Turn back to Psalm 57. Psalm 57. I titled the message,
Hide Me Till These Calamities Are Passed. Hide Me Till They
Are Passed. Again, we find David. seeking
for mercy, for God to show mercy to him. I just read to you, or
we just read, there in 1 Samuel 24, the occasion for this psalm.
Saul was just after him constantly. And here he's in a cave, he's
caught in a cave. Looked like he might be trapped.
But instead, he has the upper hand. But here he asks God for
mercy. In this life, we need a constant
supply of mercy, because this world never changes. The whole world lies in wickedness,
and it always will. And we'll always need mercy,
because we not only live in a world of sin, but we still have a body
of sin that we carry around. and what great comfort it is
to know that everything about God is infinite, especially His
mercy. His mercy is infinite. It never
runs out, though I feel like I can run it out, but I know
that it can never run out. I know it's not possible. In fact, it not only cannot run
out, it cannot even run low. God's mercy never even runs low. It's the same. It's like God.
It's infinite. His mercy is infinite. Now, David
says here in verse 1, as I said, picture David standing in this
dark cave. Now, I don't know if you've ever
gone into a cave or not, but back where we lived in Ashland,
there was a place called Carter Caves. And you could take cave
tours. I was in there years ago when
I was a young man. And they turned the lights out
to show how dark it could be. And I mean, when they turned
the lights out, it was unimaginable darkness. Just no light in any
way, shape, or form. So here's David standing in this
cave with no light at all. He's back in the recess of the
cave. And he's asking God for mercy. Be merciful to me, O God. Here's a few things that I have
learned about the mercy of God. I've learned it by experience,
and I have learned it by reading the Word of God. First of all,
I know this. God's mercy is abundant. That's
what it says in 1 Peter 1.3. He speaks of the abundant mercy
of God. Generation after generation after
generation of God's children who have needed His mercy has
never used it up. Never used it up. It'd be like
me taking a drink out of the ocean. You think the ocean would
drop a little bit? You think it'd go down some?
Well, no. You'd never know it, if I just took a drink out of
the ocean. That's like God's mercy. To take a drink out of
God's mercy is still just as full as ever. And then God's
mercy, it's great. That's what Solomon said when
he was praying, and he was asking God for wisdom, and he was speaking
to God concerning David, and he says, your mercies to my father
David, paraphrasing, was great, great mercies. He called them
great, noble, and great. It couldn't be put into words.
He just calls them great mercies. They're in 1 Kings 3, 6. God's
mercy is great. And I tell you what, we need
great mercy because we are great sinners. We are great sinners,
and great sinners need great mercy. And God's mercy to us
in Christ is great. It's great. And then, God's mercy
to us is tender. That's what it says over there
in Luke 1.78. It's spoken of as the tender mercies of God. I looked up the word tender.
It means inward affection. It's not just God having mercy
on us, but God's heart is engaged in having mercy on us. It's tender
affection. That's what He's talking about.
The tender mercy of God to us. And then, God's mercy is from
everlasting. It says in Scriptures there in
Psalm 103.17, it's from everlasting to everlasting. You know, God
had mercy on us. When I say us, I'm talking about
those who believe. When God had mercy on us, He
had mercy on us before the world was created. He had mercy on
us before anything existed. He had mercy on us. And then
in Psalm 106, in verse 1, God's mercy is enduring. It endureth forever, it says. It
endureth forever. It endures all my sins, all my
downfallings. God's mercy is still enduring,
isn't it? When we get up in the morning, His mercy will be enduring.
When you and I fail, His mercy is enduring. And then I've learned
this, God's mercy is sovereign. God's mercy is sovereign. He
has mercy. The Scripture says, He said this
to Moses over in Exodus 33, 19 and Romans 9, 16, I will have
mercy, in Exodus 33, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. God's mercy is sovereign mercy. It has to be, if it's mercy.
If I don't deserve mercy, if I don't deserve forgiveness,
if I don't deserve anything I'm asking for, then for me to have
mercy, it has to be in a sovereign manner. It has to be. If it's
undeserved, it has to be given sovereignly. Now, because God
is merciful, we hope in Him. We have a real hope in Him. If
God were not sovereign, we would not have a bit of hope in going
to Him in prayer, would we? But our great hope in going to
the throne of grace is that God Almighty delights to show mercy.
And I need mercy. I need what He delights to give.
And that's why I go there. And He says this, Be merciful
unto Me, O God, be merciful unto Me, for My soul trusteth in Thee.
Not these 600 men that are with me here in the cave. It had to
be a big cave. But Saul had 3,000. But my soul,
David, here he is in the dark, and he is saying, and I'm always
saying this, in his heart, he's praying in his heart. He's saying,
my soul trusteth in the... I trust you. Do you know what
it really is to trust somebody? I mean to just completely leave
everything with them and trust them. I mean completely. That's what David is saying,
I completely trust you to bring me through this. I trust you
to deliver me. And no one else, no one else. It's as if David is standing
in that cave by himself. For my soul, my soul, that's
me, that's the very core of my existence. That's the very core
of my being, it's my soul. God breathed into Adam the breath
of life and Adam became what? A living soul. That's what I
am, that's what you are, a living soul. And he says here, my soul trusteth
in thee. And I also hear childlike faith
here, don't you hear this? I guess if there's anybody at
any time in your life, when you had children, little, when they
were just little, there's no one they trusted more than you.
They trusted you to take care of. You know, when I was growing
up, I can say this from growing up, I never ever thought of where
my next meal was coming from. It never crossed my mind. I trusted
my parents to take care of me. I never thought or never considered
where my clothes were going to come from. I never considered
if I was going to have a place to sleep. Those things never
came across my mind. And I do feel sorry for children
that have to deal with that. But it never crossed my mind.
Because I had parents that just looked after me and I trusted
them. I just completely trusted them
to take care of me. And they did. They did. And notice
here, listen to this. And I tell you this too, let
me say this. It's hard not to go to bat for
somebody that trusts you. If somebody comes to you and
says, look, I trust you to help me. I trust you to get me out
of this. It's hard to just say, forget it. No, I tell you what,
if someone that you know comes to you and trusts you to help
them, I know you. You're going to do all you can
to help them. How much more God? Put that on an infinite level.
When His child comes to Him and His child says, I trust you,
He will move heaven and hell for that child. He said, I gave
Egypt for you. I gave Sheba for you. That's
how precious you are to God. I trust you. And listen, listen. In the shadow of thy wings will
I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. I can't,
you know, you know the picture here, don't you? The mother hen
with those biddies, and you know, when the hawk flies over something,
danger comes. What do those biddies do? They
go under her wing, and they get right up into the armpit of her
wing, and she just clutches around them like that. And they feel
so safe, they feel safe there. And that's what, that's the image,
I love the image that David uses here. He says, just like these
little bitties, he said, I, in the shadow of thy wings will
I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. He's
hugging up to God. for a better way to express it.
He's hugging up to God. He's getting as close to Him
as possible. "...Under the shadow of thy wings
I will hide till these calamities are gone, they're passed over."
Two things I thought of when I read this. I thought of this. To have a shadow. To have a shadow. There's two things you've got
to have, I think. First is light. You can't have a shadow without
light, can you? There's got to be light. So this
tells me that David knows God. Knowledge of God in the soul,
it has to be there in order for that child of God to trust Him. And then here's the second thing.
For there to be a shadow, there must be nearness. There must be nearness. Whoever
casts a shadow must be near to me in order for me to see it."
Doesn't he? There's light and there's nearness. David knew God and he knew he
was near to God. He knew God was near to him.
He knew that. He knew His presence. And notice
here how David describes his trouble. He calls them calamities. Calamities. This means this.
It means grievous afflictions, misery. That's what it means.
It's misery. Yes, this is God's child. This
is God's child in calamities. You know, if you stop sometimes
and you think of what God does to His children, You can't comprehend
why He does what He does, why He lets them suffer some of the
things that they suffer. You just can't do it. You can't
comprehend it. But our God can control all situations. It's like He controls the thermostat. He knows just exactly how hot
to turn it up. He can put Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego in a furnace, a blazing furnace that was heated seven
times than it normally was, and they don't even have a smell
of smoke on them. Only God can do that. Then here's
the reason for the prayer in verse 2. He says, I will cry
unto God Most High, unto God that performeth all things for
me. unto God, who works for me."
All things we are told work together for our good. They work together
for our good. All things that God has purposed
for me, He works for me. And this is what David is saying
here. God, right now, in this cave, and what's going on, God
is performing what He has purposed for me. He's performing it. And here's David's confidence
in verse 3, "...he shall send from heaven and save me." Now
listen, David knew, just as our Lord knew, that His help came
from on high. Our Lord trusted His heavenly
Father. He trusted Him to deliver Him at all times. He trusted
Him and called upon Him and relied upon Him in all situations. He relied upon His Father. And
David here, he says, God will send from heaven and save me. Well, my first thought was this. God sent His Son from heaven,
didn't He? God sent His Son from heaven
to save me from my sins, to save me from the power of Satan. You know, everyone who does not
believe the gospel, everyone who has not confessed Christ,
does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, is under the power
of Satan. We are not out on some island. We're not out there by ourselves.
We're either under the power of God, or we're under the power
of Satan, under the power of darkness. Everyone. Everyone. And He has delivered
us from our sins, He's delivered us from the power of Satan, and
Satan had us. You don't even know. Here's what's
scary. You don't even know that until
God saves you. You have no clue that Satan has
you and that the power of darkness is guiding you and you're under
the influence and the power of darkness and you don't even know
it. You don't even know it until
God saves you. When he saves you, then you can
look back and you see that you were under the power of darkness. God sent His Son, He saved us
from our sins, He saved us from the power of Satan, and He saved
us from death. And He shall send from heaven.
We have the best resources for help from heaven. And I think He's saying here,
He'll send from heaven. My deliverance will be a miraculous
deliverance. Is not our deliverance from sin
and Satan a miraculous deliverance? You know, when our Lord went
over to the land of the Gadarenes, and that man that was possessed
with a legion of devils, was that not a miracle? That he cast
that devils out? They tried to tame him. They
chained him. They did everything they could.
Everything. But the Lord delivered him. And
he's saying here that God will send from heaven And God continues,
even now, to send His angels to minister to us. You know that?
You can't see Him. But God sends His angels to minister
to us, take care of us, and watch over us. He does it continually. And then
He shall save us from him, He says here, who would swallow
Him up. He saves us from those who would swallow us up. Listen,
this world would swallow you up. And I realize this as I get
older, everything about this world, it doesn't matter what
movie you watch, what news program you watch, or whatever it is,
it is designed by the spirit of darkness, Satan, it is designed
to swallow you up, to swallow up your mind. Take your mind. Take the way
you think. It's designed to swallow you
up. David said, he would swallow me up. This old nature that I
have would swallow me up every day, every day. But he says here that God shall
send forth His mercy and truth. He'll send forth His mercy and
truth from heaven. Christ said He is the truth,
so we know He sent forth His Son who is the truth. And mercy
brings truth. By the mercy of God, you and
I have the truth. We need mercy and we need truth. Listen, listen, this hit me right
before coming down here. We need mercy for God to deliver
us, and mercy deliver us, but we need truth to guide us. We'll
never understand mercy. We'll never understand the mercy
of God apart from the truth of God. Can't do it. And it says here that God shall
send forth His mercy and truth. Well, the best place that I can
give to you The best example and place on the mercy and truth
of God is Calvary, when God sent forth His mercy and truth. Listen
to this, Psalm 85.10, Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. Where? At the cross, in Jesus
Christ. Now, in verse 4, David finds
himself in the lion's den, and this perfectly matches our Lord. Go back to Psalm 22. In Psalm 22, look in verse 16. Even though David experienced
this himself, he's also speaking here of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 16 of Psalm 22, For dogs have compassed me, the assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierce my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me, they
part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. But
be not thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength, haste thee to
help me, deliver my soul from the sword, my darling, from the
power of the dogs. Save me from the lion's mouth,
for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorn. I will
declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation
while I sing praise to thee." Now look in verse 4 of Psalm
57, My soul is among lions. David is speaking of Saul and
his military and our Lord was speaking of those Pharisees and
Sadducees and all those who wanted to kill him. My soul is among
lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the
sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue
a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O Lord, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth." David found himself among lions, but like Daniel, he trusted
God to bring him out. God knows how to shut the mouth
of a lion. But notice how David describes his enemies. He says, their fire, fire is
devouring. He said, their teeth as spears
and arrows, they rip flesh. And their tongue, he said, is
like a sharp sword. You know the tongue. Think about
this today. Think how soft your tongue is.
Your tongue is probably one of the softest parts of your body.
And yet, it cuts like a sword. It cuts like a two-edged sword.
That little soft member in your mouth, he said it cuts like it
tears reputations apart. It literally destroys reputations. It destroys people's character. He said, and listen, that's where
we live. This is where we live. This is
the world. This is a description of the
world. And it's an accurate description. It's not an exaggeration. It's an accurate description
of the world. But David says here in verse
5, in all my troubles and all this, you know, he's in this,
what you'd call a bad situation, at least it would appear that
way, outwardly. But he says this, and this is
so good. When you and I are in trouble,
I mean when trouble comes our way, Can we just say, be Thou
exalted, O God. In this situation, be Thou exalted. Be Thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let Thy glory be above all the
earth. Let the whole earth see your
glory, who you are. And we know this, to really see
the glory of God, we see it in the face of Jesus Christ. And
you know what? The world has. The world over
has seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God
has saved people out of every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation
under heaven. But before the cross, it was
confined to that little nation of Israel. Be thou exalted, O God, be thou exalted above
all. And he says in verse 6, They
have prepared a net for my steps, my souls bowed down, they've
digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen
themselves. That's what happens when you're
blind, isn't it? You dig a hole and you turn around and you fall
back in it. A blind person can't see where they're going. They
dig a hole and they fall in it. But here it is. He says, My soul
bowed down, deep anguish. Our Lord felt this in the garden.
He felt deep anguish. And some of you have felt deep
anguish. He can identify with this. But
listen here, listen. It's good to express soul pain
to God. Don't bottle it up. Pour it out.
Pour it out before the Lord. He can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. If you don't need to pour it
out now, somewhere down the road you will. Somewhere down the
road you will. Just pour it out. Pour it out
before the Lord. Don't bottle it up. And this is confidence here. David said, they're going to
fall into the pit that they've dug for me. But listen to verse 7. In all
this situation, Saul there in the cave, and all
those men, we can see our Lord in the judgment hall, and all
those people gathered around Him. David says this, in all
of this that's going on, my heart is fixed, it's prepared. Oh God, my heart is fixed, I'll
sing, and give praise. My heart is fixed to trust you.
My heart is fixed to serve you. My heart is fixed to praise you.
My heart is fixed," he said. And then listen, here's what
his heart is fixed to do. It's to praise and sing while
he's even on the battlefield. My heart is fixed. We are to
give thanks, Peter said, in all things give thanks, for this
is the will of God concerning you. who said, as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord. My heart's fixed. We're going
to serve the Lord. Awake up. Now, this is an important
verse. I had to look at this a few times,
but, Awake up, my glory. Awake, psalter and harp. I myself will awake early. You
know what he's doing here? He is preparing his heart to
worship. That's before you come here.
Before you come here, like tonight and Sunday, you get off to yourself
and you say, wake up. Wake up my heart. Wake up my
glory. That's me. He's talking about
his whole self, I think. I believe he's talking about
his whole being. Wake up the psaltery and the harp. I'm getting
ready to praise God in song, praise God in word. There is
preparation in worship. We don't just accidentally worship,
and it doesn't just happen because we're here. There is a preparation
to true worship. It's the preparation of the heart
to worship God. It is a fixed determination.
I'm going to worship God tonight by His grace and by His help.
I'm going to worship Him. And then he says here in verse
8, many times, when he said he had to wake himself, he said
he's going to wake up. Many times we have to wake ourselves up. We do it with alarm clocks, don't
we? I thought about that. I thought we do it with alarm
clocks. He's speaking to his soul as
if he were an alarm clock. He's saying to his soul, you're
in the presence of God. Wake up and worship Him. And then listen here in verse
9, and I'm going to close here, 9, 10, 11. And he says here,
I'll wake up early, that is before dawn. He's saying here, before
dawn, I will welcome the morning in. I will praise thee, O Lord,
among the people. Now David is now looking out,
and this is our Lord speaking. He's looking out over the Gentile
world. This people here are speaking of Gentiles. I will sing unto
thee among the nations, is what I'll do. Praise is to be public,
it's to be among the people, it's to be among all nations.
And I thank God that he sent it this way. I thank God that
he sent the gospel this way to us. And he says, for thy mercy
is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. It's
immeasurable. The mercy of God is immeasurable.
And then he ends with this. Here he is in the cave. Here he is, and he says this,
Be thou exalted, O God, be thou exalted above the heavens and
the earth. His main concern, as we know, the main concern
of Jesus Christ was to glorify His Father. And our main concern
as we go through this life is that God our Father in Christ
will be exalted. Be thou exalted. Alright.