If God is For Me...nothing else matters
Psalms 56:1-13 MSG
56 1-4 Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
to beat me up.
When I get really afraid
I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God;
fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?
5-6 They don’t let up—
they smear my reputation
and huddle to plot my collapse.
They gang up,
sneak together through the alleys
To take me by surprise,
wait their chance to get me.
7 Pay them back in evil!
Get angry, God!
Down with these people!
8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.
9 If my enemies run away,
turn tail when I yell at them,
Then I’ll know
that God is on my side.
10-11 I’m proud to praise God,
proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
what can mere mortals do to me?
12-13 God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.
Now when we read this...David is a prisoner in a foreign land, he has been on the run fleeing for his life...
He's trying to get away from King Saul and runs right into the Philistine army and is captured.
I imagine right about this time he's saying
"I didn't sign up for this...You said I would be the King"
As we know the Philistines were the enemy of the people of Israel and David
had killed her greatest warrior Goliath…
He had been a thorn in their side, from the moment that he stepped on the scene that same day, bringing his brothers something to eat
And now captured and in prison…His life at this point hangs in the balance
I can imagine how all of Philistine must have been celebrating his capture.
Oh great giant killer…
What are you going to do now?
You're not so great now are you?
Who are you going to call on now?
While David was in prison…
David's God was not in prison!
David's God was still on the throne...
David's God was still great and worthy to be praised! Amen??
So what is David to do?
What would you have done?
I don't know about you..but I'd be getting my praise on, just like he did!
At this point the had nowhere to go but to the Lord...He had nowhere else to turn, but to the Lord...
Things seemed to be that David was down to nothing… But how many of you know when it seems you're down to nothing...God is always up to something. Amen??
In verses 1-4 of this Psalm...David declares that GOD IS MERCIFUL!
1-2: Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up
God not only knows what's going on
in your life...He also cares about
What's going on in your life!
He's also interested about how you react to what's going on in your Life! Amen??
3-4: When I get really afraid I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?
As I read this… I couldn't help but think how David was a man of faith and also a man after gods own heart...
but when we read here it says
"when I get really afraid I come to you in trust"
This gives me hope and courage...because no matter how many triumphs
and accomplishments we read about David…
He had times were he was afraid...after all he was still a man, still just flesh and bones like you and I. Amen??
Like David, we all get caught up in the moment and what we think
we are capable of doing…
but the reality of the situation,
always comes back to God's capabilities and God's capabilities alone
In the time of need!
"I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?"
Another way of saying it is...
"If God be for me...who can be against me"
And while the accuser would like it to...he knows, if God is for you "nothing else matters"
While David recognized God's mercy…by David's words God recognized David's faith! Amen??
Your WORDS have power!
Use them wisely...use them to your benefit, use them to your enemies demise!
In verses 12-13, David reminds us and declares that GOD IS MIGHTY and true to His Word!
God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.
God had rescued David and for that David was Grateful
And he was offering up his thanks For keeping His Promise...
Let me remind you this morning that...
God keeps His Promises / God keeps His Word!
And the truth is that sometimes we need to be reminded of those things… That God keeps his promises and keeps His word to us consistently!
When we're the ones going through the difficulties...when we're the one
down in the valley, sometimes it seems like we're going it on our own.
But David reminds us here in scripture that nothing could be further from the truth
Vs 8: You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.
David reminds us here that God is mindful/ or aware of each and everything that we go through and He is not only there with us...
but He also keeps a perfect record of what happens while we're going through the trial! Amen??
That tells me that there is truth behind one of the greatest hymns of the church…
"No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me, O how much He cared for me."
Can you imagine just for a moment… The attentiveness that it takes to capture a tear when it squeezes from someone's eye, before it evaporates?
Here is what the short version is of what David was really saying...
“I know that my enemies are going to be turned back.
I know that God is going to give me victories over my enemies.
I know that God is going to give me victory over my trouble and my trials because, GOD IS FOR ME!
David was simply saying this! GOD IS ON MY SIDE!
When it seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong... GOD IS FOR ME!.
When it seems like nobody cares about what's going on in my life...GOD IS FOR ME.
When the valley is so deep that it seems to never run out and the mountain top is out of sight...
GOD IS STILL AND WILL ALWAYS AND FOREVERMORE BE FOR ME! Amen??
Illus. I'm reminded of an old June Carter song called..."keep on the sunny side"
Well there's a dark and a troubled side of life.
There's a bright and a sunny side too.
But if you meet with the darkness and strife,
The sunny side we also may view.
Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life.
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,
If we keep on the sunny side of life.
And how do we keep on the sunny side of life? By remembering that no matter what may happen…God is always for us!
When Joseph was in the prison...you know what gave him hope
When Paul and Silas were shackled and chained… You know what gave them hope
It was the same thing that gave David hope in the Philistine prison....
It was the fact that he knew that if God was for him..."nothing else mattered"
If you're in a serious situation and you want to get out of that situation sooner...
Then you need to do the same thing...you need to realize that God is for you...Amen?God is on your side Amen?
Now I don’t know about you child of God.
But I rejoice in the fact that I serve the same great God that David served!
The same God that took Joseph from the prison to the palace...
The same God that Shook the prison walls for Paul and Silas...
and the one and only...same God that Delivered David from the hands of the Philistines.
And that same God is still just as powerful...
Still on the throne...
Still just as attentive as he was when David wrote this Psalm.
That's why If we were to ask David if he were here today.....
David, how did you know...that those days there in that prison, weren't your last days?
How did you know that your prayers weren't in vain?
How did you know David that those wouldn't be your last days...and that your best days were still yet to come?
If he could tell you… I believe he would tell you its because I know that God is for me and that's all I need to know!!! Amen??
And that's all you need to know!
There's not some grand equation to figure out
Some Long list of rules that you need to memorize
All you need to know is that God is for you and that he loves you so very very much!
And that he's not a respecter of persons…
He respects you enough to treat you the same as every other child He calls His own.
What He freely gave to David, He will also freely give to you!
But David was a Bible hero...but David had great courage and David had great faith and David was a man after Gods own Heart...
Yes he was all those things… And God wants you to know that you can be all those things and more. Amen??
Really? Yes really…
Let me ask you was David greater than Jesus? No he wasn't
Let me remind you of what JESUS said about greater things...
John 14:12 KJ
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
God is for you because he is willing to make you one of His own
TBS. In John chapter 3...
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe on Him would not perish....But would have eternal life.
God is for you because He has given you a personal invitation and called you to be a child of the King
I've heard of and I know you read in the papers and heard on the news where the queen of England has called different men to be a Royal Knight of England...
Everyone from Paul McCartney to Billy Graham.
And while that is a great honor… It fails most miserably in comparison, when it is compared to being called to be a child of the King!! Amen??
If you are a child of the king…then you should realize and know that
He is for you and that He has called you to Greatness....Your best days are still ahead of you!!
1 John 3:1-2 NKJ
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God![a] Therefore the world does not know us,[b] because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
We have been called to be a child of God… It's high time we realize the importance of the position that we've been called to.
David did great things for the kingdom of God and he never even realized the promise of the Savior.
Greater things shall we accomplish because we have received the promise of the Savior…
Our faith in Jesus is what makes it possible and the fact that He cares so much for each and everyone of us.
Every promise that God ever made is not only available to us...but guaranteed to us because of our relationship that we have with his son Jesus!
10-11 I’m proud to praise God,
proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
what can mere mortals do to me?
12-13 God, you did everything you promised,
and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.
If your not at leisure with God
Then your doing more than you need
To be doing!
Your carrying more than you need to be carrying
TBS. In Matthew 11:30 NKJ
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The MSG says it like this:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
No matter what you may be facing..God wants you to know its only temporary...
Why not simply try resting in His ability from here on out..instead of your own.
Trust Him and know that's all you need to know...
If God is for me...nothing else MATTERS!
Amen??
Let's pray!
