The Book of Psalms literally means a book of praises. It is the third division of the Hebrew bible. You have the law, the prophets, and the writings. The writings include several books, and one of them is the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is divided into five books. In fact, some of them see it just like the law. Genesis, Exodus, and so forth. You have the book of beginnings, psalms 1 through 72, or 1 through 42. Where it speaks of the beginning of Israel's history. Where David recaps all what God has done in the past. And each book follows a period of Israel's history, like Genesis to Deuteronomy.

I don't know, it's just supposition, but it's divided into five books. The first book is the writings and the songs of King David. And that's the book we're presently in. David was not only a great King, but he was quite a musician. He loved worship. He organized huge choirs. And music and organization didn't seem tedious to him. He liked getting lots of people and giving them harmonies and melodies, and finding new instruments. In fact, he invented all sorts of new instruments that never were around in Israel up to that time. He was innovative. He liked creating new songs for the Lord.

And he employed people full time to just create worship. So he had quite an emphasis in worship, and his songs were used by his son, Solomon in the temple. And years after with other kings. In Psalm 9, how could I put it. Psalm 9 is like an individual who's just finished watching the evening news. After watching all of the garbage that's going on in the world, he's disgusted with evil. He just says, this world is going down the tubes. What are we going to do?

And you're going to notice, from Psalm 9 all the way to Psalm 13, this downhill climb. Where David, especially in Psalm 11, 12, and 13, just cries out in despair. It's like he's watching the stuff in the nation. He throws up his arms and says, I'm sick of seeing all the evil that's going on around me. Now Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 have the same theme. David is speaking about evil all around him. Chapter 9, excuse me. Psalm 9 is evil outside of the nation of Israel among the Gentiles, or what David calls the Goyim, the nation's.

Psalm 10 is evil inside the nation. David was not so naive as to think that all of the Israelites who were supposedly serving God were all nice guys, and the rest of the world was turning away from God. He knew that there was evil inside Israel, as well as outside the camp. And he writes about him in two psalms. Psalm 9 and 10 are very much alike. In fact, many people believe originally they were just one solid work. Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 are called alphabetic acrostic psalms. Some of you know what I mean when I say acrostic.

It is where each stanza begins with a successive letter of an alphabet. Here's an acrostic. J. O. Y. J means Jesus. O is others. Y is you. Joy spelled joy, but each successive letter is the beginning of a whole other word. Jesus, others, you. Put those together, that spells joy. You serve the Lord first, others second, yourself last. That's in a acrostic. Many of the psalms are written in an alphabetic acrostic. The longest one is which? Psalm 119. By the way, if you want to learn the Hebrew alphabet, if you want to learn Hebrew, Psalm 119. It says at the beginning of each of the sections, it's got the Hebrew alphabet. Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Dalet, Hey, Vav, Zayin, on and on.

That's how these are written, Psalm 9 and 10, alphabetic acrostic. You begin with the letter A, or Hebrew Aleph. And then Bet, Gimmel. They did that so people could memorize them. They believed in memorizing scripture. Now that should really impact you, especially when you consider Psalm 119 with its hundreds of verses. That people committed a Psalm like that to memory. As they meditated on the word of God, a Psalm about the word of God. He says, I will praise you, Lord with my whole heart. I will tell of your marvelous works, or your works that surpass all other works.

I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will praise, or I will sing praise to your name oh most High. This Psalm was written, we can't be certain, but somewhere between 2 Samuel chapter 5 and 2 Samuel chapter 21. All of the enemies of Israel were, for the most part, defeated. David was on the throne. The nation was pretty much in security. Although David looks out and he sees injustice in his own camp. I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart. That's worship. Worship involves everything. You know praise today is seen as something secondary, at least by some people.

It is a time filler. It is seen as something we do before you really get into the word of God. It's to let latecomers in. Or it's to go to the restroom, shake hands, get situated. And people fail to realize that singing, and studying the word is part and parcel of the same unit. It's all in worshipping God. And involves the total person, the whole heart. You know when a group of people get together, and they're determined to sing to the Lord with their whole-- have you ever been in a room when everyone wants to sing with their whole heart? It comes alive. It is ecstatic with spiritual electricity.

I will tell of your marvelous works. I will be glad. Notice that each stanza begins with volition. Not, you know, I feel like singing. Lord, I feel like telling of your marvelous works. I feel like being glad. I will sing. I will be glad. I'm going to sing, even if I don't feel like it. Even if it hurts, I'm going to do it. He says, oh most high. The word is Elohim. It means God most high, who is overall. What a good way to start a prayer. This prayer is a model. Now so many, many prayers are models. But David, when he gets into the next several verses, he's crying for justice amidst the oppression in Israel.

But he begins saying I'm going to sing to you, I'm going to praise you God. You are most high, or you transcend all of the evil that's surrounding me. It's a good way to start your prayers. When we start our prayers, we should model after the men and women in the Bible, acts chapter 4. Psalm 9, so many of the prayers who in the midst of trouble, began focusing their attention on God. I, like yourself, many times have a crisis prayer life. I stormed the throne of God when I'm in need. As we talked about today, adversity fuels devotion. There's nothing like adversity to make you pray. Get real serious about the Lord.

But to come into the presence of God always saying, oh God, I'm in deep trouble. I'm in hot water. Save me now, is robbing us. From the kind of faith in prayer that we can enjoy. When we in prayer, in the midst of whatever's going on around us, begin realizing who we're talking to. I mean, what kind of faith can you have in your prayer life and you go, Lord this is so tough. I don't know if you can handle it, but. What a difference is when you first consider, Lord, you are God. You created the heavens and the earth. Everything that's in them. There's nothing too hard for you. This is a piece of cake, Lord. I need $10,000 by Monday.

For you it's impossible. For me it's impossible, don't ask me. With the Lord, is nothing is impossible. And you can't say that phrase to anyone else but the Lord. When you come to God like that, your prayer sprouts wings. When my enemies turn back, they shall fall and perish at your presence. For you have maintained my right and my cause. You sat on the throne judging in righteousness. You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever. Oh enemy, destructions are finished forever. And you have destroyed cities, even their memory has perished.

But the Lord shall endure forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness. I have that underlined and marked in yellow in my Bible. Because it makes me realize that I have no right to say, well, what about the Pygmies in Africa. And they're in Borneo by the way, but that's a detail. What about the people who've never heard the gospel. How can God send that person to hell? I don't know. All I know is at the end, I'm going to be able to echo with all the Saints. Verse 8, he will judge the world in righteousness.

Because God sits on his throne, he can see more than you and I can see. He sees into the thoughts and motivations of people's hearts. He can judge so totally, so thoroughly, and so accurately, that I don't have to sit here scratch my brain and wonder if God will be able to hack it. Well I don't know if I can trust a God like that who's going to judge the world. I can. He can do it a lot better than you or I. He'll do it in righteousness. And he will administer judgment for the people's in uprightness. The Lord will also be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge in times of trouble. And those who know your name will put their trust in you.

For you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Keep this in mind. That when David wrote these psalms, they were not in chronological order necessarily. As I read verse 10, he says, Lord you haven't forsaken those who seek you. Keep that in mind, because you're going to get to a verse in a little bit where David says the exact opposite. Not that he believes God forsakes the righteous. He feels forsaken by God. He feels so distant from God. And so psalms are such precious friends to us, because they reflect every gamut of emotion. From a static joy of deliverance, to being mourning and doleful and wondering if God is even going to show up.

And David experiences life on the peaks and life in the valleys. And so we read them and we think, I like this guy. He's real. Man, I have experienced what David's experience. I can get into what he's saying, because Lord, that's how I feel right now. But for the moment he says, Lord you have not forsaken those who seek you. Now in verse 11 and 12, it's a call to public corporate worship. Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the people. When he avenges blood, he remembers them. He does not forget the cry of the humble.

Have mercy on me, O Lord. Consider my trouble from those who hate me. You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may tell of your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in your salvation. The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made. Now that is the voice of a man, who like David, looks around his world. Whether you look and you turn on Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, local news. You look at what the world has done with what God has given it and you say, the nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught. The Lord is known by the judgment he executes.

When we think of the rapture of the church. When we think of the end times, our mind probably first goes to the rapture. I mean, that's our ticket home right. That's where we get whisked away to our comfort zone. And that's OK to look forward to the coming of the Lord, taking his church away. But when the Lord comes back, when the Lord raptures his church, he doesn't just do it to take us away to a cozy soft place. He does it so that he can remove us, so that he can judge the world. He takes us out to initiate a time of judgment and wrath. God will judge the world. And he has known by his love and by his judgment.

We have, I'm afraid, a Sunday school view of Jesus. We picture Jesus walking around patting little kids on the head. Taking babies in his arms, kissing them and I'm sending him back. Just going oh, this is wonderful. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon this little child. But what about Jesus who walks into a temple with a whip. Starts lashing it around with anger. Not sin, but anger in his eyes. Overturning tables. Making a mess out of the temple. What about verses like the Book of Exodus. The Lord is a man of war.

Or the Book of Numbers, where it says the books of the wars of our Lord. Or the book of Zechariah chapter 13, which says, the Lord will fight against those nations as he fought in the day of battle. God's a soldier. He's a-- takes a sword out, and he executes judgment. Dual nature of God. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands, meditations. So if we want to do it right, we just kind of close our eyes and think about it. Let's go on. You can do that in your quiet time. The wicked shall be turned into hell. And the nations that forget God, for the needy shall not always be forgotten.

The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord. Do not let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in their sight. Put them in fear, O Lord. That the nations may know themselves to be but men. And then there's Selah. And we're not going to read the Selah, because it just means a musical rest, and we'll move on. Now Psalm chapter 10, David asked the question, God where are you. Why do I feel like you're so distant from me? Where are you? Where are you in the midst of wickedness in my own nation?

You know that in Israel, at David's time, there was atheism. There were people who were saying, Oh don't trust God. There's no God. David your lame brain for putting your trust in someone that you can't see. Now David was surrounded with evil doers all of his life. Before he was on the throne, and after he was on the throne, and he writes about them very eloquently. He says, why do you stand a far off Oh Lord. Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride persecute the poor. Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

There are times in our lives when God seems distant. It's not that he is distant, he seems distant. There's a lot of reasons for that. Have you ever been in a wilderness experience, where you feel like God isn't around like he used to be. Man, you were walking with the Lord. It was so close. He was speaking to you every time you opened your Bible. When you pray, you feel like you could touch him. Now you feel like a dry desert experience. Lord, where are you? How can you stand way over there? Why don't you just-- used to be so close.

There's a number of reasons for that. Number one, sin separates from God. If you are deliberately harboring sin in your life, God won't hear you. The scripture says that. Don't expect God to be close to you when you're trying to enjoy pleasures of sin for a season and maintain a relationship with them. Can't cut it. God won't even listen. God won't answer. God won't be close until there's repentance. Doubt is another reason that causes God to seem like he's way out there. Remember when Jesus went to Nazareth, his own home town, it says that he could do no mighty work there because of their unbelief.

He could do no work because they didn't believe in. Then there are times, when just for reasons of his own, God chooses not to let you feel his presence, so that you might believe by faith his presence. Hezekiah, there was a time when God was so close to Hezekiah. And there was another time, it says, when God tested him. That he could know what was in his heart by not feeling the immediate presence of the Lord. That frustrates us, but it causes us to live by faith.

How many times have you thought, I can't feel God. I feel like God's left. Has God left? Has God left you? Well if he did, then he lied, because he said I never leave or forsake you. Yeah, but I feel like he's so distant. Well that proves one thing. That your emotions aren't telling you the truth. What you feel like is not what is happening. I feel like God is distant. But the truth is, he will never leave me or forsake me. We need to live-- learn to live above the realm of our emotions. Now emotion's good, but emotions can lie to us.

And Christians are so flighty when they just live by their emotions. Because what happens is, oh I feel like this. And today I don't feel like that. Tomorrow I'm going to feel like who knows what. And so we have people say, oh I feel like I really want to serve the Lord in this area. I want to be involved in Sunday school. I feel like I want to do it. Oh, I just want to give my heart. A week later, you know, I don't feel like the Lord wants me to do it. Why are you going by your feelings? Well I got to go by my heart. Why? The heart is deceitful. Above all things, Isaiah said, who can know it.

Why do you stand so far away, Lord? Now David is crying out, because the wicked are prospering and David's own prayers seem unanswered. Says the wicked boasts of his heart's desire. He blesses the greedy, that's David's perception and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none of his thoughts. That's a definition of atheism. God is in none of his thoughts. But there's a real key in this verse to determining an unbeliever. The real heart of an unbeliever is attitude. Not really the outward appearance. You know, an unbeliever can carry this book around, but his attitude in his heart he can be denying the Lord. People go to church all the time because it's a social thing to do. My friends go to church. I want to be an upstanding person in my community.

The ultimate hypocrite is one who says, I believe in God, but lives as though God didn't exist. He affirms a relationship with the Lord, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday-- there's no difference between the way he lives and anyone else who lives. He doesn't live in the consciousness of the presence of the Lord. It's an attitude of his heart.

"His ways are always prospering. Your judgments are far above, out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved. I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression. Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages."

He describes these people great. "In the secret places, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait, secretly as a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the poor. He catches the poor when he draws him into his net. And so, he crouches. He lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength.

He has said in his heart--" now listen. This is what he says, "God has forgotten. He hides His face. He'll never see it."

When a person gets by with doing something evil, that is, when God does not judge him immediately, he thinks, this is approval, man. God isn't going to do anything. I guess it's OK that I do it. He doesn't see. He thinks he can get away with it. Because there hasn't been an immediate intervention by God, many people take that as license. They think, ah, God doesn't see. He says He will never see it.

Now here's his prayer, "Arise, oh Lord. Oh, God, lift up your hand. Do not forget the humble. Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, you will not require an account. But you have seen it. You observe trouble and grief, to repay it by your hand.

The helpless commits himself to you." Note that. You know, I don't know where this came from-- well, yes I do. People always say, (MOCKINGLY) well, the Bible says, God helps those who help themselves. It says God helps the helpless-- that's who God helps. You know who said, God helps those who help themselves? Old Benjamin Franklin, the old kite flyer.

[LAUGHTER]

People are always putting new verses in the Bible. It cracks me up. God helps those who help themselves, or cleanliness is next to godliness. Where'd that come from? That came from a comic strip, probably.

[LAUGHTER]

It's not in the Bible. God helps the people who need help-- the helpless. And they commit their way to the Lord.

"You are the helper of the fatherless. (LAUGHING) Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man." I would not like to be one of David's enemies. "Seek out his wickedness until you find none. The Lord is King forever and ever. The nations have perished out of his land. Lord, you've heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more."

Now, a lot of people look at this prayer of David as a sub-Christian prayer because he prays this prayer of judgment. I don't think so. I think a lot of our outlook on Christianity is sentimental, sloppy agape.

In Verse 12, he begins by saying, "Arise, oh Lord. Oh God, lift up your hand." And he starts aligning the purposes of God with the situation at hand. David isn't crying for personal vengeance. He's not saying, Lord, these guys did me in. Man, I want you to break their teeth because I don't like them. Lord, because they have broken and transgressed your law, you judge what is right because this says the Lord will judge in righteousness.

This is called an imprecatory psalm, or a cry of imprecation. Lord, judge them. Even Paul told the Thessalonians that God will repay those who are oppressing them and those who are doing bad things to the fatherless and the poor and so forth.

Now Psalm 11-- now, that next three psalms are very similar. His basic theme in the next three psalms is, help, Lord. I've got enemies all over.

Now, it intensifies. Chapter 13-- Psalm 13, he thinks he's going to die. Saul is chasing him. And he says, "In the Lord I put my trust. How can you say to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bow. They make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Now we covered this psalm last Sunday morning, but I'll briefly touch up on it. David is sort of arguing with himself. Or someone in the court of King Saul, which he is residing, is saying, David, get out of here, man. Saul is trying to kill you. Flee. Go like a bird. Find a hole in the mountain, and get out of here.

And so on one hand, David thinks, man, I'm going to split. This is a horrible, horrible city I live in. Crime rate's up, murder's up, rape's up. I'm getting out of here. I'm going to go to a new place and raise my children in a nice place. And so his friend says, well, [CHUCKLES] then you better find a cave in the mountain, David. That's the only nice place around.

And David is in this argumentative stage. On one hand, I feel like trusting the Lord. On the other hand, I feel like I should just leave and get out of it. But he says, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The word "foundations" means the settled order of things.

The Moffatt translation puts it this way, if the pillars of state are collapsed, what can the upright do. He's speaking about his own nation, Israel. He says the very foundation upon which this nation is built upon, it's corroded. There's nothing left.

Now, if the very laws in my own nation, David says, which are there to protect the just and the upright-- if those very laws are destroyed, what's the upright person going to do? He has no protection. He can't trust an estate in his own government anymore.

Every nation has a foundation. Our foundation is the laws, the writings of the forefathers, the Constitution, the early documents of our nation. Every individual has a foundation. A person's foundation is his life's view, his outlook. It's what he builds every premise of his life upon from that moment forward. And if the very foundations upon which a person's life or upon which a nation's life are destroyed, there's nothing left.

And so he turns now to a new foundation in Verse [? 4 of ?] the Lord. And he says, "The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold. His eyelids test the sons of men.

The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked, and the one who loves violence, his soul hates. Upon the wicked, He will rain coals, fire, and brimstone, and burning wind. They shall be the portion of his cup, for the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness. And his countenance beholds the upright."

Now, Chapter 12, David cries out to the Lord again, just like Chapter 11 or Psalm 11. But it's getting a little more intense. And now David's focus is upon the hypocrite. Notice, Verse 1, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men."

Hypocrisy is the most hideous disease in the Church. And it affects the Church. When hypocrisy is among Christians, it's the most devastating disease. It ravages the Church.

And there's hypocrisy all over the place, isn't there? In our nation, among our own ranks in Christianity. We hear of it so much, we get sick of it. Sermons are preached. Prayers are offered. Money is taken in. And all the while, people-- some people-- are building their own kingdoms. And the Church is sick and tired of that stuff.

And David's sentiment is the sentiment that a lot of you people have been expressing as you've watched the news over the last year. Oh, God, help. This is embarrassing, Lord. The godly man ceases.

However, while the godly man ceases, God raises up other people who have integrity. The world is starting to look at the ministry with great skepticism-- all these ministers who have been caught in adultery and money rackets. You tell people now I'm a pastor, they go--

[LAUGHTER]

You don't have to be a hypocrite to be in the ministry.

[LAUGHTER]

You can have integrity. The world needs to see it, though. The world needs to know it.

And I think pastors, for one thing, need to start telling everybody, I love my wife. And I am. I do love my wife. [? Lenya, ?] I love you.

[APPLAUSE]

People start-- need to-- oh, let's go on.

[LAUGHTER]

Help, oh Lord. The godly man ceases.

[LAUGHTER]

There were two brothers--

[LAUGHTER]

--both as wicked as all get out. And everybody knew that these guys, man, were just-- they topped wickedness of anybody else in town. And one of the guys died.

And the other brother who is remaining went to a pastor in town. And he wanted the pastor to do his funeral. And he said, look. Now, the pastor was in a church-building program. Needed a couple of million dollars to finish the parking lot, the building.

And the remaining brother who wanted the guy to do his funeral said, look, if you would just, in the funeral, tell people that my brother was a saint. OK, just don't go into any gory details about his life. Just tell them he was a saint. I'll give you the money to finish off your building project. The pastor said, all right. I'll do it.

Day of the funeral, the pastor gets out, and he points to the casket. And he says, this man was a filthy, rotten, wretched sinner. He ran out on his wife. He was a drunk. But compared to his brother over there, he was a saint.

[LAUGHTER]

I don't think he ever got the money.

[LAUGHTER]

"They speak idly. Everyone with his neighbor, with flattering lips and a double heart, they speak. May the Lord cut off all smooth talkers, flattering lips."

Sometimes people use sandwich philosophy when they want to tell you they don't like you. They'll begin buttering you up. They'll tell you how wonderful you are first, so that the knife, they think, won't hurt as bad. They go, oh, you know, you're-- [SIGHS] you're such a wonderful person. You know, one thing I really like about you is, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh. And they butter you up.

And they go, now, [SIMULATES EXPLOSION SOUND] This is what I don't like about you. But on the other hand, God bless you. Flattering lips.

"And the tongue speaks proud things, who have said with our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us?"

Now, Verse 5 is God's response to David's cry. "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord. I will set him in the safety for which he yearns."

God has a special place in his heart for the poor. And God promises in the Old Testament for the poor, the oppressed, and the needy. He says to Israel, if you hassle them and you don't do them justice, when they cry to me, I'm going to listen to them. And I'm going to start messing you around.

He always takes the side of the underdog. God has a special place in his heart for the poor. And any church that purports to be a church of the Lord and a representative of the gospel, needs to have a special place in their heart for the poor.

Anytime a church starts putting buildings and property over people, it's going to sink. It loses its life, its breath, its heart. People is what's important.

And it's so evident in the scripture that God is concerned about the poor. In the New Testament, Jesus the Messiah was prophesied that he would preach the gospel to the poor. That just doesn't mean spiritually poor-- it includes them-- but Jesus had a special place.

You notice in the gospels, it says the common people followed him and heard him gladly. And Paul said, look. Look at your own calling, brother. And after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

In the early Church, most of the early Church was among the poor. Half of the Roman Empire was slaves. And a good majority of them turned to the Lord because Christianity was the only place of solace that offered hope for the slave, offered a place that would give them importance, where they could feel secure.

Now, David's response to the Lord is in Verse 6. The words of the Lord are pure words. David says, Lord, help. There's hypocrites out there. God says, don't worry. I'm listening. I'll take up the cause of the poor. David said, the words of the Lord are pure words. That is, there's no mixture of hypocrisy. Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Now when you see "seven" in the Bible-- when it says "purified seven times," the reason that is written is because seven is the number of completeness, totality. It is not the number of perfection, as some people think. It's the number of the whole thing-- seven days in a week, seven notes on a complete scale, seven basic colors in a rainbow, in the spectrum. Seven is the number of completion, not perfection.

Satan is seen in the Book of Revelation as having 7 heads and 10 horns. So it's not perfection. He's by no means perfect.

But in other words, he's saying that the word of the Lord is pure. It's complete. You can trust it.

"You shall keep them, oh Lord. You shall preserve them from this generation forever. The wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted--" and I believe he's speaking about King Saul, who's on the throne-- "when violence is exalted among the sons of men."

Now Psalm 13 was written-- it gets worse. David has been hunted by Saul. Now he's being hunted by the Philistines, those who are in the Cave of Adullam.

And as they were in the Philistine country, and they chased David down into the caves, David says, "How long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" Who does this sound like? Sounds like Job, doesn't it?

And David is just crying. Have you ever felt like that? Now, when you feel like that, tell God you feel like that. David wasn't ashamed to tell God his utmost, innermost feelings. Oh Lord, how long is this going to go on? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

When a person is experiencing grief, it seems like it's never going to end. When a person loses someone by death, and they're going through the grieving process, man, they think this is never going to end. When my brother died, I had nightmares for a year. And I thought, is this ever going to end? Will I ever be able to cope with this loss?

And when a person feels like David, this is how he talks. How long will you hide your face from me? Now that is an important concept. The face of God in the scripture is something that the prophets yearned to see.

Now God told Moses, you can't see my face and live. And yet, there's this mention of yearning to see the face of God because you can really never have a complete, wonderful relationship without seeing a person's face. There's something lacking. A relationship without sight is frustrating. And if you've ever had a relationship over the phone for a long period of time, you know what I'm talking about. You want to see the person face-to-face.

When I go and I travel-- and I travelled to Houston this week-- I don't doubt that my wife, [? Lenya, ?] and Nathan exist because I can't see them. I know they're there. I know I could call them any time on the phone. But that's not the same. You miss seeing their face.

When I'm around other people and I talk about my family, I'll take out a picture and go, wait a minute. I take out this little rectangular piece of paper that's got faces on them. I don't show them their foot.

[LAUGHTER]

But there's the face. And we look at the face that represents the person. And there's that promise that in the end, we'll see the face of God. That's one of the most beautiful, comforting promises. It says, "Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face." I don't know what that's going to be like, man, but it's going to be a mind-blower to look and be face-to-face with Jesus. Wow. And never to have to leave, to be in his presence forever and ever.

"How long shall I take counsel in my soul? Having sorrow in my heart daily, how long will my enemy be exalted over me?" You know, when God seems like he's absent, the devil seems like he's close. It just seems like he's ready to pounce on you. Lord, I can't feel you. I don't know where you're at. How long is this going to go on? I have continual sorrow. "Consider and hear me, oh Lord, my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemies say I have prevailed against him, lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved."

And this is the lowest prayer so far in the Book of Psalms that David prays. But notice the difference in Verse 5. "But I have trusted in your mercy." The word "mercy" is the Hebrew word "chesed," which means your loving kindness, your covenant love. "My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me."

And you scratch your head and go, wait-- wait a minute. David, you're just talking about how bummed out you are because you can't experience the presence of God. You're telling God what it's like to feel distant from him and to feel your enemies so close, and all of a sudden you say, but I've trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. It's because David in his faith makes a move toward the Lord. And the scripture gives us a principle-- draw near unto God, and then God will draw near unto you.

Sometimes we complain because God is distant, but we just sit there complaining. (MOCKINGLY) God is distant. God is distant. Do something about it. Draw near unto the Lord. Just press in. As long and as hard as it takes, don't give up. You just keep trusting and pressing and rejoicing in it, and you will end up like David. Because it brings up the principle that we talked about this morning, the first principle in our study-- adversity fuels devotion.

When you're in adversity, man, you start praying. And when you start praying, that breeds confidence. And David ends with confidence, "I will sing to the Lord." What a way to end this, with worship. "I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me."

Psalm 14 is the same period of David's life. Saul is chasing him. [CHUCKLES] "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God."

I did a radio broadcast here in Albuquerque. I did 30-second spots on KOB-AM. I plugged him in on morning drive time. Most people listen to it on their way to work.

And I tried to have little vignettes that would grab people. And a simple little message with a phone number, they could call the church and get information. And I never forget the first spot we did. Had music, (SINGING) da-da-da-da-da-da-do-do. And then it segued into the speech. And I started out by saying, the Bible says, "There is no God."

[AUDIENCE MURMURS]

That's their reaction.

[LAUGHTER]

And I said, are you surprised to hear a pastor say that? But before you jump to any conclusions, let me read the rest of the verse. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." And it was like, [GASPS] OK, what does that make me? A fool or a wise man? What do I say?

And we got a lot of response on that, but I'll never forget that one spot. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God."

I don't care how intellectual you may think you are. You may have a PhD. You may have all of the degrees on your wall. But for you to deny the existence of a creator in the midst of creation, you're a fool.

Now the infinite-- we're finite. God is infinite. The infinite can never be proven by the finite. We can't prove God. You can't say, OK, I'm going to go into a laboratory and test this. You may think you can, but you can't prove it in the way science demands prove. The finite can never prove the infinite. But the finite can never disprove the infinite as well, by virtue of the same law, same token.

And so, unbelievers will point their fingers at you and say, you Christians say God exists, and you just believe it by faith. And my response, you unbelievers by faith believe there is no God. Same basis-- you can't disprove it.

It is so natural for a child to believe in God. It comes so easily. You have to plant a lie in the heart of a child to make him disbelieve in God. Because he naturally-- he's not dumb. He's not dumb as you get when you get sophisticated and get all your degrees.

[LAUGHTER]

He goes, this is beautiful. There's got to be a reason for it. And he recognizes that something that is impersonal and beautiful and magnificent like the world couldn't just happen. How'd this come about?

Dad, you made that chair. The chair just didn't ooze up out of the pavement. You created it. It's got design. Everything I see around me has design. You have to teach a child not to believe in God to make that child disbelieve in God.

There was a son, a child, who was born to an atheistic family. Dad always said, son, God doesn't exist. And he lived with that all his life. And one day he said, Dad, do you suppose that God knows that he doesn't exist?

[LAUGHTER]

Because it was so natural for him to believe that God existed. Now, I don't know the validity of this. But I heard from a man who lives in Atlanta that they were giving people a lie detector test in Atlanta. And they asked even atheists, do you believe in God? And they said no. And the lie detectors said you're a liar.

[LAUGHTER]

I don't know all the implications of that study, but that's kind of fascinating.

Now, when it says, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God," you see in your Bible, "there" is in italics. "There is" is in italics. It's really not there in the original.

It is literally, the fool has said in his heart, no God. That's his decision. It's not, God doesn't exist. There is no God. But, I don't want anything to do with him. It's like saying, no dessert for me after dinner. No, I don't want it. Not that you deny it exists, you just don't want it.

The fool has said, no God. Get him away from me. It is a decision that is spoken about.

And he is not speaking about the honest agnostic or the seeker, he's speaking about a person who apostatizes, who cognizantly pushes God off to the side. And he says, there is no God. And a person like this can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He's not looking for one. He wants nothing to do with one. And that man is a fool.

And here's the results of that decision. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good.

"Now, the Lord looks down from heaven on the children of men to see if there are any who understand who seek God. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one--" no, not even you or me, none.

"Have all workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call on the Lord? There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the Council of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion." Don't worry, David, it will. "When the Lord brings back the captivity of his people let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad."

Now, Psalm 15, David says, "Who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?" The setting for this is when David brought the ark back from the land of the Philistines to Israel to Jerusalem. Do you remember the setting? He constructed a tent for it on Mount Zion. And he had a big procession all the way from one section of southern Israel all the way up to Jerusalem. And there was dancing and singing, and David did his dance in front of the whole parade as it was brought up to Mount Zion.

And they set the ark in that little tent that David had made. And remember, the Ark of the Covenant was unapproachable, except by the high priest once a year. And David would look as he looked at his tabernacle and see a priest going in every day, just to the outer court, doing these sacrifices, burning his incense, going through his rituals. And only the priest of the tribe of Levi could do it.

And then once a year, the high priest could go in for a short time and then have to leave. And so David asked a question. "Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?" Lord, what does a person have to be? What is the character of a person to live in the inner court forever?

Not just to visit and leave and hope that he doesn't get killed. What would it be like? What is the characteristics of a person who will be a guest in your eternal house forever? That's the real key. He's using the ark in Zion as a type of asking God about what it's going to be like for the man who spends eternity with Him.

Verse 2, "He who walks uprightly--" here's the answer. "He who works righteousness, he who speaks truth in his heart." And you say, now wait a minute. This sounds like salvation by works. No. David didn't ask what must a man do to abide, but what kind of a man is it? Who, not how.

And the characteristics that are described in Verses 2 through 5, it's just like what James said in his book. When he said, you talk about faith without works, I'll show you my faith by my works. Faith without works is dead. "He who does not backbite with his tongue, he who does no evil to his neighbor."

In other words, the type of person that is a guest in God's house speaks the truth from his heart. He's not a hypocrite. What he says, he means and he does. And number two, he's not a blabbermouth. He's not a gossip.

A lot about the tongue. "Nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a vile person is despised. But he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change."

I'll tell you, that new international version puts it the sweetest. I think it says, he keeps his oath even when it hurts. Something to that effect. He keeps his oath or his promise even when it hurts. In other words, when you make a promise to someone-- I'm going to be there-- you keep it even if it hurts.

"He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent-- he who does these things shall never be moved." Or literally, he shall never be shaken to the end of the age, speaking of permanence in the Lord's house.

"Preserve me, oh God, for in you I put my trust. Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. And to the saints, who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is my delight." Now, we covered this whole psalm, Psalm 16 this morning.

So we skip over it tonight into Verse 1 of Psalm 17. Psalm 17, let's paint a picture to make it more interesting. It's a court scene. It's sort of like David and Saul at the bar of God. God is dressed in His robes, and He's got His gavel in His hand. And He is going to hear both sides, except this is only David praying.

But David appeals to God on the basis of a righteous judge. And he says, "Hear a just cause, oh Lord. Attend to my cry. Give ear to my prayer that is not from deceitful lips. Let my vindication come from your presence. Let your eyes look upon the things that are upright.

You have tested my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me and found nothing. I have purpose that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the paths of the destroyer. Uphold my steps in your path, that my footsteps may not slip."

Now, he's saying in Verse 3, I am not guilty of the conspiracy that Saul accuses me of. Saul's own men said that David was conspiring to take over the kingdom. And when David was down in the wilderness of Ein Gedi, and Saul went in to relieve himself-- use the restroom-- David was in there. And he cut a little portion of Saul's robe off. He could have killed him, but he spared his life. At one point, he even took a canteen of water.

And when Saul walked out, later on David went around the other side and said, King Saul, I was in the cave that you relieved yourself in. I was behind you, and I cut off a piece of your robe. See, here it is. And see, I've got your spear right over here, and your canteen. I could have killed you, but I didn't to prove to you that all of the accusations that your men are telling you about me are false. I love you, Saul.

And so, he says, God, there's nothing against me. I don't have a conspiracy against this guy. Verse 6, "I have called upon you, and you will hear me, oh God. Incline your ear to me, and hear my speech. Show me your marvelous, loving kindness by your right hand. Oh you, who save those who trust you. From those who rise up against them, keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me. They have closed their fat hearts." (CHUCKLING) David had a way with words.

"With their mouths they speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps. They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth like a lion that is eager to tear his prey and as a young lion, lurking in the secret place." Who is he referring to as a lion? Saul. Like a lion who is waiting to rip up its victim, is King Saul after David.

"Arise, oh Lord. Confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my life from the wicked with your sword." Notice that David always called on the Lord to defend him? He never tried to kill Saul. He could have. But he said, I'm not going to touch the Lord's anointed. I'm not, by force, going to push my way to the throne. That's God's business. If God wants me there, fine. But he never sought vengeance or pushing to get his way.

"With your hand from men, oh Lord, from the men of the world who have their portion in this life and whose belly you will fill with your hidden treasure, they are satisfied with children and leave the rest of their substance for their babes. As for me, I will see your face in righteousness. And I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness." And so shall we all, for it says in the book of First John that when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

And we have room for another psalm. And we're going to have to recap this psalm because this is 50 verses, whew. This is a warm up for Psalm 119.

Psalm 18 is the longest Psalm that bears David's name. Now we believe Psalm 119 was also written by David. But this is the longest psalm that he signs. It says, this is by David. And this psalm was used in public celebration. It could be that this is the psalm, or one of the psalms, that was sung as the ark was marched from the Philistine country into Jerusalem on Mount Zion.

And notice the little subheading, superscription-- "to the chief musician," probably Asaph. A psalm of David, "The servant of the Lord who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul." In other words, the 10-year exile, the 10-year persecution, by Saul-- it's over.

"I will love you, oh Lord, my strength." The word "love" is one of the strongest words in the Hebrew language in this verse. It speaks of a love that a mom would have for her child and protecting him. It speaks of a mature, intimate love. "I will--" in a mature, intimate way-- "love you, oh Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my shield in the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies." So the next time we sing that song, (SINGING) "So shall I be saved from my enemies," remember that that was written after the 10 years of persecution at the hand of Saul was over. And David's celebrating that God has finally vindicated David, and he's free.

"The fangs of death encompass me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me. The snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God. He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before His ears." Verses 7 through 15 is David's picture of a storm. And he pictures God coming out of a storm and rescuing David from the hand of King Saul.

And then in Verse 16, "He sent me from above. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me into a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, He has re-compassed me, for I have kept the ways of the Lord. I have not wickedly departed from my God."

Look down at Verse 26. "With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the devious, you will show yourself shrewd." So, "You save the humble people. You will bring down the haughty looks." In other words, God will meet you on any turf you wish. You want to be tough with him? The Holy Spirit can out-arm wrestle you.

The Lord will indeed wrestle, strive for your soul. But not always. There comes a point when a person fights God for so long, and he says, I don't want Jesus. I don't want Jesus. I don't want to get saved. Forget it. Forget it. Forget it.

There comes a point when God quits arm wrestling, and he says, fine. I honor your choice. I won't tap at your heart any longer.

Oh, what a sad day when the Lord stops knocking and says, open up. I want to fill you. I want to fulfill you. It's a sad day, but there comes a time. It says God will not always strive with man. God will let a person live out that decision.

"For you will light my lamp. The Lord, my God, will enlighten my darkness. For by you, I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in him. For who is God, except the Lord? Who is a rock except our God?" I love these verses. "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer. He sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

He says God gives me agility, like a deer on the high places being able to gallop around and not slip. And God trained me for battle. In other words, he is giving God all the glory for the past victories.

Verse 43, "You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they obey me. The foreigners submit to me. The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts. The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You have delivered me from the violent man, therefore I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the Gentiles, among the Goyim, and sing praises to your name. Great deliverance he gives to his King and shows mercy to his anointed, to David and his descendants, forevermore."