Stay awesome.
We're going to look at Psalm 31 tonight.
So we're going to read it through.
! It's quite a long psalm.
And I don't know how you'll find it as we read it through.
Statements, prayers, reflections.
So let me read to you Psalm 31.
For the director of music, a psalm of David.
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
Deliver me in your righteousness.
Turn your ear to me.
Come quickly to my rescue.
Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name, lead and guide me.
Keep me free from the trap that is set for me.
For you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commit my spirit.
Deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
I hate those who cling to worthless idols.
As for me, I trust in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
You have not given me into the hands of the enemy,
but have set my feet in a spacious place.
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress.
My eyes grow weak with sorrow.
My soul and body with grief.
My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning.
My strength fails because of my affliction
and my bones grow weak.
Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbours
and an object of dread to my closest friends.
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
I am forgotten as though I were dead.
I've become like broken pottery.
Another reference to the jar there.
For I hear many whispering, terror on every side.
They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, Lord.
I say you are my God.
My times are in your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your unfailing love.
Let me not be put to shame, Lord,
for I've cried out to you.
But let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt,
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
In the shelter of your presence,
you hide them.
From all human intrigues,
you keep them safe in your dwelling
from accusing tongues.
Praise be to the Lord,
for he showed me the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
In my alarm, I said,
I am cut off from your sight.
You heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
Love the Lord, all his faithful people.
The Lord preserves those who are true to him.
By the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your word.
And as we look at it together on this hot evening,
I pray that you would give us clarity and attention.
And that Lord, most of all,
you would give us your spirit to teach us.
You show us what we need to hear from you this evening.
Amen.
I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
What do you do when people treat you badly?
How do you respond when you find yourself facing problems?
This morning, we had a lovely glimpse of what we do
when we're hitting walls,
when we're hitting a Red Sea.
How do we respond?
Well, our response this morning was to be still and trust God.
So it's similar, but slightly different tonight.
In Psalm 31, we see how David responds to those questions.
And it's a psalm which has been repeated,
and you might pick up the, as we've read through it,
you might have picked up where other times in Scripture
some of these words are repeated.
This is a prayer of David,
and he's expressing his trust in God.
But Jesus, let's just wait for this.
But Jesus, on the cross,
prayed these very words.
You would have been very familiar as we read them.
He trusted himself to God his Father.
Jonah is also referenced in this.
And Jeremiah, particularly,
if you read through Jeremiah,
broken pottery,
and that phrase that comes on,
that comes again and again.
See if I can find it here.
Oh, I'm on the wrong page.
What people are saying about him.
Sorry, I haven't got the reference here,
and I can't find it immediately.
We'll come to it as we come along.
Let me tell you quickly the flow of the passage,
because it might help us to begin to get it into our heads.
Because as I say, there's a lot in it.
The psalm opens with David in verse 1,
giving a one-sentence overview of the whole psalm.
Verse 1,
In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
Deliver me in your righteousness.
So the good news is,
if you've understood that verse,
then you've got an understanding of what's to come.
And if you fall asleep,
you've just got to remind yourself of that verse, all right?
Because that is essentially what the psalm is about.
Then David goes through then,
and in verses,
he makes a journey twice.
Verses 1 to 8,
David calls out to God for help,
and finds God as his refuge.
Verses 9 to 22,
he does the same thing.
He again calls out to God,
and finds God to be his refuge again.
But this second journey is even more helpful than the first journey,
because he goes into a lot more detail,
and starts to unpack what his problems were,
and what the solution is.
And we begin to really feel,
not just here,
but we begin to really feel,
his predicament,
the trouble he's in,
but then the joy he knows in finding the Lord his refuge.
The psalm then ends with Psalm 23 and 24,
with David exhorting us to love and trust the Lord,
to be strong and take heart.
I'm not going to read these chunks again.
That was my plan,
but as we've read it through already,
I'm just going to refer you to various sections,
and you can read them through as I'm speaking.
So first of all,
we see David's distress in verses 9 to 13.
If you read through that,
you see that he's calling to God to be his refuge.
Why does he need refuge?
From who does he need deliverance?
Well, he describes there in verses 8, 11, and 15,
that he needs refuge from his enemies.
So David's enemies are what is causing all of the problems he is facing in Psalm 31.
You see in verse 4,
they're setting a trap for him.
Verse 13,
they're plotting to take his life.
Verse 15,
they're pursuing him.
Verse 18,
they're lying and speaking arrogantly against him.
So how does he feel facing these plots,
these lies,
these troubles from his enemies?
We see there in verses 9 and 10,
read those through again to yourself,
as I'm just explaining this bit.
We see his emotionally and physically,
he's a wreck.
It's strong,
strong language.
He's in distress.
He says his eyes grow weak as he weeps with grief.
He's consumed by anguish.
That word comes up there a couple of times.
Anguish,
a big word.
His life with sighing,
his strength fails,
and his bones feel weak.
Emotionally and physically,
he's a complete wreck.
He's also in verses 11 to 13,
he's the contempt of his neighbours.
Even his closest friends see him
and are horrified when they see him.
Passers by in the street,
we're told run from him.
He's become like a smashed vase
or a broken plate.
Broken and useless.
Many whisper against him
and are even plotting to take his life.
Extreme language, isn't it?
But it is extreme
so that it makes the point
of David's complete distress
and anguish.
This wasn't a walk in the park for David,
this psalm.
It wasn't a happy days, happy days.
He was going through the mill.
But why did he write these things?
He went through those things,
but why has he bothered to record them?
Why has God caused this portion
of scripture to be written down
for us to read tonight?
Well, one thing,
one thing is that we have to see,
first of all,
the depth of despair and anguish
that David was experiencing
to see the greatness of God
in restoring him
and rescuing him.
The greater the disaster,
the greater the display
of power and glory
of the rescuer.
We had that tonight,
didn't we,
in the Corinthians reading?
And we had that this morning as well
with facing the Red Sea.
When you're facing a big problem,
the rescue is even greater.
But it's also perhaps
to show us tonight
that a Christian
and even a godly Christian
can experience similar trauma.
And if you're undergoing
some form of distress
or trouble at present,
it doesn't mean
you are failing as a Christian.
David's trouble from his enemies
was usually because
he was seeking to follow the Lord.
So distress, anguish, hard times
don't mean that you're not
following the Lord.
We see here, though,
that David finds God
to be his refuge
in all these troubles.
And whatever situation
you're finding yourself in
at present,
physical or emotional weakness,
perhaps,
or perhaps even being
misunderstood or rejected
by others,
these things David was facing,
for you too,
God can be a refuge
if you trust him
as David did.
So we're going to look at how,
very quickly,
at how God was
David's rescue.
And here we'd be looking
at verses 19 to 22.
So again,
flick through those
as you're hearing me.
It's interesting
that although
he was deeply distressed
and the psalm
is filled with
these problems he had,
it's filled
in an even greater way
with confidence
and hope in God.
You can do this maths
yourself later,
but you'll have to
trust me for this.
You know,
psalms are written
in kind of lines,
it's poetry.
With 17 lines
of Psalm 31
dwell on David's problems
and 54 lines
express his trust
and deliverance
by the Lord.
So that's encouragement
to us this evening.
How did David
find refuge in God?
I've got
four things quickly
to say on that.
The first one's
really obvious.
he called out to God.
He asked God
for help in verse 2.
Verse 2,
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress
to save me.
And verse 1,
verse 5,
verse 15,
he's again calling
for deliverance.
It seems obvious,
doesn't it,
that if you want
to find refuge
in God,
you have to call out
to God
to help you.
Although it's obvious,
it's what we fail
to do very often,
isn't it?
We hit a red sea,
we're feeling like
broken pottery,
and what do we do?
We try and muddle through
and we try and
be the strong man,
strong woman,
when God just wants us
first of all
to call out to him.
But also,
we see here
in this psalm
that he trusted
God's faithful character
completely.
So God's character
comes out big
in this psalm.
He speaks in verse 7
of God's love.
He speaks in verse 19
of abundance
of blessings.
And in verse 3,
he says,
for the sake
of your name,
lead and guide me.
In other words,
because of who you are,
because you are faithful
and because you can be trusted,
because you are
completely faithful,
I can trust you
completely.
For the sake
of your name,
to show your glory
in who you are,
rescue me
from this situation.
We see also,
thirdly,
he committed himself
to that God
he completely trusted.
Verses 5 and 15
say this,
these words we know
the Lord said on the cross,
into your hands
I commit my spirit,
that's what Jesus said.
David also added,
deliver me,
Lord,
my faithful God.
Verse 15,
David says,
my times are in your hands,
deliver me from the hands
of my enemies.
So it's interesting,
isn't it,
we've got God's hands
coming up here.
How can God,
I was thinking about this,
how can God have hands?
God is a spirit.
But of course,
it's a picture language,
isn't it?
And the hands of God
here are repeated
to show the
securest place to be
in your deepest distress
is in God's hands.
So David had complete trust
that he would be delivered.
It didn't mean for him
that he wouldn't go
through problems,
and it doesn't mean
that for us either.
But God will be with us
to take us through them.
We are in his hands.
And lastly there,
he found shelter
in God's presence.
Verse 15,
no, verse 16,
sorry,
in verse 20.
Verse 16,
let your face shine
on your servant.
Save me in your unfailing love.
Verse 20,
in the shelter
of your presence,
you hide them
from all human intrigues.
You keep them safe
in your dwelling.
So David says
that those who take refuge
in the Lord
are kept safe,
because they are sheltered
in his presence.
We have a God
who doesn't act remotely
in fixing our problems,
but one who walks with us,
whether it be
through the Red Sea,
whatever our issues are,
whatever our problems are,
he walks with us
through those problems.
He's a personal God.
We can't look at this psalm
and not see, though,
how we see Jesus in it.
Christ,
the fulfillment
of this psalm.
How do we see Jesus?
Jesus,
God's anointed king.
Strong hint,
particularly in the early psalms,
David,
God's anointed king,
reflects,
albeit poorly,
but he reflects Jesus,
God's super-appointed king.
God's anointed king.
How does he,
how does David reflect Jesus?
We can see here
from the grief and anguish
in verses 9 to 13,
that in Christ's human experience,
particularly in the cross,
he suffered these very things,
the emotional and physical suffering
of verses 9 and 10,
the rejection of those around him
in verses 11 and 12.
And note this,
they conspire against me
and plot to take my life
in verse 13.
The cross of Jesus,
isn't it?
Yet Jesus,
even on the cross,
trusted his father,
placed himself
in the father's hands,
and committed his spirit
to the father.
So how did Jesus reflect
David's trust of the father
in a fuller way?
Well,
we take those,
two of those same headings
we were looking at for David.
He committed himself
to God,
to the God he completely trusted.
And he took,
and about the shelter
in God's presence.
Those two things.
So first of all,
he committed himself
to the God he completely trusted.
In the Garden of Gethsemane,
Luke 22,
we see Jesus in anguish
as he faces the cross.
He prayed,
Father,
if you're willing,
take this cup from me,
yet not my will,
but yours be done.
And from the cross,
when all was finished,
in Luke 23,
verse 46,
we're told,
Jesus called out
with a loud voice,
Father,
into your hands,
I commit my spirit.
So can you see here
from those references
in Luke
how Jesus
perfectly submitted
to his father
who he loved
and trusted
completely.
Jesus,
the perfect king,
trusting his father
perfectly.
Now this next one
is a bit more tricky.
David found
sheltering God's presence
in verse 15 and 20.
But on the cross,
Jesus,
of course,
did not find
shelter in God's presence,
but rather God's anger
when he was bearing
our sin.
But
so that you and I
may find shelter
from God's wrath
and find shelter
in God's presence.
because of Jesus,
we can run to God
and find that shelter
we need
from everything
that comes
against us.
We experience it
when we turn to the Lord,
don't we?
First of all,
he forgives our sin.
We have shelter
from the consequences
of our sin.
But as we
turn to him
throughout our Christian life
with our problems,
we find shelter
in his presence.
if we take time
to be
in his presence.
So because of Jesus,
we can run to God
and find shelter
from whatever
comes against us.
I played a little trick
on you earlier.
You thought it was
coming to an end,
didn't you?
I am coming to the end now.
Our response.
What do you think
our response should be
from hearing about
God being our refuge
and how he walks with us
through our problems
and how he is our loving
and powerful God?
What should our response
be when we see
what Jesus did for us
on the cross?
Thankfulness.
Thankfulness to God,
the Father,
for his love for us.
Thankfulness to Jesus
for his love for us,
his death in our place.
Thankfulness for Jesus
for his faithfulness
to his Father
in going right through
for us.
But David's application
in the psalm
to the reader today
is at the end
and I love this
in a passage
where you get the application
at the end.
All right?
And it's in verse 23
and 24.
I'm going to read
that to you.
Love the Lord,
all his faithful people.
The Lord preserves those
who are true to him
but the proud he pays back
in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope
in the Lord.
Because of Jesus,
we can take to heart
this exhortation
and we can experience
the refuge of God
as it is explained
through the whole psalm.
So the application
is two things.
Love the Lord,
the faithful God
has rescued us
and will continue
to be our refuge.
Consider what he's done
for you.
How can we not love him?
The call here
is to be faithful
and constant
in our love for him
as it has been for us.
How do we do that?
We remind ourselves
daily of who God is
and what he has done
for us.
Just what David
was doing in this psalm.
And we remind ourselves
of the refuge
we have in Jesus.
Be strong
and take heart.
So when our problems
loom large,
whether they be
the Red Sea
or something else,
we hope in the Lord
who delivers those
who trust
and wait for him.
So
we wait for him.
We stand still
but we call on the Lord
and stand still.
Okay,
let me just pray
and then back to Nathan.
Oh,
then we're finishing.
Okay,
let me just pray
to finish.
Father,
thank you for this psalm.
Thank you for
what you've shown us
even on this hot evening.
Thank you that
our confidence
is not in ourselves.
Our hope is not
in ourselves
but our refuge
is in you.
Thank you for Jesus
that took
your wrath
in our place
so that we could
find shelter
in your presence.
Lord,
help us this week
as we spend time
with you
as we read our Bibles
as we pray
to take shelter
in you
and to draw
our strength
from you
to find you
as our refuge.
Go with us now
in Jesus' name.
Amen.