Psalm 28.
Of David.
To you, Lord, I call.
You are my rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me,
for if you remain silent,
I shall be like those who go down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
towards your most holy place.
Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbours
but harbour malice in their hearts.
We pay them for their deeds
and for their evil work.
We pay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.
Because they have no regard
for the deeds of the Lord
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.
Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts in him and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy
and with my song I praise him.
The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance.
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Amen.
Ray, over to you.
Hi everyone.
Let's praise.
We ask God to help us to understand
and hear his word together tonight.
Father, thank you for the opportunity we have
of hearing from your word.
We thank you for that psalm of David.
Speak to us, Lord.
Make my words clear.
Make all of our thoughts clear.
And will you please do your work in us this evening.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So this psalm is a prayer or song of David.
And as it was read through,
you've probably picked up there
that he is pouring out his heart to God,
his needy heart.
He's expressing to God where he's at
at that particular moment.
So that's our starting point tonight.
Where are you tonight in your experience with God?
Does God, as it seems at the start of the psalm here,
does God seem distant to you?
Do you find it hard to pray?
Perhaps the joy that you think you should have
as a Christian, you just don't feel that.
Or maybe you had it once, but it's kind of evaporated.
Is that your position tonight?
Or are you more like the end of the psalm?
You're assured that God is walking with you.
You're happy in that.
You're rejoicing in his strength.
And you're giving thanks with a joyful heart.
Where are you tonight?
That's where we're starting.
But I want us all to realize
that both of those experiences
can be true of the Christian tonight.
And in fact, it was David's experience
both of those experiences
just in this one psalm.
So we're going to delve into that
and see if we can explore that a bit more.
We first of all see David's despair
in verses one to two.
David here is expressing,
above everything,
he's expressing his need of God.
Let me read those verses to you.
To you, Lord, I call.
You are my rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me,
for if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
towards your most holy place.
So David here is desperate.
You can get from the tone of this
that he's calling out to God
from his desperation.
He is pleading with the Lord
to hear him.
Verse one, he says,
to you, Lord, I call.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
Verse two,
hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you to help.
Help me as I lift up my hands
to your dwelling place.
What's at stake here for David?
David.
He's saying,
if you remain silent,
I should be like those
who go down to the pit.
In other words,
it's as if I was dead,
as if I'm a goner.
No hope
if you remain silent.
So he needs to hear God
answering his prayer
and he's praying
from a point of weakness.
He's praying,
feeling his great need.
If that happens to be
where you are tonight,
then you are in a good place.
I say that because
when we feel our weakness,
we are then open to God
and what he has for us.
And he is able to deal with us.
If we're coming in strength,
then, you know,
it can be from a point of pride,
can't it?
Praying from a point of weakness
is a good place to start
because we then throw ourselves
on God's mercy.
And as we see later on
in this psalm,
God becomes our strength.
So he's pleading with God
to hear him.
But as we read on,
verses three to five,
we see that he's particularly
troubled by the behavior
of the wicked.
So he has his issues
with whether God is hearing him,
but particularly,
his troubles revolving around
the attitude
and the presence
of the wicked.
Verse three to five.
Let me read that for you.
Do not drag me away
with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially
with their neighbors,
but harbor malice
in their hearts.
Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work.
Repay them for what
their hands have done
and bring back on them
what they deserve.
Because they have no regard
for the deeds of the Lord
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.
So this is what David is saying.
Follow with me.
Verse three.
They're hypocrites.
They're speaking cordially
with their neighbor,
but in their hearts
is malice,
pretending to be friends,
but actually getting evil.
Verse five.
They've got no regard
for the Lord.
And if you look at
what verse five says there,
it's no regard for evil
for what the Lord does
or no regard
for what the Lord has made.
Perhaps for David,
perhaps people around David.
No regard for what
the Lord has made.
He's so concerned here
for the honor of the Lord
that this is grieving him.
This is getting to his heart.
This is causing him anguish.
So he asked God
to give them what they deserve.
So he puts it like this,
according to the work
of their hands.
David here stresses
that he doesn't want
to be counted with them.
He wants to be held separate
from the wicked
and from the judgment
that they deserve.
So he asks in verse three,
do not drag me away
with the wicked.
It's not so much
the fear of death,
but it's more the disgrace
that being dragged away
with the wicked would be.
He wants to walk with God.
He wants to be separate
from the wicked people.
He doesn't want to suffer
the same fate as them.
So the mood again
starts to change slightly
in verse five.
There seems to be
some kind of resolution coming.
He realizes that really
he doesn't have to worry
about the wicked.
So he asks God,
he knows that God
will bring them to judgment.
He doesn't seek revenge.
He knows he can just
leave that with God.
God's justice
is assured in this case.
This new perspective
is the turning point
of the psalm.
And from now on,
we see a different language.
From verse six onwards,
it changes quite radically.
So we can learn
from David here
that it is actually right
to be troubled
by wickedness around us.
That's not a bad thing.
To actually be sad
when we see some of these things
on the news
and it should cause us
to pray
for the wars
that are going on
and the various troubles.
For the persecuted church
or injustice
that we see around us.
Or perhaps it's been
committed to us,
being poured on us,
injustice to us.
We don't have to worry
about those things.
The God of justice
will do things
as he should.
He will bring judgment
at the right time.
And it is for us
to trust him
and to leave it
in his hands.
And now we see
verse six,
David starts to
address this trust.
He starts to speak
of this trust he has.
Verses six and seven.
Praise be to the Lord
for he has heard
my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength
and my shield.
My heart trusts in him
and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy.
And with my song
I praise him.
So verse seven,
this language
and the tone
completely changes.
The Lord is my strength
and shield.
from a desperate
calling for help
in verses one and two.
He has assurance
and a heartfelt praise
to God.
How does he get there?
We've seen in verse five
that he leaves
the wicked to God.
He's not going to stress
about that.
He trusts God
to do what is right.
But now he also
has assurance
in verse six
that God has in fact
heard his cry
for mercy.
What's changed?
Certainly
probably,
yes,
certainly not his circumstances.
But his trust in God
has changed
because now he knows
for sure
that God has heard.
And this is an
exercise of faith.
It's not suddenly
that something else
has happened.
But he
casts his faith
completely
on the Lord
and he aligns
his heart
with the Lord.
What do I mean
by that?
Verse seven,
read this,
heart comes up
twice there.
My heart trusts
in him.
My heart leaps
for joy.
So he's still
got a heart cry
but this time
it's no longer
a desperate try
but one of trust.
In verse two
he's asking
hear my cry
for mercy.
Now in verse six,
he has heard
my cry
for mercy.
What was a prayer
to the Lord
in verse two
is now
a declaration
of faith
that God
has heard him
and his response
is to sing out.
His heart
sings out.
So he hasn't
seen a resolution
to his problems
but what he does
see now
is the Lord
is his strength
and shield.
The Lord
is his helper.
the Lord
is the source
of his joyful
praise.
He trusts
that the Lord
has heard his
prayer not
because he now
of what he
feels
but because
of who God
is.
It's a bit
like what we
were hearing
this morning
actually
that
our mind
is what
drives the
change in us.
When our mind
is fixed on
the Lord
then our
hearts
change.
The final
two
verses here
are a
conclusion
to the
prayer
conclusion
to David's
prayer
and they're
a prayer
for God's
people.
We see
that God
has answered
David's
prayer
had shown
that David
strengthened
shield
and we
see here
that he
does
something
for him.
David
here is
called
God's
anointed.
And what
God does
for his
anointed
so he
does for
his people.
The blessing
and this is
important to
grasp
the blessing
for God's
people
flows through
the anointed
king.
Now you've
probably from
other psalms
we've looked
at already
seen where
we're going
with that
that Jesus
is our
anointed
king
our blessings
flow through
him and
David is
just a
reflection
he's
looking
forward
to that.
So verses
8 and
9
blessing
through
the
king
the
Lord
is
the
strength
of
his
people
a
fortress
of
salvation
for
his
anointed
one
save
your
people
and
bless
your
inheritance
be
their
shepherd
and
carry
them
forever
!
The Lord
is David's
strength
in verse
7
so in
verse 8
we're
told
he's
also
the
strength
of his
people
the Lord
is a
fortress
of salvation
for his
anointed
one
verse 8
so David
then
prays
to God
save
your
people
David's
experience
is the
people's
experience
the blessing
for the
people
flows
through
the
king
we know
from the
Psalms
that
the
anointed
king
David
is a
picture
of God's
anointed
king
Jesus
and what
David
experience
foreshadows
Jesus'
experience
so I
want to
just finish
tonight
by looking
at how
Jesus
is the
fulfilment
of this
psalm
we know
don't we
that Jesus
would have
been familiar
with this
psalm
he was
familiar
with all
of the
psalms
he heard
them
every week
when he
went to
he went
to the
temple
and he
heard
that
heard
psalms
read
he sang
them
he no
doubt
memorised
them
and he
probably
memorised
this very
one
it puts
a different
flavour on
it doesn't
it when
we see
that actually
this is
what the
Lord
was singing
himself
but we
can imagine
that as
he faced
death
the words
of this
psalm
became
starker
to him
in their
reality
we see
there in
verses
one and
two
that God
is silent
or David
feels that
God is
silent to
him
this was
Jesus'
experience
of course
on the
cross
the
father
was
silent
Hebrews
5
7
tells us
that
during
the
days
of
Jesus'
life
on
earth
he
offered
up
prayers
and
petitions
with
fervent
cries
and tears
to the
one
who
could
save
him
from
death
and
he
was
heard
because
of
his
reverent
submission
so
God
always
heard
Jesus'
prayers
but
in
these
three
dark
hours
on
the
cross
God
did
not
answer
my
God
my
God
why
have
you
forsaken
me
as
Jesus
repeats
Psalm
22
verse
1
to
God
the
response
silence
he
was
dragged
away
with
the
sinners
verse
3
speaks
of
David
though
a
sinner
himself
he
pleaded
not
to
be
dragged
away
with
the
wicked
not
to
share
their
fate
and
his
David's
plea
in
verse
4
was
that
they
will
be
repaid
for
the
evil
deeds
that
they
have
done
but
Jesus
was
repaid
for
the
evil
deeds
that
we
have
done
though
pure
and
innocent
the
king
of
heaven
gave
himself
to
suffer
death
and
hell
for
you
and
I
he
was
dragged
away
with
the
wicked
to
share
the
fate
that
should
have
been
theirs
justice
at
the
cross
too
was
satisfied
David
called
out
for
justice
and
here
we
see
as
David
trusted
the
God
who
does
justice
and
is
just
we
see
the
justice
of
God
satisfied
on
the
cross
who
!
who
!
He's now interceding.
Because of his death, he prays for us,
as David prayed there in verse 9,
who prayed for God's people to be saved and to be shepherded
and to be carried forever.
Now that is Jesus' prayer for us.
So just to conclude,
the blessings that belong to Christ
because of his death for us are now ours.
We know that because of Jesus,
we needn't doubt as David did.
God answers our prayers because of Jesus.
Because of Jesus, God's justice is satisfied completely.
Because of Jesus, the Lord Almighty is our strength and shield.
And because of Jesus, our hearts can leap for joy
as we consider who he is and what he's done for us.
And may God help us to feel some of that joy as we reflect on him.
Can I just pray and then hand back to Steve?
Father, we want to thank you so much for this psalm.
We want to thank you particularly for how it shows us our Lord Jesus.
And how he satisfied your will, your justice so completely.
He was prepared to be dragged away with the sinners for us.
Thank you that all we have is because of him.
And we pray that, Lord, we will live joyfully in response to his death for us.
In his name.
Amen.
If you'd grab your Bible again, turn with me to Isaiah 52, page 741.
741.
I'm going to read this to us as we come to share the Lord's Supper together.
That race shown us, hasn't he, just how brilliant it is what the Lord Jesus has done for us.
That he went through the rejection of Psalm 28 so that we could rejoice in him and not be likewise rejected.
And that's the theme that Isaiah 52 and 53 pick up really famously.
And as we prepare our hearts to come to share the Lord's Supper together, perhaps you can reflect on these words as we read them.
Thank the Lord that he has done this for you.
Pray that the Lord would draw near to you as we share bread and wine.
And as I finish reading that, we're going to have just a time of open prayer where anyone may pray and thank the Lord for what he's done for us.
Let's thank the Lord for this bread and wine before we share it together.
But let me pick it up.
Verse 13 of Isaiah 52.
See, my servant will act wisely.
He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.
So he will sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance so that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering.
Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed.
We all like sheep have gone astray.
Each of us has turned to our own way.
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted.
Yet he did not open his mouth.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet he of his generation protested.
He was cut off from the land of the living.
For the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death.
Though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.
Though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days.
And the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many.
He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great.
He will divide the spoils with the strong.
Because he poured out his life unto death.
And was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many.
And made intercession for the transgressors.
Amen.