Fear and Faith - Trial and Trust part 2

If you would take your Bible and turn back to Psalm 3, we were there earlier in our scripture reading and like I said in our scripture reading we will finish up Psalm 3 tonight. We will cover verses 5 to 8. Although I will reference quite a few times the other verses, really this is all one message just because of time and just taking our time to cover each of the verses thoroughly. I felt like we needed to divide it up into a part 1 and a part 2. Now last week I started off by pointing out that we live on a day of lots of uncertainty and lots of fear. Our world has been changing at an exponential rate in many ways.

In many ways that we never could have imagined if I would have asked you or spoken to you or told you back in December or January. If I would have told you what was going to take place today you probably would not have believed that. If you have paid attention to recent events you know that things have changed even more since last week. Let me mention what I am referring to or talking about. Take our economic situation. We know that our economy has been virtually shut down. Well even since last week there have been more anxieties, there have been more fears and even more panics about our economy.

I have heard stories of business owners who are on the brink, even business owners who have had to close because of this economic shutdown. Even some of you are finding yourself with more insecurity when it comes to your job. Will you be able to get your old job back? Things like that. Things have changed with our economic shutdown in a different way since last week because governors are starting to open up their states. Our governor Tate Reeves is making plans to reopen slowly and you know this makes a lot of people real nervous.

Some are more susceptible to this coronavirus disease and so the opening up of businesses and freedoms to come and go more it adds more stress and uncertainty to certain people. I know last week I mentioned this and then this week I mentioned it again. We had another series of storms come through. Two Sundays in a row, two weekends in a row. We had a lot of tornadoes in our state and I think there are people in our state that will never look at tornadoes or thunderstorms the same again. Again more uncertainty in fear and even panic in some. Now I believe that the days ahead will continue to bring about new and different circumstances.

Things like these can highlight our uncertainties and our fears. Even bring about new and different uncertainties and fears that we never had in our lives before. Now listen, listen to your pastor. We as Christians we must be equipped. We must be an equipped people to be able to face those fears and face those anxieties, those troubles and those trials that come our way. We've got to be able to deal with them properly. We've got to be able to deal with them the way God would want us to deal with them. Now before we get into the message I want to do a little exercise. I've done this before. I want us to be honest with ourselves.

Maybe you need the help of your spouse. So husbands and wives, you'll be honest with each other. Maybe you need some help from a close friend. I want to show you some tendencies that we might find ourselves in. I want to even show you maybe some categories that I don't like categories because none of us fit properly in categories. Now think about it. Some of you are cool and calm and collected. I used that term, those phrases last week. Some of you are very cool, very calm, very collected. You really don't get rattled very easy. Some are more nervous. Some have a tendency to be fearful. Some can even deal with being anxious.

And then some can be very anxious. Some can battle with panics. Some have gone through difficult circumstances which have brought them to the place of struggling with anxieties and fears and panics. Now I said this earlier. I'll say it again. We really don't like categories because none of us neatly fit into a category. Now some of us might be close. But some of you may struggle with fear and anxiety when it comes to money and finances. But when it comes to this coronavirus, you're not concerned at all. Some of you may not be fearful at all during these past few weeks about job security or things like that.

Others of you may not be worried about anything associated with the virus, but yet our economy, you know, these storms can cause you to be panicky. The economy can cause you fears. You see, we must understand our tendencies. We must understand our tendencies. We need to see how we react to circumstances in life if we're going to handle trials and circumstances as we should. We must identify who and what we are and then bring that into the submission of submission to God. We must bring who we are and what we are into submission to God's word. And that is God forming us into the people He wants us to be.

Really this is a work we need our Lord to do in us. This can also be a continual work in us because really and truly we never arrive at this destination. This is a lifelong work. Trials, circumstances, fears, difficulties. This is just a lifelong work. It's really a part of sanctification. Now before we really get into the Psalm, I want to remind you that we have eight verses here, but we don't just have eight verses. We don't just have Psalm 3. We have David, King David. We have his life. We have his examples. We have his example. We have his fears. We have his trials. We have his faith. We have his trust. I've used that language repeatedly.

Now we know the story. I gave us a good but brief explanation of the events last week and it would do you some good to go back into 1 Samuel and to read about all of the events going on here, this great trial in David and his life and in his family. It would do you some good. But we know that King David is running. Here in Psalm 3, he is running for his life. He's running even from his own son Absalom. David has stirred up a great civil war so as to take the kingdom from his own father. David has fled his throne in his palace. He has fled the capital city.

Really it was his capital city and David is running like a fugitive from his own son and those opposing forces that are following Absalom. And it was in this circumstances that David writes this song. Now last week we saw David in his adversity. That's what verses 1 and 2 were all about for me. This was David in his adversity. He did turn to God but it was with a faulty heart. His prayer in verses 1 to 2, it reflected fear and it reflected uncertainty and because of his fear he complained about the opposition that he was facing. Nothing in verses 1 to 2 reflect faith. Everything to me reflects fear. Then we saw a change in David.

We saw a progression in his walk. In verses 3 to 4 we saw David in his protection. Coming from the heart of a warrior, David uses military words and phrases that express his true trust in God. I believe he had come to the bottom of himself and he is crying out and he is trusting God in the trial. God heard David's prayer and God answered David's prayer. Well tonight we just pick up right where we left off. We continue in these verses. So we'll have two more truths. I will call these number 3 and number 4 because they go along with what we looked at last week. So let's notice what I'm calling number 3, David's security.

I'm seeing in verses 5 to 6 David in his security. Look back at verse 5 and 6 with me. David says, "I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about." Here we see David progressing. I keep using that phrase. He's progressing in the trial in the work. Now let me show you what I mean. Back in verses 1 to 2, David was gripped by fear. He progresses as he should and then in verses 3 to 4 we see that he expresses his trust in God.

And here in verses 5 to 6 we see the next spiritual step which is good, this spiritual progression in this great trial. Now I want to reach back to verse 4 and I want to show you a key detail. Notice what happens after his prayer of faith. Verse 4 says that he answered me. Isn't that what David says? And it was out of this answered prayer that David finds his security. So I want us to look at David's security in verses 5 to 6. There are two ways I want to break this down. First notice David, he had sleep and he had sustenance. This is what I'm calling sleep and sustenance. Now sleep was a great sign that David had come to a place of peace.

Think about that. Sleep was a great sign that David had come to a place of peace. He had peace about the circumstances and he had peace in God. One commentator said it like this and I'm quoting, "David was able to sleep because God was awake." I like that. "David was able to sleep because God was awake. David had given his fears and anxieties, his worries over to God." We've already seen that. He had progressed to a place of trusting God so he could sleep, he could rest. But then notice what comes from his sleep, from his rest. I use the word sustenance. Go back to the verse. "I lay down and slept.

I woke for the Lord sustains me." This speaks to God's support of David and his provision for David. Now let me give you an example. Food. Food is a great example. When we are hungry, what do we do? We eat. And that food sustains us. It provides nourishment for us. Physically and bodily we are sustained, we are satisfied. Well that is what God has done for David. David has gotten spiritual nourishment from God, therefore he was sustained, he was satisfied. Now I want to add to that quote that I gave us earlier. David was able to sleep because God was awake and here's where I add to it. And God had worked in David. Let me read that again.

David was able to sleep because he knew God was awake and God had worked in David. This was a work of God in David. David had moved from fear to faith. Now he has moved from trust to rest. Emotionally and spiritually he could rest because God had provided spiritual nourishment, spiritual sustenance, so David he had sleep, he had sustenance. And then second, David he had serenity and safety. We see this in verse 6. "David he had serenity and safety." Go back to the verse. "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about." Again we see this progression in David.

It is now saying that he will not be afraid of ten thousands. These are enemies, are they not? Now contrast verse 6 with verses 1 and 2. If we go back to verses 1 and 2, he's crying out, "Many are rising against me." What is he saying? "In panic and fear." "Lord there are many, there are many, there are many." But what do we see in verse 6? "I will not be afraid of ten thousands." You see the progression? See this progression in his life? You see the great interchange? David is now totally calm. He is totally calm before thousands of his enemies. This is utterly, he is utterly serene. David can be serene because he knows God is with him.

He knows his safety is in God. David can be calm because of the work of God in David through that answered prayer that we saw in verse 4. He was changed spiritually because his fear had been turned to faith but then that faith had been turned into what? Serenity. You see the progression? He has this calm spirit. But there is more. David is not only serene, he is trusting in the safety of God. Remember that David was a soldier. He was a warrior. He was a great military leader. But notice his circumstances here. He has fled the safety and the security of his own palace.

He has lost the support of many of the people, even many of his own soldiers. He has badly outnumbered the scholars tell us. And the growing numbers of rebels are all around him. He is a victim of a terrible war of words. Remember I called it propaganda. Meaning we're saying that God was not with David. So the propaganda war was working because we saw it had gotten into his mind and heart. But David was not looking at the number of the rebels nor was he hearing the propaganda here. He saw his safety in God. He says that he will not be afraid because of what was taking place. So David had serenity in God and he saw his safety in God.

Now in summary, notice what we have here in these verses. This is a lot. David had great security in his God. Not what things look like. He didn't look at what things look like. No. His rest and his satisfaction came from a work of God, a work that God had done in him. God had changed his faith, his fears to faith. God had helped him trust in the trial. Because of this work, God, David was serene. He was calm. He looked at the great threat and he simply felt safe in the hands of God. Thousands were around him, but he was safe in the hands of God. So David was very secure in his God because of the work that God had done in him.

Now an application. Again, I want to point to the progression. When trials come, when fears and anxieties come from trials and adversities, I'm talking about us, not David. You see, when trials come our way, when fears and anxieties come our way from the trials and from the adversaries. If we stay in that state of fear and anxiety, then we have no rest. We have no rest. We have no security. We have no safety. No. Why? Because the source of our fear and anxiety is enveloping us. But when we are like David, when we work through those fears, when we're seeking God, he enables us to trust in him. This comes from a work of God in us.

Now what happens? We are calm in the midst of the storm. Yes, we are calm in the midst of our storm. We are quiet in the midst of the noise. We have security even when things get worse. If you look at verse 6, it seems like they've gotten worse. Now what's the key here? I'm talking about for you and me. What's the key for us? There's only one key. You can't fake this. You can't get this from a book. You can't get this from your theological persuasion. You can't even get this from a good Sunday school lesson or a good sermon. See, the key is a work of God in us. It's experiential. It is personal.

You see, it's a work that God does in us to bring us to this place. No matter the trial, no matter the storm, no matter what may be coming our way. See the opposite is to wallow in that fear. Remember, we talked about that last week. The opposite is to wallow in doubt. The opposite is to be crying and complaining and babbling. Let me tell you, if you're crying and complaining and babbling, you're really not doing much of that to God. You mostly do it to other people. I'll give you an example. I don't know if it really fits. I think about it from my own life.

I can remember years ago when the Lord was moving on my heart in life to move me to the town of Brookhaven. This goes back quite a few years. Did you know the Lord was blessing my life and the ministry that he had given me. I had served at First Baptist Church in Ellisville, Mississippi for six years. God had really been good to us there. We were safe and secure. God was growing our ministry. The student ministry was growing. The college ministry was growing. We had a lot of support in the life of the church.

Well, lo and behold, an opportunity came, but more than an opportunity to move to Brookhaven, the Spirit of God began to move in my heart and move in my life to leave and to move. Well, lo and behold, all kinds of fears and worries and adversities came. I had people around me giving bad advice. And I just began to be enveloped by fears and worries and concerns. And I just had to pray through those things. We're going to talk about that a little bit more. And because I sought the Lord and I would not let go and I would not be enveloped by fears and the complainings and the bad advice that I got from respected people.

I was able to get to that place of verse three and four of trust. And I saw that God would protect me and I saw that God would honor me in his own way. And I was able to rise above the fears and the worries and the concerns and the anxieties. And I just got to the place where I said, "Lord, I trust you. You've done that work in me." And then I moved on. And we're going to talk a little more about this moving on as we continue. Let's move on. I want us to see. Let's notice number four, what I'm calling David's victory. This is out of verses seven to eight. This is David's victory. Let's go back to the verses, verse seven and eight.

"Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for thou has smitten all my enemies on the cheek. Thou has shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Thy blessing be on your people." Now, again, here we see a continued progression. It seems like the adversity, this defeat, it seems like it's far, far, far behind David now. Those fears and anxieties are definitely in the past. I believe we can say that. Just like I said earlier, this is a spiritual journey for David. Now the journey has two parts. First, the journey is about a work of God in David. I've said that repeatedly.

But then second, the journey is about God's outward purpose for David in the trial. I haven't said much about that. You might say, "Pastor, what would that be? I see the inward work, but what is this outward purpose?" Well, one is writing the psalm. One was writing this psalm. One of God's purposes for David in the trial was to do a work within him so that he could pin these words for us, you see? But I want us to look at this victory here. Really God's victory in and through David. There are three observations I want to make here, and this will be rather quick. First notice this rise up and go in verse 7.

"David, he rises up and he goes." Look at verse 7. "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God." Here we see David say, "Arise." Scholars say this is a battle cry. One commentator said this is David's summons to get up and go to war. David is crying for God to engage his enemies as he is going to engage the enemies. Remember who David was. He was the commander of the army. So David, he would be the one issuing the call to get up and to go, to rise and to go into battle. Now, a question. Who is fighting here? Who's fighting? Is it David or is it God? What does he say in the verse? "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God.

You have smitten all of my enemies." So who is fighting? Is it David or God? Well the answer is yes. It's both. It's both David and God. So David is giving the summons to rise up and to go into battle. And then second we see what I call, "Remember the past." And this is in verse seven as well. "David is remembering the past." What does he say? "For you have smitten all of my enemies on the cheek. You have shattered the teeth of the wicked." Here David is expressing great confidence in his God. He does so by remembering the past. Remember he was a soldier. This is that warrior language again. We see that at the end of the verse.

David is remembering all the times that God had helped him in battle. He is remembering all the times that his enemies were literally slaughtered before him. I give you an example. One that we all know. The story of Goliath. Remember that story? We see that in first Samuel 17. It was David, the shepherd boy. And what was he doing? He went out to fight the great fighting man from Philistia. His name was Goliath. He was a giant. And he was a professional soldier. But what did David do? David went out as a little shepherd boy with a stone and a sling. And David literally killed Goliath.

The scripture says that the stone sunk deep into his forehead. And then later on in the story we see that David takes the sword of Goliath and he hacks off his head. Now question, who killed Goliath? Was it David or God? Yes. It was both. It was God who enabled David to fight and to win. So David is remembering these past victories which came from God. He won them but he knew they came from God. And then third, he is reveling in victory to me in verse 8. I call verse 8 this reveling in victory. What does he say? Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing, thy blessing be on thy people. Here we have this revealing victory at hand.

He is revealing victory. It is at hand. David is saying that salvation victory belongs to his God. From this victory we see two sides. We see a negative side and then we see a positive side. The negative side is that God removes the enemies. The negative is that David's son Absalom, he dies. That's a negative. Even his son dies. The positive is God's people are blessed. Isn't that what the verse says? Through God's victory there was a wonderful blessing for God's people. So David is revealing and he's reveling in the victory. Now in summary what I want us to see here. David is at a great place of victory. This victory has two sides.

It can be seen in two ways. David has this great inner victory as a man of God. He has attained an inner victory over his fears, yes. Over the trial which had been enveloping him and chasing him, yes. But also there's this outer victory. As God's anointed king over Israel, he has attained a victory over what? Over these opposing forces over this civil war. This victory came from God but through David. Simply David arose. He arose and he sounded that battle cry and he took the victory in the Lord. The Lord delivered the victory to him. One application, I want us to see the final step to the victory.

I want us to see what I call the final step to the victory. I call this the proof. Not when he remembered the past. I don't believe that was the proof that he had the final victory. Not when he praised God for the future. I don't believe that was a proof of the final victory. To me the final victory step is getting up and going out. You see, David proved that he had come to a place of victory when he got up and he went out. This is the proof. When we are enveloped in trial and we let God do this work in us, we take our fears, our anxieties, our panics to the Lord and God does this progressive work in us.

When we finally get to victory in the trial, the proof that we are truly trusting in God is when we rise up and we go out. We go out and we live life. We go back to work with victory. We have joy in the midst of the thousands that are all around us. We've long since left the wallowing and the babbling and we've come to the place of trust, but not just trust, we're going out. We remember all that God has done for us in the past, yes. That's part of building up our faith. But we are trusting that God would move forward and move forward in victory for us and we move out in the trial.

First we are crying, complaining and fretting, just like verses one and two, that fits us. Then with God's help, we begin to pray, trusting God. We begin to pray with faith, yes. There's faith that begins to grow in us like we see in verses three to four. Then we start to have security in God. Oh, we start to get peace and rest, we're calm. And then last, when the work is complete, we move out in victory. We see the victory that God has for us in the future. We arise and we go. Now I struggled for an example here. And to be honest with you, I felt like I needed to reach out into a life and the life of a friend of mine.

Many of you know Jared, our friend Jared, who comes and leads worship sometimes. He preaches and ministers in the life of our church. But many of you know my friend Jared and his wife Megan. Recently they had their first child, a little boy, JP. Well you know as they are progressing along in the pregnancy, they're going to the doctor. They're just enjoying this time, but lo and behold what happens, complications. Turns out the little boy has a heart defect. And you know they kept going to doctor visit, after doctor visit, after doctor visit. And it just kept getting worse. The news just got worse and worse. They were facing surgeries.

They had no idea what it would look like when JP was born. It just got worse. And finally they got to the place. They worked through those fears. They worked through those panics, those anxieties. Oh they got to the place of trusting God. And I saw them arise and move out in victory. And this is what it looked like when they got to the place where they said, no matter what, it doesn't matter how many heart surgeries, no matter what. It doesn't matter if he's developmentally delayed, no matter what. They got to the place where they trusted yes, but they moved out. And they knew that the victory belonged to the Lord, whatever it may be.

And I watched them do that. They got up and they moved out. And that was proof that the work had been done in them. Now in conclusion, I want to revisit how we concluded last week's message. Many of you were wondering, you probably still are. You might be saying, what do I do? I mean these fears, these anxieties, these panics, they chase me. This trial, you just don't know, brother Chris, it's so deep, it's so dark, it's so hard. What do I do? Some, I know. We struggle more than others. Some are more strong and resolute. We have these different tendencies. But what do I do? Well, this is how God has taught me through the years.

This is how God has taught me to progress like David. For my years, for my fears to turn to faith, for my trials to turn into trusting God, to see a work of God in me for the purposes that he has in me. This is what I must do. And I believe this is what we saw David do. First, we got to find that good, quiet, private place of prayer. Remember I talked about that with you last week? This needs to be a habit in your life. You need to have that place of prayer. You need to have that place where you can go and you can spend quality, uninterrupted time with the Lord.

Now I'm going to give you another word with this, and this is the word invitation. You see, when you have a healthy prayer life and you're living for the Lord and all of a sudden trial comes, you must see that that is an invitation. It's an invitation from our Lord and you take that invitation in your mind and in your heart and you go to that prayer closet. You go to that secret quiet place of prayer and you go be with the Lord and your first prayer could be babbling and crying, but you have to look to the Lord and say, "Lord, this is an invitation for you to work in my life." So you must start. We must start with that place of prayer.

And then second, getting into the word. That's how we know who God is. That's how we know the character of God and the purposes of God and the plans of God. And look, the word of God must be a habit in our life. If trial comes and you hadn't been in the word faithfully like you should, you might not have that foundation that you need. So the word must be a habit in our life. Yes. And then when trial comes again, we see it as an invitation, not just to the prayer closet, but to His word. And we dive deep into His word. We get into chapter and verse seeking to know the Lord from His word.

Again, if you have to be on your knees reading it, chapter and verse to keep yourself from going to sleep, to be sharp and attentive. So we have that quiet place of prayer. We are invited to come to that place of prayer through the trial. We are invited by God to get into His word. And then third, we've got to pray this thing through. We can't give up. We got to pray and keep on praying. We got to pray. And when we feel like quitting, no, we just got to keep on praying. We got to keep on praying. And look, we got to keep on praying. And four, we have to wait on the work of God. You see how these two go together?

Four is we pray waiting and waiting on the work of God in us. I give you a great example. Some of you need to go study. You know, I do this to you often. I will give you an example and call you to some homework. Go study the life of Hannah in first Samuel chapter one. What was the story of Hannah? She had an awful trial. She was buried, childless. Oh, she wanted a child so bad. But what did she do? She went to that private place of prayer. She sought the Lord. She kept on praying in her brokenness. She was so broken that even the prophet Eli thought she was drunk at the altar.

And oh, she kept praying and kept praying and kept waiting and kept seeking the Lord. And she sought the Lord and got to the place of trust. And what did God do? God got her to a place where she could fulfill his purposes in her trial. And there came a day when she got off of her knees, she arose and she went out in victory. I purposely didn't give you all of the story because I want you to go find it on your own. Now as I close, I want to show you that your fears and your anxieties, your troubles, your trials, they are simple, simply opportunities. Oh, I know some of this is repetitive. These are opportunities for God to work in you.

And these are opportunities to build you to a greater place of usefulness. A trial is it for you? A trial is first for God and is second for your usefulness. You see, it is nothing more of an opportunity than an opportunity to refine you and to grow you and to change you and then to make you into a more useful Christian. So what's the title of the sermon? Fear in faith, trial and trust. Our fears must turn into faith and our trial must turn into trust. And when that is going on in our life, we'll be growing as God wants us to be and we will be usable. One thing that God's taught us in the life of our church, Brother Keith has said it often.

God's brought us to a place where he has taught us that our trials are not for us first, they are for the church and then for us. I think that's a healthy approach. So what have we seen? So much out of Psalm 3. And as I usually do, I want to pray, closing out the message, committing this to the Lord, committing this to your life, trusting that the Lord will do a work in you, not just today, not just in these fears and struggles, but in the days and years to come. So let's pray together.