Favor of the Lord

[0:00] who wants to hit the site and look at them. This one is broken up in like five different sections. So I think what I'll do is just read through those sections.

[0:11] It's just a couple verses at a time. Just share a little bit and go through it that way. This is a psalm that on the heading in my Bible, it says that it was sung at the dedication of the temple.

[0:25] It was one that David wrote before he dedicated his house. So when we read over it, you'll kind of get the feel of it.

[0:37] It's like a lament, but a Thanksgiving lament because he's already gone through some trials and now he's through them. So he's remembering those tough times, but then he's also praising God.

[0:49] And now that he's looking to dedicate his house, he's praising God for what God's brought him through. He's praising God for how he's been blessed. And so that kind of winds up with him dedicating his house.

[1:02] And you can see how it would be fitting to also be sung at the dedication of the temple. So I think both of those work out. Verse one, I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

[1:19] O Lord, my God, I cry to you for help and you have healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from shield. You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

[1:34] So this first section, David is just rehearsing what God has done for him and how he was delivered. He doesn't give any detail as to what he's going through.

[1:45] We just see that there were enemies that were against him. And God didn't allow him to be overcome. David cries out for help and God heals him.

[1:59] He doesn't let him go down into Sheol, which whether it was from affliction, sickness, or what the enemies were doing to him at the time, God didn't allow David to die.

[2:12] And so he wasn't put down to the grave or down into the pit, what verse three is talking about. And then the next section is David is praising God and he's calling others to do the same.

[2:26] Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints. Verse four, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment and his favor is for a lifetime.

[2:37] Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. So here we see that there are times of anger, at least David is talking about that.

[2:51] And we can see it where we can offend God, right? We can disappoint him. He can be angry at things that we do, but he doesn't stay there.

[3:01] He's a God of love and he is quick to forgive and be at peace with us. We're able to have that peace because of Christ, but he's not like an angry father who doesn't want to forgive.

[3:17] He's slow to anger. He's also quick to forgive and to embrace, which is a blessing. And then verse six, this is talking about, let me read it first, verses six and seven.

[3:31] As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. By your favor, oh Lord, you made my mountain stand strong. You hid your face.

[3:42] I was dismayed. Here David is talking about how in his prosperity, he gets overconfident and he just makes assumptions, assumptions like things are going great, they're always going to be great.

[3:59] But we know that that's not true. So whether it was because he thought that early in his life, he had had a bunch of trials, so maybe he already got his portion of trials and now the rest of his life will be good.

[4:14] Or he just was enjoying the good times and forgot. But here he makes reference to the fact that he was taking that for granted and the Lord hid his face and that was a surprise to David.

[4:30] And then as we move down to verses eight, nine, and ten, to you, oh Lord, I cry and to the Lord I plead for mercy. What profit is there in my death if I go down to the pit?

[4:42] Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, oh Lord, and be merciful to me. Oh Lord, be my helper. So these are our prayers and complaints, some of them are complaints, that David is recalling to us while he was going through this time.

[5:02] And I think this is helpful, at least it is for me, I think it is for everyone else as well, to realize that there is complaining that isn't necessarily bad in situations that we go to, or go through.

[5:20] But the important thing to remember is that we're not complaining about God, but we're complaining about the situation that we're in. You know, you can easily see, depending on what you're going through, David saying, God, I trust you, but this isn't fair.

[5:34] Why is this happening? You know, I need you to save me from this. What am I supposed to do with this? You know, you can, depending on how deep your trial is, there could be a lot of pain and crying out in those type of questions.

[5:52] And that couldn't be, those can sound like complaining, and I think that's fair. I think David is saying that those, those we can ask the Lord, he's saying, what profit is there in my death? Lord, if I go down to the pit, I can't praise you.

[6:05] If I'm, if I'm dirt, dirt can't do anything to bless you. So I think in those times, that's, that's right and good. It's, it's working through those as we trust God, and we're asking him for help.

[6:18] At the same time, we're struggling with what it's for. That that's just part of, that's just part of our trial, how we walk through it. And then the ending, verse 11 and 12, is just describing where he finds himself currently.

[6:35] You have turned, you have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

[6:47] O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever. So we see how God is, or how David has walked through this, this trial, and we get to see how he is praising the Lord for what he's given.

[7:03] So it just reminded me of, as we look at other Psalms, where they're more like real laments, where he's, you know, just deep in distress, how we still get in that cycle where we, we praise God, and we pray to God.

[7:19] We bring our petitions to him, and then we trust God. And then it just keeps going back in the circle, because it's through that where we get strengthened from talking to the Lord.

[7:29] I was thinking about it on the way, you know, as people who are not saved go to therapy, or they're told to talk to somebody.

[7:42] Like, there's something soothing in talking to someone else about your problems. Where it falls short is that they're talking to someone or wanting to put trust in someone where there, there is no trust.

[7:55] There's no, there's no real solution, right? There's not someone that can actually solve their problems that they're struggling with. So they feel better for a little while.

[8:07] It's just not something that's lasting. So we're able to have that with, with God and with other Christians because the Spirit speaks through them the same way He speaks through us. And that's where we can get encouraged and strengthened even through times of trial.

[8:22] So, that's another good psalm to go through as you're struggling through different things. Just to take a couple verses and see how David, like, worked them over in his own life and then how he applied it.