Counsel From Psalm 86

Psalm 86 as Counsel for Fear and Worry

Today's Sunday school is called God's counsel from Psalm 86. Am I too loud? I can talk too loud.

All right.

So God's counsel from Psalm 86. I'm gonna give a little bit of an introduction what we are doing here, but before we do that, I'd like us to read Psalm 86. So please turn with me to Psalm 86. And you will need the Bible for today's activities and Sunday school.

So please make sure you have one open. And as we read through Psalm 86, I want you to look for some things. This is a Psalm of David. So I want you to think of, yeah, all high school Sunday schoolers, come on in.

We are here.

So look for what you learn about David in this Psalm as the speaker, and see if you identify with him as you're looking for counsel as David did. Look for things that you hear about God. What are some truths about God that are reflected in this particular Psalm?

And then our primary exercises, David is going through a problem. Do you identify with a problem? Or are problems that you face helpable, if that's a word, by this particular Psalm? I'm gonna focus on a specific issue of fear and worry.

Who has no worries at all? We are fallen creatures in a fallen world, and worry and anxiety tend to sometimes overwhelm us. And the Bible does have very clear instructions and guidance on how we can walk through this path.

And Psalm 86 is one of them. So let's do that. So I think I've given you enough things to look for in Psalm 86. And if you have a particular trial that you're going through, maybe actually helpful to look through the lens of those trials.

Would you cry out to God in this particular way? And we'll work through the Psalm through the Sunday school. So since I have my high schoolers here, can one of you read Psalm 86 verses one through seven?

You know, we did have that Bible opening.

What is that competition called?

Sword drill, yes.

Whoever has it, read it.

Go ahead, Levi.

Psalm 86, one through seven. Just want you to just let that verse seven sink in. In the day of my trouble, I call upon you, and you answer me. All right, so if I can have another high schooler read from eight through 13 of Psalm 86.

Once again, verse 13, let it sink. For great is your steadfast love toward me. And what has God done for David? Delivered his soul from the depths of Sheol. And then the last section, if I can have one last high schooler read verses 14 through 17.

Thank you.

Once again, it ends with show me a sign of your favor and the effect being that, Lord, you have helped me and comforted me. And that's the outcome that David is looking for. So let me pray. I'll give you a little bit of context and then we'll dive into this Psalm.

Loving Father, we pray that you would help us by your spirit, O Lord, illuminate our hearts and mind to your truth in this Psalm. Help us, O Lord, to look for help from you and find your help in our time of need.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, so a little bit of context on why we are doing Psalm 86 today. Last weekend, we were at the Biblical Counseling Conference. About 20 of our folks from here went to this, what does ACBC stand for?

Association of Christian Biblical Counselors. So that group, so I see some of you here. And I was thinking that we can pull some of that biblical counseling concepts and into a more practical application focus here.

We've done some of this before. I think it's a good refresher for us. So those who went to the conference, do you have any key takeaways that you wanna share? And I'll just give you a few pointers in terms of what we covered last time for the rest of the folks too.

Things that were covered were things like, what is biblical counseling? What are the qualifications for a Christian to be able to counsel? And the answer is, every believer is equipped.

You can get better at it.

What does a sanctification look like? So when you're in need of counseling, what is God's work in making you more like Christ? And then the practical aspects, like when someone is talking to you, how do you do data gathering?

How do you pull some information so you can give good counsel? How can you discern what the real issues are that you can actually go to the scriptures for help? How do you get involved with someone in the body as you're trying to counsel them?

How can you provide them hope from the scriptures when they are actually struggling through a difficult circumstance of life? And then what kind of instructions can you give that they can go and find this counsel directly from the word of God and from God himself as they apply these truths in their lives?

So these are some of the things that we covered in week one of three sessions. Those who went last weekend, do you have anything, key takeaways, any big things that you think would be helpful for the body?

Please feel free to share. You thought only the high schoolers.

Were gonna be on the spot.

Excellent.

Yeah, especially, it is the power of God through the gospel that we actually can help people. And so we wanna make sure that we deal with the state of their soul as we try to help them with their specific problem.

Excellent.

Anything else? I know there's more of you here. Don't be shy.

All right.

I thought this conference was helpful in refreshing some things. I actually have some of the material from the conference and those of the people who went have that material too. So if any of you are interested, you can obviously talk to them, get information from them.

My key, my big picture that I wanna just tell us all as a body is 90 of the time counseling is really for me. I need to know how to go to the scriptures and find God's truths to apply to myself because many a time I go through a trial and I don't even realize I'm in a trial.

I need to figure out, oh, this is what a trial is. And this is what the Bible says about this trial. This is what I don't want, but this is the underlying problem of sanctification that God is working out.

Or this is the way in which I need to seek the Lord or lean on the Lord or renew my mind about the Lord in order to be able to walk through this trial. So 90 of the time, it's really about me taking these truths and applying to myself.

And most of those times, we're also just having good conversations with brothers and sisters in Christ. We know about the trials that we face. And in these conversations, we do give counsel. And that's one of the things, every believer with the spirit of God and the knowledge of the word should be able to help.

And we can get better at being able to provide biblical, more accurate, more precise and helpful counsel as we have these conversations. It's not like, you know, you open that, what's the Charlie Brown girl's name?

Lucy with that little shingle and say, okay, five cents for counsel. You know, it's not about being in an office. It's about you just ministering to one another in your daily conversations. And these principles can help you be better at it.

And then there are some cases where you don't need a shingle where what I mean is there can be some very difficult situations that someone in the body is going through. And if you feel like, you know, it's just a little too much, you can have them reach out to the elders, or there are others who are getting trained.

They may be equipped to be able to help walk through these and they may take more time. But biblical counseling, like I said, 90 of the time, when we think of the body, it is just for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters as we speak with them.

And so today will be more of like that application in Psalm 86. So that's one of the contexts for why we are doing what we're doing. The second context is for High School Sunday Schoolers. So what have you been doing the last several months besides me not being there.

And somebody else covering for me?

What was the topic that we've been doing? Excellent. What are some of the attributes we've seen so far?

Yeah.

Excellent.

The three omnis we've covered.

And the others were a little older. Anybody remember what we did?

We did like majesty of God. I think we started off with just to remember that God is high and exalted. We wanna start with the knowledge of who God is. And then I know Brother Mark, you covered the fear of the Lord and I think that's gonna apply directly here.

Now, my goal was with the High School Sunday Schoolers, you've seen some things about God. We've tried to make sure that we understand from the Bible that these are not just some academic concepts that I just checked off, I know this about God.

But in biblical counseling, we realize that the more I know my God, the better I can lean on him and learn to trust him in times when my problem seems to be impossible. So the better view I have of God and the attributes of God, we should be able to say, thus, I can wait upon the Lord.

I can look to the Lord for help and Psalm 86 is gonna do exactly that. We'll see a few of those attributes coming in place here. One more comment on wisdom.

I don't know,.

There is a website called Bible Project that does a bunch of different videos. Some of those theological ones are not that great, but they have some very good Bible summaries that are just short, like five, 10 minute videos that just give you a very easy, visually well done videos that you can actually learn about a book of the Bible as you're studying a book.

But they also did this thing called the Wisdom Series. And I think this is very excellently done. They talk about Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job. And they kind of talk about this flow of how God's wisdom is kind of revealed to us in these books.

It begins with Proverbs, where it talks about there is an order to this universe that God has created. Now, when we look at life, we live in a very confused world, which doesn't quite understand that God has built this universe in a certain way.

When we understand God's moral structures, the who God is and how he has made us, there is a single path that we must be walking through in life as God has called us to, because the world doesn't actually know that.

And we as Christians don't always understand that either. So God's word gives us that guidance. There is a way in which God has ordered and structured this universe. And as we fear the Lord, we walk in his ways and we are blessed by him.

So that's the first element of wisdom in that series. The second one is Ecclesiastes. And Ecclesiastes comes and says, well, you try all you might, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.

You think that there should be a structure, but it looks like this chaos. Everything seems random. There doesn't seem to be this God governing visible in the world I'm living in. And so the term that, as you know, is Hebel, there is this vapor, this vanity, meaninglessness, this inability to grasp life as it were, because it just is so fleeting.

And so that's the struggle that people face that Ecclesiastes brings us right into a force. So when you think of counseling, you want to think, oh, I have a problem. I can't quite figure it out. I try to grasp it, it just like a mist evaporates.

And so there too, the fear of the Lord comes central and says, you know, obey God, follow Him. And there is this view that is under the sun. How do you look at life as it just happens in this chaotic way?

And there is a God who is above the universe that is still in control. And how do you walk through life? So there is this inability of people to control the world that we live in and recognize that God and God alone is in control.

And I can't quite understand everything. And that brings us to the third book of Job, where we all know Job. Who doesn't know Job? How many of you felt like you are Job? I mean, when you go through a trial, Job is, I guess, kind of up there in terms of the trials that happen.

But ultimately, if you look at the beginning and the end of Job, you get to see something about God and His sovereign plans and the state of Job pre-trial. Godly man, like Proverbs. And then when you come to the end of Job, and with a whole wrestling of dealing with trials, how do I grapple and understand and walk through this horrible tragedies that I am a part of?

And then the end comes where God reveals Himself. And there's a solution to this, the circumstances of Job that have nothing to do with any of the questions that Job actually asked. Job has zero insight into all that happened in the throne room of heaven.

But the one thing Job walks away with, he has met his God. He has gotten to see God in a powerful way. And that just transforms him. He has no desire for an answer anymore because he trusts his God through life.

And God commends Job for it. And we will see how these are the principles that govern our lives too. Many a time I go through a trial, I'm like, oh, I want an answer. I want a solution. It's like, maybe God just is gonna show Himself to you in a way that you just had no idea before the trial.

And I think each of us can look at some of the trials that we've faced in the past and say, I remember, I went through that trial, no resolution in a earthly justice kind of way, but I know my God better.

I have been transformed more into the image of Christ through this trial. And I thank God for it. I'll pause here. Now I'm gonna jump into Psalm 86. But before I do that, any thoughts, comments, questions before we read Psalm 86?

Right.

I can tend to talk a little too fast. If you don't understand me, tell me and I'll slow down. All right, so the way I'm gonna do this is, as we read Psalm 86, I gave you a little bit of a look for this.

What I'm gonna try to help you through reading Psalm 86 now is specifically in the area of worry and fear. If you have a specific trial, how do you understand that you are in a trial, the underlying fears and worries that are probably holding you back from living life with confidence, hope, and joy?

What are the means that God has provided in this particular Psalm and in all the Psalms in the entire Bible in order to find that confidence and hope when you don't have it? And just for us to work this out together, here's one way in which you can actually draw counsel for yourself as you read the scriptures when you go through trials.

So you could be thinking of,.

This particular Psalm is a lament Psalm. If I have time, after we finish walking through the Psalm, I'll come back and give you a little bit more context on how to look at the different Psalms. And in this particular lament Psalm category, what are some of the concepts that you wanna be thinking of?

Because we would have already done that in our walk through Psalm 86. But in this particular Psalm, there is an adversity that David has. And the one thing that you wanna be thinking of is, is there an adversity you currently have in the trial that you face?

Would that actually translate into this particular application of this text? So we study what happens with David and what he's asking God for, and then say, well, is my situation in some way, shape or form similar to this?

Do I actually have a actual adversary like David? I hope nobody's trying to kill you. But you might feel like that sometimes. Maybe it might be a parent or a child or a sibling or a manager or a landlord or a colleague, somewhere, something, some trial, you might be having an adversary.

And it may not even be a person, it might be my finances are just way too messed up. I don't know where I'm gonna pay my rent from. This is the trial that I'm actually walking through. Or the best adversary that I always face.

Well, best or worst is me. I messed up so bad. And now I have to deal with the cleanup and I don't know how to do it. Or I keep messing up over and over again. How do I deal with this particular mess?

Lord, I need help. So you can fill in the blank. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna now walk through Psalm 86. I'm gonna ask you some questions since we've already read it. You at least have like the major layout, but keep your Bibles open.

And I'm gonna walk through some questions. I'd like you to give me some answers and then we'll fill them out and then go step by step as we say, how do I get counsel from this particular Psalm when I go through a trial?

Is that clear?

All right, good.

So let's switch to Psalm 86 and I am on the right page. All right, so easy question. It gets harder. So if you wanna answer, I'd check that off. That was your time. Okay, looking at Psalm 86, the whole chapter, what is David's lament?

What is he complaining about? What is his problem? What do you see? Excellent, right in verse one, poor and needy, full points.

What else?

There is implicitly something behind that that he's like calling out there.

Excellent.

And there is something more explicit later in the chapter. Can you see it? What he is, right, right. There's a lot going on in him. This trial has impacted him and it's a lament that is actually coming out in his tears and in his emotions.

I thought I saw a hand this side.

Yes.

Right, right.

And I think, you know, the Psalms, like when you think of your own prayers when you're deeply in anguish, you don't just go with a, here's my step point one, point two. They're all gonna get jumbled in together.

And that poor and needy in verse one is kind of expressed in a lot of different ways as you look through the Psalm. This is my need. This is my trial. And I think the specific one is verse 14. That's his problem that he's facing.

And the lament comes in all of these various forms. In verse 17, again, he says, there are those who hate me, this band of men in 14, that he is looking for help from. So his lament is around this particular trial that he needs help on.

So that's question number one. The second question, you already started answering it. So I'll call out the ones you've answered and let's see if we can pick out a few more. The emotion or the feeling that the Psalmist goes through in his current situation is expressed in a couple of terms that are used here.

I heard, I cry all the day. That's his current emotion in response to that particular trial. I think, did I hear gladden the heart as well? Because he is not glad. He needs something because he is struggling.

What other verses do you think of that might be expressing his emotion or how he feels as he's walking through this trial? That's excellent. Now, the thing is, this is the part of the mixing part. His response to the trial, I don't think is necessarily that yet, but that's where he will be and is driving toward.

He wants to get to that point of being glad. Yes, yes, please read it out.

And when you think of plea,.

You want to be thinking of like, you're just begging. And that's the idea of like, I just don't have any help in me and that's kind of expressing itself out in pleas. There's a few others that I was thinking of, but you know what, for the interest of time, let's move through.

I just want you to think there's a lament, there is an emotional component to how we respond to this particular trial. The third thing is, and this is important. Now we are coming into self-reflection as you walk through this trial.

This may be a little harder. We don't normally do this. The key counsel is going to come later, but here the question is, what reasons does David give to God in order for God to deliver him? He's petitioning God for deliverance.

What are the reasons that David is giving? Just look through the Psalms and say, here's why, yes, man. Excellent, that's verse two, right? For you, O Lord, are good, forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

So this is the nature and character of God. And because of that, he is actually asking for help.

Yes, amen.

Why do you think, and let me just, let's pause here for a moment. So far we were just like trying to figure out what David was doing. Why would David be stating this? None like you, O God, among the nations, yes?

And why would we possibly invoke this reason when we ask God for help? And that from five through eight, you have that trend coming through. There is a forgiveness part of it. If you look at verse six, there is the grace part of it.

And then verse seven, the answering in trouble. And then here he ends with none like you because you are a merciful and a forgiving God, yes? Absolutely. And I think, you know, theologically, I don't think there's anybody else here who says, oh, I know someone else other than God who can help.

We all know God is the only one who helps. But when I'm in my trial, when my emotions have overpowered me, when I'm getting counsel from all around saying, you know, do this, do that, and do every other thing, and my, you know, heart is divided on multiple levels, do you think it's God who needs to hear this?

Well, God, I hope you remember you're the only God like no one else. I absolutely need to, because the first thing I do when I run into a trial is get divided, fractured, and running off in a thousand different directions.

Chicken without a head, you know, that's me. And the truth is I need my head back on. I want to be able to focus on the Lord and recognize that He and He alone is the source of my health. And that's exactly where counseling begins.

I need to know that my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. All right, so let's keep going. Get excited when we talk about God. So what else do you see? What are some of the reasons He's giving in His petition for deliverance?

Yes, excellent. So, you know, there is a part of which is looking backward that God has delivered my soul from Sheol. And what can we all say as believers in Christ? The riches of the mercies that we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who rescued me from sin and death.

And from damnation.

I mean, I look back at that and say, if He rescued me from that, yeah, this puny little murderer against me,.

He can handle that.

Excellent.

Did I see your hand?

Yes.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you know, many a time I look at a problem and I think I've got it. You know, it's got this thing under control. I need to come to the point of recognizing that it is the Lord who is my help.

He is my fortress. He is my strength. And He verbalizes it as He's calling upon God.

Excellent.

Any other hands?

Yes, thank you.

And I'm gonna go to Philippians in a little bit when we apply. And that's a key part of recognizing my salvation that has come from the Lord in the past that helps me have confidence that He will help me in the present.

Yes.

That's an excellent question.

And I was hoping this would come up earlier than it did, but we needed Wes to bring it out. This is one of those things that you will see repeatedly in the Psalms. There are times when David would say, God, I just messed up big time.

I need your forgiveness. This is my sin that I've drawn upon my own head. My bones are out of joint. My heart is waxing because I am now in the calamity that I have invoked upon myself. And your chastisement is heavy upon me.

I need forgiveness and I need your grace. There are times when he would call upon his own error. In this particular Psalm, although as we talked about, there is this component on forgiveness that is mentioned.

We can infer, not all the Psalms you can always connect to a specific incident in David's life and say, he's saying this because that event happened. And I say, ah, this is the trial. He was unjustly persecuted or something.

But from this particular Psalm, it looks like David is not thinking, oh, these adversities are my chastisement for something I've done. He is in this particular instance, whatever it is that these people are dealing with him, he, I think, has done his self-reflection and he's like, this is not a chastisement for what I see as best as he can see.

And in this particular situation,.

David is a little tricky.

Because depending on when he's writing, he is actually the King of Israel. He's representing the people of God and God himself among the nations as all of these other people are coming against him. So we will see later in the Psalm that an attack against David as King would be an attack against God himself.

So it is a vindication of God that happens as David is preserved and he is shown to be righteous or successful against these enemies. So that is the two components that you wanna watch out for when you look at the Psalms.

And also recognize that what David is asking for personally may not just be that, I know I need to live. It's the purposes of God carrying forth in the nation of Israel through the King, the anointed King David that showcases God's purposes being not thwarted in this trial.

Does that help? And that's exactly how we would apply. I mean, I'm not in David's circumstance, but when I go before God, I'm not appealing to my own righteousness. I'm appealing to, I'm a child of God.

God's given me his righteousness. My position is secure. And it is out of that that I recognize my own need to unite my heart in focusing on fearing the Lord. Excellent, I'm glad you brought that up, yes.

And that's how the Beatitudes begins.

Does it not?

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

And amen, all right.

Just a couple more things and we'll keep moving on. What other attributes of God do you see here or exercise of God's attribute toward David that you see here in the Psalm that he's giving us reasons?

So those are some descriptive passages in the Old Testament that talk about that. But I think the key to remember is someone may listen to that and say, oh, I know God is merciful and gracious, but it's a completely different thing when you're like right in the middle of that battle and you need God's mercy or his grace now.

And you are like remembering that thus has the Lord exhibited his mercies, either in the Old Testament in the way that he dealt with his people or with me in my circumstance in the past. Excellent, yes, Mark.

Amen, do you wanna just expand on that just a little bit? Why might that be steadfast love in particular as a key attribute in my relationship with God?

Amen.

And when he talks about being divided.

Right, exhibits towards us, yeah, amen. And I think of this as the covenant love that he has to his people in Jesus Christ. I am positionally his child and I know that I don't have to fear, why? Because God has covenanted his love toward me and that love never ever changes.

He always sees me through the work of his son and our savior, excellent. So yes, amen, amen. You are not a God who is far off, but you are near to us. And I think there are trials we go through where we feel like everybody has abandoned us.

I haven't seen any path through this that it feels like God is far off and I need to remember, no, he is ever present, he is with me when I can't quite see him or feel him the way I would like to. The Bible promises us that, I mean, Jesus promises that I will never leave you nor forsake you.

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And these are truths that I have to remind myself because I can get forgetful. When I get depressed, I feel like, there's nobody else around me. That diameter is just spreading darker and darker and no one else, God doesn't seem to care.

And I have to remember, no, that's just my folly because I have let the trial and the emotion kind of just overwhelm me and I need to look up and see, no, my God is right there. He is actually within me, the spirit of God indwells me.

And anyway, we'll keep going. So there's a few more things to do and then we'll wrap this up. I don't think we'll be able to get into the context. Bill, I understand that you normally go to the prayer in the morning, is that true?

Oh, yeah.

Okay, because I'm supposed to be leading it. So if I run a little late and you wanna get started, please do.

All right.

Okay, so there is something that the psalmist say, I'm just gonna give that to you. There is a forward looking aspect in the psalmist here and I'm just gonna call it out. In verse 12, he says, I give thanks to you, oh Lord, my God, with my whole heart.

When you go through a trial, you don't see the way out of it, then you turn your eyes toward the Lord, you recognize who he is, what he has done that he's able, you plead to him and ask him for help in the midst of your trouble.

And then as you are speaking with them, that fear and worry starts to turn into confidence and hope. And then you start to give thanks to God because your heart has changed from being consumed by the problem to be encouraged by the vision of God that you now have, that has taken hold of your spirit.

And then in the end of that verse, he says, I will glorify your name forever. There is something outcome of this thing that you are looking for as well. In all circumstances, I wanna think of, I wanna be transformed into the image of Christ and this trial ought to bring forth the glory of God.

And I will not be silent in giving thanks and praise and ascribe the results back to God for what he has done for me. So many times I pray, I get things and then I have my next prayer because I completely forgotten what God has done for me.

That's horrible.

Just imagine if you just kept helping somebody and they just come, okay, now my next trial is this. I just bailed you out, man. Can you say thanks? You know, the thing is, that's the struggle that we will face if we don't remember to turn back to our God and put those anchors down.