Walk in the Midst of Trouble • Psalm 138
Notes
David knew what it was to be overwhelmed.
He prayed one time for boldness, and God answered him with more than he asked for, and different than David was thinking. But the answer was exactly what David needed. God knows we need His life as we walk in the midst of trouble.
I’m reading Psalm 138.
1. Verses 7 and 8 are the point of Psalm 138. I’m going to explain the psalm through them.
A. Each of the verbs in these two verses are imperfects. That means they describe an action that continues without an end in sight. You could read it like this:
B. Though I walk continually in the midst of trouble
C. You will continually give me life.
D. You will continually stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies. That’s because my enemies keep attacking me. They never give up. So your right hand will continually save me.
E. The Lord will continually perfect that which concerns me.
F. Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting. That goes on and on, with no end in sight.
G. When you have a negative before an imperfect verb, it can have the meaning, don’t ever start to do this, so, do not begin to forsake the works of Your hands.
2. David walked in the midst of trouble continually because God called him to be His man and serve Him.
A. God called David and anointed him with His Spirit when he was a boy, the youngest of eight, and it was trouble ever after.
1. Battle with Philistines. Being despised by his older brothers, who thought he was a smart aleck.
2. Running from Saul for years.
3. Living as an outlaw, working with Philistines.
4. Having to wait for God to fulfil His promise to make him king of all Israel. It took another seven years after Saul died.
5. Wars with all the nations surrounding Israel. If it’s not one nation, it’s another. It never stops.
6. Terrible sin, loss, humiliation, and repercussions in his family and in the nation.
7. Famine, plague, right up to the end, an attempt at taking the kingship on his deathbed.
B. All through his life he served God and walked in the midst of trouble. It was continual.
C. If God calls you to be His person, do His will, you will continually walk in the midst of trouble.
3. The reason for this is you face the same enemies that David did.
A. Notice that David greatly rejoices in God before the gods.
1. David had to fight against all the nations around him, all of whom served other gods. Every nation had its own national god and evidently all the other gods directed their nation against Israel.
2. You think, “That’s going out on a limb.” But think about it. Who does modern Israel face all around them? All the nations who serve their national god, and evidently that god says, “Wipe out Israel.”
B. God evidently believes in other gods, because He’s talking about them constantly in the Prophets. They are the biggest problem of His people. They follow other gods which are not gods.
C. We face spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places that want to be regarded as gods.
1. They try to tempt us away from serving God.
2. They attack and try to destroy us and our families and the people in our churches.
3. God continually stretches out His hand against the continual wrath of my enemies. They don’t ever stop.
4. Therefore we walk in the midst of trouble continually.
4. David got overwhelmed at continually walking in the midst of trouble. It got to him.
A. The Lord’s answer gives a clue what he cried out for: boldness, strength in his soul. That’s because he was the opposite of bold, the opposite of strong in his soul. He was intimidated, he was weak in his soul. He was overwhelmed.
B. Was David ever intimidated or overwhelmed?
1. Psalm 55:5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness.
2. Psalm 142:1-3 A MASKIL OF DAVID, WHEN HE WAS IN THE CAVE. A PRAYER. I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.
C. If you ever get overwhelmed as you continually walk in trouble, you are in good company. Not a one of God’s people escape being overwhelmed. Think Jeremiah, Elijah, Job, Noah, Moses, Paul, Peter.
5. How did God answer David’s prayer?
A. I don’t think it was a general feeling of euphoria and confidence, and suddenly I feel lots better. Like it was a mood swing. Like it was getting high or drunk. A temporary escape that doesn’t really do anything.
B. Nothing encourages better than concrete truth.
1. If it’s not true, it’s not encouraging. “There, there, dear, everything will be all right,” is best wishes, but it’s not true.
2. A word of God that is clear and true meets my need exactly where I am overwhelmed, and gives me hope. Hope is the confident expectation that what God promises, He will deliver, He must deliver, because He is God and nothing can stop Him.
C. We have a concrete word here in verse 4: All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth. Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD. Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
1. When has that ever happened? All the kings of the earth singing of the ways of the Lord, praising the Lord? Never in the history of the world.
2. That means it is future. Did David pray for the destiny of the world? He was overwhelmed about his crises and cried out for boldness and encouragement. God gave him more than he asked for.
3. The Lord on high regards the lowly. How long, O Lord? Well, I am going to triumph so overwhelmingly that the world’s leaders are going to worship Me and sing for joy. Jeremiah 10:11 Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” I will have the ultimate victory. The meek shall inherit the earth.
D. However, this promise of God is still in the future, 3000 years later and counting. How does that promise help? David hears the promise and believes God, and that word rejoices his heart right now, today. The word of God has the power to rejoice your heart.
1. Read Proverbs 2, and when you do what it says there, verse 10 says, “For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”
2. Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. When you understand the purpose of your suffering you can endure it.
3. Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.
4. Joy enters your soul and keeps you from despairing today. Do it again tomorrow. You keep purpose and understanding before your eyes. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
6. The Lord will continually perfect that which concerns me.
A. David is God’s handiwork.
1. Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
2. That means that God has plotted David’s life, written purpose and meaning into his life.
B. Especially He wrote His lovingkindness into David’s life. That’s the Hebrew word chesed, Strong, faithful, covenant love. God keeps covenant to a thousand generations. Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is better than life.
C. God won’t forsake His work, because He does it in chesed, strong, faithful covenant love. His zeal comes from His lovingkindness. He’s not going to become apathetic or disinterested. He’s not going to stop until David is glorified in His likeness. It is written of David.
D. It is written of you as well, that Jesus will not stop working in your life until you are glorified, in His presence, blameless, with great joy.
7. So what?
A. God called you to serve Him, and because of Him you constantly walk in the midst of trouble. Those enemies never get tired, they are angry at you continually. Do you get overwhelmed? My ministry would be triumphant except for these spiritual forces of wickedness that beat me down continually.
B. Knowing God’s word is not the same as believing it. With the heart man believes, not with the head. You can know many things in your head but they don’t seem to help because deep down in your heart you don’t believe them, or at least you don’t grasp them.
D. What I recommend is that you have a life with God apart from the work of the ministry.
1. Everything you do for God takes it out of you, it exhausts you.
2. A life with God apart from ministry fills you, feeds you, refreshes you.
E. I wrote a book on this. I’ll give it to anyone who wants it.
F. Here’s what you can do. Get an analog Bible, and an analog notebook, and an analog writing instrument. The reason is, you process your thoughts better analog, not digital. You learn better analog.
G. Pick a book of the Bible and think and pray through it very slowly. Write down what you think and pray. Write down your thoughts even if you write questions. Listen to God.
H. One promise of our salvation is that God would be our Teacher. Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
I. As you take time, think, pray, write, God will write with His finger, on your heart, and it will change you.
1. He will give you life, because man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
2. He will give you His love, because He is love. It’s written so much in His word that He will impress it on your heart: God loves you with love that has no beginning and no end.
3. He’s going to show you the future, that He will accomplish all things that concern you, because He cares.
He will make you bold in your soul to walk in the midst of trouble for His name’s sake.
Let’s pray.