God, Hurry Up! (Through the Psalms) Psalm 70

Welcome to through the song we give ministry of the truthful teaching God's people. God's word over time will study 150 Psalms with pastor Don Greene from truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio were so glad you're with us. Let's open to the Psalms right now as we join our teacher in the truthful, what were so glad that you all are with us is always there so much to be thankful for. Truth Community Church thankful for God's word thankful for salvation and the Lord Jesus Christ thankful to have one another to share life together with thankful for people knew to our church, thankful for those of you that have been with us from the beginning those a drive along the way those that live just a minute or two away. Thankful for this beautiful facility. We just have so much to be grateful for here and I'm glad that you all are a part of it together going to turn as Andrew said to Psalm 70 and I invite you to turn their the title of tonight's message.

If you take notes and like to keep such things is God.

Hurry up within!

God hurry Psalm 70 it's a brief song says in the inscription for the choir director has Psalm of David for Memorial then beginning in verse one, oh God, hasten to deliver me oh Lord hasten to my help. Let those be ashamed and humiliated to seek my life. Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. Let those be turned back because of their shame, who say ha ha. Let all who seek you. Rejoice and be glad in you and let those who love your salvation say continually let God be magnified, but I am afflicted and needy hasten to me. Oh God, you are my help and my deliverer, O Lord, do not delay. And there's a sense in which the truth Community Church. From my perspective for my own private perspective. In my own internal way of thinking in the way things unfolded in my life. Truth Community Church was born out of the spirit of the song wasn't tied specifically to Psalm 70 but 2010 2011 or so.

There were just agitations in my heart that had been building for quite a long time and a lot of it just desire for ministry to have my own pulpit in life. I'm getting a little older. At that point coming up on the big 50 and it seemed like time was slipping away and things were kind of getting a little bit stagnant in my hardening seemed like a little bit in the way that life was going for me and I was very impatient.

I got to a point of impatience in and just praying and saying, saying, Lord, you have got to help me you've got to do something here and it was a kind of thing where I wasn't at liberty to talk about it with anyone so I'm just as it were. I was shot up to God and in need of his his quick intervention and was in that time. In that spirit within a matter of a few days or few weeks that the first contact came from some folks in Cincinnati and everything followed from here and as they say one thing led to another and were here tonight to study Psalm 70 together but II can identify with the spirit of the song.

That sense of urgency that sense of there cannot be any more waiting. You need to act now and I know that that's not unique to me or to the solace you felt that way in the pastor's troubles have pressed in, things have been chronic for a very long time, and the pressure just comes to a point where you just cry out God.

You've got to help me now and if you haven't felt that in your Christian life just yet. It's okay. It will the time look for you. I'm sure where the urgency of the Psalm is pressed upon you, and it is a wonderful encouragement to me to know that there are prayers like Psalm 70 in the Bible where there is just a rush into God's presence to declare the urgency of the need. Sometimes life is like that and there's not always the opportunity are always the presence of mind or presence of heart to go through a nice little protocol like some prayer seminars would teach you, and you gotta do this and then this. And then this kind of put a straitjacket on you for the way that you must pray well. Psalm 70 blessed Lee breaks the. The chains of those human inventions and bids us to common declarer well before the Lord with the confidence that he'll hear us and I like that I like that about Psalm 70 and I like the fact that the Lord receives our prayers and all of our weakness and struggles and difficulties and hears us as a loving father and Psalm 70 gives us that in Psalm 70 like almost every other Psalm. If you study them closely enough ultimately points us to Christ as well and points us to an aspect of the life and the ministry of Christ that will see in a little while. So while this Psalm is brief.

It is very very sweet to the believing Christian. Now just by way of a little bit of background, something that would be easy to miss this Psalm Psalm 70 is a virtual verbatim repetition of something that we saw in Psalm 40 not invite you to turn back to Psalm 40. This is just an interesting observation that many, many people have made Psalm 40 beginning in verse 13 to 17 is a something of a predecessor and that at very much at least a close close relationship to what we've seen in Psalm 70 so you look at verse 13 and you see David here in Psalm 40 saying, be pleased, old Lord to deliver me, make haste, O Lord to help me let those be ashamed and humiliated together who seek my life to destroy it. Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt, but those be appalled because of their shame, who say to me ha ha. Let all who seek you.

Rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say continually. The Lord be magnified.

Since I am afflicted and needy. Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer, do not delay. Oh my God, what can we say about this about the fact that there are such close parallels to do two different passages of Scripture. Well, the close relationship really is not that difficult to explain, at least plausibly Charles Spurgeon over hundred years ago, said David appears to have written a full length Psalm Psalm 40 and also to have made this excerpt from it and altered it to suit the occasion.

So you'd written Psalm 40 and he comes into a new situation that requires a sense of urgency and he goes back. This is from the human perspective of the writing of Scripture goes back lifts up this section makes it independent and modifies it just slightly for the occasion. That was that was there, so David drew upon his own songs to develop his own praying as the Psalter was being developed. This Psalm Psalm 70 is a prayer for for a quick rescue from severe difficulties and it anticipates the rejoicing that will follow and just right there just right there. The severe difficulties is a good thing for us to step back and remember, especially as I look out and know some of the things that you're either going through or effaced in your past is the fact that there will be severe difficulties for the believer. Job of course went through very severe difficulties losing his family losing his wealth losing his health and for an extended period of time, suffering greatly at the hands of misguided counselors and even in were often there offering their perspective in the name of the Lord and we go through and we think of the sufferings that the apostle Paul went through. Certainly the sufferings of our Lord Jesus.

And it's so important for us to have a sense in our mind, have a general settled understanding in our mind that being a Christian being a follower of the true God does not exempt us from the hardships of life. It does not exempt us from the difficulties that come with living in the fallen world, it doesn't exempt us from the deepest and most severe of sorrows.

Even in there is something encouraging, even about that, so that when these storms of life break out in the rain comes down the reign of sorrow in the reign of difficulty in the reign of discouragement to realize that while this is uncomfortable, it is not unknown territory.

It is not something that Scripture does not anticipate Scripture tells us that it is through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God as we read in the book of acts, and as we go through the Psalms and as we have so many times we see that a godly man. The God's anointed king of his chosen people going through suffering going through sorrow.

Speaking of David, and then that the ultimate king, our Lord Jesus going through suffering going through rejection going to the cross going all the way to death.

And what do we do here in our lives except the to walk in their footsteps to walk in the footsteps of our Lord. And so we say we we we calm and we realize okay there will be difficult times. That approach my life. There will be sorrows that come in, they will sometimes they may seem overwhelming, but where where this helps us is is it that is not a mark of the abandonment of God is not a mark that something has gone wrong. This is sometimes the sometimes we walk through deep dark woods as a believer knowing that others have gone before us in the path the Lord led them out on the other side eventually and he will do the same for us and in the meantime, we have a Lord.

Having gone through these things in his in his flesh. In the days of his suffering.

We have a Lord who sympathizes and who understands when we come to him and pour out our woe to him now for any believer in Christ there is great comfort in that for us. We take heart from the trials that we have seen the saints beforehand going before us in James Montgomery voice, who's one of my favorite commentators on the book of Psalms in his three volume set. He said this in relation to Psalm 70.

He said David was the beloved king of Israel who rained powerfully and well. For 40 years. He was installed blessed and approved by God who called him a man after his own heart. David was nearly always in close fellowship with God and yet he had constant troubles and was in nearly constant danger for his life. If that was true for David.

Should we be surprised that it is often our experience to should we be astonished the troubles and dangers enemies and even muddy pits are our frequent lots in life, we should not even be surprised if our situation seems deft, desperate, as is David's case here and so that gives us kind of a perspective with which to approach the text of Psalm 70 which I'm going to break into two sections for you here this evening. Let's look first of all it David's prayer for deliverance is prayer for deliverance and he cries out as the Psalm opens, he cries out to God to rescue him and rescue him quickly to hasten to his aid and one of the one of the interesting observations about the song which I alluded to a few minutes ago is that he bypasses any sense of praise he bypasses thanksgiving to God and he lays his supplication out and get straight to the point. I love that about the song with verse one with me he says oh God, hasten to deliver me oh Lord hasten to my help in the operative word in this Psalm is is hasten if you look at verse five. You can see it there at the end it frames. This Psalm is so often keywords do as you study the songs he says I am afflicted and needy hasten to me. Oh God.

And what does this word hasten mean well, one of the key Old Testament lexicons states at this weight since this verb has the idea of hurry move or to do a task quickly and David is confessing his inability to deliver himself from his enemies and asks God to speedily take up his cause and so that's what David is doing. He says God I am in a situation that is beyond my ability to address you have the power to do it, and yet you seem to be in active God. I am ringing the bell.

I'm calling to your attention my situation and I'm asking you to hurry to hasten to my help and so as we see the need for prompt action also closes the Psalm hasten to me. Oh God, you're my help my deliver a Lord.

Do not delay.

So there is the sense of urgency in which he is saying God hurry up this situation cannot wait for your intervention any longer and there are some very helpful things for us to think about and to meditate on.

Just in light of the nature of what David is praying here first of all, contrary to the way that modern Christianity is often presented with the slick speakers with the you know $200 hairdos and all of that. It's not the nature of the Christian life that we always feel like were in control of the situation that were smooth and self-assured that that may appeal to the confidence of the flesh, but is not the reality of true and genuine spiritual life. Often the Lord brings us to a point of utter weakness, a point of failure point of discouragement and there is this cry that goes out for help with what's going on there will first of all, understanding that were being humbled in the process.

It teaches us to look up to look out beyond ourselves. Look out beyond our resources to our God who cares for us and to learn certain lessons from that. If you look back at second Corinthians chapter 12 to a familiar passage.

Second Corinthians chapter 12 just wanting you to see that this sense of weakness and even satanic assault is sometimes the place exactly where the Lord would have us to be second Corinthians chapter 12 verse seven says because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations that were given to Paul. For this reason, to keep me from exalting myself. There was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me to keep me from exalting myself and concerning this. I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.

What did the Lord say to them, you know, don't you, he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.

Most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses with insults with distresses with persecutions with difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. There is attention there as Paul describes it in our our our weaknesses actually become our point of strength because our weaknesses become the point where we cast ourselves more fully and more dependently upon the God of our salvation.

And so while we might in our flesh we might initially prefer superficially thinking I'd like life to be easy and smooth for me understand that that's usually not the intent of the Lord for his children to go through because we need these trials to humble us. We need these trials to sanctify us. We need these trials to teach us to rely not on our own strength, our own wisdom, our own ability. Our own inside but the comments, Paul didn't say to find there that in his grace is our sufficiency and beloved. The only way some of said I've quoted it in times gone by, certainly have known it in my own heart, you won't know that Jesus Christ is all you need until Jesus Christ is all you've got and that blessed place of knowing the sufficiency of his grace. It is a pearl of great price.

It is a gift of great value, but his package.

It comes packaged in the difficulties and sorrows of life before we find it well going back to Psalm 70 with me with those things in mind. David is praying God hurry up and he is been brought to this point of dependency. This point of urgency. God I'm a II have gone beyond my human resources here. You are my only hope.

And so I call upon you and God.

I'm pleading with you. Hurry up because my enemies are seeking my run again Charles Spurgeon says this he says it is not forbidden us in hours of dire distress to ask for speed on God's part in his coming to rescue us." And so the Psalm invites us to draw upon the grace of God to draw upon the grace of our Lord and to even be insistent that there would be that he would act quickly to help us this song blessedly teaches us the prayer does not always follow a canned formula and you know I'm grateful for the people who taught me the, the, the acronym acts in prayer, you know, adoration, confession of sin Thanksgiving and supplication very early in the early months of my Christian life.

I'm grateful for that.

It gave me a pattern to get kind to get started with the beloved. Whether you follow an acronym like that or some other method of formula.

It is so important for you to understand that there only a general guideline for you. We cannot cram all of our Christian experience in our needs and our supplications before God. We cannot put them all through the same little grinder because the experiences of life and the experiences of of our Christian heart go far beyond that. You know when your heart is severely broken. I don't need to tell you that sometimes all that you can do is just kinda cry out with minimal words and a lot of tears and it is such a relief to know that the Scriptures don't point us and say you must always pray in this manner that it it invites us to a breadth of experience in a breath of expression that that accommodates the fullness of it in the that we go to a God who knows the depths of our hearts who understands the depth of our thoughts that that they go beyond what we ourselves are able to understand and he invites us as a loving father to come in to lay our burdens before him I love him for that prayer is a living communion with God that is often flavored by the circumstances that prompted if the circumstances are urgent and pressing as we see here in Psalm 70, then it is appropriate for our prayers to be urgent and pressing now with that said Psalm 70 is not the only way that you should pray were not always in these dire circumstances of life, but it can instruct you. We can help you. He can encourage you that here it is when the need is desperate when your need is desperate get to the point with God and pray urgently for exactly what you need and that in that regard. You I'm always always think of Peter when it stepped out of the boat on the water and is walking to look toward the Lord. He looks around he sees a wave and he says oh, this is the same good and he what is what is he do he just he just cries out, Lord save me, Lord help me and just got right to the point of what his urgent situation required and here's where I think this helps you. My friends, it is not a lack of faith that brings that kind of urgency to prayer is not a reflection of a failure or or a sense of of not trusting God that promotes the urgency quite to the contrary. Quite to the contrary. And I say this to defend your souls to help you in your spiritual life as I say that it with this this kind of urgency that David is expressing is is is another peak in a mountain range of faith being expressed. It is another pinnacle. It is another high point for what is what is he saying, except that when he when he asked God urgently for help. What is he saying except God. I recognize your sovereign power over my situation.

I know that you can intervene immediately if only you would. This is this kind of praying is is rooted in a great confidence in the utter sovereignty of God and that is an expression of faith not doubt the fact that that he calls on God and in great fairness in and an openness of soul. God hurry up God hasten to my help. What is this accepted a great confidence that is God will receive him well and that he has open access to the throne of God to lay out his request before him. There's confidence in his power confidence in God's love and what else is it will this this kind of prayer in Psalm 70 also reflects AA and abandonment of self says God II had I come before you without any self-confidence. I admit my total weakness in my total need, so there is this trust in this dependence on the goodness and the power of God and we need to see this song from that light and draw encouragement upon it. But sometimes the urgent prayers are expressing a level of trust that is foreign to a lot of people and so this we said in Psalm 69.

As we talked about the imprecatory Psalms in a much different context. Just remember this beloved, as you read through the Psalms, year after year and you know throughout the course of life to always understand the were coming to learn from the psalmist, not as some critics would do to sit in judgment on them and say we shouldn't of prayed this way we should have said that as if the Psalms were designed to restrict us before God to put us in the in the chair of the critic.

The judge of the one. Rather than saying finding in the Psalms, a model that gives us in a way to express our hearts and almost any circumstance we could ever conceive of. I love the Psalms for that and I know you do too well, having opened up as we opened up with this sense of urgency. David goes on and lays out his problem before the Lord. Here in verse two he says let those be ashamed and humiliated to seek my life.

Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. He's asking God to bring shame on those who had shamed David. He's asking God to to turn the tables on the Lord, they have dealt with me wickedly and they have shamed me publicly Lord and you know that at the heart of this was great iniquity, great sin, great, great injustice, so God I pray that you would turn the tables on them that they would reap what they had sewed. He's asking God to confound his enemies who plotted against him, says God, it's one thing the spirit of the Psalms is this God. It is one thing for you to bring me low. It's one thing for my God to humble me to bring me into difficult circumstances.

But Lord, it's another.

It's quite another thing for enemies who hate me to do that to me and so God I'm asking you to deal with them and to vindicate me to show that I belong to you to help me and to vindicate and to show that you are faithful to me against those who are sinning against me.

One writer said just thinking about the concept of enemies he says and I quote it is a sad reality of fallen human nature, but you will at some time in life have an enemy who delights in your hurt and harm some enemies will hate you in spite of or even because of your virtues. I was David's experience was and he was a virtuous man. He was a godly king recognizing he had little episode there with Bathsheba. The didn't go to well but the tenor of his life was godliness in here are these enemies lined up against him and in virtue being opposed by sinful men once again we step back and in marvel at the unity of the word of God and realize what David's experience was was only a foreshadowing of what would happen to Christ himself when he was opposed at every turn in his ministry by wicked men contradicting him challenging him accusing him making wild accusations as though he were an illegitimate child of Mary as though he was a son of the devil himself. Well beloved once again just coming back.

Thinking through our own spiritual experience you have enemies that are opposing you as we speak. You have those that are making false accusations against you. Do you have those who delight in your hurt and you know deep in your heart even if no one else around.

Understands you know deep in your heart that you have lived with integrity in these attacks against you are unprovoked.

I've been there. I know that you have two will we look to our Christ and say all once again I see my Lord is gone before me. I'm merely walking in his way, walking in his footsteps. It encourages me to to share in the sufferings with my Lord to have a small taste of the flavor of what his ministry was like when he walked here on earth, and that I can identify in a small way with the greater sufferings that he gladly went through in order to redeem my soul. Yes, that's sweet to see that David went through that and to just have a perspective on life that gives us the perspective and the ability to go through it.

Sometimes we will deal with enemies who are nothing but wicked and ungodly and unjust and lying against us. And when that happens to realize Psalm 70 gives us a pattern where we can say God I know I can come to you for refuge.

I can come and ask you for help I can come and rest in your presence. Paul said it was a messenger of Satan sent against me just to be able to come say Lord I know that you understand and also and also to remember this, that even in their wickedness there under the hand of God, even under even in their wickedness God is restraining them. God is, is it has given them only so much rope to deal with you so only so much rope to harass you, they are they are on a lead a they are honoring God appointed leash and can go no further than God's lease will allow them to go in your life and to take heart in the fact that in time God will yank the leash back. Eventually God will pull them back and not allow them to harass you indefinitely and we take heart. In fact, knowing that God causes all things to work together for good that even those who oppose us even our enemies in life and ministry are ultimately an instrument and nothing more than an instrument in the hand of God to achieve other good purposes in our lives as Joseph said they may mean it for evil but God means it for your good and so we can submit to that we can trust God in that and we can look to him and cry out to him in trust, knowing that his sovereign goodness is over all of it. David's doing that. He says in verse three.

Look at it there with me. Psalm 70 verse three he says let those be turned back because of their shame, who say ha ha and that ha ha means something like too bad, too bad, and what would the ideas is that these personal enemies were seeking to hurt David and even to destroy him. They were closing in, and the threat was imminent, and so he says he says God turn them back God there advancing toward me.

They are making progress turn them back. Turn them back and let them feel a sense of shame. In the midst of that which they are presently glorying in they had sought David's life. They were rejoicing in his pain. And David says God turn them back deal with them. Bring shame upon them.

Sometimes people ask at this point is that a Christian way to pray. Well we dealt with that with the imprecatory Psalms over the past three weeks and we would say to that, of course, it is of course it is. Think about it this way. Beloved, God hates sin. God is a God of justice and he has anger at injustice every single day. Psalm seven says he hates evil plans that's woven throughout the Proverbs and so what do we do when we pray against wicked men seeking to perpetrate sinful evil plans against us against us individually against our against your family against the church. What do we think about that when we pray against that. Well, we are aligning ourselves with God. When we pray that their purposes might be frustrated God.

These plans are wicked what they're doing is sinful. Your holy God you hate sin. God I'm asking you to frustrate every aspect of that so that it will come to naught, and that everything that they are doing will just vanish like smoking a hurricane wind were not meant to be passive in response to evil and think about it this way, beloved.

What happens when wicked people succeed in their plans. Well, those who practice it are strengthened in their sinful resolve this work. Once all do it again and so of course we ask God to frustrate those kinds of plans when we become aware of them and that doesn't mean that we can't pray for God to save them for God to have mercy on them. You know, use more than one channel of prayer available to us, but we have a right and we have a privilege and we have a prerogative to take refuge in our God when wicked people are attacking us and God protect me. God turn this back when you go through Christian life and you have increasing years of experience. You know what it feels pretty good doesn't it to have some recorded experiences in your own life or you can look back and see were God did exactly that people who threatened to harm people who were opposed to you just they just kind of vanish like smoke in the air and it strengthens you to look back and see that it looked, it strengthens you to look at Scripture and say this was my experience in that time that episode in the past so that the next time that the next enemy comes along, you can say I've been here before.

I thought this kind of battle before God. Let me call upon you and strengthen confidence and trust in the certainty that that that you are going to protect your servant through this.

You see, there are there are paint blessings available to us as Christians.

There is a great sense of comfort and confidence. It belongs to us as we walk with God and as we you know as you go through life and develop some maturity and some experience to say I arrived. I've seen this. I've seen this act before and I know how God deals with it.

I know it comes out well in the end.

Therefore, all stand like a man will be strong all be confident I'll be trusting. I won't be I won't be undone by this because my God is good and my God is faithful. Well, just to point this to Christ again as we like to do.

Matthew 27 if you would turn their David said that there were men delighting in his hurt calling after him. Ha ha. Matthew 27 verse 39 Jesus is being crucified and those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads no.

I don't really need to say this now, but I'm going to. Sometimes you have a picture from paintings and artwork and all of that, that Christ was elevated really highlight multiple, multiple feet high on the cross at the time that that wasn't the case.

That wasn't the Roman nature of the crosses on which the crucified men.

The crosses were not all that high off the ground.

The men were not hanging that high off of the ground so that there it was possible to make eye contact with them and so this was a close crucifixion. This was a close manner of execution I should say, rather than having to look up and put your chin way up to be able to see you know you they were not. You just barely had to lift your head and you were looking at them in the eyes they knew it was not that is not that tall of an experience. What happens here what's what's being described here in verse 39 those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads. You have the picture of this being something that was right in Jesus face not something that he was looking down at from a distance because he was elevated so high, but this was right in his face and these enemies were were mocking him. In verse 39, wagging their heads. Verse 40 and saying you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself if you're the son of God, come down from the cross. In verse 41 in the same way the chief priests also along with the scribes and elders were mocking him to stop right there. It was enough.

In one sense, speaking humanly. It was enough that Christ was going to bear the eternal wrath of God on our behalf that he was being crucified in our place in our stead and suffering God's wrath on our behalf so that he might redeem our souls.

I would be enough. That was more than a day's work as a that was an eternal work that he was doing there, bearing the eternal consequences in his human body of the sins of everyone who would ever believe in him and it was a crushing spiritual experience to know that the father some out in whatever way this man was going to turn his head away from Christ and is in the midst of fulfilling the covenant of redemption made before the beginning of time, and you have these people you have these wicked men calming and taunting him in the midst of that spiritual sacrifice that is offering the chief priests describes the elders pleural notice. The plurality of it people gathering around delighting in his suffering has there ever been a time when the depraved sinful heart of men has been on full display.

Then when those men gathered around the foot of the cross and that holy moment of redemption when the sun eternal son of God in innocence is laying down voluntarily, his life for sinners in the and in his and his physical agony, and in his spiritual agony. These deadbeats come along and mock him and delight in the human shame of the crucifixion delight in his apparent weakness and mock him, verse 42 there enjoying the spectacle talking to themselves.

He saved others, he cannot save himself. He's the king of Israel, let them come down from the cross now and we will believe in him, he trusting God like God rescue him now if he delights in every set on the son of God. The robbers who had been crucified with him were also insulting him with the same words, the whole beloved all beloved step back in time as it were, in your mind step back into that moment and look with humbled adoring eyes on your Lord Jesus, seeing the, the extent of his suffering, manifested in the wicked people mocking him, even as he's bearing sin on your behalf.

He had earlier said you know if I wanted to I could call down legions of angels to deal with the situation.

It's not that he was without power. It was not that he was helpless. It was not that he was sinful. It was not that he wasn't the king of Israel as they were insinuating with their mock no now he's the greatest one ever.

He's the highest and most exalted one ever. And in his hours suffering humanity is at his feet, mocking him, showing their opposition to him delighting in his suffering, sinless virtue in our Lord Jesus being mocked by sinful vice in men well might our Lord have cried out as he did. My God my God why you forsaken me. There has never been in any human experience a greater sense of isolation than what Christ was experiencing at that moment and he did it, gladly for you to pay for your sense to redeem you to make you his own and so as we see Christ on the cross. The question cries out for an answer. God God. How long are you going to allow this to continue. We realize when we go into our own times of sorrow and difficulty in challenge.

Christ was their first God, how long you going allow this to continue. All yeah Jesus. Oh yeah, my Lord and were Newt renewed in strength, even as we cry out, remembering that our Lord has walked that path before us. He speaking of Christ is precious well if you go back to Psalm 70 we said we seen David's prayer for deliverance here in the last two verses we see the second section of the song the praise for deliverance. The praise for deliverance and you'll find here that we echo some things that we emphasized in Psalm 69. David is now going to expand his prayer beyond his own circle of need and expand his prayer for the good of God's people east looks beyond his situation and he encompasses all of the people of God in his intercession. In this prayer that he makes before his God. He says in verse four.

Let all who seek you. Rejoice and be glad in you and let those who love your salvation say continually let God be magnified. You know, brothers and sisters.

It's healthy for us.

It's good for us to remember in the midst of our trials. In the midst of our urgent prayers that there are other righteous people who also need God's help, he reminds us not to pray just in us completely self-centered manner but to expand our prayers out for the well-being of all of God's people, and here's the thing that I would encourage you to think about my friends my brothers my sisters with whom I will be around the throne of God.

One day, rejoicing in the completed work of Christ forever and ever. Amen. That's going to be a great day. Here's what I would say to you about your trials and a particular aspect that they should have upon your heart. You're very deep trials should soften your heart toward others and foster your prayers for them to realize that as as you have suffered.

As you are feeling pain that it equips you that it brings sensitivity to you. Oh you know what I see their situation. They must be in pain.

Also God, would you help them. They love your salvation like I do. I pray that you would work in their hearts to comfort and strengthen them so much that the outcome of their lives would be all let God be magnified.

Comfort them in a strong and mighty way.

Oh God, so that they would be brought to praise as well. I would remind you, as we've looked at the Lord's prayer what's called the Lord's prayer in Matthew chapter 6 that prayer is couched in the plural father give up.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And on it goes. Deliver us from evil is a plural to it not first person singular God do this for me, but were mindful that that as we as were growing and prayers were growing in our Christian life that that are that our vision, as it were, is expanded.

The blinders are taken often we see all of the people of God, at least at that at a minimum, those we interact with and we we we embrace the circle of the people of God that we know in our prayers as well. So this is not simply a matter seeking my own well-being. My own spiritual satisfaction my own help in the hour of my need verse four with me again in light of that David says God let all who seek you. Rejoice and be glad in you and let those who love your salvation say continually let God be magnified. God bless them all. So even as I'm praying for help in my own situation and my friends as you think about that.

His enemies, delighting in his hurt verse to their shame and all of that is as he is as he has contemplated that Adam brought that and laid out before the Lord in prayer and all of their wickedness. The answer to that wickedness is found in the cry at the end of verse four. Let God be magnified. Yes, God they they are sinfully trying to harm me, but God let the outcome of this be let God be magnified God. God let this burst forth in praise to the accomplishment of your glory and may their wickedness find the response in praise and it would not be too much to say that kind of praying, let God be magnified is the pinnacle of prayer in times of hardship, not simply beloved, not simply God help me, not simply God, help them to but moving beyond the horizontal to the vertical to the highest aspiration in prayer. God let your name be magnified. Our father which art in heaven hollow would be your name. Let that be the outcome of this and as we follow this kind of thing through Scripture we find prayer seeking the glory of God. No matter how he disposes of our problems. If you'll turn back prior to Psalms to the book of Job in Job chapter 1 we alluded to Job at the start of the student week and after he had lost his family lost his wealth and their their disc. The messengers are just coming one right after that another there speaking on top of each other. Look at verse 14. A messenger came to Job and said the oxen were plowing the dock donkeys feeding beside them in the Sabeans attacked and took them they slew the servants.

I alone have escaped to tell you while he was still speaking, another came and said the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheets and the servants and consume them while he was still speaking, another also came and said, the Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels, and slew the servants nylon of escaped to tell you. And while he was still speaking soon occur over time. This was half happening in minutes. Job's entire life was dissolving before his eyes. In verse 18. While he was still speaking, another also came and said your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young people, and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you and Job standing in utter brokenness, standing, meaning Job there he is, without the time to process these multiple calamities that have come upon him and the the unspeakable grief that would follow. Verse 20. What did he do Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked. I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

There are those moments thankfully they're pretty rare for most of us there are those moments of severe news coming where your mind is drawn to this responsive Job, God I came into this world with nothing I'm going to leave this world with nothing. These circumstances pain me but God you are unchanged, and I give you my praise discipleship tested in the crucible.

The furnace of affliction David in Psalm 70 concludes this Psalm by renewing his prayer for quick deliverance. Verse five.

If you look at it with me. He had it expanded out God bless all the people that are looking to you who rejoice in you, bless and protect all of your people, and then he brings it back. He brings it full-circle. He's still in his hardship and he says in verse five, but I am afflicted and needy hasten to me.

Oh God, you are my help and my deliverer. Oh Lord, do not delay these afflicted and needy because he is completely dependent for help. One commentator says there is not a moment to lose or so at least it appears at ground level. David is recognized is spiritual bankruptcy is helplessness in the round of his physical trials. Beloved isn't it true that an exercise of saving faith is found when a sinner recognizes that he is not able to help himself that he cannot erase the stain of his own sin, and he cries out to Christ.

I am afflicted. I need help here. I need spiritual deliverance. Help me now or I die, David's prayers, expressing that kind of trust at the end of the song. He's not a self-made man. True believers watch this.

True believers are not looking inside to find the resources they're not looking inside to find adequate marks of contrition before they go to the Lord know the crying out directly to him. They see his call, as Christ said in Matthew 11 come to me as we saw in Matthew seven inter and they see this command of a gracious God lovingly inviting them and they and they cast themselves completely on him for deliverance.

Do you know something of that in your own spiritual experience.

Have you turned to Christ alone for deliverance from sin and when your circumstances are desperate, beloved, let the song give you grace and confidence and assurance that in those times you can turn to God and trust him and you can know that he is worthy of your trust. I would remind you of one thing, we won't turn their but to remind you the chapter 1 was not the end of the book of Job. It was the start there was a lot of pain and confusion, and a whole lot about bad counsel in the next 37 chapters God revealed himself to Job, Job confessed said, I repent in dust and ashes and what happened in verses seven through 17 in chapter 42.

What did God do. He restored them he repaired the situation he gave to Job double of what he had before. That is what our God is like yes who will bring us through the times affliction yes sometimes that the fire of trials will seemingly be singeing our hair and the heat in the oppressive furnace and that just seems to melt us along the way.

But, beloved, don't lose sight of the end of Job, God restored him in the end, and you know what you know but you know who God is. You know who God is to us in our trials. Do you know he's a God who restores he is a God who restores he restored Job we talked about the crucifixion of Christ. What he do for Christ. He raised him from the dead Christ ascended into heaven, and since now seated at the right hand of God fully restored where no one is questioning his supremacy in the courtroom of heaven. No one is mocking him all bow before him and acknowledge his greatness in you know what the outcome of your trials are going to be is going to come out in glory for you as well. Maybe you'll find some resolution and peace in this life. Maybe you'll just limp for a while like Jacob did in your walk with the pain of that and you you walk with the bit of old spiritual limp.

That's okay you know what you won't be limping in heaven the fullness of restoration will be yours when you see Christ face-to-face every tears going to be wiped away your deepest sorrow on earth is going to be put replaced with an even deeper sense of comfort and joy and praise of his throne to see Christ for one moment face-to-face in his resurrected glory will repay all the trials of life and you know what we have waiting for us in heaven. Not a moment of the beatific vision what we have is an eternity to anticipate giving praise to this God who is given us such a great deliverance from our enemies outside in our enemy of sin inside.

What a great God, the God who restores the God who provides deliverance, the God who gladly receives us in our time of desperate need. Let's pray together. Oh God, you never abandon your own, and deliverance for us in our physical and spiritual grieving hearts will surely come in your time father Ray.

I look out and I see these beloved friends. These faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are here this evening. Why because they're seeking you. Why are they here because they find gladness in you and in your word why they come again and again father because her trust in continually in Christ. Even through their tears and their broken hearts and their struggles with sin father for them.

I would echo the prayer of David in verse four. Let all of them as they seek you rejoice. Let all of them be glad in you. Let all of them who love your salvation say continually let God be magnified as you ascend to the throne of their affections of their priorities. Father may your glory fill their hearts.

May your goodness be there source of consolation. May your greatness be there.

Trust and made flavor. Father may your glory flavor all of life to them in a way that allows them to walk sometimes with a limp. Sometimes with tears.

With a settled trust in the greatness and the goodness of you of our Lord Jesus, confident of the final outcome and that father made a fine reasons for joy and praise and bless us to that phrase.

In Jesus name, amen friend. Thank you for joining us for through the Psalms, a weekly ministry of the truth. Pulpit and if you have the opportunity.

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