Amen. You may be seated.
If you would turn in your Bibles to Psalm 86, I'm going to walk us through this for our good.
Imagine there is a pounding on your front door during dinnertime.
And before you have a time to react, your eight-year-old bolts from his seat, grabs the plastic stepstool, puts it in front of the front door, climbs up on it, and looks through the peephole.
Dad, there's this big hairy man outside, and he's kind of scary.
And he has a name patch.
T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
Trouble.
Dad, there's a big hairy man whose name is Trouble, and he's knocking on our front door.
What do you do when Trouble comes knocking on your front door?
We all know that Trouble is coming.
And he wears different name patches.
Sometimes that name patch, instead of Trouble, says Cancer.
Sometimes that name patch says Job Loss.
Sometimes that name patch says Conflict or Criticism or Change or Persecution or Ongoing Debt.
Sometimes that name patch has the word attack on it.
You're being attacked.
When trouble comes knocking, when an attack comes knocking, what do you do?
Maybe you panic.
Maybe you shop.
Maybe you attack back.
Maybe you sleep.
Maybe you eat.
Maybe you watch.
Maybe you analyze.
Maybe you post on Facebook.
And in Psalm 86, when trouble comes knocking on David's front door,
in verse 7 he says this.
He says,
Psalm 86 is an example for us.
It shows us how to respond when trouble comes knocking.
Psalm 86 can be divided into three sections.
And each of these sections instruct us in a unique way of how to call upon our great God
when we need help in the day of trouble.
I'm guessing there's a lot of people in the room that know what trouble is,
but maybe need some help in knowing how to respond when trouble comes knocking.
So in Psalm 86, we're going to see three things in these three sections.
We're going to be shown how to seek God and call upon God with persistent prayers.
We'll see that in verses 1 through 7.
And then in verses 8 through 13, how to call on God with praise-filled prayers.
And then at the end, in verses 14 through 17, purposed prayers.
Psalm 86 is going to help us call out to God when trouble comes knocking
by persistent praise-filled and purposed prayers.
So let's look at verses 1 through 7.
This Psalm of David, this prayer of David.
And what we're going to see in these seven verses is that when trouble comes knocking,
we need to call out to God with persistent praying.
Persistence is being steady in a course of action,
especially when there's difficulties and obstacles and discouragement.
It's staying on target when things get hard.
That's persistence.
And in Psalm 86, we see this repeated pleading of God.
Follow with me.
I'm going to number them.
In verse, chapter 86, verse 1, incline your heart, O Lord.
That's the first pleading.
And then answer me, second pleading.
Preserve my life is the third pleading.
Save your servant is the fourth pleading.
Be gracious to me, O Lord, is the fifth pleading.
The sixth pleading is gladden the soul of your servant.
And then it goes on.
Give ear, O Lord.
Listen to my plea.
There are eight petitions that David makes in the first seven verses of this psalm.
It's kind of desperate.
But there is this persistence, this repeated seeking after God.
Because you will notice in almost every one of these verses in pleadings,
there is a direct reference to God somehow, some way,
either in an O Lord or an O God or in you.
Eight times, David cries out for help.
That's what all of these have in common.
They're all petitions for help.
Different ways, all crying out,
Help me, God.
Help me.
Troubles come knocking.
Help me, God.
Now, it's interesting that these aren't questions.
In the Hebrew, these are actually commands.
They're imperatives.
It's like David is telling God what to do.
Help me.
But you've got to take it like this.
Remember when Jesus was walking on the water and he calls Peter out to walk out to him.
And Peter goes walking out on the water to Jesus.
And all of a sudden, Peter becomes distracted by the wind and the waves.
Remember what happened?
Peter starts to sink.
And you remember what he does?
Oh, Lord Jesus, if you have a moment, please,
would you be willing to save me out of my distress?
He doesn't ask the question.
Peter says, save me, Lord.
It's a desperate plea for help.
And that is what is going on here in this Psalm of David.
It's not a question.
It's a pleading.
Pleading for help.
Now, you may be asking yourself the question,
well, wouldn't have one been sufficient?
Why eight?
It's very instructive for us.
Because I don't know about you, but when I am confronted with trouble,
when I feel like I'm being attacked,
it's going to take me a while to settle my heart in the goodness of God.
And what we see happening over these eight petitions is David calling to mind certain things,
we're going to look at it in a second,
to settle his heart before God.
When we're facing trouble,
it's going to take a little process of persistent praying
to settle our hearts on the truth of who God is.
There are a bunch of reasons in this Psalm for these petitions.
You'll notice it with the word for.
Incline your heart, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Verse 2, for I am godly.
Verse 3, for to you do I call all the day long.
Verse 4, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
Verse 5 is the greatest of all fours.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
David is persistent in his praying to his God,
and he persists until his heart settles on that great four in verse 5.
Who God is.
Yes, David is helpless.
Yes, David is living a life that he is seeking to be upright in God's sight.
Yes, in verse 2, he belongs to God.
In verses 3 and 4, yes, we see David turning to God, calling out to God.
But it's verse 5 that when his heart hits that truth about God,
it will change the tone of the psalm.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
The ultimate reason that David is persistent in his calling out to God for help
is because he knows that God abounds in steadfast love to him personally.
David knows that God has bound himself to him through a covenant.
That God has promised to be David's God.
And so David's prayers for help are being heard by a loving God.
All in the midst of a day of trouble.
When trouble comes knocking,
what motivates our persistent praying
is that God is abounding in steadfast love
to each of us who call upon him.
To us.
God has bound himself to us
through Jesus.
Through his blood.
God has committed himself
to us.
To hear us.
To act for us.
Because of what Jesus has done for us.
And so in verse 7,
when David prays,
in the day of my trouble,
I call upon you,
for you answer me.
David knows that God answers him
out of his steadfast love for him.
All this desperate pleading,
all this persistent praying,
all this staying on target
is staying focused on God
and specifically God's steadfast love.
Do we have any Star Wars fans in the house?
1977, the original Star Wars.
At the end of the movie,
Luke Skywalker is in his X-wing fighter.
R2-D2 is popped in the back.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
He descends into that canyon
in the Death Star.
He is cruising.
His aim is to drop two laser bombs
in the exhaust port of the Death Star
and blow it up.
Do you remember what happens?
TIE fighters come behind him,
start taking out dudes in his squadron,
and there's this guy from headquarters saying,
stay on target.
Luke is kind of like,
ah, I'm getting afraid.
Stay on target.
There's these towers shooting at Luke Skywalker.
They're shooting at him.
Stay on target.
And eventually he gets to the point,
the aim drops his laser bombs.
He's out of there,
blows up the point.
What it points to
is persistence,
staying on target.
And the target of Psalm 86
is not a Death Star.
It's God.
It's his steadfast love.
When trouble comes knocking,
we call out to God
with persistent prayers,
knowing that God's steadfast love
compels him
to not only hear us,
but to act on our behalf.
Which brings us to
the second stanza.
In verses 8 through 13,
when trouble comes knocking,
we must call on our great God
with praise-filled prayers.
Let me just point something out.
In order for you to get to verse 8,
you need to come through
verses 1 through 7.
In order for you to get to a point
where you're praising God
in the midst of trouble,
you need to first settle your heart
on who God is
and His love for you.
So when David prays
that prayer in verse 5,
in which he focuses on
God is good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love
for all who call upon him,
it changes his heart
and changes the tone
of his prayer.
Because now,
David moves in verse 8
from being focused
on his day of trouble
to be focused
on his God of glory.
In verses 8 through 10,
it's this theological center
of the psalm.
It's God-concentrated.
It is theologically thick
and wonderful.
So if you look at verses 8, 9, and 10,
it's all God-ward.
There is none like you
among the gods, O Lord.
That's Adonai.
All the nations you have made
shall come and worship
before you, O Lord.
For you are great
and do wondrous things.
You alone are God.
So they're all God-ward,
just like verses 1 through 7.
But verses 1 through 7
is pleading,
this is praising.
There's been a change.
In verse 8,
when we read,
there's none like you
among the gods, O Lord,
nor there are any works
like yours.
You could take that word gods
and it could be a reference
to angels
like you would see
in Psalm 8, 5.
But given verse 9,
all the nations you have made
shall come and worship
before you,
given the global scope
of this,
I am persuaded
that David is comparing
his God, Yahweh,
the God of steadfast love,
to all the gods
of all the nations.
And he's saying
there's no God like you
in all of it.
I play Smash Bros
with my sons
on Nintendo Switch.
And you get to pick
the character
you want to go
to battle with.
And when you go
to the screen
that has the options,
there's like 60 options.
And you know what?
I pick the one
unlike anyone else.
Captain Falcon!
what this is saying here
is that among
all the nations,
there's none
like Yahweh.
He is unlimited
in His power,
unrelenting
in His steadfast love,
and unrivaled
in His authority.
He is sovereign
over all the nations.
There are no works
like His.
He's created everything.
He delivered Israel
out of Egypt.
He delivered sinners
like you and me
through the cross
from sin.
And He is going to do
a work that is coming
in which He consummates
all things
and recreates
the heavens and the earth.
There are no works
like His.
And in verse 9,
David goes
deep ball.
He goes eschatological.
He goes outside
of this moment
of trouble
to getting a big picture
of what is coming
at the end.
All the nations
you have made
shall come
and worship
before you
and shall glorify
your name.
Shall come.
Shall worship.
Shall glorify.
He is helping us
see that when we are
in the midst of trouble,
there's a bigger picture
to consider.
God's fame
and glory
among the nations
for all time.
I'm reminded
of Philippians 2,
11 through 12.
Every knee will bow
and every tongue
confess
that Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory
of the Father.
When you're in the midst
of suffering
and trouble
and you go this way,
it has an effect
on your very outlook
on life.
that word kabod
or word glory
is the Hebrew word kabod
that,
excuse me,
and shall glorify
your name.
That word means
to be heavy,
to be weighty.
And so when David's talking
about all the nations
coming and worshiping
and giving glory to God,
he's saying
there's going to come
a day
when every knee bows
and every tongue
confesses
that God is God
to give him
the glory,
the weight,
the praise
he deserves.
This is the theological
hot spot of this psalm
and it's summarized
in verse 10.
Verse 10 is summarizing
8 and 9,
for you are great
and do wondrous things.
You alone are God.
You are great.
There's no one like you.
You do wondrous things.
Creation,
Exodus,
the cross,
the coming consummation.
You alone are God.
God.
This verse 10
is clarifying
verse 8.
Verse 8 says
there's none like you
among the gods.
And then verse 10 says
you alone are God.
What he's basically saying
all the nations
and their gods,
well,
we know
that there's actually
no other God
but our God.
So the Philistines
may espouse
their God,
the Egyptians
may espouse
their God,
and today
Muslims may espouse
Allah
but
there is only
one God
and in the words
of Isaiah,
I am the Lord
and there is
no other.
Do you see
what's going on here?
In the day of trouble,
verse 7,
we'll learn what that is
in verse 14,
but in the day
of David's trouble,
David is conducting
a private worship service.
He's given praise
and glory to his God.
There's only one God.
There is no other.
What David is helping us
to see
is how
to have a private
worship service
when trouble
comes knocking.
praying.
And what it requires
is this persistent
praying
down into
a settled
acknowledgement
of who God is
and then the realization
that God
is glorious
among the nations.
There's no one
like him.
There is none
but him.
And he is
full of
steadfast love
towards us.
So if the first part
of this stanza,
verses 8 through 10,
is the theological
hot spot,
verses 11 through 13,
we see David
responding to this.
He responds
in a number of ways.
In the first half
of verse 11,
he says,
teach me your way
that I may walk
in your truth.
I don't know about you,
but when trouble
comes knocking,
when I'm feeling
attacked,
what I can start
doing is
trying to chart
my own way
out of it.
Trying to figure out,
hey,
how do I
get through
this trouble?
And what we see
David doing here
is in the day
of trouble,
he recognizes,
he persistently
prays himself
to a place
where he's trusting
in God,
full of steadfast love.
He acknowledges
that there's no one
other than God,
the one and only,
and he says,
oh God,
because of who you are,
would you show me
the way through this?
Teach me your way
that I may walk
in your truth.
Show me
how to walk
through being
criticized.
Show me
how to walk
through being
in conflict.
Show me
how to walk
through when
unknown changes
are coming.
Show me
when cancer's
in my body
how to walk
through that.
Show me.
Teach me.
And then in the
second half
of verse 11,
he says,
in light of this
God,
who is unlike
any other,
he cries out
to this God,
unite my heart
to fear
your name.
Unite my heart
to fear your name.
I can't tell you
how many times
I've prayed
these seven words
over the last
two decades.
Unite my heart
to fear your name.
Because you alone
are God.
Unite my heart
to fear your name
in the midst
of all this trouble.
when the Bible
talks about the heart,
it's talking about
the control center
of a human being.
It's the place
where one's logic,
emotions,
and will
reside together.
Have you driven
by O'Hare
International Airport
on 294,
and have you seen
the major
control tower
that's directing
all things
going on?
Could you imagine
what's going on
in that control tower?
It's a little picture
of how the Bible
talks about our hearts.
It's the control center
of our lives.
We live out
of our hearts.
And what David
says here,
he says,
unite my heart.
Unite the core
of who I am.
And what that word
unite means is
to focus,
to aim,
to bring about
a singular focus
for my life.
Focus all that I am,
the core of my being,
on one thing.
Unite my heart
to fear
your name.
Tony Evans,
the preacher
down in Dallas,
talks about
the fear of the Lord
as taking God
seriously.
It's a reverencing
of God.
That's what
that fear means.
It's a ruling
reverence
for God.
I revere God
to such a degree
it is controlling
the way I live
my life.
So to fear God
is to be governed
by God.
He is my chief
concern
in the way
I'm living my life.
So when David says,
unite my heart
to fear your name,
he's saying,
God,
would you
bring about
a singular aim
of the core
of my being
on your
great name
that it governs
all that I do
in response
to God alone
being God.
Give me a singular aim
to live for your glory,
to live for your fame,
to live for your purposes,
to live for
your name.
When trouble comes knocking,
the temptation
will be to allow
your heart
to be controlled
by your trouble,
to be ruled
by the fear
of the unknown,
the fear
of repercussions,
the fear
of what people
think about me.
What David
is helping us with
is helping us
on the day
of trouble
to fear God
above all else
and to trust him
of how to move forward.
What we're learning here
is that we don't need
to be ruled
by our trouble
because God
is greater
than our trouble
and his steadfast love
towards you
is great
and unrelenting.
In verses 12 and 13,
we read how
David gives thanks
to God
and glorifies
God's name.
This is the evidencing
of a heart
that has been united
to fear God's name.
It results
in thanksgiving
and praise.
And so,
just to clarify,
if you're thinking
the fear of the Lord
is this
cowering,
shaking in the corner,
it is
praising God
and living
for his glory.
It is a freedom
to live
for God
and his honor.
And we see
in verse 13
how personal
this gets.
For great
is your steadfast
love towards me.
This is the second time
we've seen
steadfast love
show up
in Psalm 86.
He says,
for great
is your steadfast
love towards me.
You have delivered
my soul
from the depths
of Sheol.
Sheol is the
realm of the dead.
And what David
is saying here
is,
it's as though
he's saying,
I don't have to be
afraid of death.
It's significant
in light of verse 14.
I don't have to be
afraid of death
because I know
your steadfast love
for me
is abounding
even before,
during,
and after death.
life.
It's as though
David
has read ahead
in a Bible
he doesn't fully
have yet
to 1 John
that says,
perfect love
casts out fear,
even the fear
of death.
So here's a little
perspective.
If God
and his great
love for you,
brother or sister
in Christ,
if he and his
great love
for you
delivered you
from sin
and death,
which he has,
you do not
need to be
consumed
by the fear
and anxiety
of the trouble
knocking at
your door
right now.
Because God
has already
taken care
of the biggest
trouble
you had already
faced.
God has made
peace
between you
and him.
That's game
changer.
That's worthy
of giving him
praise and
thanksgiving.
For great is
your steadfast
love toward me.
You have delivered
my soul from
the depths
of Sheol.
When trouble
comes knocking,
we call on
our great
God with
praise-filled
prayers
that shape
how we
live.
Could you
imagine that?
A church
of God
praising God
in the midst
of various
kinds of
trouble?
people?
That's the
second stanza.
The third
stanza
in verses
14 through
17
can be
summarized by
saying,
when trouble
comes knocking,
we call out
to God
with purposed
praying.
Persistent
praying,
praise-filled
praying,
and now
purposed
praying.
there's
nothing in
this psalm,
Psalm 86,
that would
indicate David
had come
through the
trouble he
was facing.
By the end
of the psalm,
you're left
realizing he's
still in it,
still in the
midst of it.
This is a
place-in-time
psalm,
written in the
midst of
trouble.
He's waiting
on God to
act.
In verse
14, we
finally learn
the trouble
David was
facing.
Oh God,
insolent men
have risen up
against me.
A band of
ruthless men
seeks my
life.
They do
not set you
before them.
Insolent men,
ruthless men,
what they're
geared,
aimed at,
is to kill
David.
They're there
to take his
life.
Now, granted,
this is a little
bit more
significant than
being criticized
on Facebook,
but you can
still pick up
on the sense
of feeling
attacked.
This psalm
doesn't really
give us any
clues as to
when this is
taking place
in David's
life.
All we know
is what David
tells us,
and that his
life is in
jeopardy.
And it's in
jeopardy by
men who do
not fear
God.
They do not
set you
before him,
David says.
Verse 14,
but here's
what's
interesting.
David is
very purposeful
in identifying
who his
attackers are
because he's
also purposed
in quoting
the Bible.
He's making
a contrast.
He says,
okay,
God,
insolent men
have risen up
against me.
A band of
ruthless men
seeks my life
and they
know it
sets you
before them.
That's one
group.
Verse 15,
but you,
O Lord,
and then he
quotes Exodus
34,
6 and 7.
It's a quote.
He's quoting
his Bible.
David's praying
Bible here.
It's very
instructive.
He says,
but you,
O Lord,
are a God
merciful and
gracious,
slow to
anger and
abounding in
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
He's purposefully
contrasting
these two
groups of
people,
ruthless men
and his
God,
and their
posture
towards him.
These
ruthless men,
they are
full of
spite,
full of
hate,
quick to
anger,
abounding
in malice,
abounding
in ruthlessness
towards David
to take his
life.
David's God,
the God
who's bound
himself to
David,
the God
of Exodus
34,
6 and 7,
he's full
of mercy
and grace,
slow to
anger,
abounding in
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
That's the third
time steadfast love
has showed up
in this
psalm
in the midst
of trouble.
David is
comparing and
contrasting
those people
who are
postured
towards him.
One group
seeking to
kill him,
God is
seeking to
be for him,
to demonstrate
his love
towards him.
So it's
kind of like
this,
David is
stepping back
and he's
saying,
okay,
insolent,
ruthless
men
compared to
my Exodus
34,
6 and 7
God,
full of
grace,
full of
mercy,
slow to
anger and
abounding in
steadfast love
and faithfulness
to me.
Who's
greater?
Who's
more glorious?
Who's
more praiseworthy?
Who's
worthy of
thanksgiving
and gratitude?
Who is
more
trustworthy?
who alone
is God?
That's the
one I will
fear.
Maybe you're
in the room
this morning
and you
have some
kind of
chronic
physical
trouble.
Let's
compare them.
Your
chronic
physical
trouble
compared to
the Exodus
34,
6 and
7 God.
Who's
greater?
Who's
more
glorious?
Who's
more
praiseworthy?
Who's
worthy of
gratitude and
thanksgiving?
Who is
trustworthy?
Who is
God in
your life?
If you're
experiencing
criticism from
other people,
you feel like
they're attacking
you and
you're tempted
to be more
concerned about
what these
people think
about you
than what
God thinks
about you,
compare them.
Which one's
greater?
Which one's
more glorious
and praiseworthy?
Worthy of
thanksgiving and
praise?
Who's
trustworthy?
Who is
God?
David is
purposefully
contrasting
these two
to help
us see
who shall
we fear
in the
day of
trouble.
We're to
ask God
to unite
our hearts
to fear
him.
More than
fearing change,
more than
fearing the
unknown,
fearing what
people think
about you,
fearing of
what's going
on in
your body,
we fear
our glorious
God.
That governs
our lives.
And in
verses 16
and 17,
David,
it's like a
springboard.
This truth of
who God is,
and verse 15,
David makes a
series of more
petitions.
He says,
turn to me
and be gracious
to me.
Give your
strength to
your servant.
Save the
son of your
maidservant.
Show me a
sign of your
favor.
More petitions,
more pleadings,
but these are
coming from
this solid
understanding
and resting
and who
his God
is and
his posture
of steadfast
love towards
David,
which brings
me to
another purpose
in this.
In verse
14,
David says
of these
insolent men,
they do not
set you,
God,
before them.
They don't
fear God.
But here in
17,
David makes
this request.
Show me a
sign of your
favor for a
purpose that
those who
hate me may
see.
What David
is seeing
here is an
opportunity for
his Exodus
34,
6,
and 7,
God,
to be
exalted
through this
trouble and
be seen by
his enemies.
For God to
be exalted
and glorified
and for David
to be vindicated.
As David
is praying
that God
would show
himself faithful,
he's praying
this with
those who
are attacking
him in mind.
that they
would see
and be put
to shame.
It's purposed.
It's a
purposed
praying in
the day of
trouble.
David is
governed by
God's
greatness and
it's informing
how he thinks
about people
in the day
of trouble.
He sees it
an opportunity
for God to
be exalted.
David.
And what's
got him
there
is a
series of
petitions
of praying
his heart
to settle
on his
God,
the God
of steadfast
love,
to recognizing
how awesome
and glorious
God is
and asking
God to unite
his heart
to fear
God's name.
And here
we have
now
purposed
praying
that God
wants those
attacking him
to see
God's
character
on display
working on
David's
behalf.
It kind of
raises the
question,
should we be
praying for
a sign
that God
would demonstrate
his character
on our behalf
in the day
of trouble?
Absolutely.
Pray away.
Ask God
to do
that.
But I
just want
to remind
you of
something.
We already
have the
greatest
sign.
The greatest
sign has
already been
given that
demonstrates
God's
steadfast
love in
action on
our behalf.
And that
sign is
the cross
of Jesus
Christ.
At the
cross,
God in
his abounding
steadfast
love
turned to
us and
was gracious
to us
in our
greatest
day of
trouble.
His
steadfast
love in
Christ saved
us from
an eternal
trouble over
our sin
separating us
from God.
So we
always,
if you're a
Christian,
have some
sign to
point to
on the
day of
trouble.
The cross,
God has
demonstrated
his love
for us
already.
So let's
say there
comes a
day when
you're in
the face
of trouble
and you
have petitioned
your way
down into
a settled
trust in
God's very
character.
Your heart
is saying,
oh God,
there's none
like you
among the
gods.
Unite my
heart to
fear your
name.
And that
you're like,
okay,
you know
what?
This is
tough,
but compared
to God,
it doesn't
stand.
And someone
comes up to
you on that
day of
trouble and
they say,
why are
you so
calm?
You know
what you
get to
say?
The cross.
God in
his steadfast
love is
taking care of
the greatest
trouble I
can face.
This is,
this follows.
This is
icing.
This doesn't
change my
trusting of
him.
We see
here,
purposed
praying.
Days of
trouble are
opportunities
for God's
glory.
When trouble
comes knocking,
we must call
out to God
with persistent
praying,
with praise
filled praying,
and purposed
praying.
And there's
where we find
help.
Psalm 86
is an
example for
us of
how to
trust God
in the
day of
trouble,
and to
find comfort
and help
from him.
And in
closing, I
just want to
add one
more thing.
You only
have a
certain amount
of this kind
of praying
you'll ever
do.
These prayers
in the midst
of trouble,
we'll only
pray them for
a short
while.
God.
Because there's
no need to
pray these
prayers in
the new
Jerusalem,
in the new
heavens,
in the new
earth.
There's no
trouble there.
There's only
fullness of
peace with
God,
yourself,
each other,
the new
creation.
So our
time is
limited in
praying in
the midst
of trouble,
but we'll
have trouble.
And when
we're either
being attacked
or there's
something going
on inside
of your
body,
on those
days,
we call
out to
our great
God who
has promised
to help
us.
Let's pray.
God, thank
you so much
for Psalm 86.
Would you
take your
powerful word
despite my
weak words,
and God,
would you
press it
into our
hearts so
that Psalm
86 would
sing to us
when trouble
comes knocking.
Lord, we
know that
you're the
sovereign over
all, that
when trouble
comes, you
don't bolt out
the back door,
but you are
with us in
all your glory
and all your
power and all
your sovereignty
to give us the
strength we
need.
God, help
us to
respond in
the day of
trouble in a
way that honors
you.
It's your name
we pray,
Jesus.
Amen.