Text: “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
Can you recall a time in your life when you called upon the Lord and He did not answer you? Some people would answer yes to that question. On the other hand, others would say the Lord always responded in some way in their need of help.
Speaking for myself, I can not recall a single time when I called to the Lord and did not receive an answer. Let me make it clear that His answer has not always been the answer that I wanted to hear and at times I felt let down and disappointed. However, when I thought about what I had asked for or what I wanted from Him, I realized that what I received or did not receive was in my best interest.
What we want is not always what we need. Our wants are not the same as our needs. During the time of raising our children, there were times when they wanted something or wanted to do something, but as parents, we could see the big picture and knew this was not in their best interest; therefore, their want was not fulfilled.
Adults have wants that get them into trouble. For example, an individual wants to buy this beautiful expensive car with all the bells and whistles. His family tries to talk him out of the deal, but the salesman convinces him that he can handle the payments of $800.00 per month. He proceeds to buy the car, but after a couple of months of payments, he realizes his money is not stretching. He cannot make the payments and no matter how much praying he does, the money does not fall from heaven.
His mistake was in not talking to the Lord before he bought the car. If he had talked to the Lord, there is a very good possibility the little voice inside him would have set his mind to thinking a little deeper. When we speak to God, He always listens and He always answers. The problem lies with us in that we either do not speak or ask, and if we do, we do not listen to His answer.
Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
In other words, we are not to give up speaking to God. We are to continue seeking Him. He is always with us. If we don’t get an answer the first time, we are not to give up. Our faith eventually kicks in and allows us to continue asking and seeking and when this happens, Jesus will come forth with what is best for us.
Whenever we call upon God, we can rest assured that He does pay attention and His response to us will be beneficial to us. As God’s children, He has promised us many blessings.
Our Scripture tells us that God blesses us with deliverance from fear (verse 4). When David wrote this psalm, He was in the process of fleeing from Saul who tried to kill him with a spear. David’s wife helped him escape Saul. And David’s wife said to him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed” (1 Samuel 19:11). She helped David escape by letting him down through a window.
David fled to King Achish, but the servants of King Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing to him to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?'” (1 Samuel 21:11).
Remember that David killed Goliath and other Philistines, but still he fled to King Achish who was king of the Philistine territory of Gath. Gath is where Goliath lived and it was located about 30 miles from Jerusalem.
When King Achish’s servants brought to his attention the fact David killed so many Philistines, David became frightened and fearful. David came up with a beautiful idea to save himself. He thought if he pretended to be insane, King Achish would not harm him.
This was a good thought because during that period of time in history, insane people were thought to be an evil sign. They were not harmed or they were exempt from harm, so as not to make the gods angry.
This strategy of David’s worked. He was able to escape the hand of the king. Although David was in danger, he looked to God and trusted that Almighty God would take care of him. God never forgot David. God did not hold a grudge against David. David was a child of God and God never left him.
God does the same for us today. Whatever we do in life or however we treat God, He will always love us and He will always look after us. He will listen to us as we look for a way of escape from whatever we have done or God will help us move from danger to safety.
David had so much faith in God and trusted Him so much that he wrote the words: I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” (Psalm 34:1). David would praise God from the inner most part of his soul and his heart.
His interest in God and his expectations of what God would do for him was without question. David said, “My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice” (Psalm 34:2). David was so positive and strong in his belief concerning God that he invited others who were afflicted or going through the some fears to join him, rejoice with him and expect the best from God.
David said, “Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3). When we exalt God, we are praising Him or paying tribute to Him. We are not trying to make God greater than He is because He is already the greatest. He is the highest. There is none greater or higher.
We call upon God in prayer. He likes to hear our prayers. He is always ready to listen to us. He is never too busy. Anything, little or big, that is on our mind, He is willing and ready to listen to us. He hears what we are saying and in fact He knows what is on our mind before we ever say anything.
David said, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). He sought the LORD because he was in trouble. He needed help. The same is true for us today. We seek the Lord or we talk to the Lord in prayer when we are hurting or when we are in some type of trouble.
At times, we try to help ourselves. At times we seek the help of someone close to us, only to find they cannot provide the help we are seeking. People are always willing to give us advice, but we need more than advice. When we are hurting physically, mentally or morally, we need the help of a higher power, so we seek God just as David sought God.
When life does not seem to be going the way we think it should go, it is difficult to praise God and thank Him for the difficulties we are facing. Today, there are many people out of work. I wonder how many of these people are praising God because they are out of work. This is what should be done in a situation like this, but we think we are being punished or mistreated.
I believe you would agree David had a reason to be fearful and to run for his life. Saul wanted to kill David and then King Achish wanted to do the same to David. In a situation like this, it would be easy to think God did not care about what happened to you. However, that was not David’s mode of thinking. He trusted and praised Almighty God. God paid attention to David’s prayers and his praises.
There was a woman in the Old Testament by the name of Hannah, who suffered a little bit of mistreatment and humiliation. Hannah was married to a man by the name of Elkanah who was also married to Peninnah. At that time it was not uncommon to have more than one wife.
Peninnah was able to have children by Elkanah, but Hannah was unable to bear children. Hannah felt bad enough, but Peninnah made matters worse by poking fun at her. The truth of the matters was that Elkanah really loved Hannah more than Peninnah and as a result gave a double portion of his attention to her. This, of course, did not make Peninnah very happy.
Hannah could have thought God did not care for her or was not interested in her dilemma or her predicament, but instead, she continued pray to God; trust He would help her and believe that all things were possible because God was still in control. She did not give up. She did not run away. She did not feel sorry for herself. As a result, she became the mother of Samuel. Samuel became a great prophet and the last of the judges. The way Hannah praised God, as recorded in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, shows that Hannah was indeed a very spiritual woman. She certainly received her reward for keeping her faith in God. God paid attention to her prayers.
Another figure in the Old Testament was Job. He was a wealthy man who had a wonderful family and a very strong faith in God. He had huge flocks of animals, more worldly possessions than one needs and he was in the best of health. His love for God was of the highest degree.
Scripture tells us, “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
“His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom” (Job 1:1-5). Job cared about his family because they were God’s gift to him.
Then Job was severely tested. His oxen and donkeys were carried off and his servants were killed. Then “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants” (Job 1:16). After that, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on his camels and carried them off” (Job 1:17). In addition, the servants tending the herd were killed.
Next, Job’s daughters and sons were killed when, without warning, a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house causing it to collapse. “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22).
People complain and feel disappointed when small things happen to them. What would they do if they went through something like Job went through? People do blame God when life seems to be unfair to them.
I know a family who blamed God for an accident that took the life of the father. The father worked in an area of a plant where there were steam pipes. Something went wrong when one of the pipes burst scolding the father and causing his death. The pipe broke, a fitting came apart or a valve malfunctioned, but whatever happened, the father was the victim of the accident.
Was God to blame for this accident? Did God cause this to happen? Could God have prevented this from happening? These are question that went through the mind of the wife and her conclusion was that God was to blame. I believe she carried this thought to the grace with her, but I would hope not.
Many times we are not as Godly as Job. As a human, we tend to jump to conclusions. We are apt to see only a small part of the big picture. We don’t think of praising God when bad things happen to us or to our loved ones.
Job was encouraged by others, including his wife, to blame God, but he refused to blame God. Job accepted what God had allowed to happen to him. His faith and commitment did not falter. Job could not explain why all this happened to him and his family, but his faith in God became stronger and stronger.
When God spoke to Job in a very destructive and mighty storm, Job humbled himself as he felt God’s majesty and power. Because Job stayed true to
God; because Job kept his faith in God, and because Job trusted and believed God, his happiness and wealth were completely restored. God paid attention to Job. His prayers were heard.
God paid attention to David. David said, ‘I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). David prayed to God and God heard and listened to him. God delivered David from his fear of death and all the other disturbances brought about by this fear.
He will do the same for each of us. The first thing we have to do is to seek the Lord and then turn the matter over to him. When we look to the Lord, praise Him, trust Him and keep faith in Him, there will be radiance on our face and peace in our heart.
It makes no difference if we are rich or poor; black or white; educated or uneducated; popular or unpopular; church-going or non-church-going; good or bad, when we call upon the Lord in our time of need, He will save us from our troubles. God’s messengers are always around to take care and help us.
“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them” (Psalm 34:7). God is constantly looking out for us. We are surrounded by His heavenly messengers. We may joke at times that we have a guardian angel, but in reality it is no joke. It is as true as anything can be. God pays attention to us through His messengers, the angels.
Conclusion:
How many of you believe in angels? Has anyone ever been in a situation or rescued from a predicament that you could not believe or explain how it happened? I want to tell you a little about angels.
ANGELS ARE NOT THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD NOR ARE THEY GLORIFIED HUMAN BEINGS.
ANGELS ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS SENT FORTH TO MINISTER TO US (THE REDEEMED).
Billy Graham wrote a book, published in 1975, called,
Angels – God’s Secret Agents
Listen to this story from the book:
Mr. Graham tells the story of Dr. S.W. Mitchell, who was a well-known Philadelphia physician. It was one cold wintry day when Dr. Mitchell finally finished his work and decided to go to bed.
Just as he dozed off, someone knocking on his door suddenly awakened him.
Upon opening the door, Dr. Mitchell found a little girl, poorly dressed and deeply upset.
She told him her mother was very sick and asked him if he would please come with her.
It was a bitterly cold, snowy night, but though he was bone tired, Dr. Mitchell dressed and followed the girl.
Upon arriving at the home, he found the mother desperately ill with pneumonia. After arranging for medical care, he complimented the sick woman on the intelligence and persistence of her little daughter.
The woman looked at him strangely and then said, “My daughter died a month ago.”
She added, “Her shoes and coat are in the clothes closet there.”
Dr. Mitchell, amazed and perplexed, went to the closet and opened the door. There hung the very coat worn by the little girl who had brought him to tend to her mother.
It was warm and dry and could not possibl have been out in the wintry night.
THE QUESTION:
Could the doctor have been called in the hour of desperate need by an angel who appeared as this woman’s young daughter?
Was this the work of God’s angels on behalf of the sick woman?
REMEMBER:
ONE angel destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
ONE angel killed all the first born in Egypt in one night.
ONE angel rolled the stone away from Jesus’ tomb
ONE angel will bind Satan for a thousand years.
YOU WILL HAVE TO ADMIT – THEY HAVE A LOT OF POWER.
There is a story about Rev. John G Paton who was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands.
He said that one night hostile natives surrounded his little missionary post.
The only people present at the post were Rev. Paton and his wife. He said that the two of them prayed continuously that God would deliver them from this terror-filled night.
When morning finally came, they looked out and saw all the hostile natives turn and walk away from their missionary post.
They immediately thanked God for saving their lives.
A year later, the chief of that hostile tribe was converted to Christianity.
Rev. Paton remembered that terror-filled night and he asked the chief what happened that they did not attack.
The chief said that they had fully intended to burn down the missionary post and kill Rev. and Mrs. Paton. Rev. Paton asked the chief what stopped him.
The chief asked, “Who were all those men you had around the post?”
Rev. Paton said that there were no men.
But, the chief said, there were hundreds of huge men in shining garments with swords drawn circling the camp.
The chief said that he and his men were far outnumbered and were afraid to attack.
Rev. Paton realized that God had sent his angels to protect them.
Rev. Paton and his wife prayed for safety. They were fearful, but they were also faithful. God hears our prayers and He pays attention to our needs.
Amen.
