August 25, 2013 "Its Not As Bad As It Seems" Rev. Dr. H. B. Charles, Jr.

this is another first in the song song three verse seven is the first in pregnant song that is a prayer for punishment or an announcement of a curse on one's enemies or another way to put it on the preparatory song is a get'em Lord prayer Grace and peace be multiplied to each of you today in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord let me once more thank publicly my friend and brother your pastor dr. Howard John Wesley for the invitation and opportunity to proclaim to you the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ at much respect and admiration for your pastor and I'm honored to be filling in for him this morning thanking God as I hope you do that he's getting a little bit of rest mark 631 says jesus told his disciples come apart by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile and the evangelist Vance Hafner used to say famously that if you don't come apart you'll fall apart and that's a specially true for those who carry the heavy burden of preaching and teaching and leading God's people so we pray God's blessings on him I turn your attention to the Book of Psalms this morning for our study of the word which you pray with me that God will bless our time together and then I want you to hear the reading of God's Word father again we thank you and praise you for this privilege of worship we pray that you would open our understanding that we may comprehend the scripture and I pray father that you would grant me physical strength and spiritual energy to speak your word faithfully and clearly guide my mind from distraction my tongue from error in my heart from pride and as a seed of the word is planted and watered we look to you to grant the increase and reserve for you as always the highest praise and full credit for all of the fruit that shall come from this time in Jesus name Amen would you take your copy of God's Word and be turning with me to Psalm 3 in the Old Testament psalm 3 would you indulge me by standing with me in honor of the author of the scriptures Psalm 3 I'm reading from the English standard version of the Bible and there in the reading is this psalm of David when he fled from Absalon his son Oh Lord how many are my foes many are rising against me many are saying of my soul there is no salvation for him in God but you O Lord are a shield about me my glory and the lifter of my head I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill I lay down and slept I woke again for the Lord sustained me I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around arise O Lord save me o my god for you strike all my enemies on the cheek you break the teeth of the wicked salvation belongs to the Lord your blessing be upon your people amen this is God's words you may be seated I want to label the message this morning it's not as bad as it seems it's not as bad as it seems psalm 3 introduces a series of first in the book of songs this is the first Psalm with a title or heading or superscription in most of your Bibles above verse 1 you will find these words a psalm of David when he fled from epsilen his son this heading introduces several other first in the Psalms this is the first Psalm that is called a song it is the first Psalm that identifies its author in this instance it is David and it is the first Psalm that states its occasion David writes this song while on the run from his own son Absalom furthermore Psalm 3 is the first Psalm in which you will find the enigmatic Hebrew word Selah it sits at the end of verse is 2 4 and 8 and as you some 71 times in the Book of Psalms it's generally agreed that Salah is a musical notation but we're not exactly sure what it is intended to indicate it may be a call to play or sing louder or the opposite it may be a call to stop the music and think about the words of the song the tone content and background of Psalm three argues for the louder because there is much here that you and I should pause and think about one more thing Psalm 3 is the first in a category of Psalms that are known as the songs of lament songs of lament simply when the psalmist sings the blues' lifting the burdens of his heart and his complaints about life to God in prayer that's what David does in the opening words of this song Oh Lord he says how many are my foes many are rising a gangster many are saying of my soul there is no salvation or help or deliverance for me in God some take issue with Psalm 3 being categorized as a song of lament because David's complaint ends in verse 2 the remaining six verses of the Psalm reflect stubborn trust rather than overwhelming sorrow but this abrupt shift of MU doesn't change the nature of the psalm it rather directly addresses it in this Psalm David in fact begins by singing the blues about his circumstances but it appears that David is not able to sing the blues too long before it dawns on him that things are not as bad as they seem to Bing and that's the message I want you to leave here with today my friends things are never as bad as they seem when God is on your side Psalm 3 teaches us today to pray with confidence that things will get better when they seem to be as bad as they can get how should you pray when things get bad first David teaches us to bring your complaints to the Lord bring your complaints to the Lord the historical background of Psalm 3 is recorded in 2nd Samuel chapters 13 through 18 Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar epsilen killed Amnon to defend his sister's honor and then he turned and began a revolt against their father David because of his beauty charisma and shrewdness many of David's people shifted allegiances and joined Epsilon's revolt at some point the opposition becomes so great that David is forced into exile from his throne city and country and it is then that David writes the words of this song here the sweet singer of Israel has the blues the one who has led the nation to a period of international peace is now on the run from his own people who are being led by his own son David a man after God's own heart it had a place in his life where it feels as if God has turned his back on David and David responds by complaining so would you but to whom would you complain that's the first major lesson of the subtext because when David finds himself in a bad situation he does not waste time complaining to people who cannot do anything about his situation he brings his complaints to the Lord in verses 1 & 2 the key word in those verses is many many many used three times in verses 1 and 2 David tells the Lord there about what his enemies are doing and what his enemies are saying first he tells the Lord about what his enemies are doing verse 2 verse 1 rather oh Lord how many are my foes it is bad enough to David's own beloved son has become his declared enemy but worse David's people have forsaken him and join Epsilon's revolt many people that David knew trust loved and respected have now shifted sides and are seeking the end of his reign and his life everywhere David looked friends had become foes and let me pause there and say it can happen to you you can reach a tight place in your life where you are surrounded by evil intentions and people that you love and trust can do more to hurt you than to help you this is what David was going through he says many are rising against me to be part of verse 1 this is military terminal Lachie his opposition was great and growing larger and stronger every day but David replied by telling the Lord what his enemies were doing but then he told the Lord what his enemies were saying David's heart was broken by what his enemies were doing but his broken heart was stepped on by what they were saying about him verse 2 says many are saying of my soul there is no help or deliverance or salvation for him in God I got called to my first church when I was 17 years old a senior in high school I've been pastoring God's people all of my adult life and all those years I have seen people go through things and have caused me to conclude that no one but God can get them through this but I've never seen anyone go through something so difficult that it caused me to think not even God can get them through this but that's the word on the street about David's situation many he says are saying of my soul there is no help or salvation for him in God Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it well that it is the greatest of afflictions to be led to fear that there is no help for your soul in God but that's what they were saying about David not even God can get David out of this one listen to that in verse 2 many are saying of my soul that word soul is significant this was more than just family squabbles political intrigue or civil war this was spiritual warfare his soul was on the line and they were saying that there was no help for him in God they were not denying God's ability to deliver they just concluded God wouldn't do it for David they were talking like this because the people knew David's business David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and to cover up his sin he had put Mishima's husband Uriah to death when God confronted David here televisions and God forgave him but God did not remove all of the consequences of David's sin in 2nd Samuel chapter 12 verse 11 God tells David behold I will raise up evil against you out of your own house and God kept this ominous promise by excellence revolt against his father David and those that knew David's business we're concluding that God had turned his back on David and there was no help for his soul in God I don't know if you get the points here let me just lay them down for you plainly these opening verses warn us friends about the sinfulness of sin if you repent God will forgive but he may not remove the consequences of your sins little boy was acting up and would not listen to his parents and to dramatically show him what his rebellion was doing to them every time he rebelled his father would drive a nail in the garage door he soon grew with nails into the boy tearfully repented of his behavior and promised to change and to assure him a forgiveness the father went out and pulled out all of the nails from the garage door only to have his son return in tears again and when he asked him what the matter was his son simply said that the nails are removed but the holes remain and so it is with sin that God may remove the guilt of sin but the consequences may continue to follow the wound of sin may be healed while the scars of guilt continue to remain but there's another larger lesson here and it is this do not be guilty church of spiritual malpractice by miss diagnosing other people's problems David was in trouble and the people around concluded that God had turned his back on David but what they didn't know was the physician they were referring to was Dave his private doctor and instead of spending a lot of time worrying about what people were saying and doing he took his situation to God in prayer and that's simply what I want to recommend you do when things get bad in your life bring your complaints to the Lord be like Elijah Hoffman and say to your soul I must tell Jesus all of my trials I cannot bear these burdens alone in my distress he kindly will help me for he ever loves and cares for his own bring your complaints to the Lord but in the text says when things get bad put your confidence in the Lord verses 1 and 2 David complains about what his enemies are saying and doing but then in verses 3 through 6 he shifts his confidence away from his enemies to his Lord and this is the only sure way to survive when things get bad in your life you just got to make sure you're looking in the right direction James Montgomery boys come in here that when the believer gazed us too long at his enemies the forces arrayed against him seemed to grow in size until they appear to be insurmountable but when he turns to God and God is seen in his true great statue ones enemies shrink to manageable proportions this is what happened in David's life David responded to his enemies threats deeds and words not by getting emotional instead he got theological he started reminding his soul of who his God is and what his God had done for him and this is what I want to recommend that you do when things get bad remind and yourself who your God is David here puts his confidence and who God is and what God had done who is God David answers in verse three but you O Lord are a shield about me my glory and the lifter of my head feel the tension between verses two and three many are saying of my soul there is no salvation for him in God but forget what they're saying you O Lord are a shield for me my glory and the lifter of my head do you know the personal language here a shield about me my glory the lifter up my head this this is not the words of one who has been forsaken by God this is the testimony of one who has a personal relationship with the Living God do you know who your God is listen to David's testimony he says your shield about me they a bream defeated the enemies of sodom and gomorrah but he was not able to take any of the spoils of war leicester pagans say he became rich by stealing their goods but God spoke to him in a vision in Genesis 15 1 God tells him do not be afraid for I am your shield and behold your reward will be great and this is God's promise to everyone who trusted him Psalm 84 verse 11 says God is a son and a shield he will give favor and honor and no good thing will he withhold from him who walks up rightly if you trust in him the Lord will be your shield I thought you'd be more excited about that maybe you don't know what a shield is a shield is what a is what a soldier holds to defend himself against darts and arrows and swords while he's fighting the battle this is what God is for us the problem is that a shield was a limited defense for a soldier because while it protected one side it left another blind spot vulnerable but not so with God he says she'll all about me meaning when my trust is in God I don't have to worry about who's speaking or working against me God has got my back he's a shield all about me but not only is he a shield Davis says the Lord is my glory word here for glory is the word in the Old Testament used for the glory of God when it is used of a human being it refers to two character it refers to one's substance and integrity its own self-worth self identity self esteem David speaking here he's saying God is my glory David had been shamefully run off from his throne by his own son he thought as they said in the streets there would be no help for him but David says I still got my glory he said let me tell you why because my sense of self-worth and identity was never rooted in my throne in my palace in my guards in my money in my possessions in my title and my relationships my sense of self-worth their self-identity and self esteem it's rooted in who my God is I lost my throne but I ain't lost my god and as long as God he's owned the throne he is my glory but also he's the lifter of my hair second Samuel chapter 15 verse 30 says that when David fled Jerusalem he went to the Mount of Olives with his head covered in tears barefoot and those that follow them had their head covered in tears they they fled in shame with their heads covered but while he's on the run he writes this song I guess to say to his enemies don't count me out too fast because my head may be covered in shame now but this is just halftime the game ain't over yet when the storage is over God will lift up my head in the ancient world the monarch would also be the judge and when he would render a verdict in the case the accused would kneel at his feet and if the verdict was against you the ruler would put his foot on your neck as a sign of condemnation but if the verdict was in your favor the king would get off his throne kneel down to you and lift up your head I hear David saying I don't care what they say about me in the streets heaven has heard my case and God is on my side and when I get it through this he will lift up his there witness in this house that he will lift up a bow down head you've got to put your confidence in who God is but then put your confidence in what God has done how did David trust God to be his glory shield and head lifter it's because verses four through six David had experience with God David had a if I made a faith fire where he kept a record of what God had already done and may I recommend to you you need to establish a faith fire just some record of testimony of the prayers God has answered burdens God has lifted knees God has meant so that next time trouble come you don't have to fall apart you could just open your faith file remind yourself of God's goodness and say to yourself this ain't the first time I've been in trouble just ain't the first time I got a bad report from the doctor this ain't the first time my family has been in trouble but to say same God that brought me through the last time he ain't dead he ain't sick and he ain't hurt he's still able to bring me through yes he is David remember what the Lord had already done what has the Lord already done glad you asked first David says God answers prayer verse four I cried aloud to the Lord and he heard me from his holy hill this is a wonderful testimony of answered prayer he says I cried aloud to the Lord and he heard and answered me I like the David doesn't hear it's a lot here but let me just rush to say David here doesn't mention what he prayed he mentions how he prayed I cried aloud to the Lord friends that's a place for quiet contemplative meditative prayer but but there there come a time when when a cute pretty prayer just won't do you your soul is guest rich old heart is broken your mind is confused and you just cry to hell hallelujah David said I cried to the Lord and I didn't even know what to ask for I just cried for help and the Lord answered me from his holy hill God is still in the business of answering prayer God answers prayer but not only just got answer prayer God sustains so I'm three and so forth are tied together by scholars who say they share the same theme message and background some three has been called a mourning Psalm Psalm four has been called an evening song through our church history song for has been called an evening song because of song 4 verse 8 where david says in peace i will both lie down and sleep for you alone o Lord make me dwell in safety that's a good verse to go to bed to that David says I'm a lie down and when I lay down I ain't rolling around all night i'ma lay down and go to sleep and he said i'ma lay down and before I get in bed I've already determined I ain't gonna be up crying I'm going to sleep for you O Lord alone make me dwell in safety I'm going to bed and I'm asleep good because my safety is not in a guard dog it's not in a lock on the door it's not in a security system it's not under anything I got in the drawer my safety is in God alone that's an evening prayer but some three verse five is a morning prayer it's as if the long night is over and David now looks back after the Sun has come up and testifies I lay down and slept and I rose again for the Lord sustained me the enemies are trying to take me out including my own son but I wasn't gonna stay up all night pacing the floor I lay down and I didn't lay there with one eye open seeing who was trying to sneak into my tent neither I lay down and I went to sleep and somehow I was sleep dead to the world not knowing what was happening around me I made it through the night and woke up the next morning for the Lord sustained me I'm talking to somebody going through something right now and you're wondering where is God and I just stood to tell you God is there and the proof I know that God is theirs because you still here I said you still here so when you talking to your family and friends and they're telling you what a great year they've had so far promotion marriage knew this knew that the oven you've been going through all year don't feel intimidated tell the Lord been good to me too and when they and when they say do they know what you've been going through they say what is he done for you you said just three things I laid down I went to sleep and I woke up again I didn't know how I was gonna pay my bills but I lay down I went to sleep and I woke up and I didn't know what tomorrow was gonna bring but I later I went to sleep and I woke up again but the Lord sustained me hallelujah no answers prayer God sustains verse 6 God relieves fear verse number 1 David says many arising against me but now he's more specific he says I will not be afraid verse 6 of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around I don't think this is hyperbole I believe David is literally saying thousands of people had taken a stand against him but nobody says I'm not afraid I got a lot to be afraid of but but I'm not afraid of I don't care how many's a gangster I know who my God is and God plus anything is always the majority I'm not afraid of the thousands rising against me it's been well said that the courage is just fear that has said its prayers in other words no matter what you are going through if God is on your side you don't have anything to be afraid of I thought I'd have a witness damn glad I brought my own just in case some 27 since the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid bring your complaints to the Lord put your confidence in the Lord finally give your conflict to the Lord I'll rush through these final verses Psalm 3 is a prayer but it's an instructive prayer because David doesn't ask for anything until verses 7 and 8 in verses 1 and 2 he just tells God about his trouble in verses 3 through 6 he affirms that God is the one to make difference now in verses 7 and 8 he finally prays asking God to fight his battle and give him the victory that's what I want to close by telling in verses 7 and 8 verse 7 says God will fight your battles verse 7 David says arise O Lord that was Israel's war crying numbers 10 verse 35 says that when Moses led to people through the wilderness whenever they moved Moses would first say arise O Lord and let your enemies be scattered and that those who hate you flee from your face that became the battle cry of Israel that was their war cried Psalm 68 verse 1 takes the prayer and makes it a proclamation and says God will arise and his enemies will be scattered and those who hate him will flee from his presence david says arise O Lord look at the next phrase save me oh my god I thought y'all was listening you you missed a good spot go go go back go back to verse 2 they said David says many are saying I'm my soul there was no salvation for him and God but now in verse 7 David says save me oh my dog David say I don't care what they said on the strings you can't tell me what my God ain't gonna do for me save me oh my god why are you trusting God to save you David because you strike all my enemies on the cheek and you break the teeth of the wicked this is another first in the psalms psalm 3 verse 7 is the first in precatory song that is a prayer for punishment or an announcement of a curse on one's enemies or another way to put it an imprecatory psalms is a get'em lord prayer you know what that is don't you yeah it's a get'em lord prayer that's what that's what they were saying get them they've been messing with me lord gather but but don't let the graphic language hear shouldn't run you off David is here showing confidence in God he doesn't take matters into his own hands he says Lord imma give it to you I want you to strike my enemies on the cheek this was not to hurt him he doesn't say knock him out this was meant to embarrass them they put me to shame now my lord you put them to shame just you don't knock him out just slap him on the cheek and tell him you were lip nobody slapped yo children around without you doing something about it and then he says he says lord I need you to break the teeth of the wicked here he pictures his enemies as wild animals but notice he doesn't say kill him Lord he just says knocked a teeth out yes knock their teeth out let them live but not they teeth out so that when they attack they won't hurt me do you know God doesn't have to move you or move your enemies in order to protect you he can leave you in the midst of people that don't mean you no good but great day teeth so that they want to hurt you but can't touch you because God is on your side I gotta sit down verse a said salvation belongs to God not only will he fight your battle he'll give you the victory he will give you the victory salvation belongs to the Lord if you would ask me to summarize the message of the Bible in one sentence it would be this salvation belongs to the Lord scholars call this mountain or jism you know what synergism is is when different elements come together to produce a result independent of what the elements alone could produce manages amines when God gets ready to save he don't need no outside elements he doesn't need no help he don't need no assistance he don't need any partnership he's God all by himself by grace you have been saved through faith and that's not even your own doing it's a gift of God not of works so that when you get say you have nothing to boast about God gets all the glory salvation belongs to the Lord your blessing be upon your people your blessing be upon your people some three is an intimate testimony of God's goodness but this last line goes from testimony to exhortation your blessing be upon your people this is good news because David says God did it for me but he didn't run out of blessings when he blessed me what he did for me he's able to do for all his people in that good news he he has no secret what God can't do what what he's done for others he will do for you it's not as bad as it seems old man went to visit I'm sitting down old man went to visit his daughter and granddaughter the baby started acting up and mama put the baby in the pen and said no you stay there until you learn how to act baby started wailing and screaming and the old man couldn't take it so he reached into the pen and picked that baby up and wiped her tears and rocked her in his arms until mama came back in the room and said now daddy this is my child and if I say that the child is to stay in this pen that's what I mean she took the child from her father put the child back in the pen left the room the crying started all over again and the old man had to sit there and watch this in frustration he wanted to help the child but he wanted to obey his daughter he didn't know what to do until he came up with an ingenious plan he thought to himself now she told me not to take the baby out the pen but she didn't tell me I couldn't get in the pen winner so he climbed in the pen and picked that baby up and rocked her in his arms until her tears went away that's what God will do for you he may not immediately get you out of trouble but he'll get into pen with you to bring you through with things look bad

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

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Length: 38min 44sec (2324 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 28 2013