Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 57. Psalm 57 and verse
1, the first verse. Be merciful unto me, O God, be
merciful unto me. For my soul trusteth in Thee,
yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge until these
calamities be overpassed. Psalm 57 and verse 1. We are told over the top of this
psalm the occasion when this psalm was written. It was when
David fled from Saul in the cave. That is no doubt at this time
the cave Adulam. But there is two occasions and
we of course read the second psalm as well, Psalm 142. which
was a prayer when he was in the cave. And on what occasion, whether
that was the same occasion or another one, we don't know, but
in 1 Samuel chapter 22, we have the record in those first few
verses, how that David departed from Achish, and this is when
he found himself mad because They had recognized him as the
one that had slain Goliath. His life was in danger. He made
out he was mad and fled from his presence. So we read there,
David departed thence and escaped to the cave of Dullam. And when
his brethren in all his father's house heard it, they went down
thither to him. And everyone that was in distress,
and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented,
gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over
them. And so at that time it had been
a great distress and we read in Psalm 34 as well, which was
written at this time, this poor man cried and the Lord heard
him and saved him out of all his troubles. And it was indeed
when his life was in danger, they could easily have taken
and killed him then. But then we have a couple of
chapters later on in chapter 24 when Samuel, when Saul was
pursuing after David again and they came into a cave and David's
men were in the sides of the cave. This is the occasion when
David cut off the skirt of Saul to prove how close he'd got to
him. He could have slain him, but
he didn't. and then called after Saul afterwards. So David had many times that
his life was in danger and often that was very suddenly. So in the words of our text we
have what is going on in his soul and how he is praying at
this time. I've said many times here that
with the Psalms especially where we know when they were written,
they show what is going on within. Outwardly is one thing, and people
see that outward walk and outward trials and afflictions, but what
they don't see is how it is having effect in our prayers, our cries
to the Lord, and what goes on within. This is what we term
the Christian experience, experiential religion. It is that which the
outward walk is reflected in much that goes on within. There's
searchings of heart, there's confessions, there's prayers,
there's pleas for help, there's thanksgivings, there's hopes,
there's expectations. The soul of the Lord's people
is very much exercised with what they go through and the things
that they come into, especially when they are described as here,
these calamities and troubles and trials. The Lord's people
are said to be chosen in the midst of infirmity, in the midst
of affliction. I've chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. the Lord's people he shall bring
the third part through the fire and the fire shall try every
man's work of what sort it is and the disciples they echoed
our Lord's words that he must through much tribulation enter
the kingdom And man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. So such a prayer as this, we
know it won't be unique. The calamities, the troubles,
the trials of God's people, they won't be just unique to David. They will be known by all the
people of God and they'll know In addition, those persecutions
and trials that they have, as our Lord said, they that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So the words of our text, be
merciful unto me, O God, Be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth
in thee, yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge
until these calamities be overpassed. I want to look at this evening
with the Lord's help. Firstly, a time of calamities. And then secondly, even even
for a soul trusting in the Lord. And then thirdly, the action
of a soul trusting in the Lord, that is especially under these
calamities. Firstly, a time of calamities. We could ask, well what does
it mean? a calamity. The dictionary description
is an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress,
a disaster really. And here David, he says, until these
calamities be overpassed. There are several things implied
here. He doesn't say until this calamity
be overpassed. How often it is, the hymn writer
says, when united trials meet, will show a path of safe retreat. Often there are those things
that cause distress, whether they could be turned to disaster
or not, but they are multiplied one after another. You think of how it was with
dear Job when he had one messenger after another coming with evil
tidings. those things that were done to
his goods, his property, his families, and they were multiplied
one after another. So the very words of the text,
it is implying this, is not speaking of one calamity, we might think
of an earthquake, or tsunami. You might think of the hurricane
that we had in this land in 1987 as one event. But here we have
it spoken in plural. And you might say with David,
well, it's one event. He's fleeing from Saul. But that's not really the only
event. He's in danger of his life with
the Philistines. He's away from his home. He's
fleeing from his home. All of these things, they are
adding up as a number of calamities. The other thing to notice here,
there is a time limit expected He's expecting that these calamities
won't go on and on and on. That there will come a time when
they're overpassed. He's passed them. Until these
calamities be overpassed. And it's a good thing to remember
that, especially when we're entering into calamities, we see things
that just completely rock us, completely throw us about, and
how easy it is to think that that is the end, it will never
get better, we'll never recover, we'll never rise again. But the
implication, the word of the Lord here is, they will be overpassed. And we know in the history of
the world the many large things that have happened as well as
those small things and yet nevertheless severe in the lives of those
in this world, there has been a conclusion to them. May that be a ray of hope to
one in the midst of calamities at this time, in the midst of
troubles and of trials, that there will be a time when they're
over, when they're past. You might say, well, is not the
word saying that David is going to be trusting in the Lord and
in the shadow of his wings and making a refuge there just until
these calamities be over past? Now in one sense, say if we had
a deluge of rain and we were seeking a place of refuge so
that we weren't completely drowned or drenched, as soon as that
rain stopped then we'd come out of that refuge. In that we only
need that refuge while it is so, but for the psalmist, for David,
for any of the Lord's people, to say, well, the only time that
I will make my refuge in the Lord is when I have troubles
in this life, calamities, and then we won't seek the Lord. There are many that are like
that. While there is trouble, then they'll pray. As soon as
that trouble's taken away, they don't pray, and they don't remember
to give thanks either. But we can't believe that David,
a man after God's own heart, had such a religion that was
only with the Lord when he needed some help, and then other times
he could just as well do without the Lord. So I believe the right
way of looking at the word is that this is how he will, and
we'll look at this later on, how he will act all the while
these calamities. There won't be a time that he's
going to despair, he's going to give up, he's going to cast
away his hope, or that he won't have refuge just when he needs
it. There is then a limiting. We
read of the children of Israel in the wilderness, especially
when they were at Mount Sinai. You had to dwell long enough
in this mount and then they had to move on. All of the signs
and wonders in Egypt, they came to an end at last. Their wilderness
journey came to an end at last. They were brought up from the
wilderness. and brought into Canaan, and
we read in the Word, surely there is an end, and thine expectation
shall not be cut off. My times are in thy hand, times
of sickness and times of health, times of trial, times of relief
from those trials. They that have no changes fear
not God. But we know that in this world,
that is under the curse, where sin and death reigns, there
will be sorrow, there will be calamities while the earth remains. And there is then a time, a time
of calamities. But I want to look secondly at
the truth that there is even a time of calamities for a soul
trusting in the Lord. Sometimes Satan might really
tempt and he says, well if you are really trusting in the Lord,
then you will not have these sudden, unexpected trials and
calamities and tribulations. But the Word of God shows that
that is not the case. How often we can have ideas of
how the Lord protects his people, We might think with Peter, when
the Lord said, I prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, that
his prayer had failed when he denied his Lord and Master those
three times. But the Lord had not prayed that
Peter be not left to deny him. He prayed that his faith would
not fail. And when Peter came out of that
trial that was very shameful, humiliating to him, then he still
believed. He still loved the Lord. He hadn't
cast away his hope, though he'd reeled to and fro. Yet he comes
out the end of it. Yea, thou knowest all things,
thou knowest that I love thee. And so we might pray for the
Lord's protection. We might say we are a soul that
trusts in the Lord. We trust our lives to Him. We trust our protection to Him. And yet even in our lives, as
we are trusting Him, we will come into calamities. and into things that we might
think, well, why did not the Lord keep us from this? We mentioned
Job. We read that Job was an upright
man, he feared God. But Satan, he accused Job, he
said, doth Job fear God for naught? Have you not put a hedge around
about him? Doesn't he just serve you because
you have protected him? And Satan said, well, you just touch
all what he has now and he'll turn around and he'll curse you
to your face. In other words, Satan is saying
here is a soul that's trusting in thee. and thou hast protected
him and hedged him around every way, but you take away that hedge,
you bring him into some calamity, and he'll turn round and he'll
curse thee. And there are countless millions
that that would be very true of, and Satan knew that. But
where the Lord is the keeper of the souls of his people, Where
they know and love him, their language is, though he slay me,
yet will I trust in him. And Job, after all of those things
happened to him, you can read them all in the first couple
of chapters in Job. Firstly, all out within his family,
in his house, his goods, his flocks, his herds. his servants,
his children. And then later on, in his own
body, in being afflicted, and Job, he says, the Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And we read that in all this,
that Job sinned not with his lips, And so we are reminded, and in
the words of our text here, is one that trusts in the Lord that
then has calamities. And especially with the definition
of a calamity that comes suddenly, if that is our lot, if that is
appointed, maybe remember. Remember this verse, remember
this word, and that when Satan comes in like a flood, We remember
that those that trust in the Lord still sometimes are caused
like the three Hebrew children to go into the fire that Nebuchadnezzar
had made seven times hotter. Sometimes like Daniel, they're
still caused though they trust in the Lord and they pray to
the Lord three times a day, yet still they are not delivered
out of the hand of those that hate them, and they must go into
the lion's den. Or if they be like Joseph, must
still be treated as he was by his brothers, and falsely accused
by his master's wife, and cast into prison, and forgotten by
the butler, and have the word of the Lord so trying him, Those
that trust in the Lord have that trust tested and tried, that
the Lord knows what He is doing, that He knows that He is able
to give grace and help and strength in the midst of adverse, difficult
and trying circumstances. that cause many to cast away
their faith and to say they have nothing more to do with the Lord. It is good for us to be well
grounded in this truth, to realise that a belief in God, a trust
in God, is not, as it were, an insurance policy to say that
we will never get ill, we'll never have things go very badly
wrong, we'll never have bereavements and losses and crosses and sorrows. The Lord does not say to his
dear people that they're exempted from that. But they may trust that whatever
he does, Romans 8, 28 stands true. We know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them that are
the called according to his purpose. And Joseph later on was able
to say to his brothers, you sent me not hither but God to save
your lives by great deliverance. The psalmist at one time says,
it was good for me that I was afflicted, before I was afflicted
I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. That looking back and
seeing that the Lord has made it work together for good. By the entrance into it, by not
to, with ourselves or with others, Job's friends were like that.
They sympathised with him first, but afterward, when the trial
went on longer than they thought it should, then they made out
there must have been some reason, there must have been some cause
in Job why these things had befallen him. We need to be very careful
when we view others, the Lord's people, that we then don't imply
that if they really had trusted the Lord they would not be sick,
or if they really had trusted the Lord then these things would
not have happened to them. The message of this verse, the
message that David would speak to us and to all that come into
a path of calamities and trials is how we actually act in them. How we react, how we pass through
those trials. The fire shall try every man's
work of what sort it is. And Peter in his epistles The
first epistle, he says, for a season, where
he speaks of rejoicing with faith of that salvation ready to be
revealed in the last day, wherein ye greatly rejoice though now
for a season. Again, we have the time factor
set before us, if need be, the reason for it. ye are in heaviness
through manifold temptations, again calamities, not just one,
but manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And so it is the path of calamities
and trials, how they vary, how different they are. You know,
when David had his son Absalom conspire and turn against him,
then that was added to by saying that Ahithophel is also with
the conspirators. Another twist, as it were, of
the arrow, the dagger in him that was hurting. We can have
it as well, can't we? Men rise up against us. And then
when we hear about that, then we hear that others are joining
with them, we think, what, that person? Thought we could have
trusted them. Those things that come that hurt,
that cast us down, that try our faith, that would bring us to
despair. They vary in many, many different
ways. Sometimes you might even not
realize what it is that has so laid us low. We think of those
psalms, Psalm 42, And 43, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet
praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God. And what were some of those trials
in Psalm 42? As with a sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me. While they say daily unto me,
where is thy God? Another added trial for the people
of God, where people are saying, well, where is your God now?
Where is your help in the situation you're in? Some trials might
be, indeed, very long duration of many years, but still be overpassed. Some of those trials that may
be at the very start are very severe, very sudden, very piercing,
and yet as time goes on they may dull slightly. Those things
that revive them and the pain and the sorrow is felt again
and again. So may we be encouraged in what
is our calamities, our troubles, our trials at this present time. But here is one that trusts in
the Lord, and even for them. And we can name the Davids, the
Daniels, the saints of God that have walked this path before
us. We want to then notice in the
third place the actions of a soul trusting in the Lord. It is actually in the calamities
in this time. How do we act? How do we continue? when we have calamities? Well, David tells us two things,
two things that he did. First, it is to pray, and especially
it is to pray for mercy. Be merciful unto me, O God, be
merciful unto me. Now, we might say, well, if there's
one that is trusting into the Lord, would he not be saying
to the Lord, Lord, I have trusted in thee. Why have these things
come to pass? And maybe we do have questions
and do lay these before the Lord, but here is one that is asking
for mercy and is implying this, that he knows he has no works
to plead. He knows he has no right in himself
of not having these troubles. and afflictions. Though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him. But one that really knows, they
deserve nothing out of a deserved hell. How many, many in this
life, when they have troubles, say, I didn't deserve that. I'm
a good person. I'm a good man. I'm a good woman.
This shouldn't have happened to me. That is a very, very different
reaction to what David is. He's in effect saying, all of
my works, I can't plead one of them. All I can plead is mercy. No doubt in this, when he prays
in such a manner, There is set before his face his sins, his
iniquities, what he deserves. Do our troubles bring our sin
to remembrance? Do they humble us? Do they lay
us low? Do they bring us to seek for
mercy at such a time? You might say, well, David is
just asking that the Lord would deliver him out of these troubles
and be kind to him. No, he's seeking for mercy. Mercy
can never be deserved. And I believe it is not just
to get out of the trouble, but to have the Lord's blessing in
it. We know the mercy of the Lord
is so different than man's mercy. And this is what goes on after. He says, I will cry unto God
most high that performeth all things for me. And then at the
end of verse three, God shall send forth not mercy and truth,
but his mercy and truth. And that points to the Lord,
that points to the Redeemer, that points to the mercy through
blood, that points to the truth of God in the Gospel. The Lord
said, if ye continue in my word, ye shall be my disciples indeed. He shall know the truth, the
truth shall make you free. And the mercy, how God could
be mercy. In verse 10, for thy mercy is
great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. He is pointing to the gospel
and the mercy through the blood of the Lamb of God, his greatest
Son that should come. that should put away his sin
and blot out his transgressions. That is what he's pointing to.
If the Lord has chosen his people in the furnace of affliction,
it will be in affliction that they are brought to look not
just for temporal helps and deliverances, but for the greatness of salvation. If the Lord would reprove those
that he fed with the loaves and the fishes because they only
followed him for that, and didn't see that he was the eternal son
of God that should come into the world, that should save his
people from their sins. What a solemn thing, if we look
to the Lord and we only know him as one that supplies temporal
needs, come under that condemnation, as Paul says, in this life only,
having hope in Christ. One of the dying thieves, he
said, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us, come down from
the cross. And some will say this, if thou
art really God, save me from this trouble, bring me out of
this trouble, preserve me from getting into troubles even. But
it's a blessed thing if we can look past and think, well, one
day all the troubles of this world shall be past, but what
about my soul? What about my sins? What about
forgiveness? What about pardon? What about
hope for heaven in the precious blood of the Lamb of God, the
Redeemer, who shall save His people from their sins? What
about that robe of righteousness that I so need to stand before
God's throne at the last day? Are we coming so short in our
troubles as to just look For as it were, quick fixes are not
regarding the need of our soul. The cry for mercy, in one sense
we could say, well it covers both because it's twice, isn't
it? Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. We could
say, be merciful unto me in this present trial and these things
I'm going through, be merciful unto me in my soul, and fraternity,
that the mercy cover both sides of it. Our Lord said to the man
that was sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee. And those
round about, they had argument against that. They said, how
can this man forgive sins? Who can forgive sins but God
only? Our Lord said, that ye may know
that the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins. He saith to
the sick of the pole seat, take up thy bed and walk. And he did. And so the Lord had
mercy on him, had mercy on his soul, forgave his sins, had mercy
on his body and raised him up again. So David prays twice in this,
and he's seeking for mercy. May it be the same, whatever
is our trouble, our trials, our calamities, denied or what we
may come into in the Lord's sovereign will, that our first thought
is this. This is not because I do not
trust in the Lord. But if I do trust in the Lord,
Then may my first path be, and my path be all the time this
calamity is with me. And not just then, but continually,
my cry for mercy. Be merciful unto me, O God, be
merciful unto me. So that is the first action of
a soul trusting in the Lord, passing through these calamities. The second is this, taking refuge
in God. In the shadow of thy wings will
I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. We think of the illustration
here is like a hen that has chicks If there's a sudden danger, a
sudden alarm, then she will cluck, they will all run, they'll run
under her feathers. You won't see them, all you'll
see is the hen, her feathers, her wings covering them. It is
protection, it is hiding. This is the illustration that's
here. In the shadow of thy wings will
I make my refuge. What are the wings of God? Not
literal, of course. but that which the people of
God hide under is His covenant promises, is His love, His everlasting
love of His people. It is His power, His might, His
ability to save unto the uttermost, His wisdom, His judgment in the
matter, His understanding in the matter, We rest in Him, we
rest our all in Him. We sing it in our last hymn, Mother
Refuge, have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee. Are those promises of the Lord
that we hang upon, that He has promised, that I am with Thee
always, and to the end of the world. The Lord has promised
that he will not lay upon man more than that is right. And as he said to the Apostle
Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee, my strength is made
perfect in weakness. The Lord has promised that you'll
be with us in six troubles, yea, in seven. that he would not forsake
his people in their trials and in their troubles. Yea, I am
with thee, says the hymn writer, Israel passing through the fire. speaking in verse of the beautiful
words in Isaiah. Though thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. They shall not overflow thee. The great promises of the word
of God for his people, that he shall be a shelter and a refuge,
a shadow of a great rock in a weary land, This is what the psalmist
has respect to here, and what he rests in and shelter in. In one sense, Peter, when he
was brought out of his calamity and trial, and the Lord asked
him those three times, love us thou may, he sheltered beneath
these wings, Lord thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that
I love Thee. And maybe with you, maybe with
me tonight, that we need to have respect unto the protection,
the care, the shelter, the hiding place in our Lord. And we rest there, we hide there,
we commit all unto the Lord. To whom else can we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. In whatever troubles and trials
that may come upon us, have we another refuge? Have we another
place to go? Or is it thy word that I have
rested on shall help my heaviest hours? As then we plead the promise,
thou saidst, I will surely do thee good. And we plead the precious
word of God. The Lord will have his people
put them, put him in remembrance as to who he is. Now Moses did
that in the wilderness and the Lord turned away his wrath from
his people. He remembered they were his people
and he had mercy on them. What then a path for those that
trust in the Lord. They pray, they plead for mercy,
and they take refuge in God. The very opposite than what Satan
would tempt to. To forsake the Lord, to not trust
him anymore. Say, well look, this is your
trust, and look where you've come into. The way of this verse
is completely the opposite. David is thrown more on the Lord. He has a refuge, He has a hiding
place, He has a God who can show mercy and yet still be just and
righteous and holy too. And may this then be our path
as we know that in more or less way, whether we are in those
calamities and maybe long-running ones tonight, all those things
that shall yet come upon us. May we remember this pattern
and this way that one that truly trusted in the Lord took in his
prayers and in his making a refuge in his God. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen.