May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let us turn
to the book of Psalms, Psalm 34, and we'll read verses 4,
5, 6, and 7. Psalm 34, and reading verses
4, 5, 6, and 7. I sought the Lord, and he heard me. and delivered me from all my
fears. They looked unto him and were
lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried,
and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him,
and delivereth them. we see in these words what David had experienced and
David is able to recall them and to have them written out
and we're thankful for the blessed Spirit of God which has recorded
such words as we have indeed throughout this psalm but just
these verses 4, 5, 6 and 7 and to realise how appropriate they
were for David at the time when he apparently changed his behaviour
before Abimelech and how appropriate they are indeed for the Church
of God on many occasions and it will be a blessing if you
and I in our spiritual life can look and see how they were appropriate
for us and we can enter in to what David says. We have a very
full account really of David's spiritual life in the book of
Psalms. So much there we see emanates
from his heart, those sighs, those groans, praise and adoration. It all comes there and it's a
wonderful testimony to the grace of God. And so as we are able
to read the Psalms and read what David wrote on so many occasions
to be encouraged in our lives today because here was a man
of God of like passions as we are and yet a man who had conversations
with his God and was blessed with answers to his requests. And so we have in this fourth
verse, he tells us, I sought the Lord and he heard me. Well, that was David's testimony.
What's our testimony this evening? What do we say to a statement
like that? Can we join with David and say
by his grace and by his favour, I sought the Lord and he heard
me. Well, it's a blessing if that
is true in our lives. And how wonderful to think that
we as unworthy sinners came and prayed to God, called upon his
name, sought him. He didn't turn us away. He didn't say, I'm not listening
to you. No, as David says, and he heard me. And he heard me. And he didn't just hear him. He acted on that and delivered
me from all my fears. Now, as we travel on through
life, we do have fears. We have natural fears and we
have spiritual fears. Both we can bring to our God. Both we can see Him and both
we can desire that He will hear us. What a mercy it is, therefore,
to be able to come and to pray to God, realising that The door
of his mercy stands open all day and night to the poor and
the needy that knock by the way. We don't come to a God who will
turn us away. We have a God who encourages
us to come. And that's why we have so many
examples in the Word of God of prayers which went up and prayers
which were answered. We only have to think now with
David's life and see how he was wonderfully favoured. We can
go back to the records of the beginning really, which we have
when he was called, when he was anointed king, and really the
first testament example we have is when he fought Goliath. And he fought Goliath. How? He fought Goliath in the strength
of Almighty God. He was able to say to the king
that this God would deliver him. A humble confidence. It's good to recall and read
accounts like that to strengthen us in our life today. Because
we come to the same God that David prayed to all those years
ago and how David witnessed and testified that God would deliver
him. And he gave examples of when
the Lord delivered him from the paw of the lion and of the bear. You see, it's good when you and
I have the evidence in our lives that God has heard and answered
prayer, which gives us then that confidence believe that he who
has helped us hitherto will help us all our journey through. And so it was in David's case
he went and slew that giant Goliath who of course blasphemed God
but the Lord was on David's side and it's a wonderful account
really to think that God enabled him to just sling that single
stone, directed it so accurately into the forehead of the giant
so that he fell down upon the earth. Well, be encouraged, we
have the same God today. And we need the same faith that
David was blessed with. And so he comes and says, I sought
the Lord and he heard me. Well, each one of us, see when we sought the Lord and
see when he heard us. If we sought the Lord with living
faith, that means we came believing that he could do that which we're
requesting. And remember, if we came or do
come in a right way, and that means in accordance with God's
will, if the Lord is willing to do such things, we can believe
that he will hear and he will answer our prayers. And so we
have this record here. I sought the Lord and he heard
me. Well, you and you alone can answer
that question before God. But it's good if we can join
hands with David. and understand what he's saying. And also, as he follows on and
says, he heard him, he prayed to him, the Lord heard him and
answered him. He delivered him from all his
fears. Now we have fears, don't we?
We have fears today that the Lord may leave us and forsake
us. We have fears, don't we, perhaps
you young people, And children may have fears that God won't
be with you at school, and at college, and at work. Well, God
is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. He does hear our
cries. He does come and help. It's wonderful
when you're young to pray to God that He will help you. You may fear, especially examinations. I know you've just come through
examinations times. but sometimes they can be very
worrying you may be very fearful that you may not be able to answer
the questions well there's no excuse for not being diligent
in your study and revision but if you have done that there's
good reason to be able to come to God with a humble confidence
that He will indeed help you and He will be with you and give
you the ability that you would need to answer questions correctly. And I know that's true because
I've proved it in my own life. Well, we can thank God for this.
Shall hear us, therefore. And deliver us from all our fears. And you may have great fears
that God will not hear your prayer. You may have prayed that God
will have mercy on you. you may have felt that you've
done naughty things and wrong things and disobedient things
and you've turned your back upon God and that's not only to the
young it's also to every one of us there may be those times
when we've disobeyed God we've ignored His Word well, my friends,
God doesn't forget God knows what we haven't done and he knows
what we have done so we have reason to fear that he won't
hear our prayers that he won't deliver us but the great good
news is God is a compassionate God and he knows our frame that
means he knows what we're about and what we are and he remembers
that we're dust, we're nothing really at all and he looks upon
us and has compassion upon us isn't that wonderful to think
that Almighty God who looks down upon billions of people in this
earth looks down upon you looks down upon me as single people
and to think that this promise is fulfilled and delivered me
from all my fears. We may fear that God won't look
upon us. We may fear that God will forsake
us. We may feel we'll be left destitute. Well, we have a faithful God. We've often been unfaithful.
If you look into your heart and look into your life, I'm sure
you will have to confess there have been those times when you've
been unfaithful. But oh, bless God, we have a
faithful God. What a mercy it is. Unworthy
as we are. you know I prefer sometimes to
the Lamentations of Jeremiah Lamentations of Jeremiah spell out to us Jeremiah's spiritual
experience and it's good therefore that we have an account like
that and in the third chapter of Lamentations Jeremiah pours
out his heart in the beginning of the third chapter. And he
tells us very clearly, I am the man, not someone else. I am the
man. And it's good when you and I
can come and say, I am the man or I am the woman that has seen
affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me and brought
me into darkness, but not into light. We don't expect that,
do we? We think it's always going to
be light. Sometimes God brings us into
darkness. He brings us into darkness to
show us how he is all-powerful and can deliver us from that
darkness. If we were always in the light,
we wouldn't appreciate the mercy and the favor of Almighty God. You wouldn't understand really
what he says here. And deliver me from all my fears. And then Jeremiah says, surely
against me is he turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. And that may be so in our lives. We may feel like that. We may
feel God is against us. God's against us. It doesn't
seem that God's answering our prayers. Well, sometimes God
waits to be gracious. And in doing that, God gives
us patience. David tells us in the 40th Psalm,
I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me. We're
not to be impatient. Jeremiah explains his position. My flesh and my skin if he made
old, he hath broken my bones, he hath builded against me, encompassed
me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places
as they that hath been dead of old. He hath hedged me about
that I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy. well can you imagine that being
chained up and you can't escape well so it can be naturally but
it also can be spiritually we seem to be in chains bound up
we don't seem to have any access in prayer no it's we're in a
dungeon there's no one there we're by ourselves chained up
Well, what a mercy to realise that we have a great God who's
hedged us about, that I cannot get out. He's made my chain heavy. And then he tells us, also when
I cry and shout, he shatters out my prayer. That's a pretty
dire situation, isn't it? To be found praying to God and
to find that our prayers don't get through. Our prayers don't
get through. No, he shuts out our prayers. I remember in my life on occasion
when that was very clear, I endeavoured to pray to God and the prayers
just seemed to bounce back at me, off as it were a wall. There was no access. I couldn't
really pray. It seemed all worthless and no
point. And then the Lord directed me
to just really three words. And those three words were, for
Jesus' sake. So then when I prayed and added
those words, what happened was I saw the light
shine. There was access. Almighty God,
through the merits of Jesus. Well, God was very gracious,
God was very merciful, and He delivered me from all my fears. I feared there was no way, there
was no hope. There was hope, but I'd forgotten
to come to our Father in Heaven through the merits of of Jesus
Christ. Well, it's precious when the
Lord reveals such things to us. And so, Jeremiah goes on and
he says, He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked. Yes, it's not a straight path.
We don't find it's easy. We can't always see the way,
it's crooked. Bends round. God hasn't left us he's just
bringing us in this way he was unto me as a bear lying in wait
as a lion in secret places it turned aside my ways and pulled
me in pieces it's made me desolate perhaps we do feel desolate I
don't know you may feel desolate young people may feel desolate well It's good
when you do, because what it does is this, it drives you to
the throne of grace. It drives you to the mercy seat,
because there's no hope anywhere else. He's bent his bow and set
me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the arrows in his
quiver to enter into my reins. I was a derision to all people. And that song all the day hath
filled me with bitterness, hath made me drunken with wormwood,
hath broken my teeth with gravel stones, hath covered me with
ashes, and hath removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot
prosperity. And I said, my strength and my
hope is perished from the Lord. Desperate situation. God's recorded
a wonderful account like this to encourage us if the Lord tests
us in a similar case. And then he said, My strength
and my hope is perished from the Lord, remembering my affliction
and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still
in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind. Therefore have I hope. and now we see Jeremiah didn't
have didn't give up didn't give up the Lord brings us sometimes
we might say to the end of our tether and we think there's no
hope there is hope there is hope this I recall to my mind therefore
have I hope and then he goes and tells us it is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail
not they are new every morning great is thy faithfulness he
encourages us with this great and glorious truth the Lord's
mercies we're not consumed we deserve to be consumed because
of our sins because of our waywardness We're not consumed because his
compassions fail not. And they're new every morning.
Every morning. We fail every day. But God's
compassions are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. The Lord is my portion and saith
my soul, therefore will I hope in him. Tonight, may we hope
in the Lord. Hope in the Lord. The Lord is
good unto them that wait for him. and to the soul that seeketh
him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. The Lord will not cast us out. He will not cast us aside. He
is a God full of compassion and merciful. Well, that's the testimony
of God's servant Jeremiah. If you read the book of Jeremiah,
it's quite a long book and it's not easy to read, But in that
book you will trace out how Jeremiah had a really tough life. The
kings and the people he spoke to ignored him. He was put in
a dungeon, thrown in a dungeon, a lot of water in it. He sunk
down in it until he was delivered. God did deliver him. God does
deliver his people. And so we come and the next verse
tells us, they looked unto him and were lightened, and their
faces were not ashamed. Mercy, if you and I are found
looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher
of our faith, If the Lord has begun a work of grace in your
heart, He's the author. And if He's begun it, He will
finish it. Looking unto Jesus. Oh may we
be found in that place. Looking unto the great and glorious
Saviour. What a mercy it is. They looked
unto Him and were lightened. lightened because He didn't turn
us away, He didn't turn David away He won't turn His people
away today as we look to Him as we come to Him as we pour
out our heart unto Him what's the effect? the effect is we
are lightened the burden is removed freedom because we're accepted
in the Beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ has accepted
us. He hasn't turned us away. The
light shone and their faces were not ashamed. You and I will never
be ashamed of coming to the Saviour. We'll be encouraged, we'll be
strengthened, we'll be blessed. What a favour. And then he comes
and tells us, This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved
him out of all his distresses. Well, David qualifies himself
as a poor man. And that's good, isn't it? Because
you and I might feel very poor in the things of God. We may
feel very weak and yet to think that here we have a companion
who understands our situation. And David found mercy and David
found that union communion. He's able therefore to say, he
cried, this poor man cried. Crying, as I say sometimes, is
an involuntary attitude of a baby. Can't speak, it can't tell what
they need. So what do they do? They cry. They cry. What do the parents do? They
turn away? No, they come and find out what
the problem is. Just think of that. in spiritual
life. We come. We don't quite know
how to explain ourselves. We cry to God. We cry out to
Him. You have mercy upon us, an unworthy
sinner. We know we don't deserve any
mercy. And we cry to Him. The Lord knows what we need.
He knows where we've got to. He knows everything about us. This poor man cried. Well, have
you cried under God? You poured out your heart before
Him. No one else needs to see. No
one else, but God sees. You may be alone and by yourself,
but you're not alone because God is with you. This poor man
cried. Do you say, well, that suits
me. Because I'm a poor man. I'm a poor woman. And I've cried. And you may have proved the Lord's
heard you. If you haven't, you can believe
he will. The Lord heard him and saved
him out of all his troubles. David had many troubles, didn't
he, in his life. We're not exempt from trouble.
The Bible tells us man is born to trouble as the sparks fly
upward. You can't stop the sparks flying
upward from a fire. My friends, you and I will find
that we're born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. If there
was no trouble, do you know what would happen? There'd be no prayer. So God brings us into times of
trouble. He brings us into times of natural
affliction. He brings us into times of spiritual
affliction. And what a mercy it is to recognise
this. And saved him out of all his
troubles, not just one, not just two, all his troubles. You may think, I've got a lot
of troubles. I've got many things that perplex
me, many things that worry me. Well, here we have this wonderful
testimony. And saved him out of all his
troubles. We have a wonderful example here. And my friends, may it be an
encouraging word to us if we come realising that we
are poor, poor and needy. We can't boast our own strength. We need God. Perhaps we feel
we need God urgently. Well, This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. That's
a blessing, isn't it? These words are recorded to encourage us today. Many years after they were written,
David lived many, many years ago, but the words are still
true today. And may God give us grace to
understand them, to realize the situation that David faced and
the confidence he had as he came and cried to his God and the
Lord heard him. and he's able to then testify
and saves me out of all his troubles. Yes, blessed be God. Our God reigns. It's not surprising,
is it, that therefore we have this statement. as we said, and magnify the Lord
with me and let us exalt his name together. He had something
to say, didn't he? He had something to desire, to
magnify the Lord. That meant he wanted to make
God very great. my friends, it's good if we do. Oh magnify the Lord with me and
let us exalt his name together. And then the seventh verse tells
us, the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him
and delivereth him. And we can believe that the angel
of the Lord is none less than the Saviour himself. To think
that this glorious God camps round about us, is mindful of
us, as you and I journey on through this world, through this life.
And we're not promised an easy ride through this life, we're
not promised that everything will go smoothly. In actual fact,
we're promised the reverse. But we can think that God has
said, if God be for us, who can be against us? If God is for
us, no matter how many people try and turn us away, we can
rejoice in what God has done. The angel of the Lord encampeth
ran about them to think that Jesus is near at hand. He's not far off. He's near at
hand. Sometimes he hides himself. Sometimes we've gone contrary
to God. And the word tells us, if you
walk contrary to me, I will walk contrary to you. And if we have
walked contrary to God, perhaps he's hiding himself. He's there. We don't observe him. We don't
know him. But it's wonderful to think that
we have a promise like this. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him. And again, if you and I are brought
to that fear, like we've referred to really previously in the earlier
verse, and to realise, I sought the Lord and he heard me and
delivered me from all my fears. And here we may have a different
fear. We may fear having offended God. that He won't look upon us, and campeth round about them
that fear Him. This is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord. What a
blessing if you and I have the fear of the Lord, because the
promise is, and delivereth them. The Lord knows about us, He won't
leave us, He won't forsake us, He will deliver us, for which
we should be so thankful. And therefore to have faith and
believe that this God is our God. This God is my God. This
is the God I adore. This is the God I come to. This is the God I trust in. And in just a couple of words
in the eighth verse, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. If the Lord brings you into this
path, you will taste and you will prove that the Lord is good
in whatever situation you find yourself in. You're able to say
the Lord is good. I have referred to a number of
times, I know our late brother Philip Mercer, pastor down at
Station Road. Whenever I met him, He would say, the Lord is good. Now, he didn't have an easy life,
but it was a good testimony. And it's a good thing to remember. David tells us, oh, taste and
see that the Lord is good. Perhaps you think, well, I've
got a rough path. I've got a difficult path. Still,
the Lord is good. The Lord has still had mercy.
The Lord hasn't cut you off. The Lord is good. And he is. And he always will be. Blessed
is the man that trusteth in him. And therefore, as we think of
this prayer that David refers to, may we indeed come and have
faith to trust in the same God, the God that David trusted in,
the God that delivered David out of all his distresses, the
God that stood by David, the God that encouraged him and enabled
him to testify and to say as he did in that last verse of
Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It's a good prospect, it's a
glorious prospect, it's a promise that God gives and may we by
faith lay hold of it have the evidence that we are walking
the path that David walked and to believe that by his grace
we should at last get safe home to glory. Amen.