PSALM 55
IN TOUCH
Leslie
Weatherhead tells the story of an old Scot who was quite ill, and the family
called for their dominie, or minister. As he entered the sick room and sat
down, he noticed another chair on the opposite side of the bed, a chair which
had also been drawn close. The pastor said, "Well, Donald, I see I'm not
your first visitor for the day."
The
old man looked up, was puzzled for a moment, then
recognized from the nod of the head that the pastor had noticed the empty
chair. "Well, Pastor, I'll tell you about that chair. Many years ago I
found it quite difficult to pray, so one day I shared this problem with my
pastor. He told me not to worry about kneeling or about placing myself in some
pious posture. Instead, he said, 'Just sit down, put a chair opposite you, and
imagine Jesus sitting in it, then talk with Him as you would a friend."'
The aged Scot then added, "I've been doing that ever since."
A
short time later the daughter of the Scot called the pastor. When he answered,
she informed him that her father had died very suddenly and she was quite
shaken for she had no idea death was so near. Then she continued, "I had
just gone to lie down for an hour or two, for he seemed to be sleeping so
comfortably. When I went back he was dead." Then she added thoughtfully,
"Except now his hand was on the empty chair at the side of the bed. Isn't
that strange?"
The minister said, "No, it's not so strange. I understand."
--James
S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale
House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 416.
Now I can't tell you if this
story is true of not, but it does make an important point. It is important that we be in touch with God
in prayer. We need to remember just how
much prayer can help and encourage us.
What
a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to
bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Have
we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are
we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord
in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.
Joseph M. Scriven
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/a/wafwhij.htm
This week's memory verse
reminds us to keep in touch with God, especially when our troubles mount.
Psalm 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall
sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
The context of Psalm 55 is
that of David being in trouble.
David's problems are
summarized in Vss. 1-5. Read.
David is so troubled with his
problem that he wishes he could just flee!
Psalm 55:6 - And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!
for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
To make matters worse, David
had been betrayed.
Read Psalm 55:12-14
We can relate to David's
misery. There have been times when we wished that we could escape our
problems.
There were other times when
people we loved and trusted have harmed us or turned on us.
In the midst of David's
problems, David kept in touch with God.
And Psalm 55:16, 17 and 22
encourage us to keep in touch with God especially when we come upon troubled
times.
Psalm 55:16-17 - As for me, I will call upon God; and the
Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry
aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
Psalm 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall
sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Let's consider these verses
with the following outline:
CALL - Vss. 16
CONTINUE - Vs. 17
CAST - Vs. 22
CONFIDENCE - Vs. 22
CALL - Vs. 16
David begins this verse with
some very important words, As for me.
In the preceding verses David
tells us about his troubles.
In this verse he begins to
tell us what he's going to do about them.
Others had not lived
righteously and would be punished.
Others had chosen to be
deceptive and to stick a knife in David's back, so to speak.
Instead of choosing to behave
himself in an inappropriate way, David is choosing to do what is right, so he
says, as for me.
When troubles come
When we are slandered
When we are misrepresented and
mistreated
When we are hurt by others
When we are hurting because of
our circumstances
We need to make a decision
what we are going to do about it.
We will be saying either
literally, or implying the words, as for
me.
You might say,
As for me, I will fret and pout.
As for me, I will hold a grudge.
As for me, I will be bitter against God.
As for me, I will retaliate, or get even.
As for me, I will quit.
Or you might say with David,
As for me, I will
call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
David is saying, "I chose
to reach out to God when I hurt!"
This, of course, is a good
choice and a Biblical one.
Jeremiah 33:3 - Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Psalm 91:1-2 - He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty. [2] I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.
Jesus says in Matthew
11:28-30 - Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29]
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.
Every time you face a trial
Every time something goes
wrong
Every time you begin to worry
Every time you receive bad
news
Every time you are hurt
You need to make a decision.
Your decision should be to
call upon God.
Why? First of all, and
obviously, God says to! Added to the verses we just mentioned, consider Philippians
4:6-7 - Be careful for nothing; but
in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Another reason to call upon
God is because He's all-powerful.
He has more ability and more
strength than everyone in the whole world.
Jeremiah 32:17 - Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing
too hard for thee:
Jeremiah 32:27 - Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh:
is there any thing too hard for me?
Still another reason to call upon God is He
understands. In fact God the Son, is our great high priest who intercedes in our behalf.
And nobody understands like Jesus.
Hebrews
4:15-16 - For we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
No one understands like Jesus,
He's a friend beyond compare;
Meet Him at the throne of mercy, He is waiting for you there.
No one understands like Jesus,
Every woe He sees and feels.
Tenderly He whispers comfort, And the broken heart He heals.
No one understands like Jesus,
When the foes of life assail;
You should never be
discouraged, Jesus cares and will not fail.
No one understands like Jesus,
When you falter on the way;
Tho' you
fail Him, sadly fail Him, He will pardon you today.
No one understands like Jesus,
When the days are dark and grim;
No one is so near, so dear as
Jesus, Cast your every care on Him.
John W. Peterson © 1952 by
Norman Clayton in Melodies of Praise
Still another reason for
calling upon God is found in our text.
Psalm 55:16 - As for me, I will call upon God; and the
Lord shall save me.
We should call upon God
because he alone is the one who rescues us!
Psalm 98:1 - O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath
done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy
arm, hath gotten him the victory.
Even when we don't get the
answer we expect or the deliverance that we expect, God will answer and will
either deliver us, or give us strength to get through the situation.
CALL - Vss. 16
CONTINUE - Vs. 17
The Jewish day began in the evening.
That's why the Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday night,
and also why evening is mentioned first here.
Although David may have had
three set times for prayer in a day (the prophet Daniel did), I think referring
to the three times of day means that David would be in a continual habit of
prayer.
So often we pray about
something and forget it. That's the
wrong approach. We should be talking to
God continually, and we should continually bring the same requests to God, until
He answers them.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Pray without ceasing.
When I think of men who
continued in prayer in the Bible, I think of two men, Elijah and Paul.
James 5:16-18 - Confess your faults one to another, and pray
one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much. [17] Elias was a man
subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not
rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six
months. [18] And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit.
Elijah also prayed and a boy
came back to life.
Elijah also prayed and fire
came down from Heaven.
And
what about Paul? Read his Epistles and you find that he prayed
for the churches and the people that he wrote to.
Philippians 1:3-4 - I thank my God upon every remembrance of
you, [4] Always in every prayer of mine for you all
making request with joy,
2 Timothy 1:3 - I thank God, whom I serve from my
forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of
thee in my prayers night and day;
Philemon 1:4 - I thank my God, making mention of thee
always in my prayers,
Jesus himself taught us to
continue in prayer.
Luke 11:5-10 -
READ AND COMMENT
Luke 18:1-8 -
READ AND COMMENT
So let us continue in prayer.
Let us persistently bombard the throne of grace with our requests.
CALL - Vss. 16
CONTINUE - Vs. 17
CAST - Vs. 22
Psalm 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord…
Imagine walking down a road carrying a heavy
load.
A friend in a pick-up truck
stops and offers you a ride.
You gladly accept.
The first thing you will do is
throw that heavy load into bed of the truck.
You won't hold it on your lap, you'll let the truck carry the load.
In our memory verse, we are
told to cast our care on God. Whatever the load we bear we are to give it to
him. If we give it to him we need to let him have it continually and
permanently.
We give it to him continually
as we have already said, continuing to pray over it.
We give it to Him permanently.
Although we talk to Him about it, we leave it in His hands to worry over. And
of course, he will not worry. He'll act in His time.
This verse reminds me of a
similar verse in the New Testament.
1 Peter 5:7 - Casting all your care upon him; for he
careth for you.
As we cast our burdens upon
the Lord, we must realize that God cares about us and what happens to us.
My son, David, is a pastor,
and I care about his well being, the well being of his wife and children, and
well being of his church.
My son, Mark, is a doctoral
student in musicology. I care about his
wife and their newborn son, Jared. I
also care about the paper that he is writing to get his degree.
My daughter Donna,
is a Christian schoolteacher. I care
about her teaching career and I also care about her husband, Tim.
In the case of all our
children, I care about their Spiritual well being and their physical health, as
well as their physical needs.
My children are welcome to
share any of their cares with me. I am willing to listen. However, although I can listen, I can't
always help. Many of their cares are
beyond my resources or my abilities.
Often, the only thing I can do is pray.
In the case of our Heavenly
Father, however, when we bring our cares to Him, He is in a position to
help. Not only can He listen, but he can
do something about it. And he cares!
George
Mueller (1805-1898) built many orphanages at Ashley Down,
http://www.bible.org/illus/g/g-22.htm#TopOfPage
CALL - Vss. 16 CONTINUE - Vs.
17 CAST - Vs. 22
CONFIDENCE - Vs. 22
Psalm 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall
sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
If a baby is born very small,
say 3 or 4 pounds, what will the hospital do?
They will put that child in an incubator to sustain him until he is big
enough to make it on his own.
If a person has a serious
accident or a heart attack or stroke, and are not able to function on their
own, they very often are placed on life support. They are sustained by
machines.
As a Christian, I can be
confident because God has promised to sustain me no matter what my
problem. As I bring my problem to God He
takes care of me.
In our last church I was
falsely accused of something behind my back.
When the issue was brought to my attention and I brought it to my church
leaders, we decided to be silent about it unless it became a public issue.
We prayed. The false accusation did not become a public
issue.
There was a professor at Moody
Bible Institute named Doris Freese. She contracted cancer and eventually retired
from Moody and went to
Sometimes God chooses to
remove a problem.
Other times God chooses to
give you grace through the problem.
Whatever ever God chooses to
do, He sustains you.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 - And lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure. [8] For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from
me. [9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me.
Notice please the last part of
Psalm 55:22 - he shall never
suffer the righteous to be moved.
We can't get more secure. No matter what the test or the trial, the
righteous shall not be moved! The
righteous, of course, are Christians, and Christ has promised to keep us.
John 10:27-30 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: [28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. [29] My Father, which
gave them me, is greater than all; and
no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. [30] I and my Father are
one.
More secure is no one ever Than the loved ones of the Savior:
Not yon star on high abiding, Nor the bird in home-nest hiding.
God his own doth tend and
nourish,
In His holy courts they flouish;
Like a father kind he spares
them,
In His loving arms He bears
them.
Neither life nor death can
ever From the Lord His children sever;
For his love and deep
compassion Comforts them in tribulation.
What he takes or what He gives
us
Shows the Father's love so
precious;
We may trust His purpose
wholly
Tis' His children's welfare
solely.
Lina Sandell (Sweedish) Translation is
a composite. Found in Low Voice #1, © 1954 by The
Moody Bible Institute of
Psalm 55:16-17 - As for me, I will call upon God; and the
Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry
aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
Psalm 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall
sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
CALL - Vss. 16
CONTINUE - Vs. 17
CAST - Vs. 22
CONFIDENCE - Vs. 22