God's Answer To Our Hurts Series

Sermon Series: Sermons from Psalm 23

Sermon # 6: God’s Answer to the Stress of Hurt

Scripture Ref: Psalm 23: 5

‘Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies, Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runs over..’

Introduction:

This is the 6th SERMON from PSALM 23. There is ONLY ONE MORE SERMON in this series. I pray that SOMETHING has been SAID that BLESSED you as we STUDY this PSALM together. I THINK it HELPS us TREMENDOUSLY to THINK of OURSELVES as SHEEP in GOD’S FOLD.

Last Sunday morning we looked at DARK VALLEYS & how the LORD goes with us during the TIME it takes for us to PASS THROUGH them.

VALLEYS are NOT MADE for us to CAMP OUT in but for us to GO THROUGH.

HE LEADS US THROUGH our DARKEST VALLEYS. There can be some MIGHTY DARK VALLEYS.

VALLEYS are just a NORMAL PART of this EARTHLY LIFE..

However when we get to Verse #5 we’re NOT LOOKING at VALLEYS but at DELIBERATE ATTACKS from OUR ENEMIES who DO THINGS that will BRING US INTENTIONAL HURT & GRIEF so that our JOY & PEACE of MIND is taken from us.

I don’t like that word ENEMIES. ENEMIES would be referring to PEOPLE & their SPIRITS & the CIRCUMSTANCES & the SITUATIONS that they SET IN MOTION to PURPOSELY WORK AGAINST US.

I would much rather LIVE WITHOUT having any ENEMIES.

However as long as the DEVIL is PRESENT & WORKING in THIS EARTH we WILL HAVE ENEMIES.

The DEVIL wants to DESTROY US & he doesn’t care HOW or WHO he WORKS THROUGH to ACCOMPLISH his GOALS.

WHAT we’re LOOKING at this morning, GOD’S ANSWER to the STRESS of BEING HURT.

BECAUSE we LIVE in an IMPERFECT WORLD we’re going to be HURT.

We’ll be HURT from ACCIDENTS.

We’ll be HURT from ILLNESSES.

But the DEEPEST of HURTS we’ll ever have in OUR LIVES will come from PEOPLE. & they are the PEOPLE who we LEAST THOUGHT WOULD DO the THINGS they have DONE.

As a MINISTER I have GIVEN MY LIFE as a SERVANT of the LORD MINISTERING to PEOPLE.

It’s an HONOR to be a SERVANT. of the LORD. I LOVE the LORD & I LOVE PEOPLE.

I have been BLESSED ABUNDANTLY by so many WONDERFUL PEOPLE..

But I have also BEEN HURT TERRIBLY by some PEOPLE..

& I am SURE that EACH ONE of us this morning has also been HURT by PEOPLE.. I’m quite sure that MY EXPERIENCES are NOT MUCH DIFFERENT than YOUR EXPERIENCES.

The ONLY WAY to KEEP from BEING HURT by PEOPLE is to ISOLATE OURSELVES from PEOPLE & DO NOT HAVE any RELATIONSHIPS with PEOPLE.

Live the LIFE of an ISOLATED HERMIT.

But THEN we will NEVER KNOW the BLESSINGS that PEOPLE can BE in OUR LIVES.

As long as we MIX & MINGLE with PEOPLE whether it be at HOME or at WORK or at CHURCH or with FRIENDS or with NEIGHBORS we occasionally WILL be HURT.

How many of us KNOW there are some WEIRD, MIXED UP & at times EVIL & WICKED PEOPLE?

We CANNOT FIX OTHER PEOPLE. There are SOME PEOPLE out there with SOME PROBLEMS.

One of the MOST DISTURBING THINGS, since we are STILL TALKING about SHEEP, is that sometimes WHAT may LOOK like a SHEEP & TALK like a SHEEP, isn’t really a SHEEP.

They are WOLVES in SHEEP’S CLOTHING & they REJOICE WHENEVER they can HURT & DEVOUR a SHEEP. They LIKE to SCATTER the SHEEP.

We may as well FORGET that. SOME PEOPLE will EVER CHANGE & those who DO CHANGE will be CHANGED because it is GOD that CHANGES THEM.

I really BELIEVE that SOME of these WOLVES who are PRETENDING to BE SHEEP, have been TURNED OVER to REPROBATE MINDS & they won’t EVER CHANGE because they RECEIVE TOO MUCH ENJOYMENT & PLEASURE in HURTING SHEEP.

So WHAT we have to WORK ON is OUR RESPONSE to THOSE HURTS.

BEFORE we LOOK at GOD’S ANSWER to OUR HURTS let us LOOK at SOME THINGS NOT TO DO when PEOPLE HURT US.

Don’t get CAUGHT in the FOWLER’S SNARE.

1: WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN WE GET HURT:

1: DON’T IGNORE IT: BE HONEST with OURSELVES:

SUFFER in SILENCE. BITE the BULLET. PRETEND it DOES NOT EXIST. Just HOPE that it will GO AWAY.

A} FLAT OUT DENIAL: I don’t have a PROBLEM. PEOPLE HURT US & then we say, ‘That didn’t HURT.’

B} MINIMIZE IT: It was NO BIG DEAL. It didn’t HURT that bad.

C} PROCRASTINATE: We POSTPONE doing ANYTHING about the HURT. One of these days we’ll …We POSTPONE the UNPLEASANT.

Let me STOP & SAY THIS here:

ESPECIALLY TWO CHRISTIANS should BE ABLE to TALK ABOUT HURTS WITHOUT the DEVIL being the ONE who WINS.