Choosing to Trust, Part 1

[0:00] Take your Bibles, turn to Psalm 56, the 56th Psalm, as we're going to take a few moments here of looking at the reality of just trusting God to triumph.

[0:14] You know, faith that triumphs. You know, it's essential that we understand how the role that trusting God plays in our lives.

[0:26] And so we see here in Psalm 56 here, as we get everything opened up here, see if we can get all this arranged here.

[0:38] Get my, better put that on or I'll be getting flagged down from the upper levels here. Get everything on. But, you know, look here in Psalm 56 as we just take a few moments here as we look into God's Word.

[0:52] We see here in verse 1, it says, Be merciful unto me, O God, for man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppresses me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for they be many that fight against me.

[1:07] O Thou Most High, what time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. You know, as we see here, you know, if someone were to ask you, do you trust in God?

[1:20] You know, what would be your answer? You know, somebody over here hollered truth, you know, sometimes. But, you know, most of the time our pat answer would be, you know, sure, yes.

[1:34] You know, because we like to think that we truly trust God. But, you know, oftentimes it's more that we intend to trust God. You know, that's sometimes the battle that we have of choosing to trust.

[1:49] You know, we understand that we intend and the depth of trust actually is revealed when situations of life happen. You know, that's when trust is really put into play.

[2:04] It's through the hard times of life. Because those are the moments when we have to hold on to what God has said because everything else doesn't make sense.

[2:18] Everything else is upside down. It's we don't understand the why or the what. You know, we need that faith in God. And thankfully, God has given us his word to strengthen our faith and to show that it's trustworthy.

[2:32] And this is one of those passages that we're going to look at today from Psalm 56 that, you know, I want you to understand. We can intellectually say we're going to trust God. But it's important to understand that we can trust God fully even in the midst of chaos.

[2:50] When we're afraid of what's happening in life. Because, you know, oftentimes we think as a believer, well, we shouldn't be afraid. You know what? Fear is a natural part of life. The real question comes is what do I do when fear comes?

[3:07] Because fear reveals in whom we trust. Think about it practically for a moment. You know, if you've ever been around a toddler. And you put them to bed and they're sleeping.

[3:18] And pretty soon they get up because something scared them. Where do they go? They go to mom. Have you ever asked why do they go to mom? Because mom has proven to be what?

[3:31] Trustworthy. Mom's proven to be there. Mom's proven to help. They respond even in their fear, not by not doing, but by trusting and looking to the one.

[3:48] They know that they can find comfort and direction. You know, we're going to look here this morning about the importance of trust. You know, and what we place our trust in.

[4:02] Is it in ourselves or in the Lord? Because that determines the outcome. You know, when it comes to making decisions, you know, think about some of the things we're told in life.

[4:13] You know, it's phrased a couple of different ways. You know, the popular way today is trust your heart. You know, there's another way people phrase it. Just trust your gut, you know. To think that.

[4:25] But you think about it. When you take the phrase, trust your gut, kind of get some questionable advice. You know, have you ever been to the Cheesecake Factory? They have some decadent desserts.

[4:36] They have a dessert that clocks in by itself at 1,540 calories, which is equivalent to three McDonald's double cheeseburgers plus a pack of Skittles.

[4:49] Their dessert is red velvet cheesecake. It's exactly the kind of thing that makes your gut desirous. It tastes good. It looks good. But the question is, is it good for you?

[5:01] It may taste good, but is 1,540 calories in one quick little setting like that really good for you? Your gut says it is, but does that make it so?

[5:16] You know, every day each of us have choices that we make, and we're either going to trust in God or trust in ourself. You know, are we going to rely on what God has to say in his wisdom, or are we going to trust in our own instincts?

[5:34] You know, oftentimes we put more trust in our instinct of how we feel about it than by what God says about it. And when we understand the importance of trusting God and what God's word has to say, because the Bible gives us numerous stories about people who trusted God in the midst of fearful circumstances.

[5:55] This morning we just read a little bit about a man named David. You know, David was one that was a man said to be after God's own heart.

[6:08] You know, you think about the zeal of David trusting God. He's the young lad who stood up and said that I can face Goliath not because of my power, but because of God's power.

[6:21] He's the one that became a leader in the army of Israel that conquered thousands. You know, if you think about it, when David came back in from battle, they actually sang songs to him.

[6:33] You know, Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands. He was a seasoned man of battle. But you know, one thing we don't as often associate with David is fear.

[6:44] Because David also had times of fear. He had times of failure. You know, we know, for example, that there are two occasions on which he fled into the land of the Philistines.

[6:59] He fled right into the enemy trying to run away from Saul. Why? Because of fear for his life. You know, one of these first times David was afraid of Saul, who was seeking to kill him and decided to flee to a city called Gath.

[7:13] Now, for all you Bible scholars out there, what's so prominent about Gath? Yeah, that was Goliath's whole time. You know what fear does? It makes us do illogical things.

[7:25] You think about that practicality for a moment. Where does David flee to? He flees to the city of Gath. The city where he killed one of their prominent citizens.

[7:38] But why did he do it? Because fear made him go. He allowed fear to direct him. He allowed fear to make a decision.

[7:49] You know, now out of here David is. King Achish. You know, you find it. We don't take time this morning, but you can just note down and you read 1 Samuel chapter 21 records what's going on.

[8:01] David flees and then he gets before the king. And fear overpowers. The second stage of fear overpowers. Now he's standing before Achish, the king of Gath, where he killed a prominent citizen.

[8:14] And the council around the king begins to ask, isn't this David that? For some reason, David got nervous again at that point. You know, we find that David had times when he faced fear.

[8:27] We know that David feared that Saul would be successful in his attempts to kill him. You know, let's give a practical application here for a moment. Because oftentimes fear overcomes us when we forget the promises of God.

[8:45] Let me ask you a question. When David fled from Saul, what promise of God was he overlooking? Yeah, God had anointed him to be the next king. In other words, David had a promise from God that says, you will be the next king.

[9:02] But yet he's worried for his, he allows fear to direct his life. Fear became the driving factor instead of the promise. To trust God. And we see here that David was constantly in this struggle in his life.

[9:20] There was times when he was very valiant, very brave, you might say, very courageous. But I think these are, the Psalms are written for us.

[9:31] These songs were written for us that we might understand that the realities of life, that fear is going to be present. You know, and we're going to look through this and study it a little bit here this morning because Psalm 56 was written by David against the backdrop of his experience of fear and vulnerability.

[9:53] You know, when we understand that David wanted to find a place that he could hide and run away, David felt he needed to run from the things that scared him.

[10:09] And, you know, have you ever felt that way that you just wanted to get away from what was presently in front of you? That fear sometimes drives us to do those things.

[10:19] And how can we get back to the place of trusting God in the face of fears that are all around us? You know, we're going to look at Psalm 56 and see that David dealt with fear that he experienced and how he ultimately was able to trust in God and experience God's peace in the circumstance.

[10:44] Because I want you to see first here this morning the reality of fear. You know, if we're going to choose to trust, we need to understand that fear is a real thing. Now, fear is an emotion God gives us for a reason.

[10:57] There's some things that ought to make us scared. You know, for some reason, some things don't. You know, like every year out at Yellowstone, somebody decides to pet the big fluffy cow.

[11:08] And it doesn't end well. Things they ought to have a healthy fear of, and they don't. You know, let me tell you, you don't pet the big fluffy cows at Yellowstone.

[11:18] They may look nice, but they're really grumpy and they're big. But I want you to understand, each of us will face times of fear. You know, notice down here in verse 3 that we read earlier.

[11:30] Notice what David says here in the Psalm. He says, What time I am afraid. I will trust in thee. I want you to understand, fear is inevitable. There's going to be situations in life that scare you.

[11:44] Whether it's something new. Or something that is old. You know, there's sometimes fears that we hold on to our whole life.

[11:55] Things that grab a hold of us. When we understand that there's no sin involved in feeling fear. You know, that's oftentimes how people begin to think.

[12:08] It says, if I trust God, I won't have any fear. You know what the Bible says? When I'm afraid, I will trust in Him. The reality is this, that it's not a sin to fear.

[12:19] It's a sin depending on what you do with fear. Because fear can cause us to sin. Fear can cause us to go away from what God has to say. You know, think about it.

[12:30] What are some of the common fears that people have? Heights. You know, is that a bad fear to be scared of heights? You know, it's funny. You know, when they're shingling up here on the roof, all them roofers, very few of them are not smart enough to be scared.

[12:45] Most of them are scared when they get up there. Rightfully so. If you need that experience, let me know. We can arrange for it. It's only a 14-12 pitch on part of it. You'll be fine. If you understand roof pitches, that ought to make you scared.

[12:58] You know, what are some other things that people are scared of? Unknowns. What's that? Loss. Yep. Dark.

[13:11] Bats. Is that what I heard up there? Yeah, you think the list, Joe? We'll talk about that in January. Yeah.

[13:22] For a guy that's engaged, if you saw the look he got, maybe fears were. You know, what are some other common fears that people have? Doubt. Death.

[13:34] What's that? Snakes. Yeah. You know, now think and stop for a moment. What are some fears that may be unique to a believer? Nancy? Yep.

[13:45] Whether you're saved or not. Sometimes that's a, you know, people begin to doubt and have fears about their salvation. What's that? Witnessing. You know, what are some other things? You know, you know, fear of, you know, just even your loved ones and how they respond to the gospel.

[14:01] You know, oftentimes fears change throughout life some too, don't they? And we need to understand because there's reasons that, that fear impacts us. Because life impacts us.

[14:14] There's many things that are going to scare us. And I want you to see here that David was afraid for his life. Because we see his enemies were very real.

[14:26] The enemies that were around him were very real. You'll notice, look up at verse two in our text. It says, mine enemies would daily swallow me up for they be many that fight against me.

[14:39] Oh, thou most high. Remember, where's David writing this? He's writing it from the midst of the land of the Philistines in the city of Gath. I think he can safely say there's enemies all around.

[14:52] There's those that would just enjoy being able to be the one to say they took the life of David. You know, the king, Achish, the Bible tells us, kind of befriended David.

[15:07] Even though he is surrounded on all sides, the rest of the Philistines who distrusted David deeply, and the enemies of Israel against whom David continues to fight.

[15:19] You know, all around him, he's hated. There are those that oppose him. You know, look at verse one in this. It says this, oh God, for man would swallow me up.

[15:30] He fighting daily oppresseth me. You know, we too are always in the presence of our enemy. You know, the Bible tells you as a believer, the devil is your adversary.

[15:43] Your enemy, the one that is always there. And that's the reason Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, he says, be sober, be vigilant, because you're what your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may what?

[16:02] Devour. To consume. Sounds very similar to what David's saying here in Psalm 56, isn't it? His enemy wants to consume him.

[16:16] Wants to overwhelm him. And we see here that Satan is that for the Christian. He stands opposed. And even with others that he stirs to be opposed to us.

[16:29] They want to destroy our faith and to bring chaos and destruction into our life. You know, we see the presence of enemies, but you also see the plot of the enemies.

[16:40] You know, what are the things that the enemies do? You know, as a believer, the devil, is one thing about it is the devil doesn't change his tactics. You know, the devil is reliable.

[16:51] He's consistent. He uses the same things. You know, we're in the midst of football season. And you know, some football coaches get noted because they know exactly, everybody knows before they hit the field exactly what's going to take place.

[17:02] They know their basic game plan. They know exactly how their basic defensive structure, their opponent knows all those things because the coaches are very consistent in their application of the principles of the game.

[17:16] The interesting thing is, is they still defeat people. You know what? The devil is the same way. He comes with the same game plan, the same process, the same thing every time.

[17:27] And he still defeats people, but the Bible tells us what his game plan is. It tells us, how is he going to use those things? Because notice the first one that we see here.

[17:37] Notice, look down at verse five. Tells us this, every day they rest my words and all their thoughts are against me for evil.

[17:48] You know, untruthfulness. You know, the enemies of righteousness speak untruths about God and his children. You know, David's enemies were taking David's words out of context, misrepresenting them to further their own purpose.

[18:08] Does that sound like anything new? I mean, that just sounds like the world we live in, doesn't it? So is there anything new about the methodology? Absolutely not. You know, the enemy misrepresents the righteous today.

[18:19] Those who are set against God, often including those things around us. I mean, you think about the media, how Christians are ridiculed, especially when they take a stand for Christ, who attempt to be consistent in their Christian walk.

[18:34] You know, you see that being played out of, of, uh, uh, people downplaying or trying to make them look, uh, uh, bad in the eyes of others. And they twist their words, trying to make them say something they don't.

[18:49] You know, think about today, you know, this is a, this is one of the ones I always love. Well, that's hateful. You can speak truth and they'll call it hate. You know what truth is? Truth is loving.

[19:02] To sell somebody the truth is the most loving thing you can do because love is built on truth. Now you need to tell them lovingly, but truth is essential, but the enemy uses untruth.

[19:15] And tries to say what you meant and what was declared for love, for their betterment, for their, their direction is hateful. What are they doing?

[19:25] They're resting those words. You know, that's one of the enemy's tactics. You know, they're unscrupulous in what they do.

[19:36] Not only are the enemies of the righteous untruthful, they're also ruthless and inscrupulous about what they do. Notice in verse six, it says, they gather themselves together.

[19:47] They hide themselves. They mark my steps. When they wait for my soul. What's David saying here? He says, my enemies follow me around, waiting for an opportunity to twist or deceive or to gain advantage.

[20:02] It says, they lurk in the shadows, just seeking for an opportunity. That perfect moment to strike. And his hope is to snuff out the righteous out of existence.

[20:14] That's what Satan does. He lurks around hoping to produce fear that will keep us from doing what we have to do. It's the real. Fear is a real thing and the real sources and reasons behind it.

[20:29] But our encouragement we can take from David is that his example in his fear, because notice, go back up to verse three again. What does David say? What time I am what?

[20:41] Afraid. You know what David said? I know there's going to be things in life that scare me. I know there's going to be things that come and overwhelm me that's going to cause me to fear.

[20:53] Because oftentimes fear is associated with the unknown. The what ifs. So the question becomes, what do we do in that? Notice what David says.

[21:04] He says, what time I am afraid. He says, I will trust in thee. You know what David says? Fear might overcome me, but I'm going to redirect. I'm going to renew my focus on you.

[21:20] To renew trust. That renewal of trust in our lives. Everywhere David looked, there were enemies in Israel. You've got to remember his home where he was.

[21:30] Saul was plotting to kill him. And the Philistine warlords were seeking to kill him. David only had one place to turn, and that was to the Lord. When he said he had enemies on every side, he had enemies at home.

[21:44] He had enemies outside. He had no place to go. David turned to the Lord. He made a crucial choice to do what? To trust the Lord. He said, what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

[21:57] You know, to trust the Lord is very simply, there's two aspects of that choice to trust God. First one is it's volitional. In other words, it's a choice.

[22:09] It's volitional. It means to make a choice. David shows us aspects of his choice. You know, trusting God involves making a conscious, deliberate decision.

[22:22] Notice what David says. He says, I will trust in thee. David made a decision. He says, everything around me is upside down.

[22:34] Everything around me is trying to legitimately kill me. You know, I think if you read through scripture, you find that David wasn't just imagining his enemies.

[22:44] It was a reality that was there. And he says, I will trust in thee. You know, we can't always control what's happening in our life. You know, that's part of the problem with fear is because we want control.

[23:00] And when we can't control it, it scares us. Because control is where we have comfort. The only thing is, we don't realize that we're never really in control. You're kind of like one of them kids walking around my neighborhood with a parent pushing the little cart behind the kids in the little thing with the steering wheel going and the parents behind pushing.

[23:18] The little kid thinks, I'm in control. Now you're so long for the ride. You got to trust you're going to go wherever mom takes you. You know, we can't always control, but David decided in the midst of his enemies, he would trust the Lord.

[23:30] He did it because he reasoned that God was greater than man. Look back up at verse four for a moment. He says, In God will I praise his word.

[23:44] In God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. You know, later in Psalm 118, it says this, The Lord is on my side.

[23:56] I will not fear. What can man do unto me? You know, when you think about what does this choice involve? For David, it was twofold. First was to trust and then to praise.

[24:10] Notice what we find here. Trust. When we trust God, we're not trusting that everything's going to work out the way we think it's best. You know, I think that's another misconception. Sometimes the devil puts in, you know, your trust, God didn't, it didn't work out the way you thought.

[24:24] You can't trust God because it didn't turn out the way you thought it ought to turn out. Has the devil ever used that against you? Rather, we're trusting that what God has, that God is he who told us who he is and what he's going to do.

[24:39] And he told us how he's, that we can trust him. We're trusting that the Lord will be good to us and he will strengthen us. He can give us peace even in the midst of fearful circumstances.

[24:53] You know, if you have a question, read through Hebrews chapter 11 this week. There was some that trusted God and God did miraculous things. There was some that trusted God and it cost them their life. Both required trust.

[25:06] To say, God, the outcome is not up to me. My decision is to trust what you have declared. To trust what you have said.

[25:19] You know, for us, we like to control the outcome. And God says, trust me because what I have planned is best. Not the most comfortable. You know, oftentimes when we trust God, God moves us outside of our comfort zone.

[25:32] You know, that's one of the things today that a lot of people get tied into. Well, I don't want to do anything outside my comfort zone. You know what? In life, you have to do a lot of things outside your comfort zone. There's some things you may not like to do that you have to do that need to be accomplished.

[25:45] Might not be the thing that you're best at, but it's what you need to do. You know, to trust God in those things. You know, let's look at a few verses here this morning. Let's get a couple of volunteers here. You know, Psalm 27, verse 14.

[25:57] You got that one, Lou? Psalm 28, verse 7. Tim, you got that one? Hebrews 13, 6. Joe, you got that one? All right. John 14, 27.

[26:10] Darren, you got that one? All right. Let's stand up, read them nice and loud. Psalm 27, 14. Psalm 27, 14. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, he shall strengthen my heart.

[26:22] Wait, I say, yeah. You know, wait on the Lord, he shall strengthen your heart. You know what that is? That's giving you what you need in the situation.

[26:37] Giving you what you need. Look at Psalm 28, verse 7. The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am good with you. All right. You know, consider that the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am what?

[26:55] Helped. Hebrews 13, 6. That we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. Yeah. To boldly say, the Lord is who? My helper.

[27:05] Think about for a moment, do you need a helper if you think you can accomplish it? Let that one soak in for a moment, let it marinate here a little bit. If it was in your capacity to deal with and do everything, would you need a helper?

[27:16] The Lord understands we're going to be put outside those things that we're sometimes comfortable with, but he gives us a promise. He says, I will be your helper.

[27:26] I'll be the one that comes along and encourages. How about John 14, 27? You know, Jesus telling his disciples, he says, that he's going to have peace.

[27:47] You're going to have peace in him. The world can be upside down, but you can live in peace. It doesn't mean things are going to be settled, but it does mean we can trust him in the midst of chaos.

[27:59] And he's going to help and guide us. So trust. Second thing, here's praise. You know, our choice involves a deliberate decision to praise God and his word.

[28:13] You know, we have a need to praise. You know, David also declared here that he will praise God's word. You know, notice what he tells us in verse four in God.

[28:25] I will put, I will praise his word in God. I have put my trust. You know, down in verse 10, in God, will I praise his word and the Lord will I praise his word.

[28:40] Why do we praise God's word? That's a good question. Why did David say he praises God's word? It's truth. You know, truth does what? Truth gives us direction.

[28:53] Truth provides us what we need to walk in midst of the situation. It gives us guidance and direction. You know, because God's word is right and it reveals the right and true way that God has for us.

[29:12] You know, look over to Psalm 33 for a moment. Psalm 33, you know, as we think and consider what we choose, because you choose what you're going to do with God's word. Are you going to trust it?

[29:23] Are you going to praise God's word? You know, Psalm 33 verse four, for the word of the Lord is right. And all his works are done in what? Truth.

[29:33] Do you believe that? Because just as we talked about earlier, belief and trust, or it might be a difference in nuance, but the application is the same. Let me give you a little illustration because, you know, all of you came in here and plopped down on a chair.

[29:46] Why did you plop down on a chair? Because in your, what's that? Okay. You believed that at first, didn't you? When you walked in, you believed the chair was going to hold you.

[30:00] Then you walked over to the chair and what'd you do? Where did it move? It moved from just the dynamic of belief to trust. But I want you to understand they're not separated.

[30:13] They're one in the same. They're connected together because you can't trust if you don't believe. To say, this is true. Therefore, I will trust in it. And when we truly trust something, we don't question it.

[30:27] You know, the one, you know, you're going back to the chair illustration. I didn't see a single person this morning. Check out a chair. Not a single person came in this morning and went, why was that? All of you believed it was true because it's been proven.

[30:37] It wasn't just an abstract. You had faith because of past. You knew and believed and trusted what was going to happen. You had confidence because of what's happened before.

[30:51] You know how you get confidence in God's word? Is by walking with him and testing it along the way. Yep. I mean, David just, he didn't let fear overcome.

[31:03] But he believed God would do it and he trusted God to do it. And he stepped out there and did it. You know, we need to understand that the written word of God is but an expression of the living word of God.

[31:15] And we talked a little bit about this this morning. We go over to John chapter one for a moment. John chapter one. Look up there in verse one, the gospel of John. It says what? In the beginning was the what?

[31:26] The word and the word was with God and the word was God. Now look down at verse 10. It says, and the word became what?

[31:38] Or excuse me, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth.

[31:48] So if Jesus is full of grace and truth, his word is full of what? Grace and truth. When we praise God's word, we ultimately praise God himself.

[32:03] Of who God is and what he's done. You know, we ought to be understanding the importance of praising God after we trust God.

[32:14] Because I don't think you can praise God if you don't trust God, because you're not recognizing who he is and what he's done. Praise is giving him acclamation for who he is and what he's done.

[32:26] If you don't trust him, how do you truly praise him? As we consider those things, we'll pick up here next week.