Are we thankful? time of trouble. And I got to
thinking about that driving, and I'm thinking about that today
and driving down here this evening. This message isn't a comfort
for all. It's a message of comfort for
the believer. A message of comfort for those
who are Jason, you read there from John
14-1. Let not your heart be troubled. There's a lot of trouble in this
world. We said before supper this evening,
it seems like every evening, every day, you just hear something
new. And yet, we're told, let not
your heart be troubled. I pray the Lord would give me
that message this evening, that he would give that message to
us as we've gathered here. Job said this, he said, man is
born. Just as sure as the sparks fly
upward. You go out in the backyard and
build a bonfire, and sure enough you see those sparks without
fail flying up. He said, man is born with trouble
just as sure as you see those sparks fly upward. And just a few pages over in
the book of Job, Job says, a man that is born a woman is a a few
days. Whether he lives to be 50 years
old or 70 years old, 100 years old, a few days and full of trouble. And we're certainly not alone
in this thing. Turn to John. When Mary was coming where Jesus
was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him,
Lord, if thou hast been here, my brother hath not died. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which
came with her, Our Lord, it says he groaned
in the spirit and he was troubled. The Lord Jesus Christ was troubled. Can you even, I mean, that he
would even take, that he would even take notice of us. The Lord saw Mary, there she
was, and she was at the right place. She was at his feet. She couldn't say anymore. She'd
say what she could say, and she couldn't say no more. And she
was there at his feet. The Lord Jesus saw her. He took
notice of her. You know, no doubt, no doubt, I mean sin, the cause of our
sorrow and grief. Isn't that what God told Adam
in the day that he did thou shalt surely die? He groaned. The Lord Jesus Christ
groaned in the spirit. He's almighty God. And yet, he's
a man. He had a real human soul. He was subject to the same passion,
subject to the same sorrow, subject to the same trouble. But here's
the thing that says it's truly sinless. He's without sin. He's sinless. He's the son of
God. Here, our task this evening will
come from Psalm 31. It's a Psalm of David. Turn with me to Psalm 31. Maybe there's some reasons here
to take comfort. This is a song of David that
says to the chief musician, he had his best singer sing this
one. And this is David, David of whom
God said this, he said, I have found David, the son of Jesse,
a man after my own heart. Could that be said about any
of us. Yet, David, and the religion
of this world is health and wealth and happiness. That just goes
down in tubes, I think, here with a man like David. David was, he was well acquainted
with trouble. His son, that child that was
born to him in Bathsheba, died. He was just seven days old. And we read that David, he grieved
over the death of his son. He grieved over his sin. The
Lord had revealed something to him about his sin, that trouble
within. He had Saul. Even after it was
said, you know, David's going to be king, Saul went about trying
to kill him. Trouble within, trouble without. His sons, David's children, were
rebellious. He endured the death of his son
Aslam, who chased him around. Is there any question that David
was—he knows what he's talking about. I guess that's what I'm
getting at. David was well acquainted with sorrow. In Ecclesiastes 3, we read there's
a season and a time and a purpose for everything under heaven. Verse 4 of Ecclesiastes 3 says
there's a time to weep, and there's a time to laugh, a time to mourn,
and a time to dance. But you know, it's not all laughing
and dancing, is it? There's a time to weep. time
of heaviness and mourning, time of trouble. Our Lord said, in
this world, you will have tribulation. There's going to be sorrow and
pain for every believer. What do we do? What do we do
in those times of trouble, those times of sorrow? Who do we turn to? Who do we
look to? Look with me, just a few verses
here in Psalm 31. Just four or five points here.
I pray these would be, again, be plain to me and be plain to
all of us as we gather here this evening. Look beginning with
verse 7. and rejoice in thy mercy. And here's the first reason. For thou hast considered my trouble. If you look back at verse one,
you'll see David's speaking to the Lord here. He said, have considered. You've seen
it. You've weighed it. You can identify with it. Hebrews
4.15 says, we have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feelings of our infirmities. But he was in all points tempted
like we are, yet without sin. In times of trial, in times of
sorrow, in times difficulty, and in times when we don't even
feel like we can even lift up our head, we go to our Lord. We go to Him. Consider who it is we go to. Consider, consider His, I guess
His personal experience with sorrow and grief. He hungered. He thirsted. He grew tired. Listen, he suffered. He suffered
like no man has or ever will suffer. Hell is eternal. That suffering is eternal. Our Lord endured. He was beaten
beyond all recognition upon the cross. He endured the punishment to
do us. And consider this. Scripture
says he is a faithful and merciful high priest. He knows our friend. He knows that we're but dust. Yet he has considered my trouble. What is man that God would be
mindful of him? Lord, you've considered my trouble. You've seen it. You've weighed
it. You've directed it. You've set the bounds of it.
And in time, you'll deliver us from it. In Psalm 34, 19, we
read, many are the afflictions of the righteous. There are many.
But the Lord hath delivered him out of them all. You have considered,
and listen, don't just look, my trouble. I'm thankful he's
considered our trouble, but I'm gonna be very honest with you,
I'm thankful he's considered my trouble. My trouble, not just any trouble, my trouble. The Lord has considered my trouble. Now, second, let's read on in
the text here. Psalm 31, seven. Thou hast known
my soul in adversity. I read somewhere
that adversity is the true test of friendship. When trouble comes,
in times of adversity, when friends and acquaintances tend to just
shy away, find a reason to avoid us in times of trouble, they
tend to shy away, they tend to keep their distance, don't they? of his people. David said this,
he said, when my father and my mother forsake me, is there any nearer relationship? He said when they forsake me,
then the Lord will take me. Let's begin with verse 1 of Ezekiel 16. The word of the Lord came unto
me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. And say, thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and nativity is of the land of
Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite. Thy
mother was a Hittite. Nothing to speak of this little
lineage here. And as for thy nativity, in the
day that you were born, Thy navel was not cut, neither was thou
washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at all, nor
swaddled at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these things unto thee, to have compassion on thee. But
thou was, listen, this is what happened to this child. It was
cast out into the open field. Cast out, just left, left itself. to the loathing of thy person
in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when
thou wast in thy blood, live. God's not forsaken his people.
Live, yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood,
live. And I've caused thee to multiply
as the buds of the field, and thou hast increased and waxed
and grayed, and art come to excellent ornaments, and thy breast refashioned,
and thy hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and barren. Now when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, a whole thy time was a time of love. I sprayed my skirt over thee,
and I covered thy nakedness, yea, I sweared unto thee, and
had been to a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou
becamest mine. I washed thee with water,
yea, I thoroughly washed away the blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil, clothed thee also with broidered work, and shined
thee with magic skin. I buried thee with fine linen,
and I covered thee with silk. a chain on my neck. I put a jewel
on my forehead and earrings in my ears. A beautiful crown upon
my head. Who's doing everything here?
The Lord is, isn't he? Where did he find her? He found
this infant, dying, cast out in the open field. The Lord comes in mercy and grace
and gives life and covers. He said, thus I was decked with
gold and silver. My ring was of fine linen and
silk and embroidered work. cross her into the kingdom. And
thou in an hour went forth among the heathens for thy beauty,
for it was perfect. How? Through my comings. Perfect in the Lord, which I
had put upon thee, saith the Lord. The Lord speaking to Joshua,
he said this, he said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee. He repeated that, it's repeated
again back in the book of Hebrews. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. This whole world might forsake
us. It probably will. Almighty God will never forsake
his people. Beginning in verse 6 of Romans
5, it says that, for when we were without strength, in due
time, Christ died for the ungodly. Nothing to recommend us to God.
We're repulsive in His sight. Dead in trespasses and sin. Not just undeserving, but hell
deserving. That's what we deserve. Deserving of death and judgment. Verse 7, he says, for scarcely
for a righteous man would one die. For a good man, some would
even dare to die. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners. He didn't wait for us
to take a step or get our lives straightened out or do anything.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died. Well, listen, he's considered
my trouble. He's known my soul in adversity. Back here to Psalm 31. Here's the third point. He has not shut
us up in the hand of the enemy. Look at verse eight there, Psalm
31. Thou hast not shut me up into
the hand of the enemy. You know, to be shut up in the
hand of the enemy is just to be handed over and delivered
over to the power of the enemy. The believer has not been given
over to the power of the enemy. Not to death, not to Satan, not
to man, not even to ourselves. Rather, we're kept in his hand. The believer is kept in his... Remember back there in... Turn
there to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 5. Now David was, in verse 29, David
was in the wilderness with his men, and he sent ten of his young
men out to go to Nabal. Nabal was a fool, but he was
a prosperous man. And David said to his young servants,
he said, you go to Nabal, and you greet him, greet him by name,
and go in peace to him. And let him know this, that you
haven't bothered anything that was his. You haven't bothered
his crops, you haven't bothered his animals, you've left his
sheep alone. And ask him, give unto us whatsoever
cometh to thy hand, and to thy servants, and to David. And Nabal's
response, look, verse 10. Nabal answered, He answered David's servants,
and he said, Who is David? Who is David? And who is the
son of Jesse, that there may be servants nowadays that break
away every man from his master? Shall I take my bread, and my
water, and my flesh, that I will kill for my share? Who is David? Shall I take my bread and my
water and my flesh and give it to somebody I don't love? And
David's servants, they returned to him with this report. And
David said, gird on your swords. And he was going to go up and
kill every male in that village. Remember what happened when they
were charging up that hill, right? One of Nabal's servants had went
to Abigail, Nabal's wife, and told her what happened. Abigail took bread and wine. That has to point to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Bread and wine. And she took
some corn, and she interceded. She interceded on behalf. Look
at verse 25. And this is what she said. She said
that, let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of the
lot, even Navel, for his name is so he is. Navel is his name,
and folly is with him. Look, I thy headmate, so not
the young men of mine. Now let thy enemies, and they
that seek evil in my Lord, be just as naïve. And now this blessing
which thy handmaid hath brought unto my Lord, let it be. I pray that you forgive the trespasses
I have made, for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure
house, because my Lord finds the vows of the Lord. Evil hath
not been found in thee all the days. Yet a man is risen up to
pursue thee and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my Lord. One of my favorite verses is
this year. The soul of my Lord shall be bound He's not giving us over to the
hand that, wouldn't that be easy to do? Given who and what we
are. But instead, we're bound up in
his hand. We're kept, kept by the power
of God. More secure is no one ever. than the loved ones of the Savior,
kept in the power of His hand. Imagine a child trying to pry
something out of one of y'all's hands. That would be impossible. Imagine someone trying to take
us out Psalm 31, I'll be glad and rejoice
in thy mercy for thou hast, one, you've considered my trouble.
Two, you've known my soul and adversity. Three, you've not
shut me up in the hand of my enemy. Fourth, he says, you've
sent me. And the old writers refer to
this as a, say this is a reference to liberty. Isaiah 61 verse 1,
the Spirit of God is upon me because he hath anointed me to
preach the good tidings of the week. He hath sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives. He set
free the opening of the prison to them that are mad. It doesn't say he's recommended
liberty or he's suggested liberty. He's proclaimed it. He's declared
it. Free from the law. We have liberty,
don't we? We're free from the law, free
from sin. Scripture says, by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He hath
set my feet in a large, a large room. and then fifth. Fifth. Here in verse nine, we
see a cry for mercy. Verse nine, David says, have
mercy upon me, O Lord, for mine eye is consumed with grief. Yea, my soul and my breath. Grief
just goes all the way We read earlier, many are the
afflictions of the righteous. This thing about the eyes, if
you ever noticed, you can look at someone's eyes and tell how
easy it is to look at somebody's eyes and just tell they're in
trouble. There's a lot of things we can
cover up, but typically the eyes can't hide it. It just makes it worse, doesn't
it? It's easy to see. He said, my
eye is consumed with grief. Maybe that's from tears. Maybe
it's from trying to hold them back. Consumed with grief. My body and my soul. David said,
I'm in trouble. That's what he's saying, I'm
in trouble. If you've been there, do you
recognize that location? I'm in trouble. Have mercy. Have mercy upon me. Turn over
to Psalm 34. Turn over just a few pages from
our text here. Psalm 34. Look at the beginning
of verse 15. of the Lord are upon the righteous,
his children, his sheep, and his ears are open to their cry. He's not talking about everybody.
There is the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his
ears unto their cry. Verse 16, the face of the Lord
is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of
them from the earth. Does that sound like God loves
everybody? Verse 17, the righteous cry, and the Lord heard him. His ears are open to him. He
hears them. It's like he heard Mary's cry
there in that opening passage. David said, Psalm 346, this poor
man cried, and the Lord heard him. and save him out of all
his trouble. He hears the cry of his people. I tell you, I'm always amazed
that I still, and you mothers, when that child can do absolutely
nothing, I never could discern what it
meant. Our boys would cry and Abby would be like, he's hungry,
or he's dirty. She always knew. That just amazes
me. Here's one that's even more amazing. Verse 18, the Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart, and saith such as be of a contrite
spirit. You know, when our hearts are
broken, we tend to look all over for relief, even question God's
presence. But listen to this verse. He is nigh. I'm pretty sure that
means near. unto them that are of a broken
heart. Verse 19. Many are the afflictions
of the righteous. Here's our hope. The Lord delivereth
them out of them all. The same Lord that sins had affliction,
he'll recall it. years was signed. My strength
failed because of my iniquity. My bones were consumed. I was
a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors,
who feared to my acquaintance. They that did see me would have
fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man
out of mind. I am like a broken vessel. I
have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side while
they took counsel together against me. But I trusted in thee, O
Lord. I said, Thou art my God. My times
are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my
enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon
thy servant. Save me. For something I've done, Save
me for a promise I've made. Save me for a step I've taken.
No, save me for thy mercy's sake. Save me for Christ's sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord.
I've called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed. Let
them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to
silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contentiously
against thy righteousness. Oh, how great is thy goodness. laid up for them to fear thee,
which thou hast wrought for them to trust in thee before the sons
of men. Thou shalt hide them in the secret
of thy presence for the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them
secretly in a pavilion from the strife of time. Blessed be the
Lord, for he has showed me I was thinking about earlier.
For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thee. Nevertheless,
thou heardest the voice of my supplication when I cried unto
thee. Oh, love the Lord, all ye his
saints, for the Lord reserveth the faithful and plentifully
rewardeth the proud. Be of good courage, he shall
strengthen your heart, ye, this is the particular people,
ye that hold in the Lord. Let not your heart be troubled. He said, you believe in God,
but he also in me. He's considered, he's considered
my trouble. He's known my soul in adversity. He's not shut me up in the hand
of the enemy. Quite to the contrary, he shut
me up in his hand. Bound up in his hand. Set our
feet in a large row. Ain't that a reason to cry? Cry
for mercy? Knowing this as he sees and he
hears his children. And you know, in his time, those
tears, That's what we read in scripture.
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Turn with me. And I, John, saw the holy city
of New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adored for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. Verse
four. And God shall wipe away all tears,
from their eyes, and there should be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying,
neither any more pain, no more anguish, no more trouble for
the former things. Thank you, Brother Eric. David,
would you please?