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.
