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[0:00] Amen. Well, go ahead and have a seat. If you have a copy of the Scriptures, go ahead and turn open to Psalm chapter 3.! And it's really good to be here this morning. Amen? It's so good to be together.

[0:18] And I know this week, last weekend at camp, some folks weren't able to get up with the fires. And I think we're all a little bit out of rhythm. I know Scott is. I went in, I checked on him in his office.

[0:29] And he just didn't look the same. But he's getting there. He's getting there. Yeah, it's good to be here. I know a lot of you have been staying with friends.

[0:43] And I think there's been a unique blessing in the week for some that have been out of their homes. Just to be able to reconnect with some people and see God's goodness even in that. Amen?

[0:54] Amen. So, let's pray. Ask the Lord's help for your pastor, who's a little tired, but I'm going to be okay. And we'll see what the Lord has for us this morning. So, join me.

[1:09] Lord, we love the fact that we belong to you first. But then we have this additional blessing. We belong to a group of people.

[1:21] Your people. And we get to do life as your people, as a body, as a church. Lord, what a gift it is to be part of this local assembly.

[1:32] I pray, Lord, that before the day is out, that we would find somebody that we could encourage, we could listen to, we could see, we could pray for.

[1:43] But, Lord, that you would be in the midst of what happens this morning, whether it be the proclamation of your word or just the conversations that follow.

[1:53] Lord, we want to be a people that quickly delight in you, thank you, guard us from commiseration. Let us see your blessings even in the heart.

[2:06] Lord, it says in the psalm, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man or the woman who takes refuge in him. And, Lord, I pray that we would understand that you are good this morning and that there is joy as we rest in you.

[2:20] So, we commit our time. Would you speak to us through the power of your word and your spirit in Jesus' name and all God's people said? Amen. So, we are in Psalm 3 and just a little bit of a review since we took a little break last week being up at camp.

[2:38] But, first off, what is a psalm? The word translates melody. And as we learned, 55 of these psalms are addressed to the chief musician.

[2:49] So, you can think of the book of Psalms as song lyrics. I said it's like God's curated playlist. If you're from the 1900s, it's like a mixtape.

[3:04] And God has given us this book to teach us as a people how to pray. How do we pray? How do we worship?

[3:16] How do we grieve? How do we rejoice? How do we trust? How do we trust our God? And I think the psalm this morning is going to grow us in that last one.

[3:30] How to trust our God. Related to authorship, 73 of the 150 are attributed to David. Psalm 3 is pretty cool. Because it's actually the first psalm we encounter that explicitly states it belongs to David.

[3:49] Now, that said, we actually know that the psalm, Psalm 2, that Kamesh preached two weeks ago is actually also written by David. And we only know that because the New Testament tells us that.

[4:02] It says in Acts 4, 25, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people plot in vain?

[4:14] That's quoting Psalm 2, verse 1. And what's very cool is, in fact, there's probably 400 plus times in the New Testament that the psalms are quoted or alluded to.

[4:29] And I just want to, like, mention there's a principle of interpretation here for us. The Bible is the best commentary on the Bible. And you want to be a good student of the Word, you want to teach the Word, read your Bible.

[4:42] And as you read it, you're going to begin to see where dots connect. And the Old Testament, it always illumines the Old, the New Testament always illumines the Old Testament.

[4:54] I'd have somebody a professor who would often say, what in the Old is concealed and the New is revealed. Okay? And so think about it this way. Okay? Read the New Testament is like the prism to read the Old Testament through.

[5:10] Okay? And even Jesus suggested that we do that when he says, on the road to a mason, Luke 24, 27, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures, really to the Old Testament Scriptures, the things concerning himself.

[5:26] So even Jesus says, I'm the prism. Read the Old Testament through what is now revealed in the New. And we did that when we did the study in Zechariah, you recall?

[5:37] Zechariah 9.9, your king's going to come on a donkey. Well, we see in the New Testament, oh, the fulfillment. And we then read that back into the Old. And so we saw that through that study.

[5:47] Now, another interesting fact of the 150 psalms, 14 of them give us the historical event or circumstance occurring when that psalm was written.

[6:03] Psalm 3 is the first. So today we actually get the opportunity to examine the historical event, what's happening on the outside, with the internal wrestlings of the author, David, here at the same time.

[6:21] Think of it this way. I mean, there was an external event in Spokane this week. We didn't have these things on the west side. Nothing burned. We couldn't even light like a campfire.

[6:31] It was so dewy all the time. I mean, our city's burning and people are feeling things on the inside. There's fear. There's anxiety. There's unrest.

[6:42] You see some of the news reports come in, how these fires started. You're starting to feel some anger. And all these wrestlings are happening in our hearts as we examine what's happening around us.

[6:53] Well, we get the opportunity this morning, as we look at Psalm 3, to see the external event that leads to the internal wrestling that David writes about.

[7:05] So it's pretty cool that way. And we're actually going to begin by reading the superscription of the original Hebrew text. This is the context of this psalm.

[7:17] This is not a later edition. This isn't like chapter headings that came about in the 13th century A.D. The verse notations in your English translation, 15th and 16th century A.D.

[7:32] But this superscription was in the original. And so we're going to read it. This is part of God's Word. And it goes like this. A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son.

[7:45] So this is the context. This is the external event that's occurring when David's writing this psalm. And if you want to read that after you hear the sermon, I would suggest you go back to 2 Samuel verses or chapters 15 through 18.

[8:04] And it will describe the events that David is disclosing related to what's occurring in his heart. And that passage of Scripture, it tells us the story of David fleeing from Absalom.

[8:18] This is his third son from his wife, Micaiah. His son at the time is attempting to steal the throne from his father. He did this by waking up early.

[8:31] Absalom would wake up early. He would stand in the gate as people would come to see the king for help, for wisdom. He would say, oh, you should probably just talk to me. I can help you.

[8:42] And he wasn't trying to help people from a pure heart. He wasn't trying to help them to bless them. He was schmoozing people to essentially do business with him, all the while, no doubt, throwing shade on his father.

[8:56] Oh, you don't want to see the king. He's not as smart as he used to be. Or he's too busy to see you. Let me talk with you. And as he did this, this is what occurred.

[9:08] It says in 2 Samuel 15, 6. Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

[9:23] And that was his objective. This psalm, friends, is dealing with suffering. It's dealing with difficulty in life.

[9:37] It's dealing with trial. Is that relevant for us, friends? You can say amen. Yes. Amen. This is very relevant.

[9:51] Anybody suffering today? Anybody experience a trial today? Trial tomorrow? This is a very practical psalm. You get a medical diagnosis.

[10:04] You're suffering. You receive news that a loved one, maybe even a child, isn't going to live. This is a very practical psalm.

[10:16] Maybe you endure years of waiting on the Lord to answer that one prayer of your heart. But I believe there is help in this psalm for all of us.

[10:27] And it well transcends the difficult week that we have been in or even the days that will follow. This psalm, I think this psalm talks about an issue that's probably one of the most painful things an individual could experience in life.

[10:46] Because David, as he writes this psalm, it's really the story of betrayal. This isn't his enemy. This isn't even a friend.

[10:56] This is his son. A son that he deeply loved. And in fact, we know that because when Absalom's life is eventually forfeit, David's distraught.

[11:13] Absalom was caught in an oak tree's branch. He's riding beneath David's general, Joab. Kills him. Sends three javelins through his heart. And then the news gets back to David after he's been on the run.

[11:26] And even though David's fleeing from him just to stay alive, this is what David feels when his son dies. It says in 2 Samuel 18.33, And the king was so deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept.

[11:42] And as he went, he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would I have died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son.

[11:58] This is a father who's broken hearted. He's broken over the death of his son. So, yes, this betrayal, David adored his son.

[12:10] This betrayal cuts so very deep. One more note before we get to the psalm. There's a word in here, selah.

[12:22] It shows up three times. It shows up in other psalms. I'm not going to read it as we go through, but I don't want to ignore it. What is selah? It means to lift up, to pause.

[12:35] Maybe this is pause for consideration, pause for contemplation. It's a musical term. Perhaps this was for the musicians as they sang.

[12:47] I don't know. I might have to consult Thomas later. Maybe he can give us some more insight on this. But it shows up and I think it's there for some reason.

[12:58] And I think there's a lot of different ideas, but it's perhaps a musical term for those that are putting this to song. All right, let's get into this as David begins his psalm with lament, beginning here in verse 1.

[13:14] He writes, O 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.

[13:31] How many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Is this hyperbole on David's part? Is this like the kid who's, you know, sitting there Christmas morning complaining, I got nothing for Christmas?

[13:49] And he's surrounded by toys. I didn't get anything. Or the person who's like, man, I just, I don't have any friends. They have a lot of friends, they just don't have that one friend. And I say, let's be honest, friends.

[14:02] Like, God's people, we have the same ability as the world to exaggerate circumstances. Amen? The fish was... Think about Elijah the prophet.

[14:19] In 1 Kings chapter 19 verses 10 and in verse 14, it says twice, he says, I, even though only I, I'm left, and they seek my life to take it away.

[14:30] I'm the only prophet. And yet the Lord corrects him in 1 Kings 19, 18, yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel. All the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.

[14:45] Elijah, you're saying you're the only one, but I got 7,000. And so we have to ask, is David here, is he embellishing? Is this hyperbole?

[14:57] How many are my foes? Many are rising against me. And actually what I want to assert to us this morning is David is very sober-minded about the situation and its severity.

[15:10] This is not exaggeration. Many are rising against me. Absalom spent years winning the hearts of people. And when he declared himself king at Hebron, it says in 2 Samuel 15, 12, it says, and while Absalom was offering the sacrifices he sent for Hithophel, the Gileonite, David's counselor from the city of Gilo.

[15:37] And the conspiracy grew strong. And catch this, the people with Absalom kept increasing. And a message came to David saying, the hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.

[15:52] So there is this groundswell of support forming for David's son. David is forced to flee Jerusalem with his loyal supporters.

[16:04] But I want us to understand, David's life is in real danger. When you're king, do you have enemies? Oh yeah.

[16:14] And often those enemies are very close by. Absalom actually needed to eliminate his father for him to fully take the throne.

[16:27] Thinking about the famous quote attributed to Herod the Great, it's better to be Herod's pig than Herod's son. You're safer to be livestock in Herod's family than his son.

[16:40] Because he has to eliminate the threats to the throne. You want a long life? Be a pig in his family. For David, the threat is real.

[16:55] Absalom had the hearts of a growing contingent. And I want us just to feel that, right? Like I think it's like you see what's happening, you maybe hear the rumors, but all of a sudden you see and you're like, your heart kind of sinks.

[17:10] Yeah, we were displaced this week. Fires. But we didn't really see them until you turn the news on and we didn't really have a lot of news this week and I just was watching last night like, oh, what are some of the footage?

[17:22] And it was shocking sometimes seeing hillsides of fire and I could just like to look up and your heart sank like, oh no. We're going to lose it.

[17:34] I mean, I think that was the feeling of David. His heart, it just sank as he saw this growing support for his son. And this contingent of people that aligned with Absalom, they were beginning to taunt David.

[17:51] They were taunting his faith in God. He's not going to help you, David. He's not going to protect you. It says in verse 2, many are saying of my soul, there's no salvation for him in God.

[18:04] There's no salvation. We're not talking about eternal salvation in the context. We're simply talking about deliverance from this trial, this specific difficulty.

[18:19] But he's hearing from folks around, here God's powerless. He's impotent. So David encountered haters in this season of his life.

[18:32] God didn't answer that prayer request. He's not even around. And in fact, we have an instance, because there's a relative of King Saul who David replaced, Shammai.

[18:47] He comes out and he curses David while he's on the run from his son. Maybe this individual, well, not maybe, he's sore over how David took the throne from Saul. And it says in 2 Samuel 16, verse 6, and he threw stones at David.

[19:03] And now all the servants of King David and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on the left. And Shammai said, as he cursed, get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man.

[19:17] The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you have reigned. And the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son, that the Lord is against you.

[19:29] In fact, Spurgeon said this, to be forsaken of God is the worst ill that the most melancholy saint ever dreams of.

[19:42] And if we're just feeling like, man, life is over. God is against me. And I just want to pause here for a moment because if there's a guy in Scripture that could have been susceptible to believe that there's no deliverance for him in God, it's David.

[20:05] Like, here's a guy that could have thought to himself, I've used up God's grace in my life. I have cashed in every grace token and I'm out. I think the enemy had the goods on David.

[20:17] David, because his life became a train wreck after his indiscretion, which is really sin, with Bathsheba murdering her husband.

[20:34] His life went downhill. And I think there were things that occurred in his soul where he changed as a man. He didn't lead in the way that he once did.

[20:45] He wasn't as engaged as a spiritual leader, the leader God intended him to be. And in fact, it's my contention that David's absence is what gave rise to Absalom's rebellion.

[20:59] You see it in the different events that David wasn't present. Amnon, Absalom's half-brother, fueled by lust, manipulated circumstances to get alone with Tamar, Absalom's full sister, half-sister to Amnon, in order to rape her.

[21:22] Dad was so checked out, he didn't recognize the dynamic nor the character of Amnon, his son. Where's dad? Where's dad?

[21:34] Absalom, so broken over those events, he takes his sister to live with him. He becomes her protector to care for her so that she's saved from further evil, maybe to protect her shame.

[21:51] Where's David? Why doesn't dad step in? Absalom cared for Tamar for two years. And I think during those two years, seeing dad not doing anything to exact justice on Amnon, he's just nursing his anger towards his brother.

[22:13] Eventually plotting to take Amnon's life, and he does so. Dad's not going to deal with evil, so I guess I have to. Again, where's dad?

[22:25] He's absent. After taking Amnon's life, Absalom had to flee Jerusalem. And he lived in Gesher, which is like 22 miles west of Jerusalem, and he lives there for three years.

[22:39] He's in exile. Is King David going to take my life? Is dad going to take my life? What's going on? It's actually said in the Scriptures that David longed to go to his son during that time, but does he?

[22:53] No. Does he reach out? Not at all. Where's dad? He's absent. And then after three years go by, Absalom's allowed to return to Jerusalem by the orders of Joab, David's general, and only because Absalom's servants lit Joab's field on fire to get his attention.

[23:17] And so David welcomes Absalom back home, but for two years now, Absalom's in Jerusalem, and David's silent. He never went to him.

[23:30] He brought him back and kept him at arm's length. Where's dad? Where's the leader? Totally absent. And I believe Absalom grew an offense against his dad, provoked by jealousy, neglect, feeling like an outcast, and eventually decides, you know what?

[23:50] I can rule better than dad. And he took his shot at the throne. And so, if anyone was primed to believe the lies thrown at him about God forsaking him, I believe it's David.

[24:04] Because he had a horrible set of chapters in the middle of his life there. Very different man than the young man we saw slaying Goliath.

[24:18] And yet, David doesn't succumb to saying God's against me. This psalm is shocking because look at the next verse. Verse 3, But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

[24:36] What? This is remarkable. The faith here. This is faith, David believing. This is who my God still is, even though I'm not the same man I once was.

[24:50] This is a declaration. David being a military man, he uses military terms. God is a shield. God is present. He's my protection in this life.

[25:03] And he says, My glory and the lifter of my head. I trust that God is going to restore my dignity, my position. There is great faith in God for David here despite David's faithlessness.

[25:21] I hope that you see that, friends. God's anointed David, even as a faithless man for a number of years, says God's my shield.

[25:38] He's the lifter of my head. I want to pause for just a moment because I think we can sometimes take Scripture and apply it poorly.

[25:52] You could be here going, Man, God's my shield? Sweet. I'm just going to go live recklessly. If I just, I mean, if God's my shield, I can just live dumb and God's going to intervene.

[26:09] That's not the permission the Lord has given to any of us this morning. Just like God's sovereignty doesn't get us off the hook from sharing our faith.

[26:21] But I think there are Christians that are guilty of, I'm going to call it magical thinking. That's a kind way of saying bad theology about God's care for them whereby they live recklessly, whether that be physically, financially, relationally, and they think, I can just live how I want to live and God's going to always save the day.

[26:49] And I just want us to understand, there is a balance and there is a mystery between faith and reason. And we ought to live as smart as possible all the while crying out and trusting in God's help.

[27:05] Amen? Amen? I mean, it would be absurd for me to say, I'm never going to brush my teeth again. God is a shield against cavities.

[27:18] And bad breath. And so you could misapply. God has given us wisdom to exercise in this life. There is a balance between faith and reason.

[27:32] I think probably my favorite example in Scripture is Nehemiah. Nehemiah. He's a wonderful individual that really demonstrates both faith and reason. And we recall in that story, same time as Zechariah, we just got done.

[27:46] Exiles returned. The wall, we looked at the, you know, the temple being rebuilt, but the wall is still down. And he prayed. Nehemiah prayed for four months prior to heading back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.

[27:58] He knew God was with him. He prayed. He talked to the Lord. He cried out. And yet when it was time to build the wall, he didn't just tell his builders, hey, don't worry about the enemies because God's going to be your shield.

[28:10] What did he do? Nehemiah 4.13. So in the lowest parts of the space between the wall, in open spaces, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans. And with their swords, their spears, their bows.

[28:26] So Nehemiah, a man of great faith, he was still very wise. The builders, I'm going to have them set on the low parts.

[28:36] I'm going to have their clan, their families behind them so if the enemy comes, are you going to fight harder for a stranger or for your children? Come on now. And so that's very wise.

[28:48] And the Lord, your shield, but you know what? Have a weapon by you. Have a spear. Have a bow. No. So, is it just relying on ourselves then?

[29:04] No. Do all you can as God provides wisdom, all the while crying out to him for help. Nehemiah 4.9. And we pray to our God and set a guard as protection against them day and night.

[29:18] We pray to God and we set a guard. So, pray for wisdom. Friends, I think a lot of us have been praying for an extra measure of wisdom even in the week.

[29:29] Lord, what do we do here? How do we manage? We're talking to God all the time. And as the Lord provides wisdom, it's like he's reminding us he's there, he's helping, then exercise that.

[29:40] All the way saying, Lord, I'm also going to trust in the midst of this, you're my shield. You're the author. You're sovereign. You're good. But there's a balance here.

[29:52] And I think actually David does this very well because he's crying out, the Lord is my shield. But is he doing that? Is he simply doing nothing? No.

[30:04] David was doing something. What was he doing? He was using reason. And what was the reason? What was the activity he was doing? That's me fleeing, guys.

[30:16] That's as fast as I go. That's as good as it, I'll do it for you guys. See? Yep. Yeah, yeah. He's fleeing. He's not as large as my shield. I'm just going to stand here and let air.

[30:26] No. He's getting out of there. See how that works? Faith and reason. Now, what I love about this declaration, Lord, you're my shield.

[30:41] There is a shocking amount of comfort, of joy in this verse for every one of us. Why? Because God was a shield to David after he committed adultery.

[31:02] God was a shield to David after he committed murder. This is shocking. God was a shield to David even as he stood by as an absent father to his family on numerous occasions.

[31:21] And if God did not forsake David, he certainly is willing to be a shield to any of the rest of us in Christ Jesus today.

[31:31] Amen? So, Dave, there's great comfort in this. David was at the bottom of the list of people deserving God to be his shield, and yet he was.

[31:43] That's how good God is. Amen? Amen? Is there hope for you? Yes. The Father is just that good.

[31:55] So, even this morning if you're here and you're wallowing in the pigsty, get out. What does that mean? Repent of your sin. Return to the Father because I believe the fatty calf, it's on the trigger.

[32:09] It's already cooking. But you have to return to the Lord. And then you say, Lord, you're my shield. How does one access the help, the favor of the Lord?

[32:22] Well, David models it for us. Look at verse 4. He says this, I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Who did David cry to?

[32:37] That's not rhetorical. Who did he cry to? The Lord. Who do we cry to? That's rhetorical. Who do we cry to? My friends.

[32:54] My wife. That's not a bad thing. It's a good thing. Husbands, wives, please talk more. Sometimes you cry to your pastor. That's even a good thing. But when do we cry to the Lord?

[33:09] And David models for us, this is who we're to cry to first. And I think we're actually told that in the New Testament in Philippians 4. Do nothing. Do not be anxious about anything and everything by prayer, supplication, with thanksgiving, and that your request be made known to God and the peace of God.

[33:27] It will guard your hearts. Cry out to the Lord. Cry out. Cry out. And I believe as David did, it afforded him the peace of God.

[33:40] How do we know he had the peace of God? In the midst of fleeing from his son who wanted to murder him like he's some wild animal. And the hunt is on and David is the prize.

[33:53] And yet, in the midst of that, being out of his home, uncomfortable, fearful, what does David say? Verses 5 and 6.

[34:04] I lay down and slept. The Lord's my shield. I 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.

[34:20] Friends, this is not hyperbole. Thousands were hunting David down like a wild animal. And yet, David slept. Friends, we can sleep.

[34:33] Why can we sleep? Because God doesn't. And he's sovereign. And he's good. And if you're in Christ, he's a shield in your life. I still remember the conversation I had with the Lord when our fifth daughter was in the NICU for three weeks when she was born.

[34:59] And I still remember her on the machines. And the numbers didn't look good so they kept turning up the oxygen, turning it up, and they had maxed out what they could do. And I can remember sitting there looking at the machine, not sleeping, thinking if I'll stay awake, she'll stay alive.

[35:15] That's bad theology. But I was looking at the numbers. And I was like, if the numbers are okay, maybe I can just close one eye. And the Lord, I still remember the conversation with him.

[35:27] And it was the most audible, inaudible, because I've never had audible. I don't think I could handle it. I think my heart would stop. So we're like, I want audible from God.

[35:39] No, you don't. But it was like that still quiet voice of like, Jay, stop looking at the machine. Don't trust in that. Don't trust in your awakeness, right?

[35:50] I got her. We can sleep, friends, because the Lord doesn't. Psalm 121, 4, Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

[36:11] If God's my shield, does that mean my house won't burn? Because you guys are going to hear some stories in the coming days, and I think we need to be very discerning and careful how we interpret circumstance.

[36:27] Because I believe your house could burn down and the Lord could be your shield. I think we just have to be very careful if the Lord chooses to protect a home and pray, is that something to celebrate?

[36:39] But I think we have to be very careful. I mean, is it just all those in Spokane that lost their houses, the Lord wasn't their shield? That's insane. Does it mean I'm never going to, like if the Lord is my shield, I'll never get cancer?

[36:53] I won't suffer in the way I'm fearful to suffer in? God being our shield doesn't mean life is going to not still be hard.

[37:04] Amen? It does mean that God's best will cover your life in a way where He gets maximum glory. and you actually get joy.

[37:17] And the joy you get, you get to taste it at different times in this life, moments, but it's actually a joy that never ends. It never ends.

[37:29] So even if there is hard on this dot of a life, on the ticker tape of eternity, God's still good. The Apostle Paul had hard.

[37:42] He prayed three times for the heart to leave. It never did. But even in the heart he rested in the belief that his God was good and sovereign in his life. And I love how this psalm ends.

[37:55] It ends with this incredible confidence in a good God. All the while, David is out of his home on the run, probably sleeping in a cave.

[38:08] Look at verses 7 to the end. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek.

[38:18] You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people. David is so confident in God's help and his presence.

[38:34] He's actually praying, I don't know if you caught that, but he's praying as though God's deliverance has already occurred. Because he writes, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek.

[38:45] He writes it as though it's a completed action. You break the teeth of the wicked as though it's a completed action. There is an awareness on David's part of how actually involved his God is.

[38:59] I think a lot of us run through life and we're kind of like functional deists where God sort of started up the planet, wound it up, and he's taking a vacation and we're just like, we've got to fend for ourselves.

[39:09] He's not really involved. He is. He's so involved and David has an awareness of God's involvement and I love this. And so friends, if God is this involved, then let's cry out to him more often, not just our family, not just our friends, not just our pastor.

[39:27] Let's cry out to the Lord and ask for help. And maybe even in David's example, pray offensively. He models that here at the end.

[39:41] Strike my enemies, break their teeth. And I pray offensively for my family on occasion, maybe weekly. Psalm 35, 1 is a prayer that I pray often.

[39:54] Lord, contend with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. I don't know what's going on. I don't know why things are not working relationally at home.

[40:06] I don't know why there's stress. I don't know. Lord, would you fight on behalf of my family? And I pray that. That's one of the things that I actually can, that's a gift that you're receiving this morning if you've never prayed offensively for yourself, for your family, for your loved ones, for your friends.

[40:20] Lord, fight on their behalf. Would you fight on that? Fight for their joy. When I pray that, it's not a ritual. It's not a mantra. I don't pray that over and over and over and over.

[40:32] Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me. Fight against those that fight against me. I don't pray that over and over and over and over. I just cry out to the Lord. It's not a compulsive activity. It's just me crying out to God on behalf of others.

[40:43] And then, once I pray that, I believe that He's heard and He will act according to His sovereign will. And then, guess what I do? I sleep. That's what I do.

[41:00] I want this confidence for every one of you. I want that freedom for every one of you. I've talked to the Lord. I've brought my prayer request to Him.

[41:11] I've asked Him for help. Maybe I asked Him to fight for me. He's heard me. I'm going to believe that He's heard me. Done. I don't have to pester Him over and over.

[41:22] He's heard my heart. He's heard your heart even before you uttered the words. And guess what? He's a good Father. And guess what?

[41:32] He's your shield. I love how Jesus puts it in Matthew 7, verse 9. Which one of you? If your son asks for bread, he'll give him a stone.

[41:45] If you ask for a fish, he'll give him a serpent. And if then you, evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? Friends, ask the Lord to be your shield today.

[41:59] Allow Him to be your peace today. And then live in the midst of that as wisely as you can and rest. Lord, thank You for Your Word that it's so practical.

[42:14] Lord, thank You for the example of David who really bungled his life in ways that are just incredibly heart-wrenching.

[42:25] And yet he's this example of an individual who knew who his God was. And Lord, I pray that this morning we have been reminded at who You are, that You're good, that You're sovereign, that You're a shield.

[42:37] And Lord, if we are not experiencing that because we are somehow walking in disobedience, I pray today we would just, we would return. We would leave the pigsty, we would repent of sin, turn to You, and Lord, You would overwhelm us with Your joy and confidence that You're sovereign over our life.

[42:57] Lord, we love You. We're so thankful for this curated list of songs that You've left us to teach us. And this morning, I think it's to teach us how to both pray and how to trust in a very good God.

[43:12]  It's in Your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen.