Reading: Psalm 13.
Ill:
Years ago an S-4 submarine was rammed by a ship off the coast of Massachusetts.
• It sank immediately.
• The entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death.
• Every effort was made to rescue the crew;
• But all ultimately failed.
• Near the end of the ordeal, a deep sea diver, who was part of the rescue crew;
• Thought he heard tapping on the steel wall of the sunken sub.
• He placed his helmet up against the side of the vessel;
• And he realised it was Morse code.
• In his mind he spelled out the message that was being tapped from within.
• It was repeating the same question; “Is there any hope?”
Quote:
• “We can live forty days without food,
• Eight days without water,
• Four minutes without air,
• But only a few seconds without hope!”
Psalm 13 on first reading:
• May seem to be melancholy, it may seem to be depressing;
• But actually it is a Psalm of hope.
• The title of the Psalm tells us who wrote it;
• But no-one knows at what period of David’s life he wrote the Psalm in.
• We do know that it was written in a troubled and turbulent time:
• King David shows to us his honesty, his bravery and his realism!
Note: The outline:
• The Psalm has a simple but important outline;
• It breaks down into three parts.
• Verses 1-2:
• Express David’s feeling of abandonment.
• Verses 3-4 David prays;
• In which David asks God to turn his face towards him and answer his questions.
• Verses 5-6 David’s recovers his trust in God.
• He remembers that God was good to him in the past and he will be good to him again in the future.
The Psalm which is a song a poem has an important layout:
• It breaks down into three parts. That is three different stanzas.
• The first stanza has five lines.
• The second stanza has four lines.
• The third stanza has three lines (N.I.V. has broken last line into 4)
Ill:
• Think of the Psalm as a mountain.
• When it begins, in the 1st Stanza, David is at the lowest valley of his life.
• But in the 2nd Stanza,
• We see that David has begun to climb the mountain of faith before him.
• And in the 3rd Stanza, David has reached the top of the mountain;
• And he can look back and see how God was with him.
First Stanza--In the deepest valley (vs 1-2):
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
Ill:
• Two aliens were visiting Earth to research the local customs.
• They split up so that they could learn more in the time allowed.
• When they met to share their knowledge,
• The first alien told of a religious ceremony it had seen.
• "I went to a large green field shaped like a meteorite crater.
• Around the edges, several thousand worshippers gathered.
• Then two priests walk to the centre of the field to a rectangular area;
• And hammer six spears into the ground, three at each end.
• Then eleven more priests walk out, clad in white robes.
• Then two high priests wielding clubs walk to the centre
• And one of the other priests starts throwing a red orb at the ones with the clubs."
• "Wow," replied the other alien,
• "What happens next?"
• "Then it begins to rain."
There are times in every believers experience when it rains – in fact it pours!
• If you have not experience those times;
• Be encouraged to know that you will! It called life in a fallen world!
• Non-Christians experiences life’s difficulties;
• And so do Christians.
Notice:
• In these first two verses David the psalmist is singing the blues;
• Maybe it ought to start; “Well I woke up this morning…”
• Trouble is for David this was more than a bad day;
• He was experiencing crushing circumstances and was in a prolonged period of deep depression.
• Quote: William Shakespeare (Hamlet Act IV - Scene V)
• "When sorrows come - they come not single spies - but in battalions "
Ill:
A plane carrying 55 passengers:
• Recently circled an airport in western Scotland for half an hour ;
• While an air traffic controller had his lunch.
• The officials at the airport on the island of Benbecula in the Western Isles of Scotland;
• Apologized Monday for the incident, which took place last Friday,
• But blamed it on a shortage of air traffic controllers, of which they have only one.
• The Times newspaper said:
• That there had been an uproar in the terminal building;
• As families watched the plane from Glasgow linger in a holding pattern,
• Tantalizingly within view.
• It had left Glasgow 25 minutes late,
• And finally touched down in Benbecula 55 minutes late;
• After the controller returned to his radar screen.
• Question: Do you ever feel that life can be like that?
• You’re stuck in a holding pattern going no-where fast!
4 REASONS HE WAS IN THE DEEPEST VALLEY:
(a). David feels that God has forgotten him due to the length of his trials:
• Note those words, "how long" (lit ‘until when’) they occur 4 times.
• That tells us that he was facing a long-standing, drawn-out situation.
(b). David feels that God has forgotten him because he no longer feels God’s presence:
• Note those words in verse 1:
• How long will you hide your face from me?
• Ill: God seems to be playing a heavenly game of hide and seek;
• Only he has cried out ‘Game over’ and no matter where he looks he still cannot find him!
(c). David feels that God has forgotten him because he is in mental turmoil.
• Note those words in verse 2:
• “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart”
• Doubt and depression have grabbed hold of his mind;
• And he is struggling to shake them off.
(d). David feels that God has forgotten him because he is in physical turmoil.
• Note those words in verse 2:
• “How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
• Maybe David wrote this Psalm when he was being hunted by King Saul and his army.
• David feels like a trapped animal waiting for his enemies to move in for the kill.
Mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically David has his back against the wall:
Ill:
• About 100 years ago the great preacher F.B. Meyer preached a sermon;
• Aimed at people who “dwell in the dust”.
• Meyer said: “Five kinds of people dwell in the dust:
• (1). Those who feel forsaken by God:
• (2). Those who feel their prayers are going nowhere:
• (3). Those who are discouraged with life’s possibilities;
• (4). Those who are going through difficult financial or physical stresses;
• (5). Those who are stuck in a job or family situation they cannot get out of.”
• Question: What do you do in such a situation?
• Answer: You pray!
• In verses 1-2: David is complaining.
• In verses 3&4: David is praying.
Ill:
• A pilot was flying a plane-load of passengers to their destination,
• When suddenly the rudder malfunctioned.
• He radioed the control tower in panic, and shouted,
• "The RUDDER has malfunctioned! What shall I DO?"
• The air traffic controller radioed back, "Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me:
• Wings flap... check. Velocity... check. Altitude check."
• The pilot made the appropriate adjustments,
• And the aircraft continued on course.
Not five minutes later, however, the STARBOARD ENGINE stalled:
• The pilot radioed the control tower and shouted,
• "The STARBOARD ENGINE has stalled! What shall I DO?"
• The air traffic controller radioed back, "Keep calm, Captain.
• Just repeat after me: Wings flap... check. Velocity... check. Altitude check."
• The pilot made the appropriate adjustments,
• And again the aeroplane continued on course.
However, not five minutes later, the pilot radioed the control tower a THIRD time:
• This time he shouted, "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! BOTH the engines have gone!
• What shall I DO?
• The air traffic controller radioed back, "Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me:
• Our Father... Which art in heaven... Hallowed be Thy name..."
Quote: A.C. Dixon who wrote:
• "When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do;
• When we depend upon education, we get what education can do;
• When we depend upon man, we get what man can do;
• But when we depend on prayer, we get what God can do."
Ill:
MPEG Clip on Prayer
Ill:
• Philippians chapter 4 verse 6: “…will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus”
• Ill: Hedge, a wall of protection.
Stanza 2: Starting the Ascent (vs 3-4):
“Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, I have overcome him, and my foes will rejoice when I fall.”
In this 2nd Stanza, David is still struggling...
• But he has started climbing the mountain of faith before him.
• He is no longer languishing in the valley.
• Notice he has changed his question to God:
• He has stopped asking "how long"?
• And now his request is for understanding.
• Verse 3: "Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death"
Quote:
• We have a saying; “Never get out of the train while it is in the tunnel”
• In other words don’t make important decisions in the dark, wait for some light!
I wonder if that is what David means by this expression;
• In verse 3: "Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death"
• Because now he is again crying out to God;
• But this time it is not in self-pity; “How long” – “I’m getting a raw deal here God”
• This time it is constructive – it is to ask for ‘light’, for help to cope with the situation.
• God does not promise to prevent pain and tragedy.
• If we are fortunate to live long enough,
• We will experience and encounter pain over and over again;
• That is life in a fallen world (for Christian and non-Christian!)
Quote:
• I asked God to take away my habit.
• God said, "No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up."
• I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
• God said, "No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary."
• I asked God to grant me patience."
• God said, "No. Patience is a by product of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned."
• I asked God to give me happiness.
• God said, "No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you."
• I asked God to spare me pain.
• God said, "No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me."
• I asked God to make my spirit grow.
• God said, "No. You must grow on your own! , but I will prune you to make you fruitful."
• I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
• God said, "No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things."
• I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
• God said, "Ahhhh, finally you have the idea."
• If we are fortunate to live long enough,
• We will experience and encounter difficulties over and over again.
• What God does promise is to be with us through the difficulties;
• God promises to give us the power of His presence so that we can cope,
• So that we can have perspective, so that the pain of loss, of heartbreak,
• Does not overwhelm.
Notice:
• We do not know whether God changed David’s circumstances;
• Or whether he just gave him strength to cope.
• I’m convinced it was David who changed;
• And not his circumstances!
• It probably only took him a day or two to write this Psalm.
• What changed? In a couple of days I doubt that his circumstances did!
• I’m convinced it was David who changed;
• And not his circumstances!
Ill:
• Patricia St. John,
• Who has been described as an ordinary woman with an extraordinary faith,
• Poured out her life ministering to people in the neediest places on our planet.
• She was in Sudan when war refugees flooded that country.
• They had suffered terribly and had lost everything,
• Yet those among them who were Christians still gave thanks to God.
• Patricia said that she stood one night in a crowded little Sudanese church;
• Listening to those uprooted believers singing joyfully.
• Suddenly a life-changing insight burned its way into her mind.
• “We would have changed their circumstances,” she said,
• “But we would not have changed them.”
• She realized that God “Does not always lift people out of the situation.
• He Himself comes into the situation…..He does not pluck them out of the darkness.
• He becomes the light in the darkness.”
We can experience today some of that light or some of that hope:
• Quote: Charles Spurgeon used to say,
• "A little faith will take your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul."
Stanza 3: The Mountaintop (vs 5-6):
5”But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”
Ill:
• A Pastor invited various Church members to the front of the Church & asked them a question:
• “In your times of discouragement, what is your favourite Bible verse.”
• A young man said,
• “That’s easy, Psalm 23 verse 1: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want’"
• A middle age woman was asked the same question and she replied,
• “Psalm 46 verse 1: ‘God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’.”
• A recently retired woman gave her answer as: John 16 verses 33-35:
• “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world”
• Then the Pastor called up John, who was the oldest member of the congregation;
• This 92 year old man said, “And it came to pass”
• Some of the congregation started to laugh a little, or feel a little embarrassed;
• Thinking that old John’s lack of memory was getting the best of him.
When the snickering stopped, he said “396 verses in the Bible say; ‘and it came to pass’”.
• "At 30 I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed.
• I didn’t know how I would make it.
• At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war.
• It knocked me down.
• At 50 my house burned to the ground.
• Nothing was saved out of the house.
• At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer.
• It slowly ate away at her.
• We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer.
• At 65 she died. I still miss her today.
• The agony I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable.
• I wondered where was God.
• But each time I looked in the bible I saw one of those 396 verses that said,
• “And it came to pass.”
• I felt that God was telling me, my pain and my circumstances;
• Were also going to pass and that God would get me through it."
In verses 5-6 David arrives at the summit of the mountain of faith!
• The atmosphere changes from despair to delight.
• David is saying, "God, I may not have all the answers, but I’m going to trust You anyway."
Noticed: That God is not very good at answering our questions?
• Sceptic may say he gives us a politicians answer;
• E.g. You ask him one question and he gives you the answer to another!
• Ill: Job asked ‘Why?’ God showed him ‘Who?’ – it was that made him and his world.
• Ill: Mary & Martha asked ‘Why?’ – Jesus revealed himself ‘I Am the…….’
• God does not avoid the question;
• But the answer may be too big for us to handle, or not even applicable.
Notice: David focuses on three things:
(1). GOD’S UNFAILING LOVE (VS 5) - “But I trust in your unfailing love”.
• It is unfailing because God is unfailing!
• It is dependable because God is dependable!
• Ill: Circumstances will change – good, bad and indifferent;
• Ill: People will change – found of us, may avoid us or even ignore us!
• But God is unfailing!
• He is dependable, that is his nature he cannot be anything else!
• Ill: Monk who had to preach on God’s love.
• He illuminated the cross and need not say anything else!
(2). GOD’S SALVATION (VS 5) – “My heart rejoices in your salvation”.
• God’s salvation is not to take away all your problems;
• But to take you through them!
• Salvation here in all probability does not mean spiritual deliverance;
• But rather physical deliverance.
• And that deliverance is not the absent of problems;
• But the help of God through those problems.
Quote Annie Johnson Flint:
“God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through.
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labour,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love”
• David found help when he prayed to God;
• And you and I need to do the same!
• Quote: John Bunyan:
• “He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.”
• Quote: Martin Luther.
• “When I cannot pray I always sing.”
(3). GOD’S GOODNESS (VS 6) - “I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”
• David is looking back to past victories:
• God helped me in the past and he can do it again in the future.
• He has already experienced times that he didn’t THINK that God was there with him;
• But with hindsight he realized that GOD WAS THERE ALL THE TIME!!!
Ill:
• The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves.
• On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday,
• After learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test.
• He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone.
• Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe.
• But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away.
• When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce.
• After what seemed like an eternity,
• Dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest.
• Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path.
• Then, to his utter astonishment,
• He beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow & arrow.
• It was his father. He had been there all night long.
• Even though we can't see Jesus beside us in our trials,
• We can be confident that he is there! (Matt. 28:20i Heb. 13:5).
• In verses 1&2: David is complaining.
• In verses 3&4: David is praying.
• In verses 5&6: David is trusting and rejoicing.
• David’s eyes are no longer on himself;
• He is focussed on the Lord.
• David is no longer dwelling in the dust;
• He is counting his blessings (past & present).
Quote: C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed:
• “You never know how much you really believe anything;
• Until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death.
• It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong;
• As long as you are merely using it to cord a box.
• But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice.
• Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it?
• David was willing to put his faith into action;
• To put his belief into practice.
• And discover God to be loving, faithful & good!
Quote: Psalm 13 by Leslie Brandt in Psalms Now:
O God, sometimes You seem so far away.
I cannot in this moment sense Your presence
or feel Your power.
The darkness enveloping me is stifling.
This depression is suffocating.
How long, O God, do I have to live in this void?
O God, how long?
Break into this black night, 0 God;
fill in this vast emptiness.
Enter into my conflict
lest I fall, never to rise again.
I continue to trust in Your ever-present love.
I shall again discover true joy
in my relationship with You.
I will proclaim Your praises, my Lord,
for You will never let me go.
