God's Promises from Psalms

Well, I did intend to give a sermon today, but I haven't found it yet. So I am looking for it. And I don't know why. None of these papers are the right ones. So I'm going to look again. Oh, good. I'm surely glad we're not going to be relying on my memory for the sermon. I thought I looked at that just earlier, and then I didn't remember exactly where I put it.

Anyway, as always, I'm glad to see all of you and certainly look forward to seeing you every Sabbath. It's always a wonderful time to be able to get together and be able to encourage one another. You know, we have a real privilege each week to come before God, of course, as we're asked to do, and that we want to do in order to honor God and to be thankful to Him. But we want to be able to come and talk with each other, encourage each other, uplift each other.

And I wanted to, I know that over the last few weeks, and we've had several different situations. One with, you know, little faith Hausleton, and of course with Dorothy's mother, and Joanne Wilson as well, as I mentioned all in our announcements earlier. And over several weeks, I've been thinking a number of things. Of course, I've been encouraged whenever we get good news.

I've been kind of discouraged whenever it's slower than I want. And I think it's good for us to think about that because all of us are, in a sense, learning to care for one another. In 1 Corinthians 12, you find several verses there that are talking about the body, and how that the body has many members, but, and I think it's in verse 25, where it says, the members are to have the same care, one for another.

And so, it goes on then in verse 26, saying, whenever someone is suffering, then we all can suffer with them. But then, whenever someone is rejoicing, then we should rejoice with them. And so, I think it's right that whenever we have situations among the brethren, and clearly people right here locally that we're familiar with, that we share in the ups and the downs.

And I know, having seen Janus several times over the last few weeks, we've had ups and downs with faith. And we've seen some miraculous things, I think, seen some great intervention. And yet, we'd like to see even more. I'd like for us to focus in Romans 15 for just a few moments, because here, it gives us, in a sense, a clue.

It gives us a clue to be able to know how to endure, to know how, in a sense, kind of to react, but how to respond as we live our lives in faith. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to live in faith. It says it's impossible to please God if we don't have faith. That's what Hebrews 11, 6 says.

And we want to have faith in God. We want to live with, actually, a lifetime of faith. And yet, here in Romans 15, Paul says in verse 4, whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction. So, he was talking about the things that were written in the Old Testament, the things that, in many ways, we are very familiar with. Larry read several verses that were Old Testament related, some in the Psalms, some in the Kings, and in other places.

So, the things that are written there, the things that we see in the pages of the Bible, and as this is kind of directing us to the Old Testament, the things that are written in former days for our instruction, so that by patience, and by comfort of the Scriptures, we might have hope. So, that's really what we need. We need to live with hope. We need to live with faith in God, but we want to have hope. We want to be uplifted. We want to be encouraged. And the way to do that is to benefit from the instruction that we find in the Scriptures that are good at comforting us and giving us patience.

And so, again, as I've been thinking about here this last few weeks, and certainly in a sense, praying for God's intervention, anticipating God's intervention, thanking God for His intervention. And I've also read a number of the different Psalms that you find in the first part of the Book of Psalms. I think many of you know that the Book of Psalms and the Old Testament is divided into five sections.

And the first of those sections is actually from Psalm number 1 up until Psalm 41. And so there's five different sections there. They all have different kind of focuses, different themes. But I want to talk about the first of those five books of Psalms because it has some very meaningful, I think, uplifting and inspirational words for us, especially whenever we run into difficulty, whenever we run into delay, whenever we run into problems that seem to just persist, and often our health problems can persist a lot longer than we would ever like.

The thing is, we all want to learn. We all want to learn and we all want to grow, but we don't necessarily want to suffer. Sometimes that's what happens. That's what we endure.

But we do want to learn and grow, and sometimes we do grow even through some of the suffering that we endure. But in looking at this section of the book of Psalms, most of them are written by David, although it looks like someone else if you see the title or the heading of the Psalm. It usually has David's name, but then I think about half of them at least it says David, and others say someone else, one of the leaders of the singing groups in Israel, or maybe it mentions a few other names. Actually, a few of them don't say any connection with who the author is. But I think for the most part, what you find is that this first book of Psalms is a compilation of David's writing, of David's prayers, of David's kind of personal thoughts. Because in many ways, when you read some of them, you think, well, why is he telling God that? And yet, in essence, what you really find, because David is expressing his feelings, he's expressing his reactions, he's expressing his distress. Sometimes he's moaning and crying, and other times, you know, he's experiencing a delay and an answer, and of course that's distressing. And then, even other times, he says, I just feel helpless. Now, do we feel any of those ways at any time? Well, I think we do.

I think I do. I feel down at times. I feel up. I'd like to be up all the time, but that's not as realistic as I might wish it were. And yet, I thought it also interesting, when you read through what David has to say, that in essence, David, he's really honest. What he writes is just very realistic to the life that he led. And then, I thought about this just as I was traveling back here from Fulton this morning, that, well, you know, David, why shouldn't he just be honest? I mean, he was called a man after God's own heart. Why wouldn't he be genuine and just realistic? And certainly, he's had some very horrible things recorded for everybody to read. And so, maybe he really has an ability. Maybe he has an ability to reflect the real personal thoughts and reactions that we might feel. Or, really, it's a part of what he expressed. So, I wanted to cover a few of these Psalms. Actually, I wrote these into three sections. And so, I'll see if I can easily go over these. I think these all can be beneficial to us. Whenever we realize, and the first part that I want to mention is that David expresses, here, especially in some of these earlier Psalms, he expresses feeling of distress, feeling of frustration, even feeling of being forgotten. And see, that's the way we can feel when God is a little slow in responding to our request. Yet, we want to continue to know he's with us, he's helping us, he's going to help us. But sometimes, he does have us wait. I'd like for us to start here in Psalm 4. Actually, Psalm 4 is one that you can easily see David expressing some frustration. It says in verse 1, Answer me when I call, O God of my right, Give me, you gave me room. You gave me room when I was in distress.

So be gracious to me and hear my prayer. See, what's he saying? Is he saying nothing ever bad? Nothing bad ever happened to me? No, he's saying, I have been in trouble. I have. Maybe he thought he was in trouble whenever he was confronting the lion or the bear or whenever he was before Goliath, or maybe all the other... Some of those, God miraculously rescued him. He gave him what he needed and allowed him to be victorious. Others, when you read later in David's life and being there in the palace or even trying to get there or once he got there trying to stay there with all the family chaos that he endured, you find that, you know, God didn't seem to immediately be answering him whenever he called. But like he says here, you gave me room when I was in distress.

Please be gracious to me and hear my prayer. It says in verse 3, "...but know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself, and the Lord hears when I call to Him." He said, even though there have been times when I've been in distress, I've been frustrated, I've been discouraged. I know that when I call to God that He will listen. He will hear.

And if you drop down to verse 5, the latter part of that, He says, simply put your trust.

Put your trust in the Lord. And He says in verse 7, because He was willing to do that, even though He had been in distress, He was willing to trust in the Lord. And in verse 7, you are the one who puts gladness in my heart. You're the one who puts gladness in my heart more than even when wine and grain abound, even when all the physical things are wonderful.

You're the source. You're the power. You're the might that I want to depend on, that I want to trust, that I want to appreciate, and that I want to gain nurturing from. And because of that, in verse 8, He says, I will both lie down and I will sleep in peace.

For you alone, O Lord, make me to lie down in safety.

See, that sounds like, you know, a serenity. That sounds like a peace of mind. It sounds like a security that He identified with, that He benefited from. And again, even though He'd been in distress, He knew that God would provide that encouragement. He would provide that benefit.

We move on over to chapter 13. You know, again, many of these psalms that we look at are songs that we sing here in services. You know, we probably sing more hymns than most folks, as far as singing different hymns that are all a part of our hymnal that we benefit from. We benefit from going over and over and over and those and listening to them as we sing. And of course, you can usually remember it a little better when it's in a song form, as opposed to just trying to remember a verse after verse. But here in chapter 13, He says in verse 1, How long, how long, O God, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul? How long must I have sorrow in my heart all day?

See, those are questions that He was posing here at the beginning of this psalm, and so it doesn't sound like God immediately answered Him when He asked. He was having to wait. There were delays in a response. And yet, He was in a sense kind of feeling like He was forgotten. And yet that clearly, as we're going to show later, that clearly wasn't the case. But like I said, David very honestly expresses his feelings. And that's what it seems like he's expressing here in chapter 13. If we go on over to chapter 25, chapter 25 is a chapter that involves David just pleading for help. And again, like I said, he was in many situations that were somewhat crying, somewhat difficult, some of them very threatening, some of them health-related. He was sick. He was waiting for God's intervention. But here in chapter 25, he says, to you, O Lord, I lift my soul, O my God, in you I trust. See, he has an outlook toward God that's commendable, and one that seems very familiar. It seems very connected, because again, he could think back on many different times when God had rescued him, when He had rescued him when he was younger, rescued him as a shepherd. He could remember being anointed king when he was just a young man. He wasn't installed as king then, but he was anointed king by Samuel. And so he recognized that God had entered his life. He recognized that God was working with him in somewhat of a unique way. And I think in many ways we recognize that. We realize that we've been granted God's calling, we've been granted His mercy, His forgiveness. We have a connection with the Father because of what He brought about in bringing us to understand Jesus Christ, and to understand the need for us to be connected to our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Here in verse 6, He says, Be mindful of your mercy, Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have always been from old. Down in verse 9, He says, again, talking about His connection to the Lord, He said, He leads the humble in what is right, and He teaches the humble His ways. So this is what we seek.

This is the outlook that God says He can honor. He says He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. He is interested in even dwelling with those who are of a contrite and a humble approach toward God, having the right fear of God. We can drop down to verse 15. It says, My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net. Whenever I'm in trouble, I'm looking to the one who can rescue me. And in verse 16, He says, Turn to me, and be gracious to me, for I'm lonely and I'm afflicted. To hear again, He's feeling pretty vulnerable. He feels pretty broken. He feels frustrated. I'm lonely. I don't seem to have a lot of help here right now. I'm lonely and I'm afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart.

Bring me out of my distress. Now, do we ever find ourselves feeling that way? I think, if we identify with what David is writing, then we realize that there are times that we may feel frustration. We may feel discouragement. We may feel distress. But even as David writes about that, he says, That's the way I'm feeling, but I ask you to be gracious to me. I ask you to bring me out of that distress. Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive my sins.

See, that's what he looks to God for the benefit that God would provide, which would involve forgiveness. It was a contributor. But then also, that he would deliver him from the affliction and distress that he would be in. And on down in verse 20, O guard my life and deliver me. Don't let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

See, his refuge was in the Father. His refuge was in his relationship with God.

And he was appreciative of the fact that that was available. If we go to chapter 34, he writes a little more about this. And again, I think all of these particular psalms are attributed to David.

Chapter 34, verse 19, is probably one that you may have memorized, or at least listed as in memory verse at one time.

It says, Many of the affliction of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us or rescues us out of them all.

Now, that in a sense is kind of a summary. You know, that, well, the righteous may end up with a certain amount of affliction, but what we're going to do is we're going to look to God. We're going to ask Him to deliver us. And if we back up to see what else He's talking about in this chapter, He says in verse 4, I sought the Lord, and He answered me. I sought Him, and He answered me, and He delivered me. From what? He delivered me from all my fears.

See, in many ways, you know, we need to be forgiven. We need to be forgiven of things that we recognize that are wrong, things that we commit, sins that we want to repent of and change from. But in many ways, you know, we struggle with a certain amount of fear or doubt or discouragement, even as David is writing. And it's amazing to see here in verse 4 how he so honestly just says, I sought God, He answered me, and He delivered me from my fears. It wasn't that He was never afraid. It wasn't that He never experienced that difficulty. When He experienced it, He sought God. He asked for help, and He knew that God would be there and that God would hear.

We drop down to verse 15 and it says, The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, His ears are open to their cry. And so, you know, if the righteous are going to be crying to God, if they're going to be beseeching God for help, as so many times we feel like we need to or we should, and certainly as we hear of others who are in need, others who are in need to be healed, others who are needing deliverance in other areas. You know, we want to know that God does hear. And down in verse 17, He says, When the righteous cry for help, the Lord does hear. The Lord hears and the Lord rescues them from all their troubles. It says in verse 18, The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and He saves the crushed in spirit. Again, do we ever feel like that describes, you know, what we are going through? Well, I think at times it does. It certainly does for me. At times I feel, you know, disheartened.

And yet what this says is that God is close to those of us who are brokenhearted. He says He saves those who are crushed in spirit. So I think it's interesting to read through, you know, this section of the Psalms and to see how it is that David so, you know, so honestly describes his feeling.

How it is that he is affected by the things that are going on in his life. But as you can see, in almost every case that we read here, he also said, Well, I know that I want to look to God, and I know that God will sustain me. God will secure me. And of course, the second thing I want to mention, and we'll go back through a few verses or a few chapters here with this as well, is simply the fact that, you know, even though we go through adversity, even though we go through distress, even though we are tried, and we know as we read other pages of the Bible that our faith is going to be tried. That is important for our development and our growth. Sometimes we can think, even as David said, How long am I going to have to endure this? Sometimes we're thinking, God doesn't even know. He doesn't even see. That isn't true either, because he does see. He does very much know what we are going through. We turn over to chapter 10. Chapter 10, this doesn't directly say it's one that David wrote, but it certainly appears to be one that would be similar to what he reflects. Because in verse 1 it says, Why, O Lord, do you stand afar off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Again, this has the same tone as many of the others, you know, that we read here in this section. And then this Psalm goes ahead and talks about those who were, in essence, kind of opposing what I would guess would be David, the arrogant, the ones who wanted to tear him down, the enemies who wanted to destroy him, who wanted to kill him, wanted to overthrow Israel. It actually goes through quite a description here from verse 2 on down to verse 12 or 13 or 14, talking about those who don't even acknowledge God. And I would guess he would have thought the Philistines and others around him, they don't acknowledge God. They're not certainly aware of the God of Israel. And certainly, down in verse 11, some of these individuals may think in their heart that God has forgotten. He's hidden His face. He'll never see what's going on. And see, that's not the case. When you get down to verse 14, and I guess we could think this, if we have delays in an answer to our prayers, or if it just seems like God has forgotten, and this whole psalm is kind of describing those who don't even give God recognition, who don't not only have a fear of God, they don't even seem to recognize God at all.

But in verse 14, he says, but you do see. This is what he's acknowledging. Even though others might think, well, God would never see, or God doesn't even exist. Sometimes people can think that way.

And yet what it says in verse 14, but you do see. Indeed, you note trouble and grief.

And then he goes ahead and in a sense, kind of answering, well, why is it that God is aware, and He sees the trouble. He sees the grief. And he goes ahead and answers by saying that you may take it into your hands. See, that's where we want things to go. Things beyond our ability to solve. We want those things to go to God. We want those things to be taken care of by someone stronger than us. We want to be relieved of those burdens. And yet what he says here is, as you do see, you know trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands. They helpless, they helpless commit themselves to you, and you have been a helper of those who were in need, of orphans, and those who were in need. See, this was an expression that was one that I think was very meaningful. And down in verse 17, he says, Oh, Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek, and you will strengthen their heart. You will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more. See, here he was talking about receiving an answer, receiving some support, receiving some help. And I think that's exciting to see. If we turn on over to chapter 16, in a sense, he also reflects the same type of feeling that God does. He knows what we're going through. At times, if he delays in answering, we might think he doesn't, but he does. He very much does. In chapter 16, he says in verse 1, Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, You are my Lord.

I have no good apart from You. See, that's very similar to the statement that Jesus made in John 15. He says, You can do nothing without me. And David was saying to God, I can't do a thing. I can't do anything. I can do no good apart from You. With You, with Your help, with Your benefit, I'm able to do some good. But I can do no good apart from You. It says in verse 7, I bless the Lord who gives me counsel in the night. Also, my heart instructs me, because in verse 8, I keep the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. You actually see a reference in several places here in the Psalms, and even in other places. And Isaiah mentions God being aware in His at our right hand, or His right hand reaching out to help us, to lift us up, to pull us out of the muck and mire, that we may feel like we're bogged down in. And so, that may not be directly something physical that we're going through. It may even just be our own emotions, our own feelings, our discouragement. He can pull us up out of that. Verse 9, He says, Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices, my body also rests secure.

See, He felt, because of God's help, because He could take things to God, He could honestly lay them before God, He could ask for help, He knew that He would see, and that He would then provide the answer. He could feel secure. And that, of course, is, I think, a very wonderful feeling for us to be able to feel as well. In chapter 17, verse 1, He says, Here, adjust the cause, O Lord, attend to my cry. Give ear to my prayer, from lips free of deceit. From you, let my vindication come. Let your eyes see the right. Again, He was crying out, asking Him to hear His cause. Attend to the misery that He was feeling. In verse 6, He says, I call upon you, and you will answer me, O God. Incline your ear to me. Hear my words.

Wonderously show your steadfast love, O Savior. Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. See, this was the way in which David was developing a communion with God, where he was able to talk to God in a very open way. He was able to express His concern. He was able to recognize that God does see. He sees what's happening. And then He could be secure, knowing that God would be watching over and helping Him. The last thing I want to mention, just in a few of the other verses that are here, is simply that, you know, even though, you know, we may, you know, go through a certain amount of distress, we can certainly be confident that God sees. And then, ultimately, what we read here in some of the latter of these verses in this first book is simply that we can wait patiently for God to help us. This is what David said. He says this numerous times. If we look in chapter 37, chapter 37 is a chapter that we have actually, you know, I think an entire hymn that deals with chapter 37 and goes through almost everything that's in here. It's one that we're very familiar with. But here in chapter 37, he says in verse 5, commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will act.

If we commit ourselves to God, if we trust Him, if we emphasize faith in God, you know, then God will hear and He will help. If we drop down to verse 7, it says, Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Don't fret. See, at least the translation that I'm normally reading here, it says, fret not. I don't know whether yours says the same or whether it says worry or whatever it is, but He's telling us, don't be fretful. Realize that God does see He will. And what it says in verse 7 is simply wait patiently for God. Actually, when we drop on down to verse 23, it says, Our steps are made firm by the Lord. When He delights in our way, though we stumble, we will not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.

See, in many cases, that's really a comforting thought to realize that God is open to holding us by the hand. He's open, especially when we're in distress or in discouragement, He's open to holding our hand. He's open to helping us with His right hand. And actually, you see that if we go over to Isaiah 41. This will break away from Psalms here a second.

But in Isaiah 41, this is the type of description that you have.

In verse 13, it says, For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, Don't be afraid, I will help you. And back up in verse 9, He is directing this at Israel, and He says, You're my servant. In verse 9, I've chosen you, and I will not cast you off. Do not fear. In verse 10, For I'm with you, Don't be afraid, for I'm your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. I guess in a sense, you could think about the right hand of God reaching down and touching the lives of people who are in distress, who need to be picked up, who need to be encouraged. And of course, it's talking here, I guess right hand would be an indication of whether you should be right hand or left handed. No, that's not the case. If you're left handed, that's fine. But you see reference more often to God's right hand, and His right hand referring more to His power and His might and His strength and the gentleness with which He would nurture and help someone. And so, here in chapter 37 of Psalms, this is what David writes about, and he's thankful that God would pick him up when he stumbles. He's thankful that God would help him whenever he struggles. He's thankful that he can know that God would hear. We drop down another page or two here in chapter 40.

Chapter 40, verse 1 says, I waited patiently for the Lord. And He inclined to me, and He heard my cry.

See, I think that's, in a sense, a character building way of looking at things. I wait patiently for the Lord. I'm discussing things with Him. Even if I cry out to Him and implore Him for help, He does here. He will help. We drop down to verse 11. He says, Do not, O Lord, withhold Your mercy from me, but let Your steadfast love and faithfulness keep me safe forever. The fact is, God can be relied upon far more than people. God can be fully relied upon. He's the one who is able to help us, the one who's able to encourage us.

Down in the last verses of this chapter in verse 16, He says, But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You.

May those who love Your salvation say continually, Great is the Lord.

And as for me, I'm poor and meaty, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer. Just please don't delay. See, that's what He was asking God. Whenever you delay in your answer, then that causes me to be frustrated. But I know that I want to wait patiently for you. But even in verse 17, He says, if I look at myself as being in need, if I look at myself as needing Your intervention, you know about it. You take thought of me. You are interested in me.

You're interested in what's going on in my life. The last chapter here that I'll focus on is back in chapter 31, because it also highlights what we've been saying about just simply waiting for the Lord or waiting for God to intervene and to encourage, to uplift, to answer, to heal, to restore, to revive. Whatever it is we may be asking for, we may need from God, because that is, in essence, what we all can say, that we need God. We need God's help. But here in chapter 31, you know, this expresses a thought about waiting patiently for God. He says, In you, O Lord, I seek refuge. In verse 2, He says, Incline Your ear to me and rescue me speedily.

So even though He said, I'm waiting patiently, He feels like I'd like for you to intervene as quick as you possibly can. In verse 2, Incline your ear to me, rescue me speedily. Certainly, whenever we're suffering, whenever we're in pain, we want speedily God to hear. And yet, what He tells us is that He's aware of the suffering that we go through. He's aware of those distresses. And He is concerned. He says in verse 7, I will exalt and rejoice in your steadfast love because you have seen my affliction. You have seen my affliction and you have taken heed of my adversity. Psalm 31, verse 7. You know, it seems like David was acknowledging to God, well, you're aware of what I'm going through. You're aware of the distress. I'd like for you to answer quickly. I know I need to patiently wait for your intervention, but you're clearly aware of my affliction and my adversity. In a verse 8, you have not delivered me from the hand of the enemy, but you have set my feet in a broad place. So even though in this case it appears He was thinking about, you know, the nations around about Him and the problems He was having with them, and not knowing how to solve those, and not knowing how to address those situations.

But He says, even though I don't know exactly how to solve this, you set my feet in a broad place.

You put me in a frame of mind, in a state of mind of knowing that you're aware and that you are available, that you will help, and that you will rescue. He actually goes ahead to describe here in verse 9 and in verse 10. You know the anguish He was in. He says, Be gracious to Me, Lord, for I am in distress. My eyes waste away from grief, my soul and body, and my life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing, my strength fails because of my misery, my bones are wasting away. He's actually describing what could appear to be a physical ailment, but it also was certainly an emotional ailment that He was struggling. He was in grief. He was in sorrow. In verse 12, He says, I've passed out of mind like one who is dead. I've become like a broken vessel. I feel so broken. I don't have any answers. I don't know where to turn. I don't know what else to do. But He does know what to do because it says down in verse 14, But I trust in you, O God. I trust in you. I say, You are my God. And in verse 15, He makes a very revealing statement by simply admitting that my times are in your hand. I may not be able to direct my steps. I'm going to have to ask God to direct my steps, to direct my life. And that goes for all of us. But when David says, my times are in your hand, and He asked Him to deliver me from the hand of the enemy, verse 16, Let your face shine upon your servant. Save me in your steadfast love. I think that the statement there in verse 15 is one that we should certainly note. Because it gives us an understanding that as we learn to wait for God to intervene, as we learn to request help and anticipate that help to live with faith in that help, that we can simply know that our lives and our times are in the hands of God. Actually, you see a little later in this same chapter, verse 22, David said, I've said in my alarm, I'm driven far from your sight. See, what's he thinking there? Whenever I'm in distress, whenever I'm in a frustrating situation, whenever I'm in anguish, I feel like you've forgotten me. I feel like I've been driven far from your sight. We can feel that way. We can feel that if things don't go well, the well-know God isn't watching. But He is. And as He goes ahead to answer or respond, even in the latter part of verse 22, but even though that's what I felt, He's actually even saying, I mistakenly felt. I don't have contact with you, but you heard my supplication. And when I cried out to you for help, you were there. You were able to hear and answer. And in verse 24, He says, Be strong. Let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. See, this is a type of, I think, endurance, a type of patience, a type of resilience that we want to be able to have as we pray for one another, as we ourselves pray, as we have a close relationship with God, as we benefit from that relationship. We can truly live our lives exemplifying the type of examples we see as individuals who were living by faith. We're told to live by faith. We're told to trust God. We're told to put our lives in God's hands.

David very graphically describes some of those struggles that he had and that we can have. But I think when we think about this, and to back up here into chapter 30, as we conclude here, you see in chapter 30 a statement that is, I think, encouraging because even though we may go through certain distresses, we know that God does see. He does hear. He will answer. But He tells us to wait patiently for Him. Here in chapter 30, this is a psalm that can be very encouraging. Whenever we are beseeching God for help, we're asking for healing, we're asking for restoration. He says in verse 1, I'll extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and don't let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I've cried to you for help, and you have healed me. See, that's clearly something many of us could be praying. That we cry out to God for help. He helps us. He's restored us. He's healed us. And He says in verse 4, Forcing praises to the Lord, O you as faithful ones, give thanks to His holy name. His anger is but for a moment. He was saying the stresses you may go through at times are but from a moment, but He says His favor is for a lifetime. See, brethren, God has called us into a relationship with Him, where He is going to continue to be available. He's going to continue to provide assistance. He's going to continue to cause us to grow. He's going to continue to cause us to succeed. He's going to cause us to be successful, entrance into the family of God. But we want to learn from the pages of His Word. We want to be comforted and gain patience from the Word of God, that is available to give us hope.

And so, whenever you see what it says here in verse 5, His anger is for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. You know, God is able to provide answers. And He says in verse 7, creating some stability here, By your favor, O Lord, you have established Me as a strong mountain. If you hide your face for Me, I am dismayed. But with you on My side, with you lifting Me up, with you granting Me your favor, then I can be very secure. And so, I hope that in going over some of these verses, that they can be a reminder to us. Because as we cry out to God, as we beseech God for help, we want to consistently do that. We want to do that with zeal and enthusiasm. But we also want to remember that God is very clearly aware of what we go through. And He is wanting us to look to Him for help, and to wait for Him to intervene, and then to be thankful that His favor, His mercy, His calling, and His blessing to us is for an entire lifetime.

And so, please keep that in mind as we continue to pray for one another, as we continue to be lifted up by what God is able to provide in so many, many ways in the lives of those that we love, but then in all of our lives as well.