The Ever Fitting Song
Psalms 13
September 30, 2018
Well we’ve been at our study of the Psalms now for a few months
And already we’ve seen songs that are sung in all sorts of situations.
• We’ve seen songs for battle…
• We’ve seen songs for danger…
• We’ve seen songs for facing temptation…
• We’ve seen songs for dealing with the enemy…
• We’ve seen songs of wonder when looking into the heavens…
• We’ve seen songs for when you get bat advice…
Songs for all sorts of situations.
The question tonight is:
But what song do you sing when
• You can’t find God, and it feels like He has forgotten you;
• When you’re drowning in sorrow, and your enemy is winning and boasting everywhere about it,
• And you don’t even know why.
What song do you sing then?
Well, in that situation there’s really only one song you can sing.
It’s the ever fitting song.
It’s the song that the believer can always sing no matter what.
It’s the song David is about to teach to the choir director
So he can teach it to the congregation.
Let’s work our way through this Psalm together.
We’ll just break it down into 3 points.
#1 DAVID’S GROAN
Psalms 13:1-2
You don’t have to be a Bible scholar
To pick up on the mood at the beginning of this Psalm.
These first two verses contain 5 lines and 4 of them start with “How long..?”
I’ve always found this to be a more painful question
Even than the infamous “Why?” question.
It is true that sometimes we face inexplicable trials and hardships.
• Sometimes we face situations that seem so far out there, and so hideous
• That we do run to God and ask “Why?” He would allow such a thing.
I’m not saying we should ask “Why?”. I’m just saying we often do.
But even in that,
I’ve seen believers on numerous occasions face unbelievable tragedies and still be able to look up in eyes of faith and say, “God has a purpose, God is good, He is enough, we’ll get through this.”
I’ve seen it so many times.
“Why” is a hard question, but I don’t think it’s the hardest.
I think “How long?” is a way harder question.
“How long?” insinuates
• Not only that something awful has happened,
• But that it is still happening,
• That God hasn’t done anything about it,
• That the expectation time has passed,
• That there is no end in sight,
• And that we’re not sure how much more we can take.
It doesn’t just attack our understanding, it attacks our faith.
When tragedy strikes we do our best to rely on God’s ability to deliver, to heal, to provide, and to change the situation.
When the situation lingers it challenges whether or not
We still believe God to care at all.
I’m convinced that the “How long?” prayer
Comes from a much deeper affliction than the others.
WELL, THAT’S THE AFFLICTION DAVID IS CURRENTLY IN.
“How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”
Do you pick up on David’s degree of pain?
“How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?”
Wow.
• Not only does David determine that God has forgotten him,
• David wonders if God has forgotten him permanently.
That is the type of despair that only comes
After an affliction has lasted far longer than one thought necessary.
Now to be fair, God NEVER forgets His children:
Isaiah 49:14-16 “But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
God doesn’t forget.
But it certainly feels to David like He has.
David’s only question now is if the current condition is permanent.
Well, why does David feel like God has forgotten him?
“How long will You hide Your face from me?”
David feels forgotten because he can’t seem to get an audience with God.
• You get the feeling that David has prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and thus far he has received NOTHING.
It would be one thing if when David prayed God said,
• “David I’m with you, but this is going to take 3 more weeks.”
• Or “David I hear you, but trust Me, I know what I’m doing.”
I mean at least that would be something.
But David is getting nothing from God.
God won’t answer His phone…
God won’t respond to a text message…
God won’t even let David in the door…
David is suffering and God is silent.
The only counselor David has, is himself, and that is no comfort.
(2) “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day?”
That is David’s way of saying.
“I’m coming to You God, but You won’t listen, and You don’t seem to care, and the only person I am hearing from is my own heart and that doesn’t help.”
Ever been in deep affliction for an extended period of time?
One thing I know, your heart is no friend in that moment.
Being alone with your thoughts is no benefit.
And David is lamenting because that’s all he has.
God doesn’t seem to care.
And with each passing day, the situation seems to become more permanent.
“How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”
• We don’t know the enemy.
• We don’t know the situation.
Down in verse 4 David says that his enemies “rejoice when I am shaken”.
“shaken” there is a word that can mean “overthrown” or “dislodged”.
Maybe it references a time when someone tried to overthrow David’s reign.
Maybe he references Absalom.
We don’t know.
But what we do know is that
David’s enemy seems to be getting stronger and stronger
While God seemingly sits in silence.
And so what is David’s response?
It is a good old fashion groaning before the Lord.
• Where are You?
• What are You doing?
We’ve seen it many times before in Scripture.
Many have lived it in their lives.
I still remember that night when Carrie was struggling and had already gone to bed and I threw myself on our ottoman in the living room and told God, “I don’t get this, if I was God I would have fixed this by now!”
David obviously feels like he is not getting a fair shake
And he is groaning because God hasn’t seemed to bother to fix it.
He’s definitely fallen from that lofty state in Psalms 8 where he couldn’t believe why God would be so gracious to him.
David isn’t praying that here.
Here he wants to know how long God will keep treating him so poorly.
It’s an important Psalm to read, because it is a SONG WE OFTEN SING.
I’m not saying we should sing it, but we do sing it.
Everyone in here identifies with David.
David’s groan
#2 DAVID’S CRY
Psalms 13:3-4
It kind of feels like maybe David has at least calmed down a little
Because he’s no longer lashing out.
Now he has gathered himself and determined to again
Approach the throne of grace and again offer a prayer to God.
“Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;”
Pounding with his fists on the floor didn’t really seem to have the desired effect, so David gathers himself, humbles himself and again beseeches the Lord.
• Please listen to me…
• Please look at my situation…
• Please answer me…
David’s specific request?
“Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,”
That is to say, “Please tell me what is going on before it kills me”
Here’s the “Why?” question.
I don’t know what it is about us,
But for some reason we always tend to think
That if we knew why then it would be better.
I’M NOT SURE THAT’S TRUE.
Take Job.
• Job suffered immensely.
• At times Job cried “how long?”
• And certainly Job cried “why?”
But do we really think it would have helped if God had told Job, “Oh, well you see, Satan told me that if I would afflict you, then you would curse me to my face, and I told him, no you won’t.”
Would that sort of answer help you?
If it’s any consolation Jesus specifically told Peter when the same thing happened to him, and it didn’t help Peter.
Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;”
I always imagine Peter saying, “You told him no, right?”
I’M NOT SURE THAT KNOWING WHY WOULD HELP THAT MUCH.
Certainly James and the writer of Hebrews
Has given us all the explanation that we really need.
James said:
James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James said that trials are just part of the sanctification process.
• It is God’s way of teaching you endurance, because if you don’t have endurance then you won’t be perfect.
The writer of Hebrews had a similar explanation.
Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
Again, it’s just part of making you righteous.
Or we could even throw Paul’s explanation in here:
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Paul’s explanation would be,
“Just trust me, it’s for your good”.
I’m not sure knowing “Why” is all that beneficial, but we often ask for it don’t we?
DAVID DOES HERE.
God, show my why so that it doesn’t kill me.
Because it’s close to overthrowing me and I don’t want my enemy to have that kind of rejoicing over me.
(4) “And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.”
David is just overwhelmed and groaning about his situation
And now he is crying out to God that God would tell him why.
That’s the circumstance David is in.
And the question is:
What song do you tell David to sing at that moment?
Someone walks into the church service and says, “Well, my life is terrible and God has forgotten me, and He’s hiding His face from me, and even though I’m in sorrow constantly and my enemy is bragging about my downfall, God refuses to answer me or tell me why.”
When they say that to you, what hymn do you turn them to?
Well, David is about to teach it to you.
• It’s the song that always fits in the life of a believer.
• It’s the song that is always relevant among the elect.
David’s Groan, David’s Cry
#3 DAVID’S SONG
Psalms 13:5-6
• So God has forgotten me…
• God is hiding from me…
• I have sorrow in my heart all the day…
• My enemy is exalted over me…
• I’m about to sleep the sleep of death…
• And my enemy will rejoice when I am overthrown…
“BUT…”
Here is why David will sing.
“But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
Even in God’s silence…
David determines to praise Him.
Well what could David possibly have to praise God about?
AND THE ANSWER IS:
The same thing every believer always has to praise God about.
David gives 3 right here.
It is relevant in every circumstance and situation.
1) WE SING OF GOD’S LOYALTY (5a)
“But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;”
“lovingkindness” is without a doubt
My unquestioned favorite Hebrew word.
It is CHECED in the Hebrew.
(we’ve studied this before in Genesis, and I know my Sunday school class more recently than that, but in case you’ve missed it, let me give it to you again.)
CHECED is a word commonly translated “lovingkindness” or “love” or “mercy”.
And I don’t think any of those terms accurately depict the word.
The first time the word shows up in the Bible,
• It comes off the lips of Lot,
• Who is grateful that the angels are so persistent in saving his life from God’s judgment on Sodom.
Genesis 19:19 “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;”
The second time we see it is
• Abraham explaining why Sarah is willing to call herself his sister.
Genesis 20:13 “and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”‘”
And we don’t have a problem with the word “love” or “kindness” there.
When the word really makes its debut is in Genesis 24.
This is the chapter where Abraham sends his servant back to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac.
• The servant is a little apprehensive.
• So I’m just supposed to travel back to this foreign land and tell people that my
master has a son, and I’m here to get him a wife and bring her back.
Sound like a daunting mission to you?
So the servant prays that God would show CHECED to Abraham.
Genesis 24:12 “He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.”
He then concocts a litmus test.
• Remember, the one about the girl that waters my camels?
• He says, God show your CHECED for Abraham by granting this.
Genesis 24:14 “now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’ — may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”
Then when God grants it, he prays:
Genesis 24:27 “He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”
That servant is depending on God having CHECED toward Abraham.
Incidentally, after Jacob flees to Laban and then eventually returns fully blessed by the LORD, notice what he prays:
Genesis 32:9-10 “Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.”
And this CHECED is foundational in the way God deals with His people.
Exodus 15:13 “In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation.”
Now, in all of those situations you might still be tempted to say, that “kindness” is still a fitting word.
But there’s one more passage that really stretches our understanding.
TURN TO: PSALMS 136
When you read the first 9 verses you’re still fine with saying God is kind or loving.
But what about when you get to verse 10.
• Where God “smote the Egyptians in their firstborn”
• Or verse 15 “overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea”
• Or verse 17 “who smote great kings”
• Or verse 18 “who slew mighty kings”
And then lists that God slew “Sihon, king of the Amorites” (19)
And “Og, king of Bashan” (20)
And each time following those statements with
“For His lovingkindess is everlasting”
In those instances, it doesn’t seem that
The word “loving” or “kindness” really fit all that well.
And yet all of those are also CHECED.
Because the word is not just that God is loving or kind in general.
The word means that God is loving and kind to Israel (or His elect)
I’m convinced that a better translation is LOYALTY
And since I recently heard R.C. Sproul define it as God’s Loyal Covenantal Love,
I’m even more confident in that.
Now some will hear this and say,
“Oh, so you’re saying it means that God is faithful.”
NO, that’s not what it means.
(Yes, God is faithful, but that’s not CHECED)
To say God is faithful means that God will do what He said.
(And He is, because He will)
CHECED says that we know God will always act in our best interest
Even when nothing has been promised.
He’s not just faithful to His children, He’s loyal to them.
Don’t read too much into the analogy, but perhaps this will help.
Your dog isn’t just faithful, your dog is loyal.
There’s a difference isn’t there?
That’s what Abraham’s servant recognized.
• He knew God would provide a wife for Isaac,
• Because it seemed that God was always loyal to Abraham.
Jacob was blown away that God had been so loyal to him when he was so undeserving.
Psalms 136 recounts that God was loyal to Israel, even if it means destroying other nations.
You get the picture?
GOD IS LOYAL TO HIS CHILDREN.
AND EVEN THOUGH DAVID CAN’T PRESENTLY SEE
Where God is at work in all of this,
Or what God is doing, or why God is doing it,
Or how long God will do it.
HE IS STILL PRAISING GOD FOR HIS GREAT LOYALTY.
That is to say that we can sing, “God, I don’t have a clue what You’re doing, but I know You’re doing what’s good for me, because You are loyal to me.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Believers can always sing of God’s loyalty.
2) WE SING OF GOD’S SALVATION (5b)
“My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.”
There’s another interesting Hebrew word.
“salvation” translates YESHUA (That of course is “Jesus” in English)
And a child of God, regardless of the difficulty
Can always sing about the fact that God has saved us.
I’m always mindful of that great passage in Romans.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
That great verse on worship where we see that Paul lays the burden of worship at our feet, urging us to present worship to God.
But Paul also gives the motivation for it.
• He doesn’t say to worship because of what God is presently doing…
• He doesn’t say to worship because of what God will do…
• Paul says that we are to worship based upon “the mercies of God” or what
God has already done.
Should we read it again?
Ephesians 2:1-9 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This is where the believer doesn’t gage God’s love
Based upon God’s present deliverance,
But rather gages God’s love
Based upon His past mercy to save.
Many times people get disillusioned with God
• Because He doesn’t seem to be remembering us or presently answering us.
• And some have even wondered if God still loved them.
But I remind you:
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
This is where we measure God’s love.
It’s not in our suffering, it’s in our salvation.
• We were enemies of God.
• We has rebelled against Him.
• We desired defilement and we deserved death.
AND YET, HE STILL SAVED US.
• He sent His Son to pay our debt and be our righteousness.
• He sent His Spirit to convict our sin and draw us to Him.
• He saved us
• He forgave us
• He made us knew
Maybe in the midst of your trial
You are having a difficult time figuring out what you have to sing about,
Then sing about the fact that the hell you’re walking through now
IS THE ONLY HELL YOU’LL EVER FACE.
• Sing about how God adopted you!
• Sing about how God forgave you!
• Sing about how you have a future and a hope because you have been redeemed.
That’s what David is singing about.
My present situation may not be desirable,
But had God not saved me, it could be much worse.
Don’t you like that perspective?
Sing of God’s Loyalty, Sing of God’s Salvation
3) SING OF GOD’S GRACE (6)
“I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
There’s another great word.
“bountifully”
GAMAL in the Hebrew.
It is actually a word that is used to “wean” a child.
It means to “deal fully”
• No shortcuts
• No shortchange
• No stopping early
• To fully give all that can be given
Here it is translated “bountifully” to indicate that
God has never shorted me in the past.
In fact, He has always given fully, to the uttermost,
All that He could give.
God is generous, giving us more than we deserve.
AND WE CALL THAT GRACE
I can’t help but think of Job here.
Of course you recount his suffering and how he did not curse God with his lips even while in his suffering.
But I really like the statement he makes to his wife.
Job 2:9-10 “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
Job remembered how bountifully God had always dealt with him.
And even in the midst of his current predicament,
He could still sing to God about that.
AND THINK ABOUT IT BELIEVER.
Maybe your current situation is difficult, then sing about a time in the past when God treated you better than you deserved.
Go to your rock pile where God delivered
And sing about that great day again.
Recount in your soul how God has always given more than you deserved AND SING ABOUT THAT.
This is the song that is always fitting.
Acts 16:22-25 “The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;”
There it is.
• Even after being beaten Paul and Silas still had a song to sing.
• We don’t know what they sang, but I know what would have still been
fitting.
• God thank you for always being loyal to work for our good
• God thank you for saving me from sin and eternal hell
• God thank you for all the times you’ve given me far more than I deserve
Regardless of the circumstances it is the fitting song.
And again, since this is a Psalm for the choir director,
We learn again from the LORD exactly what He wants the church to sing.
He wants us to sing of His loyalty, His salvation, and His grace
Even when circumstances are harsh.
So we sing:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And Lord hasted the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul
