Title: “What to Do When Your World Falls Apart” Script.: Psalm 3
Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 11-1-20
Intro: As a young man, film director Robert Flaherty spent many months in the far north looking for iron ore and cod. He found neither, but he did shoot 70,000 feet of film in his travels. Someone encouraged him to edit the film and make a documentary, which Flaherty spent weeks doing. But just as he finished, a match from his cigarette dropped among the celluloid, consuming the entire film and burning Flaherty badly. His response to the disaster was a determination to return to the far north and make a film of Eskimo life “that people will never forget.” He did just that, and the result was the classic 1922 documentary, Nanook of the North.(Today in the Word, July 19, 1993). I know many people who wouldn’t have made the effort Flaherty did when he had his set back. Most would have thrown in the towel. Certainly not made the enormous trip again. What about you and me? What do we do when face major life setbacks? How do you face struggles? What do you do?
Prop: Psalm 3 will be instructive in 3 ways when we are going through significant struggles.
BG: 1. Psalm 3 was written out of the experience of David’s greatest struggle.
2. Psalm 3 excellent example of Hebrew Poetry- v. 1 Synonymous – similar ideas repeated.
3. The events are recorded in 2 Samuel 15-18, but the heart of David at that difficult time is recorded in this psalm.
Prop: Let’s allow Psalm 3 to instruct us when we are going through significant struggles.
I. 1st We See David’s Trial
A. First, we Notice David’s Cry to God.
1. David cries out to God when his world begins to fall apart.
a. David’s sin had set in motion a series of devastating consequences. Vv.1-2 (Read). Years before David had sinned with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed, actions that set in motion other events. Had he repented? Yes. Were there consequences? Yes. Negatively influenced his family. In time, oldest son, Amnon, would rape his ½ sister, Tamar. David refused to punish his son. Result was another son, Absalom took revenge on Amnon and murdered him. After several years in exile Absalom returns to Jerusalem, yet the king, again, refuses to confront him. Bitterness and anger compile. Offenses grow, and rebellion takes place with Absalom undermining his father in a violent coup.
b. In this verse we see David calls out to God. In the NASB, “Lord” is “Adonai”, “Sovereign Lord”. Yet, when translated, “LORD”, “Yahweh”, the Personal, covenantal name of God. Like Moses at Sinai. This is similar to the NT Christian referring to the Lord as “Abba Father”. It implies a personal, loving, relationship.
2. Think about the effects of this trial in David’s life.
a. Consider David’s trial. This was the king’s most humiliating experience of his life. Everything he had worked years to attain unravel in a matter of hours! Many of the most faithful friends, confidants, and advisors become a part of this rebellion. The most painful wound of all is the betrayal of his own son, Absalom, the leader of the coup.
b. V.2 – David’s enemies are apparently mocking his relationship with and hope in the Lord for deliverance. Friend, let me tell you, that is a great position to be in! When your enemies begin to make the battle that is between you and them into a battle between them and your God…move over and watch God work! (Illust: Do you remember II Chron.32:14? Hezekiah was the king. Judah surrounded by the superpower Assyria. Sennacherib is breathing out violent threats. Telling the people to lose heart and not listen to Hezekiah. And then the Assyrians say this: “Who among all the gods of those nations that my ancestors utterly destroyed was able to save his people from my hand, that your God should be able to save you from my hand?” (Oh boy!)
B. The Believer’s Trial
1. As believers in Christ we are not immune from our own personal trials in this life.
a. In fact, all Christians will experience trials in this life. Three important verses to consider: II Tim. 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” II Cor. 4:8 “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair…” Rom. 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.” I picked those three from a host of passages could have. Here’s the reason: If you are going to identify with Christ in a fallen world, you will suffer. Sometimes that suffering may seem crushing! Yet, we are not given over to despair. Why? Because we know that God has a good plan in place for our lives through and in the midst of the suffering.
2. Friend, what trial are you facing today?
a. Has your world turned upside down? Does it appear to have fallen apart for you? Health diagnoses? Financial ruin? Pink slip? Horrible test results? Spouse walked out? Death of a loved one? What do you do when life falls apart? Cry out to God! What did David do when his life fell apart? He wrote a Psalm! Think about it! What is the purpose of a Psalm? It is a song of worship to God! When life fell apart, David worshiped! That is a great place for you and me to start when life falls apart!
b. Since Adam and Eve bit on the first temptation, failure has been a part of our human experience. As God’s image bearers, we are capable of remarkable things. But as fallen image bearers, we are simultaneously capable of terrible things. From small mistakes to colossal meltdowns, we are all too familiar with the pain and shame of failure. But, in His grace, God redeems the failures of His people, and He will use them to shape and form our lives. The human heart craves justification. This is why we make excuses, shift blame, or look for a scapegoat when we have failed. Our natural tendency is to seek personal validation in our successes, securing legitimacy by our accomplishments. So every failed venture—whether a poor grade, a bankruptcy filing, a broken marriage, or simply an embarrassing moment—points out our weakness, foolishness, and imperfection—our lack of righteousness. This ache for justification, for approval in the eyes of others, is the surface rumbling of a deeper ache we have to be approved in the eyes of God. What we really need is the approval, validation, and acceptance of the One who ultimately matters. We need to be justified before God. This is a gift that is ours in the gospel. (J.R. Vassar “When I Don’t Feel Successful.”)
C. Applic: Years ago I bought Carol a bread maker. Every night when all the kids were at home, before going to bed, take the pan out and add flour, oil, yeast, salt, honey or molasses. All those ingredients were put in the pan separately. Over night the machine began to mix. If looked in the glass from outside, was a mess. In time the mess began to take shape. Then heat came on. In the morning, a beautiful warm loaf of tasty bread! That’s how God is using all these apparently separate events in our lives. The heat of trials comes on. Not to burn us, but to transform us.
II. 2nd We See: David’s Trust vv.3-6
A. Next we see David’s Confident Trust in God.
1. David, the Warrior King, Saw God as his Shield and Protector.
a. V.3a “The Lord is his shield. David was a warrior. Man of war. Familiar with battles. Seen death 1000’s of times. Personally inflicted death countless times. Knew that in the thick of the fight a shield was what he needed to defend against the attacks and onslaughts of the enemy.
b. Faith is the believer’s shield. 1st occurs in the Bible when God told Abram that He is Abram’s shield (Gen. 15:1). It also occurs frequently throughout the Psalms (5:12; 18:2, 30, 35; 28:7; 33:20; et. al.). It means that God is our protector and defender. He shields us from the enemy’s attacks. David personalizes it, that the Lord is a shield “about me.” Our faith in the Lord must be personal.
2. David Confidently Trusted in God when his Whole World turned Upside Down.
a. Notice, David says here that the Lord is his “glory”. Although David had great earthly acclaim before this catastrophe, he is acknowledging that his identification with the Lord is his only claim to glory. Whether the Lord restored David to his place of earthly prominence or not, God was his glory.
b. J. J. S. Perowne (The Book of Psalms [Zondervan], p. 123) observes that David’s crying to the Lord with his voice does not express “a single act, but the habit of a life.” Spurgeon said (ibid., p. 26), “We need not fear a frowning world while we rejoice in a prayer-hearing God.”
B. Christian, Trust in Christ when Your World has Turned Upside Down.
1. Like David, Trust in God’s shield of faith to protect your life, health, and reputation.
a. When the biblical authors wanted to convey a truth about God to His people, they had two basic choices. 1st: They could state their teaching plainly in propositions. 2nd: They could use metaphorical language to express the reality of His character. Both options have their advantages, but metaphors uniquely convey the fullness of the Lord’s character and what He has done for us. There is a difference, for instance, between saying that the Creator is our protector and asserting that He is our shield. Both statements indicate that God is our defender, but to call Him our shield indicates vividly that He stands between us and our enemies to absorb the worst of their blows and keep us secure.
b. Illust: The priest and pastor of local small town parishes were standing by the side of the town’s busy road, holding up signs. The pastor’s sign read, “The End is Near!” The priest, on the other side of the road, held up a sign which read, “Turn before it’s too late!” They planned to hold up their signs to each passing car. “Get a job.” The first driver yelled. The second, immediately behind the first, yelled, “Leave us alone, you religious freaks"! Shortly, from around the curve, they heard screeching tires and a splash followed by more screeching tires and another splash. The pastor looked over at his companion and said, “Do you think we should try a different sign“? The other man responded, “Perhaps ‘Bridge Out’ might be better"? (Contributed by: Randy Aly, Sermon Central). You see, we aren’t very good at reading signs of what God is doing in our lives. Yet, we can still cling to Him by faith as our shield about us.
2. Are you trusting Xst today, in the midst of your trial?
a. V.3b – “My glory and the lifter of my head”. When we face trials in life we are given to feelings of hurt, loss, depression, scared. Yet, we need to look to the one who is the “lifter of our head.” It is Jesus Christ who gives us joy, yes JOY, even in the midst of discouraging times. But in those times, we need to trust Christ.
b. Illust: When you were a child, or possibly if have a child, have even had a skinned knee with gravel in that knee? Fell while running? Wrecked bike? Now what do most kids do in that situation? Ask you for wash cloth to dab at the edges of the wound. Careful not to cause more pain. Yet, what is needed? Mom or Dad or Doc or Nurse to get in there and scrub and wash it out and remove the gravel so true healing can take place. Dab at the edges and never gets better. Infection sets in.
C. Applic: Christian, God is at work in conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ, even when your world is apparently falling apart and turning upside down. Like David, you have to trust Him, completely! Like David, you can have peace in the midst of the storm.
III. Finally, We See David’s Triumph. Vv.7-8
A. David’s Faith Triumphed over His Adversity.
1. Faith in Christ Triumphs Over Adversity.
a. v.7 – “Arise O God and save me…v.8 Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
b. Famed Bible commentator, Matthew Henry said: “Care and grief do us good, when they engage us to pray to God, as in earnest. David had always found God ready to answer his prayers. Nothing can fix a gulf between the communications of God's grace towards us, and the working of his grace in us; between his favor and our faith. David had always been safe and secure under the divine protection of God. This was no different now, even though his realm was slipping through his fingers and his very son was against him.
2. David prays that God would intercede against his oppressors.
a. “In a make-believe world, David could have said, “Amen” after verse 6. But in the real world, when not only you, but also hundreds of loyal supporters and their families are depending on you, anxiety has a way of creeping back in. So David cries out to God again (3:7-8), “Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be upon Your people.”
b. “In verse 1, many were rising up against David. Now, he uses the same verb to ask God to rise up against his enemies. In verse 2, David’s skeptics had said that God would not deliver him. Here, David uses the same verb to ask God to save him. He pictures his enemies as ravenous beasts baring their teeth, ready to devour him. So David asks God to break their teeth, which would render them powerless.” (Steven J. Cole sermon) It is ok to ask God to intervene against your oppressors.
B. Christian, Trust in Christ for your Triumph.
1. Notice from where David Realized his deliverance would come.
a. David’s final exclamation, “Salvation belongs to the Lord,” shows that David was not depending on his troops, or his counselors that he had planted to mislead Absalom, or on any military strategy. Rather, he acknowledges that any victory would come from God alone. When we cast ourselves on God alone for deliverance, He gets all the praise when He answers our prayers.
b. I Pet. 5:7 “cast your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you.” As we live before the face of Christ each day with real reasons for real anxiety, we can rest assured that His sovereignty (not ours)- — His control (not ours) — His faithfulness (not ours) — is our only real hope in this sad world. For that which He creates He sustains, that which He authors He perfects, and that which He begins He completes. And whether we are comfortably numb to our anxieties or fully aware of them, it is neither our acceptance, control, nor rationalization of them that will free us from our self-created, self-controlled, self-contained prisons of anxiety. We will only be free when we become as dependent on God as the birds of the air that our heavenly Father feeds. (Mt. 6:26)
2. Trust that God’s Blessing will be upon His people…even in the midst of our trials.
a. Illut: Friend always monitoring his barometer - it doesn’t stay in one place very long. Life is very much like that. If I were to draw a graph of my life in terms of feelings and experiences it wouldn’t be a straight line and I suspect many of you would have to report the same. Sometimes Christians enjoy smooth passages or even a period of success; then suddenly a down- turn comes and the indicator on our life’s graph would plummet, very much like the sudden plunge of the barometer when a storm is coming. These reverses often bring a great deal of distress and anxiety to the people immediately involved. We’re all different and something that would be distressing to me would doubtless be shrugged off as a minor hiccup by many of you and perhaps vice versa. Winston Churchill, the great World War II leader, lost the 1945 general election but his sense or irony and humor didn’t desert him. Mrs Churchill tried to comfort him by saying, ‘It may be a blessing in disguise’ to which he replied, ‘Well, at the moment it’s certainly well disguised.’ Life can throw up problems not readily understood
b. Illust: Ravi Z.- story of a young Christian in Vietnam. Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. Pham worked as a translator w/American forces as well as missionaries such as myself. Seventeen years after ministering in Vietnam, I received a telephone call. ‘Brother Ravi?’ the man asked. Immediately recognized Hien’s voice. Told his story. After Vietnam fell, Hien was imprisoned for helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him in Communism. Daily deluge of Marx and Engels began to take its toll. ‘Maybe,’ he thought, ‘I have been lied to. Maybe God does not exist. Hien determined the next day would quit his faith. The next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison latrines. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. Grabbed it, washed it, and read the words: ‘Romans, Chapter 8. ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. . . for I am convinced that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Hien wept. He knew His Bible, and knew that there was not a more relevant passage for one on the verge of surrender. Victory in midst of adversity!
C. Applic:
