Living Confidently In The Lord - [Psalm 86]

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

0 views

0 comments

00:00
The summer I've been able to teach a couple of times and we begin kind of going through this material in the
00:08
Psalms and the goal of this thing I'm Those of you who were here last time you have probably forgotten what we did
00:14
But the goal was just to pick some Psalms and then look at how they apply to specific
00:20
Circumstances in our lives and how do we call upon the Lord in our time of need and it was put in the broader context
00:29
Counseling so if someone comes to you with a specific Need how do you?
00:36
Go to the scriptures and how do you actually minister to them? from the scriptures and particularly the
00:43
Psalms when they are dealing with a specific problem and today's the area of our need we're going to be looking at it's titled living confidently in the
00:54
Lord and Here at BBC we don't have you know, ten steps to living confidently it's not a man -centered approach to solving our problems, but rather we look to the
01:05
Lord in order to receive from him the Help we need in our times of need
01:13
So I want to begin with this term fear Fear My Littlest one is going to kindergarten for the first time this year, and I think she has a little bit of that trepidation in her heart, and I'm sure she's excited a lot, but it's always a little there's always a little element of fear there when you go exploring the unknown meeting strange people and Expect to do things that you have no idea what you're supposed to do
01:45
I mean we have great teachers who are able to help them through that But there is always so that's one example of fear, you know someone just moving into the unknown
01:53
Can you think of some other examples of fear that you and I more frequently run into?
01:59
What are some? Causes of fear or some triggers of fear in our lives financial fear so You your job me your if your if your company is downsizing
02:18
You may be afraid of how you can provide for your family food on the table keeping your mortgages up that can be a fear
02:25
What are the fears? commonly a sailors Yes health
02:36
Very real and there are some ailments that are very serious and that can put you on your back and not be able to function anymore and And can cause death and so there can be this fear of losing a life or being unable to live productively and Actually, I remember this before just before summer.
02:58
I had this Thing called poison ivy and I was like poison ivy, you know, it's just an itchy thing.
03:04
I you know, you wash it and How little we know what we should be thankful for when your skin functions well and Yeah, and actually they put me on Steroids and I knew what panic attack was
03:19
Not a good thing Great so you can have various causes of for fear now fear in itself
03:28
Let me actually get into the material now and then now we'll we'll unpack this How do we live confident in the midst of fear or when you are assailed by fear due to various circumstances?
03:40
That come your way So in your handout if you don't have one, please raise your hands,
03:45
I think we might have some extra copies Do we have does anyone have extra copies of the handout?
03:58
Oh Okay, we have some does anybody need copies of the handout. Just raise your hand. We'll make sure you get one
04:04
Okay Great. Okay so in in the first point you have there we have the relationship between fear and confidence now when you have
04:16
The examples that we looked at where those things that actually tend to bring us down bring Make us not function properly, but in contrast to that we have something that is called the fear of the
04:29
Lord and In fact, it is the fear of the Lord that gives us a confident
04:36
Outlook on life to be able to live life the way that we were intended to live I'm going to just briefly touch upon this
04:41
We'll come back to it a little later when we actually look at the psalm itself When you have a healthy and a reverential fear, let me put it this way an awe of God that Fills your eyes when you look at the world when you see it through the lens of the
04:58
God who made this world Who is in control of this world the one to whom you are ultimately accountable?
05:05
It gives you a very healthy outlook for you to be able to walk with boldness and with confidence
05:11
Why is that? Why would you think that a fear of the Lord would actually cause you to live?
05:17
Confidently just a very quick answer and then we'll move on What would be one reason for us to have yes,
05:30
I think that kind of summarizes it But I'll just give you a little example for you to picture this
05:36
I mentioned began by talking about my kid going to Sunday school not Sunday school. She is in Sunday school going to kindergarten now
05:44
As we grow up when you're little the whole world is strange, you know You have no idea what is going on as you're just venturing out when you grow up You just figure out the world is stranger.
05:55
There's a lot more that you don't know that then you thought when you were little End of the day we are not
06:03
God There is lots of things in our little lives or big lives that we have absolutely no control over But when you do know the know the person who has all of these things in control the one person who is bigger than every other thing that you will ever meet the one person who
06:22
Is absolutely and fully in charge and when you are standing in a right relationship with this person?
06:29
That gives you a great confidence in terms of no matter what circumstance you and I will go through In fact as part of the trials, we will look at first Peter in a bit
06:39
God intends for trials to sanctify us to purify us to make us more like him and as you face challenges
06:46
You are going to experience trepidation and fear may not be far behind and The Bible gives us the means to face these in a godly way
06:56
By looking to God to trusting in him to have a right all and a reverence of God that helps us to move
07:03
Forward and to live the way that God has intended us to live. So we talked about two kinds of fear the first kind of fear fear that is actually good is the fear that actually
07:15
Reveals God has a right all and trust toward God Now the second kind which is not the good kind is the ungodly fear
07:26
And I'm going to be used using just one thread of this There's a lot that can be unpacked from here the area that I'm going to work on or we'll work on today from the scriptures is
07:35
This aspect of fear that can actually produce what I call laziness now
07:44
When you have fears that are illegitimate the the right kind of fear is to fear
07:50
God but if we have the wrong kind of fear the fears that overwhelm us by Us focusing on what ought not to causes fear and anxiety or worry
08:01
Those can tend to stifle the life that we are intended to live So you look at something before you it just fills the world as you see it
08:11
It is so terrifying that you just can't move forward because this particular trial is huge If you take financial troubles, for example, you know you you lose a job
08:21
Suddenly, you don't know where you're going to get your next The money from to take care of your house and then instead of going actively and looking for more jobs
08:29
It can tend to paralyze people to say My brain is kind of shut down I don't know how to have the will to move forward and to live the way that God has intended me to live now
08:40
Like I said, this is just one thread. There's a lot of other things we can pull out of here But I'm just going to focus on that to say how do you live?
08:46
Confidently in the midst of those trials in the midst of those fears that can threaten you I'm going to just give two illustrations from the scriptures
08:54
These are not instructive in the sense that these are not the main points of these texts But I think those are good side points for us to just keep in mind as we move as we get into Applying this in our lives.
09:06
You don't have to turn to either of these The first one isn't is from Matthew 25 14 through 30 and this is actually the parable of the talents
09:14
I was just teaching this two three weeks ago in junior church It's actually very good when you dive into this here.
09:19
You have the master who's going away and he gives five Two and one talent to each of his three servants the man with the five talents
09:29
Invest or uses it profitably and gets five more the guy with the two does the same and he gets two more and then the guy
09:36
With a one he actually digs and hides it down. He doesn't do anything with that talent and Then when he's questioned in verse 25, he says
09:46
I was afraid And the reason he was afraid was because he had a wrong view of his master in that context it's the wrong view of God He says
09:55
I I knew you to be a hard man, you know, you're not a kind man You you gather where you do not scatter any seed you you are in in one sense he's accusing
10:07
God of wickedness and so I was afraid and I went and hid it in the ground and The response of the master is very instructive there as well.
10:15
He says His view of the servant is very different than the servants view of himself.
10:21
He said you wicked and Slothful or lazy servant if you knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I have no seed then why didn't you take it to the bank and Invest it rather than dig it and hide it and one of the challenges that we will see here is the wrong kind of fear
10:38
Tends us not to utilize the gifts and talents that God has blessed us with and rather to Sinfully use them the second example actually comes from 1st
10:48
Kings 19 3 to 8 very famous passage of Elijah He has just finished this huge Event at Mount Carmel where all the prophets of Baal are defeated
10:59
God sends down fire to vindicate himself on the offering and then these prophets of Baal are destroyed and then you have this
11:06
Queen Jezebel who threatens the life of Elijah and What you see there is the fear that grips this man of God here is a here is
11:14
Elijah who has seen this mighty display of God's power vindicating himself among an apostate nation and Then when he was threatened by Jezebel we read in verse 3
11:24
He was afraid he ran for his life and then in verse 4 He says he asked that he might die and then in verse 5
11:33
He lies down and sleeps for a few days before the Lord ministers and takes him to where he needs to go and the challenge that I'm going to be focusing on here is there are certain fears that can just cripple us and leave us unprofitable and Unuseful and we have all the means that God has provided for us in the scriptures to look to God to have the right fear of God that governs our hearts so that we can live our lives in a way that is in submission to God's will and honoring him
12:06
So let's now Let me actually add a few more things here So the illegitimate fear translates to a lack of confidence in what we ought to do and Laziness by itself can actually be other causes rather than fear.
12:23
It could be because I'm selfish I don't want to do what I want to do but the but the issue here that we are going to focus on is when
12:30
I Let me put it this way from a counseling standpoint You might see some symptoms and then you might work your way back towards the cost of those symptoms.
12:39
So if I'm shrinking back from Responsibility if God has given me something to do and then
12:45
I find myself not doing those things You may want to trace those back to see what is the reason? That I am not doing what
12:53
God has ordained me to do Is it because I fear certain things that might be one cause or do
12:58
I not have the right fear of God? That enables me to look at this life that God has given me in order to live it the way
13:06
God has ordained me to do and just here a few more Thoughts before we get in.
13:12
I think it's helpful for us to recognize who we are in Christ One of the things that sometimes we as we live in the world is we can be surrounded by trials
13:22
We can be surrounded by people who are struggling with trials But in Christ we read in Romans 8 37 that we are more than conquerors we are victorious people in Christ in Ephesians 6 11 when it talks about the
13:38
How a Christian is equipped to face the assaults of the enemy we are called warriors basically, you know, we have everything we need in order to be
13:48
On the defensive to be defending ourselves against the assaults of the wicked one in 1st
13:54
Corinthians 9 24 to 27 we see this imagery of Athlete you and I are not just you know couch potatoes
14:01
We are intended to press forward to strive and to labor in this life with all the means and the tools that God has given us and we are to press on lay aside everything that hinders and I think one of the
14:15
Challenges when we are tempted to Step back shrink back is to recognize.
14:20
This is who we are and we want to look to God's strength in order to Accomplish what
14:25
God wants us to do now some of the examples of fear we saw were financial health
14:30
What the future might hold and in other cases, what are the actions of people that are around us?
14:38
in fact the Psalms that we are going to be looking at are going to focus on specific trials that come from others that can
14:45
Debilitate us sometimes may be hurt Emotionally sometimes threatened for their lives and we want to see how
14:52
God helps this psalmist and how we can actually
14:58
Draw strength from the Lord in similar trials of our own. All right, so I I have two handouts here.
15:07
Let me Make sure I have the right one Okay. So in the second point in your notes we have developing
15:18
Confidence so one of the things that as a Counselor or to yourself
15:24
I talked about this last time some of these times you need to Look to the scripture to counsel yourself in the word to look rightly toward God is how do you live develop this?
15:33
Confidence the first one is to look to and learn a right godly fear
15:38
So when you exalt him the Lord in your heart When you learn to love him and to trust him and to have this right reverential awe of God That is key in order to live a life that is confident before God and this psalm will illustrate that For us and then the second thing and I think this is very important is to have the right goal
16:03
Here those of you who are regular probably hear this over and over again But I think it's helpful for us to reiterate this very often when
16:10
I'm in a trial I want to get out of the trial My goal is to overcome this trial or get out of this trial find some way out of it
16:18
If I don't have finances, I need finances and that's the only thing that I can see and I think we want to be careful to recognize that our
16:26
Purpose here on earth is not just our little world that we live in We are placed here by God for his sovereign
16:34
Purposes and we are here to fulfill that purpose for which he has placed us so that purpose might involve walking through that financial trial for a little longer than what you and I might prefer or going through that bed of ill health
16:50
Longer than we want but God It is God's purpose and his honor and his glory that ought to be foremost in my mind
16:59
While I'm walking through that trial and when you have the right goal in mind You will be able to then look through those
17:04
At those circumstances through the eyes of God so that you can say here is what I can look here is how
17:10
I can live confidently No matter the circumstances in which I live in I do not need to be dependent on the circumstances
17:17
In order to have the confidence because I'm dependent on God alone so to have the right goal is key when we look to the scriptures and its examples of how
17:27
God ministers to his Saints All right, so moving on to the third point there are a few
17:32
Psalms here So you can pick any of these later if you want to study them that are called that are categorized as these
17:39
Psalms of confidence Looking forward to the future in the midst of yes
18:32
Excellent if I can re -amplify that amplification I Mean that was just very true.
18:38
I I was going to talk about that, but I had missed it It is always good
18:44
Ephesians 4 our goal is to equip you So that you are prepared as you walk into those trials very often when you are in the trial it is very hard to see
18:53
You know rightly, but if you are equipped before then as you're walking into the trial You your mind is already guarded in terms of how to look at this trial.
19:02
You may still be Feeling the fear you may be struggling with walking rightly, but you know how to look to the scriptures and look to those
19:12
Look to God in those trials and like pastors Steve Just said we are here with one another so that we may help one another in those times so sometimes when
19:21
I'm Like on that bed with that panic attack. It's good that I have a wife who can tell me
19:27
You know the world hasn't ended. There is a Lord on his throne, and that's what we do with one another as well and but these types of These times of equipping is to make sure that we have our we guard our hearts and our minds so that when we go through those
19:41
Trials, but we look to the scriptures rightly So those psalms that you have here.
19:48
These are all actually called lament psalms a lament psalm for confidence
19:55
So that's what we're going to look at and I'll explain what a lament psalm is and why these psalms are actually
20:04
Meant to gain confidence for the believer And so let me maybe just jump right into it.
20:10
I'm going to actually no Let me let me go through this in a little bit more Now the purpose of these psalms are not intended
20:23
To just commiserate so here is a psalmist who's lamenting here am
20:28
I you know in my woes? Okay, I have a partner to cry with let's just sit together, and you know have a good weep
20:34
That's not the goal of these Lament psalms the lament psalms. I mean they are there in the scriptures because here is someone who is going through a very intense trial
20:44
Who is who is brutally honest with what he is feeling and experiencing and he explains it?
20:51
Explains the circumstances of his trial he explains the impact of this trials on him. It's not I think explainers of Not the best word because psalms are just like gut sense
21:02
Here is how he where he is and he just pours out his heart before the Lord and you can actually identify with him but you can identify with him further because this is a man of God who trusts in God through the trial and Draws from the
21:15
Lord and gains confident in the midst of his trial, and that's basically why they are there in the scriptures So we too can learn from the psalmist on how we can trust when we feel the same way as this lament psalms
21:27
Begin because they often end with it with a triumph and with the confidence that you would be surprised to find if you just read
21:34
The first few verses you wouldn't think they would end that way. So let me go through the components of a lament psalm
21:40
So the first one is the address and introductory cry for help So if you look at these lament psalms, they always often just begin
21:48
With a cry it's normally stark. It's like Lord save me And there is just a
21:57
Pleading and a crying out to God and that's basically how most of them actually begin and then you have the lament proper and that is basically
22:07
Will describe the trial that the psalmist goes goes through So sometimes he will say, you know Here are the people who are against me as we will see and some of these might be longer and others might be shorter
22:18
But they have three sections and I think those sections are helpful for us as we equip ourselves
22:24
To I don't know analyze the circumstance that we are going through Sometimes he will be talking about the cause of his trial
22:33
So there may be some people who are out there to get him and he will say here is what is going on Here are my enemies who are doing this to me and then he will say, you know
22:43
Here am I the second component would be here am I and this is what is going on in my life
22:49
I fear for my life. I am I am Destitute and he will talk about his state in the midst of the trial and then the third component would be
22:59
God and very often it'll be in the first person talking to a second person to God you
23:04
Oh God And he will talk certain things about God. So he will be talking about the trial he'll be talking about himself and then he'll be talking about the
23:11
God who is Who is the object of that psalmist? In treaty the prayer the cry now when you look at the lemon some you will
23:23
That is a lamentation Sometimes when you look at the lemon some you you will start to see the tension that the psalmist is experiencing between those the circumstances that are brought on upon him that's causing these trials and the
23:41
Need to trust in God and that is basically the goal of counseling through these psalms for us to be able to Identify and look to the
23:48
Lord in our time of need then the last section the next section we have is the petition proper and Here he is actually going to ask
23:57
God to deliver him to to help him in his time of need sometimes he would repeat the cry for help and then
24:07
And and these petitions sometimes involve two things one is to entreat the
24:12
Lord's Eyes to be upon him. So sometimes you the psalmist feels so destitute that God has almost abandoned him and he calls
24:20
God to look Upon him or to pay attention Those are the kind of terms that you will see in these lemon Psalms and then he would ask the
24:28
Lord to actually Rescue him save me deliver me from these circumstances those are the two things in the petition or the request that the psalmist would actually make and One of the things that's very interesting here and here the psalmist actually gets very theological
24:42
You may actually have to study it to gain this because he would actually give some reasons Why the
24:48
Lord ought to do so and he would drop on the character of God. Here is Who you are
24:54
Lord that I am aware of and I know that you do not abandon your people and here is who
24:59
I am I am one who have trusted in you So he would he would bring upon the theological reasons for himself to recognize
25:06
What is the basis of what he is asking for? In fact when we look to our prayers, we are to pray
25:13
In Jesus name We are to pray according to the will of God and that's basically what the psalmist is doing here
25:19
He's saying why should God answer me and he is drawing out those reasons as he as he prays to God and you will see those in the
25:25
Psalms and and then he would And actually at that point it actually start would start to shift as you would say
25:34
What is my goal in life? My goal Oh Lord is to declare your praises in the midst of your assembly several of the
25:41
Psalms will have that my goal is not just to be here out in the in the Wilderness and die without your praises on my name
25:49
I want to come before your people and I want to thank you and praise you for what you are doing you are going to Do in my life and other times you would say
25:56
I'll give you some references if you're taking them down The one that I just mentioned is from Psalm 6 7 and other times
26:02
Psalm 42 10 It is the honor of God that is at stake and I want your name to be honored your honor to be exalted in this time and another times it's just that my need is a very great need and Psalm 54 5
26:16
He needs to be saved and then at in Psalm 51 verse 4
26:23
His need for deliverance is because he has done what is expected in the midst of his sin
26:28
Which is to confess his sin before God I have confessed my sin and then at other times big it is an issue of justice
26:37
You know that this is a place where I am innocent Oh Lord and here the wicked have surrounded me
26:42
Psalm 59 3 to 41 and Then and the one common thread and all of these would be the nature of God and one of those examples is in Psalm 86
26:51
Versus 3 to 15 and he says I want your name your character and your your name to be exalted and I want to give you two references here very quickly.
27:02
I realize we're completely out of going slow I'll just put point them and I'll move on the first one is first John 3 21
27:09
It talks about the boldness and the confidence we have to approach God with our requests and our petitions and the second one is
27:16
John 14 30 John 14 13 where we can indeed ask for these things in God's name because the
27:24
Lord because God is honored in our request and the last piece here is the vow of praise or Declarative praise and that's the heartbeat of the psalm where you see the lament actually turn into praise
27:37
Here is this person where he is still in this trial Still in the problem, but his the
27:43
Lord has done some work in his heart where he no longer is in a state of lamentation but he is in in a
27:52
Exuberance of praise because his heart has been gripped with the glory of God and his heart is
27:57
Knows that God will deliver him in the manner in his particular trial So let me let me just move on to the next thing which is the steps in the lament
28:07
Psalms And we're going to use Psalm 86 to walk through this. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Psalm 86 and We will walk through it rather quickly,
28:17
I think it would help to read this again when you go back home But I'll I'll kind of point out what
28:23
I just mentioned in the psalm so that you can see how the psalmist Progresses through his trial and how we can draw upon the help of our
28:31
Lord in trial similar to these I'm not going to read the entire psalm.
28:37
I'm just going to point Some of these verses so you can actually look to them as I'm walking through them
28:50
Someone read for me verse 1 and that actually Actually, if you can just scan through it
29:00
I think we have enough time for this scan through some 86 and tell me if you find out what is lamentous.
29:07
What is his Situation that he is so desperate for why do you think he is penning this psalm?
29:14
What is his lament? If you find something in a verse just blurt it out this there's a few of those.
29:23
Yes, that's right
29:31
So here is this actual circumstance these people have raised up against him. That's verse 14. That's one of the laments anyone else
29:37
Anything else you see here in verse 1?
29:43
Yes, I am poor and needy and that's a consequence of this verse 14 I am in in a desperate straight.
29:49
So that's the second thing we see there Anything else you see I think there's one more verse here.
29:55
Yes Yes, actually
30:01
That is part of the lament and we're going to unpack that more in In the impact that this lament has upon him.
30:08
Yes Yes Yeah, that actually will come
30:19
In terms of his reasons for God's deliverance, so when it comes to the lament
30:24
He is just pointing out what his problems are and in verse 1 and in verse 14. Yes Yeah, so he's pointing to the issue that is going on there.
30:34
There is desperate trouble for him, which was laid out in verse 14 and And in verse 17 you also see those who hate me and that's again a repetition of verse 14
30:46
So that's it gives you a little picture of what was going on in the psalmist life people have come against him and he is in a state of poverty and neediness and it's out of that that he that he's crying out and and as I mentioned
31:07
Okay, let me let me move on to the next question So the next question is note any references the psalmist might make towards how he is feeling to his present
31:14
Situation or any references to the future? Any verses that stick out that talk about the way he's feeling actually,
31:29
I think Yes, that's right.
31:37
So that and that's the opposite So you he wants to be gladdened because right now he is not gladdened and he is actually depressed
31:47
Laid low and he needs and he is indicating that in his current state of feeling by what he wants to be
32:09
Which was did he say? Verse 11 teach me away and yet here are the opposite So what he needs actually tells us again what he doesn't so and many a time when you go through trials
32:21
You do not see clearly you do not know What would be the way of the Lord in the midst of those trials?
32:27
And so here he is in treating the Lord to teach him because he doesn't see it Charlie. You said yeah
32:39
Because as a consequence these people who are over me who do not see God or The state of this person that they would actually be he would be vindicated through the
32:49
Lord's help Let me point out a few more verses So in verse 3 which
32:57
West mentioned Here he was crying all day long. I mean his feeling was one of great sorrow
33:04
We great great suffering and depression was to preserve my life
33:10
He is feeling that his life is is forfeit. He's going to die Verse 4 we saw
33:15
Gladden and then in verse 11 In addition to teach me it also says unite my heart to fear your name
33:23
Because right now he may be fearing his adversaries more than he ought to fear God So his mind is now scattered in all these circumstances and he says unite me
33:32
So there's only one person I ought to fear and there is God so I need that because right now my mind is distracted in all these things and then so that's that's
33:43
That gives you a state the state of the psalmist as you go through the psalm now in this next one
33:48
What specific reasons does he give God in his petition for deliverance and there may be more than one for this?
33:54
What what is the reason that God he wants God to deliver him? Excellent Very clear and I think as each of you who trust in God That's basically like a child going to the father and saying daddy.
34:19
I need help and I'm your child. That's basically verse 2 Yes, Peggy, right
34:31
And I think that's it's helpful to note this because when you just read through it fast You might say
34:36
I know this God is merciful and gracious low to anger love and faithfulness of God But those need to be
34:42
Fixed in our minds through those trials because in those trials when I'm just looking at all the other circumstances I need to remind myself and recognize
34:50
The power of God and his love toward us and that's the character of God in verse 15
34:56
Someone else That's continuing the theme of the character of God Yes Mm -hmm.
35:16
That's right. And before that again the graciousness of God. He is gracious and he is strong Okay, there's there's a few more here, but I'll skip through So we can actually finish the psalm
35:30
So the next one is what is the vow that the psalmist makes and I need to explain this a little bit more
35:35
But can you see something that the psalmist says he will? Do or fulfill that's right
35:49
And I think they together they kind of give you the two sides of this coin. The first one being that in in verse 11 that I might walk in your truth, but I may
36:01
Be taught of you and I might live the way that you have intended me to live and in verse 12 he has
36:11
This I will glorify your name Forever and I think the implication there as you would see in the other
36:18
Psalms is Come together in the assembly of God and to praise him now I want to just say this because the term valve sounds should sound odd because I think we're more familiar with those
36:30
Quid pro quo deals where you know God I'll I promise you to do this you get me out of here
36:37
And that's not the mindset of the psalmist It's not like I'm going to do this and therefore you need to do this to me
36:42
It is because God is gracious. God is steadfast. God is loving and God is committed to his people and this is a given and Here the psalmist is recognizing his responsibility in order to give thanks to God for what
36:57
God is Actually committed to doing to his people. It is not the other way around So and I want to be very clear with that because as a you know human interactions
37:05
We are more used to transactions. I give this and you give this back to me But here the transaction is is all on the basis of God and his character his commitment to us that we will not be faithless
37:16
And I think that's the context of the valve is like, okay. God rescued me now. I go back to watching TV You know, that's not what the psalmist is saying
37:22
That's how I was to say, you know I am committed to the way of following in the way of the Lord and I will Glorify my
37:27
God when this trouble is over and not forget about my God All right Now in your in your notes and in quick point number two
37:37
Do you find the problems in our lives that match the psalmist lamin in either general or specific terms?
37:45
So so you have a whole bunch of psalms here. Some of the psalms like I said deal with us Affliction brought around by other people.
37:52
So maybe you're in a job that You know unbelievers do not like you and they are out there to get you kicked out or You could be in a marriage situation which could be very difficult and troubling
38:04
Here are trials that are brought upon by others and you can very easily identify with the type of trials that the psalmist is going
38:12
Through so you may feel the same kind of Affliction and then the psalmist here is giving us and it's very nice because here
38:22
I am unpacking it for you But when you read these psalms in the midst of your trial You basically resonate with what this psalmist went through and you can see how the
38:30
Lord aided him in the midst of his trial as well Point number three apply the truths in the psalm
38:37
Directly to this counselee situation as if the counselee's problems with that of the psalmist
38:43
So when you see a genuine match between what is going on in that particular psalm and what is going on in the counselee's life?
38:50
these If I don't have to remind you again This is the Word of God God has given this revelation to us in order to minister to us to speak to us his truth
38:59
And that's basically what we are doing So we say this is how God aids his people and this is how my mind ought to Reflect the truths of God when
39:09
I am more tempted to lie down and bury myself and not act as we were talking earlier in the context of fear when
39:16
I am Unincapable of acting in the way that I ought to act you come here and see what the psalmist does and respond in like manner and And actually this questionnaire is something in point for help helpful for one who is ministering to another
39:46
But this is what I do when I am going through my trial I like to take one psalm and then meditate on it
39:53
That's basically what a questionnaire is as you walk through What is going on in the life of the psalmist and walk through what are those particular circumstances those symptoms that I see my fearfulness my inability to act my my my mind being scattered in a lot of different ways and then
40:11
I walk through those the Petitions of the psalmist and his his reflection upon God and his character and say here is what
40:19
I ought to do as well I know these truths, but they are not in the forefront of my mind and that's what the psalmist does for me the scriptures bring them out to the forefront so I can look to God in the right way and draw upon his strength to walk through it and the two things under 0 .4
40:35
We see how this deals with a specific problem that we are going through and then the second one is how you can respond to it
40:42
By imitating the attitude the heart attitude as well as the actions. What is it committed to doing in the midst of his problem?
40:50
and and Basically, you know if you want to think of it as a lifeline here is a
40:55
Psalm 86 being given out to us while we are in that deep well where we can see only blackness and darkness and One thing
41:03
I have to be careful and I will probably stop with this the fifth point To confirm in the mind of the counselee the principles of the psalm by one
41:12
At least one New Testament scriptures because the psalm is poetry it is written in a very generic manner
41:17
It is very easy for me to take a psalm and then make it, you know Psalm 2, you know,
41:23
I'm a child of God. I'm gonna be ruling in the I'm sorry, that was not a good joke.
41:31
Psalm 2 is a messianic. It's a messianic psalm I should not be taking that and applying it like, you know,
41:37
I am Jesus So that psalm intends to be applied only for Jesus So it's good for us to find a
41:43
New Testament affirmation of what we are studying in the psalms to make sure that we have We have rightly applied the psalm in our context
41:50
So some of the some some of the scriptures for this one are actually we'll probably stop with this will but we'll read it
41:58
Hebrews 13 5 if someone has it you can actually can someone take Hebrews 13 5. Can I see a hand?
42:05
To read it. You don't have to have it right now. Just okay pastor Steve Matthew 10 28
42:12
Anyone want to read that? Thank you. And then First Peter 1
42:17
Actually first Peter 3 13 to 16 and with that we'll stop up. Thank you will All right so we'll begin with the
42:25
Hebrews 13 5 and can you read the next verse 2 passes to you and here is the direct response to the financial fear that we just talked about God is the one who's providing he is with me at all times and If you talk about the issue of wicked people around me
42:58
What can man do to me when God is on my side? nothing because God helps me and I do not need to be afraid in that circumstance and then we have
43:08
Matthew 10 28 and again when
43:23
I am surrounded by assailants It may look very easy that these are the gods who rule over me but there is a there is someone who is in heaven who is
43:35
Over them all and I think the context of that verse is talking about, you know Where an unbeliever ought to put his trust in you know
43:42
He needs to fear God and make sure that his he cares for his soul as well But I think it's a good verse to just remind ourselves of the grandness and greatness of God God is not not just over this earth, but he's over heaven and earth over your body and your soul and then
43:57
First Peter 3 6 13 to 16. Thank you
44:31
And again, that is the famous apologetic context where you go and talk to unbelievers about the gospel
44:38
But you have no need to be afraid of them when they attack you or tear you down because your trust is in God I have one more
44:48
Actually, it should be in your notes in the bottom. I think Philippians 4 6 to 9 Right at the bottom of that page and I think that'll give you some
45:01
Pointers in terms of how we ought to think Rightly about God about his character and how to draw upon him while we might be in the midst of worries and anxieties
45:11
Because God is able to minister to us in the midst of those times. Let me stop here any questions
45:19
Yes, even excellent somebody with that will close
45:53
Dear God our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are indeed our helper in the midst of our troubles
45:59
You who have rescued us from hell and from our sin You are indeed able to preserve us and to use us for your kingdom here on earth
46:09
Help us a lot even this morning as we worship To lift our eyes toward you and To have a right view of who you are a great
46:19
God in heaven Who looks upon his people and ministers to us we thank you for your goodness in Jesus Christ in whose name we pray