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Facing Persecution…Again
Psalms 144
November 20, 2022

Tonight we study the 144th Psalm and we call it
“Facing Persecution…Again”.

What we have here is David obviously
Again facing hardship in the form of persecution.

Cleary in verses 7-8 were read:
“Stretch forth Your hand from on high; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, Out of the hand of aliens Whose mouths speak deceit, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”

Verse 11 is nearly identical:
“Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of aliens, Whose mouth speaks deceit And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”

David is obviously facing a form of persecution
From those whom he refers to as aliens.

Apparently it is some form of insurrection taking place inside Israel from those who began outside of Israel.

We call it “Facing Persecution…Again” because
This is not David’s first rodeo and when you read Psalms 144
It is obvious that David knows how to handle it.

David’s past experience has taught him how to handle persecution.

BUT IT’S MORE THAN JUST THAT.
• In David’s previous bouts with persecution he learned a great deal about God,
• And it is clear that David is now leaning upon this knowledge
• As he once again finds himself in similar circumstances.

In fact, one commentator called Psalms 144 A MOSAIC
Because most of the content is actually borrowed from other Psalms.

It is as though David is reaching back into the past
Taking previously learned truths and applying them to today’s struggle.

We don’t have a problem with David using lyrics he’s sang before.
Have you ever sang a song more than once?
Have you ever leaned upon a scriptural truth in more than one circumstance?

That is what David is doing.
He learned something in the past that he is leaning upon in the present.

Now, before we dive into this Psalm I want you to stop and think for a second why you are able to do that.

Why is it that you can face a trial, learn about God in that trial, and then use what you learned years later when the same type of trial reemerges?

Why can you trust today in things you learned years ago?

THE ANSWER IS BECAUSE GOD NEVER CHANGES.

The theological word is IMMUTABILITY
That God cannot change.

Every time change occurs…
• Something either changes for the better or it changes for the worst.
• (Otherwise there is no change).

If God changed for the better that would insinuate He wasn’t perfect,
If God changed for the worst that would insinuate some weakness in Him.

THE REALITY IS GOD CAN’T CHANGE.
(He is “good”)

And you know this.

Malachi 3:6 “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

1 Samuel 15:29 “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

In fact, God identifies Himself as One who does not change.

Remember when God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Exodus 3:13-14 “Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

God revealed Himself as “I AM”
And you should understand that as “always Am”

That is to say, “Do you want to know whom I am today, then look at who I was yesterday. And thus you also learn who I will be tomorrow.”

Those famous “I am” statements of Jesus,
We understand that to be true always.

• He is always the bread of life.
• He is always the light of the world.
• He is always the good Shepherd.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

God never changes.

We actually like to sing about His Immutability.

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God our Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Though changest not, They compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.”

God never changes.
And this is a great truth for us.

That means that when we face trials are hardships
We know exactly what we are going to get from Him.

I want you to consider for a moment
How troublesome it would be for us if God were not immutable.

How bad would it be if God were fickle
And you never really knew what you were going to get?

You may remember Asaph for a while thought this and it threw him into despair.
Psalms 77:7-10 “Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah. Then I said, “It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

That would be horrible, if that were true.

Asaph however pulled himself together and began to recount who God has always been.
Psalms 77:11-18 “I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.”

We love that God is immutable.
We love that He never changes.
That means we can count on Him to be exactly who He has always been.

David is clearly doing that here.
• He is facing new persecution,
• But he still worships the same God who has delivered him in the past.

And because God never changes,
David knows exactly what he’s going to get from God.

And that is what we see here in this Psalm.
• David identifies 4 realities about God.
• They were true in the past of God and so David knows they are true today.
• And these 4 realities about God are what carries David through his present trial.

Let’s look at these 4 realities.
#1 GOD IS A POWERFUL SOVEREIGN
Psalms 144:1-2

You read those 2 verses and understand
This is not the first time David has sang this song.

Psalms 18:2 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalms 18:47 “The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.”

And here we see David leaning upon that truth again.

“Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.”

David is recognizing once again the truth he learned years ago.
• That it is God who gives him the victory in battle.
• That it is God who hides him from danger.
• That it is God who subdues his enemy.

That isn’t new information to David,
It’s just precious information to David.

He learned that years ago and sang about it in Psalms 18.

Psalms 18, by the way, comes with a subheading describing the circumstances under which David sang it.

It says: “For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”

On the day that God finally and fully delivered David from Saul,
• David praised God
• Recognizing that it was God who had delivered him
• And it was God who had made him king,
• And it was God who had subdued his people under him.

David learned on that day that God is A POWERFUL SOVEREIGN

When God determines who His king is, no one can stop that.
When God picks a king, he will be king.
When God determines for someone to rule, he puts all people under him.

That was certainly true in David’s life.
1 Samuel 16:11-13 “And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.”

AND GOD BROUGHT IT TO PASS.
AND NO ONE CAN THWART IT.

Remember Psalms 2 when men sought to overthrow God’s king?
Psalms 2:4-6 “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

And we even understand:
Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”

Isaiah said:
Isaiah 40:23-24 “He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.”

So it was certainly true of God in the past
That when He picks a ruler, they rule.

And if it was true of God in the past
Then it must be true of God today because God never changes.

And this confidence David has
As he faces a new form of insurrection or rebellion.

Now he’s got aliens in his land
Who perhaps don’t want to recognize his right to the throne.

Perhaps there’s a sect of people who would like to see David dethroned.
And this might be concerning to David except for 1 fact.

God chose for him to be king.
And God chose for his kingdom to endure.

2 Samuel 7:16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”

And God was and is A POWERFUL SOVEREIGN

And such confidence is good for us to know in our trials as well.

We know that God has always been in sovereign control of all things.
• Nations and rulers
• The number of our days
• The path we are to walk

And that hasn’t changed because God doesn’t change.

Even in the midst of a present trial there is no reason to assume,
That God must have changed and is no longer calling the shots.

He can’t change.
He was SOVEREIGN in the past, and He is SOVEREIGN now.

David is resting on that.
You should rest on it too.

A powerful sovereign
#2 GOD IS A PECULIAR SYMPATHIZER
Psalms 144:3-4

You’ve seen a similar thought to these 2 verses before as well.

Psalms 8:4-8 “What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.”

You may remember that day
• When David laid on his back and looked up at the stars and contemplated the grandeur of God.
• David was captivated by how great and glorious God must be
• And then it prompted him to ask, “What is man that You take thought of him..?”
• David was blown away that such a glorious and mighty God
• Would take the time to be bothered by such an insignificant creature as man.

That truth only gets magnified through the lens of the New Testament
When we learn that not only would God think of man,
But God would become man and dwell among us.

That thought would have certainly blown David’s mind.

Well, as you can see,
David is still blown away by God’s consideration of man.

(3-4) “O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him? Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.”

David is still blown away that such a transcendent God
Would lower Himself to take interest
In such an insignificant creature as man.

Man is hardly worth it.
• He “is like a mere breath”
• “His days are like a passing shadow”

You might say,
• “No longer than they last, they are hardly worth the effort.”

We’re not exactly fine china.
We’re more like a paper plate.

Many of the pagan imaginary gods of the peoples gave no thought at all to humanity. They were too high and lofty for such pitiful creatures as us.

I mean,
• You’ve never concerned yourself with the squabbles that occur among ants.
• You’ve never wondered if the mosquitos have worries.
• You’ve never thought to comfort a grieving worm.
• You’ve never considered the fatigue of a house fly.

WHY IS GOD SO CONCERNED ABOUT US?
It is PECULIAR.

Well, in that sense, God is peculiar because
HE DOES CARE ABOUT US.

David learned that back in Psalm 8 and now he leans upon it again.

Job knew it:
Job 7:17 “What is man that You magnify him, And that You are concerned about him,”

Psalms 113:5-9 “Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap, To make them sit with princes, With the princes of His people. He makes the barren woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!”

It is peculiar.
But He does.

And because He did before, we know He does today.

In your struggles or my struggles, or David’s struggles…
It would be very easy to convince yourself
That YOUR PROBLEMS ARE TOO TRIVIAL for God.

And in reality, they certain are.
But God has shown Himself to be One who cares about trivial humanity.

We read:
Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

Or don’t we love the story of the first miracle Jesus ever worked.
• He turned water into wine.
• Surely such an issue as a wedding that is about to run out of wine is a problem that is beneath Him.
• And yet, there He was, bailing them out and revealing His glory.

I’ve always liked this story about God.
2 Kings 6:1-7 “Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. “Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.” So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he put out his hand and took it.”

Talk about something insignificant.
Talk about something you shouldn’t bother the Master with.
And yet there He is again, caring for the little things.

AND HERE IS DAVID.
• A king for sure,
• And a king who has people who don’t like him
• And who are spreading lies about him.

It’s hard, but is it really something that you should bother God with?
Does God really care that someone is slandering you?

David knows He does.
He did before, and so He does now.

God has always been and will always be
A PECULIAR SYMPATHIZER with humanity.

And we read:
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

And you can do that because that is who God has always been.

A Powerful Sovereign, A Peculiar Sympathizer
#3 GOD IS A PRESENT SAVIOR
Psalms 144:5-11

Here again we find language that David has used before.
Once again he borrows lyrics from songs he learned in the past.

(10) “Who gives great salvation not kings, Who rescues David His servant from the evil sword.”

Psalms 18:50 “He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.”

(9) “I will sing a new song to You, O God; Upon a hard of ten strings I will sing praises to you,”

Psalms 33:2 “Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.”

And now David’s present requests
Are based upon they way God delivered in the past.

For example:

Psalms 18:16 “He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.”

So look at what David is praying today:
(7) “Stretch for Your hand from on high; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, Out of the hand of aliens.”

He knows God hasn’t changed
So he’s asking God to do what He’s obviously done before.

Again:
Psalms 18:44-45 “As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners submit to me. Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses.”

So today he prays:
(11) “Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of aliens, Whose mouth speaks deceit and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”

Do you see how David is counting on the God who never changes
To be today what He was in the past?

David is even asking God
To be the same God He has been in ages past.

Look at:
(5-6) “Bow Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; Touch the mountains, that they may smoke. Flash forth lightning and scatter them; Send out Your arrows and confuse them.”

That’s a pretty pointed prayer.
• You want God to come down?
• You want God to make the mountains smoke?
• You want God to confuse and scatter your enemy?

Does God really do such things?

Exodus 19:18-19 “Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder.”

Psalms 18:14 “He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.”

Joshua 10:6-14 “Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.” So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal. And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.”

Granted God doesn’t do the same things every single time,
(He’s the same God, He doesn’t always do the same thing)

But there is one constant and consistent truth about God.
HE IS A PRESENT SAVIOR.

He is not an absent one.
He is not a distant one.

Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

And this is never more dramatically revealed to us than in Bethlehem
When God becomes flesh and dwells among us.

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

You can’t get more present than that.
• And He even promises now that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
• He promises to be with us always.

David knows who God is because he knows who God was.

(10) “Who gives salvation to kings, Who rescues David His servant from the evil sword.”

THAT IS WHO GOD IS.
And so David can now pray for deliverance to this God who saves.

We are reminded here that God’s salvation is personal.
He entered battles.
• He entered my battles.
• He entered your battles.
• He personally saved me from sin in my life.
• He has done this many times.

And each time it inspires that new song David spoke of.
(9) “I will sing a new song to You, O God…”

After you deliver me from this trial, I’ll write a new song about it.
We understand that.

We can count on God
Because we know who He has been and He never changes.

He has always been A POWERFUL SOVEREIGN – and He always will be.
He has always been A PECULIAR SYMPATHIZER – and He always will be.
He has always been A PRESENT SAVIOR – and He always will be.

#4 GOD IS A PROMISED SUPPORTER
Psalms 144:12-15

Here we read of David’s hope.
This is what David wants to see become the norm in Israel.

He wants to see mature sons and beautiful daughters:
(12) “Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace;”

He wants to see fruitful fields and fertile flocks
(13) “Let our garners be full, furnishing every kind of produce, And our flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;”

He wants to see healthy cattle and happy people
(14) “Let our cattle bear Without mishap and without loss, Let there be no outcry in our streets!”

What right would David have to expect such things?
Where would he get that God cares in the least
About such temporal things?

Well he got it from the promises of God.
Deuteronomy 28:4 “Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.”

Exodus 23:26 “There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”

Certainly those were the promises of the covenant.
Those are things God would do
If Israel would be careful to obey all His commandments.

But David knows that these are the things God does.
And so those are the things he hopes for.

AND THIS IS ALSO A SIMPLE THING TO PONDER.

DO YOU EXPECT GOOD FROM GOD?

You know that one of the chief aims of Satan
Is to get you to think severely of God.

Eve, “Did God say you can’t eat from any tree in this garden?”
Eve, “You won’t die, God just doesn’t want you to be like Him.”

Jesus, “Are you the Son of God forced to be in the wilderness, and God didn’t give you any bread?”

Satan loves to flood your mind with fear.
Every time God asks for faith Satan will flood your mind with fear.
He’ll give you all the scenarios
Whereby God might ruin your life if you trust Him.

Satan would have you think
The most dangerous thing you can do in life is obey God.

SOMETHING ABOUT THAT SEEMS OFF.

David believed God would do him good.
Why would you believe a thing like that about God?

Because God is good and He never changes.
He has always promised to support His people.

Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

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.”

James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

Trusting in our God is not a bad thing, it is a good thing.

(15) “How blessed are the people who are so situated; How blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!”

NOW LOOK AT THAT.

David is in the middle of persecution…again.
He is facing insurrection from aliens.

And yet David describes his situation as “blessed”
“How blessed are the people who are so situated;”

WHY?
BECAUSE HE KNOWS GOD.

• God was A POWERFUL SAVIOR – and so He still is.
• God was A PECULIAR SYMPATHIZER – and so He still is.
• God was A PRESENT SAVIOR – and so He still is.
• God was A PROMISED SUPPORTER – and so He still is.

WHAT A GREAT SITUATION TO BE IN!

Knowing who God is helps us know who He’ll be.
And when we face trials again,
Our faith comes forward to give us confidence.

Church, you can trust who God will be in your circumstances.
He will be who He has always been.

“There is no shadow of turning with Him. He changes not, His compassions, they fail not. As He has been, He forever will be.”

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Indifference Toward Sin
Malachi 2:10-17
November 20, 2022

As you are now aware we are walking through this book of Malachi
Where we are addressing the issue of INDIFFERENCE.

We have here a people who are
Eagerly anticipating the arrival of their Messiah
And yet the message of Malachi is that
YOU ARE NOT READY to stand before Him.

And it is because they had grown indifferent to the things of God.

We have seen that indifference in their worship
• As they brought the blind and the lame for sacrifice.
We have seen that indifference in their neglect of God’s word.
• As they failed to know, apply, or enforce God’s word.

THIS MORNING we examine another area of their indifference
And at its core it has to do with their INDIFFERENCE TOWARD SIN.

• There is sin that is occurring in the congregation.
• And instead of grieving or mourning or repenting
• The people are continuing to participate in it,
• And even to declare that God is pleased.

They love and participate in that which God hates
And instead of repenting they declare that God delights in us anyway.

• They have lost all sense of their moral barometer.
• Their understanding of sanctification has been totally obliterated.
• God is terribly offended and no one seems to care.

THIS IS AGAIN INDIFFERENCE.

The BUZZ WORD you’re going to encounter in this text is the word “treacherously”. (used 5 times)

It is the Hebrew word BAW-GAD
It means “to act deceitfully” or “betrayal”

God views His people as liars and betrayers.

Let’s look at our text and we’ll see why.

Let’s start with the opening questions of verse 10.
“Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us?”

The first word you need to settle on there is the word “one”
• We are many people but we have “one father”.
• We are many people but we have “one God”

The most obvious issue at hand then is the issue of IDOLATRY.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

This of course is the famous SHEMA.
It is what Jesus quoted as the greatest commandment.

You notice that it began with the understanding that “the LORD is one!”
That is to say that we do not have many gods, we have one God.

And this understanding of one God
Is also the basis for our unity and our identity as a people.

John 17:20-21 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

That wasn’t just a passage hoping everyone would get along.
Jesus was speaking of our bond of unity which is that we share in common life.

We may be a very diverse people.
• We may look different, sound different, speak different languages,
• And have totally different tastes and preferences in life.

But we don’t gather here because we all like the same kind of food.
We gather here because we all share a common Father.
We gather here because we all worship the same God.

Many of you will gather this week with family at Thanksgiving.

And there are some who will openly say they don’t enjoy the event
Because we’ve all got that crazy uncle or that opinionated cousin.

We will gather around tables with people who have different religious beliefs, different political beliefs, different economic status, etc.

But we don’t gather with them because we agree on everything.
WE GATHER BECAUSE THEY ARE FAMILY.

We gather because we are all grandchildren of the same grandpa.

THAT IS TRUE IN THE CHURCH.
What we hold in common bond is that
We all “have one father” and “one God created us”.

Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

Since this is the basis for our fellowship
You understand that to gather and worship different gods
Would be to totally miss the point of why we are here.

It should be understood by all when we walk through those doors,
That regardless of our differences
We hold in common this truth that we are all here to worship our God.

AND CERTAINLY ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT TOO.

HOWEVER, that is not what was happening.
Instead of acting faithfully, they were acting “treacherously”

• “treacherously each against his brother”
• “treacherously” against God
• “treacherously against the wife of your youth.”

That is to say that Israel has been UNFAITHFUL.
Israel has betrayed their brother, their wife, and God.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Well, in short:
• Men are divorcing their Hebrew wives; the wife of your youth.
• They are then marrying pagan foreign wives.
• They are bringing these pagan wives into the congregation.
• And they are seeking to go on about things as usual as though God is pleased.

It is sinful in more ways than one
And yet the people are totally indifferent.

They simply don’t care
• About their sin
• Or who it effects,
• Or what God thinks about it.

And God will once again have strong remarks
For those who demonstrate such indifference.

So let’s work on the text this morning.

#1 BETRAYAL OF YOUR BROTHER
Malachi 2:10-12

The point is obviously made in verse 10 that the burden of God here
Is that there is treachery against their brother.

“Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?”

We recently studied 1 John and you are aware that
A man who does not love his brother is not a genuine believer.

Well here they are accused of dealing treacherously
And according to God this is “to profane the covenant of our fathers”

The accusation here is a serious one.

They are sinning against their brother to such a serious degree
That God considers it a breach of their covenant with Him.

WELL, WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

(11) “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god.”

Now at first glance, that might not have been what you expected to hear.

When we think of betraying a brother our first thoughts would likely go toward some direct way in which you harm your brother.
• Cheat him financially
• Slander or gossip about him
• Maybe have an affair with his wife

Something that seems to be a direct afront to your brother.

But what Malachi lists here
Doesn’t immediately seem to have anything to do with a brother.

They have “married the daughter of a foreign god.”

Very few people today would consider that a sin against your brother.

They would say, “I’m not hurting anyone, mind your own business. What I do in my private life is my own business. It doesn’t affect you.” Etc.

That’s how people would answer.

And yet God is adamant that by marrying a pagan idol worshiper
(that’s what “daughter of a foreign god” means).

By marrying this idol worshiper you are sinning against your brother.

HOW?

It’s a simple as this.
“a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough”

You remember that sinning brother at Corinth who was sleeping with his father’s wife.

1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”

Your sin will affect your brother.
It will spread. It will influence.

Your sin is NEVER a personal or a private issue.
The consequences of your sin are felt by everyone.

If we learn anything from Adam it should be that one man’s sin can affect us all.

Or how about the man named Achan.
• He is called “the troubler of Israel”
• After defeating Jericho God specifically put everything in Jericho “under the ban”. Nothing was to kept by any individuals.
• But Achan kept some plunder and hid it in his tent.
• His sin offended God and when Israel next went to battle against Ai, God abandoned them to defeat and 36 of Israel’s soldiers were killed.

God revealed it was because of Achan’s sin.

Sin splatters.
It affects all.

And THIS SPECIFIC SIN of MARRYING A PAGAN WOMAN
Already had a track record of bringing judgment into Israel.

First of all, it was expressly forbidden in the Law.
Exodus 34:11-16 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim —for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.”

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. “For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”

So at the very least to dabble in it
Is to invite God’s displeasure into the congregation.

But Israel already ignored the command once
The consequences were more severe than they could have imagined.

1 Kings 11:1-6 “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.”

Solomon would introduce idolatry into Israel through his pagan wives
And that idolatry would never depart until God eventually destroyed Israel
And sent them into exile for 70 years.

Or we could talk about how the children of Israel married the Moabite women while wandering in the wilderness; causing God to send a plague that killed 24,000 people.

That is why you have Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi
SO UPSET about this sin which has begun to reemerge.

By marrying these women they were sinning against their brother.
It was a betrayal to all Israel to bring that idolatry back into the city.

AND WE MUST LEARN FROM THIS.
• Do you see your sin as a betrayal against your brother?
• Do you see your sin as a betrayal against the church?
• Do you realize that your decisions are affecting other believers?

IF YOU DON’T, THAT’S INDIFFERENCE.

Think about Paul’s analogy of the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:26 “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

This is to betray the very issue of brotherly love.

Beyond that, it is an INSULT TO GOD.

Malachi says that “an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD when He loves…”

Not only were they marrying these pagan women,
But they were BRINGING THEM TO THE SANCTUARY
As though there was nothing wrong with what they did.

And look at GOD’S RESPONSE to such treachery.

(12) “As for the man who does this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents and offering to the LORD of hosts.”

That verse is the focus of a lot of debate because
It contains a figure of speech that is not easily grasped by us today.

Malachi refers to “the man who does this”;
That is the man who marries the pagan woman.

And then he says, “may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the LORD of hosts.”

“awakes and answers” is a apparently a figure of speech
That would have had more clarity in Malachi’s day than it does in ours.

It seems to have to do with a man who is awakened
By the warning of the watchman
But instead of acting on what he is warned about, argues with him.

It seems to be referring to the man
Who would hear the warning about marrying these pagan women,
But instead of submission would “talk back” and argue.

Remember when James told us to humbly receive God’s word by being “quick to listen and slow to speak”. Don’t argue with God’s word.

THAT IS THE SAME HERE.

Malachi also mentioned the man “who presents an offering to the LORD of hosts.”

This refers to a man who would
Commit such adamant sin, without repentance
And who would still feel at liberty to approach the alter in worship.

YOU MAY REMEMBER our Lord’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”

WE REMEMBER when Saul disobeyed God and kept some of the livestock from his capture of Agag and said it was because he wanted to sacrifice them to God.
1 Samuel 15:22 “Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”

It is hypocrisy and audacity of the highest order
To live in flagrant sin and yet to still march into the house of God
For worship as though nothing is wrong.

And so THE VERDICT which is passed on this willful sinner is this.
“May the LORD cut off” this person.

You can see that again God is not messing around.
This is serious.

It is a man who is INDIFFERENT toward the commands of God,
Toward brotherly love, and even toward the sanctity of pure worship.

He is betraying his brother
• By parading his sin
• By threatening to influence the congregation with sin,
• By inviting the very judgment of God back into their midst.

Malachi’s response was that such a man must be “cut off”.

And if you’ll think about it, this is not so different from Jesus’ teaching on church discipline when you have a brother who will not stop sinning even though he has been warned.

But you see treachery here against a brother.

#2 BETRAYAL OF YOUR WIFE AND KIDS
Malachi 2:13-16

Here is the other side of that same story.

What you see at church is a man who
Parades his new pagan wife right into the worship service.

Now we see what happened at home.

FIRST WE NOTE again how displeased God is with the entire scene.
(13) “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.”

Don’t misunderstand the scene.
• They are very religious.
• They are very committed to their liturgical duties.
• And here they are grieved because it doesn’t seem to be working.

God doesn’t seem to be honoring their sacrifices.
(14) “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’”
They can’t figure out why God won’t accept their offerings.

And here is that second picture of treachery.

“Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

Do you see why God isn’t accepting their offerings?
Because THEY ARE BETRAYING THEIR WIFE.

HOW?
Well if you look down to verse 16 it becomes clear.

(16) “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel…”

SO WHAT IS HAPPENING?
• Well apparently these men in Israel are becoming enamored with the pagan women of their land
• And in order to marry them they are first divorcing their Hebrew wives that they married in their youth.

“I’ve found a wife that is more pleasing in my sight,
So I’m going to get rid of the first one and marry the new one.”

God calls it treachery.
God calls it betrayal.
And God says, “I hate it!”

STOP AND LET THAT SINK IN.

We live in a culture where divorce has just become second nature.

It has become such a pandemic in our culture
That it’s rarely even discussed from pulpits anymore
Because it is likely to offend to such a large percentage of any given congregation.

But you cannot omit something that God is so passionate about.

I am well-aware
• That Jesus gives the condition that divorce can occur because of sexual immorality
• And that Paul says a divorce can occur if you’re married to a non-believer and the non-believer leaves.

Both of those are given as permissible reasons for divorce.

The tragedy is that divorce occurs for far more reasons than that.
AND THE BIBLE SAYS THAT GOD HATES IT.

He is a God who knows nothing of treachery.
• God never breaks His word.
• God never breaks His promise.
• He always keeps His covenant.

• He created male and female.
• He designed marriage to be between one woman and one man.
• He said what He joins no man should separate.

HE HATES DIVORCE.

But here you have men divorcing their wives
Just so they can go and marry this new pagan fling.

GOD HATES IT!
And God hates it so much that He quit accepting their offerings.

And then look at verse 15.
(15a) “But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit.”

What does that mean?
• It means that people with God’s Spirit don’t do that sort of thing.
• Saved people don’t divorce their spouse to replace them with someone more
desirable.

(15b) “And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring?”

Any man who is truly concerned about the godliness of his children
Doesn’t divorce his wife and marry a pagan woman.

No man ever committed adultery to produce more godly children.

IN SHORT:
• True believers who love God and keep covenant…
• True believers who care about the spiritual condition of their children…

DON’T DIVORCE THEIR SPOUSE
TO MARRY SOMEONE THEY LIKE BETTER.

That is a sin against your brother.
That is a sin against your wife.
That is a sin against your children.
TRUE BELIEVERS DON’T DO THAT.

So Malachi says: “Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.”

You better check your salvation.
You better check your spiritual barometer.
And STOP betraying your wife.

(16) “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

You are treading on dangerous ground.

This gets even more intense when you consider what Ezra and Nehemiah were saying around that same time period.

Ezra 10:10-11 “Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. “Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”

Nehemiah 13:23-29 “In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. “Do we then hear about you that you have committed all this great evil by acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” Even one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I drove him away from me. Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.”

Ezra and Nehemiah were adamant.
You’ve got to send those pagan women away!

Now, I do think it’s important
To ADDRESS A PERCEIVED CONTRADICTION here in Scripture.

Clearly Ezra and Nehemiah told these Israelites to send away their foreign wives and all their pagan idolatry; even their children.

And then we get to the New Testament and listen to Paul:
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.”

And many have seen a contradiction here.
Ezra and Nehemiah told you to send them away, Paul told you not to.

Did God change His mind?
• And indeed many try to explain it like that saying simply, “Well, it was a different time then.”

In the days of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi
• We have here pagan women.
• They are actually referred to as “the daughter of a foreign god”
• Nehemiah says that their influence was so great that the children being raised didn’t even speak the language of Judah.

These men were married to pagan women
Who were insistent upon keeping their idolatrous worship,
And even raising their kids to worship those idols.

How is that different from Paul’s day?
Paul said to the Corinthians that if you are married to a non-believer but they “consent” to live with you, don’t send them away.

THERE IS A COMMON THREAD HERE: IDOLATRY
• The pagan marriages of Malachi’s day were producing adultery and idolatry. They had to stop.
• In Paul’s day, if the pagan was willing to consent, they could stay.
• But also in Paul’s day you were to follow Christ in such a way that they would either consent or get fed up and leave, in which case you had to let them go.

THE ISSUE IS IDOLATRY AND THE INFLUENCE OF IT.

You could not bring sin into the congregation
And act like it was no big deal.

These people who were divorcing their Jewish wives
In favor of these pagan women
Were sinning against their brothers, their wives, and their kids.

But that certainly wasn’t all.
#3 BETRAYAL OF GOD
Malachi 2:17

We’ve actually already seen their betrayal of God a couple of times in the text.

• Up in verse 11 they were bringing these pagan women into the sanctuary and profaning it.
• In verse 13 they were making a mockery of worship by living in sin and yet bringing their offerings anyway.

But perhaps the biggest betrayal came in regard to
The effect their sin was having on
The perspective of the congregation as a whole.

IT HAD CHANGED THE PEOPLE’S VIEW OF GOD.

(17) “You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

DO YOU SEE WHAT IS OCCURRING HERE?

These people, in their sin, have begun to SUCCEED
In getting the rest of the congregation to CONDONE their sin.

Is that not what happens so often?
• A person enters the congregation in blatant sin
• And instead of standing against such sin,
• The congregation will just change the definition of what sin is
• And declare that person ok.

DOES THAT NOT HAPPEN?

We’ve already seen it with divorce in the church.
• It’s not even really frowned upon anymore.
• Now people can divorce for any reason and most will tell them it’s ok.

Look at the rise of acceptance of sins like abortion or homosexuality.

A few years ago I saw on social media a man who used to pastor in Spur
Standing at gay pride parade in Houston
Holding a rainbow banner that read, “I’m Sorry” and giving out free hugs.

IT HAPPENS.
When God’s people become indifferent to sin.

They start saying things like “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them.”

Or how do we put it?
• “God loves you just the way you are!”
• “God loves you unconditionally”

That is what is happening in Israel.
• Men are divorcing their wives to marry these pagan women.
• They are bringing these pagan women into the sanctuary.
• And people are telling them that God is pleased.

And ON THE SLIGHT CHANCE that someone should confront their sin
And tell them that “God hates divorce”,

There is someone there to assure them that God is not angry.
They say, “Where is the God of justice?”

They might as well say, “My God is a God of love”

Do you see how easily it happens?
Do you see what indifference to sin looks like?

And I know here the main issue is divorce,
But church it can be any issue of sin.
• Any sin which is willfully practiced is a betrayal of your brother in Christ.
• Any sin which is willfully practiced is a betrayal of your spouse and your kids.
• Any sin which is willfully practiced is a betrayal of God.

And if you want to live in your sin
And then come parade it into the church like nothing is wrong,
You have greatly mistaken who our God is.

And if you desire to just condone and pat men on the back for their sin
Then you also have become INDIFFERENT to sin.

• Ezra wanted those idolators sent away.
• Nehemiah wanted those idolators sent away.
• Malachi wanted them cut off from the tents of Jacob.

• Paul said to cast out that immoral brother.
• Jesus said to warn a brother and seek to turn him from sin, but if he won’t let him be to you like a Gentile or a Tax Collector.

You will never find the Lord indifferent to sin.
And it is an afront to God when we become like that.

Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”

That’s a good question.

Listen to Paul in the New Testament:
Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

Do you see what God consider to be depravity?
• It’s not just committing sinful deeds,
• But also giving hearty approval to those who do.

You cannot practice or condone what God hates.

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

So do you see why Malachi is writing to these people
That they are NOT READY for the Messiah to come?

• Do you see why before Messiah comes the forerunner has to come first?
• Do you see why John the Baptist comes preaching repentance?

And church indifference will never be cured without this repentance.

We cannot be indifferent toward sin
And at the same time think ourselves ready
For the appearing of the King.

Download here

The Longing Soul
Psalms 143
November 13, 2022

Tonight we look at the 143rd Psalm.

It’s an interesting Psalm to read,
Especially if you find yourself in pain or hardship or even depression,
Because David writes with the same kind of urgency and raw desperation
That we certainly feel at times in our life.

This is not the kind of Psalm that lends itself to easy outlining.
We don’t just read a Psalm like this and walk down through 1), 2), 3).

David is not systematic here, he is desperate and he is thorough.

It is important that you read this Psalm as whole
And understand his general point and then you can pick it apart.

So let’s make a few general observations.

Clearly the issue at hand in this Psalm is David’s “soul”
• He is in trouble.
• You do see his deep despair.

David doesn’t allude so much to physical danger or physical persecution
As he does to the persecution of his soul.

The soul is the focal point of the Psalm.
• (3) “For the enemy has persecuted my soul;”
• (4) “Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;”
• (6) “My soul longs for You, as a parched land.”
• (7) “Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails;”
• (8) “Teach me in the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.”
• (11) “In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.”
• (12) “And destroy all those who afflict my soul,”

David’s soul is in desperation.
David’s soul is under attack.
David’s spirit is persecuted.

And so you can talk about this being a Psalm of the soul.
• You can see A PERSECUTED SOUL
• You can see AN OVERWHELMED SOUL
• You can see A SUBMISSIVE SOUL

But more than any one of those
What David presents in Psalms 143 is A LONGING SOUL

That is what you read in verses 1-2
“Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness! And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.”

That is what you read in verses 5-6
“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.”

That is what you read in verses 7-8
“Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You;”

That is what you read in verse 9
“Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.”

That is what you read in verses 11-12
“For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble. And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant.”

David’s soul is unsatisfied.
• And in his desperation he is SEEKING.
• In his desperation his soul is LONGING.

AND CLEARLY WHAT DAVID IS LONGING FOR IS GOD,
And the effect of God’s presence in his life.

An interesting, and even somewhat confusing aspect of this Psalm
Is found in verse 2.

David says, (2) “And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.”

• It is interesting that David wants God, but not judgment.
• And even more interesting is that David wants mercy for himself, but in verse
12 he wants destruction for his enemies.

That seems a little hypocritical.
That seems a little shallow.

If someone approached you and said,
• “I want to hear from God, but I don’t want to hear about sin or judgment.”
• “I want God to be merciful to me, but not to the people who persecute me.”

YOU’D FEEL THE NEED TO CORRECT THEM.

SO WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

Men who like to group and categorize the Psalms have listed 7 Psalms as PENITENTIAL PSALMS.

That is to say they list them as Psalms that cry out for mercy and forgiveness from God. (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143)

You’re probably most familiar with the 51st
Which is the famous Psalm of David’s repentance.

This Psalm is listed as the last of the penitential Psalms
And it is because of verse 2.

Certainly we pick up on the important gospel theology
Where David acknowledges that “in Your sight no man living is righteous.”

That is what we call TOTAL DEPRAVITY
David isn’t the only one who is fallen, all men are fallen.

But the specific request of David is that
God would not enter into judgment with him personally.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS VERSE?

It seems to me that what you have here from David is a statement that might be better understood as,
• “do not enter into FINAL judgment with Your servant”
• Or “do not enter into ADDITIONAL judgment with Your servant”

For it is clear that David is aware that he is already being judged.
David is clear that he is already being disciplined.

(3) “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.”

• David knows he is being disciplined.
• David even understands that God is sovereign over all of it.
• (For God could stop it any time He wants, indicating that God is also allowing it.)

And the prayer of David is not simply a prayer for deliverance,
But also a prayer of submission and seeking.

David is crying out to God with a declaration of submission
And he longs for God to accept his promise
And relieve the judgment he has been forced to walk through.

We have a word for this, we call it DISCIPLINE

The writer of Hebrews gives perhaps the best statement on discipline.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 12:3-11

The writer of Hebrews there reminds us that our discipline
Is a tool from God to train us in righteousness.

It is a tool to move forward the process of sanctification in our lives.

And in the case of the Hebrews
Their discipline came in the form of persecutors.
• They were being ostracized.
• They had their property seized.
• They had been imprisoned.
• They were threatened.

But the perspective the writer of Hebrews gives is that
“This persecution by the enemy is actually a tool in the hands of God to sanctify you and make you more righteous.”

See it as discipline from a father who cares how you turn out.

WELL THIS IS WHERE DAVID IS COMING FROM.
And through his discipline he has learned to seek the LORD.

So we call this the Psalm of: THE LONGING SOUL
David, because of his affliction,
Is now seeking God in humility, in faith, in desperation, etc.

HIS SOUL NOW LONGS FOR GOD.

AND MIGHT WE JUST SAY here even as we introduce this Psalm,
That this is a position God routinely puts us into.

You do realize that your primary purpose in this life
Is that you are to be one who seeks God.

Acts 17:26-28 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”

• Paul speaks to pagans there steeped in idolatry
• And he reminds them that as the created children of God
• Their one obligation is to seek God, even to grope for Him.

Jesus certainly taught this.
Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

• You were not placed on this earth to seek food or shelter or any other sparkly thing.
• You were placed here to seek God.
• Namely you were placed here to seek His kingdom and His righteousness.

Jesus would go on to promise that if you seek, you will find.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Seeking God has always been the purpose.
And we are promised to be blessed when we do this.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Now, the problem for us is that WE GET DISTRACTED
And at times we begin to seek the wrong things.

We have a tendency to seek comfort or riches or glory or other things.

David certainly did from time to time.
• We remember him seeking Bathsheba
• We remember him numbering Israel (seeking glory)

And in response to such waywardness God would use circumstances
To discipline David until he returned and sought the Lord only.

And God uses this same process in our lives.
• We get distracted.
• We seek worldly things.
• We seek worldly riches and comforts and glory.
• We quit seeking His kingdom and His righteousness
• We start seeking our kingdom and our glory.

And in such times God uses discipline to remind us that
What we really need is Him, not more of the world.

What did Jeremiah say, even as Israel was heading into Babylon?
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

ISRAEL, YOU’VE GOTTEN DISTRACTED.
You are no longer seeking Me, you’re only seeking idols.
70 years in Babylon should do the trick.
You don’t seek Me now, but you will.

And God still does that in our lives.
He is doing that here in David’s life.

David has now recognized that the torment of his soul,
Even though it is by the hands of his enemies,
Has been sent by God to readjust David’s focus.

And so David, in humility and desperation is seeking the LORD.

He has a longing soul
And in Psalms 143 his soul is once again longing for the right thing.

So there is YOUR BASIC UNDERSTANDING of this Psalm as a whole.
That is what it is about.

AND THAT MEANS THAT
• If you have found yourself seeking the wrong things
• And God has brought discipline into your life
• And you would like experience revival
• And “have your seeker straightened out”,

THIS IS YOUR PSALM.

That being the gist of the Psalm, now let’s look at it a little closer.

#1 WHY IS DAVID LONGING?
Psalms 143:1-4

Of course we see the opening statements where David in desperation cries out to God.
• “Hear my prayer”
• “Give ear to my supplications”
• “Answer me”

I DON’T KNOW where David has recently been in his desire to seek God,
But I KNOW where he is now.

He is coming to God.
He is seeking God.
He earnestly longs for God to pay attention to him.

WHY?
(3) “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.”

That’s pretty depressing.

David doesn’t speak of physical persecution,
He speaks of soul persecution.

Whatever this enemy has done to David, it has sucked the life out of him.

One might face physical pain and the soul be resilient and strong,
But David has faced soul persecution and he is done.

In fact (4) “Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.”

You saw that same phrase last week.
Psalms 142:3 “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.”

It meant he was at his whit’s end. He was done. He wanted to quit.

And here David adds, “My heart is appalled within me.”

“appalled” is SHAW-MAME
It actually means “desolate”
It is used also to mean “stunned” or “stupefied”

In other words David says, “I’ve got nothing!”

I don’t comprehend or understand this.
I am persecuted and attacked and when I look inwardly for a solution I come up empty. I am no help to myself. I am no comfort to myself.

My inner counselor has failed me.
• I’m done.
• I’m finished.
• I’m overwhelmed.

In fact you look down to verse 7
David says, “Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails…”

I’m fading away.

He goes on to say in verse 7,
If You don’t come help me, “I will become like those who go down to the pit.”

I’ll be like a dead man.
My strength is of no use.

THIS IS WHAT WE CALL COMING TO THE END OF YOURSELF.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;”

That is where David is.
He has searched inwardly as deep as he can go to find encouragement and a solution to his dilemma and his own heart has failed him.

FROM DAVID’S VANTAGE POINT IT IS OVER.

And this is why He is now longing for God.

Perhaps it should not always take such drastic circumstances
To cause us to long for God, but it often does.

Often times we are forced to face persecution or discipline
To get us to finally take our eyes off the world and off ourselves
And to once again long for God.

AND IN OUR SUFFERING, WE FINALLY LONG FOR GOD AGAIN.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me against the Rock of Ages.”

I don’t know if David is saying the same thing here.
I don’t know if he loves the wave,
But he has definitely been slammed against the Rock of Ages.

That is WHY he is longing.

#2 WHAT IS DAVID LONGING FOR?
Psalms 143:5-6

In short, David is longing for God.
And more specifically FOR REVIVAL
That he might once again enjoy the presence of God in his life.

• Notice how David is now awakened back to that time when he sought God.
• Notice how David is now awakened back to that time of fellowship with God.

(5) “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands.”

This is the equivalent of that great awakening
Experienced by THE PRODIGAL.

Luke 15:17-19 “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”

• There was a time when the prodigal thought nothing of his father.
• There was a time when he only lusted for the things of the world.
• There was a time when all he longed for was worldly pleasure.

But a little time in the pig pen of discipline
And all of a sudden the prodigal began to remember that there had never been a truer joy in his life than the times he walked with his father.

David is now there.
And he says, (6) “I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land.”

We remember how David had prayed such things before.
Psalms 63:1 “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

• David once felt that way.
• Perhaps sin had distracted him

But now David has returned there again.
• He doesn’t just want relief, he wants God.
• He isn’t seeking a respite, he is seeking God.

And in seeking God certainly he longs for
The benefits that come with the presence of God.

For example:
(8) “Let me hear of Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You;”

Jeremiah would steal this thought in Lamentations when he would remind himself and the surviving Jewish remnant that the mercies of God are indeed new every morning.

David is now missing that.
He has in some way stopped seeking God
And is beginning to feel the spiritual famine in his life.

• He has run as long as he can run on his own sufficiency.
• He has traveled as far as he can go on his own strength.
• He is missing that refreshing mercy of God that is new every morning.

How I just want to arise and spend time with You Oh God!
I may have forgotten that for a season,
But I again remember what a blessing it is.

David once said:
Psalms 84:10-12 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

And now David is returning to that mentality.

(9) “Delver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in you.”

Perhaps he had forgotten the satisfaction of resting in God.
• There were times when chaos abounded around him,
• But he was so secure because he rested in God.

Now having tasted the bitter pill of standing in his own strength, David longs to return to that old hiding place of God’s presence.

(11-12) “For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble. And in Your lovingkindness cut of my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul…”

You see now that David is once again preoccupied with things like
• “Your name”
• “Your righteousness”
• “Your lovingkindness”.

These things may have recently taken a back seat on David’s priority list
But my HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE NOW.

• David needs the God who is passionate about His name.
• David needs the God who operates in righteousness.
• David needs the God who is faithful to His covenant and walks in lovingkindness.

David had grown distracted and perhaps wandered away from this God,
BUT IN HIS AFFLICTION HE WANTS TO RETURN.

(7) “Answer me quickly, O LORD, for my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go town to the pit.”

• I need You!
• I need to see Your face!
• I need fellowship with You!

This is really good stuff here from David.

I don’t suppose any of us here can say,
“I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

I think we have all at one point or another played the role of the prodigal.
• We have all been guilty at one point of another of getting distracted by our idols or our ambitions or our lusts for worldly things and pleasures.
• We all know what it is to backslide.
• Some may even currently be in a state of backsliddenness.

And we know what it is to face the discipline of the Lord.
We know what it is for God to use the wicked of this world
To chasten us and to get our attention.

And we know how important the presence of God becomes
In times of such sorrow and pain.

DAVID CERTAINLY DOES.

Why is David seeking? Because he is in afflicted.
What is David seeking? He is seeking nothing less than God.

#3 HOW IS DAVID SEEKING?
Psalms 143:10

It is a simple statement of humility and submission.

“Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

THERE IS THE PRAYER!

It’s not the first time he stated it.
(8c) “Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.”

It’s not the last time he’ll state it.
(12c) “For I am Your servant.”

But it is stated so beautifully and so directly in verse 10.

1) “Teach me to do Your will”

• That is not the prayer of a self-righteous man.
• That is the prayer of a recent failure.
• That is the prayer of a man who realizes he has gone A.W.A.L.

I’ve shared with you before about my dad’s
UNIQUE HORSE-TRAINING TECHNIQUES.
He was no horse whisperer.

His sole training strategy with horses was to take a horse and teach that horse submission.
• And in his mind there was really no technique that was off-limits when it came
to teaching the art of submission.
• This might include a kick to the stomach, a rasp to the nose, a pipe gate to the
forehead, you name it.

Often times he would put me on a horse with the soul purpose of finding something that horse didn’t want to do and making him do it.

And if the horse didn’t come around to his way of thinking in a timely manner it was not uncommon for my dad to say,
“That horse needs to have his attention got.”

That is what David is saying to God.
“I need to have my attention got”

“Teach me to do Your will”

In verse 8 it was, “Team me the way in which I should walk”
• For too long I’ve lived as though I was the master of my own destiny.
• For too long I’ve done what I wanted to do.
• For too long I’ve charted my own course.

THAT ENDS TODAY.
Produce in me a submissive heart
That understands its purpose is to obey you.

That is a great prayer.
If you find yourself on a prodigal journey, START THERE.
“Teach me to do Your will.”

And that’s not all from David.
2) (11b) “For You are my God.”

It seems like such a simple confession but it is so easily forgotten.

I love the last 25 chapters of Isaiah.
It chronicles Israel’s return from her rejection of God and her salvation which will occur in the end.

I especially love chapter 64 which is the chapter when they have realized their waywardness and guilt and finally cry out to God for salvation.

Isaiah 64:6-8 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”

Don’t you love the awareness!
“We are the clay, and You our potter;”

• We have gotten too big for our britches.
• We have forgotten our place.
• We got things backward for too long.
• And now we realize our place.

• You are boss, we are servant.
• You are Lord, we are slave.
• You are potter, we are clay.
• You are God, we are not.

David is there.
“For You are my God.”

Later in (12c) “For I am Your servant.”

How easily we forget the simple order of things.
• How easily we forget that is not here for us, but we are here for Him.
• How easily we forget that He is not here to grant our will, but we are here to honor His.

WE FORGET IT.
Well now, through his trial, David remembers.

And it is a simple confession.
“You are my God”

If you find yourself on a prodigal journey,
That is the NEXT PLACE you should go.

After you recognize your wayward heart,
It’s time put yourself back in your place.

Remember that prodigal?
Luke 15:18-19 “‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”

That is how we return.

And finally David says:
3) “Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

It sounds as though David has finally had enough
Of the rocky terrain of his own choices.

My what trouble we can get ourselves into
When we let our own heart call the shots.

WE CAN EVEN fall into such sin that
We actually despise the counsel of God.
• “I don’t want to know what God wants”

And we reach a point where we act as though
God is not good and that His way is not best.

And we rebel against Him and insist upon doing things our own way.

Well David has repented.
David calls the Holy Spirit God’s “good Spirit”

You know what is best!

“Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

I don’t know where to go, but You do.
• I was foolish and pigheaded to chart my own course.
• I was arrogant and sinful to choose my own path.
• I was so stupid to follow my own dreams and my own will.
• I abandoned You and it led me into nothing but misery and contempt.

Now I am spent!
I’ve got nothing left.

So God, now I seek You!
• I want to return to You and I want You to return to me.
• Teach me submission.
• You are God, and I know my place.
• Now You get in the driver’s seat, I’m getting in the trunk.

Church that is the prayer!
That is revival.

That is where we are intended to be.
We are to have longing souls.

• This prayer is NOT JUST A MEANS to revival, this prayer is the destination.
• This is where WE ARE TO CAMP continually.

We DON’T look at Psalms 143 and say, “Ok, if I’ll use this prayer for a few days then I can get back to a place of peace and get on with my life.”

NO!!!

Psalms 143 is where we are traveling to
And this is where we are to stay for the rest of our lives.

WE ARE TO ALWAYS BE A LONGING SOUL!
We are to always long after God.

This is a great reminder to us
Of what the Christian life should always look like.

And on the day that the church returns to this point, we will have revival.

Download here

Neglecting God’s Word
Malachi 2:1-9
November 13, 2022

You are aware that we are studying through the book of Malachi
And you are also aware that the theme of the book is INDIFFERENCE.

Malachi is God’s messenger sent to relay God’s burden to His people.
And God’s burden is that His people are indifferent towards Him.
In short, they just don’t care what He thinks.

It stemmed from a failure to realize God’s sovereign grace in their lives.
They had failed to see God’s great love for them.
• God had chosen them.
• God had saved them.
• God had brought them back into their land.
• (All things that He has done for no other nation)

And yet they still couldn’t see how great His love for them had been.

Their failure to see God’s great love for them had in turn led them to a LACK OF GRATITUDE; which is the ROOT of indifference.

They aren’t grateful so worship of God is not important to them.
They don’t see the need to prioritize the glory of God in their lives.

And Malachi is systematically showing them
Exactly what their indifference looks like.

LAST WEEK: Malachi revealed their “Profane Worship”
• Despising the sacrifice and the altar (valuing it too low)
• Bringing the blind and lame for sacrifice
• Scoffing and sighing at the work involved in bringing it

And God finally just said, “Shut the gates!”
• “I am a great King and I deserve better than this!”
• “Your offerings are evil, they are useless, and they are actually harmful to you, because instead of a blessing, I’m going to give you a curse.”

You could see how burdened God was with His people.

Hopefully you have taken this to heart as well.
Several of you have commented to me on the difficulty of the message.
• And I don’t particularly delight in difficult messages,
• But we don’t want to be a burden to God either.

One even asked me this week,
If the rest of Malachi is going to be as hard to handle as the first part?

And I guess the answer to that question is:
IT DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL OF OUR INDIFFERENCE.

Books like Malachi aren’t difficult at all unless they are talking about us.
And if they are talking about us, it only proves how badly we need it.

So last week we looked at their PROFANE WORSHIP

THIS MORNING we move on to their next burden to God;
Their next area of indifference and that is:
THEIR INDIFFERENCE TOWARD GOD’S WORD.

Now before we begin working through the text,
Let’s make a few notable observations at the outset.

1) THIS IS DIRECTED AT THE PRIESTS

It is clearly articulated in verse 1, “And now this commandment is for you, O Priests.”

The main emphasis of application is to those who are in leadership
And charged with the proclamation and enforcing of God’s Law.

It is fair to assume that the attitude of the priests
Had trickled down to the people and so all share in this burden,

YET IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT
THE HEAVIEST BURDEN FALLS ON THOSE IN LEADERSHIP.

That means those who serve in a leadership role
Must really examine themselves here.

• Myself as pastor for sure. (though I’m not a priest in the Levitical sense)
• Those who serve as deacons, since in the current Baptist climate deacons
enjoy a sort of leadership authority in the congregation.
• Those who are currently training as elders, certainly must understand the
weight of burden that comes with leadership.

Those who lead and make decisions for the people
Have to pay attention here.

And yet, no one can exempt themselves from such an application.

After all:
1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”

In the New Testament we are all called “a royal priesthood”
Charged with proclaiming God’s excellencies.

So while we’ll lay the heaviest portion of this burden at the feet of those in leadership, none get to take the week off here.

2) THE LINK BETWEEN GOD’S HONOR AND HANDLING HIS WORD CANNOT BE DISMISSED.

The text will make it abundantly clear that
God absolutely links how you treat His word to how you honor His name.

You can’t separate your devotion to God from your devotion to His word.

It is IMPOSSIBLE (for example) for someone to say,
“I love God, I just don’t love His word.”

There is an inseparable link between the two.

You understand this even in your earthly relationships.
• Guys, if you are watching a football game
• And your wife is talking to you and you are not paying attention.
• And then all of a sudden she asks, “Are you listening to me?”

You know things just got serious.
• You will be tempted to say, “Yes, I’m listening”,
• But beware the following question. “What did I just say?”

At that point, you know it has nothing to do with knowledge.
Your wife is not asking anymore if you know what she’s talking about,
Now it is an issue of respect and honor.

You understand that certainly with God.

Jesus said:
Luke 6:36 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

• Do hear the perplexity in the Lord’s question?
• It just doesn’t make sense that you would call me Lord, but not obey Me.

Or how about:
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

• Jesus distinguishes who is truly saved by their obedience to His word.

You just can’t separate the two.
We’ve all read the glorious Psalm 19 or even the glorious Psalm 119
Where God’s honor is shown in the way the Psalmist loves God’s word.

So it’s not just about the Bible here today.
It’s actually about God’s honor.

We AREN’T just talking about IGNORANT people or ignorant priests.
We ARE talking about INDIFFERENT people or indifferent priests.

These are priests and people who do not care about God
And they show that through their lack of care for His word.

That being said, let’s work our way through this text this morning.

We’ll break it down into 4 points.
#1 GOD’S CONFRONTATION
Malachi 2:1-2

I hope you see that there is A CONDITION listed here for the priests.
You see the words “If” and “then”.

There is a condition here.
(2a) “IF you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “THEN I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.”

And this of course comes straight from the Mosaic Law.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God:”

Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Blessing or curses have always been directly linked to obedience.

That was the central issue of the Old Covenant.
• If you hold up your end of the deal (obedience) then I will hold up My end of the deal (blessing).
• If you break your word (disobedience) then I will still hold up My end of the deal (curses).

AND THAT IS LAID OUT HERE FOR THE PRIESTS.
Don’t forget that the central part of your ministry
All centers around what you do with My word.

NOW, CERTAINLY
• We have been redeemed from the curse of the Law.
• Christ fulfilled the Law.
• He redeemed us from the curse of the Law having become a curse for us.

We are now under a New Covenant and we want to make that clear.

But that DOES NOT MEAN that the general principle of obedience and blessing are totally removed from the situation.

Romans 2:5-11 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

Romans 6:15-19 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”

It is still a reality from God’s word that to walk in OBEDIENCE
Is to invite BLESSING into your life
And to walk in DISOBEDIENCE
Is to invite judgment or PUNISHMENT into your life.

That principle hasn’t changed.

And so we understand the principle
And here these priests are being confronted with it.

They are being told to handle God’s word appropriately.

HOW?

1) “If you do not listen”

The first implication is that they must be those who listen to God.
• They have to know God’s word.
• They have to know what God is saying.

If the one in charge of teaching God’s word doesn’t know God’s word
Then we already have a massive problem.

But as I said, this trickles even beyond the priest.

Many times in the Old Testament the people showed their indifference and irreverence toward God in their refusal to listen.

Isaiah 28:9-10 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.’”

The Hebrew there is such as though it sounds like Charlie Brown’s mom speaking. They simply don’t want to hear God’s word.

Isaiah 30:9-11 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

That reality is echoed in the New Testament.
2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”

Jeremiah 18:11-12 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’ “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

We don’t want to do what God says.
That is an attitude of indifference.

And it was not only in the people, here it was also in the priests.
• They didn’t want to hear from God.
• They didn’t want to take the time to study God’s word.
• They didn’t care what God had to say about the subject.

They wouldn’t listen.

But that wasn’t all.
2) “and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name”

That has the idea of what you do with God’s word.
It’s one thing to hear it, but what do you do with it?

James said:
James 1:21-22 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

That was the warning here from God.
I don’t just want you to know what My word says,
I want you to honor Me by taking it to heart.

• I want you to believe it.
• I want you to apply it.
• I want it to be more important to you than any other thing.

I want there to be a sober reverence regarding what My word says
So that all other arguments stop and God’s word is given the day.

And God said IF YOU DON’T do that, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings;”

If you don’t honor My word then I’m not going to honor yours.
• You can declare people blessed, but I won’t bless them.
• You can declare people forgiven, but I won’t forgive them.
• You can declare people pleasing, but I won’t accept them.

If you don’t honor My words, I won’t honor yours.

And then comes the sobering reality.
“and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.”

God says, “In fact, this is already happening.”
• You are not listening.
• You are not taking it to heart.
• You are not honoring My name.

I am already cursing your ministry.

That is God’s confrontation to those priests.

AND ANY MAN who sits in leadership should heed this warning.
• It is not enough to have God’s word you must listen to it.
• It is not enough to listen you must take it to heart.
• You must honor God with what you do with it.

Consider the VILLAINS of the New Testament:
Matthew 23:1-4 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”

Do you see the problem of the Pharisees?
• Oh sure, they claimed to know the Law.
• They even sat as experts, but they didn’t do it.
• They tied up burdens on people, but they didn’t take His word to heart.

In fact Jesus said about them:
Matthew 15:1-9 “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”

There was indifference there.
There was no concern for God’s word.
It’s no wonder Jesus confronted them so harshly

And you see why God is confronting the priests here in Malachi’s day.

God’s Confrontation
#2 GOD’S DISDAIN
Malachi 2:3-4

Now we ask the question: HOW FRUSTRATED IS GOD?
• When we talked about PROFANE WORSHIP God said, “Shut the gates!”

Here we see God’s frustration again.
(3) “Behold, I ma going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.”

What in the world is God talking about?
• What is this “refuse” that He is going to “spread…on your faces”?

Exodus 29:10-14 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. “You shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. “You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. “You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. “But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.”

You want the definition?
“refuse” is the word PER-RESH
It means “fecal matter, offal, dung”

It’s the colon and the stuff found inside it.

It was unclean and unacceptable to God
So it was hauled outside the camp and burned.

Do you want to know how frustrated God is with these priests?
“I’m going to take that colon and I’m going to smear it on your face and then carry you outside the camp in the wheel barrow with it!”

If that causes you to sit there wide-eyed then you get the picture.
God is incredibly agitated!
He is sick of the way these priests are handling His word.

AND WE SIMPLY ASK OURSELVES:
HOW SERIOUS IS IT TO GOD THAT HIS LEADERS HONOR HIS WORD?

Can we just state the obvious and say: “Very serious!”

• What manner of arrogant man nullifies God’s word to the people?
• What manner of lazy man ignores God’s word when leading the people?
• What manner of cowardly man omits God’s word to satisfy the people?

I’ll tell you what kind of man.
AN INDIFFERENT MAN!

James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

Does that verse weigh a little heavier now?

It matters to God whether or not
Those whom He has entrusted to teach and enforce His word do it.

These priests didn’t teach.
These priests didn’t enforce.
And God’s disdain for them is evident.

They were treating God’s word like a suggestion
And God is frustrated.

So He’s going to humiliate them and cast them aside.
(4) “Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the LORD of hosts.”

AFTER God thoroughly humiliates them,
THEN they will see that perhaps honoring His word was important.

You see the frustration of God.

God’s Confrontation, God’s Disdain
#3 GOD’S INTENT
Malachi 2:5-7

Here God clarifies what they should have been doing.
Here God clarifies what the role of the priest actually was.

And first you see the OBLIGATIONS of the covenant.

(5) “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.”

• GOD’S OBLIGATION was to give life and peace.
• AARON’S OBLIGATION was to revere God and stand in awe of His name.

But what does that look like?
What did it look like for Aaron to revere God and stand in awe of His name?

(6) “True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity.”

There you have it, the three-fold expectation of God
From a leader who honors Him.

1) HIS WORDS
“True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips;”

Very simply put, the priest was supposed to teach the truth.
He was not to dabble in man’s opinions.

1 Timothy 4:7 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;”

1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”

So it is here.
• Preach the word!
• Teach the truth!
• Accurately handle the word of truth!
• Certainly don’t distort what is true.

Paul gave the Galatians that intense warning that
If you change the gospel you are to be anathema!

God simply expects His leaders to deliver His word
As He said it to the people.

FAILURE to do that IS DETRIMENTAL to God’s people.
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

2) HIS WALK
“he walked with Me in peace and uprightness”

God expects His leaders to practice what they preach.

1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”

1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

And certainly this was something Paul took very seriously in his own life.

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”

That is quite a responsibility.
And that is the calling of the leadership.

God expects His leaders to teach the truth
And then live the truth as an example for the people.

His Words, His Walk
3) HIS WORK
“and he turned many back from iniquity.”

There is perhaps the hardest one for today.
Good old fashion enforcing of God’s truth.

To approach someone allotted to your charge
And to tell them on the authority of God’s word
To stop doing what they are doing.

It is a requirement of God for His leadership.

2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

Titus 2:15 “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

This is the expectation.

AND WHEN YOU PUT THEM ALL 3 TOGETHER
You get the picture of what it looks like
When someone honors God by honoring His word.

• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t learn God’s word?
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t teach God’s word?
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t obey God’s word?
• Can you truly say a man honors God when He won’t enforce God’s word?

GOD’S WORD IS EITHER AUTHORITATIVE OR IT IS NOT.

You cannot claim to be a man who seeks to honor God
If you won’t teach His word, or obey His word,
Or if you omit or nullify God’s word because people don’t like it.

That is to honor men not God.

God expects all believers, but especially those
Who sit in roles of leadership to care for His word.

Titus 3:8-11 “This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

2 Timothy 2:14-19 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”

IT IS AN INDIFFERENT MAN
Who will sit in a seat of leadership but fail to know, obey, and enforce God’s word to the people whom God has allotted to his care.

(7) “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”

Do you see that?
• If anyone here is protecting the truth of God it should be the priest.
• If anyone here is an available resource for God’s will, it should be the priest.

“FOR HE IS THE MESSENGER”

THAT’S HIS JOB!
Not to neglect, not to omit, not to substitute, not to ignore,
But to teach, obey, and enforce.

ANYTHING SHORT OF THAT IS INDIFFERENCE TOWARD GOD.

And look, I lay that right at my feet. This is directed right at me.
And in our current structure it is laid right at the feet of those who have been ordained as deacons who sit in a leadership role in our church.
And I would lay it at the feet of those men who are training to do the work as elders.

Can we say that we are not indifferent to the honor of God
When we examine how we handle His word?

God’s Confrontation, God’s Disdain, God’s Intent
#4 GOD’S VERDICT
Malachi 2:8-9

You see what the priests were supposed to be,
Now comes God’s assessment of what they current priests actually are.

(8) “But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts.”

You were supposed to teach truth and obey it,
But instead you have DEPARTED from the truth.

“you have turned aside from the way”

You were supposed to enforce the truth and turn them back from sin,
But you have DECEIVED the people.

“you have caused many to stumble by the instruction.”

Your teaching doesn’t lead men to honor God,
Your instruction leads them into sin.

And here is the verdict:
“you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts.”

You have failed to keep your agreement.
You are not doing as you should.

(9) “So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.”

Do you see that?
I’m going to dishonor you like you dishonor My word.

How do we dishonor Your word?
You “are showing partiality in the instruction.”

• You are distorting the truth according to your hearers.
• You are not preaching My word in its pure form.
• You are changing it to make it more acceptable to sinful people.

And so God is going to judge you.

That is God’s final verdict on these indifferent priests.

SO WHAT IS OUR TAKEAWAY FROM THIS?

Certainly the heaviest burden here has to fall at the feet of those in leadership.

Anyone who has seated themselves in a position of authority had better examine themselves to see if indifference toward God’s word exists,
And if it does we must repent.

It’s clear what God thinks of leaders
Who won’t pass His word along to His people.

But this also applies to us all
Since we are all a priesthood
And we are all charged with carrying God’s word to the world.

Can you see that God cares deeply about how His word is handled?
• Is it listened to?
• Is it taken to heart?
• Is it applied?
• Is it taught?
• Is it enforced?

God was burdened by these indifferent people
Who failed to honor Him because they failed to honor His word.

THIS MUST NOT BE US!

Isaiah 55:7-11 “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

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Facing Persecution
Psalms 142
November 6, 2022

The last couple of weeks we’ve talked about
“Facing Slander” & “Facing Temptation”.

Tonight we discuss “Facing Persecution”

It is not a pleasant subject,
But it is one that the church must prepare herself for.

While life has taught us that persecution can be regional
And that certainly there are some geographical areas or some periods in history
Were persecution is worse,
We still know the Bible makes some universal promises to the church.

Things like:
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

It is impossible for a believer to faithfully follow Christ
In a world that is following Satan and not be persecuted for it.

Now in that reality we are also given some tremendous PROMISES.

Like:
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

1 Peter 4:14 “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

And we even get tremendous EXAMPLES of those
Who SAW THE BLESSING in persecution, like:

Acts 5:40-42 “They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

IN SHORT, the Bible gives a great deal of information
Regarding the promise of persecution, the blessing of persecution,
And even how to endure persecution.

The entire letter of 1 Peter is written to suffering believers to explain to them how to handle the persecution they face.

1 Peter 3:14-16 “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

1 Peter 4:1-2 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

And we could even throw in the book of Hebrews here as well
Which also addressed persecuted believers.

Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

There is much content in Scripture regarding how to face persecution.

TONIGHT we turn to Psalms 142
To learn some more valuable information regarding this reality.

WHAT WILL WE BE LEARNING?
It’s stated in THE HEADING.

“Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.”

Tonight’s Psalm travels on the same tracks as Luke 11
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to “teach us to pray”

That is what David is doing here.
He is teaching us how to pray in the midst of persecution.

This is tremendously valuable since Scripture also says that
“we do not know how to pray as we should” (Romans 8).

And that might be especially true in times of persecution
When our flesh really only wants one thing, and that is relief.

So here we find a Psalm of tremendous value,
• And perhaps one that needs to be ear marked and readily available to you
• So that you’ll know how to pray on the day when you face persecution.

So let’s work our way through it tonight.

We see in the heading that this Psalm was written by David,
“when he was in the cave.”

That’s a little vague
Yet most theologians and commentators agree that this is a reference to when David was fleeing from Saul and was hiding in the cave of Adullam.

That makes the setting 1 Samuel 20-22
Which you may also remember is the time period that
Also inspired Psalm 34, 56, & 57.

HERE’S THE SETTING.
1 Samuel 20
• David and Jonathan have that plan about discerning if Saul really wants to kill David.
• David skips dinner, Jonathan reports to David with that plan of shooting the arrow and telling the lad to either go further or come nearer to find it.
• The plan worked, Saul showed his hand, and David was forced to flee.

1 Samuel 21
• David fled to Nob and the priest Ahimelech
• Ahimelech fed David some of the consecrated bread and gave him Goliath’s sword.

• David then fled to Achish, King of Gath (Goliath’s home town),
• But when he arrived bearing Goliath’s sword he quickly found he made a mistake.

He was brought before Achish and he was terrified,
Which is when he wrote Psalm 56.

In order to escape Achish David feigned madness,
Which is what Psalm 34 is about.

And then David fled to Adullam and hid in the cave,
Where he wrote Psalm 57.

So we have much of this journey well chronicled by David
Psalms which teach us a great deal about God
And even give us the song to sing in such circumstances.

FOR EXAMPLE:
We have learned that God camps around His own and delivers them even in times of great danger.

Psalms 34:7 “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.”

Psalms 34:10 “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”

Psalms 34:15-18 “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalms 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.”

We learn that through such trials and hardships we learn that God is truly for us.
Psalms 56:9 “Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.”

And we learn that in the midst of such peril God does not fail to send His lovingkindness and truth to save us.
Psalms 57:2-3 “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.”

All of those truths were learned by David
During this time of persecution in his life
And each of those Psalms gives us the song to sing in such times.

BUT PSALMS 142 IS NOT A SONG
It is “A Prayer”

It is impossible to be dogmatic about this,
But I’ll tell you how I perceive this all came together.

1) David is in the cave seeking and praying.

He is a man of confidence in this prayer.
Psalms 57:3 “He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.”

David is in that cave singing and praying
And fully expecting God to deliver him from his current predicament.

2) God answers David’s prayer according to David’s request.
1 Samuel 22:1-2 “So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.”

In response to David’s prayer
God actually sends his brothers and 400 might men to him.
These would become the foundation of David’s kingdom.

3) And David now teaches them about the prayer he prayed and how God answered it.

(Verses 1-2) is DAVID’S DECLARATION to the men as to how he prayed in the midst of persecution.

(Verses 3-7) is DAVID’S DESCRIPTION of what specifically he learned and prayed during this time.

And this is really valuable to us.

So let’s begin to examine the text.
#1 DAVID’S DECLARATION: What I do when I am persecuted
Psalms 142:1-2

I can almost picture the men coming in that cave and finding David.
I can hear David telling them the whole story about:
• Fleeing from Saul
• Getting fed by Ahimelech
• Being terrified and delivered from Gath
• And then finding this cave

And someone in the group blurts out.
“David, how did you handle it? How did you survive?”

And David says:
“I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him.”

David’s answer is: I PRAY!
I take every ounce of my burden and my fear and my need
And I lay it before the God who cares for me.

We love the specific nature in which David speaks about his prayer.
Words like:
• “I cry”
• “I make supplication”
• “I pour out my complaint”
• “I declare my trouble”

David holds nothing back.

It should not be seen as a lack of reverence,
But rather a genuine expression of total trust.

When a person is facing physical issues,
• And especially when they don’t know the cause,
• And they go to the doctor for a diagnosis and help.

The doctor will say, “What’s going on?”
• And if that person is really concerned and worried about what they are facing
• They will lay out every little ache, pain, and detail.
• They’ll hold nothing back.
• They want the doctor to have every ounce of information so that maybe the
doctor will understand and be able to treat it.

Such a scene doesn’t indicate a desire to complain to the doctor,
It just reveals desperation and hope that the doctor will be able to help.

That is where David is.
• David said, “I cry aloud with my voice” because he wants to be heard.
• David said, “I make supplication with my voice” because he wants his desires known.
• David said, “I pour out my complaint” (better translated: “troubled thoughts”) because he wants God to have full disclosure of what concerns him.
• David said, “I declare my trouble” because he wants God to see the situation fully.

And of course we see the real emphasis of the verses
In the fact that every line shows us where David pointed his prayers.

“to the LORD” or “before Him”

When these men want to know what David did,
• He doesn’t lay out some strategy for escaping Saul.
• He doesn’t lay out some keen plan for outwitting Achish.
• He doesn’t talk about his survival skills to find a cave.

When David is persecuted he goes straight to God
And he lays out before God every single detail.

THAT IS OBVIOUSLY GOOD ADVICE.

And it’s obvious that David’s prayer resonated with God
Because God sent his brothers and 400 men to join him in that cave.

We have here an example of a prayer of David
THAT GOD ANSWERED QUICKLY AND FULLY.

So the next question might well have been: WHAT DID YOU PRAY?
What did you say?

Teach me how to pray in such times of persecution.

And that is the second part of this Psalm.
David’s Declaration: What I do when I’m persecuted
#2 DAVID’S DESCRIPTION: What I pray
Psalms 142:3-7

This is the portion of the Psalm that we are expressly interested in.
Here David gets specific for us.

And we find, not only what David said,
But when you listen to his prayer
It also becomes clear what David believed.

Prayer and faith go hand in hand.
What we believe about God most certainly dictates how we pray to Him.

For the remainder of this Psalm we’re going to break down David’s prayer
Into 6 things David believed about God.

6 things David believed about God
And because of these things you will also see
6 ways David encouraged himself to respond to God in his persecution.

These are the things you must remember when you face persecution.
These are the realities about God you must usher up into
The forefront of your mind as you pray to Him in dangerous times.

So let’s look at them.
1) HE IS A GOD WHO SEES – Follow Him (3)

“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.”

David here speaks of a time when he was at his whit’s end.

“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me.”
Or, “When I wanted to quit”

• When I reached that point that I was totally beside myself.
• My endurance seemed gone, I certainly was out of answers.
• I didn’t know what to do.

But it was in that moment that I realized, “You knew my path”

You knew where I had been.
You knew where I had traveled.
And perhaps even more importantly, You know where I am headed.

Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

God has seen every aspect of this with David.
• He saw Saul’s rage.
• He saw Ahimelech’s kindness.
• He saw the danger David faced in Gath.
• He saw how David fled.

And what David is realizing now is that more than even just seeing,
GOD WAS DIRECTING HIS PATH.

God has been in sovereign control this entire time.
And God knows where David is headed next.

AND THAT IS GOOD,
Because while David knows danger is present,
He doesn’t know where it is…
“In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.”

David knows that Saul is out to get him,
But doesn’t know where his next move should be.

We studied last week:
Psalms 141:9 “Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me, And from the snares of those who do iniquity.”

So in David’s ignorance he prays to the God who sees.
• You know everything about this situation.
• You know where to walk and where to avoid.

The implied encouragement of David in such times is to: FOLLOW HIM
Yield to His word.
Obey His truth.
Wall according to His commands.

He alone knows the entire situation
He alone knows how to guide you through the mine field.

David is keenly aware of that in his persecution and it resonates in his prayer.

2) HE IS A GOD WHO STAYS – Approach Him (4)

“Look to the right and see; For there is no one who regards me; There is no escape for me; No one cares for my soul.”

Surely the arrival of the 400 has proven that
David might have been overreacting a little bit.

But certainly as he was alone in that cave he must have felt totally alone.
There was no one to help him.
There was no one to give him counsel.
There was no one to comfort him.

HE WAS ALONE.
Except he wasn’t. God was with him.

God never leaves us nor forsakes us.
He has promised to be with us until the end.

Paul had a similar moment near the end of his life.
2 Timothy 4:16-17 “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.”

This is a good thing to remember as well.
• Persecution has a way of isolating the persecuted.
• Persecution has a way of driving friends away as they protect themselves.

It is not uncommon that when a man is persecuted,
He is persecuted alone.
We saw even the disciples flee from Jesus in the garden.

But a tremendous reminder is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
God will never leave you.

Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

And here in that cave David learned that too.
Even when all else flee, GOD STAYS.
He is there.

So draw near to Him.
So approach Him.
So come before Him.

3) HE IS A GOD WHO SHELTERS – Rest in Him (5a)

“I cried out to You, O LORD; I said, “You are my refuge,”

One might be tempted to assume that the cave was a pretty good refuge,
But not to David.

David wasn’t hiding in a cave, he was hiding in the LORD.

And thus any comfort, any rest that David might achieve
Would not be because this cave was such a perfect hiding spot.

David would rest only because he knew that
God was keeping watch and protecting him.

We talked about this Wednesday night in youth.
• We had Noah floating in a boat.
• You might be tempted to think that Noah’s safety and security was bound up in that boat.
• But think about it for a moment.
• The whole earth was covered with water and Noah is alone in that boat.
• He would spend 1 year and 10 days in that boat.
• Do you suppose there were ever times where he wondered if he’d make it?

And yet we read with the youth:
Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.”

• And before long the ark rested.
• And then the dove rested.
• But all the while Noah’s rest was not in this boat, but in the fact that God remembered him.

We think of the disciples on the boat in the storm and Jesus is asleep.
• They wake Him up crying, “We are perishing!”
• Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith.
• They were trying to take refuge in a boat, Jesus wanted them to take refuge in Him.

The greatest plans and the greatest fortresses are still able to fall apart,
But taking refuge in God is true safety and peace.

That is actually what David learned back in Gath
And articulated in Psalm 56.
Psalms 56:3-4 “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”

David learned that God shelters and thus we rest in Him.
We must remember this too in dangerous and scary times.

4) HE IS A GOD WHO SATISFIES – Enjoy Him (5b)

“I said, “You are…My portion in the land of the living.”

This one is really amazing and must certainly be remembered
As we would definitely have a tendency to forget it.

But here is David in the midst of persecution.
• He faces the loss of all things.
• He has been run out of his home.
• He has no food and had to eat consecrated bread to survive.
• He found great danger in Gath.
• And now he is in a cave all alone.

It would be very easy for David to fall into despair
As he takes inventory of all that he has lost.

But David learned something.
God is not just to be petitioned in our persecution,
BUT GOD IS TO BE ENJOYED THERE.

Do you remember Paul’s famous statement to the Philippians?
Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

We all remember Paul talking about losing all things and gaining Christ.
But did you recognize what he said at the end?
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings…”

Paul learned in the midst of suffering
That there was a deeper fellowship with Christ to be gained.

He learned to enjoy Christ more during persecution than during times of ease.

I’m reminded of the Cory Ten Boom book “The Hiding Place”
She speaks of the first time she and her sister Betsy were stripped naked and paraded in front of the German officers at the prison camp.

Corrie Ten Boom wrote:
“How there could have been any pleasure in the sight of these stick-thin legs and hunger-bloated stomachs I could not imagine. Surely there is no more wretched sight than the human body unloved and uncared for.
“Nor could I see the necessity for the complete undressing: when we finally reached the examining room a doctor looked down each throat, another–a dentist presumably–at our teeth, a third in between each finger. And that was all. We trooped again down the long, cold corridor and picked up our X-marked dresses at the door.
“But it was one of these mornings while we were waiting, shivering in the corridor, that yet another page in the Bible leapt into life for me.
“He hung naked on the cross.
“…The paintings, the carved crucifixes showed at least a scrap of cloth. But this, I suddenly knew, was the respect and reverence of the artist. But oh–at the time itself, on that other Friday morning–there had been no reverence. No more than I saw in the faces around us now.
“‘Betsie, they took His clothes too.’
“‘Ahead of me I heard a little gasp. ‘Oh, Corrie. And I never thanked Him…’

There these women were in the midst of a German prison,
Stripped naked and humiliated
And in that moment they enjoyed Christ and the sacrifice He made.

That it is the “fellowship of His sufferings” Paul spoke of.

DAVID WAS DOING THE SAME.
Instead of falling into self-pity, David ascended into worship.

He reminded himself of that glorious treasure he had in God.
“You are…My portion in the land of the living.”

Asaph said:
Psalms 73:25 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.”

This must be remembered in times of persecution.

We pray to a God who sees
We pray to a God who stays
We pray to a God who shelters
We pray to a God who satisfies
5) HE IS A GOD WHO SAVES – Call on Him (6-7a)

“Give heed to my cry, For I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are too strong for me. Bring my soul out of prison, So that I may give thanks to Your name;”

Certainly NOT LOST in our moments of persecution
Is that fact that God also saves.

He is our one hope of deliverance.

Some might be tempted to see these 400 men who rushed to the cave as David’s deliverance, but they’d be foolish if they failed to see why they arrived.

GOD SENT THEM.
They were an answer to David’s prayer.

In our persecution we certainly do not lose sight of the fact
That our God saves.
Our God delivers.

That was the entire emphasis of David in Psalms 34 when God delivered him from Achish.
Psalms 34:15-18 “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

• David knew that God is just.
• David knew that God draws near to the brokenhearted and lowly.
• David cried out to God to be saved.

WE CERTAINLY REMEMBER THIS.
No situation is beyond hope.
No circumstance is beyond rescue.

So long as Jesus rests in the heavens,
Seated next to the right hand of the Father, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.

Hebrews 6:19-20 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Certainly in such times
• We remember God toppling the giant.
• We remember God shutting the mouths of the lions.
• We remember God opening Paul’s prison doors.

But more than any of that we remember God raising Jesus from the dead
Which is a reminder that there is literally nothing man can do to me
That God can’t undo.

He is a God who saves and like David we call on Him.

6) HE IS A GOD WHO SUCCEEDS – Wait on Him (7b)

“The righteous will surround me, For You will deal bountifully with me.”

That was David’s trust.
That was David’s hope.

He prayed that prayer alone in a cave.
And now he relates that prayer to the 400 righteous men who have surrounded him because they saw the evil mounting in Saul.

Again, this was a conviction David developed
Through this time of persecution.

When he entered this cave and sang songs of praise, he said:
Psalms 57:2-3 “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.”

David believed that.
David prayed in accordance with that.
And now David is standing in the fulfilment of that prayer.

GOD NEVER FAILS.
He accomplishes His purposes.

Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

These are the things to remember during moments of persecution
And these are the things we pray.

• He is a God who sees so we submit to follow Him.
• He is a God who stays so we draw near to Him
• He is a God who shelters so we rest in Him
• He is a God who satisfies so we enjoy Him
• He is a God who saves so we call on Him
• He is a God who succeeds so we wait on Him

We may not be persecuted today,
But persecution is promised and on that day remember how to pray.