Come, my children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.
Turn from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them.
He delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
He protects all his bones.
Not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked.
The foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord will rescue his servants.
No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
One of the first things as I was looking at this psalm
that just really stood out to me
is that in this entire thing,
David doesn't ask God for anything.
There's not a single request here.
And as I got looking at it,
I realized that this is a very different psalm
than the ones that we've looked at so far.
The ones we've looked at have been very personal.
David has addressed them directly to God.
In this one, David's not talking to God.
He's talking very much about God,
but he's talking to people.
It's not a prayer.
It's a poem or a song.
It's actually an acrostic.
It's got the different letters of the Hebrew alphabet
start each line.
But surprising to me.
I mean, with all that David has been through,
and he doesn't ask God for a single thing
in all of this prayer,
in all of this thing that he writes, this psalm.
So what does he say?
The first thing that he begins with
is an expression of his desire to worship the Lord.
He says, I will extol the Lord,
which means to elevate,
to lift him up.
I will extol the Lord at all times.
His praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord.
David is ready to worship.
And you get the sense that this is not just a one-moment thing.
He says, I will extol the Lord at all times.
His praise will always be on my lips.
You are worthy of my worship and honor and glory,
not just today, but at all times and always.
And at this point, David kind of turns and says,
I don't want to just worship the Lord by myself.
I want you to join with me and worship him with me.
He says in verse 3, glorify the Lord with me.
Let us exalt his name together.
Let's give him honor.
Let's give him glory.
Let's give him praise.
Let's do it together.
And his invitation is not just to those who are,
for whom everything is going well
and who are really feeling it.
At the end of verse 2, he says,
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Are you feeling afflicted?
Do you have some afflictions in your life right now?
David wants you to hear what he is about to say about the Lord
and to come to the place where you too are ready to join in
and praise and celebrate and rejoice.
Which kind of brings us to the question,
well, what's got David so eager to worship?
Why is he just ready to give it
and to get as many other people as he can to praise the Lord?
Well, it's very personal for David.
In verse 4, this is what he says.
He says, I sought the Lord and he answered me.
Verse 6, this poor man called and the Lord heard him.
Do you hear how David describes himself?
This poor man.
There I was sitting in a cell of the Philistines with nothing.
Everything that I once had back home in Israel, gone.
I had nothing, nothing but fear of what they're going to do to me.
And I sought the Lord.
I called out to him.
In verse 4, he answered me.
Verse 6, he heard me.
And what did the Lord do?
David says, he delivered me.
Verse 4, from all my fears.
Verse 6, he saved this poor man out of all his troubles.
What really strikes me is that word all.
Not just some of my fears.
Not just some of my troubles.
All of them.
Everything that I was afraid of, I'm not afraid of anymore.
The Lord has dealt with that.
Everything that was a problem for me that I was worried about,
I'm not worried about anymore.
And this is amazing because we know that David's troubles are not over.
I mean, now he's escaped from the Philistines
and he's headed back to his home country as a wanted fugitive.
And yet the Lord has done something amazing for him.
And that's why he's ready to worship and praise.
He's got him out of the situation he was in.
His very obvious, tangible, physical troubles.
His enemies right there.
Him in a prison cell.
But he's also done a work in here.
And dealt with his fears.
His perspective has changed.
As I go back home, I'm not worried.
I'm not afraid.
Not in this moment anyway, because the Lord is with me.
If he can get me out of here, he can get me out of the next thing.
He can deal with my problems.
He can deal with my troubles.
We know from the story that David actually did something to get out of this.
He pretended to be mad.
And I would have loved to have been there just to see that.
Especially knowing that it was all something that he was putting on.
But David doesn't take any credit for it whatsoever.
He refers to himself as a poor man with nothing.
Who got him out of there?
The Lord.
He delivered me.
If it weren't for him, Abimelech never would have bought it.
He gives God all the credit and all the glory.
This is a wonderful story for David.
David.
But David wants us to know that this is not just something that God does for him.
Because David was God's favorite.
David wants us, as we've just seen, to join with him and worship with him.
He wants us to think about the troubles that we have in our lives and what God can do about those things for us.
So that we might experience his deliverance too and come to the place where we're ready to join with him.
And worship.
And praise.
And so David, at this point, kind of takes up the role of a teacher in this psalm.
The rest of this psalm, you could almost call it a wisdom psalm.
He's going to share with us some of the things that he's learned.
And many of these things are rooted in his own experience that he has been through.
But we also know that these are, don't just come from David.
These are words that come from God himself.
This is God's wisdom, which comes by his spirit through David to us.
And so what does David have to say?
Well, all of it has to do with how things are between the Lord and his people.
Let's look at verse 18 first.
David says,
The Lord, Yahweh, is close to the brokenhearted.
He saves those who are crushed in spirit.
David knows what it's like to feel brokenhearted.
As we just talked about, he's had everything ripped out of his life, torn away from him.
All the people he loves.
His wife.
His family.
His best friend.
And what has David discovered in his brokenheartedness?
That the Lord is with him.
And not just with him, but close.
Do you have some brokenheartedness in your heart this morning?
Do you know that the Lord is close?
If you do.
David says he saves those who are crushed in spirit.
You can just picture David sitting in that Philistine cell with nothing.
Wondering what they're going to do to him.
Just feeling crushed in spirit.
And yet the Lord saw how he felt.
And what was David's experience?
He saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Not just David, but all of his people who are in these places.
In verse 15, David says,
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.
And when we hear that word, the righteous,
there might be a tendency to think,
well, does that include me?
Have I lived good enough to be considered the righteous
and get that blessing or that promise?
I'm not going to go too deep into this,
but we all know that there's those verses that say,
no one is righteous, not even one.
But the way that the righteous is being used here
and often is used in the Psalms and Proverbs
is not to refer to people who are sinless or perfect,
because of course nobody is.
Nobody except Christ.
It's used generally to refer to the Lord's people.
To those who consider Yahweh, the Lord, Jesus,
to be their God.
To those who trust in him.
To those who look to him for help.
To those who generally obey his commands
and live rightly.
And when they don't and when they mess up
and they blow it like Psalm 103 talks about,
they trust him for his compassion
and mercy and forgiveness.
Those are the righteous.
And if there's any doubt whether or not
we make the cut or we're in,
all we need to do is look to Jesus.
Because if there's anybody that was righteous,
it's him.
He lived perfect.
He lived a sinless life.
He's the son of God.
And he and the apostles make clear for us
that those of us who receive his gift,
we are in him.
We become in Christ.
And so the good things that are for the righteous,
we get through Christ because we are in him.
Paul actually says this in his letter to the Corinthians.
He says all the promises that are made
are yes in Christ for us.
And so these statements about the righteous,
they're for us.
Those of us who belong to Jesus,
who are in him.
David is talking about how it is
between the Lord and his people.
He says the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry.
Verse 17,
the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them.
He delivers them from all their troubles.
I love these words.
Isn't it a comfort to know
that the Lord's eyes are on his people?
He is watching over you.
He notices the things that are happening in your life.
He is looking out for you.
His ears are attentive to their cry.
I love that phrase.
I couldn't help but think of
those moments where I'm over at somebody's house
and I'm visiting with them
and my kids are playing with all the kids
in the other room
and there's lots of noise in both rooms
and all of a sudden in that moment
I hear somebody cry out
and I know exactly who it is.
It's my daughter.
And how do I know?
Because amidst all the noise
I know my daughter's cry.
I know her.
She's my daughter.
My ears are specially tuned in
to that cry.
It's not a perfect picture
but it's a helpful one I think
of how God's ears are attentive
to the cry of his people.
He knows his people.
And he's a better father than I am.
In many cases for me it's
well I hope they're alright.
We'll give it a couple minutes
and we'll see.
We'll see how long they keep going.
It doesn't sound like they died
or anything like that.
That's not what David's experience was though.
He says that the Lord's ears
are attentive to their cry.
The righteous cry out.
The Lord hears them.
He delivers them from all their troubles.
He doesn't just sit back and say
oh we'll see how they do.
You know.
He delivers them from all their troubles.
He steps in
and brings them out.
And that's really one of the things
that David wants us to understand
about the Lord
and his people.
I mean we don't have the same troubles
as David did.
We've got all kinds of different problems
and troubles in our lives.
But David is speaking in general terms
so that we will connect the dots
to our own lives.
To our own troubles.
The Lord can deal with
and help us through
those troubles too.
In fact David
he wants us to get this so much
he says it again
in verse 19.
He says
the righteous person
may have many troubles
but the Lord delivers him
from them all.
All of them.
It's an amazing statement.
This is how it is
between God and his people.
And we don't know
how long David was sitting
in that Philistine cell.
It may not be
immediately
that he delivers us from it.
And David's troubles
are far from over.
But he does
deliver his people
from all
their troubles
in his perfect time
and in his wisdom.
Up in verse 5
David says
those who look
to the Lord
are radiant.
Their faces
are never covered
with shame.
I was thinking
about that this week
like what a statement.
Those who look
to the Lord
are radiant.
Their faces
are full
of joy.
That's quite something
to say
after David
has said
that he was
a poor man
and crushed in spirit
and broken hearted.
Something to really
meditate on
in those moments
where I'm not
radiant
and joyful.
Perhaps it's because
I haven't been
looking to the Lord.
I've been looking
instead at my circumstances.
I've been looking
at the problems
in my life.
I've been looking
inward
into my own soul
and listening
to my own thoughts
and anxieties
and worries.
those who look
to the Lord
are radiant.
Verse 7
The angel
of the Lord
encamps around
those who fear him
and he
delivers them.
I love the picture
that we get
from this.
I,
just in my own
imagination picture,
you know,
here we are out
camped
with the army.
The enemy armies
are camped
all around
and we don't know
when they're going
to strike.
We don't know
where they're going
to come from
at what time
of the day
and the night.
But one thing
we can be certain
of,
David says here,
is that we are okay
because around us
the angel
of the Lord
is encamped.
They're going
to have to go
through him
first
to get to me.
So I don't need
to be afraid.
I can rest easy.
the angel
of the Lord
may be unseen,
but this is the
Lord we're talking
about.
All of this
kind of stirs
in our own minds
the question
that I think
we need to all
think about.
What are the
troubles that
you're going
through right now
in your life?
what are the
problems that
you're facing?
What are those
things that are
weighing on you?
Be they
circumstantial,
be they
relationships.
What will you
do about those
things?
What have you
been doing
about those
things?
We all have
a decision
to make
and David
is aware
of that as
well.
will we
try to
manage
these
things
on our
own?
Will we
just try
to make
a plan
and deal
with them
as best
as we
can?
Or
will we
turn to
the Lord
and do
as David
did and
call out
to him
and cry
out to
him for
his help
and ask
him to
come and
deliver us?
It's a
choice that
we all
need to
make in
each one
of the
different
troubles
and
difficulties
that we
face.
And David
kind of
comes to
this moment
in verse
eight,
which is
kind of the
centerpiece of
this whole
psalm where
he says
this.
He says,
taste and
see that
the Lord
is good.
Blessed is
the one who
takes refuge
in him.
I love
that metaphor.
Taste and
see.
There are
some things
in life
that we
can never
fully
understand or
appreciate or
enjoy until
we taste
and see.
I don't
care how
good a
poet you
are or
how good a
musician you
are, but
your words
and your
music can
never
describe what
I just
experienced
there in
all of his
fullness and
all of his
goodness.
So it is
with the
Lord.
Until we
take that
step and
entrust
ourselves to
him, our
problems to
him, call
out to
him, we'll
never know
just how
good he
is and
how well
he takes
care of
his people.
as David
has been
talking about
here.
Taste and
see that the
Lord is
good.
You need to
come and
experience this
for yourself
so that you
can join
with me in
worship and
glorify the
Lord with
me.
So do it.
Blessed is the
one who takes
refuge with
him and
trust yourself
to him and
trust your
problems to
the Lord and
see for
yourself just
how good he
is.
How wonderfully
he takes
care of our
needs, just
how aware
he is of
everything that's
going on in
our lives and
how he is
faithful to
deliver us in
every situation.
It's a
wonderful invitation.
Taste and
see.
It's a
delightful
relationship that
we can have
with God.
But it's
also a
serious reality
when we
take a step
back and
think about
it for a
moment.
This is
God, the
creator of
the universe,
holy,
righteous,
good, and
we are
human beings.
We're his
creatures and
we're sinful.
We're rebels
at that.
And so
David follows
up taste and
see that the
Lord is good
with this.
Fear the
Lord, you
his holy
people.
Take the
Lord seriously.
Don't treat
him lightly.
Treat him
with deep
reverence and
respect as
is fitting for
who he is.
He's the
Lord.
He's God.
But as
quickly as he
urges us to
do that,
he reminds
us of
the good
things that
the Lord
does for
those who
fear him.
Right away,
he says,
fear the
Lord, you
his holy
people, for
those who
fear him
lack nothing.
The lions
may grow
weak and
hungry, but
those who
seek the
Lord lack
no good
thing.
God takes
good care of
his people
such that
they lack
nothing.
That's an
interesting thing
for David to
be saying
right now
when he has
nothing and
he has just
barely escaped
from the
Philistines.
Those who
fear the
Lord lack
no good
thing.
I don't
have anything,
but I
believe it
and I
know it's
true.
This is
one of
those things
that is
easy for
us to
doubt.
Is that
really how
it is
between God
and his
people?
Those who
seek the
Lord lack
no good
thing?
That almost
sounds too
good to be
true,
doesn't it?
If we go
back to the
beginning,
we remember
that's kind
of what
Satan used
with his
conversation
with Eve.
Is the
Lord really
good?
Does he
really care
about you?
Did God
really say
that you
can't eat
out of any
of the
trees in
the garden?
What a
stingy guy.
What a
selfish guy.
He doesn't
care about
you.
Oh, just
one tree.
Just one
tree he
said that
you couldn't
eat.
Well, you
know why
he said
that, right?
Because he's
withholding
something good
from you.
He knows
that if you
eat it,
you'll become
like him.
You'll know
something good.
You'll become
something good.
God doesn't
care about
you.
He's not
good.
He's withholding
something good
from you.
David says
exactly the
opposite.
Those who
seek the
Lord lack
no good
thing.
The lions,
they may
grow weak
and hungry.
The Lord
doesn't just
take care of
his people
with slim
pickings.
You know,
just enough
for us to
eke out our
existence like
weak and
starving lions
that are
looking around
in the desert
and they can't
find anything
to eat.
That's not
the way
the Lord
takes care
of his
people.
They lack
no good
thing.
They lack
nothing.
He's generous
and he's
abundant in
his provision.
He gives
and he gives
and he gives.
Why wouldn't
he?
I mean,
we just
celebrated
what the
Lord has
done for us
this morning
and isn't
that what
Paul said?
he who
did not
spare his
own son
the best
most precious
thing that he
had but gave
him up for
us all.
How will he
not also
along with
him give
us all
things?
Everything
that we
need.
Everything
that's good
for us.
Do you
believe that?
Oftentimes
when we
don't get
what we
desire,
when our
plans are
frustrated,
we question
God, we
doubt his
goodness.
But he's
already given
us the most
costly gift
of all.
It proves
that he's
willing to
give us
everything
that's good
for us.
And so
if he
hasn't given
us something
good, then
perhaps it's
because he
knows it's
not good
for us to
have.
Or maybe
not at this
time.
we have
to trust
his wisdom
in that.
And so
I want to
ask you
again this
morning,
as we
bring this
to a
close,
what are
your
troubles?
What
problems are
you facing
right now?
In the
honesty of
your heart,
what is
it?
what are
you going
to do
about it?
If there's
one thing
that we
hear from
David in
this psalm,
it's this
invitation
to entrust
your problem,
your troubles
to the
Lord.
Try it
out and
see for
yourself
just how
good he
is and
how he
will take
care of
you in
your situation
and your
problem.
Taste and
see for
yourself.
And when
you see,
then come
glorify the
Lord with
me.
Let us
exalt his
name
together.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Father in
heaven, we
thank you for
these precious
words and
it is amazing
how you speak
to every
issue in
our lives
so clearly,
so powerfully.
You're an
amazing God.
We thank you
for these
words.
We ask that
you would
guard them,
that you
would cause
them to
take root
in our
hearts,
and that
you would
help us to
truly take
you up on
this offer
all week
long,
no matter
what difficulties
come.
we want
to see
just how
good you
are.
We ask
this in
Christ's
name.
Amen.
We'll be right back.