Let's open our Bibles together
to Psalm 143. Psalm 143. I read a portion of this passage
to open the service Sunday, and the Lord willing, I'd like for
us to look at this verse by verse this evening. David's Psalms
They often reflect a cry for forgiveness. But this psalm is
a cry for deliverance, to be delivered from trouble. You know,
it's hard to imagine. It's hard for me to imagine.
I just think of David. I just see him as a man's man. I mean, he defeated Goliath. Scripture says David, the son
of Jesse, a man after God's own heart. It's just hard to imagine that
he could be overwhelmed. But knowing that he was, That
comforts me. And here in a time of distress,
a time of deep water, just listen to David's prayer. I pray the
Lord would enable us just to listen to this prayer this evening.
And let's look together beginning with verse 1. David says, hear
my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. In thy faithfulness, answer me. And in thy righteousness, hear
my prayer." Hear my prayer. Oh, Lord. We see who it's directed
to, don't we? The Lord. You know, in 2 Kings
20, Hezekiah was sick. Scripture says he was sick unto
death and he prayed. Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord
and in verse 5 of 2 Kings 20, the Lord told Isaiah, he said,
turn again and you go tell Hezekiah, captain of my people, thus saith
the Lord God. The Lord God of David, thy father,
you tell him this, I've heard thy prayer. Isn't that an amazing thought
that God would hear, that he would hear our prayers? He said,
you tell him, I've heard thy prayer, I've seen thy tears,
and I will heal thee. He heard me. Hezekiah could say,
He heard me and He healed me. In Deuteronomy 26, hold your
place there in Psalm 143, but turn with me to Deuteronomy 26. Look at verse 6. of Deuteronomy
26. Now, listen to this account of
the children of Israel. It says the Egyptians' evil,
and the Egyptians' evil entreated us and afflicted us and laid
us hard bondage. What did they do? We cried unto
the Lord God of our fathers, And the Lord heard. He heard
our voice and he looked on our affliction and on our labor and
on our oppression. And the Lord brought us forth
out of Egypt with a mighty hand. and with an outstretched arm,
and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders,
and he brought us into this place, and has given us this land, even
a land that floweth with milk and honey. He heard us, and he
delivered us. And this wasn't a first time
event for David. In Psalm 34, and we read this
throughout the Psalms, but David said, I sought the Lord, and
he heard me, and he delivered me out of all of my fears. The Lord did that. Hear my prayer. Give ear, David says, give ear
unto my supplications in thy faithfulness. God's faithful. In thy faithfulness answer me
and in thy righteousness hear me in thy righteousness. What's that? There's only one
righteous. Hear me, hear me in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Hear me in Jehovah Sidkidnu,
the Lord our righteousness. See me and hear me, not as I
am. See me and hear me only in thy
Son. only in Christ, and it must be
the Lord Jesus Christ that He sees us in. Look at verse 2 of
Psalm 143. Enter not into judgment with
thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man
living be justified. We're sinners, aren't we? Spurgeon
wrote this, he said, David approaches God not at the judgment seat,
but rather at the mercy seat. None can stand before him. Lord,
if thou shouldest mark iniquities, who should stand? But there's
forgiveness with thee. that thou mayest be feared."
Salvation, deliverance, can only be found in one person, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says this, neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Well,
read on in our text. Look at Psalm 143, verse 3. David says, the enemy. The enemy
hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down
to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness. as those that have been long
dead." David's in a tough, tough place, isn't he? Brought low,
smitten to the ground, made to dwell in darkness. As those that
have been long dead, he said. See the only one that's ever
been in that spot? Consider the Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider Him. He was brought low, wasn't He? He came down from heaven. He
was made in the likeness of man, made in the likeness of flesh.
And when our Lord hung on the cross, was He brought low? Listen,
Scripture declares this. Yes, He was brought low, but
think about this thing of darkness. Scripture declares from the sixth
hour, There was a darkness over the
whole land until the ninth hour. And in that ninth hour, the Lord
Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,
that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And there He died. He died on
the cross. He was crucified. He was slain. He died for the
sins of His people, of His elect. I'm confident, I am confident
that when we're in a time of trouble, is there any question
that the Lord is not able to identify with His people? Read on in Psalm 143, verse 4. David said, therefore is my spirit
overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. My spirit, this is, David said,
my spirit is overwhelmed. We ever reach that point? Just
completely overwhelmed. You know, Saul sought to kill
David. His own son Absalom had turned
the people against him and sought to take his kingdom from him.
David said, I'm overwhelmed. That's the title of the message
this evening, a prayer of the overwhelmed. David said,
I'm overwhelmed. My heart within me is desolate. That means it's devastated. It's ravaged. It's ruined. His soul heavy unto death. Again, consider the Lord Jesus
Christ in Gethsemane. The Lord said to His disciples,
He said, you sit here while I go and pray yonder. And He took
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him. And He began to be
sorrowful and very heavy. And He said to him, My soul,
the Lord Jesus Christ, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
How sorrowful is it even unto death? Tarry ye here and watch
with me." And he went a little further. The Lord Jesus Christ,
He went a little further and He fell on His face and He prayed. And listen to what He said here.
He said, Oh my Father, if it be possible, if it be possible,
Let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, not
my will, but thine, as thou wilt." How did he suffer? Lamentations
1, 12, he said, is it nothing to you? All ye that pass by,
behold and see if there be any sorrow. Any sorrow like my sorrow,
which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in
the day of His fierce anger." Again, I ask you, is there any
circumstance, any circumstance in which the Lord cannot enter
into, cannot identify with His people? Let's continue on here. Look at verse 5. Verse 5 of Psalm
143. He said, I remember, I remember
the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. Nothing new. There's nothing
new that's going to cheer me up. Nothing new. He talks about the days of old.
Jeremiah wrote, thus saith the Lord, stand you in the ways and
ask for what? The old paths, the old ways. Wherein is the good way? And
he said, you walk therein and you shall find rest for your
souls. The days of old, throughout the
scripture, We go back there in the Old Testament, those old
ways, those old accounts. Throughout those scriptures we
see God delivering His people from the worst of circumstances. Consider the flood. God's going
to destroy the whole earth. He looked down and it was only
evil continually. And yet, a man named Noah and
his family were preserved. They were saved. When God destroyed
the earth, there was one place of safety. There was one way
of deliverance. Eight souls, we read. Eight souls
were saved. How about the children of Israel
at the Red Sea? Remember that? There they are
up against the Red Sea and this mighty Egyptian army is coming
after them. Can you imagine just standing
there for a minute? Would you be able to see any
way of deliverance? God spoke to Moses and he said,
you speak to the people and you tell them this, fear not. Fear not. Stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. He's going to show you that this
day. And the Egyptians who you see
today, you will see them, you're not going to see them ever again.
No more forever. The days of old. Turn to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Look beginning with verse 12
of 2 Chronicles 20. He says, O our God, wilt thou
not judge them? We have no might against this
great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do,
but our eyes are upon thee." And all Judah, all of Judah stood
before the Lord with their little ones and with their wives and
with their children. No way to defend themselves against
the enemy. And then upon Jehaziel, the son
of Zechariah, the son of Bani, the son of Jeel, the son of Methina,
a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in
the midst of the congregation, and he said, Hearken ye, all
of Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat,
thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid, nor be dismayed
by reason of the great multitude, For the battle is not yours,
but it's God's. Tomorrow, go ye down against
them. Behold, they come up by the cliff
of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook before
the wilderness of Jeruel. And ye shall not need to fight
in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord. Oh, Judah and Jerusalem,
fear not. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. Go out against them tomorrow,
for the Lord will be with you. The days of old. No matter how
great the enemy, no matter how weak and helpless I am, What
did we see time and time again? God delivered His people. Has that changed? He said, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. Now back to our text, Psalm 143,
verse 6. I stretch forth my hands unto
thee, My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty lamb. I stretch forth my hands unto
thee. When I read that, I can't help
but think of some of y'all have little ones. And I just guarantee
you, Randy, when they reach up, when that little one reaches
up, what happens? Especially if they're crying,
what's going to happen? I'm gonna reach down, I'm gonna pick him
up, I'm gonna hold him close. David said, I stretch forth my
hands to thee. Consider that woman, there was
a woman with the issue of blood. Remember that in scripture? And
what did she do? She reached out and touched him. She stretched out her hands.
She reached out and touched the hem of our Lord's garment. She said within herself, if I
can but just touch His garment, I shall be whole. And Jesus turned about and He
saw her and He said, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith
hath made thee whole. And she was made whole that very
hour. In Matthew 14 we read, "...as
many as touched..." Touched who? Touched Him. "...as many as touched
Him, as many as touched the Lord Jesus Christ, they were made
perfectly whole." I wonder if that was the inspiration of that
song, huh? Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by. You'll find He's not too busy.
to hear your hearts cry. He's passing by this moment,
your need to supply. All reach out and touch the Lord
as he passes by. As a poor beggar, as a poor beggar,
I stretch out my hands unto thee. He said, my soul thirsteth after
thee as a thirsty land. And look at verse seven quickly. Let's look at these seven requests. Seven requests of a man that
is overwhelmed. The first one is this. Hear me
speedily, O Lord. Hear me speedily. There's a sense
of urgency there, isn't there? I know sometimes trials go on
for what seems to be an eternity. David said he wasn't afraid to
ask, was he? Lord, hear me speedily. You know,
when Peter come down out of that ship and walked on the water
with our Lord, remember that? And he looked and he saw the
wind and it was boisterous and he was afraid and he began to
sink. His condition was such that if
the Lord didn't hear him speedily, he was going to drown. He was
beginning to sink. He was going to perish. And listen,
this wasn't a long prayer, was it? And it might not even be
considered a well-articulated prayer. What did he pray? Lord, save me. Lord, save me. And what happened? Immediately, immediately the
Lord reached forth his hand and he caught him. Hear me speedily. He says, my spirit faileth. Here's the second, second petition. Hide not thy face from me, lest
I be likened to them that go down to the pit. His face Something special about
that. Another word for face is countenance. Just listen to these two verses
of scripture from number six. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. This is the favor of God. I pray he'd be pleased to give
it to every one of us. I ask you this, where is God's
face? Where is it? When we read this,
we read the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We read this, that he that hath
seen the Lord Jesus Christ hath seen the Father. When our Lord
smiles on us, we see the face of God, a face full of love and
favor, a face which was once turned away, but now turned to
his people in peace. make his face shine upon us and
be gracious unto us. Listen, hide not thy face, hide
not thy presence from me, hear me speedily. In verse eight,
third petition, calls me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning,
for in thee do I trust. Is there anything Is there anything
more comforting than to hear the voice of a loved one? Someone
that's dear to us? David says to the Lord, cause
me to hear thy loving kindness. Boy, wouldn't that be a great
way to start every day? Loving kindness. That word's
used 25 times just in the Psalms. And it means love showing kindness. Cause me to hear His voice. His
voice which speaks, speaks many things, but listen, it speaks
pardon. Pardon through the Lord Jesus
Christ. It speaks peace. The Lord Jesus
Christ will speak peace to who? To the whole world? No, to His
people. His voice speaks hope. The hope
which we have in his word. Hope in his word. Fourth petition. Cause me to know the way wherein
I should walk. For I lift up my soul unto thee.
Our steps, scripture says, our steps are ordered of God. caused me to know the way, caused
me to know the way in which I should go, caused me to know the way
of righteousness, caused me to know the way of peace, caused
me to know Christ, who is the way. You know, if He doesn't show
me the way, there's one way we'll go. There's a way which seems
right unto man, and the ways thereof are the ways of death.
Cause me to know thy way. Cause me to know Christ who is
the way. Look at verse nine. Fifth point. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine
enemies. You know, the enemy is great.
We see that over and over again in scripture. But our Lord's
greater. The Lord Jesus Christ will deliver. Back in the book of Daniel, you
remember that King Nebuchadnezzar, he built that golden image and
he told the people, he said, if you don't bow down and worship,
you'll be cast into a fiery furnace. And there were those three men
that refused. Remember that? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And this was their reply to the king. They said, O King, O Nebuchadnezzar,
we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. He had told him,
he said, I'm gonna give you one more chance. And when the music
starts playing, if you bow down, everything will just be fine.
And they said, King Nebuchadnezzar, we don't even need to think about
this. We're not careful to answer thee
in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to what? To deliver. He'll deliver us
from this burning fiery furnace and He will deliver us out of
thy hand. He will deliver us, O King. Oh,
I flee unto thee to hide me. Hide me in the cleft of the rock. Hide me in thy Son. Well, verse
10. Sixth petition, sixth prayer,
sixth cry, teach me to do thy will. For thou art my God, thy
spirit is good, lead me, lead me into the land of uprightness. Two things here, teach me and
lead me. Like a little child, teach me. Teach me and lead me. Again,
if I'm left to myself, I'll go the way that seems right
to me. Don't let me go that way. Lord, you lead me. You teach me. Lead me in the
way everlasting. And then last, look at verse
11. Here's the seventh point. He
says, quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake. For thy righteousness'
sake. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's
sake. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy righteousness' sake. And
if you look down in verse 12, we read that word mercy. Quicken
me for thy mercy's sake. Quicken me. David asked the Lord. He said, revive me. Give me life. Revive me from sickness. Revive me from discouragement.
Revive me from faintness. Revive me from death. Quicken
me. We read that as our scripture
reading. You hath he quickened. Where did He find us? Oh, in
an awful condition. In a terrible condition. In a
condition that we could never recover ourselves from. You hath
He quickened that we're dead in trespasses and sin. Quicken me. How? For His name's sake. For Christ's
sake. Whosoever shall call on what?
The name. The name of the Lord. shall be
saved." His namesake. See that? Call His name Jesus.
Why? For He shall save His people
from their sin. Quicken me, quicken me for Thy
namesake. Quicken me for His righteousness
sake. He is righteousness. And what
an amazing thought. His people. How can one who's dead in trespasses
and sin ever be made righteous? We have to be made righteous. God's people are made the very
righteousness of God. Where's that found? In Him. In
Him. You know, if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. Quicken me for thy mercy's sake. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Quicken me. Revive me, O Lord,
for thy name's sake. For thy righteousness' sake,
bring my soul out of trouble. One of the old writers said this,
I can bring it in. I can sure bring my soul into
trouble, without any difficulty at all, but only he can bring
it out. only he can deliver. Well, verse
12, and of thy mercy, David says, cut off mine enemies and destroy
all them that afflict my soul, for I am thy servant. A prayer,
a prayer for the overwhelmed. Lord, hear me speedily. Lord, hide not thy face from
me. Lord, cause me to hear thy loving
kindness. Lord, cause me to know thy way. Lord, deliver me from mine enemies. Lord, teach me and lead me. And seventh, Lord, quicken me.
Quicken me for thy name's sake. I pray that he would bless us,
that the Lord would bless us. And in a time of trouble, that
he would enable us to look to him, to rest in him and him alone
for all things. All right.