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On Jun 02, 2019: Psalm 143 How A Servant Of God Prays In Distress · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. This morning as we look at Psalm 143, we're looking at another one of the Psalms of David. And we've seen a variety of psalms, different kinds of songs and hymns and praises as we've been working our way through the psalms. Today in Psalm 143, we get to look at this prayer of David. It's as though, you know, David just prayed. wrote down this prayer that he had in this time with the Lord in the situation that he faced. Now, if there's anybody that you're going to learn about prayer from, David's, you know, in the top 10 list. He's a good person to learn from because, well, God himself described David as a man after his own heart. He declared that David pursued the heart of God and sought after and sought to know God. And that was a core part of David's purpose in his life. He wanted to know God. And so he had a real good relationship with God. And we see that evident through his Psalms, through his life and the things that he did in his relationship with God. Again, we've seen different kinds of psalms as we've worked our way through these together. We saw last week a messianic psalm and the prophecies about that Savior that would come. We've seen psalms of praise and rejoicing. We've seen psalms of crying out in sorrow. But here we see a psalm that is a prayer. A beautiful and important prayer of David that helps us to face similar situations. I've titled the message this morning, How a Servant of God Prays in Distress. How do we pray when we're in times of difficulty or distress? When there is stress upon us, anxiety in our hearts, when we are overwhelmed, how can we pray and what should we be praying in those kinds of situations? Here we see David doing that, and he records it for us as an example that we might be able to learn from it and to follow this example. Now, it is important to stop and remember and consider this morning as we talk about praying in times of distress that as children of God, as people of God, as those who love God and walk with God, it is a reality of life that we go through times of distress, right? And sometimes we need to be reminded of this. Sometimes we're surprised by it as we think, you know, I'm walking with the Lord. I'm trying to do what's right. I'm spending time with God and God's working in my life. And we can kind of be shocked and surprised when out of the blue, it seems like there is this, this difficulty, this affliction, this overwhelming situation that we face. And we might be surprised in those instances to think that David, the man after God's own heart, experienced great distress. He describes it just a little taste of what's to come here in verse 4. He says, "...therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me, my heart within me is distressed." We don't know exactly the context, what David is actually facing at this time, but it could have been one of those times as he was in the wilderness for many years being chased by Saul and on the verge of death pretty much every day and being rescued supernaturally by the Lord. It could have been one of those situations he's describing this place of being overwhelmed and distressed. There was other battles that David fought. There was other hard situations that David faced, perhaps Absalom's rebellion. And in that time where, again, his life was threatened and he was overwhelmed with the situation at hand, whatever it was, he expresses his heart in the midst of this. And it's a heart that is just completely buried in stress, anxiety, affliction, and difficulty. And so in the midst of that, recognizing that even God's beloved children, those who are faithful to God and honor God and walk with God, all of us, we face these times of stress and distress, these overwhelming situations. The apostle Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter 4. He says, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. How many times do we think it's strange when we face distress, right? We think it's strange. It's such a surprise. It's such a shock. Maybe we would be surprised and shocked to learn about the depths of David's heart as he deals with this affliction. But Peter reminds us that this is not some strange thing. This is part of life for us as believers. And in fact, these times of distress and these trials that we face are actually occasions for us to rejoice. Not in a weird way like, oh, you know, I love the pain so much. Suffering is so amazing. I love it. You know, not like that, but just in the reality that as we face these sufferings and difficulties, we that we hold fast to those promises of eternity where the Lord says it's going to be exceeding joy. And the suffering that we experience here in this life will be turned to joy in eternity even to a greater degree. It would be proportionate, right? For the amount of suffering that we have here, there will be that much reward and then some in eternity as a result. And so there's reason to joy because we have a God who is with us in the midst of it and the God who promises that it will be worth it Even though there is distress, even though there is affliction, it will be worth it in eternity. And so we can hold fast to the Lord, but we still have to endure it. We still have to walk through it. And here we find this prayer of David that helps us to learn how to endure, to pray to the Lord in the midst of the distresses that we face. And so we're going to look at this prayer and learn from David, four points that we'll learn from him, four things to consider as we face times of distress and seek to come to the Lord in prayer. The first thing we'll see is found in verse 1 and 2. Here's point number one. A servant prays because God is faithful and righteous. Looking again at verse 1, it says, As David begins this prayer, he is in a desperate situation. He is in intense pain and affliction, but he doesn't start out with the cries of pain. He starts out Considering the faithfulness and the righteousness of God. Now, he does begin, of course, saying, hear my prayer, right? There are many times where we can look at different examples of prayer in the Bible. and there's different maybe formulas that we might try to come up with, different patterns, right? Okay, when you pray, you have to use the acronym ACTS, and then you walk through this. Or when you pray, you know, picture the temple courtyard, and then walk through, and there's all these different stages, right? And when you pray, and those are good. I'm not dissing those. But at the same time, it's also okay to throw all of those things out and come immediately to the I'm coming to you, hear my prayer, and I'm coming to you on the basis of your faithfulness and your righteousness. David here is coming to the Lord. He's approaching to God. He's looking for an answer. He's looking for help. And as he calls out to the Lord, he's making sure to keep his heart in a place that he is not expecting God to answer because he's Well, David says, I'm so faithful. Now he's expecting God to answer because God is so faithful. David is not coming to say, I'm righteous, Lord. So make sure that you answer my request. I deserve for you to respond and to rescue me from this situation. David here is stopping to consider. He's basing his request on the faithfulness of God and the righteousness of God. Going on into verse 2, David says, David here is coming with humility. He's coming with an accurate understanding of himself, his condition. He's like, Lord, I want to have an audience with you. I want to meet with you, but not in a courtroom, a trial of judgment, because... I'm not righteous. No one is righteous. No one is able to enter into the presence of God on the basis of their own goodness, on the basis of their own righteousness. No one living is righteous. No one is good. No one seeks after God. No, not one. That is the condition of every human being, every single one of us. And so as David comes to the Lord, he first of all comes, he begins to pray because he God is faithful and righteous. It's a really important perspective to have as we seek to call out to the Lord in prayer. We can oftentimes in our lives find ourselves in a position, we don't do it intentionally perhaps, but we find ourselves seeking to receive from God, seeking to have an audience with God, and we're thinking somehow we have deserved it, we have earned it, because we Well, look at how my devotional life is. And boy, better than ever before, I've been walking with the Lord. I've been seeking the Lord. I've been doing things for the Lord. I've been, you know, really, really doing well. And so we then connect that to, well, So, you know, God, please hear me because look what I have done. Look at my righteousness. And we've been spending some time considering this on Wednesdays, working through Galatians and now in Ephesians. The grace of God reminds us that none of us ever earn or deserve access to God or anything from God. We cannot earn it or deserve it. It's always by God's grace. And so when we pray, we need to make sure that it's not because I'm faithful. I'm asking this from you, the Lord. You know, I'm coming to you now because I'm righteous. No, no, no. Lord, I'm coming to you. Our prayer needs to be based on the faithfulness of God and the righteousness of God. Not ours, but His. Do you remember the parable that Jesus told in Luke chapter 18? I encourage you to check it out later on. But Jesus there tells the parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector who go to pray before the Lord. The Pharisee is the most spiritual of all in their, you know, in their culture. That was like the holiest of all as far as the people were concerned. And then the tax collector, that was the worst sinner of all as far as the people were concerned. And so in their culture and their understanding, Jesus says, look, here's the most spiritual person and here's the most wicked person. And they both go to pray to God. And the Pharisee stands up before the Lord and prays. And Jesus describes it as he was praying with himself. He was there in prayer, but he's really just talking to himself because his prayer was not so much about the Lord or directed to the Lord, but his prayer was about himself. Here's what the Pharisee prayed in this illustration Jesus gave. He said, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. The Pharisee's prayer was, Lord, I thank you that I am so good. I thank you, God, that I am so faithful to you. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And I'm not like, you know, these other guys. I'm not like that person sitting next to me. You know, I'm not like that. Thank you, God, that I'm so good. Meanwhile, the tax collector, he comes to pray, but Jesus describes it and says, look, he doesn't come close. He stands afar off. And standing afar off, he wouldn't even raise his eyes to heaven because he felt so unworthy. He recognized his sinful condition. And Jesus says he beat his breast and said, God have mercy upon me, a sinner. The one came focused on his own faithfulness and his own righteousness. The other came focused on, well, his own sinfulness and need of a savior, recognizing his need for God to work. And here's what Jesus said, wrapping up that illustration in Luke chapter 18, verse 14. He says, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. This man, Jesus says, the tax collector, the worst sinner possible, he went back after this time of prayer, having been heard of God, having been forgiven by God. Because he came to God not on the basis of his merits or efforts or goodness, but he came with a real confession of his own condition and looked to God for his faithfulness and righteousness. But the Pharisee, the religious leader who came before God promoting and proclaiming his own goodness, he didn't have an audience with God. He prayed with himself. He talked to himself about how great he was. As we seek to entreat the Lord and seek to spend time with God in prayer, we need to pray because God is faithful and righteous. And keep our hearts and check our hearts to make sure that we're not coming to God expecting for God to work because of our own righteousness, of our own goodness, but that we continue to maintain this humble position. If we humble ourselves, we will be exalted, the Lord says. We need to humble ourselves. That's an accurate understanding of our condition and our need for God. Well, moving on to verses three and four, we get point number two, and that is a servant talks to God about their distress. A servant talks to God about their distress. Check out David's example here in verse three and four. It says, For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have long been dead. Therefore, my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is distressed. Here, David describes a very dark situation. He describes his soul as being persecuted. Internally, David feels beat up. He has been hurt. He's been wounded. He's been hit. He's been, well, he goes on to describe it as his life has been crushed to the ground. David is not talking about like a little speed bump, you know, or a little bit of affliction or a little bit of an inconvenience, you know, that he's experienced. But David is in a very desolate spot. His soul persecuted. His life crushed. He feels like he's been dwelling in darkness like those who've long been dead. Describes that dark cloud of depression, that dark cloud of oppression, that he is overwhelmed and deeply in despair at this time. He says, my spirit is overwhelmed within me. This is well beyond what he is capable of handling. He's overwhelmed. He's in way over his head. This difficulty, this darkness, this depression, it's far more than he knows how to handle. And so the end result is his heart is distressed. It is weighed down. There's great pressure, intense pain. And David here expresses all of this to the Lord. Now there's a benefit to that for David as he expresses it to the Lord, but there's also a great benefit to us. And that he lets us know what he went through. So that like Peter said, don't think it's strange when you go through the fiery trial. You and I can read this and be reminded it's not that strange. When you feel overwhelmed, when you feel distressed, when you feel your life is crushed and your soul is persecuted, It is not some strange thing that only you have faced because God hates you. That's what the enemy loves to tell us. No, but the reality is this is something that we as believers go through. I like the way that Pastor Charles Spurgeon talks about this. He says, are any of you passing through this trying experience? Does it not encourage you to find that somebody else has been this way before you? The road is very rough. But there is a man's footprint there. The footprint of a man whom God greatly loved. Ah, dear friends, in those deep sorrows, you are not alone. Here in the Psalms, you find that footprint. And here's David, the man after God's own heart. A man who sought God, a man who is loved by God, a man who God had great plans in store for him and great promises that would be fulfilled in his life. he experienced this great depth of affliction. Persecuted soul. A life crushed to the ground. A spirit overwhelmed. A heart distressed. When you face these kinds of feelings and emotions, when you face these kinds of pressures, you are not alone. But I really like the example of David here as it reminds us that we don't have to pretend that we're not distressed. David here lays it out clearly and honestly before the Lord and even more publicly, you know, before all of us that David is experiencing some great difficulty and affliction. It's a good reminder for us because we can sometimes try to pretend like we don't face these things. We know the promises of God. We know the things that, you know, God has told us. We know that, okay, that's not strange, you know, and there's this eternal promises. And so, you know, I shouldn't be so worked up or stressed out or I shouldn't, you know, oh, ye of little faith, we tell ourselves, right? We can recognize all of these things about ourselves. And because of that, we'll then try to pretend like I shouldn't feel this way. So, Let's just say I don't feel this way. Let's just pretend like I don't really experience this. Let's just pretend like my soul isn't persecuted and my life isn't crushed down to the ground. Now, David doesn't pretend like he's not going through these things. He doesn't pretend like, well, I'm going through hard things, but you know, it really doesn't bother me because I know God is good in the end. He doesn't pretend like this doesn't affect me. Instead, he expresses with great detail, with great pictures that this is really affecting me to the very core. It's a good reminder for us. Sometimes we try to come to God and, you know, try to impress him with how well we're handling the situation. That's not what God desires. God desires a real and genuine relationship with us where we have a real conversation about what we're experiencing, what we're going through. Instead of us trying to handle it on our own or pretend like it's not distressing, There's a saying that goes around the church, not particularly this church, but just Christians in general from time to time. You may hear, I'm too blessed to be stressed. You ever hear that one? I'm too blessed to be stressed. Most of the time, I'm too stressed to be blessed, right? You ever feel that way? It's like when you're too stressed to be blessed and someone says, I'm too blessed to be stressed. You're like, get away, you know, like get out. What's wrong with you? Hey, if you're too blessed to be stressed, good for you. Praise the Lord. But at the same time, when you're not too blessed to be stressed, you don't have to pretend like that's the case. But like, that's the good Christian face, right? That's the good Christian saying, like, we're supposed to be too blessed to be stressed. And so I can never be stressed because I'm just so blessed. And that's great. But at the same time, when you're stressed, God doesn't want you to pretend like you're not. When you're crushed, when you're disappointed, when you're depressed, God doesn't want you to pretend like you're not and come to him like, look how strong I am. You know, look how none of this bothers me because I trust you so much. No, to come with him in a genuine and real expression of what it is that you're going through. Considering again something the Apostle Peter says this time in 1 Peter 5. He says, therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. Now there's some things to think about in light of what we're looking at with David. Humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God, well, that applies to a lot of different things in our lives and in our hearts. One of those things, one of the ways that we humble ourselves is that we come to God first. with a real and genuine and honest description of what it is that we're going through. Not pretending, but being real with God. This really hurts. I know that I shouldn't doubt. I know that this will work out for good. I know that there are these promises, but at the same time, man, my soul is persecuted and I am beat up and I am wearied. And boy, is it hard. And we don't have to come to God pretending like it's not hard. but we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. He will exalt us. He'll lift us out of the pit in due time, but not by us pretending that we're not in the pit. Peter goes on to say, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. What do you think casting all your care upon him means? It doesn't mean coming to God and saying, don't worry, God, I got it. It doesn't mean, well, yeah, there's these things, but if you don't take care of it, it's okay. I understand. I'll be good on this. Or I know you'll come through. It doesn't bother me. So, you know, I'm just going to trust you. No, casting all your cares. What's weighing on you? What's on your heart? What's weighing you down? What's burdening you? What's afflicting you? Cast it upon the Lord. Give it over to the Lord because he cares for you. Again, it's this relationship. It's this real honesty that God desires to have with us. A servant talks to God about their distresses. Bring it to the Lord. Have a conversation with him. Let him know the condition of your soul, the condition of your heart. Are you overwhelmed? Are you distressed, persecuted, crushed? We need to be real with God and not try to pretend that we're in a different situation than we actually are. Well, continuing on now to verses five through seven, we get point number three, and that is a servant longs for God to work. As we bring these things before the Lord, and as we come to God on the basis of his faithfulness and righteousness, What we're looking for, what we're desiring is for God to work in our lives. In verse 5, David says, As David is calling out to the Lord and expressing to God his conditions, He reminds himself of the ways that God has worked previously. He says, I remember the days of old. He's thinking about in his own life how he has seen God work before. And so this is describing here a purposeful, a deliberate going back, reviewing the tapes and being reminded of the things that God has done. He says, I remember. He says, I meditate today. I'm just turning it over and over again, replaying those events, replaying those situations where you worked and intervened in my life. I'm used. I'm considering and I'm thinking about from different angles and different perspectives and I'm just going back and considering and remembering and reminding myself and reviewing the things that you have done. I think this was a kind of an ongoing practice of David. Remember when David was going to face Goliath and King Saul was like, David, you're just a little boy. This guy's been a warrior since he was your age, you know, and he is equipped and you have nothing. And this doesn't seem like a good idea. You know, you're not going to be effective in going against Goliath. And what did David do? He said, you know, I was outside watching the sheep one day and there was this lion, there was this bear and God delivered Goliath. that wild animal into my hands. David, in that situation, about to face Goliath, went back and remembered the days of old. It's a good thing for us to do, to go back as we face these times of difficulty and tension and darkness, that we would purposefully, deliberately remember the days of old and meditate on the works of God and muse on the work of His hands, that we would deliberately put these things in our minds and consider them over and over and review them, that we would be encouraged and reminded about the ways that God has worked previously. And you have those examples. You have those things in your own life that you can look back on and consider. Pastor Charles Spurgeon puts it this way, and I like the poetic way that he puts it. He says, we ourselves have a rich past to look back upon. We have sunny memories, sacred memories, satisfactory memories. And these are as flowers for the bees of faith to visit us. from whence they may make honey for present use. He pictures our memories as, well, these flowers that the bees of faith can go and visit. Do you have bees of faith that you would send forth your memories, your thoughts, your meditations back to those times and that you would bolster your faith, you would increase your faith, you would help strengthen your faith by remembering ways that God has worked previously. And as you take yourself back there, as you take yourself back and reflect on the things that God has done, he describes it as honey. You know, those bees of faith that you're trusting in God and it produces something sweet that you can enjoy today in the midst of the drought, in the midst of the persecution and difficulty. There can be a little bit of sweetness as you go back and remember and muse and meditate on the things that God has done. Do you have those sunny memories, those sacred memories, those satisfactory memories? Even if you're lacking in those, even if you're like coming up and you're trying to figure out, you know, some good memory, some way that God has worked and you're having a hard time coming up with one, you can go back instead to look at the cross and to remember the days of old, how the Father loved you so much that he gave his only begotten Son. How Jesus loved you so much that he was willing to give himself to receive the full penalty and punishment for sin and suffer intensely and greatly on your behalf that you can go back to the cross and at the end of service today, we'll close in a time of communion and do just that, to meditate on his works of old and be reminded of his great love for us. Well, as David is reflecting on how God has worked in the past, he goes on in verse six to say, I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you like a thirsty land. Just like a child, you know, spreading out their hands to their parents, you know, longing like, hey, Jerry's been holding me for a while. I miss you, mom. I miss you, dad. You know, get me away from him, right? Like I'm longing for you. There's this desire. I want to be with you. And here David is expressing that. I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you. He says like a thirsty land. And David here in his mind, he's picturing a parched desert, right? The ground is dusty. It's cracked because it's so dry. There's no water to be found. And it's just crying out to be refreshed. And when the waters come, it soaks it in. And that's David's picture here. I'm just dry. I'm crusty. I'm cracked and deserted. And Lord, if you would come. Oh boy, that refreshing. I'm so thirsty for you. I'm so thirsty for your presence. I'm so thirsty for your work. So he says in verse 7, "'Answer me speedily, O Lord. My spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, lest I be like those who go down into the pit.'" Answer me speedily. He's not just saying answer me speedily because I'm impatient, but he's saying my spirit is failing. I am overwhelmed. I am well in, you know, in well over my head. I don't think I can last any longer. I'm in my final moments of being able to handle this situation. Lord, answer me speedily. I'm right on the verge of just going down into the pit. I'm going to be done. I'm going to be gone because this situation is so intense. So I have this thirst, this longing. God, I need you to work in my life. This reflects the heart of a servant of God, that desire, that longing. He's not saying, Lord, I want to handle this situation. Lord, I want to, you know, be victorious. I want to have something that I can glory in. But I'm looking back, I'm remembering how you've worked. And as I come to the end of my rope, Lord, I'm looking for you to intervene. Now, finishing up in verses 8 through 12, it gives us point number four this morning, and that is a servant makes requests with faith and submission. Here, David is going to go through a series of requests. He's kind of been building up to this. First, he approaches God, making sure to keep his heart in a place that he is looking at the faithfulness and righteousness of God. Not my righteousness, but the righteousness of God. Not my goodness, not saying I deserve any of this, but I'm coming to you, Lord, because you're righteous and you're faithful. And here's my situation. He's being open. He's being honest with the Lord. He's talking about his distress, the condition of his heart. He's inviting God to work. And he's saying, Lord, I'm longing for, I desire, I want you to work. I need you to work again in my life. And what work does David desire? Well, again, he goes through this series of requests, right? And in each of these things, it's interesting to note that he is attaching each request to part of his relationship with the Lord. You'll see this as we go. Let's jump into verse 8. It says, Notice what he says there. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning for you. Here's his request. Lord, in the morning, I want to wake up tomorrow morning and I want to just be overwhelmed with the sense of your love, your kindness, your goodness towards me, your mercy being poured out in my life. That's my request. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning. But it's not just that. He says, Because I'm trusting in you, God. He attaches the request. It's not just that he's so in pain and so buried in affliction that he is consumed with himself and consumed with his problems and consumed. But he is focused on the Lord, even as he makes these requests, even as he calls out to God with what he desires. There's this combination of faith in God. I trust in you as well as a submission to God. And we'll see that as we continue on in these verses. G. Campbell Morgan says this about his prayer here. He says, All the words that David shares in these requests, they all center around this fact. David's saying, I'm not consumed with myself. My own pain and affliction and difficulty. I'm not just trying to get out of this so that I can be comfortable. God, this is all related to my relationship with you and my walk with you. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning for in you do I trust. David here is expressing his faith. I trust you, God. I'm placing my life in your hands. I'm placing my destiny, my future, I'm placing all of this situation in your hands and I'm trusting in you. Cause me to hear your loving kindness. But he's also submitting to God at the same time. And continuing on in verse eight, he says, cause me to know the way which I should walk for I lift up my soul to you. He's not just asking for rescue. He's not just asking for a deliverance from the pain. He's inviting God to instruct him on how he should walk. He's submitting himself to God. Lord, how do you want me to live? Here in the midst of this difficult situation, what steps do you want me to take? As you bring me out of this situation, how do you want me to live? What decisions do you want me to make? What course do you want me to take? I lift up my soul to you. You direct me. You lead me. You guide me. You show me what your will is. And David here is committing to submit to the will of God above his own will. Continuing on in verse 9, he says, deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. In you, I take shelter. Again, he makes the request, deliver me, rescue me. I need out of this situation. I can't take it anymore. But he connects it to his faith in the Lord. He says, in you, I take shelter. I'm going to be hiding in you. I'm not trying to deliver myself. I'm not trying to take care of this myself. I'm putting myself in your hands. You are my shelter. Lord, you deliver me from my enemies. Those who are seeking to destroy me and hurt me and harm me. God, I'm trusting you to protect me from them. In verse 10, he says, teach me to do your will for you are my God. You are my God. You're the authority in my life. You are my master. You are my king. So here's my request. Teach me to do your will. Again, in the midst of the affliction that David's in, as he's describing himself being crushed to the ground and overwhelmed in his spirit and distressed in his heart, there's a lot of times in our prayers in those conditions where we're consumed with ourselves. We're focused because of the pain that we're experiencing, because of the affliction and the difficulty, and All we want is rescue. All we want is for the pain to stop. All we want is for that to be over. But it's not good for us to be consumed with ourselves, whether it be consumed with ourselves because of our pain or for any other aspect of life. What we need to do is we need to include God in every attitude of our hearts, in every prayer request. It's not just get me out. But here David says, teach me to do your will. You're my God, Lord. You're my God. And so I need help. I need help to do your will. I don't know how to do your will on my own. I don't know how to walk in your ways. I don't know the direction, the steps you want me to take. I don't really know what's best for me, but you're my God. You know what's best for me. And so David here submits to God, requesting that the Lord teach him to do his will. Verse 10, he says, the spirit, your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of a brightness. I trust you, God. I Your spirit is good. You're going to do good in my life. You're going to accomplish good even from the midst of this difficult situation. Lead me. See that submission? David putting out his arms. Lead me. Lord, you bring me to the place that you want me to be. Lead me in the land of uprightness. In verse 11, he says, "'Revive me, O Lord, for your name's sake.'" He's requesting a revival. He's requesting that God bring him back up to where he once was and remove him from the difficult situation. But again, it's not just because I'm uncomfortable, because I don't like this, because it's hard, because no, he says, for your name's sake. He's focused on the Lord. Lord, for your glory, to honor your name, would you revive me? Would you do a new and fresh work in my life? He goes on to say, for your righteousness sake, bring my soul out of trouble. Again, because you're righteous and for your righteousness sake, that people would honor you for your righteousness. Bring my soul out of trouble. Again, the request is there, but it's attached to, Lord, I want to honor you. Lord, I want to glorify you. Lord, I want your name to be known and uplifted, not my name. I'm not trying to rescue myself. I'm not trying to take credit for this. Lord, this is for you, for your glory. Verse 12, in your mercy, cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my soul, for I am your servant. In your mercy, he says, cut off my enemies. Now he's not talking about mercy towards his enemies. He's talking about mercy towards me as I pray this. Lord, be merciful to me and deal with those enemies that have brought this great difficulty and affliction to me. Destroy those who afflict my soul. Now again, we don't know exactly the situation David was in and who these enemies might be, but we can easily look at this and understand we do have an enemy of our soul. We have an The devil who is seeking to devour, he's seeking to destroy. Jesus said, I came to give life, but Satan comes to steal and kill and destroy. That's what he desires to do. He is the real enemy. So like David, we can pray, in your mercy, cut off my enemies, prevent their plans, their works, destroy those who afflict my soul. But David attaches it to this reality, for I am your servant. This is a statement of submission. I am your servant, Lord. I'm here for you. I'm here to walk in your ways. I'm here to do what you desire. You're the master. I'm the servant. But it's also a statement of faith because David is saying, look, I'm your servant. So God, I'm trusting you to deal with the situation because it's your responsibility to This is one of the great things that we have as a benefit of being a child of God, that as we place ourselves in his hands, well, he takes the responsibility of protecting us and providing for us, right? That great passage in Matthew chapter 6 where Jesus teaches us not to worry. And then he says, instead, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you. You put God first. You place your life in his hands. You seek after him and submit to him. And then he takes the responsibility to add all those things that are needed. Those provisions, those protections, everything that you need, God will provide as you submit yourself to him as his servant. That's his promise. That's his guarantee. That's a responsibility that he takes on. I'm your servant, David says. Protect me. And so in all of these things, David here is making requests. He's not pretending like he doesn't have requests. He's not pretending like he doesn't have needs. But he's also not consumed with himself and only cares about, you know, I just need to be out of this. I need this to end. I need this to be over. I need to stop feeling this pain. No, instead, even through his requests, he is focused on, Lord, you know, be glorified. Lord, your ways be honored and known. Lord, I want to walk in your ways and I want to fulfill your will in my life. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says it this way, true prayer means that we serve God, not that God serves us. When we come to God with prayer that we're kind of asking God, we're expecting God to serve us, that's not true prayer. True prayer is when we come to God as his servants. Again, not with our righteousness, but because he is righteous. Not because we earn or deserve anything, but because of his loving kindness and grace and mercy. We come to him. Yes, we have needs and we don't have to pretend like we don't. We have difficulties and we don't have to pretend like those aren't there. We have requests. Yes, present your requests to God, but don't let yourself be the focus of That your prayers, your heart, your mind, your attitude would be consumed with your condition, with your situation, with what you want and what you desire. No, no true prayer puts me as a servant to the Lord. Here's my situation. Here's what I would like for you to do, God. But you know what I'm most interested in, Lord? I'm interested in your will. That's what Jesus did. He set the example for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. As he was preparing for the cross, he was on that evening about to go and be crucified. He says, I'm exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death. And what did he do with that? What did he do in the midst of that situation? He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. And as he spent time in prayer, we have that record of some of the things that he said. He said, oh Lord, if there's any other way, if there's any other way for people to be saved, if Josh could be saved some other way, if Richard could be saved any other way, if Roger could be saved any other way, if there's any other way for them, let this cup pass from me, Father. Nevertheless, not my will, Jesus says, but your will. It's a submission to the Father. Even in great difficulty and affliction and distress, in prayer we submit ourselves to God. We make our requests. Again, that's an important part of this. The Bible calls us, cast your cares upon Him. Make your requests. But combine those requests with faith and submission. Trust God and present yourself to Him as His servant. Here, David provides for us a great example. Here's how a servant of God prays in distress. We all face them. We have great comfort that we're not alone, but we need to learn how to pray, to pray well. And it's not about a magic formula or magic words, but it's about a heart being aligned with God, seeking the glory and the honor of God. But we want to finish up our time together by partaking in the Holy Spirit. I meditate on all your works. I muse on the work of your hands. David here takes his mind deliberately. He goes back, he reviews, and he revisits what God has done previously. And Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, he took the bread and he gave thanks. He broke it. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this often in remembrance of me. And then he took the cup after the supper and he said, this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this often. Partake of this cup and remember me. Both times, both elements, Jesus said, this is for you to remember me. And so this morning, as we spend this time in worship to prepare ourselves for communion, I would encourage you to remember the days of old. As you hold these elements, remember his body being broken. Remember his blood was shed. Meditate, focus your mind and put your mind on the things that the Lord has done for you, for your forgiveness, to give you access to God so that you do have the ability, the opportunity to come to God in prayer. You have an audience before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords by faith in Jesus Christ. And so let's receive that this morning. Let's remember what he has done and let's draw near to him and if you're in times of distress and overwhelmed it's a great opportunity to present these requests before the lord and to present yourself as his servant following jesus let's worship the lord together and again you can partake at any time during the songs we pray you have been blessed by this bible teaching the power of god to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and bible study resources