Troubled Waters Are The Sure Sign Of A Miracle

TROUBLED WATERS -- SURE SIGN OF A MIRACLE

TEXT: Psalm 69:1-2; Psalm 89:8-9

Psalm 69:1-2 -- Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

Psalm 89:8-9 -- O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

l. INTRODUCTION -- TROUBLE

A. General

The New England Primer -- Our days begin with trouble here, Our life is but a span, And cruel death is always near, So frail a thing is man.

An Old Negro Spiritual -- Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, Nobody knows but Jesus.

-There is an understanding that life often times can be a time of trouble. Our tendency to become despondent and even depressed throughout the twists and turns that life may deal to us is all too common to many of us.

-Depression is a word that many have come to dread. Yet, it becomes a constant companion to them because of an inability to understand what the Word of God states.

B. Biblical

-Some of the Psalms seem to indicate that life is many times a struggle, a great wrestling match. Things competing with our spiritual relationship with God. Substitutes always have the capacity to rob men of their spiritual power. When the substitutes, being far inferior to the anointing of the Spirit, invade sacred territory (the heart of men) often trouble sets in.

Psalm 25:17 -- The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

Psalm 40:11-12 -- Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

Psalm 69:14-15 -- Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Psalm 130:1-2 -- Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

-These are just a few of the cries of a man who is in trouble from the Psalms. Just as the Psalms seem to reach the peaks of the discoveries of the treasures of God they also have the tones of difficulty woven throughout.

-Such is the making of a man of God and by that one should understand that man of God has the application for every saint and not just those who fill the great responsibilities of a divine calling on their life. Every man is a man of God who has been filled with the Spirit.

ll. PSALM 69

-The Psalmist in the first text begans to pour out his heart before God. One notes that as he reads through the text, it starts off in distress and progressively displays the state of a man who is in trouble.

-Some commentators are divided as to whom the author of this particular Psalm really is. Some feel that David is the one who held the pen and others feel that it was the writings of Jeremiah.

-Those who contend that Jeremiah was the author attribute it to him because of the mentioning of the deep mire. They argue that there is no correlation in the life of David that mirror the details from this Psalm.

-Those who contend that David is the author do so on the best method of reference in terms of Bible study. They go to the New Testament, specifically to the book of Romans where Paul is quoting David:

Romans 11:9-10 -- And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

-Paul in quoting David reaches back to Psalm 69:22-23. Therefore the strongest contention that David is the author is proved merely by the Word of God.

A. Outline of Psalm 69

-In understanding this particular Psalm it is good to have an understanding of the flow of the content that is found there. The title for simply a reference point could be entitled: Innocent Suffering.

-It becomes perfectly clear that David is speaking of rough handling that came from his own countrymen and not a foreign adversary. Raging waters throughout the Word of God is often paralell to a distressed soul, whether it is a saint or a sinner.