A Psalm for a Dark Night - 13

Weekend edition you count it all joy when your life feels like an out-of-control answer is God is always in control of Jeremiah considers what God allows his children to enjoy trials is that which is his message, some for dark Knight and on this weekend edition attorney point were going to unpack some truth from Psalm 71. We call this Psalm for a dark night, we learned so much from the Psalms about how to get to our difficult days. Here is a Psalm for you.

Song for today.

This is Turning Point in the weekend edition. How many of you at one time or another way life beats up on you have requested sick leave to God, you know, I just want to drop out for a while and not be a part of what's happening. Well the 71st some certainly was penned by someone who was going through a similar experience. There is no superscription to Psalm 71. If you notice by looking down at your Bible, often at the top of the Psalm. You can learn who wrote it. There is no superscription here because they're not really sure who did write it, but it is pretty evident to me that it was David and that it is a continuation of the thought process that you find in the 70th song, and most scholars who have tried to pinpoint when the Psalm was written by David say it was during the time when his son Adonijah was trying to usurp the authority of the throne which David had promised to Solomon so here with David in his old age is two boys, Absalom was already tried to take the throne, and Adonijah who was trying to usurp Solomon's role.

David is going through some hard if you talk about trouble with your kids. David could've expected it by the things that he did in his earlier life, but David paid a price that was heavy.

And there's no pain that's like parental pain and David was feeling at the very core of his life.

So I want to talk with you for a little bit about the kinds of things that happen to us and how we are to respond and what we should do when they happen. First of all I think it's important for us to take a visit to the reality of the trials in the believer's life. Sometimes people get the impression that if there Christians they should never have any trouble that we should get a card that says exempt from all suffering. As soon as we accept the Lord.

But there is no evidence that that has even been an afterthought in the word of God. We are not exempt from suffering. We are human people. The different dimension is how we deal with it and as the writer of Psalm 71 face the pathway before him. He saw that it was suddenly a very steep hill decline with many many obstacles to be overcome any rights about it with the passion that only he could express if we look to the Psalm we will begin to pick up some of the reasons that we have trials in our lives. Princeton sometimes we have trials because of ungodly foes. Notice verse four of chapter 71. Deliver me all God out of the hand of the wicked out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. David had some people who were his enemies and they were creating stress for him.

The word cruel.

There is a word from which the Old Testament gets the word 11.

It means he was wicked and he was spreading his wickedness every way he could.

It was fermenting and it was ugly. Sometimes you have problems because of enemies. Maybe you have someone where you work or someone that you have to deal with another company. Someone who knows perhaps that you're a Christian is decided out of their anger at God to make you the focal point and so they do everything they can to make your life miserable. I know some Christians whose lives have been turned upside down because of another individual. It can happen. And it can happen to you. Sometimes we have trials says this psalmist because of an uncertain future notice. The ninth verse of the Psalm where David speaks about getting old. In fact, I must tell you when I first read this Psalm I thought it might have been a cruel joke on the part of whoever gave it to me because later on in the Psalm.

The psalmist says, oh God, please don't forsake me. When I am old and gray headed. I sort of felt at the time I was reading that that I was both. But notice how he alludes to the fact that sometimes trials are a factor of our biological clock, he says. Don't cast me off of the time of old age.

Don't forsake me.

When my strength fails and sometimes there is a trial that comes to us because of sickness you going along and everything's fine, and you never dreamed that you will ever hear the word cancer related to your name and then you hear it, and all of a sudden the reality settles in, you realize that you didn't vote for you didn't get to ask about it didn't have anything to say about it and it happened, and as you know, it's not a respecter of people. Sometimes people think with your pastor. This shouldn't happen you well why not on the people before I'm a pastor and things happen to people because of our humanity. He gives us another clue as to why we can have problems.

In verses 10 through 13. Sometimes it's because of unfaithful friends. Notice what he says in these verses for my enemies speak against me and those who lie in wait for my life. Take counsel together saying God has forsaken him pursuant taken for there is none to deliver him all God. Do not be far from me.

Oh my God, make haste to help me let them be confounded and consumed to our adversaries of my life. Let them be covered with reproach in this honor who seek my hurt. David has some people who are trying to subvert his authority. These are not foes. These are people from within his own circle. The folks were trying to hurt him. If this is a part of Adonijah's rebellion were not just enemies. They were the people of his own family is always son Absalom tried to take the phone away from David and Adonijah tried to take the throne away from the son of David, to whom he had promised it. He knew that his father was old so he rushed to try to work a power play against his own dad. Can you imagine how that must've hurt sometimes trials come because of unfaithful friends.

But there's another thought here in the Psalm, and I'm not taking this right now. Chronologically, but I'm to showing you the thoughts that God gave me in the Psalm. Sometimes we have trials in our lives because of an unequaled father. Did you know that God is involved in our trials. He doesn't just know that they happen to his friends, he allows them, and sometimes he even sends them. Did you know that just as a father who loves his children will allow his children to experience difficulties and try to work them through. So they can grow in their knowledge and strength of how to deal with difficulties. God often sends difficulties into our lives to strengthen us and to make us better children in his family, and you surely see this in verses 19 and 20. Also, your righteousness of God is very high, you who have done great things of God, who is like you, you who have shown me great and severe troubles, God hated it. He said there's no God like you, but you've shown me great and severe troubles and some of you could say I am in that class is done that to me. So why would God do that. Why would he let that happen when troubles come and trials come into our lives in whether there for these reasons, or any other reasons. There are certain reactions that we have. Let's talk about the results of trials in the believer's life. How do we feel when that happens, or we have many different feelings and people asked me over the years.

When you found out your cancer. Were you afraid absolutely totally afraid that I was frightened I know but not anxious to do it either. My fear was more the loss of my relationship for at least a period of time with the people that I love them all kinds of things that go through your heart with your mind, let me tell you what you feel when trials come into your life. The David or the author of this psalmist certainly touched on numbers of them. First of all, sometimes you feel so totally vulnerable.

There's a sense of vulnerability. You know, especially for those of us in the male gender who had pretty much everything under control. You know we got it all figured out within a have 30 more years to do the things we planted were going to take care of our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren and we got it all scoped out and then something happens.

The begins to cast doubt on the possibility of all that and you feel so vulnerable interesting thing is that the seventh verse of the 71st Psalm says it this way, I have become is a wonder too many but you are my strong refuge. What David met was that everyone was watching him to see what he would do if that's true for the average person. Let me tell you if you happen to be a Christian leader it's really true for you, you feel a sense of great pressure and vulnerability. Notice what David did. He didn't know what he would do what he was watching God to find out what God would do, that's what any of us does when we feel that sense of vulnerability.

Then when you go through trials whether it's illness or any other kind of life-threatening thing that happens to you. You not only feel a sense of vulnerability you feel a sense of insecurity. Notice in verse two David cries out. Deliver me in your righteousness and cause me to escape toward. I want out help me get out of this mess. Let me wake up tomorrow morning and it won't be there. Not only do you feel vulnerable and insecure about when you're going through problems.

You feel a sense of dependency and then sometimes along with this dependency. There's almost a feeling of panic or emergency notice in the 12th verse.

David says make haste to help me, Lord, please do it now, but I know this could take a long time but I think good Lord just wave your wand over this whole situation and make all the hurt go away. Make all the pain disappear.

Take away whatever it is that they save is in my body that shouldn't be there Lord just make it be gone that what we feel when I love about the Psalms is they were written by a real person who faced trials just like we face and he didn't try to put a spin on them. He just told it like it was we say pastor Jeremiah that's reality of trials. The result of trials in our life when we do with someone has said the psalmist filled with great praise and great complaining all at once, and I don't know if that's true, but I know that after you get past David saying what it really was like in his own life.

He takes the high road and he shows us a direction and I hope if you don't hear anything else I say you can't write down these few things because I believe these are critical to all of us. We don't have a theology of adversity in the church these days.

We've got all of this prosperity gospel that's so permeated all the stuff we do so that now we have posited this and positive that how many of you know that is much as you'd like it to be. Life just isn't always positive. Sometimes the positive things get interrupted. I'd like it to be positive and I'm a very positive thinker, to tell you something if you don't have a plan going into adversity, you won't do very well with it sooner or later. All of the spaces of one kind or another unexpected, unannounced, uncharted, unplanned, when you do let's follow through with David and his plan of operation notice.

First of all, the response to his trials.

He remembered the character of God. Notice again. The first three verses notice what he said in you, oh Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be put to shame.

Deliver me in your righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline your ear to me and save me be my strong refuge to which I may resort continually you have given the commandment to say before you are my rock and my fortress.

Whenever we face our trials.

We need to remember who God is. For instance, he remembers the glory of God. In verse eight in verse 18. He talks about the power and the strength of God. In verse 22, which is a very special part of Islam. He says in verse 22 that he will remember the faithfulness of God, and your faithfulness. Oh my God, my friend.

We have a God can be trusted. We may not understand what's going on in our lives.

And there many things that have happened to me and to you that I can't give a rational human explanation that I can lay it at the feet of Almighty God, and say with all my heart he knows what he's doing and make no mistake, he didn't make any mistakes. So we come back and we have a sense of the confidence that is ours in God and his character. Second thing, review the compassion of God-time to talk about this much except let's read the verses together. Verses four through six and then the first part of verse 17. Listen to what David said deliver me. Oh God out of the hand of the wicked out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man for you are my hope, oh Lord, you are my trust. Watch this from my youth by you. I have been upheld from birth. You are the one who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of you and then in verse 17 Aggie settled God.

You taught me from my youth. What it David do. He simply goes back in his memory bank and he reviews what he knows to be true that God has proven to be faithful to him throughout all of his life, isn't that a heritage that we all have. We go back and say, God, you have blasted been faithful. You've watched over me and guided me. You gave me godly parents from the very moment I was born I was nurtured on the word of God as if it was my mother's milk and Lord you took me through the troubled teenage years when I could've gone south and you wanted me to go north and you watched over me through school and through seminary and you took me through the early days of ministry, when I could've gotten so discouraged. I want to quit God. As I look back over my shoulder at your great compassion. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faith every one of you has a heritage like that if you walk with the Lord for even a few weeks God has been good to you and the goodness of God that is been extended to you through your life up to this point is simply a reminder to you that God is good he is compassionate and that he cares is not going to change in the middle of your life.

What he has been doing faithfully throughout eternity. Third, psalmist gives us another key for dealing with trials.

He says rejoice in celebration to God. I didn't see this at first but then all of a sudden it began to just explode and what I'd like for you to do so. Maybe it will explode in your mind is in the Psalm verse six, eight, 14 and 15. In verses 22 through 24. Now watch this. In the midst of a Psalm when David is pouring out his heart to God over the trouble he's had with his son, Adonijah, and crying out to God because of absolute terrible pain he feels in his heart is prayer is filled with worship and praise say where is it pastor let's read this out loud together. This is from the Psalm. Let's read together. My praise shall be continually of you let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your glory all the day but I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more my mouth shall tell of your righteousness and your salvation all the day for I do not know their limits. Also with the loot.

I will praise you and your faithfulness. Oh my God to you. I will sing with the harp, O holy one of Israel, my lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to you in my soul which you have redeemed my tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long, for they are confounded for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt baby just lifts up his voice and praise to God brings not only benefits God it benefits the one who offers it is a wonderful thing to see how this is a part of David's plan.

Then in verse 18.

David says that you should renew your consecration to God can tell you what of all the things I read in this chapter.

This is the one that spoke to my fire you go through things and you wonder well you know is this the end of the ministry. Is this the end of the road is God finished with all this.

I looked at this and this is what it says now. Also, when I am old and gray headed watch this God.

Do not forsake me. Until I declare your strength to this generation and your power to everyone who was there, I took that as my marching orders for the rest of my life to declare God's strength to this generation. We have an awesome God.

You know that God can get lost in church. Did you know that people go to church every Sunday, then you never hear anything about God I've gone to church and not heard anything about God I've gone to church is well known, and I had my fill of television services all the time I was gone where you can hardly know if God was there because nobody ever talks about God I don't ever want to go to church without telling people about how strong the massive is our God, and then last but not least, David says you need to reclaim your confidence in God in the future. Notice verse 21 you shall increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. Please hear me carefully in myself. I don't have any greatness for God to increase what is talking about here is his influence and his opportunity to make a difference. He says increase my greatness and comfort encourage me on every side, you know that trials are meant to improve us. You know that there are meant to harm us. Trials are meant to improve us to make us better men and better women, so that by God's grace we can accomplish more and are influence can be greater than it was in the past God doesn't send those things into our lives to totally destroy Austin weaken us so that we can have any impact for him. First Peter chapter 1 verse seven that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ Lord wears recently that verse was away from darling on the card you wrote these words, which I think maybe from one of his books, but I Capt. this is what it says when God permits his children to go through the furnace he keeps one eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat is loving heart knows how much and how long a man is not a wonderful thought. God knows what he's doing when he sends trials into our lives. Psalmist said in Psalm 119 before I was afflicted I went astray.

But now I keep your word. It is good for me that I've been afflicted that I might learn your statutes every time you go through a trial.

You should be asking God why you can waste a lot of time there because he's not going to tell you he's not going to just open the heavens and say why did this in order that instead of asking why wanted to ask what Lord, what do you want me to learn in this process it will totally change the perspective that you have your difficulty what James 13 says, consider it all joy, my brother and when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. First Peter 510 says the God of all grace with Collison to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be glory for you see the relationship. I understand now what I heard when I was a younger man that God is in the greatly used someone until he crushes it just always pray to be the exception and I don't have any exceptions, you know I used to pray for let me have a ministry without feeling the pain before I left to go away for six weeks I get all our staff together. I read to them something that I have found in some notes that I discovered that very week was from the life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon great preacher of another generation.

This is what was such an encouragement to me. I don't know if you ever heard much about Spurgeon's life, except for his greatness. He accomplished more in his lifetime than most people never accomplish in two lifetimes and he died at the age of 57, but Spurgeon went through terrible terrible times in his life prolonged bouts of depression and anxiety and all sorts of common problems is psychological and physical ailments were so crippling that frequently he was confined to bed for weeks, but Spurgeon came to see these problems as part of God's working in his life. His sufferings enabled him to comfort and encourage those who were similarly afflicted. He discovered that his periods of depression invariably proceeded a time when God blessed his ministry in a larger way, but depression actually became. Said Spurgeon, a sort of John the Baptist for him, heralding a mighty outpouring of God's spirit. Here are his own words. This depression comes over me whenever the Lord is preparing a larger blessing for my ministry. The cloud is black before it breaks the scouring of the vessel has fitted for the Masters use fasting gives an appetite for the banquet. The Lord is revealed in the backside of the desert while his servant keeps the sheep and waits in solitary Charles Haddon Spurgeon this psychologically frail man published over 3500 sermons offered 135 books and was regarded as the outstanding preacher of his generation, God is up to something when he sends difficult into her life disabled pastor Jeremiah suppose that isn't the way it happens for you.

Suppose this disease continues to ravage your body and you are just here for a short time and you're on the more you know what I win either way and in my life or in my death. Whatever God designs. He will get glory and honor to his name. If I keep my focus right however tough that may be, you know there are a lot of pastors in this country gone through a lot worse than I have and are going through it right now a lot of friends that I know who if I mentioned their name, you would know that I want to tell you about one of them as we close today.

Her name is Carol Carlson and she wrote this. Listen carefully Left the house that Thursday with a smile and a bear hug for his mom and 18. Life was great.

He had graduated from high school with honors and had a good job working in a toy factory before starting college. The night before he had gone to church and heard a message from two verses all things work together for good in everything give thanks Was in a thankful mood, especially for the airplane.

He and his dad had just purchased this dream was to become a missionary pilot in the future looked bright with promise. Thursday night he called home. He said mom I'm just going out and practice a few touch and goes on supper for me. I'll be home by nine. He never came home in a clump of trees at the edge of a little country airport was the crashed plane and the bodies of His buddy Rick one moment in time changed our lives on that warm June night.

God chose to take one of our precious children. How does a parent exist beyond that moment will not stay in our insides ever go away.

In the weeks and months to follow. I learned more about God's love that I had in all my years of being a Christian I learned that his word speaks to our needs.

My grace is sufficient for you, and my strength is made perfect in weakness. When I felt helpless to do even the small tasks of the day, I would repeat I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When I saw good-looking blonde kid in the street. I would remember that Kant had underlined in his Bible, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, but you may not grievous to the rest to have no hope. When I began to indulge in self-pity.

I would embrace my husband Roy who was suffering as intensely as I was. And remember, God said, encourage one another and build up one another. We were strengthened as we encouraged others in his little brother didn't understand why his buddy didn't come home and his big sister lost her pal and confidant friends in the youth group at church questioned God and the kids at school asked why the grace of God not only gave us comfort, but also the urgency to reach out to others, Lord, and I grew closer together as we went to other parents would suffer the loss we developed an uncommon boldness to reach out to those who are hurting a greater tragedy than losing a child is not to know Jesus Christ personally. How grateful we are that our children, all of them know and love him. Life has meaning. When we have the assurance that we shall meet again Carol Carlson. I'm not trying to tell you, folks, this life is easy but I can tell you it's victorious when you know Almighty God and his son Jesus Christ. You can go through whatever is put in front of you with the kind of power and strength that the world won't know anything about and I'm telling you, if you don't know Christ you're going into the battle without any gun you're going into the battle with no armor you're going into the battle in your own strength and you can fall in your face because God is the only one who can help you when trials come into your life. So I ask you today.

Do you know have you met him through his son Jesus Christ. Have you ever asked Christ to come into your life and confess your sin and said on the live for God and give Jesus Christ my heart that's the beginning place, you say well I'm not in any trouble right now that doesn't make any difference.

You have to start where you are God's spoken your heart and ask you to give your heart to him today, the Lord God is talking to. We hope you enjoyed today's Turning Point, weekend edition with Dr. David Jeremiah to hear this. Another Turning Point programs or get more information about his ministry. Simply download the free Turning Point mobile app for your smart device will visit their website@davidjeremiah.org/radio that David davidjeremiah.org/radio. You can also view Turning Point television on finding a channel 72 on Sunday mornings and night and on I CCTV Sundays at 6:30 AM and Friday afternoons at one. We invite you to join us again next weekend is Dr. David Jeremiah. She is another powerful message from God's word here on Turning Point, weekend edition thanks for taking time to listen to find a nice friend.

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