Of Shadows and Sunshine

Transcript

JR 11
12/04/2022
Of Shadows and Sunshine
Psalm 13
Jesse Randolph

In Job 14:1, we are told that “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.” Elsewhere in Job, specifically in Job 5:7, we are told that “man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” While these words were written several thousand years ago, they are so, so relatable. They resonate, and they resonate not only because of their poetic beauty, they resonate because they are true. The reality is that we live in a world in which we experience real pain, real sadness, real worry, real grief, real loss, and real death. These truths are undeniable, are they not? Think about your own life experiences and how those experiences have repeatedly demonstrated the brevity of life and the suffering that happens in this world and the “withering” to use the word from Job and the “sparks” that all humans inevitably will experience as they move from the cradle toward the grave. Maybe what comes to mind are the cold sweats you experienced during a recent bout with the flu. Maybe what comes to mind is thinking about those unforgettable sounds of the death rattle as a family member lost their life. Maybe what comes to mind is the devastation associated with a pregnancy loss. Maybe what comes to mind is the crushing news of a cancer diagnosis. Maybe you immediately think of the spouse who abandoned you or the child who deserted you or the friend who deceived you or the employee who cheated you.

Well, when we come to the Scriptures we have recorded for us countless examples of people, real flesh-and-blood people like you and me who were grieving and experiencing different levels of hopelessness and despair. Consider these words from Asaph in Psalm 73 who wrote, in verses 13-14, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence; for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.” Consider the words from the anonymous author of Psalm 42 who in verse 3 of that psalm says, “My tears have been my food day and night.” Or in verse 6 he says, “O my God, my soul is in despair within me.” Consider these words of David, in Psalm 38, starting in verse 3, where he says “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my folly. I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.”
Consider the gloomy outlook of Heman the Ezrahite in Psalm 88, verses 3-5. He says, “For my soul has had enough troubles, and my life has drawn near to Sheol. I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man without strength, forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave.” Consider these words from Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, in Lamentations. He says “I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath,” speaking of God. “He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Surely against me He has turned His hand repeatedly all the day. He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away, He has broken my bones. He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship. In dark places He has made me dwell, like those who have long been dead. He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate. He bent His bow and set me as a target for the arrow. He made the arrows of His quiver to enter into my inward parts. I have become a laughingstock to all my people, their mocking song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood. He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust. My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, ‘My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord.’ ”
Consider the example of Job, as he lost everything, his family, his riches, his health, even ended up cursing the very day he was born. Consider the plight of Elijah, who seemed to have been in some sort of depressive funk in 1 Kings 19. Consider the words of James which we’ve been studying in the mornings, and Peter, who both speak to the trials that come into the life of every believer. Consider the words of Paul who spoke of his thorn in his flesh. Of course, consider the words the Scriptures record about our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ in that He was a “man of sorrows,” and “acquainted with grief.”

Tonight, we are going to work through a text that is rooted in similar expressions and feelings of lament, and hopelessness, and despair. This will be the last sermon I preach before we get into our Christmas series, “Peace on Earth,” starting next Sunday morning. Quite the contrast. I’m going to be taking a break from Hosea tonight and and preaching our text tonight on purpose. I’m preaching our text for tonight with a purpose which is this. I’m preaching the text that I’ll be in tonight (I realize I’m hiding the ball from you right now) in recognition of the fact that for some of you 2022 has been a rough year. Yes, the well-trimmed tree is nice. Yes, the sounds and smells of the season are nice. Yes, the beautifully decorated church, and the carols and are lovely. But for you, it’s been a difficult year. If you’re being honest, you are kind of ready for it to be over. For some of you, 2022 brought difficult health news. For some of you, 2022 brought unfortunate financial news. For some of you, 2022 brought stressful or sad family news. As you’re looking ahead not only to the Christmas season but to 2023, you’re not sure how much longer you can go on. You’re not sure if you want to hang on. You’re not sure if God is truly holding onto you. You’re not sure if God has somehow forgotten you.

With that, please turn with me in your Bibles with me to Psalm 13. Psalm 13 is where we will be tonight. In Psalm 13 where we are going to see David, King David, the man after God’s own heart, experiencing feelings and emotions that might sound familiar to many of you here this evening. I’m waiting for the pages to turn. Psalm 13, “For the choir director. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, And my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

I love the Psalms. I’d love to preach through them, all 150 of them one of these days. In fact I think that would be a great way to spend Sunday nights for a few years in the future. We’ll see how that goes. But it’s amazing how the Psalms comprehensively cover and beautifully portray the wide array of emotions that every single one of us experiences at some point in our life from the cradle to the grave. Psalm 13 certainly fits that category. Though we know David to be a man who was after God’s own heart, as he writes this Psalm, he’s like an emotional pendulum, swinging from one extreme to another. He’s a man that we can immediately relate to as we go through the various highs and lows of life.

Psalm 13 is one of several psalms that is addressed to as we see here, “the choir director.” Meaning this this is a song. These words were originally written for the purpose of singing them in some form of corporate worship setting like we have right here this evening. However, unlike a lot of the worship songs that you’ll hear on the radio, or on Spotify, or on your “worship songs” playlist these days, Psalm 13 has some definite darker, muted notes to it. David here is singing, very much in a minor key. You could say, if you had to select from one of our modern musical genres, that David is singing the blues! He’s not singing about sunshine. He’s not singing about green grass. He’s not singing about roses. He isn’t singing about love and joy and happiness because that’s not what he’s feeling. He’s not putting on this facade of happiness in a season of gloom. If I could use an example from our modern day he’s not putting a cheery Instagram or Facebook filter on his photo to make his sorrows sparkle and shine. No. He’s experiencing real emotions, raw emotions, real feelings, and he’s singing about them. I love what Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, described about the reality of human emotion in the Psalms in his compendium called “A Treasury of David.” He says, “Whenever you look into David’s Psalms, you will somewhere or other see yourself. You never get into a corner, but you find David in that corner. I think that I was never so low that I could not find David was lower; and I never climbed so high that I could not find that David was up above me.” As an individual psalm of lament, Psalm 13 fits that description. It begins as a blues song but ends as a praise song. It begins with winter, and but with summer. It begins with shadows, but it ends with sunshine.

Now, Psalm 13 doesn’t specifically identify, from the text itself, where it falls in David’s life. But given the context and its parallels to other Psalms it seems to parallel with the narrative of David’s life that we see in 1 and 2 Samuel. As strong an option as any about what he’s referring to here as he is grieving is that 13-year gap between David being anointed as king by Samuel and him eventually being crowned as king. You might remember what was happening in that 13- year gap between appointment or anointing and crowning was he was being hunted down by King Saul. The man he had been appointed by God to succeed. Saul was hunting him down and David was the man on the run. He sought refuge with the Moabites. He sought to hide in the wilderness of Ziph. He hid in a cave in Adullam. During this time, David was this constant man in distress. So with that context in view of David constantly looking over his shoulder and wondering whether his days were numbered let’s track his thought process and his range of emotions in this Psalm. We’ll start by looking at verses 1 and 2 where David expresses his feelings of abandonment and being forgotten. If you’re a notetaker our heading is pretty simple. This is David’s Lament in verses 1 and 2. I will read it again. He says, “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” Has anyone here ever felt despondent? Has anyone here ever felt sorrowful? Has anyone here ever felt hopeless? Or discouraged? Or forgotten? Or abandoned? Has anyone here ever felt like you’re at the end of your rope? Or that you’re at the end of yourself? Like, it’s hard to just go on. To get out of bed. To put your pants on. To tie your shoelaces. To brush your teeth. To head out the door? Well, if you’ve ever felt that or are feeling that right now, this is your Psalm. Because that’s where David is. As a man on the run. As a man seeking to save his own hide. As a man who is feeling the walls of his life closing in on him he’s feeling discouraged. He’s feeling forgotten. He’s feeling sorrowful and scorned. He’s feeling despised and weak. We see his feelings expressed in this four-part chain in verses 1 and 2 of these “How long” questions. Each “how long?” introduces a different complaint. The fourfold repetition of these “how long?” questions have this escalating effect. With each of these how long questions you can picture in this song and in the lament the intensity and volume of David’s cry increasing each time he repeats the question. How long? How LONG? HOW LONG? HOW LONG?!?!?!?!

Though David is a man after God’s own heart what we’re seeing right away in this Psalm is that David has slipped out of “drive” into “neutral.” The engine is idling. He’s spiritually alive but he isn’t going anywhere. He’s stagnant. He’s stuck. The reason for this is his focus is entirely inward. His focus at this point in the Psalm is “me, myself, and I.” Let’s look at verses 1 and 2 again. We’re going to read and re-read these until they get into our veins tonight. “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?” Note how many first-person statements he makes here.
“How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?” “How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” Did you catch them? Me, Me, I, My, My, My, Me, My pain, My confusion, My discouragement, My frustration, My circumstances. Have you ever been around that type of person who makes everything about themselves? You know, one of those people who, through their speech, they make it evident that they are totally self-focused? Like you’re in that dialogue with them but when you leave the conversation with them, you realize it wasn’t a dialogue at all. It was actually a monologue, and you didn’t even need to be there. That’s what we have here. While there is no doubt that David was actually experiencing the feelings he was expressing, you know, it’s not like he was faking it. Or doing this to be dramatic or saying all these things for attention. No, it’s what he was doing with those feelings. Sulking in them, brooding over them, getting lost in them, elevating them above the objective truth that he knew about his God which was becoming the problem.

Let’s take a look at the first “How long.” He says, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?” That question showcases David’s fear and concerns about being utterly abandoned. He is in deep agony here as he’s questioning God’s apparent absence. He feels ignored. It’s as though God has forgotten him and is hiding from him. It’s causing David here to spiral downward into deep and deeper emotional despair. Now, deep down, David knew that God wouldn’t abandon him or forget him forever. In fact, turn with me over to Psalm 9, just a few pages over in our bibles. Look at Psalm 9. Also, a Psalm of David, so same author. Look what he says in verse 18. Psalm 9:18 says, “For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.” If we’ve done any reading in the Bible, if we’ve spent any time studying the scriptures, studying the Word, studying God and His attributes we, too, know that God will not forget us, forever. Why? Well first of all God is omniscient. He is all-knowing. He has never forgotten anything, or anyone at any time. In fact, turn with me over to Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49 to just highlight one example of this reality that God doesn’t forget any of us. Isaiah 49 and look at verse 15. Isaiah 49:15 says, “Can a women forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb?” This is God speaking to the Israelites. “Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.” See God’s original people, the Israelites, the text says are engraved, they are etched, permanently in the palms of Yahweh’s hands. Jesus, God the Son said something similar to His followers, we don’t need to turn there right now but it’s in John 10. John 10:27-28, the Lord says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” Would that God forget David? Or any one of us? Certainly not. But when we, as David is doing here in Psalm 13, turn the focus inward on ourselves in the midst of our circumstances, in our fallen flesh, in our sin-corrupted minds we can lose sight of the truth that God will never leave us or forget us or forsake us. Instead, what we’ll end up doing as we are forgetting that truth is we will create a false image in our mind of a “god” who is flawed and who is faulty and who is forgetful. A “god” who in no way resembles the God of the Bible, the God revealed in Scripture but instead, is an idol. A “god” who is like us, forgetful. Well David next says, his next how long statement is “How long will You hide your face from me?” “How long will You hide your face from me?” David surely would have been familiar with the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, “The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you.” And to say that the face of God is shining upon any of us is a way of saying that God is being favorable to us in blessing us. But to David at this point as he is writing out Psalm 13, it seemed as though God had turned away from him. God had removed the season of favor and blessing from him so that now, in David’s mind instead of God being gracious toward him God had somehow rejected and forsaken him. We can find ourselves in a very similar rut if we’re not careful, can we not? Happier days in marriage have ceased. Your wife doesn’t greet you the way she used to. Your husband doesn’t speak well of you the way he used to. “God, why have you hidden your face from me?” “God, why have you forsaken me?” A less complicated or difficult season of parenting is over so your kids are asking harder questions. They don’t want that kiss on the cheek before you drop them off at school anymore. The kids are rebelling. “God, why have you hidden your face from me?” “God, why have you forsaken me?” The best days of your professional life are behind you. There was a time in your career when you were taking off but now your path to success has leveled off. “God, why have you hidden your face from me?” “God, why have you forsaken me?” The best days of your spiritual life may be behind you or so you think. There was a time when you were making stronger spiritual progress. When you were a person of prayer. When you were a person of the Word, when you loved being around God’s people, sincerely. But now you find yourself in this spiritual slump. “God, why have you hidden your face from me?” “God, why have you forsaken me?” If that describes you, you have an understanding and sympathetic ally in David. Let’s take a look at the next series of these “how long” questions, starting in verse 2. He says, “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day?” Now when we see those words “take counsel,” we might initially think that’s a good thing. We might think that David here is on the right side of Proverbs 12:15, which says “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” But that’s not what David is describing here. The phrase “take counsel in my soul” is not describing a situation where David is getting wise and godly counsel from others. Instead, what is being described here is more and more inward-focused wrestling. He’s beginning to look more and more within himself, more and more to the inside. More and more navel-gazing. As David here continues to look inward, he is getting further and further removed from the truths he knows about God.

Now I understand we live in a post-Freudian age. I understand we live in a society where, when a person has problems a common piece of advice, they are going to be given is to go see a psychologist or a therapist or a shrink. I understand that a common place those folks will go are the self-help books or the TV life coaches or the popular panderers of positivity like Joel Osteen. But despite what modern secular psychology might teach the solution to our problems when we feel sorrow in our heart, as David does here, is not to look more deeply within ourselves. To not look for answers as to how to be our best selves or to become a better person or to follow our own dreams. The reality is the more we go inward the more introspective we become, the more inevitably despondent and helpless we will become. Why is that? Well because of the condition of our hearts. The status of our hearts. The unreliability of our hearts. Our hearts, Jeremiah 17:9, as clear as a bell, says are “more deceitful than all else” and “desperately sick.” That goes back to the pre-Flood days. That goes back to the days of the Garden. Genesis 6:5 says something very similar. It says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In other words, while the world is telling us to look within ourselves, the Bible is telling us we can’t trust ourselves. As, again, Spurgeon, I can’t help myself, once so artfully quipped, he said, “If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be.”

That’s why we, in the leadership here at Indian Hills, are so committed to promoting the sufficiency of Scripture in all things, at all times, in all places, in all circumstances from the pulpit, to the pastors’ offices, to the pew. In the Scriptures, we know from 2 Peter 1:3 God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” Which is why, whenever you come to me or to one of our other pastors or elders and ask me or them for help with your problems, guess what we’re going to say? “Let’s open up the Word. Let’s open up our Bibles to see what God has to say about what you’re going through.” “Let’s open up the Word and evaluate what He says here about your situation.” “Let’s search the Scriptures to find the solution for your problems.” When we’re struggling, as David is here, we don’t need to look within ourselves, we need to look within the pages of this book.

So now we come upon the fourth of David’s “how long” questions. There at the end of verse 2 he says, “How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” As we’ve already seen, David is a man whose heart and mind are in turmoil. He believes he has not only been abandoned by God but now on top of that we now see that he believes God has abandoned him into the hands of an enemy power. This enemy is real, and the threat is real. This enemy is somehow holding David’s miserable condition over his head, even gloating. So, here’s David expressing discouragement and pain and frustration and distress. A man pouring out his heart to God in this song. He’s a bottomless well of emotion and hurt. He’s filled with brokenness and despair. He’s drowning in sorrow. He feels deserted. He feels like God has forgotten him. He’s beginning to wonder if God is really there or not, then what? Does he cut ties with God? I guess I’m done with that God thing now. Does he stay in this state of spiritual paralysis and hope that the difficulties he is experiencing will eventually pass him by? Does he pull his head under the covers and refuse to get out of bed that day? Does he pull himself up by his bootstraps and resolve by his own strength to get out of this difficult situation? No. Look at what comes next in verses 3 and 4. “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.” David prays! David prays! As he is gradually going from despair to deliverance, from sinking to swimming, the key to David’s shift in perspective here is prayer. David’s prayer occurs right in the middle of this psalm. It’s really the hinge on which this psalm turns.

If you’re taking notes, the second heading for tonight, is David’s Prayer. So, we had David’s Lament as our first point, now we have David’s prayer in verses 3 and 4. Story time, you’ll have to forgive me later. I had been exposed to the state of Nebraska two times before the Lord brought us here. The first exposure I had to Nebraska was as a kid when we would drive from California to Iowa, northwest Iowa, the great lakes of Iowa, to get specific, to get to see grandparents. No offense, but as an eight-year-old Jesse, by the time we got to Nebraska I was done. It was like when we got to Nebraska, we knew we were almost to where we really wanted to go which was Iowa. It was like the end of the 40-year wilderness wandering. Year 39 was Nebraska as we got to the place we needed to get, almost where we need to be. That was my first exposure to Nebraska. My second exposure to Nebraska was about four or five years ago when, I was reading through various news accounts online and I saw this story and you guys know where I’m going to go with this in no time, about what was then Nebraska’s brand-new tourism campaign. It was anchored in this catchy slogan, “Nebraska: Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” I remember seeing that ad. I remember laughing at that ad. I remember muttering under my breath something about farmers and flyover country. Funny now. I remember going about my day. I bring that tourism slogan up here, in the middle of preaching Psalm 13 because as funny and clever as it is, I fear it might be indicative of how some of us approach prayer. “Prayer, honestly it’s not for me.” “I’m more of a church-attending Christian.” “I’m more of a Bible-reading Christian.” “I’m more of a gospel-sharing Christian.” “I’m more of a focus on the family Christian.” “I’m more of an encouraging Christian.” “I’m more of a giving Christian.” “I’m more of a singing Christian.” “I’m more of a serving Christian.” “I’m just not so much a praying Christian.” Well, A.W. Pink rightly noted years ago that “A prayerless Christian is a contradiction in terms.” Prayer is central to the Christian life. We’re called, 1 Thessalonians in 5:17 to “pray without ceasing” and especially in times of despair and distress. 1 Peter 5:7 says, we are to cast our “anxieties on Him, because He cares for” us. In Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” If you’re not praying you’re not only being disobedient to God’s revealed Word, you’re missing out on one of the great privileges that life in Christ brings! To have access to your Heavenly Father. The one who formed you. The one who knows every one of your thoughts and fears and anxieties and worries even before you experience them! To know that you can approach your Heavenly Father not with trepidation and shaky legs but with boldness. Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” To know that God is the One, the only One, who has the ultimate power to carry you and deliver you through your seasons of difficulty.

I got from Nebraska to prayer there. Hopefully the point sticks. So while in verses 1 and 2 we are seeing David starting to spin out of control as he is going further and further inward as he is complaining about his circumstances and how they are impacting him. Now, in verses 3-4 instead of just complaining what we see here is David now praying and the cycle which was going downhill is now reversing as David’s thoughts are gradually being re-directed and re-centered on God. Let’s see what I mean as we work through verses 3 and 4. You know in verse 1, if we go back to verse 1, we saw David’s feelings were telling him that God had turned away from him. His feelings told him that God had hidden His face from him, and that God had forgotten him. So the first thing David does in verse 3 here as he is starting to pray is to turn it around and ask God to look in his direction once again. “Consider” and “answer” me O Lord my God. When he says consider here or answer here he’s literally asking God to look at him and to gaze intently upon him. He’s begging God to notice him. Consider me. Look at me. Answer me. Don’t ignore me, God. Of course, God was considering him and aware of him and listening to him. It’s not like God had ever forgotten him or forsaken him though David was under that delusion. God was always near to him and God was especially near to him as he prayed. Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.” Or, as David himself recorded in another Psalm, Psalm 34:18, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” So there’s one example of the prayers of David reversing the cycle here.

We see another example if we look at verse 2 again and we’re seeing here in verse 2 David says he’s complaining. His feelings are telling him that all was lost and his enemies would triumph meaning that his enemy would eventually succeed in killing him. So the counter to that is his prayer in verse 4 when he asks God to now “enlighten my eyes.” Actually that’s at the end of verse 3. So that he would not “sleep the sleep of death.” David here is asking God to preserve him and to restore him to full physical and mental health. In other words, this is a prayer here in verses 3 and 4 is a prayer for strength, for physical and emotional refreshment so that his enemy would not be able to overcome him and rejoice in his defeat. As he cast his burden upon the Lord through these prayers David is fatigued. He is exhausted. He is running for his life. He is fearing death but whereas before David’s focus was completely inward, on his own personal sense of hopelessness and despair. Now as he is praying he is at least starting to take the focus off himself, and he is now at least look outward as he is praying against his enemies and their plots against him. As he is praying here, he is getting closer and closer to what his proper focus and our proper focus ought always to be. Which is gazing upward at God and His glory. So how do we re-center our thoughts on God when we’re endangered or discouraged as David was here? When we’re anxious or fearful? When we’re shipwrecked or sad? We’re not called to “tough it out.” We’re not called biblically to stiffen our upper lip or to will ourselves to victory. No, we’re called to pray.

One last thing on this topic of prayer, I don’t want us to miss this. As he prays in these two verses, David doesn’t pray impersonally to just any “god.” He isn’t presenting his petitions to some distant deity. No, he prays to his God. He calls Him in verse 3, “my God.” “Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God.” Back in California about four or five years ago there was a gentleman at my home church who was pretty dramatically saved out of Roman Catholicism. He and his then live-in girlfriend, who, to his embarrassment and shame, he called his “wife” as he was masking not being married to her, they had three children together. He was pretty deep into drugs at the time as well. But when the Lord saved him, everything changed. It was like a flip that had switched overnight. He immediately ditched the drugs. Then, within days of making a profession of faith in Christ, he married his girlfriend in front of their children, in front of our whole church. It was a sweet, sweet occasion. He went on to immediately get plugged into that church and into the ministry there and he continues to thrive to this day. Well, as one of his pastors at the time, I had this great privilege of walking with him and ministering to him as the scales fell off and the light turned on and he saw what it meant to truly follow Christ. I shared many meals with him. We had many conversations together. One of the things I’ll never forget about this man, and those earliest years of his Christian walk, is how he referred to God. Without fail, he would always refer to God as “my God.” He would say things like, they would just roll off the tongue like “I know my God loves me.” He would say things like “I want to do whatever I can to serve my God.” Like second nature he would say “My God has been so faithful to me.” Whenever he would speak that way, it was so noticeably different from how most Christians speak about God because the way that he was speaking about God was so, so personal and so intimate and so beautiful. That’s David’s heart here. David believes, verse 3, in his God. He knows his God. He loves his God.

So, we see David lamenting in verses 1 and 2. We see him praying in verses 3 and 4. Where does he end up in verses 5 and 6? Well, he ends up with trusting and rejoicing. Look at verses 5 and 6. He says, “But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” If you’re taking notes our third point is David’s Praise. We have David’s Lament, David’s Prayer, and now we have in verses 5 and 6, David’s Praise. Look at the first word of verse 5. You’re going to get so sick of me saying this over the years. The first word of verse 5 is what? “But.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Praise God for the many “buts” of the Bible.” Romans 5:8, “but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Ephesians 2:4 and 5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Then this one, Psalm 13:5, “But I have trusted in your lovingkindness.” Even though David did have feelings, real feelings of despair which he expressed in verses 1 and 2, and even though he legitimately did express those feelings through prayer in verses 3 and 4, now, in verses 5 and 6 David ultimately remembered that he couldn’t trust his feelings. His feelings were not supreme. His feelings were not infallible. His feelings could be lying to him. Most importantly, his feelings were not on par with the objective truths he knew in his heart about God and what were those truths? Well, they are sprinkled throughout verses 5 and 6. Psalm 13:5 tells us David needed to remember God’s lovingkindness, His steadfast love, and salvation. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. How many of us, how often do we, if we’re being honest, consciously reflect on God’s love for us and His salvation of us? How often do we think about the fact that God never needed us. that He did not need to create us. That He certainly didn’t need to save us. That He is in no way dependent on us. He would have been equally perfect and just and righteous and loving had He chosen not to create us or this world. It’s inherent to His character, each of those traits. After He created us, He would have been equally perfectly just and righteous and loving had He condemned every single one of us to hell for violating His perfect and righteous and holy standards. But He didn’t. No, He chose to create us and He did so knowing that in order to, to magnify His own power, and grace, and glory, He would send His own Son into the world to die for your sins and mine. If you’re a Christian here this evening, do you consistently remember these things? Do you consistently and continually remember those things? Do you make it a point to meditate on those gospel truths? Are you continually aware of the depths of God’s steadfast love for you? Do you reflect on the unfathomable gift of salvation, undeserving as you are, that you have received through Christ? I’ve been praying that this message would challenge each one of us to be a more reflective, more thankful for God’s gift of salvation through Christ so that we, like David, different context, I understand, could say, I rejoice in my salvation. So, David needed to remember God’s love and his salvation. The last verse of this Psalm tells us something else David needed to remember. Psalm 13:6 tells us that he needed to remember that the Lord had “dealt bountifully” with him. “I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” David here is prompted here to sing, to rejoice, as he looks back on the “good old days” before the despair he mentions in verses 1-2. Now in David’s case that could have meant a number of things that he’s rejoicing in as he is thinking about the good old days. It could have meant a healthy flock during his sheepherding days. It could have meant his victory over Goliath or the fact that though he was the youngest and the ruddiest of all his brothers God somehow saw fit to select him to be Israel’s King. David had plenty to look back on in remembrance and as he does so here he realizes that the same God who had dealt bountifully with him before was the same God who was dealing bountifully with him now. Is the same God who would deal bountifully with him in the future. The same is true for you and me. Right? If you’ve put your trust in Jesus Christ, God has already “dealt bountifully” with you beyond measure. Not because of your works but because of His great love. He has given you salvation through Christ. Ephesians 1:7 and 8, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He,” I love this verb, “lavished on us.” There’s no need for Him to deal with you or me more bountifully than He already has! But here’s the really incredible thing. He does. Not only does He save us, but He also supplies us with “grace upon grace” by doing so in all kinds of seasons, and all kinds of contexts, and all kinds of circumstances. He blesses us with families. He didn’t have to do that. Spouses, and children, and parents, and aunts, and uncles, and grandparents. He supplies us with friendships, with people who share common interests and live in the same neighborhood or play on the same sports team as our kids. He supplies us with fellowship. Look around the room, a wonderful church family. He supplies us with food, Culver’s, Runza, Valentino’s, Vic’s, The Mill. I’m jazzed about the food options here in Lincoln. He supplies us with fun experiences. Birthday parties, watching our kids on their teams, pushing grandchildren on the swing, shoving the grandchildren back to their parents after a few hours with them. God certainly has dealt bountifully with us just as He had dealt bountifully with David. God had not forgotten David or forsaken David or abandoned David. So in verse 6 now, with this unwavering confidence David reaffirms his trust in God by praising God and singing to Him. Out of the depths of his sorrow there in verses 1-2 David is now elevated to the heights of praise in verses 5 and 6. His perspective has totally shifted from looking inward to his feelings to looking outside to his various circumstances to know gazing upward, looking at his God and how God has dealt bountifully with him. As his perspective had shifted, David came to recognize that the ultimate hope is not found in one’s feelings or in some hope of an external victory but instead our ultimate hope is found in God’s character, His attributes, and His promises. So now, after praying and after remembering David was finally equipped to patiently wait for God to act. In the meantime, to praise Him. To rejoice in His grace. To magnify Him for His goodness and sing to the only One who is worthy to be praised.

As we’ve seen in this walk-through Psalm 13, David got off to an awfully shaky start as he put pen to paper. He was down in the dumps. He was brooding over his circumstances. But then we see him moving closer to God through prayer which leads to him reviving his thoughts about God. David eventually, as we just saw, gets back to the truth about God that he knew and knows which leads him to this place of worship, and praise, and song. Now, one of the truths David would have known about was that his God is a redeemer. God had promised to redeem this earth and to redeem His people through His Messiah who was later revealed to be Jesus of Nazareth, the God-Man. The one who has eternally existed as God and yet was born as a baby in the manger a little over 2,000 years ago. And this Jesus, in human terms, would come from David’s line. The same David who authored Psalm 13. This Jesus, just as we mentioned earlier, like David here in Psalm 13, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

This Jesus bore the guilt of sin and paid its full price so that whoever would believe in Him would have eternal life. This Jesus, just like David, and just like us, experienced what appeared to be abandonment by God as He was suffering and agonizing on the cross. His flesh ripping, blood flowing, and as His life left Him. This Jesus cried out to God. “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Which sounds a lot like David’s, “How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?” Jesus ultimately submitted Himself to the will of His Father all the way to the point of His death on a Roman cross. This Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory. Jesus will one day return with His raptured church to this earth on an appointed day where He will again rule on this earth bodily and reign on this earth victoriously and renew this earth completely and judge this earth justly. That day will come on a day and at an hour that God Himself has fixed and that none of us know but it will come. We look forward to that day, we who are in Christ, with anticipation and we do cry out “Maranatha!” “Come, Lord Jesus.” But in the meantime, until He comes we are going to have dark days, cloudy days, disappointments, distress. We are going to have trials. We are going to have tears. As we wade through those waters we wait, we pray, and we trust. Just like David in Psalm 13. Just like our Savior did as He paid the ultimate penalty for our sins.

Rather than closing tonight’s sermon with a story or a quip, I’ve given you enough of those already. I want to close with a poem that has personally benefited me and my own wife in our own times of trial and despair because it beautifully, I think, reflects the heart of David in the psalm we’ve been going through this evening. I pray it blesses you. The title of the poem is “When Thou Passest Through the Waters”. Its author is unknown, it’s anonymous. The title again is

“When Thou Passest Through the Waters.”

Is there any heart discouraged as it journeys on its way?
Does there seem to be more darkness than there is of sunny day?
Oh, it’s hard to learn the lesson, as we pass beneath the rod,
That the sunshine and the shadow serve alike the will of God;
But there comes a word of promise like the promise in the bow.
That however deep the waters, they shall never overflow.
When the flesh is worn and weary, and the spirit is depressed,
And temptations sweep upon it, like a storm on ocean’s breast,
There’s a haven ever open for the tempest-driven bird;
There’s a shelter for the tempted in the promise of the Word;
For the standard of the Spirit shall be raised against the foe,
And however deep the waters, they shall never overflow.
When a sorrow comes upon you that no other soul can share,
And the burden seems too heavy for the human heart to bear,
There is One whose grace can comfort if you’ll give Him an abode;
There’s a Burden-Bearer ready if you’ll trust Him with your load;
For the precious promise reaches to the depth of human woe,
That however deep the waters, they shall never overflow.
When the sands of life are ebbing and I know that death is near;
When I’m passing through the valley, and the way seems dark and drear;
I will reach my hand to Jesus, in His bosom I shall hide,
And ’twill only be a moment till I reach the other side;
It is then the fullest meaning of the promise I shall know.
When thou passest through the waters, they shall never overflow.

Let’s pray. God, we thank you for Your word. We thank You for its clarity, its power, it’s effect. We thank you for its sufficiency, the truth it contains, and that it is a light and a lamp to navigate the journey’s that we’re on. Thank you for the lessons that You imparted to Your servant David so may years ago. Thank you that we can be in a place like this, clear across the world, many years later, and relate to what is being said to David here and what David is saying as he laments, as he grieves, as he prays, and as he remembers. We ask, Father, that You would help us to be quick like David, to move from that, those seasons and those episodes of lament and grief and remember who You are. Remember Your lovingkindness. Remember Your salvation. Remember the many ways that You dealt bountifully with each and every one of us. May that be what buoys us, what strengthens us; that which fortifies us for whatever may come our way. We pray, Father, that You would help us this week to honor You in all that we do, in our words, and our speech, in our conduct, in our families, in our workplaces, with our children, our grandchildren, whoever You put us into contact with this week. Help us to model and exemplify the love of Christ. It’s in His name we pray, amen.