Volume 27, Issue 1
Finding Rest In A Hurried World (Continued From Page 14) WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 15
In fact, the Scriptures tell us in the Old Testament of a couple of in- stances when David was leaving Jerusalem and coming back into Jerusalem, particularly during the re- bellion of Absalom and after some dif- ferent battles, that there would be a Benjamite that would ridicule him and slander his name and call him all kinds of things. And it’s interesting to me when I read that, that David didn’t do anything about it. He’s the king, but he didn’t do anything about it. I think it was for a couple of rea- sons. One, he understood that God was in control, that God would be his shield, that God would be his de- fender. But he also recognized that when you’re slandered, sometimes the best thing to do is not to say a word. Because when you’re slan- dered sometimes, and you try to make an argument, the only thing you’re doing is adding fuel to the fire. Because if you’re innocent, brothers and sisters, what defense can you give? Let God be your Defender. That’s what’s happening here. Notice in verse 1, “O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me and de- liver me. Or he will tear my soul like a lion, dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.” So, again, the con- text is slandering, being talked about. But what I want you to see is a godly response to all that. I want you to see what the godly man does, or the godly woman does, living in these days. First of all, from verse 1, we see that the godly man recognizes that he needs help to live his life for God’s glory. We need help to live this life. No man is an island. There’s no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian. Now, I’ve known people like that who thought, “Well, I don’t need to be with my brothers and sisters, I can just do my own thing.” I’m telling you, if you think you can do your own thing, and you just kind of get on the outskirts of the body, you’re easy pickings for the enemy. You know where the safest place to be is in the assembly? Right in the center of the action. Because the enemy is going to look for those on the periphery, those who are start- ing to stray off a little bit, those who are starting to say, “Well, you know, I don’t really need that.” Listen, you need the body of Christ — we need each other. There’s a reason why the writer to the Hebrews said that birds of a feather flock together. Okay, he didn’t say that exactly. He said, “Do not for- sake the assembling of yourselves to- gether, as is the manner of some.” You’ve heard me say this over the years, and this is why I say it — for a believer, our appointed place on the Lord’s Day or whatever day you choose to gather together, is with the fellowship of believers. I wonder about someone’s relation- ship if you have to constantly be prod- ded or coached to be with other believers. If you belong to Him, you’ll want to be there. And if there are things in your life that are keeping you from assembling, get rid of those things in your life. Amen?
So, we need help to live this life. Why? Because when you live for God, you will be opposed by the world. When you live for God, the world will oppose you, and you can’t handle what the world throws at you without God. That’s why David starts this psalm as he does. He says, “O Lord, my God.” “My God.” We each have a personal relationship with God, you understand that? Personal, individual. He is your God. He is my God. He is my God by faith, He is my God by covenant. He is your God by faith, and your God by covenant. “My God, in you I take refuge.” I don’t take refuge in my spouse. I love my wife, and she completes me, and she is my strength, but I do not take refuge in my spouse. God is my shield, and my protector, and my de- fender. Because guess what? My wife will disappoint me. And guys, you will disappoint her. In God, you will never be disappointed. Amen? He is constant, 24/7. One of many things I hope you’ve received so far is that there are sev- eral ways you may approach the Scriptures. Initially, you always want to approach them within the context in which they were written because context is king. So, you always look at the immediate meaning of what’s going on and I’ve explained that be- fore. The context here is slander, gossip, ridicule, and being verbally attacked — those kinds of things. And David is praying. In fact, he is singing unto the Lord. That’s what that word there, “Shiggaion,” means: it means a song of life, a song sung with high notes and low notes. And I think that de- scribes life, doesn’t it? Because sometimes there are highs, and other times there are lows, and we strive to have a balanced life, don’t we? But that’s not always the case, and things happen. And so sometimes we find our lives going somewhat like this. So that’s what we see here in this Psalm 7. God Is Sovereign, So We Can Rest In Him This Psalm gives us a picture — and I told you I had eight points. We covered three of them in the previ- ously. But I’ve taken the approach that this gives us a picture of godli- ness; it gives us a picture of how we are to live or rest, understanding that God is sovereign. Now, that’s one of those great doctrines of Christianity that we really benefit by understand- ing as fully as we can. Because there are some things concerning God’s sovereignty, and let’s just face it, we have disagreements on. There are people much wiser than I, much more studied than I, who disagree with one another on this topic of God’s sover- eignty: how far-reaching is it? How encompassing is it? What is the depth of it? But this idea of godliness, resting in a hurried world — is anybody not living a life that just seems to be going 90 miles an hour, 24/7? Or is it just me? Listen, if you’ve learned how to escape that vicious, vicious cycle, I’d like to talk to you, because maybe you have some pointers for me. I think it characterizes life today,
especially life in America. It just seems like that’s how it is. And that’s not a criticism; it’s just an observation. And if that is how it is, then what do we need to be able to live in that con- text? Because it doesn’t do any good to say, “Well, I hate this. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.” You’re still in it. You’ve got to learn to cope with it, or better yet, overcome it. So how do we do that? Three Points To Consider Verse 1. Notice it says, “O Lord my God.” David is calling out, or appealing, to a covenant God — a relational God. He is saying God desires to have a re- lationship with us. Now, if you want to strip the gears of your brain sometime, try to figure that out: why the Creator of the universe would care to have a per- sonal, one-on-one relationship with you. I’ve thought about that a lot in the 43 years I’ve been a believer, and I still marvel at why God cares about me. And I know part of it is because I under- stand what a wretch I am. I understand who I am in all my frailties, and all my faults, and all my warts, and yet God loves me anyway. Now, that is a mys- tery to me. A mystery in the sense that I don’t understand it. I know what the Scripture says, and I am so thankful for that assurance that He loves me, but it is a mystery. So, in this first verse, I find point num- ber one for us. David says, “O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me.” So, point number one, folks, is that the believer, the Christian man or woman, recognizes that he needs help to live his life for the glory of God. He can’t do it by himself. Some of you may know that from ex- perience. That hurts, doesn’t it? When you kick your foot against the rock or run your head against the wall, that hurts. And you would think after once or twice of doing that, we wouldn’t do it anymore. But it seems like we still do it again and again and again. We need God, broth- ers and sisters, to live this life for His glory. Now, just as soon as you determine that you’re going to live your life for His glory, I’m guaranteeing you — the day that you determine, vow in your heart before the Lord, that “I am going to do things Your way,” the world is going to come against you. They will. Because when they catch a glimpse of a right- eous man or woman trying to live their life for the glory of God, you will experi- ence opposition. It’s just a matter of
when, not if.
13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We misapply that Scrip- ture sometimes, but if you read chapter three, you’ll see the context, and I’ll leave you to do that on your own. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT MONTH Dr. Mike Spaulding
So, we must learn how to handle what the world throws at us, right? We must learn how to handle it. And I think that’s one of the secrets that Paul was trying to ex- plain to us in the book of Philippians. You can read that on your own for a devotional; chapters 3 and 4 would be good in this present context. In fact, chapter 3 is the context of what he says in chapter 4, verse
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