Sorrow in My Heart

Happy Sabbath! Good to see everyone. What a wonderful Sabbath it is. Welcome to our Sabbath services, those joining us, and of course those here. I want to thank Mr. Stevens for that opening message. Very insightful points. We have been engaging in speaking clubs, speaking classes here and there. We've had about maybe a handful so far and always very encouraged by our men who are dedicating themselves to that. In the next meeting we have, I know we have at least a couple of the men who aren't currently speaking who will present to our men's class first, so we can beat them up a little bit. Just kidding. We'll give them help in that way. Then the hope and the desire and the expectation is then they'll be able to present to you. It's always exciting to have those men that are stepping up into new ways to serve. That's a wonderful result from these speaking classes. Really, for those who are speaking, just to get better refined, I know it is the deep desire for every speaker who engages in this part of service just to let God get the glory, to get out of the way of God's Word so it can go forward. We always really appreciate your prayers on our behalf. Very thankful and appreciative of the ladies' discussion, of course, occurring at the same time as the men speaking class is the ladies' Bible discussion, so I really appreciate those participating in that. I hear very good feedback, and it's such a wonderful way for the ladies to sharpen each other and to bond in that way. I did send out the latest song leading and speaking schedule, and I've already got some changes to it.

As always happens, I'll be sending out a revised version this week with some minor changes. If you're on the speaking or song leading schedule and you received that yesterday, you can expect a slightly revised one to come out this week as well. I encourage you to look it over again and make sure there was no changes to your assignment there. Let's see. Speaking of the schedule, we do have a group Bible study scheduled for the end of this month, for a couple of weeks from now. We're going to reschedule that, and you'll see that on the next schedule. So we will not be having the group Bible study on July 27th as the schedule shows. We're going to reschedule that for a couple of weeks later into August. That'll be on the new schedule.

We had a little bit of a schedule conflict in Knoxville, and I'd like to keep those lined up if I can. So we'll push that out a little bit there. Maybe we'll have a maybe we'll slide in a men's speaking class again so those gentlemen can present their messages. More to come on that. Let's see what else here.

The move update. I did speak to Lynn Martin earlier this week via email. We're emailing back and forth updates. His expectation is to put his house on the market toward the end of July or the beginning of August. That's our expectation, too. We'll see what happens after that. There's a contract procured quickly, which would have a 30-day contract date on it, of course, or whether the sales of our respective homes take longer than expected. So it's kind of hard to know, but just your continued prayers are appreciative of that. We think that maybe Lynn will be established here sometime in September. Lynn and Julie Martin. Maybe that's when we would be established in Houston. It's so hard to know. The ultimate target that we're really shooting for is just sometime before the feast. That makes sense. The feast is mid-October.

Gary Smith in Houston is officially retiring from his pastor duties in December. So I've got a little room there for that. Of course, I won't leave you until Mr. Martin is established here. We won't leave you pastor-less at all. Thank you for your prayers and that God just somehow worked out all the pieces in that way. That's a little bit of an update on that. Then my last piece of announcements is they've asked all these ministers that are moving to the respective different areas to update the online member directory that ministers have access to. Every minister, every pastor, has access to part of the website which has the member data on it. Not only does it include name, address, phone number, but it also includes things like a baptism date. There are some gaps there that we need to fill in. What I thought is the next time I'm with you, I might pass out a sheet and we'll take two or three minutes during services to fill that out. It'll be just name, address, phone number. But maybe if you can't recall your baptism date, maybe in the next two weeks you could find that just in case that's part of the website that I need to fill in or to make sure is accurate.

So that's what I'll hand out that sheet of paper. Then maybe we'll have a box that you can place it in after services and then I'll collect that and update the website appropriately in that way. So that will be helpful to me. And one last prayer request for you before we begin the sermon. Please pray for Jerome and Tara. Jerome and Tara Grubb. Jerome has a heel spur on his right foot and also a herniated slash bulging disc in his back, a pinched nerve, spine root disease, and disease of the spine. So all that's associated and also arthritis in his back and his hip. So I know Jerome's been in quite a bit of pain all along his back and then the heel spur is not helping, of course. So please, please pray for Jerome and that God would give him healing and relief. And then also Tara. Tara was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which is an underactive thyroid. Her thyroid levels are highly elevated and have done so quickly. So this is critical for treatment. So I know she's beginning her medication for that and addressing that. So thank you for your prayers for Jerome and Tara. I know they appreciate it.

Thank you to whoever provides me water every Sabbath. Thank you for the beautiful flower display and thank you for your presence here. Well, every week we do have an opportunity to take on different topics of life that, thankfully, we are not left alone to try to address or come up with a solution on our own. And in fact, we have this book, the Bible, that God leaves us and it gives us the answers to some of the deepest questions we have and helps us to address some of the deepest issues that we face in this physical life.

We're going to address one of those issues today. The title of our sermon is, Sorrow in My Heart. Sorrow in My Heart. And if you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them. And let's turn to the 13th Psalm, if you will. Psalm 13, where those words of the title are found and they are expressed and spoken by David. As David is dealing with this whole matter of deep sorrow and or deep depression. And we might, in thinking about this topic, turn to a number of places in Scripture which addresses this.

But it is, in fact, that the 13th Psalm addresses depression and deep despair. In one of the most concise and straightforward ways. As we find here, David feeling sorrow as he thinks about this extreme trial that he's facing. This may have been and was very likely written at a time in which King Saul sought to kill David. King Saul, who had the resources of his whole entire nation, had his access to pursue David and to ultimately threaten to kill him.

So you can imagine the depths of despair and the depth of emotions, of feeling overwhelmed and helpless. And this is what now David is expressing in this psalm. He's afraid that he is going to be defeated and he believes that his enemies are already celebrating at that prospect. So let's look at this issue of depression in the life of one of God's own. So it can help us today. Psalm 13, only six verses, David opens up with this desperation in his voice as he asks God, how long?

How long? Perhaps those words have come from your lips from time to time. Psalm 13 beginning in verse 1 here. David writes, How long, O LORD, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God, enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say I've prevailed against him, lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved, but I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation, and I will sing to the LORD because he has dealt bountifully with me. Let's stop there. Quite a song in just six verses.

I'm sure you can agree. Now, before we begin to consider this whole issue of depression and sorrow, I just want to make sure we set the proper foundation. I want to make sure that we have our footing secure so as to do proper justice and give proper respect to this topic.

So, I want to make just a couple of statements for us to stand upon before we delve into this topic. I think it's important to do this. Statement number one is we consider this whole topic of depression in the life of God's people. Statement number one is we as God's people acknowledge that unless we have a degree, unless we are trained in the realm of deep depression, we must acknowledge and realize that we are not qualified to address depression in the whole realm as a clinical condition. All right, kind of a long statement.

But I think it is that most of us can acknowledge that we're not qualified to address deep depression, for example, in the realm of a chemical imbalance, let's say. Or as a result of other physical factors, health factors, because there is a depressive part of man which cannot and should not most immediately be in the realm solely of theology.

And it is that deep depression might also need to be addressed immediately or most urgently in the realm, in the clinical realm, in the realm of medicine.

That's not to say that theology has nothing to say on it. Of course, we live in a fallen world. We live in a world which is sinful. And if that weren't the fact, then none of us would have to deal with sicknesses or depression. But I just wanted to make a statement of clarity before, as we begin this study, to distinguish that between the physical dimension of deep depression, which should be in the realm of clinical, in the clinical environment, in contrast to that which David's speaking of here, where this is a sorrow of the heart as a result of the seasons of the soul, if you will, as we ebb and flow in life, brought on by difficult circumstances. So that's statement number one. We just want to identify and not ignore that there is a depressive part of man which may best fall or should fall into a clinical realm. Important to keep that in mind. Now, statement number two, the second statement I want to make as we begin here, is kind of the converse of that. Statement number two is to establish right at the beginning, number two, spiritual warfare does in fact have to do and deal with our experience of depression. Okay, so that's statement number two, that there is actually a spiritual dimension in the aspect of our depression that man feels. So, yes, we do have a physical, chemical dimension of depression, but statement number two is to acknowledge spiritual warfare does in fact deal in the experience of our depression. You know, we won't turn there, but we know the devil is described as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, particularly God's people. So, for example, for your notes, that's 1 Peter 5.8. We know Ephesians 6, for example, for your notes, Ephesians 6. God's people must put on the whole armor of God to withstand the fiery darts which come from the devil, an evil one. And the evil one would love to take a hold of us in the realm of our emotions, in the sorrow of our heart, and use that to make us unuseful to God. So, those are the two statements that we needed to establish as we now move into this topic of depression here. And in looking at this psalm where David's expressing deep sorrow, deep depression, and I think he moves through it in a way where, in the end, it's going to be a great help to us. But we do see, in the beginning, it's all desperation. It is all desperation. You'll notice four times comes this phrase from a desperate heart. How long? And it comes four times in just two verses here. How long? How long? How long? You know, no doubt Saul is on his heels, right? And leading into Psalm 13, you'll notice where David is in his analysis. Psalm 12, 8, if you just allow your eyes to go back a couple of verses there in how Psalm 12 ends. Psalm 12, 8, David says there's a vileness of men that's being honored. Psalm 12, verse 8, the wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

So this is where David is. He's being buffeted on all sides. And he just feels there's just a vileness that's occurring that's overtaking him. And I think he knows, hey, I'm in trouble here. I'm in trouble because I can feel the sorrow of my heart beginning to take over here. And I'm feeling that I'm in deep trouble. I'm being overwhelmed by this desperation and this depression. Wow, this is deep in David's heart here. And as a side note, just to state very briefly, it's important to realize that despite the contemporary approach of Christianity, which we find in the mainstream pulpits today, to present the gospel and the Christian life only in the brightest of packages, despite their attempt to always make Christianity bright and attractive and always really terrific, they go to great pains to always bring the sunshine onto the experience of a follower of Christ. In doing so, they're not putting forward the complete package of what the Bible says is our walk. Because we know at certain times we're in the clouds and there is no sunshine, right? Even as Christians. And if we had nowhere else to prove that point, it's here in the 13th Psalm. So, how do we as God's people handle the grip of depression when we say to ourselves, I think I'm in trouble. This depression is coming heavy on me. I can't sleep at night. How do we deal with it? What's the process that will lead to coming out of it and lead to victory? Well, let's let David help us. We're going to trace a line through this this Psalm because I think David did find the way out we will see in the end. So, we want to look at three important aspects as we observe David as he moves through this sorrow. It'll be helped to us. Three crucial aspects of David's sorrow that will help us today. I'll give them to you right up front. They all begin with the letter C. Why? Because I said so. It helps me collect my thoughts. Perhaps it'll help you in organizing your thoughts. Number one, we're going to look at the condition of David. That'll be the number one aspect of his song here to consider the condition. Number two, we're going to look at his cry. What did his cry look like? What did it sound like? Number one, the condition. Number two, the cry. And then number three, we're going to eventually and thankfully look at the consolation or the comfort that he reaches.

Number three will be the consolation or the comfort that he is able to reach as he moves through his depression. First of all, let's notice David's condition. That's the first point in his depression and his sorrows. This number one condition has three subpoints. So with regards to his condition, 1a in his condition is 1a is he feels distant from God. So subpoint of his condition 1a, if he will, he feels distant from God. Perhaps that will feel familiar to you when you've been in these states. Verse 1 comes forth and tells us that very clearly. Verse 1, again, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? So in his depressive condition, he feels distant from God. And I'll tell you, this was a big deal to David because David longed to be in the presence of God. He felt such comfort in God's relationship. And you'll find over and over in the Psalms, he speaks of God's face. He's able to God's face turns to him and he seeks God's face in that relationship with God. And so it was a big deal for David to express this, for him to say, where are you? And so this was a this was a definite classification of David's depression, is that he felt God had turned his face away from him and was no longer there. Let me just show you an example of how important this was to David. If you'll keep your marker here, let's stay in the Psalms, but just turn forward to Psalm 27, if you will, verses 8 through 9. A few forward a few chapters, Psalm 27, verse 8 and 9 here. David, speaking of God and evoking this imagery of of seeking his face in that relationship. Look what he says. Psalm 27, beginning in verse 8, David sings, here's the Psalm, when you, God, said, seek my face, my heart, said to you, your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. So let's stop there. So this was everything to David. So in turning back to to Psalm 13 here, we get a better picture of this how long sentiment here, right? Have you forgotten me? You said to seek your face, my heart seeks it. Where is it? I can't see it. I'm in this depressive state, and I can't even see your face. Father, where are you? And so here is a call out to us. Yes, David, in his sorrow and depression, is equating his circumstances with this trial of Saul. He's equating his circumstances with an indication that God has left him.

Don't do that, if I can lovingly say. Don't ever equate a trial, even a severe trial, with the notion that God has somehow left and has turned his face from you.

If you want depression to come on and come on strong, that's one of the quickest ways to do it, is to somehow equate that. And it's not so. We cannot interpret our deep trials with erroneously interpreting that God has turned away from us at that moment. But this is how David was feeling. You know, right or wrong, he's wrong, but this is how he was feeling. And this is bringing on that desperate cry of how long? How long? As if God had left him in the greatest time of need. And I've got to tell you, this is a connecting point for us as God's people. You will be praying, you have prayed, I prayed in our bedrooms, and somehow you feel your prayers aren't even penetrating the roof, right? It's not even penetrating the ceiling of your bedroom. This is one of the pitfalls we can fall into. And the reason I know that I can confidently assume that this has been your experience is because it's the experience of so many of God's people in the Bible. I just want to show you one example of this, just to let you know you're not alone in this. Keep your marker here in the Psalm. Let's turn to Job 29 for just a moment. Job 29 verses 2 through 4, where I just want to kind of touch in on Job here, just to show you that this was Job's experience. It's a feeling as if God left him in the extremity of a trial, and therefore inviting depression, deep depression, in. Job 29, let's read verses 2 and 3 here. I'm just going to break in just for a moment. I want to show you this. Here it is, Job now expressing this same sentiment. Job says, O that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and when his light I walked through darkness, just as I was in the days of my prime, when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent. Let's stop here. So what's the inference here? Well, Job is saying, I wish, oh, I longed for the days in which God was with me. Now he's not. Obviously, he's not, Job says. His light has been turned out, so I'm in this darkness. How am I supposed to walk? God has turned his face. He's left my presence. I'm just here in the dark. Oh, that I were as in months past in which God was with me. But I'm logically concluding that deepest of trial means God has left me. So this is the sentiment here that even Job is expressing here. So you've got biblical giants coming to this same depression and the same condition, Job and David. Now, why would it be that God would ever bring his servant Job or his servant David or his servant Jane or his servant Joe? Why would it ever be that God would bring his servant into an experience like this?

Why would God ever bring you or I into an experience like this?

Well, when we read our Bibles, we discover that God uses these times of his apparent absence in order to teach us to walk by faith and not by sight. It is that clear. God uses times of his apparent absence during these trials. Where are you, God? In order to teach us to simply teach us to walk by faith and not by sight. If God always was within our sight, would that be true faith that we would develop? If he was always there, there's his face, you know? Would we develop true faith? What is faith? What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. If you want to turn there, if you want to just put your eyes on, let's put our eyes on that. Hebrews 11 verse 1, just one verse. It might be profitable for us to just really take this in. Hebrews 11 verse 1, just allow our eyes and our hearts to come to this fact here in our condition, in David's condition, in Job's condition of sorrow and depression here. Why would God bring us into there and to feel like he's not with us? Hebrews 11 verse 1, what is faith? Hebrews 11 verse 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Boy, that verse should. It'll revolutionize your life if you allow it to come home to you. That we're not always going to see God's face in times of deep trial.

And it's going to feel as if, in our human experience, that he's gone. And we'll express how long. How long are you going to hide your face? How long are you going to hide yourself from me? You know, it's kind of like this. Let me see if I can help you understand this a little bit better. I think this will be for our edification. When a father teaches a son or a daughter to ride their bike, they have them on training wheels for a while, right, and they're going around the the driveway. But there comes a point when the training wheels come off. And what does the father do? I'll keep with that scenario. I know mothers engage in this quite often, but for our purposes, we'll engage this example with the fathers. What does the father do? Well, when their son or daughter is heading out, the father is what? He's running right alongside them with his hand on the back of the bicycle seat, isn't he? And he's running along and his son or daughter's pedaling and going at it down the street.

But at some point, he lets go. He doesn't keep his hand on the seat forever. He lets go.

And in those moments, the father makes himself experientially absent. In the experience of the child as he's riding or she's riding his bike, when the father lets go, in the child's experience, the father makes himself absent, doesn't he? He's no longer holding the seat. Perhaps he's no longer in the sight of the child.

Why? Well, so that the kid diverts and crashes on the curb. Well, sometimes that happens in the process, but that's not the purpose. He lets go and makes himself, in the experience of the child, absent because at some point the child must mature to fully discover their stability and balance. The father must let go so that the child can mature to discover their to come into the fullness of their stability and their balance. And in the experience of a child or god of god, god lets go so that we might discover our fullness of our spiritual stability and spiritual balance. And sometimes he lets go for a prolonged period of time where we wonder, has he forgotten about us completely? But the fact of the matter is the father's running behind the child the whole way, trying not to, you know, trying to keep up sometimes. And how many times has the child in the physical experience diverted toward the curb and there's the father a step behind and he picks up, swish up the child as the bicycle crashes into the curb, you know?

He's there. He might not be in our sight, but he's there. He has not left us or forsaken us.

And god's purpose in this spiritual is to prepare us for the days coming. We need to discover and to come into the fullness of our spiritual stability and balance in order to have the skills, the resilience to finish this race. So going back to Psalm 13, Psalm 13, that's 1a. And we're going to spend more time on this first aspect than the other two. So let's go to the second aspect of David's condition. If 1a is he felt distant from God, 1b is David felt 1b distant even from himself.

So that's 1b in David's condition. And we find that here that David even felt distant from himself in some kind of psychological way in Psalm 13, verse 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? So here's David feeling even distant in some psychological way from himself. I, my soul, he's wrestling with his thoughts. So what is this? I think this is the churning and churning and churning that occurs when we are feeling ourselves falling into depression and sorrow. Churning, churning, churning, counseling my soul. So what's happening here? This is the horrible habit where it's not exclusively for God's people, but I think it is absolutely prominent in God's people's experience. It is our ability to play circumstances forward. And then we don't just move on. We hit the rewind button, right? And let's play it out again. Oh, that's not enough. Let's play it out again. Churning, churning, churning. Churning up all night, rolling it around in our heads, heads, heads. And we say, man, I am in trouble here. I haven't slept. Depression is upon me. Man, I'm just churning inside. And I think this is what David's going through here. Bringing on kind of a deeper, deeper depression. I can relate. I know you can relate. But the Bible says clearly, do not do this. And let me show you. Keep your marker here in the Psalms. Let's turn to Matthew 6 verse 25. Matthew 6 verse 25.

Should we, is it profitable to churn and churn and churn? When we find ourselves in trial, depression is coming on. Should we keep replaying it back in our heads over and over again? Well, the Bible says no, and Jesus Christ says no. Matthew 6, let's begin in verse 25 here. Very straightforward word here not to do that. Matthew 6 beginning in verse 25. Jesus Christ Himself says, And we are living citizens of heaven. So is not life more than food or the body more than clothing? Verse 26. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Kind of a ridiculous question, but let me ask it. Are you not more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubic to His stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. Neither toil nor spin. Are you toiling and spinning in your bed at night? And yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all of his glory was arrayed like one of these. Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For after these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knows what you need, that you need all these things. Verse 33, God's people, listen, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Stop there. Crashing and crashing in your mind, rolling it over and over in mind, it's not what God intends for you. Let it go. It's not what God intends.

Focus on your peddling. You know, there's a reason why maybe some bikes today might have this ability, but bikes back in my day did not have the ability to pedal backwards, right? In fact, if you tried to pedal backwards, you would break. Those were the breaks, you know.

Bikes and peddling, we must focus on going forward, moving forward, going toward, and it is so spiritually as well. Don't play back these scenarios. Read this scripture, read these words of Jesus, and let those things go. Move forward. Seek the kingdom. So that's 1a, distant from God, 1b, David's feeling distant from himself. Turning back to Psalm 13, verse 2 again, Psalm 13 verse 2, 1c, our third sub-point of David's condition. 1c is David is succumbing to the notion that his enemies are winning. That's number 1c of David's condition. David is succumbing to the notion that his enemies are winning. If you look at the second half of verse 2, how long, the second half of verse 2, will my enemy be exalted over me? So he's saying it appears that they're triumphant over me. And we know David's ultimate enemy, just Satan, the devil, our enemy, and this enemy is exalting over David at this time. So let me just state it as clear as I can.

It is a fact that God permits his children to sometimes be under the power of evil enemies. It is a statement of fact. Sometimes God permits his children to be in the experience where the enemy in that moment is having victory. Now we can pray that that not be the circumstance, but we shouldn't be. We'd be wrong to think that it shouldn't be our experience. We know that as we committed to follow Christ, he said, if you desire to come after me, let that individual deny himself, take up their cross, and follow me.

What part of...where's victory in that?

Deny yourself, take up your own cross, meaning sacrifice and follow me. And Christ didn't leave it there. He said, oh, by the way, anyone who desires to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. So what's our expectation in walking this life? What's your expectation? Victory? Sunshine? Well, those are part of our life by the grace of God. But our expectation to get our footing right is, once we follow Jesus Christ, our expectation is denial, it's sacrifice, it's losing our life here in the physical, and all that goes along with the different ways we lose our life in this walk. That's our expectation, right? By the way, for your notes, that's Matthew 16, verse 24 through 25. Very, very familiar. Matthew 16, verse 24 through 25. But I'll tell you, in order for the follower Jesus Christ to go forward, in order for the gospel to go forward, there will be times when our enemies will be achieving victory at our expense.

There will be times in which our enemies will achieve victory at our expense. Why do we accept that? Why do we accept that? Well, we desire to come after Him so that, even to the point of self-sacrifice, so that one day life will be found, and not just physical life. We know the life we're speaking of. True life, eternal life. So we say, yes, Christ, I'll follow you, and I know it includes denial, sacrifice, I know it includes losing in this life so that one day we will find it. And that life that we will find in Jesus Christ is eternal life, truly life. But that's not the life now. This isn't the best life. I hope it's not. I hope this is not the best life. The best life is yet to come. Now, again, this life's great. God's grace. But as far as just our expectation, David's working through this, and he's working through this despair, he's working through this depression, and it's okay. But he's starting to make movement as we move to our second point, and we're going to go through point two and point three. So that was David's condition with three sub points. Now we're going to move on to point number two to notice. And that is to notice David's cry. Again, we're going to go through point two and three much quicker here. Number two is to notice David's cry. And as we look at his cry, moving out from the desperation of how long, we're going to kind of see that his cry moves into a prayer. So he's crying out, seeming like he's crying out to God, but I don't know if he's truly praying to God. And we'll see the cry turns into prayer, where he's beginning to address God in a more honest way. This is part of his cry. And then we notice that in verse three and four. So we're noticing how his cry begins to change here. Verse three and four, now he says, instead of how long? Notice the nuance here, where he says verse three, consider and hear me, O Lord my God, enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the death, the sleep of death, lest my enemy say that he's been prevailing over me, lest those who trouble me rejoice when I move. I don't want to be moved, Father. Now let's stop there. This is very interesting. I believe the way we could categorize this cry really turns into authentic and honest prayer. So if you are in your depression, if you're in this how long desperate mode, I want you to notice what David moves into here. So it's no longer where are you, why are you hiding your face, but now it's consider and hear me, O Lord my God, O Lord my God. So the how long is just this cry out? I don't even know if you're there. But here David is acknowledging that he's actually speaking to God, and God is still there. Consider me, hear me, enlighten me, enlighten me.

So the how long cry, while it's understandable in extreme trial, it's not biblical. So the how long, while understandable, it's not truly biblical, because God has not left David. God has not turned his face.

God is sovereign even over these enemies. So the more effective prayer comes there in verse 3. Consider, hear, and enlighten me.

This is when David's prayer becomes honest, and he's acknowledging God here. And he's saying, I don't want to die. I don't want these enemies to prevail. So would you enlighten me? Would you let me know what you're doing in this? I'm ready to listen, Father. I'm sorry that somehow I have put forth that you've left me. I'm sorry that was disrespectful. You're my father. You know, sorry about that. I'm sorry if somehow I've elevated the enemy's power above yours. I didn't mean to do that. So would you would you enlighten me on this? I'm ready to listen. I know you're here. I'm just wrestling through this here. And really, this is what I'm going to do. And really, this is the bridge. There's beginning to have a bridge where David's eventually going to be able to be moved to rejoicing here. This is where we need to move. So move on from the how long space to really come into God and say, Teach me. I know you're here. Help me through this. Let me know what's happening. So we've said this before. When a trial hits you, really the initial prayer should not be, Take this from me. The initial part of our prayer is, Okay, God, what do you want me to learn from this? I know you're sovereign. I know you could have kept this from my experience. But here it is. Here we are. Now, it's okay to pray, Take this from me. Heal me from this. Remove this from me. God will do that often. But don't forsake this cry, which is actually a biblical cry, which is this, Help me hear me, Father, and help me understand this. Help me enlighten my eyes here. I know you're right there, but I can feel you've left. Go of the seat here, and I can see the curb careening my way. So help me understand this. Give me enlightenment. Show me what to do. Guide my steering here. Help me find my balance and my stability. That brings us to point number three. That's the consolation. Number three, or the comfort that David discovers. This comfort emerges in this beautiful song, we could say. Now his heart is rejoicing. So from sorrow to rejoicing, verses five and six. But he started to turn this depression into victory. But I have trusted in your mercy. I know, Father, you're not going to give me more than I can handle. You're so merciful to me. And my heart, rather than sorrow, is now shall rejoice in your salvation. Oh, I will sing to you, Lord, because you've dealt bountifully with me. Wow! In the midst of the one of the biggest trials David could ever go through, in the midst of the deepest depression, he's now singing.

And boy, this is the technique here. Here is the thing. We might not always be able to rejoice and sing praises in our situation, but we can always rejoice and sing praises in our salvation. My heart will rejoice in your salvation. It's the joy of salvation. So when you see and you encounter a man or woman of God in the depths of trial, perhaps they're in the hospital. I have witnessed it. I've mentioned this before, and I go to encourage them and to anoint them. And what I receive, though, is they're trying to encourage me in the very depths, and they're recounting how bountifully God has dealt with them. It's amazing! When you see this, and what's happening is it's the joy of salvation. It's not the joy of circumstances. Circumstances are horrible in this physical life very often. It's the joy of salvation, and the joy of salvation can never be taken from you. Never. Nothing can take that from you. So that's where, and then all of a sudden, when David starts to think of his salvation, oh God, you've dealt with me so bountifully. Man! You know, and there's the comfort. So he goes from just total despair and depression, sorrow of the heart, to now rejoicing in the heart and singing to the Lord. And what a beautiful song that is. So, as we begin to conclude here, we can see what a powerful, impactful psalm this is. So if you are going through, or as you go through this in the future, grab on to Psalm 13 here. It'll be a great help to you. Follow these steps. See where you are in this process. And in the end, on the strength of Scripture, I believe you will find the comfort and consolation that God wants to give you, and you'll have a heart that can rejoice in salvation. So, the consolation. Here I am, God, neck deep in it all, but I believe your mercy will never fail. God brought David through it all. And so, as we look at this psalm, and as we look at David's example, let's not neglect these simple truths. Bring your condition to God. Cry out, but cry out in the effective way, in a biblical way, and trust in his mercy, and he will bring you the comfort that you're looking for. Let us all sing to the Lord, because he has dealt with us bountifully. Bountifully.