Psalm 140:1-13

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

“Deliver me, O LORD from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah. I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD. O GOD the Lord [Adonai], the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah. As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.”

Introduction

“We’ll take a shot of that, that has to do with the wicked. Again, this is David, in the beginning you see it’s a Psalm of David. It goes well on the heels of this [Psalm 139] where he talks about the wicked. He says “Deliver me, O LORD from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;” this is a man, David had gone from battle to battle, from cave to cave, it said he had fled for years like a partridge on the mountains. God has sent Samuel, he had been ordained to be the king of Israel, and he was not yet the king he had been ordained to be. God would take years to purify the man, before he put him on the throne. So, David says ‘LORD deliver me from evil men,’ they’re out there. Aren’t they? You know, they’re out there. ‘Deliver me from evil men,’ you know, I hear Jesus tell the parable of the wheat and the tares, and it always troubles me, I think ‘What are tares?’ The wheat seem to be the human kind, he says the tares are sown by the evil one. What does that mean? You can’t take it doctrinally or literally because it’s a parable. What is it saying? And he uses the term “darnel grass.” When you go to Israel, we’ve been many times, and the wheat and the darnel grass grow together. The way you finally tell the difference when it comes to harvest time, when the wheat becomes ripe it bows on the stem, it falls down and it bows. The darnel grass looks the same, but it stays straight. It’s almost the picture of the proud and the humble, the wheat is gathered into the granary, and the tares are burned. What in the world is that? He says “Deliver me, O LORD from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;” (verse 1) they’re out there, whatever they are, “which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.” (verse 2) It never stops, they’re continually gathered together for war. I was just talking with Gil today about World War II, some of the things that happened with Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler, you study that, that was dark, it was Satanic, there were supernatural forces with Himmler and some of these things that went on, remarkable Satanic forces. You know, Satan has always been ready to put his antichrist in, God has always stopped him. Could have been Hitler, could have been Stalin, could have been Marx, could have been any number of people, if God would have allowed it, Satan would already have put his antichrist in power somewhere, but God has held it off. But there’s always supernatural powers with those kinds of people. “Deliver me, O LORD from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.” (verses 1-3) ‘Selah’ = ‘what do you think about that?’ They have sharpened their tongues, isn’t that amazing? Our tongues are often too sharp. Aren’t they? It’s understandable with 38,000 trillion transactions a second taking place, you might say something you wish you hadn’t said, but…The tongue, you know, and I’m sure with my own kids, I can think of growing up, you can damage a kid more with a sentence sometimes, than with a rod, spanking them. You can say something cruel to a kid, that will stick to their memory for the rest of their lives. And many people in this church know that, besides physical abuse, sexual abuse, these other things—tongue, tongue—it says in James it’s set on fire of hell. It says “They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent;” Lord, don’t let us have sharp tongues. We can do that, I can do that. “adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.” (verse 3) ‘What do you think about that?’

‘Keep Me From The Hands Of The Wicked…Who Have Purposed To Overthrow Me’

Then he says “Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.” (verses 4-5) Gins are traps. So he says ‘They’ve hid a snare for me, cords they’ve spread, a net they put by the wayside, they have set traps for me.’ Again he says ‘Selah,’ he’s gotta keep stopping and thinking ‘LORD, what do you think about that? LORD, they’re out there, they’ve set traps for me.’ And then he says this, “I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.” (verse 6)

‘In The Day Of Armour You’ve Been My Helmet’

Now he backs off and tells us how now he talked to the LORD, “I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God, hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.” So, it’s in this context, ‘LORD, you’re my God,’ he doesn’t say ‘I own you,’ what he’s saying is, ‘You own me, like it or not, I’m yours, it’s not you are my God, I own you, you are my God, you’re stuck with me LORD, you own me. Hear the voice of my supplication O LORD.’ “O GOD the Lord” I think it’s the only time it’s “O Jehovah my Adonai” and I think it’s the only time it’s put together like that in the Scripture. “O Jehovah, Yahweh, the Mighty One, the coming One,” and he says directly “my Adonai” personal Lord, that’s a very interesting idea, particularly looking forward to the birth of the Saviour. “O Jehovah my Adonai,” it isn’t “the LORD,” it’s ‘my Lord, my Adonai,’ “the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.” (verse 7) King James says “in the day of battle” it’s literally “in the day of armour.” In the day when the breastplates go on, the swords are drawn out, the spears and the bows are set up, the javelins are in the hands of the warriors, ‘in the day of armour LORD, you have been my helmet, you have been my covering, when the battle rages, LORD, you’re the one that has protected me, you’ve been my armour.’ He tells the LORD before, ‘You’re my strong tower, you’re my fortress,’ you know, he goes through all of these things. Think of Luther, he translated the Bible into German from Greek, and the Catholic church wanted to kill him, he was held for awhile in Wurtberg, in the castle, I’ve been there, visited that place. And then he finally thought ‘No, I don’t need castle walls to protect me, then he wrote “A Mighty Fortress, Strong To Save, Bulwark Never Failing.” He knew that God himself, God would protect him. So here, he says that, ‘You are, you’re the covering for my head in the day of armour, LORD, you’re the one who has kept me alive.’

“Grant Not The Desires Of The Wicked’…We Can Pray That

He says “Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.” (verse 8) Now by the way, we can pray that today. That’s not a bad prayer. Sometimes you look, I just read an article again, I believe he’s the bishop of Iraq, I forget what city, it may be Baghdad, but the archbishop of Canterbury told him to get out of Iraq and come home. But he said, “One of the last things he saw is a group of kids, between six and fifteen, that refused to renounce Christ, who had their heads cut off.” A six-year-old kid, ‘You’re gonna die, if you don’t claim Mohamed and renounce Jesus, in five minutes you’re gonna be dead.’ What it takes for a six-year-old or a ten-year-old or a 14-year-old or a 15-year-old to say “I love Jesus.” That’s what they answered, “I love Jesus, I have always loved Jesus, Jesus loves me,” and their heads came off. And we complain about the parking lot. We complain about, you know, the check-out stand is too crowded. When you think of the things we complain about, we live in different worlds, you know. David here who, this was a reality of him to be pursued, to be hunted down, for these things to go on. And again, we look at the world today, it may seem way out of our control. We can pray this, “Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.” (verse 8) Our prayers do reach out and touch things. “further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.” Again, ‘Selah, what do you think about that?’ remarkable.

The Imprecatory Prayer Of David

He says “As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.” (verse 9) the idea is, like Haman, let them be hung on their own gallows. ‘The things they plan against me LORD, let them come upon them, let their plans backfire.’ Now verses 9, 10 and 11 are imprecatory, we can’t pray these things, so we can enjoy David praying them, ok, we have to love our enemies. But it’s wonderful to hear David praying these things. He says, ‘LORD, you’re the covering of my head, you’re my armour LORD, you cover me in the day of battle, so don’t grant to them their ways LORD, their devices, don’t do that.’ He said, “As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.” (verse 9) ‘The things they want to bring on the righteous, LORD, let it backfire, let it fall on their heads,’ look what he says, “Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.” (verses 10-11) David’s really laying it on here, ‘Let this happen, let fire fall from heaven and drive them down, and let fire yawn beneath them and eat them up,’ he’s got them burning from above, burning below, he’s got ‘em cookin’ man, ‘Let the burning coals fall upon them from above, let them be cast into the fiery deep pits yawning below to consume them, that they rise up not again.’ We have to pray ‘LORD, save that guy.’ ‘LORD, you saved me, and I deserved fire on my head, fire under my feet, I deserve all that, and I’m going to heaven [into the Kingdom of heaven], so LORD I can’t begrudge anyone,’ the New Covenant is so different. I understand this, don’t act like you don’t. I like this idea, “Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth:” it’s all we need is one more evil speaker, we have too many evil speakers established already, you don’t need one more established, “evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.” (verse 11)

‘The LORD Will Maintain The Cause Of The Afflicted And The Right Of The Poor’ : And So Should We

And then he says this, “I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.” (verse 12) that means, so should we. If the Living Christ is in our hearts, he’s in our lives, and we know ‘that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poor,’ then we should do the same thing. That’s one of the great things, that I love to see what’s going on with The Adopt A Family, you guys do a great job every year. It is wonderful to see what’s happening with the Ukraine, and a thousand Ukrainians come out, the supplies that are being sent over there in the middle of that terrible war, the things that are going on over there, you know, to help people. Down in North Philly, great stuff going on, down in Kensington and Summerset, down the Rock, just the opportunities, the open doors God has given us to minister, I think it’s so much after his heart. “I know the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.” (verse 12) “Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.” (verse 13) the idea is, ‘forever more,’ wouldn’t it be wonderful to be in a place where there’s no lying, there’s no deceit, there’s no wickedness, where this corruption puts on incorruption, this mortal puts on immortality, when we get to heaven [into the Kingdom of heaven] we don’t even have the capacity to blow it. That’s the wonderful thing. Because you know as well as I do, you’ve blown everything else so far. So you think, ‘When you and I get to heaven I’m gonna think a thought I shouldn’t think, Brrr, it’s gonna go up like a neon sign, and I’m gonna be outa there, or I’m gonna loose my tempter.’ No, no, this corruption shall put on incorruption, this mortal will put on immortality, when we see Christ we’ll fall down before him because of his splendor and his beauty, his magnificence, we will not just fall down before him because we’re ashamed, we will be in his righteousness. We will fall down in front of him because we are overwhelmed with his love and his power and his grace and his grandeur, as his blood-bought sons and daughters. So, for us tonight, great stuff, I’ll have the musicians come. I encourage you guys, he’s all-knowing, he knows everything about you, he knows when you stand up, when you sit down, he already knows more about you than you do. You’re gonna find out some stuff about you that he already knows, that’s gonna blow your mind, it’s not gonna blow his, and he’s already there, he knows it all. And in light of it all, we can’t escape his presence. It isn’t just ‘Where can I flee from his presence, where can I flee from your Spirit?’ the idea is ‘He’s beset me, he’s besieged me, to protect,’ he knows everything about us, yet he’s decided we’re his own through redemption, and he saves us, he surrounds us, he keeps us. And we think ‘LORD You don’t know me,’ he says, ‘No, no, I knew you when you were one cell, I knew you before you were conceived, I knew you before you came out of the womb, in fact I had all of your days already written out before there were any of them. LORD, your thoughts toward me, how precious are they, LORD, let me walk with you, let me not go in the way of the wicked, LORD, you’re going to deal with the wicked, but there’s a way for a man, Proverbs says, ‘There’s a way that seems right for a man, sometimes the end thereof is death.’ He says, LORD, lead me in the way everlasting, search me,’ he says, ‘refine me, and lead me. A lot is going on with the wicked of the world,’ we have the ability to pray and say ‘LORD, don’t let their plans come to fruition.’ We want to see one more Revival before the LORD comes, one more great ingathering. And the world is spiraling downward morally, ethically, militarily, every way. We have the right to pray, ‘LORD, don’t let this wickedness prosper right now, give us a measure of grace, give us a Josiah, give us one more era of Revival.’ Because we’re not promised that in the Bible. [Comment: I think we are promised that, in a sense. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/Zephaniah1.htm and scroll to Zephaniah 2:1-3, and also see http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/REVIVAL.html. Also read Matthew 24:14, where Jesus says the Gospel will get preached to the entire world, and then the end, WWIII, will come upon the world, leading up to his 2^nd coming. So I most definitely think Jesus has prophecied that we’ll have one great revival before it all ends. You have to put the prophecies together to get the whole picture.] We don’t ask for it because we deserve it, it’s because of who he is. It’s a great thing for us to do, so he knows everything, it’s all settled. So let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s lift our hearts, lift our voices…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Psalm 140:1-13, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]

related links:

Are we promised one last Revival? It would seem prophecy indicates this. So let’s check it out.

See http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/Zephaniah1.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/REVIVAL.html

Psalm 141:1-10

A Psalm of David.

“LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.”

Introduction

“Psalm 141, A Psalm of David, “LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.” delicacies is the idea, “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.” A Psalm of David, Psalm 142, A Psalm of David, Psalm 143, A Psalm of David, Psalm 144 tonight, A Psalm of David, these songs seem to have been written when David is facing great difficulty. And look, David, when we read these things, and again, they’re highly personal, ‘my LORD, my God, I pray, my voice,’ you know, David didn’t learn any of this in a Bible school or a seminary. David learned this, it says, for years, 15 years fleeing like a partridge upon the mountains, unjustly being persecuted and chased. It’s not a deal where Jesus is a bummer, my relatives are mad because I’m witnessing to them. No, he’s living in caves, he’s hiding from Saul, he’s being hunted. Every day is like this, genuinely in jeopardy, he’s probably in his 20s when all of this begins, he’s a young man somewhere probably between 18 and 23 when he took down Goliath, all of a sudden his name hits the headlines, you know, as he’s exalted before everybody, and then Saul of course starts to lose his mind and persecutes him. He’s just a young man, and he’s already anointed to be Israel’s king, but he’s not yet the king he was anointed to be. So God takes him to seminary, and all of these things he goes through are mandatory courses, they’re not electives. And it’s wonderful to hear the things that go on in his heart. David so clearly speaks to us, you know, 3,000 years later, many of the things he said, so important to us this evening. I look at this, and he says ‘You know, LORD, I cry unto thee.’ and his cry is, ‘Make haste unto me, LORD you’re moving too slow for me, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee.’ So this is David crying out loud. There are prayers in our hearts, it says ‘Let the word of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.’ God know, he knows our heart before we say it. But so much of the time we know David was somewhere crying out loud, and he specifically says, ‘My voice, I cried unto thee, LORD, make haste.’ Isn’t it interesting. I read this, and I think ‘I respond so slowly, and then when I do finally cry out, I want him to hurry up,’ and he’s God. All the while he’s trying to get me front and center, because he wants to talk to me, wants to comfort me, and I’m so slow sometimes to cry out, to pour out my heart, and when I finally get to there, I cry to the Lord, saying to him ‘Hurry up! Hurry up!’ Isn’t that interesting, you can’t relate to any of that, I’m sure, but it’s just something I go through. “make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer” he’s asking, allow this now LORD, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense;” You know, how many times had this man, this young boy, gone to the Tabernacle, he knew Samuel, I remember at one point he’s fleeing to the Tabernacle, watching the incense rise as the priests ministered there. And he’s saying ‘LORD, let my prayer rise like that, let my prayers rise before you as the incense LORD, and the worship.’ ‘And LORD, let the lifting up of my hands be as the evening sacrifice.’ Sometimes here as we worship, people lift their hands, I think it’s wonderful. You know why we lift our hands? There’s no reason, sometimes we’re busted, it’s like ‘stick ‘em up,’ you surrender. Sometimes it’s like a child, ‘Abba, Father,’ sometimes like he says here, it’s like the evening sacrifice, this is what I have to offer Lord. You know, we don’t slaughter lambs anymore, ‘But this is my life, I’m offering it up to you,’ he says, ‘LORD,’ he’s evidently fleeing, nowhere near the Tabernacle, so he says ‘My prayers, then LORD, come up before thee as incense,’ “and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (verse 2b) ‘Let it be, LORD, as the evening sacrifice.’

“Set A Watch, O LORD, Before My Mouth”

“Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” (verse 3) In my Bible I have PLEASE written after that verse. “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth,” I find in life more often than not, I wish I hadn’t said something than after the fact wishing I had said something. There are times when you think ‘I wish I had said something.’ Once every decade. Once every day I think ‘I wish I hadn’t said that.’ Because once it’s out, it’s gone, and the enemy just pours gasoline on it and lets it continue to fuel, fuel the fire. Our speech, he says ‘LORD, do this LORD, set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth.’ I have an old note here, several years ago, I haven’t read any research lately, they might have improved it, but the average person opens their mouth 700 times a day, to talk. Imagine that? I do it all the time, you guys can’t get away from me, here I am. But the average person, 700 times a day, and they say women say twice as many words a day as men do. [There is reason for that, and this is not derogatory information against women. There is a specific reason women’s brains are wired for this extra speech. It’s explained at http://www.HOWMARRIAGEWORKS.com/heshe.php] Men say somewhere around 2,000 words a day, woman are 4,000 or 5,000 words a day. The interesting thing is, but we both open our mouths the same amount of times. So that means you get more for the gusto with the women. Men open their mouths as many times, but say way less. And that’s the way it is, God made us that way, don’t be offended when you see Rob and he doesn’t say anything, don’t be offended, because he can’t talk, but he’ll make up for it. Again, years ago, I read a report that I think Harvard did, on toddlers and pre-school kids, and they put microphones in these pre-school rooms with little girls, and then microphones in pre-school rooms with little boys, and the little girls were talking in complete sentences, they were articulate, and they were stating facts, and communicating emotionally. In the little boys room they were grunting, making sounds, there were abstract ideas not connected to full sentences that would come out once in awhile, completely two different worlds. And it never changes. Ladies, your husbands, that’s what they are, they’re big little boys, they grunt and they make noise, and they have partial sentences that come out. Kathy will talk to me, talk to me, she’ll say ‘What’s wrong with you? you didn’t answer me.’ I said, ‘You didn’t ask a question, you’re stating facts. I didn’t know I was supposed to answer.’ When women talk together they’re not asking questions, but they answer each other. But a guy, you only answer a question if a guy asks you a question. If he says something, you just think ‘Hmmm.’ Those are facts, you don’t have to answer facts, just appreciate them. Our mouths, you know, James says ‘The tongue is set on fire of hell.’ The disciple is someone who knows how to speak a word in due season. Understand, abortion is promoted through the tongue, racism is promoted through the tongue, war and immorality, the sale of drugs are all promoted through the tongue. The way the enemy finds his way into our physical existence, as James says, is through the tongue, the tongue is set on fire of hell. And here David, wisely says, he says “LORD,” “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth;” then he says “keep the door of my lips.” “keep,” and that’s the word for a watchman, a sentry. “keep the door of my lips.” (verse 3)

“Incline Not My Heart To Any Evil Thing”

And interesting, look now what he says, he says “Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.” (verse 4) He’s asking God to do this, his grace, because he knows in and of himself, like all of us, our hearts are inclined to evil things. But he says to the LORD, “Incline not my heart,” my desires, “to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity:” his son, Solomon, will say ‘Guard your heart with all diligence, garrison it,’ some of the words he’s using here. Because from it, flow the issues of life, from the heart. The heart is the much deeper force in your life than intellect. The heart always makes a convert of the mind, as it agitates. He says here “Incline not my heart to any evil thing,” then he knows because behavior borne out of desire, “to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.” ‘Don’t let me desire their,’ King James “dainties,” their “delicacies” they’re living in luxury, ‘don’t let me desire, when I see the prosperity of the wicked,’ as Asaph had said.

‘Let The Righteous Correct Me’

“Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” (verse 5) That’s a prayer I never pray. But I’m thinking about it, as I read through this. The idea is, you know, if you’re going to be reproved or challenged, you want somebody whose going to speak the truth, in love, that’s a challenge for us, we need to speak the truth in love. But he says ‘if it’s going to happen,’ you know, ‘let the righteous smite me,’ “it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:” David was thinking about when the oil was poured out upon his head, when he was anointed. He says ‘If I’m gonna take a brow-beating,’ in a sense, ‘if someone’s gonna challenge me, let it be the righteous, because that’s good medicine for me. I know they’re going to speak the truth in love and kindness, let that reprove me, that will be an excellent oil which shall not break my head, it’s not going to be like the wicked beating me across the head.’ “for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” (verse 5c) the Hebrew is literally, “my prayer shall be against their evil” is the way it’s written out. So David says ‘I’m going to continue to pray against the evil, but LORD, give the righteous access to my life.’ Are we really willing to pray that? Because, you know, he’s saying here, ‘My heart, the traitor that’s within, I’m naturally inclined, the heart is desperately wicked,’ the Bible says, there’s a traitor that lives inside each of us that’s inclined to the things of this world, inclined to the things that are wrong in the church, inclined to pride, inclined to being territorial, inclined to all this stuff, and he says ‘LORD, I don’t want to yield in that, so let the righteous reprove me.’ Again, that’s a good bumper-sticker. But I don’t normally pray that. But I think it’s important for all of us. ‘Lord, put people around me, that not only claim to be born-again, but a genuinely spiritual people. And if they see me messing up, Lord, let them love me enough to speak the truth to me in love, and challenge me about those things.’ He said, ‘Because that will be good medicine for me. That will be an excellent thing to be anointed with.’ But he said, ‘In regards to the evil deeds of the wicked, I will continue to pray against that.’ He says, “When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.” (verse 6) speaking of the wicked, when they are overthrown in stony places, then they’re going to hear David as king, he knows the day is coming, ‘when they shall hear my words, for they are sweet.’

“Leave Not My Soul Destitute”

And he says “Now our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.” (verse 7) David seems to be sinking way down here. David is picturing somebody spitting wood and all the splinters are flying off, and he said ‘Our bones,’ is he thinking about the guys who are with him in Adullam, is he thinking about his young army being chased by Saul? Is he thinking about when he was persecuted by Absalom? We’re not told. But he said ‘you feel like your life is being cast down, literally to the great Sheol, the unseen realm, we can die, we feel like we’re living in jeopardy, all of the time LORD, our bones are scattered to the grave’s mouth, almost like when you see someone splitting wood and you see pieces of wood flying off, I feel like our bones are being thrown in front of the tomb like that.’ Verse 8, “But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.” Very important, this is David, he’s a man whose anchored in truth. King James says “But” and that’s a wonderful word in this trail downward we’ve been following. The Hebrew is “Yet” the idea is, ‘with all this going on, with all of the wicked, I’m crying out to you, let my prayer rise like incense, LORD, I’m raising my hands, I don’t want my heart to lead me astray, I don’t want this, let the righteous rebuke me LORD, the wicked are around me, I’m going to pray against them, one day their judges are going to be overthrown, and then I’ll be listened to, my words will be sweet to the people. But for now our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth.’ And then he says “Yet,” If you don’t have a “Yet” in that gripe and in that complaint, you’re going down. If you realize you’re that low, but you don’t have a “yet” to throw in there, he says “Yet mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.” (verse 8) and I pray, look, as long as I’ve been doing this, I need to be faster in this, when things are tough. Instead of taking a couple extra hours to gripe and complain, to really get on my knees and say ‘Lord, all this is going on,’ “yet my eyes are unto thee O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.” “Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.” (verse 9) Now look, in verse 9 he says “keep me,” that’s a different word, when we were back there in verse 3, he said “Set a watch before my mouth, keep the door of my mouth” that word there “keep” is “as a watchman,” it speaks about a person keeping watch. This word “keep” in verse 9 is literally “to protect” or “set a hedge about.” It’s not talking about a particular person, he’s saying to the LORD, ‘Hedge me in LORD, keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins,’ which were “traps”, ‘of the workers of iniquity.’ There’s a warfare that we’re in, and there are snares [tell me about it, the Lord is just in the process of breaking me out of one right now (Psalm 124:7)], and there are traps. I mean, it is so sad, sometimes we’ll hear of somebody do good for a long period of time, and they go out and drink one time, one drink [when they have recovered as an alcoholic, not talking about being a moderate drinker, which the Bible does not condemn], they’ll go out and use, one time [referring to drugs], they’ll go back and look at pornography one time, and they just go off the wagon. Because once you step across that line into enemy territory, what the enemy is going to say to you is ‘You’re done, you’re a hypocrite, you don’t love God, you don’t care about him, you’re the same old same old, you haven’t changed.’ Once you step across that line, the enemy, there’s a warfare, an enemy that wants to take you down. Now, wonderfully, you can fall back and repent, and say ‘Lord, I’m a jerk, I did it again, be merciful to me,’ and he will. [Comment: my snare was not one of sin, but a snare the enemy laid that temporarily destroyed a relationship, and it was totally laid out by the enemy, a real entrapment that I innocently walked into, something entirely different than what Pastor Joe is referring to here. But the warfare is the same, and the enemy lays these traps and snares out to catch the unwary, and sometimes there is nothing you can do. Joseph was ensnared by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, and God not only allowed it, but used it to save his entire family from the ensuing famine through a great deliverance. Some snares and traps are God allowed, God ordained, even though he allows the enemy to set them up.] He’ll take you to school, he’ll speak to your heart, he’ll straighten things out, he’ll change you. David says here, ‘You know what? the workers of iniquity, they lay traps, there are snares that are set for me,’ and then he says this, this is the way he ends, “Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.” (verse 10) ‘LORD, get them and set me free,’ David is great at those kinds of imprecatory prayers. He says ‘LORD, let the wicked fall into their own mess, and get me outa here.’ I do pray that everyday, kind of, especially as I watch the news, ‘If they don’t want us here, let them have it, get us outa here.’

Psalm 142:1-7

Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.

“I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.”

Introduction

Psalm 142, it says, beginning, this is a Maschil, which means this is an instruction, so it’s to be learned, somebody’s supposed to learn something from this, it’s a song of instruction. It’s something that David wrote, again, it tells us, and it says specifically it is “A Prayer when he was in the cave” this song was borne out of a prayer, this prayer was born when he was in a cave. It doesn’t tell us what cave. This is either Adullam or this is Engedi, this is a Song for cavemen, and cavewomen, you’re included gals. [Read it above] So David now again, writing this, as he writes it, he realizes this is something that everyone needs to hear, so he calls it a Maschil, it’s a psalm of instruction, and it is something that was borne out of a heart-cry, it says it’s a prayer that he wrote when he was in the cave. Now again, Samuel anoints him to be king over Israel, after all the other brothers were passed over, ‘Ya, I got one more kid out in the field,’ they drag him in and Samuel pours the oil upon his head. He gets off to a great beginning in Saul’s court and the killing of Goliath. And then of course his life begins to tumble out of control, he loses his wife, his home, of course Saul’s trying to murder him, he loses Samuel as a counsellor, he loses Jonathan as a friend, he just watched the process. God forbids him to have any counsellors. Sometimes we think the counsellor is the answer for every problem. Sometimes God takes every counsellor out of your life, because he wants to break you down where there ain’t nobody left but him. He does not want you looking horizontally, he wants you looking vertically. And he takes David to that place. Finally David ends up, you remember, down in Gath, then he’s got Goliath’s sword, he’s in the town that Goliath came from, instead of having his sling, now he’s got Goliath’s sword, like that did Goliath any good, and then he’s taken into captivity by Achish the king of Gath, and when he realizes he’s in trouble he starts to act like a lunatic and babble around and scrape the doors, and he lets spit run down his beard, and Achish says ‘Don’t I have enough people in my cabinet already that are nuts, get him outa here.’ And they drive him out of the town because they think he’s a lunatic, and he ends up in the Cave of Adullam, and he’s there alone. Within a year or two after that, as he’s being persecuted by Saul, he’s in the caves of Engedi. We’re not sure which cave it is at this point in time. But you have to understand, here’s David, who realizes ‘I was anointed to be king, LORD, I didn’t sin, LORD, I faced the giant, I tried to be faithful in the army and in the court of Saul, I’ve done what I think is right at every turn, and here I am, instead of being in the palace I’m in the cave. You sent Samuel to tell me I was the king. Here I am in the cave LORD, how do I deal with this, how do I reconcile what you said to my heart and spoke to me, and my present experience? You’ve convinced me that you love me, that you set my life apart, you have a purpose, and it just doesn’t seem like it, I’m here in this cave. [btw, Joseph in an Egyptian prison was probably saying the same thing to the LORD in his prayers, for 20 years.]’ Ah, I don’t like caves. Some of you do. We have an spelunkers here? I’ll pray for you, if we do. You know, some people like caves, they like to go down in caves, they like to explore caves, when they get down in the cave it’s always a big thrill, they take you down in the caves, I’ve been taken in a few caves, when they get you down there, they love to turn out the lights. And it’s so black, it’s almost blue. I don’t like that. I don’t need any of that, I don’t need to bungee jump, I don’t need to sky-dive, I don’t even like to fly, I just can’t get certain places on the ground. Ah, I don’t like to be out in the middle of the ocean, the ocean freaks me out, I don’t need to be underground in caves, I’m a shepherd, I just want to be in the field with the sheep. Besides that, I don’t belong in any of those other places. If God wanted me to fly he’d have made me a bird, he wanted me in a cave, he’d have made me a worm, I just, I’m not a fish. But David here in the caves, whatever that might mean in your life, sometimes we end up there.

David Looks Within His Own Life, He’s Trying To Figure Out ‘Why Is This Going On?’

And in the middle of that, he says this, “I cried” and it’s literally what it means, David now, he looks within his own life, he’s trying to figure out ‘Why is this going on?’ “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.” (verse 1) ‘With my voice,’ this is not quiet, you could hear him echoing around there in the cave, like Gallum, you could hear his voice echoing around the cave. “with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.” (verse 1b) He’s crying out to the LORD here, if it’s Adullam, he started there alone, before the men gathered to him, before his family he was taking care of, he was alone in those caves. David says there he cried out with his voice, no doubt it must have been echoing around. He says ‘with my voice, not quietly, did I make my supplication.’ Listen, “I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble” (verse 2) ‘I poured out my complaint,’ ever done that? You poured out, you’re on your knees, you’re so miserable it’s coming with tears, it’s coming with slobbering, you need your tissues, it’s pouring out. I’ve been there, I’ve poured out my complaint before him. ‘I told him all of my troubles, all of it is pouring out,’ he says, “When my spirit is overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.” (verse 3) Isn’t that interesting, it’s not the peripheral circumstances. David says the greatest pain, the greatest sense of drowning, where I felt like I was going down for the third time, it was within. “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,” he says this, “then thou knewest my path.” ‘LORD, at the deepest, darkest place, when I was crying out, and I was overwhelmed, I didn’t believe there was any tomorrow, I didn’t believe anything was going to work out, LORD I’ve come to realize then, when those things were going on, LORD, you knew LORD. Then, at that time LORD, you knew my path. You knew what would happen.’ “In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.” (verse 3b) ‘There’s enemies, LORD.’ Then he says, you know, he looks around, instead of just looking within, he’s so overwhelmed. He said “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” (verse 4) You ever feel that, in the middle of it you’re so lonely you can’t even tell anybody else? Even if you tried to tell them, they don’t know what’s going on inside of you. You’re in the middle of pouring out your heart, and they say ‘By the way, did you see the weather?’ or you’re pouring out your heart, and they say ‘Oh it looks like Chip Kelly’s going to be running the team,’ and you’re thinking ‘Wait a minute! I’m pouring out the deepest place of my being,’ he says, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” (verse 4) you ever feel that way? [ya, I seem to be living out these Psalms as I transcribe them, I want to get through this one as fast as possible.] Anybody ever feel that way? Just four of us, ok, five of us. Let me tell you something, when you feel that way, you’re listening to the Devil. First of all, we know one man that cares for your soul, he’s at the right hand of all power. There are people in your life that care about you [where?], God’s put us in a family. We’re the best dysfunctional family going. But we get so despondent that we think there’s not a human being in my life that really cares about me. That’s always a lie. There’s one, there’s two, there’s a few. There’s the man Christ Jesus. But you get so low and so despondent, he says, “no man cared for my soul” there was no refuge for him.

Now David Looks Upward: “You Are My Portion In The Land Of The Living”

Then, of course, this is the whole point, and he looked around. Now David says, ‘Then I looked up, up-look,’ is always great when the outlook stinks, you know. He says “I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” (verse 5) Lessons we all have to learn, God’s king had to learn these lessons. “I cried unto thee, O LORD” he tells us in verse 1 it was with his voice, it was out loud. “I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” (verse 5) verse before he said ‘there was no refuge, it failed me, there was no refuge.’ ‘You are my portion in the land of the living.’ Listen, that is a lesson that we are all learning, in greater and greater depth. Because sometimes we think, ‘Hey, my portion should be a Ferrari,’ or ‘my portion should be a raise,’ or ‘my portion should be a husband, or a wife,’ or my portion should be hitting the lottery, ‘If that jerk could win the lottery, Lord, I’d give you more than 10 percent if you let me hit the lottery.’ we have all of these other ideas of what our portion should be, and of all of that, it all drains away, particularly, when we feel that we’re not in our rightful place, and that’s what David felt, he was in a cave, he should have been on the throne. Particularly, you know, when we get to the place where we feel we have no friend, no human being, God’s not even doing what he’d said he would do. We get to the point that we’re so low, and we finally come to that place where we cry to him, and realize his presence, and we say ‘LORD, you’re my portion in the land of the living. In this earthly experience, LORD, there is nothing I’d rather hold onto than the hem of your garment, LORD.’ Friends are wonderful, and I thank you for the Body of Christ, but they’re mortal, they’re transient, they’re frail, just like me. There’s no particular place that’s a refuge LORD. There are enemies in this world, there’s heartache, there are orphanages, divorce courts, and cancer units, and children are being slaughtered in Iraq and around the world. You know, all of the pain we see in the news, he got to the point where he said, ‘LORD, you are my portion, Lord Jesus, it’s you, you are my portion in the land of the living.’ How remarkable.

‘LORD, Without You I’m Done’

“Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.” (verse 6) ‘LORD, without you I’m done.’ And he says then, “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” (verse 7) “my soul,” notice it’s not his body, ‘bring my soul out of prison, LORD I am incarcerated by depression. I am incarcerated by despair, I am crying unto you, I am incarcerated by a lack of perspective, I have lost perspective LORD, I feel like everything’s going’…you see somebody just get in that place, it seems like it doesn’t matter what you say to them, no matter how you try to encourage them, they’re just not, they won’t budge, they get in the muck and mire, you pray for them, pray for them. Because we worship a prayer-hearing God, and a prayer-answering God. You know, pray for them. David says here ‘LORD, you’re the one, you need to bring my soul out of prison,’ and he said, “that I may praise thy name:” he says, ‘the righteous, LORD, it’s gonna happen,’ future tense, ‘they’re gonna surround me, I’ve got good people that are gonna come around me again LORD,’ “the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” (verse 7) the reason, “for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” (verse 7b) he looks ahead. He looks within, doesn’t find much, he looks around, there ain’t much going on, he looks up, perspective starts to return, and then again he can look ahead. So it’s just an interesting Psalm, a Maschil a song when David was in that situation.

Psalm 143:1-12

A Psalm of David.

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.”

Introduction

“Psalm 143, again, look, A Psalm of David. [read it above] ‘Get ‘em LORD, you get ‘em.’ Ah, again, the cry of David, “Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications:” listen, “in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.” (verse 1) that’s a great request. He doesn’t say ‘LORD, answer me because of my faithfulness, answer me because I’m faithful to you, I’m faithful to pray, I’m faithful to go to church, I’m faithful to think the right things, I’m faithful to worship, I’m faithful to give, I’m faithful to love, I’m faithful to forgive,’ he doesn’t say that. That would be a bummer. He says “Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear unto my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.” That’s a good bumper-sticker, “in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.” And of course this is why I look deep, this is why he wants it based on God’s faithfulness, look what he says, “And enter not into judgment with thy servant:” Why? “for in thy sight shall no man living be justified [and no woman either, btw].” (verse 2) of course, that is except for the cross of Jesus Christ, that’s how any living person can be justified. But this is a great request of David, you know, ‘all men are sinful, no man’s justified in your sight O LORD, so I don’t want you to answer my prayer according to my faithfulness, but according to your faithfulness, LORD.’ He says ‘Don’t enter into judgment with thy servant, for if we do that, I’m a sinner,’ “for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” (verse 2b) He doesn’t have the light that we do. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to say that tonight? I’m glad that I can say, ‘LORD, don’t enter into contention with me here, because, hey, none of us are any good,’ I can say ‘Abba, Father, I’m your blood-washed son, and I’m righteous in your sight because of the cross of Jesus Christ.’ That’s a much different way to appeal to, approach our Father.

David Gets Way Down In The Dumps Here

He says, verse 3, “For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.” “My soul,” David’s always aware that there’s a spiritual thing going on. [Actually, the Hebrew for soul means body, mind and spirit, the whole being.] He can get way down there, can’t he. You know, people that are musicians, creative people, they can get way down, you know, with emotion. God picked him because he wasn’t just a great king, he was a great song-writer, and God used it. Here he is, he gets way down there sometimes, these are all minor chords and sevens and nines, he’s way down there. “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.” (verse 4) ‘my heart within me, it’s desolate, I got nothing, LORD, I’m empty.’ he says ‘my spirit’s overwhelmed, my heart, I’m desolate.’

When David’s Spirit Was Overwhelmed, This Is What He Did

And in verse 5 he kind of gives a bit of preparation or perspective, a prescription, he says ‘this is what I did,’ he says in that place where his own heart was desolate and his spirit was overwhelmed, ‘this is what I did,’ “I remembered the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.” (verse 5) that’s a great thing for us to do, ‘LORD, you saved Noah and his family, LORD, you parted the Red Sea [i.e. he’s looking to the “testimonies of the LORD], no matter what the movies say, it wasn’t a tidal wave, he parted the Red Sea, and he delivered the children of Israel, he delivered David when he fought Goliath, you sent your Son to die for us and he’s risen from the dead, you’re coming again, “I remembered the days of old” he says, “I meditate on all thy works;” God is gracious, he thinks on those things, “I muse on the works of thy hands.” the idea is there, in his mind he goes over and over the work of God’s hands, what God does, he say ‘LORD, I remember who you are, what you do, and how you work.’ When his soul was cast down like that, that’s a great thing to do. And he says this “I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.” (verse 6) here he is, raising his hands again. ‘my soul, it thirsts after you,’ he had said before, ‘it’s my portion in the land of the living,’ now he says ‘my soul thirsteth, my soul, I’m realizing, it’s a thirst that’s after you, just like a thirsty land, parched land, a desert, that’s the way my soul is, what would wet me LORD, and what would make my life vibrant again, LORD,’ he says, ‘is you. Selah, think about that.’ You know the Holy Spirit wants everybody there to stop and think about that. What we really thirst after, what’s really deep down inside of us, is that God-shaped void that nothing else can ever fill. And David realizing that, says now ‘Selah, think about that.’

Now David’s Requests:

And look at the request now, as we move into verse 7 to the end, it’s “hear me, cause me, cause me, deliver me, teach me, quicken me.” So he must have a very clear idea that God’s hearing you, as he cries out with his voice. And he says ‘I remember how gracious you were, I remember your works of old, LORD, I stretched forth my hands, my soul is thirsting for you,’ so he says then, “Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.” (verse 7) ‘So hear me O LORD,’ what is he asking now? He says he doesn’t want to be like those that are failing and drifting away, so he wants God to hear him quickly, and look what his requests are, verse 8, first thing he says is, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Look, ‘Cause me to hear,’ you know why? Because the first thing I hear in the morning is the alarm clock, or ‘You gotta get up, you got to salt the driveway,’ the first thing in the morning I’m not inclined to hear his lovingkindness as soon as I wake up in the morning. He says here, ‘Cause me, LORD, make this happen in my life, because I’m not inclined to.’ I don’t like to get out of bed, especially when it’s cold. I need to get down and get a cup of coffee before I start functioning a little bit, I have all of these conditions that have to be met for me to get going. He says ‘Cause me, make this happen in my life.’ How wonderful when the morning becomes that place, you know, where we get alone with him, we can sit with him, we can hear his voice. He says “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust:” and the second one, “cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” (verse 8) ‘Make me know, LORD, the way I should walk,’ because I’m not inclined to, in my nature, my compass is broken, ‘so cause me to know that LORD.’ Listen, are we really willing to pray that? Those are the questions. ‘LORD, I’m crying out to you, I’m broken down, I need your help,’ are we really willing to say ‘Let me start the day right, cause me, LORD, to know first thing, when I open my eyes and take a breath again in the morning, cause me to know your lovingkindness, LORD. Let me start that way.’ You know, in Israel of old, I love the fact that there was the morning and evening sacrifice. Every morning the first thing that happened in the nation was the blood of the lamb was shed, every night when the sun set, the blood of the lamb was shed. And in my personal life, as much as I can, I love to remember when I open my eyes in the morning, the morning sacrifice, ‘LORD, I’m breathing again, I’m opening my eyes again, this is another day, Lord Jesus this is only because of you, the morning sacrifice.’ At the end of the day, ‘I’ve got some things to say, I’m sorry, I blew that today.’ But you know, I can lay down and go to sleep, just thinking ‘the evening sacrifice, there’s the blood of the Lamb as the day begins, the blood of the Lamb as the day ends,’ you know, are we really willing to say ‘Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning’? Because we want to hear other things sometimes. Are we really willing to say ‘Cause me to know the way wherein I should go,’ because sometimes we know it’s the way we shouldn’t go, and we’re determined to go that way. “cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift my soul unto thee.” (verse 8b) “Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.” (verse 9) ‘I’m fleeing unto you to hide, I can’t do it on my own.’ “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” (verse 10) ‘LORD, teach me to do thy will,’ that means you’re surrendering your will to someone else’s will. We say Lord, but are we really willing to be servants? There’s no sense saying “Lord” without willing to be a servant. Those are the only two things that go together. If he’s Lord, that means that we’re not, I’m not.

“Teach Me To Do Thy Will: For Thou Art My God: Thy Spirit Is Good”

He says “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good” That’s why people, they come to me and say ‘You know what, I thought it was ok to smoke pot, because it’s natural,’ I say ‘Don’t give me that nonsense, what do you think, that I’m an idiot, I got the same Holy Ghost that you got, don’t tell me that, because he don’t tell me that, why would he tell you something different? It’s natural? Why don’t you eat bark, that’s natural, why don’t you shoot somebody, lead is natural, uranium is natural, what, do you have to go to another planet, another dimension to find something, what are you talking about, it’s natural?’ He says here, ‘Teach me to do your will God. Your Spirit is good.’ Listen, he’s the Holy Spirit, he’s not the cool spirit, he’s not the culturally relevant spirit, he’s not the slick and edgy spirit, he’s the Holy Spirit, ‘Your Spirit is good.’ Again, when I hear people in church today, particularly young pastors using fowl language in the pulpit, and they’re saying ‘We’re doing that so we can be relevant,’ or they say ‘Hey, we’re going out having a few brewkies after church with the people in our congregation,’ I’m thinking ‘WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, That’s not the Holy Ghost, that’s the cool ghost, that’s the culturally relevant ghost, that’s the slick and edgy ghost, that ain’t the Holy Ghost.’ Read about the great revivals in Church history. The revivals in Wales or Fulton Street, New York, or those revivals in Philadelphia when they took place, bars and taverns closed down, not because people were preaching against alcohol, there was such a presence of God, and such an influence of the Holy Spirit, nobody drank. You hear about the revival in Wales, one of the places they lost money was in the mines, because as they said the miners got saved, they were called Holiers because they screamed at the donkeys, and they said, once they got saved, they were speaking a new language, and the donkeys didn’t know what they were talking about, everything was moving slow, because the donkeys were so used to getting cursed at all the time, all of a sudden these guys were saying ‘Come on honey, we gotta move forward.’ When there’s real revival, the real moving of the Spirit, drinking stops, foul language stops, it’s not a method the Holy Spirit uses. If you’re like the world, what do you have to offer them? God’s never gonna use a compromised person to reach a compromised world, the logic doesn’t even go with it. People say ‘Well you’re an old guy,’ like I’m a Pharisee, a legalist or something. I am not! I got saved when I was 22 years old, I was talking about it in my Bible class today. I was born-again at 22-years-old, regenerated, God’s eternal Spirit moved into my heart when I was 22-years-old. That part of me is as vibrant and alive it was the day I got saved. I’m just dragging it around in this old bag of bones now, but there’s something inside of me, you know, if you’re 22-years-old and you’re saved today, I’m as young inside as you are! I have the same eternal Spirit. What I’m saying to you is I’ve been doing this 40 years, 45 years longer than you have, and I have already done all of that other stuff, and there ain’t nothing there. Not that I’m a legalist, I’m not a Pharisee, I got the same Spirit in me that you got in you. I’m 22-years-old inside, I’ve just been doing all this longer than you have. And there ain’t nothing there in this world. God’s Holy Ghost is good. And he wants to clean up our lives. He has better things for us, and he wants to bring the standards of heaven into our lives, because that’s where we’re going to be forever. [Comment: i.e. in the Kingdom of Heaven, which will end up on earth (cf. Revelation 21:1-23). Heaven, in the true Biblical sense is the place outside Space-Time where God dwells, wherever that is. And Revelation chapters 21 and 22 show that place, the location of the New Jerusalem, ends up on a new earth, which is hung in the new heavens. Now whether the new heavens and earth will dwell outside Space-Time or they’re melded together in some new way, we don’t know, God’s Word does not reveal that. We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?] Remarkably, I just love that he says that here, ‘Your Spirit is good, LORD,’ he says “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” (verse 10) Because that’s what the Holy Ghost does, “the land of uprightness.” He says then, “Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.” (verse 11) ‘Bring life to me, revive me O LORD,’ “for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.” What a wonderful God we have. Amen? And he says, as far as mercy, ‘in your mercy, slaughter all my enemies.’ We can’t pray the last verse of the prayer, even though you’d like to sometimes. “And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.” (verse 12) Ah, I don’t know if we can do the next one in ten minutes, we’re gonna. Ready? Hold on.

Psalm 144:1-15

A Psalm of David.

“Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. I will sing a new song unto thee, O GOD: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose GOD is the LORD.”

Introduction

“Now here’s his entrance into the Psalm, this time, into the Song, a Song of David, he says “I, me, my” eleven times in the first two verses, this is all very personal. And look what he says about God, he says this, he says “Blessed be the LORD” now listen, “my strength” literally ‘he’s my Rock,’ “which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:” ‘he keeps me, he’s taught me to be a warrior,’ ‘he is my goodness, he is my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield in whom I trust, who subdueth my people, as king, under me,’ that’s quite a God, that’s quite an opening, God is all of those things. You don’t have a problem as long as the day is, if God is all of those things in your life. He says, thinking of all that the LORD does, please, on your own, look through those things, God’s our strength, he teaches us what to do in the battle, he’s our goodness, he’s out fortress, he’s our high tower, he’s our deliverer, he’s our shield, we can trust in him. He subdues what needs to be subdued before us, and then he raises a question, “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!” ‘Just thinking, you’re all of these things, what is man,’ and there are basically four Hebrew words in the Old Testament that are used for “man” and two different ones are used here. He said ‘LORD, what is man’ it’s adam, “adama” and the idea is, it’s the Hebrew word for “dust,” and it speaks of man in his origin. You know, he’s thinking back to God creating Adam, he says ‘LORD, what is man? I’m a dustbowl, that you take knowledge,’ “taking knowledge” there is “to care for and to help.” ‘I’m this dustbowl LORD, you’re my strength, you’re my goodness, you’re my tower, you subdue enemies before me, you teach me LORD, you’re all of these things, I don’t understand, what is this dustbowl, what is this adama that thou take knowledge of, to help him, to assist him?’ Or what is “the son of man, that thou makest account of him!” that’s a different word there, it’s “enosh” which means “to be mortal” or “to be frail.” ‘What is it LORD, I am this son of frailty, mortality, that you take account of him, that you notice, that you watch my life?’ All Hebrew words are from a verb root that’s interesting, this one is “to weave” or you know if “you braid something.” He says ‘What is this, just dust LORD, that you take knowledge to help, what is this son of frailty, LORD, I’m so temporary, that you stoop down, you weave my life together LORD? You braid me LORD, you do that as my strength, as my teacher, and as my goodness, as my fortress, as my high tower, literally as my shield, you subdue what needs to be subdued, what is it LORD?’

‘Deliver Me, LORD’

He said “Man is like vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.” (verse 4) he said “man is like vanity,” that’s the dust. “his days are like a shadow” that’s the frailty part of it “that passeth away.” He says “Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.” (verses 5-6) speaking of enemies and those that would be a threat. He says, “Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;” (verse 7) so he said, ‘What is man?’ look in context of verse 3, ‘But yet LORD, draw close, send thy hand from above, rid me, deliver me out of the great waters, from the hand of strange children,’ literally “those that are foreign-born” “whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” (verse 8) the right hand was always strength, you would trust in the right hand. He says ‘Their right hand is the right hand of falsehood.’ Then he says “I will sing a new song unto thee, O GOD: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.” (verse 9) or you may have a 12-string, 6-strings, doesn’t matter. “It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.” (verse 10) some think he was thinking of the sword of Goliath at this point in time.

Why Should We Say ‘LORD, Deliver Me From Vanity And Lies’?

Now again, look what he says in verse 11, “Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children,” “foreign-born” “whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:” ‘LORD,’ we should all pray this, ‘deliver me from vanity, and deliver me from lies.’ [and I would add, from gossip and gossipers] because the media is full of it, the media, you know, would convince us that we’re something that we’re not [as Christians, believers in Jesus Christ]. You know, facebook and all that stuff, gives us, we can create our own persona and put it out there, we can do instragram now, and selfies, since the paparazzi don’t follow you around so you get to be your own paparazzi now, because the whole world is waiting to see pictures of you everyday, just it’s this whole self-thing that consumes us in our culture today. And he says, ‘LORD, rather,’ a great prayer, we should be praying it, ‘deliver me from vanity, emptiness, nonsense, and from the voice of falsehood, from lies, deliver me from that.’ Now why? Why? Why do I? What are the reasons we should want to live free of vanity, free of lies and deceptions? Look what it says in verse 12, “that, that, that, that,” here’s the reasons now, this is wonderful. Why should we say ‘LORD, deliver me from vanity, from lies?’ here it is, “that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.” (verses 12-14) because we hear kids, that our sons, the next generation is at stake. Sadly, today, you know, I watch what’s going on, we need a God-given Revival. A hundred years ago, you were in the fields, woke up with your family when the sun came up. You went out and worked in the field, you heard the voice of your father and your mother, you watched, you were involved, you learned something, you worked with your hands, you came back to the house when it got dark, you didn’t stay up and watch Letterman. You can watch movies too, ‘I know I’ve seen it 500 times, but something might happen different,’ you can watch those forever, you know. My wife will say to me once in awhile, ‘Why are you watching that First Samurai again? It’s not the 1^st Samurai, it’s the Last Samurai,’ but there’s things, he says here we should give ourselves to those things that are not vain, we don’t want to be consumed by deception and all that. Why? Because we want our sons to grow up as saplings, strong, watered, filled with life. Listen, “that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace” you know, that stone, that corner stone was the one they took the most time to measure, to put in the right place, it was cut, it was shaped, it was polished, ‘let our daughters be like that LORD.’ Because the world that we’re living in, if our lives are given to vanity, and our lives are given to lies, what’s going to happen to our daughters? Because the world is telling them you need to smell this way, you need to wear Poison, Seduction,’ this is the way you need to smell, ‘If you’re not sleeping with somebody there’s nothing going on in your life, this is the way you need to look, this is your worth, your skirt needs to be short, you need to look sexy, you need to be thin,’ this is the value that the world puts on them [which is highly sexist and sex-oriented]. He says, ‘Look, we shouldn’t give our lives to vanity or lies, because we want our sons to grow up strong in this world, and we want our daughters to be like corner stones in the palace, to be cut, to be shaped, to be polished, and to be put into place, put into place.’ You know, it’s funny, as a father, when my sons dated, you kind of feel ok about that, because they’re your sons, you know you’ll kill them if they do anything wrong, you know. But when your daughters are dating, everybody that dated my daughter, initially is the category of “suspect.” It’s just funny, because, and then you finally let go, you kind of go through that process, and you want the best, you want the best [for them]. It’s like we’re really slinging an arrow from a bow, taking all of that time to pull back, to aim, to get things right, and then somebody comes around and wants to mess with your aim, and you have to be stalwart in that. It’s wonderful to me, just to look at this, it says, our sons, I want my sons to grow up strong, I want them to do that. I want them so strong that if I fall, if I do something wrong, that they’ll never turn away from Christ, that’s how strong I want them to be. My daughters, polished, cut and shaped, placed, so that whatever happens in their lives, nothing will ever turn them away from Christ, put in that place. He says that’s why we want to make sure we don’t give ourselves to vanity, to lies. And then he says, look, he says, “that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.” (verses 13-14) the idea is that the crops are coming in. No sense having an oxen that ain’t strong, it’s a compliment when somebody says ‘You’re strong as an ox.’ If they say ‘You’re weak as an ox,’ there’s a problem. So look, isn’t it interesting, the first thing he says, ‘If we don’t have the next generation, what does it matter whether our barns are full? What does it matter if we have the best car in the garage, what does it matter whether the house is paid off, what does it matter whether we’re fat and flourishing financially, if we lose our sons and we lose our daughters? If we don’t get the next generation, if they’re not strong, if they’re not walking with the Lord, what are we gonna leave them? Something in our Will? If all you leave your kid is something a lawyer settles for you, you haven’t left them anything at all, because they’re going to take their last breath, and if you haven’t left them Christ, and genuine Christian faith, a commitment to the Word, ability to recognize vanity and lies, what have we left them? What have we left them? And we’re surrounded by enemies, and they have all kinds of access to the mind and the heart that no generation has ever had to battle before.’ Wonderfully here, let’s take a stand. Amen? All of us, parents, grandparents, let’s take a stand, so let’s pray ‘LORD, don’t let me give my soul to vanity, don’t let me listen to lies, let me walk the right way, so that our sons and our grandsons will stand strong, so that our daughters and our granddaughters will be cut and polished and placed, precious stones. Then let the barns be full, then let all the other physical blessings come, then let the material be a blessing in our lives around us, then let our oxen be strong and the labour be good, and that there be all of that strength so that there’s no breaking in, breaking through, there’s no enemies breaking in, there’s no having to go out to war.’ We want to see those things, look, I love this one ‘that there be no complaining in our streets,’ I’m looking for that town. It ain’t on the news, that there be no complaining on our streets, I’m ready. Then of course he ends, and he says, “Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose GOD is the LORD.” (verse 15) [transcript of an expository sermon on Psalms 141:1-10; 142:1-7; 143:1-12 and Psalm 144:1-15 given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]