The Day of Trouble

 Temple Baptist Church - 6-30-2024

Psalm 20

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Psalm 20 is Davidic, so this helps to clarify the context of the Psalm.  I want to introduce this Psalm by looking at some of the individual words in verse 1.  “In the day of trouble”

 

B.  David, because of his greatness in the sight of the Lord and his position in the Nation of Israel, was a man of many troubles.  Some troubles that he had were relatively small and easily managed.  Our lives fall into the same pattern of ups and downs as troubles are a way of life. 

 

C.  I often say that life is hard, so we need to just get used to it.  Life is so full of ups and downs that a worldly song said, “Up high in April, shot down in May!”  These mountains and valleys are what make the child of God grow.  We need the good times to get it all back together and we need the bad times to test our integrity.  “What will it take to stop me?” is a question that only time and troubles will answer.

 

d.  The text says, “the day of trouble”, which implies that this day was not a normal troublesome day.  It was “the” day of trouble.  “The” is a definite article implying that this was just a particular day of trouble, but also that it possibly was one of a kind.

 

e.  This particular Psalm must have been a doozy!  The Psalmist cried out to the LORD, the only One who would be able to sustain and succor him in this hard time in his life.

 

1.  My mind goes back to the oldest book in the Bible, the Book of Job.

 

2.  Job was a godly man who was upright and eschewed evil.

 

3.  Job was a man who prayed for his family because he feared for them.  Job 3:25  For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

 

4.  Job was a man who lost it all in a couple of days.

 

5.  Job was a man who maintained his integrity.  Job 1:20-22  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,  (21)  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  (22)  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

 

6.  In the midst of his trials, Job said this.  Job 14:1  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

 

g.  One day may be the day that “the day of trouble” comes to us.  In this chapter of Psalms, there are some lessons taught we can learn from “the day of trouble”!

 

1.  Verse 1.  “The Lord hear thee … the God of Jacob defend thee”  Notice that verse 1 is not a question!  It is a statement of fact. 

 

a.  The Lord does hear us when we are in trouble so, learn to pray early.  So often, prayer is the last thing you do when in trouble.  There is an old saying, “Are we down to that already?"  If not careful, lasting damage can occur before we pray and, though the day of trouble passes, the “sword” will never leave our house.

 

Proverbs 8:17  I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

 

Isaiah 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

 

b.  The Lord will defend us when we are in trouble, so trust Him.

 

Psalms 9:9-10  The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.  (10)  And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

 

2.  Verse 2.  “Send thee help from the sanctuary … strengthen thee out of Zion” 

 

a.  We get so much of our help while in church.  Learn to remain faithful to the house of God.  Too often, when life really comes down of us hard, it so easy to blame God and give up on the house of God. 

 

b.  We get so much of our strength comes from our church family.  “And exhorting one another” cannot be of help if we are not here to be exhorted!  Satan is the “Divider and Chief” as he knows how effective it is.  If God’s people are not faithful in attendance, there may come a day when they no longer have a church to attend!

 

3.  Verse 3.  Here we find one of the temporal blessing of offerings and sacrificing.  When God’s people are good to God, God is good to them.  Remember to be faithful in stewardship, especially when “the day of trouble” incorporates financial pain.  “Remember all thy offerings … !”  Selah!  “To pause and to weigh.”  If we are not faithful with the “unrighteous mammon,” we will not be given the “true riches” that God has in store for us.

 

4.  Verse 4.  Seek your counsel from the Bible first.  Weigh decisions in times of confusion by the Word of God.  The Bible is our “anchor in the shifting sands of human theology!”  Everything is changing and so is the counsel of the world as it continues in its decline into moral decay.  God is always right and the world is almost always wrong when it comes to things of morality and decision making.

 

5.  Verse 5.  I preached on rejoicing this morning.  The Bible says to “rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”  Both the good and bad times.  Rejoicing in bad times will help you to find your encouragement in the LORD and trust Him to fulfill His promises.

 

Hebrews 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

 

6.  Verse 6.  Understand that when the heavens seem to be silent or made of brass, the LORD both sees and hears.  He knows where we are and what we need.

 

Isaiah 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 

7.  Verse 7-8.  Place your faith in the LORD whom you cannot see instead of in the temporal things which can be seen. Temporal things will fail you, but the Lord will never let you down.

 

2 Corinthians 4:17-18  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;  (18)  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

8.  Verse 9.  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart!  Do the best that you can but rest in the fact that He will hear and He will save.

 

Psalms 30:5  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

 

Conclusion:  We all need to know that God is good all the time.  In our ups and in our downs, good times and hard times and He will be there with us and for us.

 

Psalms 9:9-10  The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.  (10)  And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

The Word of God and Affliction

 Temple Baptist Church - 6-9-2024

Psalm 119:153-160

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Psalm 119: 176 verses broken down into twenty-two stanzas with each stanza correlating with one of the 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet.  Each stanza is comprised of eight verses which, in the Hebrew Bible, each verse begins with the associated letter  of the Hebrew Alphabet forming an Acrostic.  What a wonder that we hold in our hands tonight! 

 

B.  Tonight, RESH  – the twentieth letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.  A numerical value of 200 which means to be poor.

 

C.  RESH  – poor, wickedness, evil, or wicked person.

 

D.  This stanza is one of a saint crying out in his affliction.  Affliction: depression, that is, misery: - afflicted (-ion), trouble.  To take a browbeating! Browbeating: to intimidate with overbearing or to bully.  Today, we find “bullying” in the news quite often though it has always been around.  When I was a kid, there were bullies in our school.  You could either cow tail to them or you could stand up to them.

 

Psalms 22:23-24  Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.  (24)  For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

 

Psalms 102:1  A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

 

E.  There are four types of afflictions that I need to take a short look at before dissecting these eight verses.  The word “afflictions” means trouble, depression, or misery.  When afflictions come, we need to biblically identify the source of the problem.

 

1.  There is Personal Affliction.  Self-infliction or self-inflicted – inflicted or caused by oneself.  The product of poor judgment and bad choices.  There are times when we get our feet dirty walking through this sinful world.

 

John 13:8-10  Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.  (9)  Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.  (10)  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

 

a)  We need to learn to daily look at ourselves through the lens of the Bible.  It is then that we will find that affliction is often because of our actions and thoughts.  Then, “lay the axe to the root of the tree”.

 

b)  The First Mention of Affliction is in the context of affliction that causes pain and is found in sinfulness.  Psalms 25:16-18: “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.  (17)  The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.  (18)  Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.”

 

James 1:21-25  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.  (22)  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  (23)  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  (24)  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  (25)  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

 

c)  Let him pray! 

 

James 5:13a  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.

 

d)  God is ready and able to hear, forgive, and restore the self-afflicted. 

 

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

2.  There is Natural Affliction.  Somethings are simply out of one’s control as they are natural problems linked to our humanity.

 

a)  Some things are out of our control such as sickness, disease, having to live in a sinful world and sinful flesh.  God’s people get sick, and God’s people die.  That’s called life.

 

2 Kings 13:14  Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

 

2 Timothy 4:20  Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

 

b)  God’s plan for human sickness.  Human sickness is a result of Adamic sin.  We are born to die!  A time to be born and a time to die.

 

James 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

 

3.  There is Divine Affliction.

 

a)  Divine Affliction causes one to keep God’s word.  Before chastisement, the sinner went astray but after chastisement, the sinner keeps God’s Word.  Psalms 119:67  Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.

 

b)  Divine Affliction teaches the afflicted His statutes.  Psalms 119:71  It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

 

c)  Divine Affliction shows God’s faithfulness to His children.  Psalms 119:75  I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

 

Hebrews 12:5-7  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:  (6)  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  (7)  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

 

4.  There is Hatred’s Affliction.  Here we find the meaning of our context.  Wicked, evil, ungodly men afflicting God’s people.

 

Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

 

Luke 6:22-23  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.  (23)  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

 

F.  Now let us look at these verses in light of affliction.

 

1.  Verse 153.  The Psalmist’s affliction was not deserved.  “Consider … deliver … I do not forget thy law” 

 

a.  Too often, when a child of God is having extreme difficulty, people tend to believe that he/her are being judged for personal sin.  I have had people ask me if I thought that their affliction was of the Lord.  My answer is always, if God is judging you, you will know both that it is Him and why you are being judged.

 

b.  David told the Lord to judge him and his motives.  To examine and prove his reins and heart.

 

Psalms 26:1-2  A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.  (2)  Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

 

2.  Verse 154.  The Psalmist knew that he had to look outside of self for deliverance.  “plead … deliver … quicken … according to thy word” 

 

a.  He placed his faith in this particular situation upon the veracity of God’s Word.  God seldom gives us the where, when, and how of deliverance but does guarantee a biblical one.

 

b.  He asked for the restoration of life, indicating that the one he now had was sub-par at best.  In the bad times, we tend to remember the good times and long for them once again.

 

3.  Verse 155.  “Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not they statutes.”

 

a.  The Wicked will be brought to nought soon enough.  There is no salvation for them in this world nor in the world to come.

 

b.  The reason for this is refusal to seek the Word of God!  They are God haters and Christian haters, all because they are Bible haters.

 

4.  Verse 156.  “tender mercies … according to thy judgments”

 

a.  Though the wicked are far from the blessings of God, the mercies of God are close.

 

b.  Every morning, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness.  God promised David, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

 

5.  Verse 157-158.  The Psalmist now realizes the end of the wicked.

 

a.  Verse 157.  Spiritual enemies will be a guaranteed way of life for the righteous.  Here we find the integrity of the Psalmist in continuing in the right way of the Scriptures.  “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies … yet do I not decline from thy testimonies”

 

b.  Verse 158.  The Psalmist was grieved, not so much because of his persecution, but because of the temporal soon to be eternal condition of the lost. 

 

Psalms 73:17-19  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.  (18)  Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.  (19)  How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

 

Job 42:10  And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

 

6.  Verse 159.  The Psalmist’s love for the Word of God brought about the deliverance, new life, and lovingkindness of the Lord.

 

7.  Verse 160.  The Word of God magnified.  It is in this verse that we find: the purity, righteous judgments, and eternality of the Word of God.

 

a.  The Perfection of the Word of God.  The Word of God can be trusted as we have the Spirit of Truth to interpret it for us.

 

b.  The Righteous Judgment of the Word of God.  The Word of God is always right in all its precepts and judgments.

 

b.  The Eternal Preservation of the Word of God.  The Word of God will always be there with us and for us.