All of us go through times that test our confidence, our faith and even our sanity. What’s important during these turbulent times is whether or not we seek God’s wisdom and guidance to get us through such times or just try to muscle it on our own.
King David, who wrote much of the book of Psalms, wrote about going through tough times and how he managed the stress as well as how he resolved problems. In Psalms 18, in three short verses, he lays out a good practice to follow when hard times hit us between the eyes.
In verse one he states the two fundamental truths he believed and how they guided his every step. He states his love for God and God’s strength for him. Sounds pretty simple but it’s not. David understood that you don’t start with the problem you start with the answer, which he believed was God. He voices his confidence and love for God first so he doesn’t get consumed with worry and doubt. He speaks faith before he articulates his problem. Why? Because if he, or we, start out with our problem we have a hard time seeing any solution. The problem gets bigger in our eyes and before you know it our faith and confidence get overcome by worry, doubt and fear.
[1] “I love You, O LORD, my strength.”
In verses two and three he states who God is to him. David understood what comes out of your mouth affects your confidence or hinders it. David was a strong believer in being verbal with his praise of God and his abilities because he believed God was able to strengthen him in his worst situations; like facing the bear, lion or even the giant Goliath. To David, God was not a warm and fuzzy idea but an actual resource in good times and bad. He uses terms like Rock, Fortress, Deliverer so that he encourages his own soul to literally run to God regardless of the problem. He finishes by declaring that God is his Shield, Salvation and Stronghold. Remember, David wrote the Psalms for Israel to sing. By singing them people would get inspired both by the words and the music.
Within the first 3 verses David takes his stand on the power and strength of God and NOT on his own weakness or struggle. He declares God is worthy and able to deliver him. Anyone who trusts in God should experience the same results.
Many of us focus on our problems and thus make our problems bigger while making it harder to believe God can change things. I am guilty of doing so until I remember men like David speaking from the past and telling me to put God first when facing difficulties.
[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.
[3] I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
In verses four and five David reveals his troubles are not some small problem, but are monumental things. He confides that the ungodly terrified him and death was knocking at his door. I think he writes about the gravity of his problems so we don’t think, “It’s Easy For Him To Say.” In fact, it wasn’t easy for him to trust in the Lord during such terrible times. The Philistines were hunting him down to kill him, as was king Saul.
[4] The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. [5] The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
By verse six he circles back to his original statement of trust. God was and is the one he looks to more than any man or group. Money is not his intimate savior, nor is his own skills or wits. He looks to God and thus he believes God listens and hears him.
[6] In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
Whatever your issues are, look to God first and foremost, and declare to God that he is trustworthy to help you through any trouble. Then tell the Lord about your troubles and when you end your prayer once again declare that God is worthy of your trust and confidence.
Let me close by telling you a story about the other day when I was in the Cracker Barrel restaurant for breakfast. I often go to breakfast restaurants to write my articles.
In this particular instance I was getting really annoyed by a group of guys who were meeting for a bible study. I was glad they were having a bible study, but the guy leading the group had such a loud voice and he was shouting like he was at some revival meeting with no sound system.
He was shouting at these guys about how they approach God when they come into God’s presence to pray. He is shouting to these guys DON’T EVER come into God’s presence telling God your problems because God deserves your praise not your complaint. At this point I just about got out of my chair to head over to tell these guys this guy yelling is full of horse manure! Yes, we should be thankful to God when we come into his presence, but God also wants us to be honest with him and is looking for honesty in the inmost parts of our souls. When we pray, God doesn’t need our flattery as much as he wants honest hearts that love and look to him for help in times of trouble. God is not looking for religious zealots.
Psalms 51:6
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Just so you know, I restrained myself from making a scene but boy was I ticked off. Not only were these men getting a twisted perspective about what God desires from us, there were all these other customers who had to listen to this yelling fool as well.
The world is watching and listening to us when we speak of God, whether we realize it or not, and if we aren’t careful we are going to represent God in an awful way which some lost souls will never recover.
How we believers handle stress reflects who we think God is. David believed God was with him even when his life looked like it was over. David ran from king Saul for 14 years and you know he wanted to give up many times. Each time he would encourage himself in the Lord and gain strength like the eagle. May we we take David’s advice and handle our stress and troubles like he did and honor the Lord in front of a watching world.
Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you? …….. Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Questions:
1) Has the stress of these times we live in become a heavy load?
Come before God and declare your confidence in him and then pour out your heart completely. Finally, end your prayer by declaring that God will prevail in your life.
2) Have you found yourself confessing worry, doubt and fear to others?
Read David’s Psalms 18 until it starts to sink in and set you free.
God is our hope and confidence in times of trouble,
Pastor Dale
Leave a Comment