Psalm 31

Trust in the Lord

Intro

√ Trust in the Lord

What does it mean to "trust in the Lord"?

Trust = khaw-saw' (vs. 1 & 19)

"to trust, to make a refuge, have hope, to seek refuge, flee for protection, to put trust in God, confide or hope in God."

Trust = baw-takh' (vs. 6& 14)

"to trust, trust in, to have confidence, be confident of, to be bold, to be secure, to cause to trust, make secure, to feel safe"

Trust Him to deliver you! (vs. 1-5)

Ps. 31:1 In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness.

Ps. 31:2 Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me.

Ps. 31:3 For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.

Ps. 31:4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.

Ps. 31:5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

√ A prayer for help

Once again we find David praying to God for…

Help

Deliverance from his enemies

Protection and shelter from those who attack him

A common theme in David's life, thus a common theme in the psalms that he wrote.

Reminds us that the life of those who follow God is a life of conflict!

Jesus said…

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Remember, this world is still under the sway of Satan and is heading toward the time in which the Devil will make his final play for world domination.

As a Christian you represent a hindrance to the Devil's plans.

Therefore, he's targeted you for attack!

We're at War!

Ap. Having a tough time?

Don't ever forget that the devil doesn't rest! He, along with his minions are always working to get our eyes off of God and onto the problems in our life.

Don't let the devil get the best of you. Follow David's example and bring all your problems to Jesus - crying out for Him to deliver you!

Only God can deliver us from those who attack us.

Note in vs. 5 that David committed his life and cause completely into the Lord's hands.

Ps. 31:5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

That is, David did not look to anyone else, not even to his own strength for deliverance from his enemies.

Rather, he trusted in God alone.

√ The model of Jesus

You've probably already made note of the fact that when Jesus was on the Cross that He quotes part of vs. 5…

Lu 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.

Reminding us that in everything He did Jesus set us an example of how we are to conduct our lives.

Trusting His Father to deliver Him from His enemies by whatever means would accomplish His Father's purpose.

Ap. Deliverance may not come the way you expect it!

God is faithful to deliver those who trust in Him, yet as we see in Jesus' life and death…

…His deliverance came after His death!

God knows what He's doing and how to beat the devil at his own game!

Don't worry about how God will deliver you, just trust that He will!

Ex. Recommend reading - "The Screwtape Letters" - C.S. Lewis

Trust Him when you're trapped! (vs. 6-8)

Ps. 31:6 I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the LORD.

Ps. 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,

Ps. 31:8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.

√ Room to run!

One of the fears that creeps into our hearts when we're surrounded by enemies is the feeling that we've become…

…trapped!

A fear which grips your heart and mind…

"There's no way out!"

A sickening panic that washes over you…

"I'm done for!"

But, what David proclaims here is that those who trust in the Lord will find that He makes a way out!

Ex. David's experience

Trapped in a cave, trapped in his home, trapped in a city, etc.

Yet, in every single situation God provided David a means of escape…

…God gave him room to run!

Note vs. 8…

Ps. 31:8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.

"a wide place" = room to run, a place to be established

God's promise to those who trust in Him when they have no way of escape is that He will make room for that person to run that they might be established and live!

Ap. Do you feel trapped?

Pray to the Lord and place your trust in Him - then wait to see how He leads you out into a "wide place."

Ex. The children of Israel when they stood at the Red Sea

So, trust Him when you're trapped.

Trust Him when you're in trouble! (vs. 9-13)

Ps. 31:9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body!

Ps. 31:10 For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away.

Ps. 31:11 I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me.

Ps. 31:12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.

Ps. 31:13 For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life.

√ When you're in trouble

We find David here crying out to God for help because he says…

"for I am in trouble"

…David certainly knew something about being in "trouble"! He seemed to experience a lot of it during his life.

The description of his trouble in vs. 9-13 seems to indicate that David was sick, perhaps for a long period of time, or that he was weakened by his grief over his own sin.

We don't know much beyond that, but David tells us that he was in trouble because his enemies took advantage of him in his weakness.

More than that, his friends even turned against him because of the attacks of his enemies.

So, David cries out to God for help in the midst of trouble.

Ex. Ahithophel

David's most trusted advisor took advantage of David's trouble when Absalom tried to take the kingdom.

Yet, God was faithful to work against Ahithophel and deliver David out of his troubles.

I think this serves to remind us that people will sometimes turn against us when we're in the midst of tough times.

But - don't let their faithlessness cause you to be bitter toward them!

Ex. Early days of ministry

I used to get really upset when a person I looked to as a friend, trusted advisor, or leader, bailed out on me in the early days of our ministry when it looked like we were in "trouble".

I got sick of hearing…

"something's wrong"

Yet, they could never actually articulate anything that was wrong!

So, when times got tough it was easier for them to move on to another church with some spiritual sounding excuse.

I'd get upset and in my mind think of them as being really unspiritual, or unfaithful to me.

Then the Lord reminded me that He had called ME to pioneer this ministry…

…not that person!

They didn't have the vision that I did so I couldn't hold them to something that God hadn't put on their heart. I had to learn to be gracious with people even when they walked away from me.

Ex. The elder and the bikers - or the family looking for families

Ap. Don't allow bitterness to come into your heart

So, trust God in the midst of your troubles!

Trust Him with your life (vs. 14-18)

Ps. 31:14 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

Ps. 31:15 My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.

Ps. 31:16 Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies’ sake.

Ps. 31:17 Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You; Let the wicked be ashamed; Let them be silent in the grave.

Ps. 31:18 Let the lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

√ Trust Him with your life

Note vs. 15…

"My times are in Your hand"

…better understood to mean that David recognized that his life, the time which he would live on this earth, was established by God.

That is, David understood that his…

Breath

Next heart beat

Life

…were in God's hands and that not one of David's enemies would be able to harm him or shorten his life outside of God's plan for David.

So, David expresses his trust in God and asks Him for deliverance from his enemies, specifically that God would silence them!

Ex. Ahithophel

His words was his greatest weapon against David, so David prayed…

“O LORD, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!” - 2 Sam. 15:31

People can do a lot of damage to us by their words. In fact, many times a rumor, or a false accusation are Satan's favorite weapons to use against us.

The reason, because they are so difficult to defend ourselves from!

Our best defense is to trust the Lord for our life and commit those who speak against us to His judgement.

Trust Him to work it all out! (vs. 19-24)

Ps. 31:19 Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!

Ps. 31:20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.

Ps. 31:21 Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!

Ps. 31:22 For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You.

Ps. 31:23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.

Ps. 31:24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.

√ God has a safe place for you

Note that David ends this psalm with the declaration that God will preserve him by bringing him into the safety of His presence.

"The secret place of you presence" - vs. 20

"keep them secretly in a pavilion" - vs. 20

"in a strong city" - vs. 21

Even though David had doubted the Lord's goodness! Note vs. 22…

" For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You."

David reminds us that God is faithful to His own children even when their faith is weak!

Ap. God's promises for you

This psalm encourages us to trust in the Lord…

To trust Him for deliverance

To trust Him when we're trapped

To trust Him when we're in trouble

To trust Him with our life

…and now David calls us to trust God to work everything out and bring us safely to His presence.

Yet, we're reminded that we can count on God - that we can trust Him - to do all this in our lives even when our own faith may be weak.

Ex. The faith of a mustard seed

We don't need great faith, or perfect faith, for God to work in our lives…

…rather, we just need to take the faith that we have and place it in a great and perfect God!

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