Evening Prayer

Christmas and a happy New Year's Day. 2011 is gone. No, 2010 is gone. Wow.

And 2011 is here. So we're one year closer to the end. Why is that?

Because I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That promise has sustained us through 2010. It held in 2010, and it's going to hold in 2011. And so we're in good hands, and we have every reason to be confident as we look to the future.

Our memory verse this morning is from Proverbs 23, verses 13 and 14, and it's especially for parents.

Wisdom is not hard, or it is hard to pick up. It's not easy to pick up. And it's not easy to pass on to our children either.

Sometimes it takes the rod. And the rod isn't popular today, but either is wisdom. So we're going to have to choose which one we want.

So what is the great fear behind spanking today? What are the experts all up in arms about? They are concerned that if you spank the child, they will die. Maybe not immediately, not physically, but you're going to do irreparable harm.

But Solomon knew better. The rod won't kill them. They will survive it. And more than that, they will survive because of it. They will survive because of it. And so if you punish them with a rod, they will not die.

So parents, let's be serious about doing discipline God's way. He knows what He's talking about. He's made us. And so we need to obey Him.

Let's say it together. It's from Proverbs 23, 13 and 14. And it begins, Proverbs 23, 13 and 14.

Do not withhold discipline from a child. If you punish him with a rod, he will not die. Punish him with a rod and save his soul from death.

Well, it's our privilege to have Pastor Paul Martin from Grace Fellowship Church Toronto with us today. He'll be preaching in the morning. And one other announcement I think we need to make.

Two weeks ago, we made the announcement for Caleb and Mary, their engagement. And Mary's sister, Rachel, is also engaged.

Rachel, can you tell us about your fiancé really quick? And what's his name?

Alright. So we're rejoicing in God's goodness to Rachel. Dave Wessner has set up a fund. If you want to contribute to that, you can see him.

Not tax deductible. No. Not tax deductible at all. Well, let's pray and ask God's blessing on our day. Heavenly Father, we thank You that You were so faithful to us in 2010.

And thank You that we can look forward to Your faithfulness, Your goodness in 2011. Thank You that though the sun and the moon and the stars and our world changes, You do not change like those shifting shadows.

Father, thank You that You have loved us with an everlasting love. And so we stand on the brink of a great ocean of Your goodness that we are going to experience one way or the other this year.

And we thank You that Your goodness is as great as You are. And You are for us. And that means all of Your goodness and Your wisdom and Your power, all of that is for us.

And so we rejoice in You. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus who purchased all these blessings for us on the cross. We have sinned against great goodness.

We have sinned so much in the past year. And yet it just magnifies Your grace more and more. Will You please cleanse us from our sin?

Will You give us grace that we would hate it? Will You please sanctify us in this coming year? Father, I pray for this day and ask that You would meet us in Your Word, that You would teach us more about Yourself.

Will You, Holy Spirit, come and speak these truths into our hearts, that they would be lived out in our lives. Will You please give me grace to speak?

Will You please give the audience here ears to hear? And Father, we pray that You would not only meet us in this room, but in the other classrooms of this building, that You would bless our children, that You would bless their teachers.

Father, we look with confidence to You because of who You are. And we ask that You would hear us for Jesus' sake. And it's in His name I pray. Amen.

In this Sunday school, we're going through Dale Ralph Davis' book, The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life, Psalms 1-12.

And from Psalm 3 last week, you heard something of the muck of life that the Psalms, or that Davis is talking about.

And just as a way of review to get our minds going, what was the historical situation in Psalm 3? What was the situation that David wrote that psalm in?

That's for you to answer. Fleeing from Absalom. That's right. It was the rebellion of Absalom.

Absalom had forced David to flee Jerusalem. David's government was, in all effect, in shambles. It was broken. And some of his wisest, most powerful men had joined Absalom.

And so now David is running for his life. And Psalm 3 drops us right into that situation. It drops us right into some real muck.

So how do the righteous live when things get dirty, when things get messy? Well, Psalm 3 tells us. It shows us how the righteous are to live in that situation.

And it does it by opening up David's heart to us. It doesn't do it theoretically with abstract statements. It does it by opening David's heart and showing us how this righteous man dealt with life.

And I think really that is the beauty and the glory of the psalms. And that's why for generations, Old Testament believers and New Testament believers have gravitated toward the psalms.

Because it meets us where we live. And the beautiful thing is, it doesn't leave us where it meets us. It takes us further up, further in, into God.

And that's really one of the beautiful things about psalms. So how many times have you, brothers and sisters, circumstances have gone bad.

Things have turned south. And there you are. And you found something in the psalms to be exactly what you were looking for. So your job situation, it just gets torn to pieces.

Or a close loved one passes away. Or your children rebel. The doctor gives you bad news. And there you are in the muck of life.

And your heart is churning. Do you know what I'm saying? Your mind is racing. Your heart is churning. You don't know what to do. You're all aflutter. You're like a wounded bird. And then you try to pray.

And there's nothing there. It feels like you can't get the words out. You can't get a hold of your problem. You can't get a hold of God. And then you go to the psalms. And the words that you needed.

The view of God that you needed. You find there. And you find the promises that quiet your heart. And you find the new glasses that help you see life differently.

So psalms is a beautiful book. And I think I can speak for most of you when I say I just thank God for it. It has met me time and time again exactly where I needed.

And there's nothing like it in the whole world. Psalms is a very cathartic book. Do you know what I mean?

It gives us... Jim says no. It means... It gives us the words that we need. When our feelings and our thoughts are trapped in us and we just can't put them into words, we find the words that we need in psalms.

And it doesn't only give us those kind of things, what we're looking for. It gives us wisdom. I don't know if you have ever thought of psalms as a wisdom book. But just think about what's surrounding it.

Right before psalms is the book of Job. And Job is all about suffering and all about wisdom and suffering. And right after psalms is Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs.

And those are all wisdom books. And so all those books, including psalms, pulls us away from our normal, sinful, human ways of dealing with life.

And it gives us a God view. A view of God's eye perspective of how we should live. And so psalms teaches us how to live with God as emotional, rational people in a sinful world.

And like I said, it doesn't do it theoretically. It does it by putting us into concrete situations. It does it by putting us into the psalmist's heart and in their life.

And that's what we have next in Psalm 4. So if you're not there, turn in your Bibles to Psalm 4. And we're going to look at this psalm and see what it teaches us about living life in a sinful world.

Psalm 4. And we're going to read the psalm in its entirety. First, the heading.

For the director of music with stringed instruments, a psalm of David. Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress.

Be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call to him. In your anger, do not sin. When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. Many are asking, who can show us any good? Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.

You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Well, we can't be sure precisely of the historical setting, but many commentators think the historical setting of Psalm 4 is the same as Psalm 3 with Absalom's rebellion.

And they are perhaps connected in that way. I mean, we can't tell for sure. But they are connected in a different way. Psalm 3 seems to be a morning psalm.

And you can see that in verse 5. It says, I lie down and sleep and I wake again because the Lord sustains me. In Psalm 3, verse 5. In Psalm 4, on the other hand, it seems to be an evening psalm.

A psalm for the evening time. You saw that in verse 4. He talks about lying on your beds. And in verse 8, he says, I will lie down and sleep in peace. So it's a morning or an evening psalm.

But whatever the historical situation, whatever the trouble is in particular in Psalm 4, we know it's a valuable trouble. Because out of that trouble came this psalm that they were able to use in the public worship.

And so God was controlling this situation and He was inspiring the psalmist. And so that His reaction, His prayer, actually became more than just His prayer.

It became a prayer and a psalm for all of us. All of God's people. And so, it's a prayer that's intent on correcting our thinking.

It's intent on correcting our thinking and increasing our faith. And so we just want to see, what do we find in this psalm? What do we see in Psalm 4?

Well, first we see urgency and confidence. Urgency and confidence. Let me ask you, as you look at verse 1, how can you tell that David is urgent?

Just look at it and tell me, what do you see about it that speaks of urgency? Yes, there. Answer me.

What else? He wants relief. Yes. It's sort of, there's nothing in particular, but it's the repetition.

When we're urgent, when we're desperate, we don't often have big long sentences, do we, when we're talking. This verse is full of little phrases and he's very repetitious.

He says, answer me, give me, be merciful, hear my prayer. All in one verse. He's saying, Lord, I need help. And those are words of urgency. And so, when are you urgent?

Well, it's when you're desperate for help. When you desperately need help. And so, if you're a mother and your child is injured in a car accident and you're calling for help, there's urgency there.

And so, when you have spent your last dollar and the funds are all dried up and there's still more bills to pay, then you can become urgent in prayer when you're desperate for it.

And so, out of this anguish, David prays. And that urgency honors God. That urgency honors God.

See, when we're desperate for help, that, and we turn to the Lord, that honors Him because that makes Him look great. And so, when we are at our neediest, when we are at our weakest, when we're at our smallest, and we turn to God, that makes Him look big.

He looks strong when we are weak and He looks big when we are small. And that's how David feels. And that's how David prays. But this urgency is backed up with confidence.

With confidence. David knows God's character. David knows God's character. And that's where this confidence comes from. He says, Oh, my righteous God.

Or, probably better translated, Oh, God, my righteousness. That is, He's the God who will show David to be righteous.

He is the God who will show that David is right even though he's misjudged, even though he is slandered and persecuted. God knew, or David knew, that God was just.

He was fair. And circumstances had taken a turn for the worse. But God had not changed. The righteous character of God had not changed.

And so David could pray with confidence because he knew God. Remember those words from Daniel. The people who know their God will display strength and take action.

See, it's the people that know God who aren't moved when things go bad. So when they're caught up in the storm of rebellion that we talked about in Psalm 2, when mankind's sin sweeps them away, they know they're God.

And so, even as things are going bad, they're standing still. Because God is their righteousness. He will vindicate them.

He hasn't changed. He hasn't abandoned them. And so they can pray confidently. So, brothers and sisters, are things not going so hot for you right now?

Are you facing fears and doubts? And men are attacking you. Well, where can you go?

What could be your confidence in this time? Except for God who is unchanged. And the things that He has done for you in the past, He will do for you again.

That's David's hope in this situation. The words in verse 1 where it says, give me relief from my distress, is actually in the past tense.

God has already done this for David. He's already given him relief. He's already given him space.

Things were tight. He was in distress. He was in a tight place and God made room for him. And God had already done that in the past. And so as David thought about that, as David thought about what God has done in the past, he looked forward and he used logic and he said, God will do that again for me.

He's already done this for David and so David is expecting for God to do it again. So, what are you facing, brothers and sisters?

brothers? Whatever it is. Go back in your mind and see how has God saved you, rescued you in the past.

So go in your, back in your memory or flip through the pages of your journal and look to see what has God done in the past for me.

And you can know that God has not changed. The things that He has done in the past He will do again for you. Has God given you relief before?

Then He'll do it again. And so, David thought and as he prayed, he thought about who God was, he thought about God's character and he had confidence because of that.

See, David expected God to have mercy on him. David expected God to have mercy on him. And that's why there's these words of answer me and be merciful to me and give me and hear my prayer.

The biblical picture of God is that He is easily persuaded to have mercy. He's easily persuaded to have mercy. So many times the psalmist say things like, God, look, or Lord, hear me.

Well, why do they say things like, look at me and hear me? It's because they know that God is merciful and that all God has to do is look at them in their situation and He'll have mercy.

As soon as God sees, as soon as He hears, He has mercy. If you want to do a very profitable Bible study, go through the Gospels and look for the places where Jesus sees a person or hears a person.

As soon as Jesus sees or hears a person in need, immediately after that, Jesus goes and helps that person. So, He sees the man born blind in John 9 and He's healed.

He sees the man with a crippled hand at the synagogue and everyone else sees him and they're planning this trap for Jesus and Jesus sees that man and has mercy on him.

He heals him. He looks at the widow of Nain as they're going out of the city and they're burying her son in a coffin behind her. He sees her and He goes and heals her son and He brings him back to her.

That's our God. As soon as He sees, as soon as He hears, He's quick to show mercy. And so David understands that. He knows that.

And so that's why he asks God, hear me, help me. He knows God. So he's confident. Well, what's the point of all that for us?

The point is simply this, that when we pray, we should pray with both urgency and thoughtfulness. Urgency and thoughtfulness. David thought about God.

His prayer was based on his theology. And he prayed urgently. They go hand in hand. Urgency and thoughtfulness. And so prayer just isn't this technique to self-medicate ourselves.

Um, prayer is worship. And worship needs to be both intelligent and urgent. Well, that's the first thing we find in this prayer.

Urgency and confidence. Secondly, we find warning and counsel. Warning and counsel. David does something very interesting, at least I think.

In the middle of his prayer to God, he begins talking to different people. He starts giving warning and counsel to other people. In verses 2 and 3, he addresses the slanderers.

He addresses the people that are attacking him. These are his enemies. They lie about him to others. And that's what you see in verse 2. When it says, How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? You see, there's a little letter if you have the NIV and it says, How long will you love lies?

That's actually the idea here. These people have turned David's glory. That's his good name and they have drug it in the dirt. They've put his good name to shame and they have loved lies about him.

And so, they tell lies about him to others and they love those lies. They love what they're saying and they're spreading those about him. So, there they are.

They're attacking him. So, what is David's defense? And really, this is very good for us. What do we do when men are attacking us?

When men are ruining our reputation? When men are thinking badly of us and believing lies about us? What do we do? Well, look at what David does. He defends himself and he says, know the Lord has set apart the godly for himself.

David knows that he has the Lord's special attention. The word godly there is related to that very familiar Hebrew word chesed, which is steadfast love, loving faithfulness.

It's covenant faithful love. It's related to that. And it means that this godly one is loved by God and in turn loves God.

And so, it means something like covenant one. The one that God has taken into covenant with him. And so, the Lord has set apart his covenant one to him. And so, David says, your lies are just that.

They're lies. The fact is that the Lord has chosen me. He has set me apart. And I'm in covenant with the Lord and he will hear me when I call to him.

And so, that's David's defense. You're saying this about me, but that is not true. This is who I really am. I am God's covenant one. And so, God loves me.

He hears me when I pray and he loves me with a never-stopping, never-dying, unbreaking, always-and-forever love. God is not going to give up on me. And he loves me.

That's who I am. One time, Thomas Jefferson was out riding his horse and he came to a hotel in Baltimore and, you know, he was pretty dirty at his working clothes on and he went into this hotel and the owner of the hotel said, sorry, we don't have room for you.

You're going to have to go away. And Jefferson asked again, do you have a room? He was turned down again. And so, Jefferson left. A few minutes later, one of the owner's friends hustled in and he said, do you know who that man was?

That man was the Vice President of the United States. That was Thomas Jefferson. And can you imagine the horror that this owner felt? But it was too late. The fact that he thought he was just some dirty farmer, it didn't change the reality that Thomas Jefferson was the Vice President of the United States.

What that man thought about him was irrelevant to what he was. And that's what David is saying. You could think all those lies about me, but they're not true.

I am God's covenant one. And he has loved me. And so, if people don't like you, if they're intent on slandering you and gossiping about you and believing lies about you, it doesn't change the fact of who you are.

You're the Lord's covenant one. And he has set you apart for himself. Yes? So I was just thinking that that body is because it is a testimony of God's work in your life.

They may not recognize it as that, but most of the people outside of life are body-like that. It doesn't know that you are. that because you have that problem with God, it's a right system in country.

So you're saying that the fact that you're not bothered by their slander and their lies? not to know what like. Okay. You're making sense to me.

I hope so to others. Yeah. The fact is that it is a witness. When we have confidence in God, then when we take our identity from who we are in Christ, it does give us a witness to this world who has so they normally tie their identity to what other people think about them.

And we are not that way. they. Yes, they. They. No reason to be frightened.

It's actually, yeah, a sign to them. It's a witness to them. Do we have any other comments? Questions? Okay.

So, David talks to the slanderers. And now, he turns his attention in verse four to the angry. The people that are angry. And, we can't spend a lot of time in these verses, but you can see that in verse four and five, they are angry.

And your anger, do not sin. it's easy to imagine that if this really is Absalom's rebellion, that as David is leaving Jerusalem, and he has this group of people with him, that no doubt that some of them were very angry.

They love David. These were his friends, his advisors, and so they're upset. It seems that they're upset with what is going on. You know, these are the hotheads.

they don't like the fact that David's being kicked out, and he's on the run. And so they're just generally upset with this situation. Well, what does David say to them?

How does he counsel them? Well, in your anger, do not sin. In your anger, don't sin. Well, how can you be angry and not sin? I think it's by one very good way of being angry and not sinning is by doing what is commanded at the end of verse 4.

Be silent. Be silent. By keeping your mouth shut, by keeping your thoughts to yourself, you're able to be angry and not sin.

So, think to yourself while you're lying in bed, but don't go spouting off to everyone about what you're angry about because that easily leads to sin.

When words are many, sin is not absent. So, David says be silent. One old Italian educator once said, a youth who is silent at most commits one fault, but he who is talkative commits at least 50.

Do you understand? If you're silent, well, at the most, you've just sinned in one way. But if you're talkative, sin is going to flow and abound.

And so, the wrong thing to do when you're under attack is to huff and puff and anger because it doesn't bring about the righteous life that God desires.

sinners. I was recently eating with someone and it just struck me a number of times as he's telling me different stories about he said something like, I was so angry and I let them know it.

Have you ever heard people like that? I was so angry and I let them know it. And they boast about it. Let's not be people like that.

that isn't wise, that isn't following Psalm 4, and that easily leads to sin. So what should we do instead?

Well, it says offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord. Offer right sacrifices, that is worship God and trust God. Instead of talking a lot in our anger, we should direct our discouragement to God.

We should worship God and we should trust in Him. See, a lot of times people are angry because they think by being angry they can fix the problem. They find that there's strength there in being angry.

They feel strong. And really what that does is take you off of the Lord. It takes you off depending on the Lord and it leads to sin. It doesn't lead to any sort of resolution.

And so David says instead of being angry and spouting off and holding that anger within you, you need to worship God and trust in Him. That is the way of the righteous and the muck of life.

So next David turns to the despairing. Now it's easy to imagine these people too if this is Absalom's rebellion. Absalom has driven them out of the city.

They've pretty much lost everything and they begin to despair. And according to the psalm, many keep on saying, who can show us good? Who can show us any good? So they are in the pit of discouragement.

So what does David say to them? Well, I think before we hear what David says, we need to realize that this is who we normally are.

This is the way we normally react in circumstances. When a situation goes bad, oftentimes instead of being angry, we can go to despair.

And we can even do that vicariously. So let's say we're praying for a person. They've lost their job and we're praying and praying and praying for a new job and nothing seems to be happening.

Or they're sick and we're praying for healing. Or we're trying to work on a situation and it's not getting any better. Well, oftentimes our faith fails us and we despair.

We don't think there's any hope. Well, what does David say to that? Well, he lifts the line out of the worship service of ancient Israel and he sort of paraphrases the priestly blessing.

And he says, let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. So David's response to the despairing is very sensitive. It's very careful.

It's very kind. O Lord, shine on us. Shine on that person. Things are dark. Faith is failing. And we need your light.

We need your smile. Brothers and sisters, do you see what kind of concern we should have for one another despair when a brother or sister is in despair?

You know, it's really easy in those situations to just give advice, isn't it? That's what we normally do. We suddenly become a genius and we know exactly the right thing that that person needs to do.

It's say and think and feel. But David says, David wasn't callous. And he wasn't instantly giving advice. He turned to the Lord for those people.

And he said, Lord, shine on them. So he wasn't saying stop whining, stop your belly aching. He loved them and he prayed, God, shine on these people.

Well, that's the teaching of the psalm. That's the warning and the counsel to the slanderers, to the angry, to the despairing. And lastly, we meet with joy and peace.

That's how the psalm ends, joy and peace and believing. So David moves first to God, then to the people in the situation, and then he comes back to the Lord at the end.

And so in the midst of everything, David is experiencing massive joy. That's remarkable. And that joy, it comes from the Lord.

Lord, the envelope comes with a return address, and it's from the Lord. It's from His hand. He says, You have filled my heart with greater joy.

It comes from God. And you notice that His joy is independent. He says, You have filled me with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

So the joy of David's enemies, what is that based on? Why are they so happy? Possessions, prosperity.

So their grain is abounding. They have this wonderful harvest. The new wine is abounding. They have a wonderful grape harvest. So they're happy. Their tax income thing is just perfect.

They love it. Their health is restored. Their 401k is booming. And they're happy.

They're happy. But when those things are cut off, their joy flies away. And David says, My joy isn't tied to those things.

Because as soon as those things fly away, they're gone. And so we shouldn't envy the wicked. When they're happy, we shouldn't envy them.

Instead, we should pity them. Their joy has no anchor. It comes and goes with the tide, and soon it's going to be washed up on the shore. It's going to disappear.

But David says, I have greater joy than that. And his joy is independent of all prosperity, because here he is. He's in the muck of life. And he says, my joy is greater than even their joy.

Here I am at my worst, and my joy is still better than theirs when they are at their best. And his joy is anchored by faith. It's by faith in the Lord.

In Romans 15, 13, Paul says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. So, faith is a lifeline for joy.

And faith connects us to God. Faith is like this four-inch thick rope that ties our ship to God's dock of joy.

And so, Paul could say, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

And listen to where it comes from. I can do anything. I can do everything. Through him who gives me strength. So, Paul's joy is tied to God's strength.

Why can Paul be happy in any and every situation? Why can David be happy in this situation when everything has gone wrong? Because God is strong for him.

He's harassed and he's in need, but his joy is in the Lord and so it stands. And so the winds are blowing, the hurricane is beating against the house and the house is standing because it's built on the Lord.

And so he has joy and he has peace. I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Do you see the glory of being one of God's people?

people. So the world rages and the people are at war and there's a lot of sorrow. There's great burdens!

And here the Lord's loved ones are and they're sleeping. He gives us peace and his peace transcends all understanding.

In October 1555, Bloody Mary, Queen of England, executed Nicholas Ridley, the bishop in the Church of England.

And maybe you've heard this story, but the night before the sentence was to be carried out, Nicholas Ridley's brother came to visit him and sit with him and talk with him in his last hours.

And as the night fell on Nicholas's last night on earth, his brother offered to sit up with him and talk with him and stay with him through the night.

And Ridley turned down his offer and said that he meant to go to bed that night and sleep as silently as he ever did. And, you know, it makes sense.

if this is your last night on the earth, why ruin it by not getting any sleep? So, he went to sleep and the next morning he was burned to death.

I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. We shouldn't think those words are unreal or heroic or extraordinary because they're not.

This is just simply what happens when God's people trust in the Lord. When they lay down in his strong arms, they can sleep on their last night. Isaiah said, you will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.

That's how it is for the Lord's loved ones. Well, may God give us the same joy and peace in believing him through this whole year. Lord, he is good.

Let's remember that, brothers and sisters. How about we pray right now? We'll pray for that. Our Lord, we thank you that you do meet us where we are.

and we think of Emily's mother, Cindy. You know, she is in a very bad place physically.

Lord, thank you that you have not abandoned her, that you have set her apart for yourself and you have loved her. And we pray, Father, that you would give her joy and peace in believing that her faith would be a witness to the doctors and to the nurses and to everyone else in her that she meets.

And Lord, we pray that you would see her through this circumstance and extend her life if it would be your will. Will you please bless us?

Will you please help us to remember Psalm 4? Will you nail it into our minds and keep it there?

Make it secure that we could live on it. In Jesus' name, Amen. We are dismissed.