Turn back with me to 2 Samuel
22. 2 Samuel 22. One verse is going
to be our text tonight. And it's verse 7. Let's read
verse 7 again. In my distress, I called upon
the Lord and cried to my God. And he did hear my voice out
of his temple. And my cry did enter in to his
ears. Now, last Sunday morning, during
the middle of the message, Thankfully, very thankfully,
you're going to see how thankful I am. Right in the middle of
the message, one of our little ones started crying down in the
nursery. Really getting it. Really crying. And if he would
have just whimpered a little bit, And I'm going to go ahead and
tell us, let's start relating this to us right now, okay? If
he would have whimpered just a little bit and then stopped,
everything would have gone on as usual, right? Everything would have just continued
on. But he didn't do that. He didn't
do that. His cry became stronger and stronger. It started out very faint. I
couldn't hear it at first. But it became more and more desperate. And finally, I heard it. You
heard it. I knew. I was standing up here
and I knew everybody was focused on it. Everybody. And in that moment, I realized. How precious is the thought that
all of heaven knows when one of God's little children is standing
there crying his eyes out. The angels desire to look into
these things. All of heaven knows, every one
of them. They all know that He is crying
for one person only. Everyone in glory is looking
to one person only. They all hear the cry. Only one
person can comfort His heart. Verse 7 says, In my distress
I called upon the and cried to my God, and he did hear my voice
out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears." When
our Lord preached, when he had a group of people here on this
earth and he preached to them, he preached in parables, didn't
he? And they asked him, why are you
preaching in parables? He would give them an earthly story. And
that earthly story, those that he had given faith to believe,
he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, eyes to see, let him
see, they knew that this earthly story had a heavenly meaning.
But he illustrated the gospel. That's how the Lord preached.
He illustrated the gospel. I love in the gospels every time
it says, he said, the kingdom of heaven is like That's time
to start listening. He illustrated the gospel. Tonight's
message is one gigantic illustration. We just started it, it's going
to keep going. It is one huge illustration. I called Megan
to tell her what was on my heart. And I asked her if it would be
okay if I used What Happened Sunday, if I used Ballard and
her for this illustration. And because it blessed me so
much, this blessed me so much, she said it'd be okay. So I'm
going for it. Such a blessing. Now, you heard
him, didn't you? She knew his cry. I knew a baby
was crying. She knew who was crying. Big
difference. There's a big difference. Now, think about this scenario. She was seated up here in the
sanctuary, wasn't she? She was seated up in the higher
place. She was seated up above. He was
down there with his broken heart, in his distress, in his troubles,
But his pitiful cry made it all the way up into the sanctuary. All the way up. Oh, he was crying
for one person only. And it didn't stop at the ceiling.
It came all the way up into the sanctuary. Verse 7 right here,
he said, In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my
God, and He did hear my voice out of His temple. He was up
sitting in His temple. His pitiful cry, it made it all
the way up into this sanctuary. And the only one who could help
Him heard His cry. The only one who could help Him.
Isn't it comforting? to know that this is exactly
the case for every single one of God's children. Isn't that
comforting to know that? Every single one. This whole
scenario has blessed me so much. I have entered into something
personally this week relating what happened to one of our little
ones to what happens to one of God's little ones. It's the same
thing. Same exact thing. Turn with me
over to Psalm 102. Psalm 102, right under the chapter
title is a heading and it says, a prayer of the afflicted when
he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the
Lord. Now Ballard cannot talk yet.
He can't carry on a conversation. He can say, Dave, but he can't
carry on a conversation. But I know what he was saying
Sunday morning. I know exactly what he was saying. Verses 1
and 2. Hear my prayer. Hear me. This is the cry of God's
child. This is the cry of God's child. Hear my prayer, O Lord. And let my cry come unto thee. Do you know why he was crying
with everything that was in him? He was trying to reach one person. It's the only reason he was crying.
He was trying to reach one person. Let this cry find you somewhere,
wherever you are. Verse 2 says, Hide not thy face
from me. I can't see you. I've looked
all around here. You're not here. Everywhere I've
looked, every direction I've turned, I don't see you. Hide
not thy face from me in the day when I'm in trouble. Incline
thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me speedily. Hear me and answer me. Hear me
and answer me. How many times have I cried the
exact same thing? The exact same thing. His cry
was not unreasonable. I'm so glad he cried Sunday.
It was not unreasonable at all. I've cried the same thing so
many times. I was writing all this out thinking,
I'm going to be so sad when we put insulation in the ceiling
down there. We put drywall under it. We're not going to be able
to hear the babies. We're trying to stop distractions, aren't
we? We're going to cut out distractions. That distraction was the most
precious part of Sunday morning for me. I just loved it. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let
my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in
the day when I'm in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in
the day when I call. Answer me speedily. I'm down
here in trouble. I'm down here in trouble. That's
what he was saying. I'm down here in trouble. Now let me ask us all this. Was
he? Now let's keep relating this to us.
It's not about Ballard, it's about us and our father. Was
he? This is for the comfort of us
adults. My little buddy down there, was
he really in trouble? Really? I know that he thought
he was just like I think I am all the time. All the time. But was he really was his life
in trouble? He was actually seated in the
safety of God's house. That's where he was. He was in
the best place he could possibly be on planet Earth. He was seated
in the safety of God's house. All right. Now our illustration
continues here. A nursery schedule was made. The only one he wanted made the
schedule. Right. You personally stationed
somebody. to be right with Him at all times,
didn't you? You're not going to leave Him
or forsake Him. Have you ever left Him in the car when you
went inside Kroger? You're not going to leave Him. Somebody was stationed to watch
over Him and care for Him. Somebody she knows, loves, trusts. Did our Lord not say that He
would give His angels charge over us lest we dash our foot
against a stone? Go with me over to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews chapter 1, look at verse
13. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? That's what God's angels are
there for, ministering spirits. sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation." I'll never forget a message that
I heard by Brother Henry years ago. I had it on a cassette tape
and it was when I was moving to Rocky Mount. I was going back
and forth a lot, eight hours, and I wore that tape out. I wish
I still had it. I don't know where it is. It's
not on the internet. I've searched for it. I don't
know I don't know, I'd love to find it. But anyway, the message
was called God's Guardian Angels. And he was showing through the
scripture so much comfort for us, so much care that our Father
has given to us. And what he said was, he said,
when you're driving down the road, God's Guardian Angels are
sitting on the hood of your car. And he said, when you pull into
your driveway, they're sitting in your trees. They are stationed
all over your yard. And he said, when you walk up
to your front door and unlock your front door, he said, they're
lined up on your front porch. Now, if we care for our own,
and we don't have the power to keep them, how much more does
our Heavenly Father care for us? How much more? Verse 14 says, Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall
be heirs of salvation? If God gave His blood for His
own child, do you think He's going to let anything happen
to that child? I gave my all for you, but now I'm going to
forsake you. I gave my all for you, but now I'm going to let
someone harm you and take you. Heirs of salvation. Our Lord
has made provisions for us, every earthly provision we need, every
heavenly provision we need. Christ said, I'm going to die
on this cross and then I'm going back to my Father. I'm going
to make intercession for you and prepare a place for you.
He has stationed protection for us. And He has seated us comfortably
in the place that He has prepared for us. We prepared that place
down there for our kids, didn't we? We prepared it. Even with all that, though, we
still have sorrow. We still do. It is real. It's
real to us. We still have trouble, and it's
a big deal to us. It's a very big deal. We have
a need, one need. I believe Karen was in there Sunday
morning. I would imagine Karen was trying to give him everything
in that room. No, no, no, no. I have one need. I need him. I need him. I have one need. When his face is hidden from
us, and it doesn't take long. It doesn't take long. I feel
like, did he leave me? Am I out here by myself? When
we can't see him and when we cannot feel his presence, may
we adults learn from our children and cry. May we learn from our children
and cry and don't stop. If we whimper just a little bit
and stop, everything will just keep on going like normal. Cry to him more earnestly. Cry
to him more desperately. There's going to come a time
when we're going to need him. I mean, we're going to need Him,
and I can't stop crying until I have Him. Keep crying. Don't stop. Let me show you why
in Luke 18. Go with me over to Luke chapter
18. Luke 18 verse 1 says, And He
spake a parable unto them to this end. that men ought always
to pray and not to faint, always. Saying, there was in a city a
judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a
widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of
mine adversary. And he would not for a while.
But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God,
nor regard man, Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said,
Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his
own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long
with them? I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" I've always thought,
what an interesting way to end that. Shall he find faith on
the earth? Faith is what causes us to cry. Faith cries. That's what faith
does. This is faith. Help me. That's faith. Help me, Lord. It keeps crying because faith
knows you're the only one who can. You are the only one who
can. I cannot help myself. Even though I think I'm really
good at figuring out situations, even though I think I'm really
good at solving problems, I can't do it. I cannot do it. You're the only one I want, the
only one I need, the only one who can comfort me. You're it.
That's faith. Now thinking about all of this
opened up a verse of scripture to me. It became so clear to
me. I want to show it to you in Ephesians
2. Turn over to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, For
by grace are you saved through faith. What did grace do? Grace got up and went down. Why? Because faith kept crying
and wouldn't stop. Does that make sense? Faith cries
and cries and cries, and grace got up and went down. Okay, so
salvation is dependent on what we do. I have to cry. No, this
faith right here is not of ourselves. It's a gift of God. God says,
cry out. You cry out, and I'm going to
come down. I'm going to come and get you.
David said, In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my
God, and He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry
did enter into His ears. What mercy and what grace it
is that God Almighty would stand up from His throne and come down
to where sinners are. Come down to the low place where
they are. You know, Sunday morning, At
that moment in time, we had some important things going on. We
were doing something pretty important. But that didn't stop her from
going, did it? And I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. Why would God hear
me? Why would He answer me? Because
He said He would. He said, you cry. I'll hear you. I'll answer you. I'm curious. Um, what did she
do when she got down there? What does our God do when he
comes down to us? Does he spank us? Does he scold
us? Look at a verse over in Psalm
103. Psalm 103, look at verse 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always
chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. He hath not dealt
with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy
toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him, for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we
are dust. When a child of God cries out
to the Lord Jesus Christ, help me, save me, hide not thy face
from me, let my cry come into your ear. When true desperation
cries out, true desperation, Every time in our Lord's time,
the Spirit of Christ gets up from His throne, and He comes
all the way down to where we are, and He walks straight up
to His child, and He picks up His child, and He draws His child
near, and He says to that child, I know your frame. I know your frame. It's okay. You're safe. You're loved. I'm here. I'm here. What does that do for the child?
After she went down there, I didn't hear any more crying. No more crying. I know exactly
what was going through his little heart and mind. I know exactly
what he was experiencing because I have experienced the same thing. Go with me back to 2 Samuel 22. Every child of God that Christ
comes to and comforts in his distress says the same exact
thing that David said in verse 1. Look at verse 1. David spake
unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord
had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out
of the hand of Saul. And he said, the Lord is my rock. That's what he was thinking.
That's what he was thinking. I can see that little boy hugging
on her. This is my rock right here. The Lord is my rock and
my fortress and my deliverer. The God of my rock, in Him will
I trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my Savior. You saved me. You saved me. That's what every child of God
says. You saved me. After the service
Sunday, Megan brought Ballard up and everybody was I was rubbing
on him anyway, saying, oh, you had a tough time, didn't you,
buddy? And if he could talk, this is
what he would have told all of us. In my distress, I cried. I was heard. I was helped. I'm so happy. My distress is
over. He was so happy. He didn't have
one tear in his eye, not one tear. The one that I love has
me. That's all he wanted to know.
That's all I want to know. Ballard, how much do you guys
have in the bank? I have no idea. Are the cupboards getting dry?
No idea. All that matters is the one I
love is holding me. That's all I need. That's all I need. In my distress,
I called upon the Lord and cried to my God, and he did hear my
voice out of his temple. My cry did enter into his ears.
Lord, hear us, help us. All right, let's stand together.