[0:00] If you have a Bible, turn to Psalm 141, the 141st Psalm. And as you turn there, let's go and read this whole Psalm together. Evans, you almost stole the title of the message, man.
[0:10] That was great. John 16, trials are inevitable. Psalm 141 mirrors a lot of things we heard in John 16. Sounds a whole lot like Psalm 140 that Bo brought to us last week. Let's go and read God's word.
[0:22] Lord, I cry unto thee. Make haste unto me. Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense and the lifting up of mine hands as an evening sacrifice.
[0:33] Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to an evil thing to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity. And let me not eat of their dainties.
[0:44] Let the righteous smite me. It shall be his kindness. And let him reprove me. It shall be an excellent oil which shall not break my head. For yet my prayer shall also be in their calamities. When the judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet.
[1:01] Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth as one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. My eyes are unto thee, O God, O God the Lord. In thee is my trust. Leave not my soul destitute.
[1:13] Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me and the jens of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I with all escape.
[1:23] Let's go, Lord, in prayer. Father, thank you for your goodness and your mercy. Thank you for the opportunity to come study your word. Lord, I'm thankful that we can call out to you in trials and storms and tribulations. You are faithful and gracious and merciful.
[1:35] You're nothing but good, Father. Lord, I pray that you'd open up our hearts. Lord, help us receive the word with meekness and tenderness. Lord, help us receive it as a sincere milk. Lord, I pray that you would have a desired effect in our hearts.
[1:46] God, we love you. We thank you for the evening to come and worship you. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Maybe some of you have been in a spot where you were the world's sort of gone still. My grandmother's name, she was Mary Mitchell Prevost Keelan.
[1:59] She had like a long name. And she was a short, tough old lady. And she was from New Orleans. And one day we were walking around. I was little. It was like 07, 08. And she worked really hard.
[2:09] She came from nothing. But she bought this bright pink house. If you ever go to New Orleans, Brother John, you know I'm talking about the houses that are bright. She had a bright pink house. She loved it. And one day right in front of the house, she stopped.
[2:20] And she began to well up with tears and said, this right here is where the world stopped for me. One day I'm like, what do you mean? I couldn't understand it. But a couple years before that was this thing called Hurricane Katrina. She was there for it. And she remembers what it was like when the rain started.
[2:33] She remembers what it was like when there was a little bit of flooding, when Levy on 14th Street broke, when FEMA came in, all those terrible things. She got stuck on a rooftop. She remembers watching bodies float through the street.
[2:43] And she tells me that that's where the world froze for her. And maybe you've had the same thing. You've gotten that email or that phone call or that discussion. You've watched the news.
[2:53] And the world is frozen for you, right? That's called a trial. You've entered into tribulation. As Evans said, those are inevitable. I guess Jesus said that before Evans did it. But those are inevitable. And just due to the nature of living in a fallen world, trials, tribulations, struggles, they're inevitable.
[3:08] As Romans 8 teaches us, creation kind of groans. It hurts. I think we know something's not right. Look at what Mr. Job has to say about it. He was a guy who struggled a lot. Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.
[3:20] This is what he says in Job 5. Yet man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward. So when you look at a fire and it pops and sparks come up and out of it, it says that's what humanity in trouble is like. It just happens.
[3:31] And as we read this psalm, it starts there with a superscript, a psalm of David. There was ever a man well acquainted with being in trouble or well acquainted with bad news or trials or struggles or temptations or whatever.
[3:43] It was David. I mean, that guy had every issue that there was possible. Family issues, work issues. Talked about last week. His boss tried to kill him. Then his son tried to kill him. I mean, issues with his neighbors.
[3:54] Go ask old Naboth. He just had a real or Naboth. He just had a really tough life. There was a man well acquainted with going through things. And it's from this psalm that David penned for us on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
[4:07] We can learn how to find help in our struggles because I can tell you the world may not be still for you right now. Or maybe it is. Or maybe you're coming out of it going still. But one day it will be. One day bad news is just going to be inevitable.
[4:20] And what do we do in the midst of it? As we're observing this psalm, as we read it, we're kind of in David's prayer closet. We get to see a conversation between him and God. He's crying out to God. He's what I would like to say.
[4:30] He's pleading to God. It's a plea between David and God. And a plea can simply be defined as a request made in an urgent or an emotional or distressed manner. An urgent prayer of entreaty.
[4:42] I think of, I don't know, any of the kids ever get stung by a bee? What's the first thing they do? I was at the Du Bois house when that happened one time. And it happened so fast. I mean, Luther was just in his dad's arms instantly. That's a plea.
[4:53] Ran straight to his dad. And what David is doing in this psalm is he is making a plea. He is pleading to God. As we learned last week, David most likely wrote this psalm when he was in one of his many times of distress.
[5:05] He had quite a few times of distress from battles to political troubles to wars, whatever it might be. Possibly when he was running from King Saul. You know, Saul was great at throwing the javelin. Or possibly running from his son Absalom.
[5:17] Maybe you found yourself, though, in familiar waters with King David. Maybe not somebody throwing a spear at you. You know, but maybe it might be temptation. Look at what the Bible says in verse number four.
[5:28] Incline not my heart to any evil thing. Maybe it might be in peril. Look what the Bible says in verse seven. Our bones are scattered. Maybe it might be with just dealing with wicked people. Look what the Bible reads in verse number ten.
[5:39] Let the wicked fall into their own nets. Maybe it might be just things that are unexpected. Look what the Bible reads in verse number nine. Keep me from the snares, the traps that the wicked have laid for me. Maybe it's any one of those things.
[5:50] And as we go through these things, how can we learn to get through them or endure them or or to suffer? Well, I think we've got to learn to plea like David, because from the Bible and from David's biography that God's preserved for us, we learn that David often did the right thing in these temptations and these trials.
[6:07] In Psalm 141, we get the opportunity to look at his prayer between him and God. Let's look at verse number one again. Lord, I cry unto thee. The first thing we're going to observe here is the direction of David's plea.
[6:17] Let me tell you, trials and storms and temptations and whatever it might be, they're inevitable. What are we supposed to do? Notice the direction of David's plea. Verse number one, he says, Lord, I cry unto thee. So that is that's the object of David's plea.
[6:29] That's the that's where he's crying to. And notice specifically there's some nuance here. He pleases that God and his wonderful names. And what we want to what we want to talk about here is this. In the Bible, what's really neat is a person's name is just it's more than identification.
[6:41] It's it's it also has a description of the person's character. What's really neat about God and his names is we can learn so much truth about the God we worship and the God we serve and the God we pray to based on his names.
[6:52] God has names that indicate his characteristics, his worthiness, his mission, his passion, his purpose, his person. And what's neat is God reveals himself to us through his names. The names function much like an atlas or a word book or learning about God's own character.
[7:09] And what we what's neat here is this Lord capital L-O-R-D. That's that's that's Yahweh. That's the God of Israel. That's the covenant keeping all powerful deliverer eternal. I am.
[7:20] And that's the God that David cries out to. Can I tell you something? When you go through a trial or a storm, isn't it pretty neat to know that our God's a deliverer? Our God's in the delivering and the setting free business. The first time we see this name, it's between it's between God and Moses.
[7:33] God introduces himself to Moses as the I am. I am that I am the eternal God who always is. He goes by the name Jehovah, declares him as an absolute, independent, self-existent, the source of all life, eternal without beginning or end.
[7:47] It's neat. Our God is the high God of all creation, of all of all everything. He made this earth. He keeps this earth. And the God we serve is a God who is a deliverer. And that is the name that David cries out to.
[7:59] Look what the Bible says in Exodus 1431. I don't know if that verse is back there, but we'll read about what it says. It's God being called a deliverer. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. The people feared the Lord and believed the Lord in his servant Moses.
[8:12] That Lord there is Yahweh, Jehovah, God of Israel, the deliverer. That's the God we serve. That's the God we can call out to. What else the Bible says in Psalm 121, verses 2 through 4? So the Bible is going to say, For us, my help cometh from the Lord Yahweh, which made heaven and earth, which will not suffer thy foot to be moved.
[8:28] He that keepeth thee, when thou slumber, behold, he keepeth Israel. He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. That's the God we serve. Our God is in the covenant keeping, delivering, creating business.
[8:39] And that's the God we serve. But also there's another name for God using this Psalm that's really neat. Look what the Bible says in verse number 8. We're going to read that together. But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord. It's another name for God that's really neat.
[8:51] This word for God here is Adonai, simply meaning master, Lord, owner. I like to say for 2023, shot caller, the guy in charge. And that's who David calls out to.
[9:03] He calls Lord Yahweh, Jehovah, all powerful. But then he calls the Lord his master as well. May I tell you that in a trial or a struggle when you're looking for direction, it's just best to yield to the Lord as the one who calls the shots, the one who's in charge, the one to submit to.
[9:17] The psalmist pens in chapter number 97 that God is Adonai of the whole earth. See, Jehovah introduced him as creator. Adonai introduced him as Lord and keeper. How need you to know that our God is in the creation business, in the keeping business?
[9:29] He is in the God business. God reveals his ownership through his word. That's what he says in Psalm 5010. He says, for every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. God is the owner of everything.
[9:40] How need is that? When the world seems to stop, the trial seems to come, the issues seem to pile up. We can look to these names of God. We can study these names of God and know that he is a deliverer. He is a creator. He is a sustainer.
[9:51] He is our owner. He is our Lord. He is our protector. Since God is the absolute ruler and owner, our response to this name comes through surrender. If we're going to praise the Lord with this name, we must be submitted to it.
[10:04] Submission is a powerful tool when coupled with an all-powerful Adonai of a God. We can submit to the Lord. We can trust the Lord. He is a master. He is a ruler. He is in charge. But also notice that David's psalm also had the right address.
[10:16] Let's look at what the Bible says in verse number eight. My eyes are unto thee, O God, O God the Lord. In thee is my trust. Leave not my soul destitute. It's so easy when you get that bad news to misguided trust almost, right?
[10:29] Well, no, no, no. It's okay. It's okay. Because I have the savings account, so we'll be good when this thing happens. No, no, no. I've got this social network of friends and people who take care of me. I'll be good. No, no, no. I've got a really good job or a really big this or a really good that or whatever it is.
[10:43] We sometimes put in misguided confidence. But notice that David's trust here, it says it's in the Lord. He says, in thee do I put my trust. My eyes are unto thee, O Lord. And may I tell you that having a safety net is cool and all, but safety nets aren't as reliable as the Lord.
[10:57] Our God is faithful. He is good. And within every struggle or trial, there's always a choice. Who or what are we going to trust? And David here made the right decision in trusting the Lord. It can be so alluring to have misplaced confidence.
[11:09] But look at what God says about this misplaced confidence in Hosea 10, 13. This is what the Bible is going to tell us. You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. Why? Because you've eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst not trust in thy way and the multitude of thy mighty men.
[11:24] Because they trusted in themselves, in their might, in their soldiers, in their own strength. The Bible says this. They ate the fruit of lies. May I tell you something? That when we believe our own strength to be the thing that keeps us, it's a figment of our imagination.
[11:37] It's not real. Our health is from the Lord. Our resources are from the Lord. The things we have are from the Lord. We just talked about how he's kind of the owner of everything. Our strength ultimately is nothing. Look what else the Bible says in Psalm 146, verse number 3.
[11:50] It's going to tell us not to put our trust in princes, knowing the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. So easy when trials and tribulations come to look to people, to look to stuff, to look to house, whatever it might be.
[12:01] But can I tell you there's no real help except for the Lord? And David realized that. He had the right address for his distress. But also we're going to look at the discussion of David's plea. Notice that in verse number 2.
[12:12] Let's read that. Let my prayer be set before thee as incense, lifting up my hands as evening sacrifice. And notice in the verses that come, he's going to ask for some things that only God can do. Look at this.
[12:23] He says this. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. That's something only God can do. He says in verse number 4. Incline not my heart to any evil thing. That's something that only God can do in the heart keeping business. He says this in verse number 5.
[12:35] Let the righteous smite me. Yet again, that's something only God can do. And here, over and over and over again, David is asking God to do something that only he can do. Notice that David's plea is humble. Because when we come to the Lord and we ask him to do something impossible, it's in recognition of our smallness.
[12:49] Lord, this situation is too big for me. This is Hurricane Katrina size. I can't do anything. I need you to pull through for me. I need you here, Lord. I need you to do this. I need you to bring this into my life. I need you to remove these things.
[13:00] David realized that it could only be the Lord. And let me tell you, to plea, we need to plea to God, of course. We need to plea humbly as well. Not in our own strength. Not in our own power. Not in our own merit. We need to plea to the Lord humbly.
[13:12] To plea requires humility. He was asking for things that only God could do. But also notice that there's really help in humility. Look what the Bible reads in James chapter 4, verse 6. This is what the Bible is going to tell us.
[13:22] He giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resists the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. Sometimes you just need to be humble enough to ask the Lord to help us. Sometimes you need to be humble enough to quit trying to trust ourselves.
[13:35] Quit trying to trust stuff or jobs or whatever it is. People. And we just need to put our trust solely in the Lord. But also we're going to look at the content of his plea. What was David really asking for? What was he looking for?
[13:46] What was David begging for? This is what the Bible is going to tell us here. He asked for what you could essentially sum up as wisdom. Let's look at it. He says, incline not my heart to any evil thing. Well, that's discernment.
[13:56] He says, hear sin, let the righteous smite me. So he asked for the right friends. That's another wisdom thing. He then also asked for to say the right words. That's another aspect of wisdom. What David essentially asked for here is wisdom.
[14:07] Let me tell you, we can come to God humbly, but also we can come to God and ask for wisdom. Look what the scriptures say in James 1.5. It's going to say this. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally.
[14:17] That's a promise. We can go to the Lord. We can ask for wisdom in the midst of a trial, in the midst of a storm. And the Bible says he gives to all men liberally and he doesn't take it back. God is good and he's generous with his wisdom. And what David is essentially praying for here in the storm is wisdom.
[14:30] Because in a storm, wisdom is what we need. Because true, real, biblical wisdom, one, is going to draw us closer to the Lord. But then two, it's going to help us in the decision-making process to make decisions that are right, that would please the Lord. And he asked for wisdom.
[14:42] Verse number three, he says this. Set a watch before my mouth. He's asking God to guard his speech. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 15.4 about the association between wisdom and speech.
[14:53] A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverse and sterile is a breach in the spirit. Can I tell you that when God gives us the right words to say, the Bible says it's like a tree of life. You guys ever been in a storm or a trial and somebody just says the right thing to you?
[15:04] The Bible would say it's like medicine to the bones. A word fitly spoken. It just works. Maybe you guys are going through a trial and you've got that one coworker or you have that one neighbor or that one family member. Can I tell you that wisdom and our words are going to help us in that trial?
[15:16] Knowing to say the right thing. Look what else the scriptures read in Proverbs 12, 13, and 14. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips, but the just man shall come out of trouble. A man shall be satisfied with the good fruit of his mouth and the recompense of a man's hands shall be run under him.
[15:31] That's a biblical promise. When we speak wise words, the Bible says, the Bible teaches us it's just a much better time for us. If we can say the right thing and the wise words and the words that God would have us to say that can help us in the trial.
[15:42] And what David is asking for his Lord, give me the words to say. Give me the words. Also help me not to say the wrong words. And David asked the Lord to put a watch before his mouth. But not just that. He also asked for discernment as well.
[15:53] Let's look at verse number four. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainty. So David also asked for discernment. You know, in the midst of a storm, having wisdom is great.
[16:05] Having the right words is great. But can I tell you also in the midst of a storm, having discernment is great. And what we can define as discernment is, as Leviticus would teach us, it's knowing the difference between good and bad. Right and wrong.
[16:16] What's up and what's down. And sometimes in the midst of a storm, it's so easy to get pragmatic. Right? Like the situational pragmatism. Well, you know, if I'm in trouble and I tell a couple white lies, then it's not that bad because, you know, the ends justify the means.
[16:28] Right. Or you try to try to try to work in a logic, get into into being good as so as Tony Evans would say. Rational lies are just rational lies. We try to rationalize things. It doesn't really work for us that well.
[16:39] And what David is asking for here is discernment. Can I know right from wrong? Can we tell good from bad? Yet again, that's a wisdom thing. And again, that's the word of God thing. He asked for discernment, telling good from bad, telling right from wrong.
[16:52] We can do the same exact thing. We can ask the Lord for wisdom and he can give us discernment. Look what the scripture say in Proverbs 15, 21, folly is joy to him that is zest of wisdom, but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.
[17:02] Can I tell you if you're in the midst of a storm or trial or you're just looking to make the next decision or looking to make the next right step, going and asking the Lord for guidance and direction is a great way to go. The Bible teaches us this, a lamp unto our feet, light unto our path.
[17:15] We find guidance by it. But the Lord has wisdom for us, discernment for us. And David asked for discernment. I think we see it lived out as well as he runs from Saul and Absalom. There's just some decisions there that only God could lead him to do.
[17:27] But also David here also asked for friendship as well. Look what the Bible says in verse number five. Let the righteous smite me. It shall be as a kindness and let him reprove me. It shall be an excellent oil which shall not break my head, for yet my prayers shall also be in their calamities.
[17:42] I don't know if that makes too much sense. Have you guys ever been in trouble? It's like, Lord, I wish you'd send a friend to slide me upside the head. You know, Lord, I just wish you'd send a friend who could just hit me in the back of the head. It seems counterintuitive or almost paradoxical.
[17:53] But can I tell you that a good friend is better in a storm or trial than, I guess, a bad friend? I guess it seems true in about anything we do. But a good friend in a storm or trial is quite helpful. And he asked for friendships.
[18:05] He asked for friends that come alongside him. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 17, 17. A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity. As Ecclesiastes would tell us, a threefold cord is stronger than one.
[18:16] When we have friends and people who are beside us and in the trenches with us, it just makes a storm or a trial a lot easier. But notice that there's some discernment needed in this friend. He says, let the righteous light me.
[18:27] It's one thing to have friends, but we want righteous friends, godly friends. Friends that are going to push us and influence us to worship instead of trying to work things out ourselves. The right friends can also have a sanctifying effect.
[18:38] Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 27, 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Sometimes you have friends who tell you just what you want to hear. You have friends who just want to tell you whatever can pacify in the moment, not what you really need to hear.
[18:51] David was looking for friends, righteous friends who would smite him. He says, this smiting is actually kindness. Sometimes the medicine is bitter, but it works in the long haul. Proverbs 27, 9 is going to say this. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart.
[19:02] Sort of the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. Have you guys ever been going through something and your friend just says the right word? It just helps so much. Maybe it's something comforting. Maybe it's truth. Maybe you've messed up and your friend just gives you some advice on how to get things right.
[19:16] Whatever it might be. The Bible says it's nice when you have hearty counsel. But also, you know, real righteous friends push you to worship as well. Look what the Bible says in Psalm 119, verse 63. This is David writing again.
[19:27] I am companion to them that fear thee and them that keep thy precepts. We should want righteous friends. Friends that push us to worship, influence us to praise, influence us to get into God's word.
[19:39] And I think that's best exemplified in the New Testament church. Let's read Acts 2, 2, 46. And they continue daily in one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house to eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.
[19:50] What are they doing? Praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Can I tell you that real righteous friends push you to worship? When we're going through trials, we're struggling.
[20:02] We don't know what to do. We may not know what the next step is. Real righteous friends alongside us will push us to worship. Let's bring us closer to the Lord. And what David is praying for is this. Lord, give me the right word to say.
[20:13] Give me wisdom as I speak. Help me know what not to say. Help me know when to talk, when to say. But he also says, Lord, give me discernment. We need to know right from wrong. God, I need to know when to move, when not to move, when you want me to respond, how you'd like me to respond.
[20:25] But he also prays for friendship as well. But not just that. The delivery that David had, it was sweet as well. In his plea contained worship. Let's read Psalm 141, verse 2.
[20:36] But we read this for us at the start of the service. Let my prayer be set before thee as incense and lifting up my hands as an evening sacrifice. That seems kind of hard to say because David is praying here in a trial.
[20:47] What he's saying is, Lord, let this prayer that I'm praying to you in a trial come up as incense. Can I tell you that my professor this semester calls this the brokenness principle? That God loves broken worship.
[20:58] He loves when we come to him broken. David sums it up in Psalm and sums it up for us in the Psalms here. Let me read a verse for us. He says this in Psalm 54, 17.
[21:09] He's going to tell us this, that a broken and a contrite heart, that's sweet before the Lord. I was hoping to go up there. I didn't have it actually written down. But you can reference in Psalm 54, 17. He's going to tell us that that's the sweet before the Lord.
[21:21] God receives broken people. And that's incredible. To be broken in spirit, one must be broken to the attitude that is contrary to the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we just need to come to the Lord broken. That goes back to that humility thing.
[21:32] Sometimes there are certain things that just break us. And I say, okay. God isn't expecting for us to come to him perfect. He's not expecting for us to come to him having it all put together. The Lord allows us to come to him broken.
[21:45] And that's where David was at. It's in this attitude of brokenness to the Lord that demonstrates, it's attitudes that can demonstrate resistance to his authority. When we're not broken, we're not submitted to the Lord.
[21:55] It's the attitudes that often say, I don't really need God. I can do this without God in my life. I'm totally sufficient in and of myself. God is not going to tell me what to do. I need to follow those rules to be happy. What a broken person does is they come to the Lord and say, Lord, this is a mess.
[22:08] I need you to fix it. Lord, I don't see how I'm going to get out of this. I need you to fix it. God, unless you deliver me, unless you work this out, there's no way I can fix this. God, unless you do a miracle, unless you move or respond or do something great, there's no way that I can come out of this.
[22:22] And what we find out about in the scriptures is God receives broken prayers and broken worship and broken people because he is merciful. What's really neat about this is look what the scripture is saying, Luke 4, 18. Jesus specifically came for the broken.
[22:35] This is what the Bible is going to tell us here. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. This is Jesus reading. Because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, and he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering a sight to the blind, and set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of our Lord.
[22:49] Our Lord is in the business of healing the brokenhearted. He's in the business of receiving the prayers from broken people. He's in the business of making whole the brokenhearted. That's what the Lord does. Whenever this trial or storm or situation comes, we can go to the Lord broken, incomplete, not knowing what to do.
[23:04] And the Bible says the Lord can make us whole. And that was the address of David's plea. Lord, I need wisdom. God, I don't know what to do in this. Lord, I don't see how this is going to go. God, I don't see a way to get out of this as you would have me to get out.
[23:19] God, I need, God doesn't need to worship you. Lord, I'm going to pray to you broken, not knowing what to do, sad, with tears. And the Bible says that the Lord received that as worship. That's why David says this.
[23:29] Let my prayer be set forth to thee as incense. That's picturesque of the incense they light in the temple, the prayer of the saints. As we find out in Revelation chapter 5, verse 8, that God actually remembers those. That's Puneet.
[23:40] He cares about broken people. Jesus came here and he died on the cross for broken people. And he loves broken people. And that's good news for everybody. God loves broken people.
[23:51] But not just that. David in his plea. David was delivered as well. Let's look at verse number two again. Let my prayer be set before thee as incense and lifting up my hands as evening sacrifice. David was delivered.
[24:02] I mean, if you read the rest of the Bible, you read the rest of the story about King David, you kind of know how it goes. I'll spoil it for you. Saul doesn't do too well. David becomes king. Absalom tries to kick David off.
[24:12] And then also David wins that one too because God is good. But can I tell you, in this situation, in this story, what David needed was grace. What's going to help us in our day-to-day in the battles?
[24:23] It's going to be grace. It's how was David delivered? By the grace of God. And working with kids, sometimes you get these really short, coy definitions. Or what's mercy? Not getting what you deserve.
[24:34] What's grace? Getting more than you deserve. And you hear that. But the Bible and the Scriptures teach grace is a much deeper thing. Yes, it's getting more than you deserve. But grace is just more than what you receive at the moment of salvation.
[24:46] It's more than just being saved. Grace goes day-to-day. Grace is every day in life. Grace, God, I'm not talking about you. But you are a grace in my life, though.
[24:56] But God gives grace daily. And grace is more than you deserve. This favor overflows in powerful, practical helpiness from God in your daily life.
[25:07] And the Bible says that God provides grace for his people. Maybe you've seen this before. You just don't know what to do. And the Lord just gives you some grace. A little bit of strength for the moment. The right word for the moment.
[25:19] The right mindset for the moment. A little bit just to push through. Enough for that day. Enough for that conversation. Enough for that trial. Just enough to get through. The Bible says that God gives grace. What does that look like?
[25:30] When I was a kid, I had a Guatemalan friend named Galileo Portela. Man, me and this guy, we were tight, thick as thieves. And I got to go over to his house quite a bit. And I loved going out. I loved going over to Galileo's house. It was so much fun.
[25:41] His mom always was making food. It was great. It was just such a good time. One day, Galileo wasn't home. But I was riding my bike in front of their house. And I fell. I skinned my knee. I ripped my pants. I was a mess.
[25:52] And I walked over. And I just walked right into the door. Because, you know, it was a Portela house. And she had all these ladies over. She was having like a tea party, something like that. And I walked in. I said, Miss Portela, where's the bathroom?
[26:03] And she said, it's right down the hall, Greg. And I came out. She said, do you need anything? I'm like, can I have a bottle of water? And then next thing you know, I'm sitting there eating. Because that's what she's going to do. She's going to feed you. And I remember one of the ladies said, who is that boy?
[26:14] She said something that stuck with me. She said, that's my son's friend. That's the grace we get before God. Hebrews 4 to 16 is going to tell us this. Let us come boldly before the throne room of grace. We may find help in the time of need.
[26:27] You're looking for some grace. You're looking to get through. You got, because of the blood of Jesus, we can walk boldly before the throne. Right up to God. Ask him for grace. And the Bible says he'll give us exactly what we need.
[26:37] Why? Because we're his son's friend. Because Jesus came down. Died on a cross. Showed his grace that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That God might receive us as sons.
[26:48] And because of that, the Bible says we find grace. Friends, maybe some of, I know pretty much everyone in the room, but maybe you have friends or loved ones going through things. They just see no way out. Let me tell you, the grace of God is sufficient.
[27:01] It works. Someone was able to say to Paul, my strength is made perfect in weakness. God has grace. I don't know how it works. I don't know how it moves. I don't know how it operates. But let me tell you, when you're going through something and there's no way out and you don't see how it's going to end, God has grace.
[27:14] He has grace for you in the struggle. He has grace for you in the pain. He has grace for you when you don't know if your visas are going to come in. He has grace for you when you don't know how your jobs are going to work out. God has grace. Enough for you each day.
[27:24] It never runs out. His mercy is new every morning. And that's the God we go to. But this verse gives us so much insight into what David was seeing. He went to the Lord asking for help. Went to the Lord pleading. Went to the Lord asking for help.
[27:36] But notice what he got in that. Because of this grace that Jesus has given us. Because of this way that Jesus has made. Because of this access we have. We can go boldly. We can walk right in.
[27:48] I don't have to knock to go into my house. We can go boldly. Right before God. In the moment. Right then and there. To the Lord. Not just that. There's assistance there. We have access. We can go to the God the Father. But also there's assistance there.
[28:00] We can go to God. Ask Him for help. Unlike the princes in whom there's no help. The Bible says this. God can really help us. One. He's all powerful. But two. There's grace. There's enough to get us through. And we can take this as an assurance.
[28:12] As we leave this trial. As we go back into our work week. Or our day to day. We can leave knowing that God has real grace. He's going to take care of us. He's going to sustain us. We watch people with David.
[28:23] We've seen him do it over and over and over. In biographies in the Bible. We have his promises and his truth. And let me tell you. When the trial happens. The world stands still. You get that phone call. You get that email. There's grace.
[28:34] Grace. You can go right before God. You can go to him and ask him for help. David. He went to God. He took his plea to God. That was the direction of his plea. Lord. I need you to help me. Discussion of his plea.
[28:45] God. I need some wisdom. I need you to work in my heart. God. I need you to do some things that only you can do. I need some friends. I need the right words. I want the Lord humbly. But also. God was gracious in his delivery of David.
[28:56] And friend. He'll be gracious to you too. I don't know what you're going through. I don't know what you've gone through. I don't know what you will go through. But there is grace. And help. And a friend. A friend who died for you. We have the Lord Jesus.
[29:08] And what's so neat about this psalm is. Everything that David prayed and asked God for. Is provided in Jesus. How neat is that? Wisdom. The Bible says that. The preaching of the cross is the wisdom of God.
[29:19] You're looking for wisdom. Go look at the life of Jesus. Full of grace and truth. You need the right words to say. Say some of the words that Jesus said. How else to live my life against wrongdoers. The Bible says Jesus is our example. He provides wisdom for us in Jesus.
[29:31] Deliverance from sin. You're struggling with sin. You're the Lord. Incline my heart to do right. Go to Jesus. The Bible says. He will renew us. He'll work in ours. He'll teach us. He'll grow us. He'll sanctify us. Go to Jesus.
[29:42] Maybe you're looking for some friendship. Can I tell you that Jesus calls us not servants. But friends. Go to live with no man. To lay down his life for his friend. You're looking for friendship. Go to Jesus. Maybe there's somebody in life.
[29:53] Who's done you wrong. Who's hurt you real bad. Who's done you. Who's done bad against you. Somebody who's harmed you. Whatever that might be. Can I tell you that in Jesus too. We also find deliverance from wickedness.
[30:04] The Bible says that Jesus is going to come back one day. He's going to set things straight. We also find victory over sin and wickedness. We find the ruler in Jesus. And everything that they've prayed for. We have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[30:16] So as we go through our week to week. As we go back to work. And whatever that might be. Guys we can go boldly to God. There is real grace. This psalm exemplifies that. And the Lord will help us.
[30:27] If you wouldn't mind. Please bow your heads. Let's pray. Father I thank you for your goodness and your mercy. I thank you for the opportunity. You give us to worship you Lord. I thank you for your word. Thank you for the example of David here Lord.
[30:38] God I pray for my friends in the room. Lord I pray for those who may be going through something right now. Lord those who are about to enter into something Lord. Or maybe those who are healing from something Lord. Maybe those who are in this trial.
[30:50] Because they're only doing. Or because something was done to them Lord. I pray for you to help us fix our focus on you. Help us set our direction in our plea to you Father. God I pray for you to help us humble ourselves before you.
[31:01] God I pray for you to help us seek you in your word. Help us seek your direction in your wisdom. And Lord I'm so thankful for Jesus. Thank you for what he did. Thank you for the access we have to your throne room to find grace.
[31:12] Lord I pray for my friends in the room. Help us seek your grace in times of need Father. In your most precious holy name I pray. Amen.