May the Lord answer you when you are in distress. May the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offering. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Now this I know. The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king. Answer us when we call. Amen.
Praise God. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for another day that we can come freely in your presence because of death and resurrection of your son. Ultimately, your love on display for us.
Thank you for another day that we can come freely in your presence. Thank you for another day that we can come freely in your presence and ask for mercy and grace.
Father, I ask it for myself and for people as they hear. Father, help me to preach your words, communicate your word faithfully and help us to embrace the truth contained within Jesus name.
I pray. Amen. Let me start just by sharing how my week has been in preparing for this message today.
I'm not sure about you, but I don't think preaching is my main thing. Do you know what I mean?
I am not. I mean, it doesn't come that easily as it probably does to Steve. I mean, I only assume, right?
So this week has been particularly difficult. I haven't preached in a good while. I wonder what that says about my preaching.
But I think I was overthinking the preaching this week and I'm overburdened by it.
And in reading it, when I landed on verse 7, I was so convicted by it.
Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, and some trust in God.
Are we trusting God?
And I actually found that it's so easy to skip past this verse thinking, obviously, we trust in God.
We are in church. We sing the songs, don't we?
We know the Bible verses.
And I thought, wow, this is probably not for me.
But the reality is the biggest risk, in my opinion, in reading the text,
is that we might think that we need to trust, we can trust in God plus in chariots,
or that we think that it's only for people that trust, that's really the people in the world,
that they trust in their own strength and then that we trust in God.
But the actual risk is that we are going to trust in God plus something else,
which really amounts to not trust in God, right?
And the way it pans out in life is this, at least in my own life,
that we're looking to ourselves, that we can allow,
start wearing those lenses of hurt and pain and see God through those lenses.
And then we lose hope. We're praying hopeless prayers.
We're actually walking in life without the joy of the Lord.
And yet we might think that we trust in God.
All that to say that I feel that this spoke to me.
And because I think there's more in there, I've found fitting to go in it in almost verse-by-verse fashion,
which is not the most intuitive thing to follow.
But I ask for forgiveness in advance if it becomes a bit too difficult to follow.
But we'll hopefully get somewhere.
Let me set the scene for you.
So the people of God, the way they would worship back in the day, would be at the tabernacle, right?
So they have the tabernacle of Moses.
As you think about the tabernacle, the tabernacle had divisions and had a lot of rituals for you to actually access God's presence,
ask for his help, for his blessing.
So that's what the sacrifices, the actual tabernacle really pointed to Jesus who offered the final sacrifice,
allowing us access to the presence of God.
But what happens is the tabernacle of Moses was in place at Gideon without the Ark of the Covenant,
which symbolized the presence of God.
So do you see the problem with that?
They are offering sacrifices to God without the presence of God.
How easy it is for us to come to church and move with emotions.
Without being aware of the presence of God, we're working from a place, a work mentality.
I need to do the Christian practice.
I need to offer God my service because he needs it.
But it can't be further from the truth, isn't it?
And then I think about how easy it is for us to actually not be trusting in God.
And the analogy, I don't have many illustrations, but I felt like if I can have any illustration, it's this.
Think about a window cleaner that is working on a high-rise building.
He's dangling, tied to a rope, and he's actually trying to not die, right?
That's one of the things that's good for him to do.
And he's actually trusting in his ability and all the training that he had.
But how many of you know that his safety, it boils down to this,
his safety is actually more of the integrity of the rope than actually his ability to be connected to it
or to perform his job well.
And in the same way, trust doesn't start with us.
Trust starts without being able to see the integrity of God, right?
So that's the point of it.
So anyway, going back to it.
That's the scene.
David, so they had known their ark.
Philistines had the ark of God.
God is striking the Philistines, and they decided to give the ark back.
David sees the ark and brings it to Jerusalem.
The tabernacle of Moses is still in Gideon.
He sets up a tent, a new tabernacle there.
What's going on that's different at this time?
David invites, hires out musicians and singers to what is believed to be a 24-hour, 24-7 prayer service
and worship service around the camp, if you like.
So this is the scene.
David went there to offer sacrifices, and the worship's in the background, my voice is going.
So David goes there to offer sacrifices, a symbol saying, we need you, God.
It's for good fortune in the battle.
He's actually offering sacrifices to ask God's presence to go with him.
This is really the assurance that it would give him victory, right?
So the whole community is, like, lifting up their voices while he's there.
He's coming out.
The people are actually praying for him.
Music is probably in the background.
They are praying for him.
This is what you hear from verse 1 to 4 is the people's prayer for the king.
But something about it, because the prayer is really not one that comes out of a standpoint of hope.
They actually seem to be confident of success, because they are actually declaring that they trust in the name of the Lord,
probably reminding themselves about how faithful God is.
Because the name has everything to do with how much you can trust God.
The name of God reveals his will, his character, and his intentions.
So they are actually saying that we trust in who God is, and because he's good, and because he's powerful, then we're going to have victory.
This story, obviously, points us forward to Jesus, the greater king, through whom we learn to pray not just for victory, but from victory.
I've put this in various points, so just follow with me.
Verse 1 and 2, God is a shield in the fortress.
It's our shield in our fortress.
I learned from studying.
I'm not linguistic.
That this verse has been written in English, translated in English.
May is in an optative mood.
Meaning, it's something you desire, but you're not sure that's going to happen.
And that's not the best translation, apparently.
Rabbi said that the right translation would read like this.
The next slide is going to say is,
The Lord will answer you in the day of trouble.
He will send you help from the sanctuary.
As you see, this is not vague hope.
It's a covenant confidence.
They are reminding themselves of God of Jacob.
Probably thinking about the events just gone.
They've been released by God, freed from Egypt.
They've been guided by God.
They've crossed the sea in safety.
As we know, it's our Passover, isn't it?
Pointing to Jesus again.
The word help in there is really defense.
And the answer there has to do with defense.
And the word help in the passage has to do with being lifted up out of the reach of your enemy.
Look at what Psalms 18, 48 says.
He, God, lifts me up above my enemies.
So the question I had to myself, this is a question to myself,
after reading this, is,
Lewis, where do you instinctively put your trust or turn to when trouble comes?
When things feel uncertain, what is your first impulse?
Is to cry out to God or to try and carry it yourself?
Second point, God moves according to his heart.
The verse says, three and four will say,
He will remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.
It's the part A there, verse three.
The sacrifices and burnt offerings point us, point them to the holiness of God
and the cost of accessing his presence.
Just think about it.
Guess what?
Sacrifice, a sacrifice for accessing God's presence was required then and is required now.
The only difference is when we put our trust in Jesus,
we benefit from what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
The perfect sacrifice was offered.
Therefore, we now have access to God's presence.
Hebrews 9, 12.
He will give you the desire of your hearts and make all your plans succeed.
This may sound like a promise for personal fulfillment.
But as you know, I don't think that that's the case.
There would be the wrong interpretation of it.
The heart in here means the inner will.
And really what's inferring is the inner will that's aligned with God.
The word plans means the counsel.
It's either the counsel of God or our counsel.
But the right translation, the best translation as it aligns with other verses of the Bible,
would be something like this.
This is my translation though.
God works out his purposes when our hearts are prepared to want what he wants.
That's more like it, isn't it?
So the question I ask myself is, Lewis, what are you praying for right now?
Is it something that God would delight to give you?
Are you asking him to bless your plans or to shape your heart?
Third point.
We shout from victory.
Verse 5.
We will shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of God.
You see, they are planning to celebrate even before the fight.
Isn't that amazing?
If life would pan out just like that for us.
Basically, that's what the Lord is teaching us.
That's actually the Psalms being captured and written for us to sing.
So they're singing this as their truth, as what they experience.
We will experience because they believe in God.
To raise a banner meant declaring allegiance to God.
They're actually saying, we belong to you.
Our victory is actually your victory.
So the question I ask myself is,
Lewis, are you waiting to praise God once you are victorious?
Once you have what you want?
Or once you have the answer that you've been asking?
What would it look like to raise a banner right now before I have those answers?
A fourth point.
Apologies if I'm going too quick.
I'm pressure for that thing people have against Brazilians because we talk too much.
Salvation comes through the anointed.
The verse says,
Now this I know the Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.
This seems to be a turning point there.
Because now the king is praying.
He might be talking to himself.
But as I mentioned in the kids Bible slot,
There is inevitably this link between his life and Jesus' life.
Right?
In many ways,
Jesus prayed in the garden
and God answered.
Didn't he?
But it's inevitably the best assumption to think that.
David himself offered sacrifices.
Came out.
The people are praying for him.
And because they say the words,
they mention the name of God.
That their trust is in God.
They actually,
He is reminded and stirred up.
And he declares,
Now I know.
It's really a settled conviction, isn't it?
Because of who God is,
it's easy to infer that he is going to be faithful
and he's going to fulfill his promise.
God had promised David to give him victory.
It's really important to bear in mind
that they say they will have victory in God's name.
So they knew there was nothing about them
that was going to give him victory
other than they carried,
they trusted the name of the Lord.
This really points us to Jesus.
The true anointed one
was raised in victory
in seats at the right hand of the Father,
which symbolized authority, isn't it?
So the question I ask myself is,
Lewis, are you living through Christ's victory?
Are you living as if it's already yours
or you're still trying to win the battle
he's already won?
Verse 7 and 8 talks about
it's the most used verse,
angle from which people preach.
Self-reliance or God dependence.
Some trust in chariots,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
I explained this in my brief introduction.
Charity and horses would probably mean
a lot of different things here.
They probably mean,
could mean money, credentials, influence,
all the things that are not necessarily bad,
are they?
It's the positioning we put them in.
When we trust in God,
he will give us favor,
and that's the thing.
Where we cannot trust
that we need favor to win,
we have the victory in God.
And whatever we go through,
it's not about winning or losing,
it's about the presence that we care.
Remember the Psalms that would say,
even though we'll walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I'm not sure if you get the picture,
but it doesn't look like victory, right?
If, if, I mean,
I've just been to Greece.
I'm not sure if you've been to Greece.
We have a Greek man in here.
I can tell you.
I mean, I've been,
we've been to 16 islands so far.
We don't go anywhere else.
It feels great, right?
And in a way,
we can think that that's heaven.
I mean, just,
in some of the sceneries,
you can say,
wow, God is probably replicating heaven in here.
And that's the victorious life
that some preach.
But how many of you know
that sometimes we're going to go through
the valley of shadow of death?
That's life on earth, isn't it?
But it's not about that.
It's not about turning life around
so he becomes Greece.
It's about who is with you,
who is with me.
And that's what changes it.
We cannot glorify God
without fully trusting in him
to the exclusion of everything
and everyone else.
So a question that I ask myself,
is there something of someone
you've been relying on more than God?
Is it your ability, Lewis?
Probably not.
Certainly not.
Your network, your knowledge.
It might be that you don't think
you trust on these things,
but the fact that these things,
the lack of these things,
affect your life
to the point you're hopeless
means you're actually
putting your trust on these things.
I might finish myself in 20 minutes.
And this is the real question
I ask myself in this point,
was what would it look like
for me to lay down
everything that you put your trust in loose
and choose to trust God instead?
As I mentioned,
I had a rough week.
One is self-imposed pressure to perform.
Self-imposed pressure,
that's to do with sin in my life
and in my flesh.
Because I grew up in a broken home.
So my dad was absent.
This inevitably affected me
to the point where
I started to think
I needed to please people
so they wouldn't leave.
And I can see worth in my life
because after all,
my dad laughed.
There must be a reason,
something I've done wrong.
And that framed
how I saw God,
especially when people would tell me
God is like a father
to you.
Oh,
I guess when
it's about time,
he's going to leave
because I am so ugly.
My life,
there's nothing that I can offer.
And that is true.
Some of that is true, isn't it?
It's like there's nothing
we can offer.
Sometimes,
I think about this thing
that we actually need
is God's presence
and his peace.
Because Jesus warned us,
life in this world
will be hard.
When I read that verse
that talks about
the peace of God,
for example,
that the peace of God
will go beyond
your understanding,
the way I really learned it
in my heart
from experience with God
is this.
When you find God,
you realize
that he's been looking
for you.
And once he finds you
and you surrender,
you'll be overwhelmed
by a peace
that will mean
that you don't anymore
need answers
to the very many traumas
you had in your life
and the questions
that you carry.
Because the superseding glory
of knowing God
is so much greater.
So finally,
verse 9 is going to talk
about the final confidence
and it says,
O Lord,
save the king.
May he answer us
when we call.
So the psalm is really
ending where he began.
Began with the prayers,
isn't it?
But remember,
this is a prayer
laced with confidence.
And for us Christians today,
we know that the king
has already been saved
from death
and now reigns.
So that's why
we don't pray
for victory.
We pray from his victory.
victory.
There's a way for us
to think about
another story
as you remember Peter
because I'm going to share
with you that there's probably
two possible translations
for this passage.
But we're going to get there
and if you think about Peter,
he's stepping out of the boat,
faith in Jesus.
He's rocking it.
He's the super Christian.
He's going towards Jesus.
How many times
do you feel like that, right?
It feels like
everything is working out
and eventually
he starts drowning.
Well, I can relate
to that more
than what you would think.
And what does he do?
Does he start swimming?
Does he start,
well,
the Bible is going to teach us
that he cries out to God.
And what does Jesus do?
Punishes him?
Oh, look at you.
Bad swimmer.
You should know by now
how to swim.
No, Jesus comes
to the rescue.
God is pleased
to rescue us.
So it would be
a good thing
to sing this new song
to God
where our lives
change to the point
that where we know
that whatever happens
we can always call
on the Lord.
Isn't it?
That would be amazing.
That's the Christian life.
There's never a promise
that everything
would be perfect
but rather that
he would be with us,
he would help us.
And how do I know that?
It's because of his name.
His name is his covenant
with us.
Anyway,
my closing points
are this.
There's two things
that I think
this passage is teaching us
that must shape our prayers
and one thing
that we need to pray for.
The first one is this.
Pray in his name.
It says in verse 1,
In the name of God,
of Jacob,
we'll protect you.
We'll set up banners
in the name of our God.
It's really important
for us to understand Jesus.
Jesus came and told us
because we were not
praying things in his name
so therefore pray in my name.
Like I said,
God's names tell us
about who he is.
Tells us what he wants to do.
Reveals his heart
and his will.
Many people think
that God's will
is really mysterious.
Therefore,
they're living through life,
coasting.
Whatever happens,
oh,
good thing happened,
God.
Bad thing happened,
oh,
this is the enemy
or this,
that's not how it works.
We can see
and know the will of God
revealed in Jesus.
There's nothing
we're going to know more
that we need to know more
for salvation,
for us to be saved.
Everything has been told.
God is not hiding
anything from you.
Everything is in the Bible.
His word,
his will has been fully expressed.
There's certainly things,
answers we're going to have
in heaven.
Whoa,
where are the dinosaurs?
Why did they exist?
I don't even know
if we're going to have those answers
but that's not the point.
We're praying in his name
because his will,
this is what they did,
isn't it?
They were going,
not in their own strength,
in the name of God.
In the name of God,
for example,
how we ought to shape our prayers.
God,
one of the names of God
is Jehovah Rapha,
for example,
which means
the God who heals.
Guess what Jesus did?
How many of you know
that Jesus only did
the will of the Father?
A few people.
Great.
You know, right?
Jesus talking about himself
quoting a prophecy
over him.
Jesus went about
doing good,
healing all.
Why did he heal?
Because that's the will
of the Father.
Whether things are going to be
completely healed now
or in heaven,
they are going to be fulfilled
in heaven when we get there
because the Bible says
that day,
he will wipe every tear
from our eyes.
There will be no more pain
or suffering,
no more death.
So that's the idea.
We ought to pray in his name
but there's a way
we can religiously pray
and say in Jesus' name.
That's not what's saying.
Second point is
pray from his victory.
That's really striking
in there.
And they say this,
now I know
the Lord gives victory
to his anointed.
There's a way for us
to think that he is,
David is prophetically
speaking about Jesus
who was to come,
the final,
the king of kings
in the final victory
on offer
for us to enjoy.
But again,
the reality is
Christians shouldn't pray
hoping for victory.
we pray
from resurrection ground
because
we know
that the victory
is ours
because that's the thing.
David would go out
as a king
win his battles
and when he would come back
he would go back
to his palace,
right?
In a way,
yes,
people's lives
were spared,
they joined in the victory
but they would go back
to their lives.
But the king of kings
is different.
he came
and I say this
and this was researching
something else
but anyway,
just think about
what a Christian life
it really is.
This is not about
winning those battles
only because
Jesus did it differently.
The world will tell us
that winning life
is about this
is the strongest
and the fittest
and the wisest
will prevail
but the gospel
really is
that the strongest
lays down his life
so that the weakest
can live
but that's not all.
Jesus gave
the crown that was his
the crown of righteousness.
He clothed us
with the crown of righteousness.
So he came back
and shared the spoil
of his victory
with us
and not only that
he went to heaven
to prepare for us
a place.
So basically
in other words
we would live with him.
They couldn't live
with David
back in the day.
The final thing
the final point
pray for his return.
The Lord saves the king
he will answer us
when we call.
There's two interpretations
for this verse here
two possible interpretations
for this verse
but it's definitely a cry
not a desperate one
it's a confident one
because the king
who's saved
is coming again
he will answer
when his people call.
Maybe you are here
and you're not a Christian.
This is a verse for you.
If you call on the name
of the Lord
he's faithful
willing
ready to save you.
But the more accurate
translation of this passage
if you look at the Hebrew
don't
I'm not trying to be fancy here
I don't know Hebrew
and Seth
and the theologians
in the room
Seth, Steve
they shake
when someone says
in the Hebrew
but actually
I just read in my Bible
there's the interlinear
translation in there
only says the word
he answer call.
It's a rude way
of saying something
isn't it?
But
the word call in there
is be summoned
that's what it means
and it seems as though
it perfectly
is another possibility
for the translation
of this verse
whatever it is
we can call on the name
of the Lord
for him to come back
right?
We are praying
for his return
or
this is what I think
the verse is saying
1 Thessalonians
4 16 and 18
for the Lord himself
will come down from heaven
this is the second coming
of Christ
with a loud command
with the voice
of the archangel
and with the trumpet
call of God
whether he's coming back
because God
is sounding the trumpet
or because we're calling out
whatever this is
it seems that
we need to keep
on calling
the Lord
the word says
Maranatha
come Lord Jesus
okay
I'm done with the message
how this relates to us
well in many ways
you're probably here
you heard the message
and you feel like
well I trust God
great message
or not so great message
but I trust God
but I want to offer
you
a possibility
that if you fit into
any of these scenarios
here I'm going to describe
it's possible
that you're trusting God
plus something else
which amounts
not trusting God
altogether
so maybe you've lost
a loved one
and that's painful
and it's hard
and because of that
you've allowed bitterness
towards God
to quietly move in
where hope used to live
maybe it's
your marriage
that is cold
or completely broken
and the hurt
actually consumes
your thoughts
to the point
God is not
a priority anymore
perhaps you're facing
a diagnosis
and you're in chronic pain
and joy has slipped
through your fingers
or maybe
it's quieter than that
you carry a dull
disappointment in life
a sense
that things have not
just turned out
the way you hoped
and now God seems
far away
well
I said
probably
far too many times
in this message
Jesus warned us
life in this world
would be difficult
hard
ugly
and often unfair
issue is
it doesn't seem to be
getting any easier
does it
but I want to
encourage you with this
from reading the text
and learning more
about who God is
I want to tell you
this
there is nothing
you and I can go
through
we'll ever go through
that Jesus doesn't
understand
I'm encouraged to think
that he not only
is willing to help us
but he feels
our pain
so the question
I leave you with
would you
call out to him
in faith today
would you sing to him
a new song of praise
before you have
the answer to the
problems
that are consuming
your life
it's not the song
we're going to sing
at the end
but it would line up
really well
Psalm 43
this is what the Lord
is promising to do
to us
to put a new song
in our mouth
a hymn of praise
to our God
so that many
will see and fear
the Lord
and put their trust
in him
finally
up until here
talking to mainly
Christians
if you're not
Christian
you are in the room
I have two sets
of news for you
the bad news
is this
if you haven't
yet put your
trust in him
you have to fight
the battle
of life
by yourself
and for yourself
let me tell you
this
you're not going
to win
the good news
is this
he loves you
and is inviting
you to his
salvation
the king of kings
conquered death
so you wouldn't
have to fight
yourself
if that's you
you can come
and talk to us
at the end
we'd love to
walk with you
through the bible
to tell you
more
about the
grace of God
manifest in the
life of Jesus
who died on the
cross for us
to save us
he's coming
soon
and we're going
to be with him
if that's not
victory
I don't know
what is
let me pray
for us
father I want
to thank you
for your love
and grace
father thank you
for Jesus
sacrifice
which meant
we can now
come boldly
to your presence
to your very
throne
and find
grace and
mercy
father help us
to know
you more
so that trust
will come
from a place
of intimacy
help us
to move
from self
reliance
to God
dependence
so we can
be of use
until the day
Jesus comes
to rescue us
from this
ugly
world
that we live
in right now
this is what
I pray in
Jesus name
Amen