SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_01: If you're unfamiliar with the Bible, if you're a guest here, welcome.
SPEAKER_01: We are so glad you are a part of our fellowship this morning.
SPEAKER_01: If you're unfamiliar with how to navigate the Bible, Psalm 3 is in the middle.
SPEAKER_01: You just turn to the middle of your Bible, you'll be in the Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: And that large number is the chapter.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you just find chapter 3, that's where we'll be this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son.
SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord, how many are my foes?
SPEAKER_01: Many are rising up against me.
SPEAKER_01: Many are saying of my soul, There is no salvation for him in God.
SPEAKER_01: But you, Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
SPEAKER_01: I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill.
SPEAKER_01: I lay down and I slept.
SPEAKER_01: I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
SPEAKER_01: I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
SPEAKER_01: Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: Salvation belongs to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Your blessing be on your people.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And it's going to bring some family drama to our service here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Now I know, ladies, there's nothing more that you would want than a little family drama on Mother's Day.
SPEAKER_01: And your nervous laughter affirms that.
SPEAKER_01: He is the man after God's own heart, the second official king of God's people, Israel.
SPEAKER_01: And for the most part, he is a good king, but as we know, King David has some, not just mishaps, but some profound failings.
SPEAKER_01: He sees a woman bathing herself on a housetop and decides, I want her, and he goes and takes her, has her husband murdered.
SPEAKER_01: And from that point on, David's affair with Bathsheba, things begin to spin a little bit out of control for him.
SPEAKER_01: Immediately following that event with Bathsheba, there's some family issues that happen in David's family.
SPEAKER_01: This family drama that I'm going to introduce to you doesn't start with Absalom, David's son.
SPEAKER_01: It actually starts with Absalom's half-brother Amnon.
SPEAKER_01: Amnon was also the brother of, was also a son of David, Absalom's half-brother by another wife.
SPEAKER_01: Amnon had an incestuous infatuation with Absalom's sister Tamar.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're doing the math correctly, that makes Tamar Amnon's half-sister.
SPEAKER_01: He's infatuated with her.
SPEAKER_01: He has to have her.
SPEAKER_01: And not only did he ask her to cook a meal for him, but he's playing sick in his bed and says, Will you come close to feed it to me?
SPEAKER_01: So Tamar, being the good sister, comes close to Amnon to feed him.
SPEAKER_01: He seizes her and forces himself on her and takes her.
SPEAKER_01: And even though Amnon finally got what he wanted, he gets angry at Tamar and he hates her.
SPEAKER_01: There are many theories as to why Amnon then hates the very person he wanted most, but he sends her away.
SPEAKER_01: Sends her away out of his frustration.
SPEAKER_01: And after Amnon has his way with Tamar, her older brother Absalom finds out about it.
SPEAKER_01: And as a good noble brother, you're right.
SPEAKER_01: Absalom was very, very angry.
SPEAKER_01: He was angry at what Amnon did to his sister.
SPEAKER_01: Word makes its way to King David about what's transpired amongst his children, and David is also furious at his son Amnon, but he fails to act.
SPEAKER_01: David, the man after God's own heart, David, the good king of Israel, David, the father of these children, fails to do anything about it.
SPEAKER_01: Fast forward two full years, and Absalom has decided that since my dad's not going to do anything about this, I'm going to take matters into my own hands.
SPEAKER_01: So he gets all his brothers, all the sons of the king together for a feast.
SPEAKER_01: They were shearing the sheep, and I guess that was a big deal back then.
SPEAKER_01: When you shear the sheep, shave them off.
SPEAKER_01: I guess time for a feast.
SPEAKER_01: For here, it's like, hey, we got lots of potatoes during harvest, so let's let's celebrate, right?
SPEAKER_01: So that's if there's a feast happening, they shear the sheep, there's a big feast.
SPEAKER_01: All of David's sons are invited to this.
SPEAKER_01: And Absalom informs his servants hey, I want you to keep an eye on my brother Amnon.
SPEAKER_01: And when he gets good and tipsy, I want you to strike him down.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: I am telling you to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I will take whatever ramifications fall upon you.
SPEAKER_01: And so they do that.
SPEAKER_01: Amnon gets drunk, and Absalom has his brother murdered.
SPEAKER_01: Absalom runs away afraid that maybe his father, King David, might do something about it.
SPEAKER_01: And for three years, Absalom lives in self-imposed exile because he had murdered his brother.
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of three years, Absalom is able to return to Jerusalem where King David lives, but things don't seem to be quite well with his father still.
SPEAKER_01: King David instructs his servants: hey, I know Absalom's in town, but I don't want to see his face.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you dare bring him into my presence.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want anything to do with the guy.
SPEAKER_01: And so for two years, Absalom lives in Jerusalem, but is still estranged from his father.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of two years, Absalom manipulates his way into seeing his father.
SPEAKER_01: But then that begins a significant turning point in this drama.
SPEAKER_01: After there is a supposed reunification between Absalom and his father, something changes in Absalom.
SPEAKER_01: And my personal theory is that Absalom is still holding on to some anger for his father's inaction at what happened with his sister.
SPEAKER_01: Because what Absalom begins to do is that he begins to hop in a chariot and he has servants run before him, crying out his name as he drives down the street, making a big deal out of himself.
SPEAKER_01: And then he camps out at the city gate.
SPEAKER_01: And as people are coming in so that the king could help them decide, make judgments for certain cases that are coming that way, Absalom says, no, no, guys, I will take care of it.
SPEAKER_01: I'll take care of the issues.
SPEAKER_01: I will settle whatever cases that you're bringing to court.
SPEAKER_01: The king doesn't have any time for this.
SPEAKER_01: I'll make a point of making sure you get what you justly deserve.
SPEAKER_01: So essentially, Absalom appoints himself as a judge over Israel, and Absalom is a handsome guy.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, he's the kind of guy who at the beginning of the year, he would begin growing his hair.
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the year, his hair was so long and so thick, it weighed almost five pounds.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of hair.
SPEAKER_01: He had this thick, flowing mane.
SPEAKER_01: He was a man's man.
SPEAKER_01: He was beautiful from head to toe, and he was a charismatic man, so much more so that he won the hearts and minds.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the Bible says he stole the hearts and minds of all the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: And for four years, for four years, Absalom is persuading the people of Israel that he knows better than the king, his father, David.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of those four years, he leaves Jerusalem under the pretenses of trying to fulfill a vow.
SPEAKER_01: But in reality, he is leaving Jerusalem so that he can begin building a coalition of Israel that will help him undermine and usurp the throne of his father so that he could take it for himself.
SPEAKER_01: And when David hears about what is going on, about Absalom's plan, about how Absalom is going throughout his kingdom, proclaiming himself as king, David flees Jerusalem and thus begins Absalom's rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: And it's within this context that David wrote the psalm that we're going to be in this morning, Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_01: David is on the run from his son, and it seems that people are turning against him left and right.
SPEAKER_01: If you're anything like me, whenever I'm in a difficult situation, I jump straight to asking God for solutions.
SPEAKER_01: And you can imagine David being in this particular situation.
SPEAKER_01: People are turning on him left and right, let alone his own family.
SPEAKER_01: And you would think David would just jump straight into asking God, God, I need your help with this problem.
SPEAKER_01: Smite him or smote him or whatever the proper verb is, right?
SPEAKER_01: Strike him down, frustrate their plans, put me back in my throne.
SPEAKER_01: But here we see David do something different in Psalm 3.
SPEAKER_01: He starts out with an assessment of what is happening from his perspective.
SPEAKER_01: And this is why I love the Psalms so much.
SPEAKER_01: I love the Psalms because in the Psalms you will find tons of raw emotion.
SPEAKER_01: People just saying it how it is.
SPEAKER_01: And here we have that.
SPEAKER_01: David starts out with, Oh Lord, how many are my foes?
SPEAKER_01: As if God doesn't even know how many his foes are, right?
SPEAKER_01: Many are rising against me.
SPEAKER_01: What, you think God doesn't know what's happening, David?
SPEAKER_01: Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine being King David for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: All of your life you have been fighting.
SPEAKER_01: You really are a man of war.
SPEAKER_01: All of his life, from his early childhood, from the moment he slayed Goliath until this point, and when he dies, he's going to be constantly engaged in warfare.
SPEAKER_01: He fought against the Philistines who were regularly trying to conquer the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: He had to run away from his predecessor, Saul, who was regularly trying to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: But now he faces an enemy from within his own family, and not just that.
SPEAKER_01: His son Absalom has turned all the people of Israel against him.
SPEAKER_01: And adding insult to injury, one of David's most trusted advisors, named Ahithophel, has also turned against him and has sided with Absalom.
SPEAKER_01: Ahithophel's words were as if God himself were speaking.
SPEAKER_01: That's how much Ahithophel's counsel was treasured and valued.
SPEAKER_01: And this man that David highly trusted has now turned against him and is now throwing in his lot with his son Absalom.
SPEAKER_01: And as you read these words, O Lord, how many are my foes, many are rising up against me, you would realize David is not being overly dramatic.
SPEAKER_01: When your own people begin to turn on you, it would seem as if you're surrounded by enemies, right?
SPEAKER_01: When your own family and your own counselors turn on you, who else can you trust?
SPEAKER_01: And so David cries out to God, God, I'm surrounded by enemies.
SPEAKER_01: There are many, and they seem to be growing by the day.
SPEAKER_01: God, this is the situation that currently confronts me.
SPEAKER_01: And not only is he surrounded by people who hate him and want to kill him, but he is surrounded by those who insist on cursing him.
SPEAKER_01: As David is fleeing Jerusalem, he encounters a man named Shimei in 2 Samuel chapter 16, verses 5 through 8.
SPEAKER_01: Shemiah is a descendant of David's predecessor, King Saul.
SPEAKER_01: And he sees David coming down the road.
SPEAKER_01: And so Shimei decides to step out of his house and chucks some rocks at David and begins cursing him.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand your son Absalom.
SPEAKER_01: See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot to unpack in these insults here that Shemiah is piling upon David.
SPEAKER_01: But Shemai's ultimate claim, the bottom line claim that Shemiah is making towards David, is that there is no salvation for you this time.
SPEAKER_01: Your God is not going to save you.
SPEAKER_01: God has taken your throne and he's given it to your son, you worthless man.
SPEAKER_01: I think this these first two verses are very instructive of us for us.
SPEAKER_01: David is calling out to God as things happen.
SPEAKER_01: As it happens, he's talking to God about what he sees.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll note that David has yet to make a request in these first two verses, right?
SPEAKER_01: He's simply telling God, hey, look what's going on down here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm surrounded, insulted, and cursed.
SPEAKER_01: And he feels as if he's in a hopeless situation, but he doesn't try to dress it up to make it sound like theologically correct.
SPEAKER_01: He he doesn't he doesn't wage this war within him, like, oh, I shouldn't say this because I know God is enthroned and he's sovereign.
SPEAKER_01: David knows all that, but he still tells God, here's what's happening.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't try to give an eloquent theological representation of spiritual realities at the moment.
SPEAKER_01: He's calling it like it is.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason it's instructive for us is because I think we often are afraid of speaking very plainly to God.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I love the psalm.
SPEAKER_01: When you are struggling and you think that the church's response to you would just be to cover up, cover it up with some theological makeup, you need to read the psalm.
SPEAKER_01: That's not David right now.
SPEAKER_01: He's not masking this, uh putting it in pretty language.
SPEAKER_01: If we consider the spiritual reality of God's sovereignty, God doesn't need us to tell him what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: He already knows.
SPEAKER_01: But then why does God want us to speak plainly about our problems?
SPEAKER_01: It's because it's an acknowledgement of our weakness.
SPEAKER_01: David's acknowledging his weakness in this statement of the obvious.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, God, I need your help.
SPEAKER_01: So the request is being made just by simply saying, God, here are the circumstances I'm being confronted with.
SPEAKER_01: It's an acknowledgement of our need for him.
SPEAKER_01: David's cry is more than just stating the obvious, it's the start of a cry for help.
SPEAKER_01: And you cannot ask God for help if you're not willing to acknowledge the problem from your perspective.
SPEAKER_01: If you are unwilling to be real with whatever the problem is that currently confronts you, you will not ask for the help that you truly need.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about this for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: David has an army with him.
SPEAKER_01: He's not completely alone.
SPEAKER_01: And yet he says, Oh Lord, how many are my foes?
SPEAKER_01: Many are rising against me.
SPEAKER_01: David also has men who are willing to defend his honor when people curse him and say of his soul, there is no salvation for him in God.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I love this in 2 Samuel 16, 9, after the curse of Shimei, uh the Abishai, this guy who's rolling with David, Abishai, son of uh Zariah, says to King David, Why should this dead dog curse my Lord the king?
SPEAKER_01: Let me go over and remove his head.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Get you some friends like Abishai, who when people hurl curses to you, like, yo, you want me to go deal with him?
SPEAKER_01: Not condoning violence.
SPEAKER_01: But that's how fiercely loyal David's people are.
SPEAKER_01: He's not alone, and he has people who are willing to defend his honor, and yet from David's perspective, he sees a significant problem.
SPEAKER_01: Again, he's not being overly dramatic.
SPEAKER_01: There are many more details happening in the first two verses of this psalm, and yet David's perspective of the situation shows that David ultimately knows that regardless of the strength of his army, and regardless of those who will defend his armor, uh his honor, David needs the help of God Almighty if he is going to make it through whatever it is this situation is going to lead to.
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: What situation are you in that makes you feel the way that David is feeling in this psalm?
SPEAKER_01: I know many of us come into church on Sundays and we put on a good face.
SPEAKER_01: We think people don't want to hear about our problems, but I know many of you feel like you're drowning.
SPEAKER_01: You feel like David, like there's you're just surrounded by these forces that are constantly against you.
SPEAKER_01: The unfortunate thing is that a lot of times we're not willing to confess that.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to acknowledge it because it means acknowledging that we are weak.
SPEAKER_01: For those struggling with pornography, have you been honest with God about the problem?
SPEAKER_01: For those who are experiencing difficulty in their marriage, have you been honest with God about the problem?
SPEAKER_01: For those who feel as if they are drowning in doubt and depression, have you been honest with God about the problem?
SPEAKER_01: Whatever it is, fill in the blank.
SPEAKER_01: Have you talked to God honestly about what is going on around you?
SPEAKER_01: If we speak in generalities about the difficulties that we face, that's a confession that we don't think God can or will help us.
SPEAKER_01: When we begin our pleas for God's help with specifics of what we are experiencing and what is going on, we're acknowledging that we are weak and feeble, and we need help.
SPEAKER_01: We need God's help not just in generalities, but in the details.
SPEAKER_01: When enemies surround you, tell God about it, confess it to him, because that sets you up for confidence in who he is.
SPEAKER_01: And that leads us to verses three through six, where David expresses an unmatched confidence in his God despite the circumstances surrounding him.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse three.
SPEAKER_01: But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
SPEAKER_01: I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill.
SPEAKER_01: I lay down and slept, I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
SPEAKER_01: I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me.
SPEAKER_01: All around.
SPEAKER_01: Notice the contrast between the first two verses where David seems desperate to the next three verses where David seems confident.
SPEAKER_01: Despite the circumstances, David has the utmost confidence in God.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, verse 3, he says, But you, Lord, are a shield around me.
SPEAKER_01: Though many are rising up against David, the Lord is a shield about him.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that word, you are a shield about me.
SPEAKER_01: Other translations will say, surrounding me.
SPEAKER_01: That's the language there that is meant to be conveyed.
SPEAKER_01: A shield, a typical shield, is a one-dimensional defensive tool, meaning that you wear it to protect yourself from attacks coming in one direction.
SPEAKER_01: But the Lord doesn't walk operate that way.
SPEAKER_01: God is a shield all around David.
SPEAKER_01: David asserts that the Lord is not just a shield in front of him, but all around him.
SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't matter where the enemies come from, even though they're rising up all around him, it doesn't matter where they're coming from.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is a shield that surrounds him.
SPEAKER_01: God is there in defense of his people.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the theological promise that David is holding on to as articulated by the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_01: If God is for us, who could be against us?
SPEAKER_01: Think about the weight of what David is claiming here.
SPEAKER_01: The God of the universe, who made the world and everything in it, who sustains life and breath and everything else, who sovereignly rules over the affairs of men with righteousness and justice.
SPEAKER_01: The all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God Almighty is his shield.
SPEAKER_01: What further protection does David need if God is on his side?
SPEAKER_01: Psalm chapter 20, verse 7 says, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, some trust in their physical abilities and in their own power, but God's people don't function and operate in the same way.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, God's people trust in God alone.
SPEAKER_01: Who do you trust in when you feel the most vulnerable?
SPEAKER_01: You can imagine David is feeling incredibly vulnerable, so much so that he feels like he can't trust people.
SPEAKER_01: Again, his son and closest advisor have turned against him and all the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Who else can you trust?
SPEAKER_01: David, I'm imagining, is feeling incredibly vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: Where does he go?
SPEAKER_01: Who does he trust?
SPEAKER_01: And yet he trusts in God for his defense.
SPEAKER_01: Who do you trust when you feel the most vulnerable?
SPEAKER_01: Are you trusting in the ability of doctors, therapists, or government?
SPEAKER_01: Are you trusting in your own ability?
SPEAKER_01: Or are you trusting in God as your shield, the one whose defenses are impenetrable?
SPEAKER_01: In fact, David has so much confidence in the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_01: Again, I'm drawing, I'm bringing you back.
SPEAKER_01: David is in the midst of an insurrection, right?
SPEAKER_01: He's a wanted man in his own kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And yet in verse uh five, he says, I lie down and sleep.
SPEAKER_01: But David's on the run.
SPEAKER_01: But he is, he's not worried about his own life.
SPEAKER_01: He's not worried about whether or not he can protect himself.
SPEAKER_01: He's not worried about whether or not he has the uh appropriate amount of forces to defend himself.
SPEAKER_01: No, he lays down and he goes to sleep.
SPEAKER_01: I can't remember where I heard it.
SPEAKER_01: It's probably my wife, she has a sign, I think.
SPEAKER_01: I think so.
SPEAKER_01: She'll correct me later.
SPEAKER_01: But uh it's something to the effect of give it to God and go to sleep.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: David's life is not in his own hands.
SPEAKER_01: The solution for David's problems is not in David's hands.
SPEAKER_01: So David is not going to concern himself by staying up all night worrying about it.
SPEAKER_01: No, he's going to lie down and he's going to go to sleep.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because the Lord is his shield, and when he wakes again, verse 5, who is it that's going to sustain him?
SPEAKER_01: Not David.
SPEAKER_01: It is the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord sustains him.
SPEAKER_01: David has so much confidence in God.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever the situation, whatever it is that you're trusting in, God wants you to trust in Him alone as your defense.
SPEAKER_01: And this doesn't mean that we can't receive help.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean that we shouldn't receive help.
SPEAKER_01: What it does mean is that we don't trust the outcomes.
SPEAKER_01: And our defense is ultimately to the ability of man.
SPEAKER_01: We trust in God alone.
SPEAKER_01: David has confidence in the Lord as his shield, but he also has confidence in the Lord as his glory.
SPEAKER_01: Look again at verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: But you, O Lord, are my glory, he says.
SPEAKER_01: David encounters people who curse and dishonor him, but the Lord is his honor.
SPEAKER_01: That's what that word glory means, is honor.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is his glory.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter what people say about him, because at the end of the day, God is David's glory.
SPEAKER_01: People can say what they want about him, because the only thing worth boasting about in David is God.
SPEAKER_01: The assertion here of God being David's glory ties directly in with this previous assertion that God is his all-encompassing defense.
SPEAKER_01: If God is David's defense, then David has nothing worth boasting about in himself.
SPEAKER_01: If there is nothing in David to boast about, then David is unconcerned with the insults and curses of the world because David knows that God is his shield.
SPEAKER_01: Let that sit quietly on your Facebook page.
SPEAKER_01: Prophet Jeremiah puts it this way.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah 9, 23 through 24, thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Let not the mighty man boast in his might.
SPEAKER_01: Let not the rich man boast in his riches.
SPEAKER_01: But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.
SPEAKER_01: For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The wisest person in the world is a fool compared to the wisdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: The most powerful in the world are feeble compared to the power of God.
SPEAKER_01: The riches in the world are destitute compared to the riches of God.
SPEAKER_01: And if you know who God truly is, then you know that He is the only person worth truly bragging about.
SPEAKER_01: God is your wisdom no matter how foolish you look.
SPEAKER_01: Is God your strength no matter how weak you are?
SPEAKER_01: Is God your wealth no matter how poor you are?
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, the person who is separated from God and has everything in this world has nothing.
SPEAKER_01: Whereas the person who knows God and has nothing in this world has everything.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is David's glory.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is what David brags about.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is what David boasts in.
SPEAKER_01: And let me ask you, what do you boast in?
SPEAKER_01: Who or what do you look to as the source of your glory?
SPEAKER_01: Who or what do you boast in?
SPEAKER_01: What you trust in will ultimately be what you brag about.
SPEAKER_01: Think about that for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: What you trust in is ultimately what you brag about.
SPEAKER_01: And if your bragging is centered on the abilities and the wisdom of people, then you are finding glory in the wrong place.
SPEAKER_01: You are seeking treasure in a landfill when God has given you the riches of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: What do you boast in?
SPEAKER_01: For those who seek their own glory, I ask you today, put down the vain trust of your own efforts.
SPEAKER_01: Put down the vain trust in your own abilities and trust in the wisdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: In God's wisdom, Jesus Christ, set aside his eternal glory as the Son of God in order to become the object of dishonor and wrath so that you and I could be forgiven of all the times that we have rejected God in our futile attempts to boast and glory in ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Stop trusting in yourself and stop boasting in yourself and your abilities and those around you.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, trust in Jesus Christ and boast in Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins and the salvation of your soul.
SPEAKER_01: Trust and boast in God alone, who can deliver you from whatever it is that you were going through.
SPEAKER_01: David asserts that the Lord is his shield, his glory, and then lastly, his encouragement, the lifter of his head, he says.
SPEAKER_01: David might be discouraged, but the Lord lifts his head heavenward and wants David not just to look at his present circumstances, but to look to him.
SPEAKER_01: I heard a pastor say this one time that a lot of times we as Christians, we get so entangled by the difficulties and trials of this world that we fall into navel gazing.
SPEAKER_01: We're just down looking at ourselves and we can't bring our eyes up, but God.
SPEAKER_01: God is the one who lifts our eyes to look heavenward.
SPEAKER_01: Again, all three of these statements are interconnected.
SPEAKER_01: If God is David's shield, then David has nothing to glory in or boast in.
SPEAKER_01: If God is David's shield and his glory, then naturally God is drawing David's gaze heavenward so that David's confidence in him would increase.
SPEAKER_01: As God lifts David's eyes, David grows in his confidence and encouragement in the God who can and will save him.
SPEAKER_01: Again, in verse 5, he is so confident in God that he's able to sleep peacefully at night.
SPEAKER_01: And so long as David's eyes are fixed horizontally, he will limit himself to resources that he can see and grasp.
SPEAKER_01: You get what I'm saying there?
SPEAKER_01: As long as David is merely fixing his eyes on what he can see, the solutions he looks for are going to be dependent on that.
SPEAKER_01: But God draws his eyes heavenward.
SPEAKER_01: Draws his eyes heavenward so that he is no longer looking within himself, but rather gazing at the eternal beauty and strength of his God.
SPEAKER_01: God lifts David's head so that David can look towards his only source of hope.
SPEAKER_01: But where do you look for hope?
SPEAKER_01: What do you trust in?
SPEAKER_01: What do you boast about?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you find your hope?
SPEAKER_01: Who do you look to?
SPEAKER_01: I hope it's been clear up to this point that regardless of your situation or difficulty, God is ready and willing to hear your cry for help.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, David says that in verse 4, I cried aloud to the Lord, and a lot of people think that our prayers are falling on deaf ears, but David has this confidence.
SPEAKER_01: Again, and I want to remind us, he is not father of the year.
SPEAKER_01: He's not scoring a hundred on the dad scale, right?
SPEAKER_01: He's messed up tons in these latter years of his life.
SPEAKER_01: Specifically with his own kids, and it's now coming to haunt him.
SPEAKER_01: But David knows God is not holding that against him.
SPEAKER_01: He's not saying, well, David, you've got to atone for your past sins, and then maybe I'll lend you my left ear, because I'm a little hard of hearing in that one.
SPEAKER_01: No, when David cries for help, God answers him.
SPEAKER_01: He answers him.
SPEAKER_01: And this is not this is not hypothetical thinking.
SPEAKER_01: This is not, this is not just David thinking, well, in a sense, God answered me.
SPEAKER_01: No, he literally answered him.
SPEAKER_01: As David is on the run in 2 Samuel, David is ascending the Mount of Olives, mourning what is happening in his own kingdom, mourning the dissolution within his own family, mourning his son who has turned against him.
SPEAKER_01: David is walking up, he's got his cloak torn, he's got stuff on his ashes on his head, and he's just weeping.
SPEAKER_01: And along the way, he's informed that his closest advisors have turned against him.
SPEAKER_01: And so in that moment, David cries out, Lord, oh, that you would frustrate their plans.
SPEAKER_01: And he keeps walking and he makes his way all the way up to the top of the Mountain Olives.
SPEAKER_01: And what's waiting for him there?
SPEAKER_01: A guy named Hashai the Architect, who ends up being a close friend and advisor of David, who is weeping with him and agrees to help him.
SPEAKER_01: David has his prayer answered.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe not in the way that David expected.
SPEAKER_01: It ends up, Hashai ends up being a key part in Absalom's fall and David's restoration to the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: This is not just David wishfully thinking that God will answer him.
SPEAKER_01: No, God definitively answered him, and it led to the restoration of David to his throne.
SPEAKER_01: When God, when you cry out to God, God hears you.
SPEAKER_01: He hears you.
SPEAKER_01: He will hear you when you cry for help and he will respond.
SPEAKER_01: So trust in him as your shield.
SPEAKER_01: Let him be the one that you boast in.
SPEAKER_01: Let him be your glory, and let your eyes gaze heavenward for hope and encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: David ends the psalm in verses 7 through 8 with a cry for salvation to the God he trusts in.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Rise up, Lord, save me my God.
SPEAKER_01: For you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: You'll notice that there is a connection between David's cry for God to rise up and the opening verse where David says, Many are rising up against me.
SPEAKER_01: As many are rising up against me, God arise and save me.
SPEAKER_01: And then he uses these words, this language here that is a bit, I don't know, abrasive.
SPEAKER_01: You strike all my enemies on the cheek.
SPEAKER_01: You break the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: We missed that one in Sunday school.
SPEAKER_01: David uses specific language here to speak of the way that God deals with his enemies in giving salvation to his people.
SPEAKER_01: They are struck on the cheek and their teeth are broken.
SPEAKER_01: It's vivid and graphic language that's meant to convey God's judgment on the enemies of God's people.
SPEAKER_01: The first being that God strikes them on the cheek.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure if you've ever been slapped on the cheek, but it's not a pleasant experience.
SPEAKER_01: It's a humiliating one.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just a new cultural experience where being slapped on the cheek is humiliating.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually ancient.
SPEAKER_01: In Job 16, 10, men have gaped at me with their mouths.
SPEAKER_01: So Job is completely destitute.
SPEAKER_01: He's lost everything, right?
SPEAKER_01: And people are looking at him just kind of like, ugh, look at Job.
SPEAKER_01: And then Job says, They have struck me on the cheek insolently.
SPEAKER_01: They mask themselves together against me.
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's a term of derision.
SPEAKER_01: Or consider what the prophet Jeremiah says in Lamentations chapter 3, verse 30, let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
SPEAKER_01: To be struck on the cheek is to be humiliated.
SPEAKER_01: What David is saying is that ultimately God will humiliate the enemies of his people.
SPEAKER_01: Those who set themselves against God's elect will be subjected to humiliation that will far exceed the shame given by any man.
SPEAKER_01: Shemiah can hurl his curses and insults at David, but David says, you know what, there will come a day where God's going to slap you on the cheek and publicly humiliate you.
SPEAKER_01: You will be subjected to greater indignity than you could ever imagine.
SPEAKER_01: And then follow this with David's statement that God breaks the teeth of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: And this too can be seen as a humiliating act.
SPEAKER_01: But really it's more about disarming the threat of violence and harm.
SPEAKER_01: Look at, well, you won't have to look there, but make a note.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 58, right?
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 58, David uses, the same author, he uses similar language when he is writing about the fate of the wicked, right?
SPEAKER_01: So it's a similar theme and he uses the same language.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 58, 6, he says, God knock the teeth out of their mouths.
SPEAKER_01: So there's that same language, but he follows it up with, Lord, tear out the young lion's fangs.
SPEAKER_01: If you can imagine a young lion with no teeth poses very little threat.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe eventually he might gum you to death.
SPEAKER_01: But usually what makes us fearful of lions, right?
SPEAKER_01: And animals, is not their paws, it's their teeth.
SPEAKER_01: Claws may injure, it is the teeth that kills.
SPEAKER_01: And David's cry for salvation in God is because God both humiliates and disarms the enemies of his people.
SPEAKER_01: David knows that God will make all things right and that his enemies will suffer a greater humiliation and defeat than he ever will in his life.
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, David can say with the utmost confidence, salvation belongs to the Lord, and that's where we conclude.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Your blessing be on your people.
SPEAKER_01: There is no other way out of this for David.
SPEAKER_01: There's no other means of escape.
SPEAKER_01: There is no plan B.
SPEAKER_01: David is confident though he is surrounded.
SPEAKER_01: David is confident though he is insulted.
SPEAKER_01: And he knows that salvation belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: And he will not find salvation in anything or anyone else.
SPEAKER_01: The only hope of being saved from his circumstances belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: Believe it or not, you and I can find ourselves in similar situations.
SPEAKER_01: Though you might not perceive yourself to be in physical danger at the moment, I want you to consider the eternal danger that is very real and that each of us are in.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that not a single one of us does good, and that we are by nature children of wrath.
SPEAKER_01: We have consigned ourselves over to what Colossians chapter 1, verse 13 calls the domain of darkness.
SPEAKER_01: And we are held captive there by spiritual forces that hate you and want to see your ultimate destruction and damnation in the fires of hell.
SPEAKER_01: The temptations you face to sin against God come from powers and authorities in spiritual places in order to feed your selfish desires and keep you locked up in these chains of wrath.
SPEAKER_01: You and I are dead in our sin, and we are held captive there by the powers that purvey it.
SPEAKER_01: But God.
SPEAKER_01: But God, according to Colossians chapter 2, verse 13 through 14.
SPEAKER_01: When you were dead in your sins, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.
SPEAKER_01: He erased the certificate of debt with its obligations that was held against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: What the Bible tells us is that the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: What you owe God for your sin is your own life, death.
SPEAKER_01: Separation from life and from the life giver.
SPEAKER_01: And the debt that you owe to God as payment for your sins, according to Colossians 2, was paid in full by the blood of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: What you owe to God has been paid by God the Son.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't stop there.
SPEAKER_01: Colossians 2, 15 continues.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities.
SPEAKER_01: He broke their teeth.
SPEAKER_01: The devil is smiling without any teeth right now because Jesus Christ broke his teeth.
SPEAKER_01: And then he triumphed over them and disgraced them publicly.
SPEAKER_01: He disarmed the spiritual powers and authorities that kept you chained to your sin.
SPEAKER_01: How did he do it?
SPEAKER_01: By rising again from the dead three days later.
SPEAKER_01: You and I have been made righteous before God because Jesus took our debt to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: We have been justified by God because of his resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ used the cross to smash the teeth of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: And when he rose again, he smacked him on the cheek.
SPEAKER_01: And there is now nothing holding you where you're at.
SPEAKER_01: The call for you this morning is to trust in God alone for salvation, because salvation belongs to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You can have confidence in whatever you want.
SPEAKER_01: Eventually, at the end of the day, it's going to fail.
SPEAKER_01: The only one that you can have full confidence in today, for the thing that matters most, and that is the salvation of your soul, is to trust in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Trust in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Not because of anything you've done, but because salvation belongs to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to invite you to close your eyes and bow your heads with me.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to pray in the quietness of your seat.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to ask you some questions that I want you to talk to the Lord about as I ask him.
SPEAKER_01: What is your situation?
SPEAKER_01: What is it that you're struggling with?
SPEAKER_01: Be honest to God about it.
SPEAKER_01: What are you trusting in?
SPEAKER_01: What are you boasting in?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you look for hope?
SPEAKER_01: Do you trust in God that if you cry out to him that he will answer you?
SPEAKER_01: Do you have confidence in God that if you just give it to him, you will find peace for your soul?
SPEAKER_01: Do you trust in God for salvation?
SPEAKER_01: Father God, I pray for everybody here, whatever we are going through.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us have been walking with you for some time and we trust in you for salvation, but we're having a hard time trusting in you for our present difficulties.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that you would turn our eyes heavenward.
SPEAKER_01: That we would trust in you to defend us, and that we would believe these words that salvation belongs to you.
SPEAKER_01: I pray for those also here, Lord, today who don't know you.
SPEAKER_01: I pray today would be the day of salvation for them, that they would see the depravity of their own hearts, the futility of trusting in themselves, and that they would today declare that salvation belongs to you and trust in you for that.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Jesus Christ's name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.