Word of Salvation – Vol. 13 No.45 – November 1967

 

Surrounded By Trouble

 

Sermon by Rev. J. Goris on Psalm 55 (esp. vss.2,6,7,16,22)

Scripture Reading: John 13:21-30

Psalter Hymnal: 334:1,2,3; 48: 8,9; 5:1,2; 423; 297:9,10

 

Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ,

There may be times in our lives that we are so much faced by all kinds of difficulties that we could wish for wings: wings to get away from it all, to come to rest in a quiet place.

Even the best of saints have experienced moments like that.  When we study this Psalm of David we soon detect that there is nothing but trouble around him.  In his sore predicament he too must cry out: “O that I had wings like a dove!”

Throughout the ages the Book of Psalms has proved its tremendously practical worth.  How often these pages are being read!
Are God’s people jubilant with joy?  They turn to the Psalms.
Are they downhearted and depressed?  They find comfort in the Psalms.
Are they burdened with sin?  They pray with David: “God be merciful to me!”

Here the heart of God’s child is opening up before his God.  Is it any wonder that we desire just to use these words to express ourselves before God?  Here the Holy Spirit is teaching us how to praise, to pray, to plead.

This particular Psalm is a Maskil, a song of instruction, of David.

The keynote that is struck may be summed up in the words:

SURROUNDED BY TROUBLE.

We shall consider,   first,                 Its described REALITY,
secondly,       Its initial REACTION,
thirdly,           Its proven REFUGE.

1.  Its described Reality.

David is in trouble.  Deeply in trouble.

Listen to his words:
“I am overcome by my trouble,
my heart is in anguish within me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me,
fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.” (vss.2,4,5).

A man who speaks like that is indeed in rather trying circumstances.  What was it that made David express himself like this?  It is not easy to judge when the difficulties of which David speaks were taking place.  There have been many instances in David’s life in which he was in dire distress.  For a long time he was hunted by King Saul, constantly in danger.  It is not unlikely that the days of Absalom’s rebellion were telling even more on him.  At any rate: trouble and violence are closing in on him.

Deep down in his heart it feels like a raging storm of great anguish.  To make things worse, there is the turmoil of sorrow: the trouble within finds its cause outside of him.  It is true, he sees violence around him in the city, there is mischief, oppression, fraud.  But that is not all – the worst is that his OWN friend has turned against him.
“Had it been my enemy”, David says,
“then I could have borne it”.
But now, it is “my friend, my companion, with whom I walked within God’s house in sweet fellowship!”
He raises his hands in despair.  How is it possible!  So hard to understand.  And how it hurts!

How true it is: the NEARER related, the SEVERER the pain!  We may know something of this too.  If it were only a stranger, an enemy who brought this grief!  But now, it is a good friend, a brother or sister in the faith, a wife or a husband.

Disappointment, grief, heartache.  Not to be understood and misjudged by your own wife, your own husband, your own children, a fellow-Christian!

This causes pain, this pricks the heart till it bleeds.  Oh yes, we know too well what this can mean.

How supremely applicable these words are to our Lord Jesus Christ.  The prophet Isaiah tells us that He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”.  The Pharisees were ever spying on Him, to find fault with Him, to trap Him in what He said.  Eventually, they sought to kill Him.  WHOM did they want to kill?  HE Who came to save His people!  He who had healed their sick, restored the blind, raised the dead!
He sought to HEAL!  They sought to HURT!
Surely this must have grieved our Lord.  But that was not all: His own familiar friend, His companion, His disciple – Judas – turned traitor on Him.  Remember the words which we read from John 13: “When Jesus had thus spoken, He was troubled in spirit, and testified: Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

We may feel grieved at times, deeply grieved, but let us not forget what it meant for Him, WHO KNEW NO SIN!  Often our own sins may account for the trouble we land in; David, for instance, was not altogether blameless for Absalom’s estrangement!

2.  Its initial Reaction.

When David sees these difficulties mounting, these troubles closing in on him, his first reaction is:
“O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
yea, I would lodge in the wilderness…!” (vss.6,7).

The dove is a defenceless bird, but a superb flier.  It is by flying away that it saves its life.

When the Psalmist becomes more and more crowded in by surrounding trouble, he likewise longs to get away from it all.  O for wings of a dove!  If only he could get away!  Far away from the things that weary him, far away and at rest.

These are the words of a man driven to desperation.  There seems to be only one solution: away from it all!

David was not the first one, nor the last to speak like that.  Many have gone before him, many have followed.  When at last we can no longer bear with the situation, whether it be at home, at school, or in church, we run away.  As fast and as far away as we can.

Away from that teasing wife, who is continually finding fault; who is picking on you when children and friends look on.

Away from that heartless fellow-Christian, who is trying to do you out of business.

Away from a task, which costs much energy and time, but which only yields thankless criticism.

“O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
Yea, I would wander afar,
I would lodge in the wilderness.”

In the wilderness??  At rest??

We like everything but the present.  When we look back into the past, we find things weren’t so bad.  And the longer we look at it, the more we glamorize the past.  That at least was a good time.  We can also dodge the present by making everything of the future.  Then we live with the things we WISHED we had.

The present is always the most difficult time to face, and when the pressure is put on?  O that I could fly away, and be at rest.

But then what?  Will we be at rest?

Can we, for instance, solve the trouble of a broken home by escaping?

David’s reaction (and how perfectly human it is!) might well have been to fly away.  Yet he realises that that is not the solution.  It might seem to be the answer, but on further thought that is not the way he goes.  No, he does not escape at all.  But what then?  We would like to know what he does.  We are directed to verse 16, and what do we see?  David is on his knees!

3.  Its proven Refuge.

“Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer!’”

That’s where David took it!  He took it to the Lord in prayer.  That is the only place where we can take it.  That is a refuge which has proved itself throughout the ages, Notice how David puts it in vs.16:
“But I call upon GOD, and the LORD will save me.”

Two different names are used here.  David says that he is consulting GOD, the Almighty and All-powerful One.  This mighty God will prove Himself – in saving David – as Yahweh, the gracious One, the Covenant God, Who has bound Himself to David.

At the very beginning of the Psalm David already directs his attention to God:
“Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not Thyself from my supplication.”

David makes it a serious matter.  He does not give up after one or two attempts: He goes on in verse 17:
“EVENING, and MORNING, and at NOON
I utter my complaint and moan,
and He will hear my voice.”

His trust is in the Lord, Who is righteous.  He can deal with his cause; He is not unconcerned about His child in need.  David completely unloads himself before the Lord, he casts his burden on Him.

And he does more!  Not only does David COMMIT his cause to the Lord, he also COMMENDS the Lord to others!  (vs.22):
“Cast your burden on the Lord,
and He will sustain you;
He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Having experienced the truth of the refuge which he found in God, David commends Him to us.  David could recommend Him from experience.  “Taking it to the Lord in prayer”, is not a cheap and easy solution.  Those who know the Lord, will confirm the real relief they found, when casting their burden on the Lord.

That is the only way.  After all, why did our Lord Jesus Christ come into this world?  Why was HE so rejected and despised by men?  Why was HE so grieved by the betray al of the friend?  Why?  That HE might bear our burden!

Said Isaiah of old…..
“He was despised and rejected of men,
a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…
Surely HE has borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows.
HE was wounded for our transgressions,
HE was bruised for our iniquities….!” (Isa.53:3-5)

THEREFORE, (because Christ came for that reason!)

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you!  There is the answer!  There alone!

And, by the way, look once more at that remarkable statement:”Cast your burden on the Lord”.  Do you know what the meaning of that word translated “burden” really is?  You’ll find it in your Bible in the footnote: “That which He has given you.”

In other words: the thing that God has allotted to you.  Nothing in our lives happens by chance.  All is in God’s hand.  Now this is a remarkable thing: That which God gave us to bear, we must return to Him.  “Here Lord, Thou hast given me this task. It is Thine to give me Thy power to carry it out.  How can I do it otherwise?  Without Thee I can’t do anything!  Did I get the task from Thee?  From Thee I also need the equipment, the ability, the grace to bear it.”

Did you notice that our responsibility is not taken away here: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and. . . HE WILL SUSTAIN YOU”.  He will hold you up!

Remember the beautiful way in which Spurgeon once framed the meaning of this verse:
God’s wisdom has cast it on you;
it is your wisdom to cast it on Him!
Have you done that?

Only then you can bear it, then you will be sustained.  Realize what Christ came to do for you: He, the Son of God, stepped into your weak frame, to bear your burden!  He WILL sustain.  His strength has become your strength.

If David could believe and say this without having seen the Christ, how much more reason for us to believe and say this.  The griefs, the sorrows, the burdens he bore were not His own.  He was perfect, sinless, Son of man.  It was our burden that He bore!

“He will never permit the righteous to be moved”.

The believer is like a tree – his roots firmly placed in Christ.

The winds and the storms may come and go,
they may toss about its branches to and fro,
but the tree will not be moved out of place.
So is everyone who with David says: “I will trust in Thee!” (vs.23).

That is the secret of the solution for those who are surrounded by trouble.  We can at the spur of the moment long for wings like a dove, but the answer is not in escaping.  We have to follow David’s advice.

By the way, do we often pass on such “advice” to others?  There may be someone surrounded by trouble living next door to you.  Ever thought of telling him to “cast his burden on the Lord?”  Or would you rather keep such good tidings to yourself?

One more question: What of those friends who turn traitor?  Those who cause you that trouble, that grief?  God will deal with them!  He might visit them with His grace and also bring them on their knees.  He might also visit them in His wrath.  David is especially mindful of the latter case (vs 23):….
“But Thou, O God, wilt cast them down into the lowest pit.”

At any rate: Leave it to God!

Did we get the message?

Surrounded by trouble?  Burdened with care?

“O for the wings of a dove … to fly away and be at rest….!”
Indeed at rest??

I can hear the voice of Jesus speaking:
“Come unto Me, all you who labour and are heavy-laden,
and I WILL GIVE YOU REST!”

Amen.