Praying our troubles to trust

Psalms 3:1-8 ESV

O Lord , how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O Lord , are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord , and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord ! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord ; your blessing be on your people! Selah

Rev Charles Han

The psalms were during a time when David was on the run. His son had taken the throne and he was running for His life. Absalom was looking to kill him and had taken the throne.

Expect troubles

Large and small troubles are the norm, not the exception. We should not expect ease. We should find ourselves often uncomfortable and troubled. The overall feeling and sense of the psalms is one of attack, suffering, and need for divine intervention. We should not be surprised that our lives are troubled.

Maybe you feel deep down that you should be free from troubles. That we should be above the fray. But that is not biblical. We will often feel weak, overwhelmed, and troubled. That life on this side of eternity is one of struggle. If you are a Christian and you are up to your neck in trouble, you are in esteemed company.

"What can miserable Christians sing?" - Carl Trueman

Pray your troubles

Now that we are to expect troubles as the norm, what should we do then? Not only external troubles, but internal storms. David prays. He brings all these to God.

The most common command in the bible is do not fear. His commands this because fear can shackle us. It can affect us spiritually, physically, and emotionally. It makes us cowardly and keeps us from free righteous living. Low level anxiety to gripping intense fears are part and parcel of our hearts. But instead of fearing people, enemies, and circumstances, we should fear God. From that fear comes life and wisdom.

Is your instinct when fear comes to go to God? Or do you try to handle the burden on your own? When we meet God in fearful prayer, do we go to Him looming to become bold and strong in God?

Pray your troubles to trust

What is the way to go from fear to trust in prayer?

First, verses 1&2 tell us to come with our complaint(s).

Verses 3&4 confess faith in God. The fear in our lives can only be overcome by a greater fear. A reverential fear of God that casts out all our other fears. David does not confess general aspects of God. He gets specific. He speaks of God being his shield and his glory. The lifter of his head, the encourager of his heart, and the one who affirms him.

Verses 5&6 express confidence.

David says that he will not fear thousands of men seeking to kill and undo him.

Verse 7 is David's asking God to save.

We usually skip straight to this step. But there's a difference, he knows who he prays to.

Verse 8 is a celebration.

David was not saved yet. He was still in the same situation. But he celebrated salvation. The peace of God had taken over.

From doubt to delight

Psalms 73:1-28 ESV

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?" Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

This psalm is credited to Asaph. He is equivalent to the modem day worship leader.

The honesty of Asaph

Asaph speaks of a time of being tempted to walk away from God. He considered leaving the faith behind. He was being honest not just with friends and family, but also being brutally raw and honest to God. There is no pretense here. God calls us to come to Him not in formality. He calls us to meet Him without any pretenses or masks. As we are.

Not only that, but psalms were meant to be publicly shared. So, Asaph was sharing his troubles with everyone. His doubts of God. His struggles with faith.

The struggle of Asaph

Asaph was envious of unbelievers. He saw people who did not follow God. They were corrupt, happy, successful, and cocky. Following God has been painful. It seems in vain. Doubt is not only for the unbelievers, but also for the Christian, even pastors. Where is the justice?

The transformation of Asaph

Asaph goes to the sanctuary of God. And he is changed. So is that it? Just go to church? No, it is not just that. We are to pray together, praise together, take communion together... and somewhere in all that, God comes and meets us. When He does, we are changed. God confronts both Asaph's head and heart. Asaph experiences God and discovers that God is the ultimate treasure.

Acts 14:21-22 ESV

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Suffering is not without reason. For the believer, it is expected. Because we follow Christ and no one is greater than their teacher.

The true prayer of repentance

Psalms 51:1-19 ESV

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Rev. Dan Whang

We are going thru the psalms because they are relevant to our lives. They were written in good times and bad. They show us how to pray in all sorts of situations.

This psalms focuses on repentance and struggle over sin. This is meant to drawn us home from places of helplessness and hopelessness in our sins.

A spiritually healthy Christian is one who is continually repenting. They are constantly repenting of sin in view of God's grace and mercy.

Victory over sin does not come from just changing our behavior, paying enough penance/sacrifice... It comes from repenting properly. Repenting in a way that changes us.

A sincere appeal to God's mercy and kindness

David asks for God's mercy. Not by trying to be very sincere or earnest, but throwing ourselves upon God's mercy and love. David appeals to God's faithful love for His people. David knew that he had failed, but God is still faithfully loving us.

An honest admission of our total depravity

David speaks of how he was born in sin and grew up in sin. Are we surprised when people point out our sin? Are we surprised by our bad habits and excuses for them? Do we blame our circumstances, other people, or say that it was an exception to our usual behavior? We should not. We need to admit that we are sinners and that is our character. We need to own up to it. No but's. It is when we see our darkness clearly that we can then receive the fullness of God's grace.

Wanting sin to be completely out of our lives

David then asks for God to completely blur this sin from his life. Not a halfway appeal for momentary forgiveness, but a complete cleansing and removal of sin from our lives. If we do not want the sin out of our lives, it is because we have not repented deeply enough. We are still entertaining thoughts of sin. We are not repenting fully, if we are only concerned with feeling relief from the burden of our sin.

We will know that we have gotten there when we sing of God's righteousness and speak of mercy. When we share of God's mercy to others. Repentant people are not dour. They are joyful because they are being constantly spiritually renewed.