SPEAKER_02: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_02: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Good to see you all.
SPEAKER_01: I know you're here.
SPEAKER_01: I can hear you.
SPEAKER_01: Glad to be with you all today.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks to the worship team.
SPEAKER_01: What an incredible time.
SPEAKER_01: So greatly appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01: All right, I don't want to waste any more time.
SPEAKER_01: Neil has told you who I am.
SPEAKER_01: So let us get into what I do, which is preach God's word.
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bible, I'm going to ask you to turn to Psalm 142.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 142.
SPEAKER_01: It's a very short psalm.
SPEAKER_01: Let's read it.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to begin with the um what's called the superscription.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you more about it in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: A maskil of David when he was in the cave, a prayer.
SPEAKER_01: With my voice, I cry out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: With my voice, I plead for mercy to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I pour out my complaint before him.
SPEAKER_01: I tell my trouble before him.
SPEAKER_01: When my spirit faints within me, you know my way.
SPEAKER_01: In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap from me.
SPEAKER_01: Look to the right and see.
SPEAKER_01: There is none who takes notice of me.
SPEAKER_01: No refuge remains to me.
SPEAKER_01: And then maybe the most pathetic statement in all of Scripture no one cares for my soul.
SPEAKER_01: I cry to you, O Lord, I say, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
SPEAKER_01: Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low.
SPEAKER_01: Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
SPEAKER_01: Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name.
SPEAKER_01: The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
SPEAKER_01: Father, we come this morning in the only name that you have given to us, by which we can be saved, through which we can pray, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And we ask, Father, that you would open our eyes, our hearts, our minds to the glories of your word, encourage and comfort us.
SPEAKER_01: Even as we hear the plaintive cry of David as he sat in that cave, may we, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves today, turn to you and to you alone.
SPEAKER_01: So we commit this time to you now in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I want to begin this morning by telling you very specifically for whom this message is intended, for whom this psalm was written.
SPEAKER_01: It is for those of you whose experience of God has not lived up to advance billing.
SPEAKER_01: To those of you who have expectations when you become Christian that simply haven't come to fruition.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you were told or led to believe by someone that if you put your faith in Jesus and you obey him and you love him, that this will bring a life of ease and prosperity, comfort, no pain, no persecution, and things just simply have not turned out the way that you were told.
SPEAKER_01: I fear sometimes that Christians try to reduce the Christian life to a mathematical formula.
SPEAKER_01: We can all say, yes, two plus two will always equal four.
SPEAKER_01: There's no change, there's no alteration.
SPEAKER_01: And so I thought that faith plus love would always equal a peaceful, easy life on this earth.
SPEAKER_01: And it just hadn't turned out that way.
SPEAKER_01: The fact of the matter is, and I'm not speaking blasphemy when I say this, God oftentimes turns out to be strange.
SPEAKER_01: His ways are beyond our understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody can fathom his mind, how he thinks, why he makes the decisions that he does.
SPEAKER_01: We find ourselves at positions and places in life where we say, Lord, you just don't make any sense to me whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: I have a feeling that that is precisely what David was thinking as he sat in this cave.
SPEAKER_01: Just as confused about God as we are, just as befuddled and puzzled by the way things had turned out.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason I have that suspicion is because of what is called the superscription to the Psalm.
SPEAKER_01: If you're looking at your Bibles, it's that little line before the first verse.
SPEAKER_01: Usually the superscription will tell us two things, who the author of the psalm is and what the circumstances were when he wrote it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, it's not a part of the inspired text of scripture, but most scholars believe that they do accurately portray the context, the historical situation of each psalm.
SPEAKER_01: Listen again to the superscription, a maskele, that's just a musical term, a maskele of David, when he was in the cave, a prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the reason why that is so instructive and really ought to be a jolt to both to all of us is that this is David who's in the cave.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there are a lot of unsavory characters in scripture who deserve to be in the cave.
SPEAKER_01: You can think of Cain and Balaam and Absalom and maybe even Judas Iscariot.
SPEAKER_01: But this is David.
SPEAKER_01: This is the man that the Bible says was a man after God's own heart.
SPEAKER_01: This was a man who wrote Psalm 23 about lying down in green pastures and walking beside still waters.
SPEAKER_01: What in the world is he doing in a cave?
SPEAKER_01: This is the man who had been anointed by Samuel to be king.
SPEAKER_01: But here he is, sitting and perhaps at times sulking in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: Now, as best we can tell, David twice found himself in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: The first time is described in 1 Samuel 22, the cave of Adolum, which was just west of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: The second time is in 1 Samuel 24 at Engedi, which is on the western shore of the Dead Sea.
SPEAKER_01: This psalm is probably talking about the first of those instances when he was in the cave of Adolem.
SPEAKER_01: And I just try to put myself in the mind of David and say, this had to have felt like a massive contradiction.
SPEAKER_01: It isn't at all what he thought was in store for him.
SPEAKER_01: If God had given him a job description for when he was to be king, David would have looked at it and said, I don't find anywhere in here, not even in the fine print.
SPEAKER_01: I was going to have to spend time in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: And in both occasions, he was there because he was fleeing Saul, who was attempting to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: I can again just hear David say, I thought being king meant sitting on a throne with a purple robe and a scepter and people there to do my every will.
SPEAKER_01: And here I'm finding myself in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: The only companions are spiders and scorpions and wolves and snakes.
SPEAKER_01: Now, to make matters even worse, this is David's final destination, not his first.
SPEAKER_01: We know, for example, that he first had to jump out of the way of Saul's spear, who tried to impale him against the wall.
SPEAKER_01: And then he had to be let down through a window by his wife to escape those who were trying to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: And then he had to flee into the night to get away from the soldiers who were after him.
SPEAKER_01: And for a time he hid out in the fields surrounding Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: And then to make matters worse, he ended up in the city of Gath, the hometown of his adversary Goliath.
SPEAKER_01: And after all of that, he sits down in this cave, worried about whether or not he's going to be alive tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: No doubt discouraged, disconsolate, probably depressed, alone, feeling a bit confused about this God to whom he'd given himself.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to put thoughts or words or feelings in David's mind, but I have to believe that he must have felt depressed.
SPEAKER_01: He had his doubts.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe on this occasion he just simply asked himself the constant question Why, God, do you do things the way that you do?
SPEAKER_01: Well, this psalm is here to help us because some of you, perhaps even this morning, feel like you're in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: This psalm is also here to tell us how to pray when God seems strange.
SPEAKER_01: Tells us to whom we should turn when everybody else has abandoned us.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what your plight is in life.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know who has let you down.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what pain there is that just won't go away.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what kind of cave that you are in.
SPEAKER_01: But I think David is saying a lot to us when he included the fact that this took place in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: What it means basically right from the start is being loved by God, being chosen by God doesn't mean that you will never end up in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: The fact that David was anointed, the fact that he was granted great authority doesn't mean he's not going to go through hardship.
SPEAKER_01: The fact that you may have wonderful spiritual gifts, you may be prospering in certain areas of your life doesn't mean that you'll never end up in a cave.
SPEAKER_01: You may have been the recipient of dreams and visions and revelation, and yet you feel abandoned and you look to your right, to the left, and there's no one who cares for your soul.
SPEAKER_01: David actually also wrote inspired scripture.
SPEAKER_01: You would think that would get him out of the cave.
SPEAKER_01: But no, here we find him in one of two times when he was there.
SPEAKER_01: It's interesting that this psalm, as best I can tell, is telling us, among other things, that God hears us no matter where we are.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter if you're on land, at sea, in the air, in your office, lying in bed, driving a car, sitting here on a Sunday morning, God hears the most silent sighs of your soul.
SPEAKER_01: If he can hear the prayer of Jonah from inside the belly of a whale, assuming it was a whale, if he can hear the cry of David when he was in the cave, then I assure you, he can hear yours wherever you may be.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, as I've already indicated, although the cave is quite literal, I think it's also metaphorical.
SPEAKER_01: I think it's a way of describing not only where David was, but what he was feeling: abandoned, useless, defeated, helpless.
SPEAKER_01: So if God seems strange to you, given where you have been, are, or may someday find yourself to be, if he seems odd, if his ways are beyond comprehension, we need to listen to David's psalm.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there are four parts to this psalm, and they're very simple.
SPEAKER_01: There's first of all his plea in verses one and two.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, his plight or his condition in verses three and four.
SPEAKER_01: Then his portion, what he holds on to in verses five and six, and finally, he concludes with a word of praise in verse seven.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the word plea is really a little bit too tame to describe what we read here.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to it again.
SPEAKER_01: I cry to the Lord, I plead for mercy, I pour out my complaint, I tell him my trouble.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is a it's not so much a primal scream, but it is a shriek of helplessness.
SPEAKER_01: It reminds me, if you're a fan of the Peanuts cartoon strip, which I am, I can't go a day without it.
SPEAKER_01: You remember the story?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, every year Lucy promises Charlie Brown.
SPEAKER_01: She's gonna hold the football for him.
SPEAKER_01: And every year, no matter how many promises she makes to him, he runs up and she pulls it out and he goes flying in the air.
SPEAKER_01: And in mid-area, there's a shriek of helplessness and frustration at Lucy.
SPEAKER_01: That's a little bit what David is doing here.
SPEAKER_01: But notice it's not a meaningless shriek.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't as if somebody is locked away in a closet, burying their head in a pillow and just screaming because of their pain and frustration.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that the shriek, the cry, turns into a plea for mercy.
SPEAKER_01: He forms it into meaningful petitions to God.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, he complains.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, he tells the Lord of his trouble.
SPEAKER_01: But he knows that God hears him.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I cry out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: As painful and as distressed as David may be, there is a purpose in his shriek, in his cry, in this plea.
SPEAKER_01: Notice again, he doesn't give any hesitation to venting his soul.
SPEAKER_01: He talks about complaint, my trouble, my plea for mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Everything that is in the depths of his heart, he lets out.
SPEAKER_01: Charles Spurgeon, that great 19th-century British pastor, put it this way: He said, An unuttered grief, by which he means a grief that lies bottled up in your soul.
SPEAKER_01: An unuttered grief will lie and smolder in the soul till its black smoke puts out the very eyes of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: So don't hold it in.
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to tell God something he doesn't already know.
SPEAKER_01: He knows what's going on in your mind and your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Express it to him in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Cry out.
SPEAKER_01: Scream if you have to.
SPEAKER_01: Tell him how you've sinned, how you've fallen, how you failed, how you've broken down.
SPEAKER_01: Tell him how fickle you are, how weak you are, how worn you are.
SPEAKER_01: David doesn't hesitate to do this.
SPEAKER_01: Spurgeon again made a very good point.
SPEAKER_01: He said, We do not lay our trouble before God that he may see it, but that we may see him.
SPEAKER_01: It is for our relief, not for his information, that we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Now, most of you, I think, know that tonight we're going to be talking about prayer and talking about some of the practical skills that go into praying for people who are in perhaps in a situation like this.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to understand that there are really three types of people who pray.
SPEAKER_01: And David is one of them.
SPEAKER_01: He represents something I'll mention in a moment.
SPEAKER_01: There are the prayersayers.
SPEAKER_01: What I mean by that is they just say prayers, they recite words.
SPEAKER_01: There's no heart, no soul, no passion.
SPEAKER_01: It's almost mechanical.
SPEAKER_01: They think if I just get the right words spoken in the right tone of voice, with the right theology, with good grammar, God will hear me.
SPEAKER_01: And he'll answer me as if God is saying, ooh, wow, that's a pretty exquisite and elegant prayer you just prayed.
SPEAKER_01: I think I'll answer yours.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what prayer is.
SPEAKER_01: And then there are prayer players.
SPEAKER_01: These are the people who toy with God.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a religious version of let's make a deal.
SPEAKER_01: We try to bribe him or bargain with him.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is a religious sport.
SPEAKER_01: But then there are people like David.
SPEAKER_01: These are the prayer prayers who take God at his word, who plead for mercy, who cry out to him in the confident assurance that no matter how bad life is right now, he really does care and he really does hear me.
SPEAKER_01: Now, let's turn from the plea to David's plight, his condition.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verses three and four.
SPEAKER_01: When my spirit faints within me, you know my way, and the path where I walk, they've hidden a trap for me.
SPEAKER_01: Look to the right and see.
SPEAKER_01: There's nobody who takes notice of me.
SPEAKER_01: There's no refuge that remains to me.
SPEAKER_01: No one.
SPEAKER_01: No one, David says, cares for my soul.
SPEAKER_01: Again, I don't know how to describe a man who could write those words at this particular time, just like a heavy, impenetrable cloud of fog has engulfed his mind.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the very same man who wrote Psalm 16, 11, where we read, In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
SPEAKER_01: Why has God brought David to this point in his life?
SPEAKER_01: Well, for the simple fact that many times the Lord must first bring a man or a woman to that point of utter despair before we can see him as being all that we need.
SPEAKER_01: I remember something that the Apostle Paul said to this effect in 2 Corinthians chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: He said in verse 8, we don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction that we experienced in Asia.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to how Paul says this.
SPEAKER_01: We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, I had one foot in the grave and the other was about to slide in after it.
SPEAKER_01: And then he goes on.
SPEAKER_01: Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was all to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.
SPEAKER_01: That's the kind of place where David has found himself.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I'm despaired of life.
SPEAKER_01: It's all over.
SPEAKER_01: And God has brought him to this place so that he might learn, as Paul did, to trust in God and not in himself.
SPEAKER_01: And then notice what he says in verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: He says, In the path where I walk, these enemies of mine have hidden a trap for me.
SPEAKER_01: Now I think in all likelihood he's talking about temptation.
SPEAKER_01: It's almost as if he's saying, you know, they try to trick me or compel me to violate something that I know is against God's will, and then they accuse me of being a hypocrite.
SPEAKER_01: They know the tender spots in my life.
SPEAKER_01: They know how vulnerable I am to this or to that, and they set a trap so that when I fall, they laugh, they mock, they tell me that ultimately God isn't even worth trusting.
SPEAKER_01: And then David says in verse 4, look to the right and see there's none, none who takes notice of me.
SPEAKER_01: Now, why does he say that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, there may be two ideas involved here.
SPEAKER_01: In the ancient world, it was on the right hand side of a defendant that the defense would stand.
SPEAKER_01: So it may be David's way of saying, I have nobody to take up my cause, nobody to argue my case, nobody who to bring before you, Lord, the reasons why I shouldn't be in this cave.
SPEAKER_01: Or it may be a military metaphoric.
SPEAKER_01: In the ancient world, a man would have a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right, and so his friend would stand on his right to protect that vulnerable side.
SPEAKER_01: David looks and he says, There's nobody there.
SPEAKER_01: When I need them most, they're gone.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, they promised they'd be present, but they're gone.
SPEAKER_01: Was no one present to help him?
SPEAKER_01: Well, not exactly.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what we read in 1 Samuel 22 that describes this experience.
SPEAKER_01: We're told in verse 2 everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to him, and he became commander over them.
SPEAKER_01: Did you hear that?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, thanks a lot, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you you sent me some companions to be with me, derelicts and deadbeats and bankrupt, depressed, irritating, people who are in distress, people who are suffering almost worse than I am.
SPEAKER_01: That's the company that you sent to encourage me and to hold me up.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: God, you're really strange sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: God oftentimes will we discover will be of very little help to us until we realize that there simply are no other options.
SPEAKER_01: Reminds me of the disciples in John 6.
SPEAKER_01: After Jesus had spoken some very hard words and the majority of the crowd just walked away.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus turned to Peter and said, You're gonna leave too?
SPEAKER_01: Lord, to whom are we gonna go?
SPEAKER_01: You alone have the words of eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: My only hope is your mercy.
SPEAKER_01: So when your doubts are overwhelming and we feel like God doesn't care and he's abandoned you, and you look for him and you can't find him, just realize that God has orchestrated this so that you will now know that he's the only ultimate help you have.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't mean that other people can't step in and encourage us when we need it.
SPEAKER_01: But in the final analysis, God is our sole source of supply.
SPEAKER_01: Now, one thing in this passage that that kind of bothers some people.
SPEAKER_01: Notice, if you would, in verse 3, he says, In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me.
SPEAKER_01: But right before that, he said, Lord, you know my way.
SPEAKER_01: And we're supposed to take comfort from that.
SPEAKER_01: God knows where I am, he knows what I'm going through.
SPEAKER_01: But for some people, they say, that's precisely the problem.
SPEAKER_01: He knows where I am, he knows what I'm feeling, he knows that I'm all alone, that no one cares for my soul, and he doesn't seem to do anything about it.
SPEAKER_01: I would prefer that God was ignorant of where I am.
SPEAKER_01: At least I would think maybe then he cares if he could ever take notice of what I'm going through.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we can usually face almost anything if we know that there's somebody there to walk with us, to walk alongside us, to encourage us.
SPEAKER_01: David says, I have the derelicts, the bankrupt, those who are in bitter in soul and distress.
SPEAKER_01: That's all that I'm left with.
SPEAKER_01: God, you're all that I have.
SPEAKER_01: Let's turn to the more positive side of the Psalm, David's portion.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verses five and six.
SPEAKER_01: I cry to you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, all through this.
SPEAKER_01: Did you notice to the very beginning?
SPEAKER_01: I cry out to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I plead for mercy to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I pour out my plane before him.
SPEAKER_01: I tell my trouble before him.
SPEAKER_01: And now I cry to you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I say, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
SPEAKER_01: So oftentimes when we find ourselves in this kind of condition in life, we run from God rather than to him.
SPEAKER_01: David through it all is relentless in clinging to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Reminds me of Psalm 16, verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you.
SPEAKER_01: And notice he says, he says, I have cried out to you.
SPEAKER_01: I have said, I have poured out.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, this is just not a one-off prayer.
SPEAKER_01: This has been going on for a considerable period of time.
SPEAKER_01: So whatever he may have lost, David still had all he needed.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have lost friends.
SPEAKER_01: I know what that's like.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you lost colleagues, people who said they'd be there forever.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you lost a spouse who just walked out for no good reason.
SPEAKER_01: But the good news is the Lord is there.
SPEAKER_01: God is your portion.
SPEAKER_01: So hold on.
SPEAKER_01: Notice he says in verse 6 brought very low.
SPEAKER_01: Very low.
SPEAKER_01: As I said before, sometimes whenever God wishes to make a person great, he first has to make them very little.
SPEAKER_01: Spurgeon again captured it beautifully.
SPEAKER_01: He said, God makes nothing of you before he makes something of you.
SPEAKER_01: This was the way with David.
SPEAKER_01: He is to be king in Jerusalem, but he must go to the throne by way of the cave.
SPEAKER_01: And why does God do it that way?
SPEAKER_01: He does it that way so he will be absolutely certain to get all the glory, and that you and I don't.
SPEAKER_01: Paul said the same thing in 2 Corinthians 4.
SPEAKER_01: He said, We have this treasure, this glorious good news of the gospel in jars of clay.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: So that it may be seen that the power is of God and not of us.
SPEAKER_01: Well, David closes with a word of praise.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to your name, the righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
SPEAKER_01: Notice the confidence.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever I'm going through right now, I know, Lord, that in the end, through some means or manner that is something I can't see right now, you will deal bountifully with me.
SPEAKER_01: What I love about this is that David's deliverance he sees as a renewed opportunity to worship with God's people.
SPEAKER_01: He said, That's what I miss.
SPEAKER_01: Surrounded by the people of God, celebrating your goodness, giving you thanks and praising you.
SPEAKER_01: He looks forward to the time when he'll be restored to fellowship with the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: So the psalm that begins with a shriek ends with a song.
SPEAKER_01: Now, a couple of things before I bring this to a close.
SPEAKER_01: We need to remember very important lessons.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, David is not in the cave because of his sin.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you saying, well, I'm I've been in a cave for a long time, and I know it's because of things that I've done, or maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
SPEAKER_01: David is not in this cave because of his sin.
SPEAKER_01: This incident, folks, happened long before he committed adultery with Bathsheba.
SPEAKER_01: Long before he was complicit in the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite.
SPEAKER_01: So be careful about drawing spiritual conclusions based on physical circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: We look at our lives.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in physical pain, I'm in financial distress, relationships have just cratered around me.
SPEAKER_01: I guess that must mean God just doesn't love me after all.
SPEAKER_01: Don't draw that conclusion.
SPEAKER_01: David didn't.
SPEAKER_01: We tend to assume that physical adversity and anguish is a sign of God's displeasure.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there may be occasions when it is when discipline is imposed on us, but certainly not in the case of David.
SPEAKER_01: It's not always true.
SPEAKER_01: So be very, very careful about drawing spiritual conclusions on the basis solely of physical circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: A second thing.
SPEAKER_01: Don't make your faith dependent on being able to decipher the mystery of God's providence.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: Don't make your faith, your commitment to God, dependent on your ability to decipher the mysteries of his providence.
SPEAKER_01: Nowhere in this psalm does David ever hear from God where he says, David, sit down, take notes.
SPEAKER_01: Here's why I've done this.
SPEAKER_01: Here's why my providence has brought you into the cave, not just for the first time, but you'll eventually return to it a second time near Engedi when Saul is again trying to kill you.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't do that.
SPEAKER_01: David couldn't make sense of his surroundings, but he didn't conclude from that that God was no longer to be trusted.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't conclude from that that I'm in this cave alone.
SPEAKER_01: I know God is here as well.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's one of the fascinating things about the book of Job.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows about how badly Job suffered.
SPEAKER_01: And this heaven seems so utterly silent.
SPEAKER_01: All he hears is the bad advice and the counsel of his so-called friends.
SPEAKER_01: But when you get to the end and God finally speaks, he gives Job no explanation for why he's gone through what he has.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't tell him about Satan having approached him and said, Job serves you for no good reason.
SPEAKER_01: Or you know, he serves you because you you protect him.
SPEAKER_01: You take away the protection, take away the goodies, and he'll curse you to your face.
SPEAKER_01: Job never hears that.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't make any apologies to him for what he suffered.
SPEAKER_01: He just describes his greatness, his power over creation.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Job, until you can explain how I have brought everything into existence out of nothing, don't think that you can figure out the way that I've decided to govern the world and your life in it.
SPEAKER_01: There's an old hymn.
SPEAKER_01: We rarely sing this anymore, but I love the lyrics to it because it captures, I think, the promise that David must have depended upon.
SPEAKER_01: Fear not, I am with thee.
SPEAKER_01: O be not dismayed.
SPEAKER_01: For I am thy God and I will still give thee aid.
SPEAKER_01: I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand.
SPEAKER_01: When through the deep waters I call thee to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow.
SPEAKER_01: For I will be with thee, thy trials to bless, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
SPEAKER_01: When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be your supply.
SPEAKER_01: The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design thy draws to consume and thy gold to refine.
SPEAKER_01: And then this final verse, I've loved it.
SPEAKER_01: The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes.
SPEAKER_01: That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I will not, I will not, I will not forsake.
SPEAKER_01: Let me close this by praying for you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And especially I have in mind those of you who identify immediately with David and his experience.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what your circumstance is, I don't know what the nature of your cave existence might be like, but I can promise you the only answer is that you turn to God, not away from him.
SPEAKER_01: So let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Father, you know our ways.
SPEAKER_01: Just as David said, you see my path, you see where I've been, you've seen where I've walking, you see the condition I'm in, and I have no hope apart from you.
SPEAKER_01: But with you, I have all that I need.
SPEAKER_01: I may not have all I want, but I know that I have all I need.
SPEAKER_01: So, Father, I I pray especially right now for any man or woman, young or old, in this in this church today.
SPEAKER_01: I'm asking that you would draw very near to them, strengthen them, comfort them.
SPEAKER_01: For those, Lord, who've who carried their cave in with them this morning, and they put a smile on their face, and when somebody said, Hey, how you doing?
SPEAKER_01: And they said, Oh, I'm doing great.
SPEAKER_01: How are you?
SPEAKER_01: And deep inside, what they're really saying is, You don't care for my soul.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody else does either.
SPEAKER_01: I'm all alone.
SPEAKER_01: It may even be that person you're sitting next to right now that has assured you that all is well when in fact they're screaming out like David did for the mercy of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that by your spirit you draw near to them right now, that you would manifest the greatness of your grace and your commitment to them as your children, that no matter what this life may look like, no matter how much they may lose in terms of physical health or possessions, that they have an eternity in your presence.
SPEAKER_01: Blissful joy at gazing upon the face of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, to those this morning who came in here with physical afflictions and pain that just won't go away, maybe a terminal diagnosis.
SPEAKER_01: They're saying, Why, Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Where are you?
SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that by your spirit, right now, according to your will, and in accordance with your purpose of that individual, would you be pleased to heal them?
SPEAKER_01: They may not even know how to reach out to you and ask for that, but Lord, I'm doing it on their behalf right now in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: May your healing power be present.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, for those who've seen relationships disintegrate, and they just don't know if they can put one foot in front of the other or make it to tomorrow, much less next week or next year, because they've been abandoned.
SPEAKER_01: They look to the right, there's nobody there, and all they're left with saying is it's obvious no one cares for my soul, but Lord, you do, you do, you are their portion in the land of the living.
SPEAKER_01: As David said in another psalm, Lord, when I have you, I have all the good that I need.
SPEAKER_01: Be a comfort to those, Lord, who are who are hurting and sick and confused and distressed today.
SPEAKER_01: And let them know that instead of running from you, they can run to you.
SPEAKER_01: And they will find comfort and assurance that you will never leave them.
SPEAKER_01: No, the soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose.
SPEAKER_01: You will not, you will not forsake to its foes.
SPEAKER_01: That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, you'll never, no, never, no, never forsake.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you, Father.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in the precious name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: See what I mean about listening to somebody that's lived a lot of life.
SPEAKER_03: Some of you very much relate to what Sam preached about today from God's word.
SPEAKER_03: If you're new to our church, we like to teach God's word and then give you some soul space to think about it.
SPEAKER_03: And so Clyde will sing something over us.
SPEAKER_03: And I just invite you, if you're right now, if you're in that moment or you're in that cave, just ask the Lord.
SPEAKER_03: Just uh remind me that you're in here with me.
SPEAKER_03: I'm not alone.
SPEAKER_03: You'll never leave me nor forsake me.
SPEAKER_03: I'm not abandoned.
SPEAKER_03: Uh people set traps for me.
SPEAKER_03: Uh but he ends by saying, the righteous will come to me, and you will deal bountifully with me.
SPEAKER_03: Don't come to conclusions about yourself or God of the world when you're 20 or when you're 30 or when you're 60.
SPEAKER_03: Okay?
SPEAKER_03: Let's just be still and let the Lord just come on us and reveal some things to us as we just let this wash over us this morning.
SPEAKER_03: Father, that is our that promise is ours in the gospel because of God.
SPEAKER_03: And so we find comfort in that today.
SPEAKER_03: You never tell us that there's not going to be low points in the journey.
SPEAKER_03: There's not going to be times where we just feel utterly abandoned and we don't know what to do, but we're not forsaken.
SPEAKER_03: You're saying your word where to your people, where I to forget you, I'd have to cut off my right hand.
SPEAKER_03: And you're not a God that forgets.
SPEAKER_03: And so we are remembered people today.
SPEAKER_03: And it's enough for us that we find comfort in your word about whatever we're going through, however dark it feels, and alone and lonely it feels.
SPEAKER_03: We're not alone.
SPEAKER_03: You're always with us.
SPEAKER_03: The righteous, the people that really know God are gonna come to us and stand with us.
SPEAKER_03: And you're gonna deal bountifully with us.
SPEAKER_03: You're not out of good that has our name on it.
SPEAKER_03: So thanks for that today.
SPEAKER_03: We say thank you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_03: What everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: If you're our guest today, let me say thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_03: You're always welcome.
SPEAKER_03: All we ask is if you just text the word welcome to that number that's on the screen behind me.
SPEAKER_03: We'd love to have a record of your visit.
SPEAKER_03: We want to help you in your spiritual journey.
SPEAKER_03: I want to be your pastor.
SPEAKER_03: That doesn't mean I just stand up and talk to you on Sundays like Sam just did.
SPEAKER_03: That means when your kids see me in H E B, they giggle and go, Oh, there's Pastor Neil.
SPEAKER_03: He's for us.
SPEAKER_03: I like him.
SPEAKER_03: Uh we have a staff full of pastors that would want to have that kind of relationship with you and your family.
SPEAKER_03: So if you want us to know you're here, text welcome to that number, okay?
SPEAKER_03: We've always got things going on in the life of our church like to make you aware of.
SPEAKER_03: We do that by way of our video announcements.
SPEAKER_03: So check out our screens for this week's announcements.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: Get ready for our epic summer bash next week on August 2nd.
SPEAKER_00: Let's end the summer with an unforgettable day of fun, food, and festivities.
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss out on the excitement.
SPEAKER_00: See you there.
SPEAKER_00: Come and learn why church membership matters and how you can get connected at Grand Parkway Baptist Church on August 18th during second service in the Fellowship Hall.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, don't forget that tonight is the Learning to Pray for Others workshop led by Sam Storms.
SPEAKER_00: It'll be here in the sanctuary from 6:90 to 8 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, you may be visited, or maybe you've just uh been out of town and you're like, wait, what's this workshop?
SPEAKER_03: Uh it happens tonight right here at 6 30, uh right here in this room.
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you're more than welcome to come join us.
SPEAKER_03: We have over 300 people registered.
SPEAKER_03: Uh we don't want to be known as a preaching church, which we love that people believe, understand, and know that we teach the Bible here in a way that people understand.
SPEAKER_03: Well, we also want to be known as a praying church.
SPEAKER_03: One lady said to me that signed up, she said, I got two questions.
SPEAKER_03: Number one, are we gonna have to pray out loud in front of others?
SPEAKER_03: I said, No.
SPEAKER_03: This workshop is for people that are a little self-conscious about that.
SPEAKER_03: But secondly, she said, you know, sometimes people say, Hey, pray for my back, and I just feel like I just kind of say to God what the person said to me, and there's no authority on it, and I walk away just feeling stupid.
SPEAKER_03: If you've ever had that feeling, this is a great opportunity for you to learn some things that'll help you escape that feeling, okay?
SPEAKER_03: It's free.
SPEAKER_03: Uh we ask you to register so we can print out outlines.
SPEAKER_03: You'll be given an outline uh when you come tonight so you can just kind of follow along with Sam and take notes.
SPEAKER_03: 6:30, you'll be done by 8 o'clock.
SPEAKER_03: Left coffee and water in the lobby.
SPEAKER_03: So eat something before you come.
SPEAKER_03: Uh and if you haven't registered, you can register or just show up at 6 30 and we'll make it work.
SPEAKER_03: Amen?
SPEAKER_03: All right, let's send to our feet.
SPEAKER_03: We'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.
SPEAKER_03: Now, by the way, before I let me just remind you, Sam will be available.
SPEAKER_03: Some of you are like, Man, I want to ask you a question, I want to say something to you.
SPEAKER_03: That minister to me.
SPEAKER_03: Come and tell him, okay?
SPEAKER_03: Come and encourage him the way you were encouraged.
SPEAKER_03: Hold your hands out if you would.
SPEAKER_03: The psalmist asks the great question where shall I flee from your presence?
SPEAKER_03: If I take the wings of the morning and go to the heights of the mountain, you're there.
SPEAKER_03: If I go to the depths of the sea, you're there.
SPEAKER_03: If I crawl into a cave and give up on myself, you're there.
SPEAKER_03: And the reason he's there is because he never gives up on you.
SPEAKER_03: He loves you.
SPEAKER_03: He's your dad.
SPEAKER_03: There's nothing you can't tell him.
SPEAKER_03: Depart now and tell him everything.
SPEAKER_03: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Bless you.