When Life Falls Apart

Scripture: Psalm 25:1-10 (Cf. verses 4-5)

Theme: When Life Falls Apart

1. Yada Darek Jehovah – Seek God’s Will

2. Let God Do A New Work in and through You

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Have you ever had one of those times in your life when it seems like everything has fallen apart?

+Perhaps at work it seems like there are those who would love for you to be pushed out the door.

+Perhaps at home it seems like there is a great deal of chaos, noise and division.

+Perhaps the bills are piling up, your health appears to be taking a downhill turn and you begin to feel like you are alone even though you know that you are surrounded by a whole group of friends who love you and care for you.

+Perhaps that is not your situation, but you know someone who is going through a very depressing and difficult time in their life.

Thankfully, this morning the Bible shares with us how we can find help for ourselves and/or for our friends that are going through some difficult times.

Our passage this morning is not just a collection of words from a poet sitting on a nice hill somewhere overlooking a pleasant valley being inspired to write lofty phrases.

They are not the words that were penned by a person lying in the grass looking at the clouds and feeling that life could not be any better than this.

They were written by a man in his late 50’s/early 60’s whose whole world had collapsed around him. They were written by King David when he was running away from his son Absalom who was doing his best to murder his father and become the new king of Israel.

These words were written in the wilderness outside the city of Mahanaim (????????? Ma?anayim).

If you remember that was the same area where Jacob had his epiphany; where God’s angels visited him (Genesis 32:2) right before he was supposed to meet his brother Esau. You also may remember that Esau had said that when he was given an opportunity, he would murder Jacob for stealing his birthright and his blessing.

Now, here is King David at the same place with Absalom seeking to kill him. He and the rest of the family had barely gotten out of the city of Jerusalem before Absalom and his troops could captured them and put all of them to death.

I can’t imagine all the things going through David’s mind.

+How is it possible that my own son wants me dead?

+Is this the way my life and the lives of my wives and children end – by being captured and put to death by their own brother?

+Has the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY forsaken me?

+What should be my next move?

Let’s look at verses 4-6 this morning for in just those three verses we see how David handled what had to be the darkest chapter in his life. Darker than having to run from King Saul, darker than having to deal with the mess he had made with Bathsheba or anything else.

How mean, how much worse could it be than to have one of your own children doing their very best not only to take your job, but passionately desire to see your dead body hung on some gate so that everyone knows that your time is over.

Let’s see what David has to say to us – especially in verses 4-6

I.

The first thing David did was to find a safe space – and that was this wilderness outside the city of Mahanaim (????????? Ma?anayim).

David knows that he cannot keep running. He and his family and friends are exhausted. They are almost out of resources. They need a safe spot to regroup and to think things through before everything is lost.

I believe God directed David and his family to Mahanaim (????????? Ma?anayim).

Again, this city dripped with the history of Jacob, who was later called Israel. It dripped with the story of how God reassured Jacob that he would be safe back in the Promise Land. That Esau would not kill him and that his family along with the rest of his staff would live in peace.

This was a place where angels had visited. This was a place of supernatural revelations. This was a place where Heaven and Earth met. This was a place of grace and mercy. This was a place where a person could find God given answers and God given directions.

David was going to stay here and talk to God. He was going to use a well-placed time out to get some revelations, some corrections and directions.

Look again at verse four –