WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.960 Psalm 143, a Psalm of David. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.320 My spirit faints within me. My heart within me is appalled. 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:38.679 I remember the days of old. I meditate on all that you have done. 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:41.200 I ponder the work of your hands. 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:44.380 I stretch out my hands to you. 00:00:45.100 --> 00:00:48.179 My soul thirsts for you like a parched land. 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:53.480 Answer me quickly, O Lord. My spirit fails. 00:00:54.179 --> 00:00:57.760 Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:02.359 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:07.319 Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:12.939 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord. I have fled to you for refuge. 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:17.039 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:20.519 Let your good spirit lead me on level ground. 00:01:21.539 --> 00:01:24.180 For your namesake, O Lord, preserve my life. 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:28.680 In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:32.700 And in your steadfast love, you will cut off my enemies. 00:01:33.160 --> 00:01:38.580 And you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant. 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:41.420 This is God's holy and authoritative word. 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:51.760 I don't know if you're like me, you've probably had experiences where you encounter difficulties and hardships, disappointments. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:55.480 And then you wonder whether it's God punishing you. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.000 It's because of something you've done wrong. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.140 Something, the repercussion of your own failings. 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:10.159 If you're in that place, Psalm 143 is a wonderful example of how we should respond in a situation like that. 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:20.420 Because we see here David, who is unrighteous, flinging himself upon the Lord's mercy on the basis of his righteousness. 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:25.819 And so this psalm is divided into two parts, marked by the break, Selah at the end of verse 6. 00:02:25.939 --> 00:02:28.620 And both sections are a prayer for God's deliverance. 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:33.280 So we see the dire circumstances that he's in, verses 3 to 4. 00:02:33.980 --> 00:02:34.140 He says, 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:36.400 For the enemy has pursued my soul. 00:02:36.920 --> 00:02:39.020 He has crushed my life to the ground. 00:02:39.539 --> 00:02:42.340 He has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:44.759 Therefore my spirit faints within me. 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:46.379 My heart within me is appalled. 00:02:47.480 --> 00:02:50.319 So he mentions his enemies three times. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.080 Two more times he mentions his enemies in verse 9, verse 12. 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:54.240 So he's under attack. 00:02:54.780 --> 00:02:57.500 His life, his very life seems to be in jeopardy. 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:00.919 And you can think about it figuratively or literally for yourself. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:08.960 And we can see that kind of threatening that mortal danger he is in, in the repetition of the word soul. 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:11.280 Which is the same word that means life. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:12.740 Verse 3, he says, 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:14.560 For the enemy has pursued my soul. 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:21.099 Verse 6, he compares his soul to a parched land that's basically dried, about to, there's no life left in it. 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:23.879 Verse 8, he speaks of entrusting his soul to God. 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:26.420 Verse 11, he asks God to bring his soul out of trouble. 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:31.219 And in verse 12, he expresses his face that God will destroy all the adversaries of his soul. 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:35.439 And the word life is also repeated twice in verse 3 and verse 11. 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:38.819 He says, he has been sitting in darkness like those long dead. 00:03:39.779 --> 00:03:43.539 And then he says, if God doesn't answer soon, he feels he will go down to the pit. 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:47.899 So both being like long dead, going down to the pit are metaphors for death. 00:03:47.959 --> 00:03:49.560 So he feels very close to death. 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.539 Maybe you can relate to it. 00:03:52.979 --> 00:04:01.039 This, if you've had dark moments in your life, whether it's just mental health or, or real danger, wherever you are. 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.400 Have you felt the grip of death closing in on you? 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:06.240 Just the long darkness. 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:09.640 Or have you felt like your soul was being crushed to the ground? 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:14.219 Somebody's grabbing you and continuing to crush you down against the ground. 00:04:15.119 --> 00:04:18.039 Do you know what it feels like to have your spirit fainting? 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:19.599 Feeling like it's failing you. 00:04:19.699 --> 00:04:20.139 It's weak. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:22.219 It's despondent. 00:04:23.599 --> 00:04:25.500 And then, and that's what David says in verse 7. 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:26.779 My spirit fails. 00:04:26.979 --> 00:04:28.899 Literally, that means my spirit comes to an end. 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:34.859 And so have you felt like that, you know, being pummeled in your life, being crushed? 00:04:35.799 --> 00:04:37.539 And that's not even the worst of it. 00:04:38.019 --> 00:04:45.779 Because as David is going through this terrible suffering, what's worse is that he feels like he may have brought this upon himself. 00:04:46.799 --> 00:04:50.439 In his heart of hearts, he feels that he deserves this. 00:04:52.099 --> 00:04:55.219 But nonetheless, he cries out to God in verses 1 to 2. 00:04:55.219 --> 00:04:57.079 Hear my prayer, O Lord. 00:04:57.079 --> 00:04:59.300 Give ear to my pleas for mercy. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.000 In your faithfulness answer me. 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:05.939 In your righteousness enter not into judgment with your servant. 00:05:06.579 --> 00:05:09.279 For no one living is righteous before you. 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:13.180 Notice that contrast between verse 1 and verse 2. 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:19.079 In verse 2, David admits that no one living is righteous before God. 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:21.439 So he is admitting he's not righteous. 00:05:22.099 --> 00:05:22.939 I've sinned. 00:05:23.419 --> 00:05:24.759 I deserve punishment. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:26.579 God's wrath is warranted. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:28.339 And yet, David prays, 00:05:28.419 --> 00:05:30.319 In your faithfulness answer me. 00:05:30.479 --> 00:05:31.959 In your righteousness. 00:05:32.579 --> 00:05:34.959 So not his own righteousness, but God's righteousness. 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:36.839 That God will do what is right. 00:05:37.219 --> 00:05:43.000 That God will be faithful and true to who he is and what he has promised. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.759 That's the basis for David's confidence. 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:48.459 And so he reiterates this in verse 11. 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:51.300 For your namesake, O Lord, preserve my life. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:53.079 Not for David's namesake. 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:55.019 For your namesake, O Lord. 00:05:55.220 --> 00:05:58.319 And then in your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:01.560 And why is it right for God to rescue David? 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:04.719 You know, why is it right for him to do that? 00:06:05.219 --> 00:06:08.000 It's because of the covenant that God has made with David. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.579 David says in verse 10, 00:06:10.699 --> 00:06:11.720 You are my God. 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:13.920 And then he says in verse 2 and verse 12, 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:15.439 I am your servant. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:20.399 Precisely because God has graciously identified himself with David. 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:23.660 Associated himself with him by calling him his servant. 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:25.180 Making a covenant with him. 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:27.180 Entering into relationship with him. 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:32.560 Now, God's name and reputation depend on David's welfare. 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:38.579 David trusts that God will deliver him because of God's righteousness. 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.759 Because of his loyal, steadfast love, which he mentions in verse 8 and verse 12. 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:47.220 So this pattern of God's fullness on the one hand and David's emptiness 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:49.220 kind of runs through this entire psalm. 00:06:49.899 --> 00:06:54.379 So you can see how in verse 6, David stretches out his hand to God in emptiness. 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:56.759 Just desperate longing. 00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:59.319 He's like a parched land that thirsts for water. 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:05.099 But as he does this, he does this because he remembers the works of God's hands in verse 5. 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:09.319 So David's hands empty and longing, stretching out for God in God's hands, 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:10.860 remembering the works of God's hands. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:16.439 And then similarly, you can see in verse 4 and verse 7, 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:16.899 David says, 00:07:17.039 --> 00:07:18.279 My spirit faints. 00:07:18.539 --> 00:07:19.839 My spirit fails. 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:22.079 But then in verse 10, he prays, 00:07:22.159 --> 00:07:25.219 God's good spirit would lead him on level ground. 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:30.380 Though his spirit fails and faints, God's spirit will lead him and sustain him. 00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:36.880 And Paul actually quotes this psalm, verse 2, which says, 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:39.040 For no one living is righteous before you. 00:07:39.100 --> 00:07:40.860 He quotes that actually in two of his letters. 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:46.439 One is the famous passage in Romans 3, 20 to 22, that you guys are all familiar with, 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:47.240 which says, 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:50.520 By works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:53.199 since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:57.220 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, 00:07:57.420 --> 00:08:00.920 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:08.600 The second instance of this verse being quoted by Paul is in Galatians 2, verses 15 and 16, 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:09.759 where it says, 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:32.059 If you want to escape the enemy of your soul, Satan, right, 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:36.539 the ancient serpent who accuses our brothers, who accuses us night and day before God, 00:08:37.239 --> 00:08:40.779 your righteousness will never be an adequate ground for your acquittal. 00:08:41.219 --> 00:08:44.000 It will never be sufficient grounds for your deliverance. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:48.459 Instead, the enemy of your soul will crush you repeatedly to the ground, 00:08:48.619 --> 00:08:52.639 and your spirit will faint and fail, and you'll be counted among the perishing. 00:08:53.359 --> 00:08:57.879 So to try to stand on our own righteousness before God is to try to stand on sinking sand. 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:03.279 But if you ask God to answer you in his faithfulness, from his righteousness, 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:09.320 and if you depend on the righteousness of God counted as yours through faith in Jesus Christ, 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:12.179 his life, death, and resurrection on your behalf, 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:16.620 then your salvation and deliverance will come. 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:21.639 Then Christ will be your solid rock, a firm foundation among which you can stand before God. 00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:32.559 And I think there's probably someone here that's wrestling in their conscience with these kinds of issues, 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:39.679 not in a technical or theological way, but more in a life way probably wrestling with this. 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:41.539 The reason why I think that is because 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:46.279 I was reading Galatians this week, 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:52.339 and I actually preached on Galatians 2 at one of the dawn prayer meetings, 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:55.339 and then I didn't know this was our psalm for this week, 00:09:55.459 --> 00:09:57.740 and then it came again, and then Galatians 2 came out again. 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:00.679 I think there's somebody that needs to hear this, 00:10:01.819 --> 00:10:09.279 and that's whoever's wrestling with just in your conscience feeling like you can't stand before God, 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.100 feeling like your conscience is not purified before God, 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:16.379 that you need to count all of it in Christ Jesus, 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:18.679 that he's the only one that can be your confidence, 00:10:18.959 --> 00:10:23.399 and then that could be your sure footing for you to approach him. 00:10:24.019 --> 00:10:26.939 And so I hope that speaks to you. 00:10:27.939 --> 00:10:31.360 If you think that was intended for you, 00:10:31.699 --> 00:10:33.120 I mean it's intended for all of us, 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:36.220 but if it's specifically something that you've been wrestling with, 00:10:36.220 --> 00:10:38.899 let us know so we can pray for you at some point during the night. 00:10:39.160 --> 00:10:39.960 I think that'd be good. 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:40.019 Thank you.