Distress and Confidence in God

Distress and Confidence         Kelly Durant 7-30-17

Psalm 3:4-8 (King James Version)

 4I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. 5I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.  6I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. 7Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. 8Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

2. View commentary related to this pHave you every screamed out, really cried out, to the Lord for help in distress?  One time my wife and I were traveling in the South of Brazil and we were asleep and the driver of the truck fell asleep too. There are many steep cliffs in that area and when we both felt the truck bounce hard I thought for sure we were going off the edge of the mountain! My wife and I both cried out, “Jesus!” Instead of going off the edge of a mountain though, we ended up in a flat plowed field of a farmer! God saved us then and saved us several other times from death!

I think each one of us here have had moments of despair and we can relate to David as in the verse   4I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

3. David was in a situation where he was surrounded by trouble and enemies. He cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard him.

David had to live in caves for some time escaping Saul’s desire to kill him, escaping other local enemies too. Caves are muddy and dark. Our problems of rent money and work appear not so bad compared to David’s problem of living in caves for several years!

But God affirms through David that when you cry out with your voice to the Lord, He hears!

4. Sometimes some of our prayers need more desperation! You need to scream and cry and let God know how you feel!

Not a little silent prayer will do when you are under stress and afraid for the future and your life. Use your voice! Let God know how you feel! God wants to hear and answer!

5. At times any one of us may have heavy trials and fears, but the only way to get hope is to lift our voice and speak it all and give it over to God!

After you let out you and vocalize it in prayer, what should you do? You should do as in verse 5.

 5I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
That seems so contradictory, David is distressed for his life, but then he suddenly is able to go to sleep like nothing is going on!
What do we learn? To take an attitude that after you cry out, after you pray, that you will trust God for the answer to the point you let God stay awake and not you!
6. He gave all his burdens to the Lord and then he went to bed! Have you ever prayed that intensely? Have you felt that intensity peace from God’s Holy Spirit after prayer and then gone to sleep like that? This is true confidence, when a calm trust comes over you!
 6I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
Being afraid is also something that grabs you but something God wants us as Christians to reject because we trust in Him! Even though you have multitudes in society against you, do not fear!
7. What is David referring to here? He was at war with the pagan nations around him! They all hated him. Have you ever felt like thousands are hating you as a Christians? We are at war against the world’s evils and the vile haters!
If you are truly righteous, telling your friends about Jesus, you will be hated by those who do evil! I want to tell you something real and shocking. If you really stand up for what is right, it is inevitable to not have enemies! Let’s recall what Jesus said:
8. Matt 5:11-12 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Also, as Christians, we recognize that our enemies are those who disrespect you and me for being Christian and being different from them! We do not celebrate sin, we reprove and repent from it because it separates us from God and His holiness.  
In King David’s case being a Jew, his war and enemies was against the pagan, murderous, vandalizing, raping, enslaving, unholy, idol-worshipping, tribes in ancient Israel.
9. Amongst Christians though, we must be united to fight those who are evil! Remember the fight is not amongst our selves as Christians (unless someone is obviously violating God’s principles) but our fight is against the principalities of darkness and spiritual wickedness!
10. In our SA Corps, I have attended a few dozen cases of people amongst us that have confessed a debt of 10 to 20K because they have to pay back their sponsor or Coyote back for getting them in this country; and this is from the Korean and Hispanics!
We witness right here in our community amongst all races all wage exploitations: sexual trafficking, immigrant trafficking, drug trafficking, plus gang activities! Our war is to free these victims from oppression with Jesus and a way out.
11. The question is, if God hears the cries of others in distress, are you willing to also hear and show compassion and do something? That is the reason the Salvation Army exists, and why God has blessed us to bless others!
 12.  7Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
God will stop them! They do get caught and beat up! Another verse for how God will take care of those who do wrong is in Romans.    Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. That is in part in this life but also in the final judgment!
What do we learn from God’s word in Psalm 3 today?
13. That we should agree this is a right way to handle our distress:
1) To cry out to God in when in pain and distress!   2) To trust God totally and calm down and sleep   3) Trust that God will avenge those who are His enemies, punishment does come for those who do evil to any servant of God!   4) In the end we accept Salvation and blessings for trusting in God!

14:8  “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people.” It seems so simple, but it is true, God bestows to us salvation and blessing by taking these resolves! How many of you feel like you are in a desperate situation right now and you need to cry out to Jesus? Come and let’s pray!