I hope you take your Bibles and
turn with me back to Psalm chapter three. Psalm chapter three. The message is increased trouble. Increased trouble. Here in this psalm we have this
title given to us, the psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom
his son. We have David's prayer recorded
for us here as he was being chased or pursued by his own son. If you remember, David had committed
the sin with Bathsheba, and God in chastisement had his son to
come and usurp his kingdom, to take his kingdom from him. And now then, his son is trying
to kill David. He has chased him like a dog
out of the city. He's become the song of drunkards. He's become a vile name among
the children of Israel. The same people that he fought
for, the same people that God used him to deliver, are the
same people now turning against him. And he's fleeing for his
life. And David was not unfamiliar
with this. He had done this in his early
life, in the case of his father-in-law Saul. king of Israel, pursued
after David several times to kill him. So David was not unfamiliar
with the trouble of being pursued. But I'll tell you, he says here,
my troubles are increased because it's not just my father-in-law
that pursues me, it's my own son. The son that I loved, the
son that I grew up with, the son that I held in my arms, that
I loved, is now trying to kill me, his father. Can you imagine
that? I can't even imagine this. It
goes beyond what I can imagine. There's my son. And imagine if
he grew to be a man to seek my own life. I imagine David never thought
of that. He never thought this trouble would come. Who would? David loved Absalom. He was his
favorite son. Matter of fact, he let him get
away with murder. And that was literally, literally
he did. But notice the troubles of David
then are increased here. He says, Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me?" Friends, the Christian life is a life that
is full of trouble. Trouble. Do not believe The smooth-mouthed
false prophet that says, when you become a Christian, everything
is good. Everything just works out for
you. Everything will just open up
for you. No, that is not the case in any
of God's people in the Old Testament. Not of any in the New Testament.
They all experienced great trouble. and difficulty in this life. We're full of trouble. And as
we continue in this faith, as we continue to believe in Christ,
our troubles will not diminish, but they will increase. They
will increase. How often we deceive ourselves
and think we get to a point in our spiritual life that it's
going to be easier. We think, if I just can grow
in the grace and knowledge of Christ here, then everything
will work out much better. It's true that some of the things
that did trouble us as we grow in grace, they're not as troublesome,
but I'll tell you, bigger troubles come. More troubles come. As we grow in the grace and knowledge
of Christ, as we grow in the grace of the Spirit of God, the
graces of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, meekness, temperance,
kindness, gentleness, faith, temperance, all of these things,
we grow in those things, just like a baby. When you have a
baby, he's got all of his fingers and toes, but he doesn't grow
more fingers and toes, does he? No. His fingers and toes just
get bigger. And that's what it is with faith,
temperance, meekness, and all these things. You have these
things as a babe in Christ. But these things must grow. These
things must grow. They must grow in the believer's
life, but there's only one way they grow. Through trouble. Now this is contrary to what
we think. This is absolutely in opposition to what we think.
I know because I still think it. I still think it. You know, you see somebody banging
their head against the wall, you'd figure that they'd stop
because it hurts. Usually I'm just banging my head
against the wall thinking next time it's just going to be better.
It's not. This is contrary to wisdom. We
think that the more we learn, the more we get peace with men,
the more wealthy or healthy we are. When we can get to that
place, then we can be a good Christian. Then we can be what
we want to be. No. We don't grow that way. How many times have you heard
people say, well, I'm just going to, you know, if I was wealthier,
I would give more. You liar. That's just not true. That's
just not true. You don't give now, you're not
going to give when you're wealthy. Same thing with the other graces,
they don't grow in prosperity, they don't grow because of prosperity,
they grow in trouble. The believer in Christ, Go to
Philippians chapter 1. I want you to see it for yourselves. Philippians chapter 1 verse 29, For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, Now, it is given
to you, believe on Him. If you believe on Him right now,
it is because God has given you this. If you have affection toward
Christ, if you have love and faith in Christ Jesus, the Lord
and Savior, it is given unto you. Now, that sounds good, doesn't
it? I like that. But what does it
say next? Not only to believe, but what
else? Also to suffer for His sake. It's given to you to suffer
for His sake. It's given. In other words, that's
just as much a blessing as believing. It is given for us to suffer. It is just as much grace to suffer. Believer, we are the elect of
God, redeemed by the Son of God by His one offering. And we know this, no amount of
suffering can change our unchangeable God. Now you hold fast to that
in suffering and you'll find great comfort. You'll find great
peace in that God is immutable. He doesn't change. If He has
loved me, He does love me, He will love me. His love doesn't change. And
so suffering, we do not base God's love or God's mercy on
how much or how little we suffer. We're not to base our love, His
love for us, based on these things. So when troubles increase, and
even when our children hinder us, those of our own household,
they're usually the most hindrance, aren't they? They're usually
the most frustration. I tell you, when I wake up in
the morning and I have to, you know, get up, I don't have to
get you dressed, I have to get my kids dressed. You know, you're
not causing me as much frustration as my children, because I'm with
them so much. I know this, no matter how our
troubles increase, it's part of the whole package of salvation.
You can't have salvation without trouble. It's coming. If it hasn't,
it will. Trouble is part of the believer's
life. Jesus said, in this world you
shall definitely have trouble, have tribulations. But if you're
a believer in Christ, you may be of good cheer in the tribulation. You may be of good cheer in the
trouble because He has overcome the world and all its trouble.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 1. Notice what Peter says here,
and I like this because it really gives us the heart of God. It
really shows us God's heart in our trouble. Then look at verse
5. It says, Who the elect of God
who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed at the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season. I like these words, if need be. That's comforting, isn't it?
If need be, if it's necessary. Ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith be much more precious
than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire. might
be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ, if need be." God never puts trials on His people
or troubles that are not necessary. Brother John, I don't know what
you go through in a day. I don't know your difficulties,
your struggles, your pain. But I know this, it's necessary
for you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have
it. God's not going to put on us trials like we do our children. We put unnecessary trials and
troubles on our children at times, but God's not that way, if need
be. Believer, if we are in trouble,
we should rejoice in the trouble because it's necessary. We don't rejoice at the trouble.
It's altogether different. Nobody wants this trouble. No believer wants this trouble. And that's fine, because a lot
of times we ask to be delivered from that trouble immediately.
And God does, at times, take away our troubles immediately,
before they even come on us. But friends, rejoice when you
are in trouble, because your trial of your faith is much more
precious than gold. That it might be found to the
praise of the glory of God. I tell you what, I praise God
when I see God's people in trouble and how they endure trouble. That gives me courage and strength. Gives us all encouragement and
exhortation. That's why we are not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves together, so that we might encourage one
another. Encourage one another. All is
called today. Believer, rejoice in trouble,
because God meant it for your good. And in trouble, we're to
trust the providence of God. Now, is there anything that's
happened to you that is not in the hand of God? What has happened
to you that's not in the hand of God? When did God say, oops? When? Never. Never. Never. On purpose. God always does things
on purpose. Our God is a God of purpose.
And He will do His own will. So rejoice in this. If you're
a believer in Christ, you're doing through this because God
God determined it was necessary. God determined it was necessary.
The trial of our faith is of great value to our souls. Have
you questioned your faith? I do. I do. And I'll tell you, it only
comes to me through tribulation, when God gives me faith in trouble,
that I know my faith is real. My faith is real. This is because
the trial of our faith gives us boldness and confidence in
God, our Savior. May God give us grace so that
we're not deceived by what we see. Don't look at what you see. Don't look at what you see. You'll
just be deceived. May God give us eyes of faith
to see that what he means by these troubles, when they increase,
it's for our good. So that's the first thing. Troubles
in a believer's life will increase. But this also will increase with
troubles, knowledge and experience. Knowledge and experience. Look
at this. In verse three. It says, but. Thou, O Lord, art a shield for
me, my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my
voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill." Now, friend,
the wicked say of us there is no help for God. No help for
him and God. When we are trouble in this world
and our nature mocks us, it calls us a fool. How can you just suffer? Why
are you suffering for this? Why do you break such pain? Why do you go through such difficulty
to worship God? What is it? What is it about
you that causes you to get up and come here and just, you know,
This is a waste of time to the world. They don't understand
what you're doing. And I'll tell you what, the flesh
is against you, isn't it? I'll tell you, when I wake up
in the morning, my flesh wants to go back to sleep. And I don't
care if it's Sunday or Monday or Tuesday, my flesh is always
hindering me. Now, I'll tell you what, if I've
got to get up and do something that's enjoyable to the flesh,
I don't have any hindrance. It seems like I can get up and
do pretty much anything when I feel like I'm going to receive
some kind of enjoyment in the flesh. But when I talk of spiritual
things, or I determine to do something that is regarding worship,
my flesh is always telling me, why are you doing that? There's
no sense in that. God's not listening to you. How
can God hear you, you wicked man? My flesh is always saying
that. But I'll tell you what, every
time I experience trouble and difficulty, I also get the understanding
of this, that God is three things He mentions here. A shield. God
is my glory. And God is the lifter up of mine
head. God is my shield. When trouble
comes, God is my protector. He is my shield. Flip over to
Psalm 121. Are you in trouble? Then do this. Here it is. I will lift up mine
eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer
thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is the shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. He
shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time
forth, even forevermore. The Lord is my keeper. The Lord is my shield. Who's your help? Who's your help? Where does your help come from? My help comes from the Lord that
doesn't sleep. I'm so thankful He doesn't sleep.
If He sleeps, then He might miss something. God doesn't miss anything. He's always awake. Always watching. Remember when the disciples were
rowing? They were toiling in rowing. That's what the Scripture
says in Mark, I think it is. And Jesus saw them. When He was
up on the mountain, He saw them toiling and rowing. We are always in His sight. And this God created heaven and
earth. Do you suppose His powers diminished to save you, to deliver
you from your pains or troubles? Do you suppose that it's so that
your trouble is greater than anyone else's trouble that God
can't deliver you? Oh, no. He's able. He's able
to deliver us. Remember those three Hebrew children,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they stood before the king?
And the king said, I'm going to throw you in the fiery furnace.
And they said, Whether our God will deliver us from this fire
or He won't, we know this, He'll deliver us from you. What do
they mean? They said, He'll either save
us from this fire or He'll kill us in this fire, but it doesn't
matter because we won't bow down to you. He'll deliver us from
you. Maybe God will deliver you by
death. Maybe God will do a miraculous
thing like He did with the Hebrew children. I don't know what God
will do, but I know He'll do it. Whatever is necessary, He'll
do it. He'll do it. And He's not diminished
in power. He's our shield. God says, remember the former
things of old, for I'm God, there's none else. I'm God and there's
none like me, declaring the end at the beginning. And from ancient
times, the thing. It's ancient times saying, I
will do all my pleasure. Behold the sovereignty of God
in our troubles. Stop and think of your troubles,
not just viewing your troubles, but viewing the sovereignty of
God concerning your troubles. God doesn't owe us a reason why
we are in trouble. And you know what? He's not going
to give one. So just stop waiting. I'm going
to do it because it's my pleasure to do it. Now, what do we got
to say against that? Nothing. The best thing we can
do is say, yes, Lord, help me. Help me. Help me. Behold the sovereignty of God
in our increased troubles that he will protect us even because
he said he would. That's all we've got. It's all
I want. And next we see that God is not only our shield, but
he is also our glory. Scripture says he is my shield
and my glory. How far are you from righteousness? Isaiah 46, 12 says, Harken unto
me, you stout-hearted, you stubborn man, that are far from righteousness. Do we actually know how far from
righteousness we are? All men experience trouble. You
who are not saved, you experience trouble just like everyone else. The just and the unjust experience
common troubles, and we experience this common birth that we are
born in sin under the curse of God's law. The only difference
between the trouble of a believer in Christ and the lost is that
we know that our trouble is rooted right here, right here in our
own nature. That's the difference. Everyone
else is blaming trouble somewhere else. Everybody else is trying
to blame someone else for their trouble. That's lost. Lost man does that. We say the
buck stops here. This is where the trouble is
with us. We confess that we are far from
righteous. Far from righteousness. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. What's the glory of God? It's
His righteousness. It's His holiness. And we've fallen short. We've
missed the mark completely. When I was playing darts, you
know, you throw a dart and you try to hit the mark. Well, I'm
turned 180 degrees from the dartboard throwing darts. I'm missing the
mark. Not even close. Not even in the
right direction. Matter of fact, I'm throwing
horseshoes. I'm not even playing the right game. Throwing horseshoes
instead of darts. I'm missing it. I'm so far from
the righteousness of God. I'm guilty of my sins. And I
know my sin is the root of my trouble. Sin is the cause of
my trouble, and I hate it. Don't you? Do you hate sin? Do
you despise the old man of sin that dwells in you? I do. I hate it. I despise him. And we've all fallen short of
the glory of God. This is the experience of all
God's saints. We know that we are sinners.
And we know this, we don't get more righteous as we go along. But what happens to the believer?
He begins to understand more of his sinful nature as we grow. We acquire more knowledge of
our own depravity. That's what we do when we grow
in grace. Those people who are growing holier, I have no experience
of that. I have no experience in that. I only see more of my sin as
I grow in grace. And my troubles are magnified,
aren't yours? When you see more of your sin,
is not your troubles magnified? Is it not more woeful when you
see more of your sins? I see more and more of my unrighteousness. But yet, the more I see my unrighteousness,
the more I see what great righteousness Christ has provided for me. They both go together. Our love for Christ is directly
proportional to our knowledge of our sin and God's holiness. Directly proportional. He that is forgiven much, loveth much. He that is forgiven little, loveth
little. You see, how much have you been
forgiven? Well, then that will determine what your glory is.
What your glory is. My glory! is in the person of
Jesus Christ the Lord. There is all my glory. There
is all my righteousness. There is all my salvation. There
is all my hope. Now, whether I'm in trouble or
not, that's all my hope. But I begin to understand it
more in trouble. When I'm in trouble, I understand
it more, Jesus Christ is all my glory before God. He is all
my righteousness. And listen to this, sinners.
Listen to the purpose of God. You who are far from righteousness,
listen. God says, I will bring my righteousness
near, and it shall not be far off. And my salvation will not
wait. And I will place salvation in
Zion for Israel. My glory. Are you far from righteousness? I have no hope. Good. That's good, because to everyone
who's far from righteousness, God says, I'll bring my righteousness
near and it won't be far off. God's righteousness is so near
to me that it's in my very soul. That's how near he is. It's there every day, I don't
see it every day. I don't feel it every day. But by faith, I
believe it every day. Not like I want to. Jesus Christ
is all my glory before God because He said it is finished. Salvation accomplished. God honored. God glorified. It's done. It's done. It's finished. Christ has already glorified
God. And God has already glorified him. And you know what? God has
already glorified me. What it says, isn't it? Romans
chapter 8. Him who is also called, he justified
and whom he justified, he also glorified. Past tense. You don't
have to be a grammar professor to understand that. He already
justified me. He already glorified me. Where? In Christ He glorified me. In Christ He justified me. It's
finished. What trouble? If Christ has taken all my sins
and guilt away, what trouble is there that troubles me? Death? Does that trouble you? Why should
it trouble us? The moment we breathe our last,
immediately we are in the presence of God. There's no darkness there. There's no lack of time that
God does not draw us to Himself. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Jesus said today to the thief,
thou shalt be with me in paradise. What shall we fear? What trouble?
What troubles you? Men, God rules over all men. Men can't
do nothing to you. The sun shall not smite you by
day nor the moon by night. You walk out in the sunlight
and the only reason the sun hits your hand is because God allows
it. That's it. That's something. Nothing touches you without God
doing it. Christ is all my glory. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Beloved face of Christ, my glory. Have you wondered what glorious
face? Have you wondered about His glorious
face and what it appears to be in glory? I just can't imagine
the beauty of that sight. One day I'll see Him with my
own eyes. I'll tell you now, when I'm in
trouble and God, by His grace, shines that light in my heart
to see His face by faith, my troubles flee away. I can't even
imagine what it's going to be like in glory when all is fled
away. All the sin is gone. What a glorious
day. And notice that this knowledge
is in our hearts. It's affectionate knowledge.
I hear people teaching, and they teach. I heard a man today and it was
wonderful. I mean, I don't think there was
anything he said that was wrong. I just didn't hear the Scriptures.
I didn't hear Christ. I missed the person of Christ. What good is an ascent of knowledge
without the affection? I want to know Him and be found
in Him. Then my troubles are nothing.
My troubles become nothing in the light of the glory of His
grace. He is all my glory. And lastly, He is the lifter
up of mine head. Now, this has a two-fold meaning.
Lifter up of mine head. First of all, God is the lifter
up of mine head, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the head of his church. And God has lifted up the head.
Now, if you're swimming, does it really matter if all of your
body is underwater? If your head is up above? I'll
tell you what, I really don't care if my arms and stuff are
underwater. As long as I know my head is
above water, I'm okay. I'm okay. Friends, my head is
in heaven. My head is in heaven. And I'm
okay. You know, we tell each other
it'll be okay. It'll be alright. Well, how do you know it'll be
alright? I can only tell you it'll be alright if you're in
Christ. If you're not in Christ, it won't be alright. Don't be a fool. Don't be a fool
to think everything will be okay. My children, when they get scared
concerning hell or concerning death, I can only tell them to go to
God. Because I can't give them any comfort. Until they come
to faith in Christ, I can give them no comfort. I cannot tell
them it'll be okay. I cannot assure them. But to you who believe, I can
assure you it'll be alright. It'll be okay. Say you to the
righteous, it shall be well with you. Now God said that, I didn't. So you can take comfort, it'll
be okay. Because your head is lifted up. Christ is risen from
the dead. He sits on the throne of God.
He rules all things after the counsel of His own will. Jesus
Christ, my head, is in heaven. And God says that He has accepted
him, and if He's accepted him, He's accepted me. You imagine
somebody would invite you to a party and say as you're walking
through the door, uh-uh, your head is accepted, but your body
has to stay outside. That would be foolish. The same
thing about Christ. He is my head and He is accepted
and so am I. I'm accepted in Him. God has
lifted up mine head. Scripture says, Wherefore, He
hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should
bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Second of all, he is the lifter
of our own weary head. Weary. Who's weary? Weary. Spiritual things are heavy,
aren't they? They're weary. This flesh is
weak. And when troubles come, we become
very tired. You know, I can stay awake during
a movie marathon. I can. Yeah, I like the movie.
You know, I can watch, I got those things where I can watch
episodes of a whole year, you know, at one time. I can sit
and I can watch, you know, and have no trouble. The moment I
close my eyes in prayer, my flesh begins to kick like it wants
to go to sleep. Why? It's heavy. These are eternal
things. These are things the flesh does
not want to contend with. They're heavy. They're weary.
How can we have strength to endure such great increased trouble
and trial and difficulty? Because God lifts up our head. Gird up the loins of your mind.
Be strong. Quit yourself like men and stand
up and be bold, be counted. God is the lifter up of my head. If I can endure any spiritual
thing, if I can take in any understanding of the Scriptures, God must lift
up my head and give me understanding. And He does, He has, and He will. He will. I'll tell you, if I can ever
get my mind around that God has accepted me in Christ, oh man,
I hang on that one thing. It does not matter if ten thousand
men come against me, if I have that one thing. One thing. That Christ. That lifts up my
head. Troubled believer, come to the
throne of grace and experience. Have you experienced hell, you
believers? Have you? Because I not only
have a knowledge of hell that comes from my God, I have an
experience of hell. Tribulation worketh patience. Patience. Experience. Experience. Hold it. Confidence. Confidence. Are you confident? Are you assured
that you are in Christ? If you're not in Christ, and
far from righteousness, behold, God's righteousness is near.
It's here. He's here. Cry to Him for help. Seek Him
by faith. And He will save you. God will hear His children. That's
what David said, I cried unto the Lord with my voice and He
heard me. Where? Out of His holy hill.
That's the place where they had the sacrifice. In case you were
wondering, that's where the holy hill is. It's where they offer
the sacrifice for sins. Where is God going to help you
and heal you and deliver you from all your sins? Hear your
prayers? only in Christ. And because he hears Christ,
he'll hear me. And I'm going to close with this.
I printed out this hymn and I wanted to read it to you. I care not
today what tomorrow may bring if shadows or sunshine or rain.
The Lord, I know, ruleth over everything and all of my worries
are vain. Though tempests may blow and
storm clouds arise, obscuring the brightness of life, I'm never
alarmed at the overcast skies. The master looks on at the strife. I know that he safely will carry
me through, no matter what evils be tied. Why should I then care,
though the tempest may blow, if Jesus walked close by my side? Our Lord will return for his
loved one someday. Our troubles will then all be
over. The master so gently will lead
us away beyond that blessed heavenly shore, living by faith. In Jesus
above. Trusting, confiding. In his great love. Safe. From all harm safe in his
sheltering arm, living by faith, and I feel no alarm." Are your troubles increased? Then look to Christ by faith. He is all our salvation. What else do we need? What greater
help than God? I pray that God would bless this
to your hearts. God would help you in your sorrows. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.