"You can trust God when...."
Date: 15 November, 2015
Text: Psalm 142
Title: Can you trust God when...?
Introduction:
Edgar Sites Hymn "TRUSTING JESUS" Put to music by Ira Sankey.
Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Refrain:
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
The hymn speaks of trusting Jesus in every situation in which we find ourselves. David in our text this morning is hiding from King Saul in his wilderness stronghold, the cave of Adullum.
I Samuel 22:1-2 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.
The photographs online show mountains similar in size (it appears to the highlands) with much more rock and sparse vegetation. It is a wilderness with only a rugged beauty.
The cave would have been cool inside and dark except for the light coming from their candles, torches or fire. The men would have been careful to only venture out at dark or when absolutely necessary.
In this dark cavern, the voice of David cried out in faith to God.
1 I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.
exp. If the cave could speak it would tell us of the trust of God's servant. It would remind us that we too can trust God, when....
The message this morning, "You can trust God when...."
I. You have a complaint.
2 I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
exp. The word complaint here refers to what he is thinking about which is causing anxiety.
A. Take your complaint to God. "I poured out my complaint before him."
exp. There was no better person to whom David could reveal his trouble.
Old spiritual - "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen"
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Glory, Hallelujah
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows but Jesus
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Glory, Hallelujah
exp. Others may never know, but if Jesus knows, it will be all right.
question: Why does a child run to mom and dad when they have a problem?
· No one can care and comfort like mom and dad.
· No one can help meet the need like mom and dad.
question: As adult (children of the heavenly Father) do you feel the same way about your Heavenly Father?
1Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
ill. Unloading coal with Alec - feeling the burden fall off as we cast that coal into the coal bin.
exp. God wants us to unburden ourselves upon Him. David didn't find comfort in unburdening his soul to his men. He found comfort in unburdening his soul to God.
app. We can trust God with out troubles. Like David we can unburden our soul upon Him.
B. Spread out your troubles before Him. "I shewed before him my trouble."
exp. He poured it out completely and shewed it to God.
ill. King Hezekiah - Letter from Rabshakah
II Kings 19:10-14 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? 14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
exp. There it is God. The nasty letter from the enemy of your people. He wanted God to physically to see it as displayed before Him.
question: When is the last time you spiritually spread out your problem before the Lord?
ill. The early church did. - Ac 4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
app. If cave walls could speak the cave of Adullam would remind you that you can trust God with your complaint. It would remind us as well that you can trust God when....
II. You are overwhelmed.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.
exp. The problems that David had were too many and too deep. They were waves crashing over his head and he felt as if he would perish. But, even in his despair, he remembered that God had a planned pathway for His servant.
hymn: Joseph Hall said it well in his Hymn "Does Jesus Care"
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
Refrain:
Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
exp. Joseph Hall is speaking about trials so deep it robs us of a smile and song. Life can be that overwhelming at times.
ill. Job lost his health, wealth, family and friends. But, God would sustain Job and bring him from his tril out into a wealthy place. He knew the "path he took."
Job 42:12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:
app. Are you overhwelmed. You can trust that God has a plan and a path.
Ps 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
YOU CAN TRUST GOD WHEN YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT, WHEN YOU ARE OVERWHELMED.....
III. You have enemies.
In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.
exp. David is being persude by a sneaky enemy who is seeking to ensnare him.
exp. It is bad enough to have problems. It is worse to have problems because of the disobedience of someone else. These problems would not exist in David's life if it was not for the wicked heart of King Saul.
ill. David would have opportunity to avenge himself upon this wicked enemy but he would defer in dependence upon God.
I Samuel 24: 1 ¶ And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.
5 And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
exp. Another cave enters into our story with a testimony to the faith of David. David trusted God to take care of his enemy even when it appeared that God had delivered him into his hand.
ill. Corrie Ten Boom would not have blessed our hearts last week if it wasn't for the wicked enemy that came into her life. Her problem was THEIR FAULT but it was allowed by God.
app. Are you facing a trial because of someone else? It may be an enemy, or it just may be the foolish/ sinful decisions of someone else. We can trust God with our enemies.
Ro 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
YOU CAN TRUST GOD WITH YOUR COMPLAINT, WHEN OVERWHELMED, WHEN YOU HAVE ENEMIES, AND WHEN....
IV. You are isolated.
A. You have no human help or sympathy.
4 ¶ I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
exp. We have already read that David had family and friends that cared about him and visited him at the cave. But, at this point in time, he felt comletely isolated and without human sympathy.
ill. Perhaps as well there is a Messianic prophecy - certainly our Lord is sympathetic to those who feel isolate. None was ever as isolated as our Lord at Calvary.
· Matthew 26:56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
· Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
app. David sought human comfort but could find none. But, in his isolation he cast himself upon God.
B. You have no one but God.
5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
exp. The Psalmist found himself looking at who he didn't have and realizing that WHO He had was God. God was more than enough.
ill. The Levites received no inheritance other than God.
Eze 44:16, 28 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
exp. They didn't get the land, they got the giver of the land. He who possessed all things was possessed by them.
app. And so it is with us. Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
YOU CAN TRUST GOD WHEN YOU FEEL ISOLATED, WHEN YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT, WHEN YOU ARE OVERWHELMED, WHEN YOU HAVE ENEMIES AND WHEN....
V. You are weak.
6 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
exp. Like a sick man who can no longer endure he is feeling the strength of the enemy and his weakness. David's smal force was no match for the much larger forces of King Saul.
question: How confidently can you do what you know you can not do? David is struggling because he is no match for what lies ahead.
ill. David had cut his teeth on enemies who were greater than him. Of all people, he knew that he could trust God expecially when facing an insurmountable enemy.
I Samuel 17: 4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
exp. Believer's Bible Commentary
· armor- 175 pounds
· 9 foot 9 inches tall
· 600 plus pounds
· spearhead 15 pounds
· a man in front of him who carried his shield.
exp. A man who will walk into battle against all odds and return victorious must have a secret source of power. The power was the ONE IN WHOM HE TRUSTED WHEN HE KNEW HIS WEAKNESS.
app. You don't have to look at the odds and give up. God is greater than all odds.
YOU CAN TRUST GOD WHEN YOU ARE WEAK, YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT, YOU ARE OVERWHELMED, YOU HAVE ENEMIES, YOU ARE ISOLATED, AND WHEN....
VI. You are in bondage.
7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name:
exp. This trial was bondage to David. He couldn't go where he pleased. He was shut up in a dark cave. (He was a man who loved to sit and watch his flock in the grassy pastures.) He is locked away in a wilderness dungeon. He had circumstances beyond his control which restricted his freedom.
question: Do you feel bound today? Christ can set you free.
note: Sin is bondage - alcoholic is abused and beaten by the bondage of drink. The gambler is bound and beaten by the bondage of money lust. The adulterer is bound by the addiction to sensual pleasure.
ill. Moses - Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
exp. The pleasure of sin is seasonal - that bit of honey just gets you into the trap and bondage.
Hebrews 2:14 ¶ Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
app. Have you been set free? You can trust God to deliver you from bondage! He will give you the eternal habitation of the righteous.
.....the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
conclusion:
exp. If those cave walls could speak the Cave of Adullam has a wonderful story of trust in God. It would reminds you that....
You can trust God when you
1.)have a complaint.
2.) are overwhelmed.
3.) have enemies.
4.) are isolated.
5.) are weak.
6.) are in bondage.
.....the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
