willing Savior.
Not a reluctant one and let that love encourage you to pray to come to him for help. She see the hand of God.
But the love of Christ encourage you to pray. Thirdly, humble yourself to the point that you actually ask for help.
Humble yourself to actually ask for help. We talk all around prayer, don't we. We talk about prayer. We magnify how wonderful it is but sometimes we just don't get down to pray and actually asking in humility for the help that we need.
So in those serious trials come in your life. Humble yourself enough to actually ask for help to verbalize it and then fourthly trust God for the final outcome. If you've place yourself under the hand of protection and care of God in prayer is a believing Christian love it. It comes out well for you in the end could be no other way but that settle and pacify your heart. In Hebrews chapter 13 verses five and six, we find the text will close with this evening. Hebrews 13, five and six where it says that he himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you so that we may confidently say the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid little man do to me you will never leave you nor forsake you, beloved, therefore you can walk out tonight in peace.
That's pretty together. Our father, we do affirm before you that your hand is in everything that happens to us, whether it seems outwardly good or bad. You rule over our lives. Certainly, if you number the hairs of that are on our head. Oh God. You oversee the more important and lasting things of life, and so we recognize your sovereign rule and we recognize your sovereign care as we look at the cross of Christ without blessed Redeemer shed his blood for the salvation of our souls. Of course you rule. And of course you love us fathers we gather tonight is people of God. Those who know each other and we know a little bit of the circumstances of one another's lives.
Father, we pause and we take an extra moment here just now to ask you to help each one in the midst of the sorrow somewhere.
Sin has broken into their home and feel the weight of that sin in the life of a loved one that suddenly is come to light and now where do we go from here and realizing that life is what we thought it was and they need your help in dealing with sin. Oh God, others in the midst of discouragement of reversal physical difficulty conflict in relationships. Father in the best way that we know how in the simplest way that we can remember in your sovereign love for us. We ask you to help God help these beloved brothers and sisters in Christ in their sorrows and their difficulties and what they're going through God, your word, your your word calls us to this again and again and again to call out to you in the times of our sorrow and distress God we do that just now, we actually ask you to help us and we confess our weakness and inability to help ourselves as we do, we appeal to you and to you alone.
We have no wisdom of our own. The euro wise God, you know the way forward. You haven't brought us into something that is unique to mankind. You haven't left us without a way forward. Help us, oh God. And as you do. Father as we end our time together this evening. We simply want to affirm that we trust you your good God in your great God and you saved us to bring about the ultimate blessing in our lives forever and ever.
So Lord, we do trust you. We are confident as we look to the future, even if we can't see this outcome of the circumstances, from where we stand. We don't need to see the outcome of circumstances. Father, we see our God, high and exalted, in the throne of heaven ruling overall and loving us process and we know that it comes out well for us in the so from that position of strength and trust that is borne out by your revealed character in your revealed word of God close our time in the name of Christ will friend thank you for joining us on through the songs.
If you would like to follow my weekly messages from truth Community Church go to truth Community Church.org and look for the link titled pulpit podcast again. That's truth Community Church.org God bless you. Thanks Don and Fred. Be sure to join us each weekend as we continue through the son with pastor Don Greene could find church information Don's complete sermon library and other helpful materials that the truth pulpit.com this message is copyrighted by Don Greene. All rights reserved