In every sense I can remember, I had a tendency to verbalize my thoughts, take what I'm thinking and actually put it into words and speak out loud. In other words, I talk to myself. I ask myself questions and I answer them. I tell myself jokes and I laugh at them. When I started out school in first grade, of course, I quickly realized I'd have to control that impulse because, you know, the other students see you whenever I talk to yourself, they might think you're a little loony or a little weird. But, you know, actually, I thought they were the weird ones. I mean, why wouldn't somebody talk to himself? I mean, even people in the Bible do it. Even someone like King David did it. And nobody would think that King David was weird or crazy, but David clearly was in a habit of talking to himself. In fact, we see that illustrated in Psalm 42. Why does David talk to himself and what kinds of things does he say to himself? Well, that's what I want us to investigate this morning. But before we actually look at this passage of scripture, would you join me for a brief prayer? Our Father, we ask your blessing in our time of study now, and we ask that your Holy Spirit would help us to see these truths and grasp them and their relevance in our own lives, and make these truths true as we live them out, as they become part of our experience along with David. And we ask this in Christ's name. Amen. This is a fairly short psalm, so I'd like to begin this morning by reviewing the psalm as a whole, and then we'll work back through it piece by piece. So starting at verse 1, David says, As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me, and therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites, and from the hill Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts, and all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. And I will say unto God, my rock, Why hast thou forgot me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my continents and my God. In terms of a general outline of this psalm, it breaks down simply into two stanzas. In the first five verses, the first stanza, David expresses how much he misses home, which leads naturally into the second stanza, verses 6 through 11, where he makes the point that he's missing home because indeed he is not only away from home, he is very far from home. And it's easy to observe the two stanzas because each of the stanzas ends in verse 5 and again in verse 11 with nearly identical wording, somewhat like a refrain. So now then, with this general overview in mind, let's delve into the specific content of the psalm. And we begin by observing that David begins the psalm by expressing a desire that he has. Notice again the wording of verses one through two. He says, as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before him? Observe here the intensity of his desire here. He expresses this in a twofold manner. In verse two, he speaks of thirsting. In verse one, he speaks of panting, or panting, that's a very strong term. Think, for example, if it were a hot summer day and you've been out running a very long distance. When you finally reach your destination, you're panting and you're thirsty, your tongue cleaves to the roof of your mouth, your lips are parched. And so, in such an occasion, you're not seeking for just a little light refreshment, right? What you're seeking for is some serious replenishment of lost fluids. And that's the state that David is describing here. He's not simply looking for a little light refreshment. Spiritually, he desperately, desperately needs God. And this then leads us to the second observation we make here, and that is the object of his desire, which we've already suggested, is God. He mentions that in verse 2. This is what I'm thirsting for. But more specifically, notice how he characterizes God. It's not simply for God, but it's for the living God. You see, David thirsts, he desires, he craves, not for objects, not for stuff, but for a living person, not for the blessings and the gifts of God, but rather for the blesser and the giver. And of course, this is a good reminder for us that Christianity has always been about a personal relationship with the Lord, right? It is about a life lived in relationship to God. It is not simply about religious ritual and ceremony. The essence of Christianity is not about a series of do's and don'ts. The things I do as a Christian, the things I don't do as a Christian. It is rather about a personal relationship with a living God who desires to know you and to be known. And so this is the heart and soul of Christianity, and that is David's desire. So he's not looking for, no, a list of do's and don'ts or religious rituals. He's wanting simply to spend time with God, which leads us to the second way in which he expresses his desire. And that's in verse 2 again. He speaks here of wanting to appear before God. Now, literally, in the Hebrew, what David says is that he wants to see God's face or God's countenance. That's a Hebrew idiom, a Hebrew expression for being in somebody's presence. To see somebody's face in Hebrew means to be in their immediate presence. And so David says, I want to see the face of God, meaning I want to be in his presence. I want to be with God, talking with God, enjoying fellowship with God. Now David is thinking primarily of encountering God at the temple back in Jerusalem, which in the Old Testament era is where God had primarily manifested his presence, right? He had chosen to dwell in Jerusalem, to manifest his presence there at the very temple when, you know, when eventually Solomon would replace a temporary structure, a tent, with that beautiful, gorgeous temple that he built. God manifested His presence by displaying this glory cloud. They call it the Shekinah cloud of glory. It was a visible representation, reminding the people that God was in that place. And so to come to the temple, to come to that place of worship, was to come immediately into the presence of God. And so notice how he talks about that in verse 4, longingly. In verse 4 he says, When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with the multitude that kept holy day. He says, I remember the various holy days when we would go to the very house of God, to that place of worship, and come there into the presence of God to bow before Him and just spend time with Him and encountering His Word. Which raises a question, do you delight in meeting with God at his house, at a house of worship? We don't have a temple, but we have churches where on the Lord's day, every week we come for corporate worship with a multitude that is with a group who've come on this holy day that God has set apart, the Lord's day as he calls it in scriptures. to come into His presence? Is that something that you really long for, that you look forward to, that you enjoy? You go through your week looking forward to that day? If not, what does that say about your spiritual state and the state of your soul? For David, it was something that he longed. But of course, David knows that we can encounter God anywhere. God is a spirit, and they that worship him, worship him in spirit and in truth. And wherever a mere two or three are gathered together in his name, he says, there he is in their midst. It doesn't have to be at a house of God. That certainly should play an important role in our life as it did in David's life, but it's not the only place and means by which we encounter God, right? We can encounter God anytime, anyplace. We can come into his presence, to the vehicle of prayer. We can walk with him by reading his word, simply spending time with him. But this is David's desire. to being the presence of God, which raises the question, what are the circumstances that prompt David to express these sentiments? So we turn our attention to his circumstances. And we look at verses six through seven, we get a hint at what these circumstances are. First of all, look at verse six. In verse six, he says, oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee, and note this, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites, whom the hill meets are. David here has pinpointed his location geographically. We know where he is. And based upon that, we can take a pretty educated guess of the entire circumstances that led him to pen this psalm based upon where he is. Where he is, he says he's at the land of Jordan, which he means the source of the Jordan River. I'm at that place where the Jordan River has its origins. He files that up with the expression to the Hermonites, the land of the Hermonites. He's talking here about Mount Hermon, which is in the far north of Israel. was the mountain from which the Jordan River gets its source. All the snows up in the mountain melt and it runs down through and it eventually comes down and that's where we get the Jordan River. David is at that very area where the Jordan River originates at the foot of Mount Hermon. So this is where he is geographically. Which means that he's not at home back at his palace in Jerusalem. He had a nice, beautiful palace back in Jerusalem, but he's not there. He's not home. He's far up north. And why? Well, based upon where he is, as we've said, we can make an educated guess. We'd be pretty sure about the circumstances. It is because this is that time in his life when his own son, Absalom, fomented a rebellion against him and sought a coup, take over the throne because Absalom wants to be king in place of his dad. And he gathered a large support, military support, and he goes against his dad and of course catches his dad totally off guard. And so suddenly David has to go on the run. He flees with a few close friends and associates and flees and runs from Jerusalem while his son takes over the capital city and is now inhabiting his palace. These are the circumstances that David is dealing with. And as we move on to verse seven, David continues to talk about his geographical location, but then uses it as a metaphor picture of his circumstances of where he is in his life is where he is physically. and vice versa. So in verse seven he says, deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Here he speaks of waterspouts in the King James Version. He's actually talking about a waterfall. The word waterspout means a waterfall. Knowing where he is specifically, he is talking about the Banias Waterfall, which again is right there near the area where the Jordan River has its origins. I got to see it when we were in Israel, we were in that part of the country And I asked the tour guide about that. This wasn't on the schedule to go see. Everybody said, hey, aren't we right by the Baños waterfall? He said, yeah, it's just down the road a little bit. I said, I'd like to see that. You know, that's a place where David, you know, composed Psalm 42 and a pretty key spot in the Bible. I'd like to go see that place. Well, yeah, we got time. We can squeeze that. So we went down and we took a look at it. I really enjoyed seeing the place and all the people in the group. They enjoyed seeing it too, because I said it wasn't on the agenda, but they said, this is a really neat area to see. So this is where David is. And so when he talks about these waterspouts, he's talking about that waterfall there. And in the verse, he talks about deep calling unto deep. They're at the first part of verse 7, deep calling unto deep. What he means by that is he's talking about the continuous cascading of the water over the falls. It just keeps coming and falling. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. Also in this verse, he talks about the noise of this, the noise of the water spouts, the noise of the waterfall. And indeed, it's pretty loud. Waterfalls tend to be loud. Let me give you just a brief sample with the volume turned down, but you get a sense of how loud it is. So that's just a brief video clip I took of the waterfalls there. If you've ever been at Niagara Falls or other waterfalls, you know that it is so loud that you literally have to yell at one another to be heard because the sound of the water is so loud. So this is what David is talking about, the continuous cascading of the water and how loud it is. And then in verse 7, he says, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. This is where David takes the realities of this geographical location and he applies it as a metaphor to his own circumstances. He is saying, essentially, that the continuous falling of water represents the continuous trials in my life. They just keep coming and coming and coming. They say, you know, when it rains, it pours. Well, David is saying right now, it is pouring. It just won't end. And the sound of the waterfall, it's so loud, it's overpowering. And David says, that pictures these trials in my life. They are overwhelming and they are overpowering. It is more than I can handle. Just as the forces of nature are so much greater than a person. These trials are much greater than me and my strength and my capacity to hold up and to bear up under all that's coming my way and that is happening to me. These words from David would later be quoted verbatim by Jonah, appropriately enough, when he was thrown overboard off the ship and ended up in the waters. And sure enough, literal water was coming over his head. So for Jonah, he meant that quite literally. The waves, the billows were going over him. David meant it metaphorically. But not only is David suffering from these trials that just won't stop and is so overpowering, did you notice the source of these trials? For in verse seven, he doesn't simply reference waves and billows and waterfalls. Notice how he characterizes them. They are thy waterspouts, thy waves, and thy billows. You know where these trials came from? Who sent these trials into David's life? They came from God. The God who created that waterfall is the God who created these trials in David's life. This was what God was doing to David. What's interesting is what David misses the most during this time of trial and tribulation in his life. What does he miss most? Well, it's not his crown, not his position of a royal authority. Boy, I used to have so much authority. I've lost that now. Now my son is functioning as king. All the power is gone. David didn't care about power. or the wealth that he enjoyed as the king of a massive empire. He's arguably one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful man in the world at that time. He was in control of all the major trade routes from north to south, from Egypt to Damascus, all ran right through his land, and he 100% controlled those trade routes and made a lot of money off of it. Anybody who wanted to engage in trade had to pay the toll, and all that money went into David's coffers. David was rolling in the dough. David didn't care about the money. It wasn't his palace that he missed. They say there's no place like home, but the palace is nice. It's comfortable. Well, we can tell archaeologists have uncovered remnants of his palace. Just within the last few weeks, they've uncovered even more remnants of it. It was pretty nice. He apparently enjoyed the privilege of indoor plumbing, we now know, which most people in the ancient world did not enjoy. But apparently, David did in his palace. So it was a pretty comfortable place. But David's not missing his palace. What does he miss? The presence and blessing of God. The ability to go to the temple and come into the presence of God. David just wants to be with God. That's all he cares about. I remember years ago reading an account about this fellow who had gone out fishing on his fishing boat out in the ocean, and his boat ended up capsizing. And so he ended up spending an entire night and a day out there in the ocean just treading water until finally he got rescued. But all that time he's out there treading water. Now, the nighttime wasn't so bad, a little scary. You can't see what's in the water with you. But the worst part was the daytime when the sun came out and it got very hot. He's out there treading water and that sun is beating down on him and he is so hot and he's starting to get really, really thirsty because he hasn't had anything to drink in quite a while. And here's the irony then, this guy is dying of thirst and yet he is surrounded with an ocean of water. And the temptation is so strong, the urge so strong, just a little sip, just take a little sip. Well, what he had to do was discipline himself. Do not do it. Do not drink that water because as appetizing as it looks to drink some of that water, this is salt water. And the last thing I need to do is drink the salt water. That will be the death of me. Swimming in an ocean of water, none of which he could drink because it was actually toxic to him. And so it is in our lives. We're swimming in the ocean of the world. Our souls often are so thirsty. We're surrounded by a host of things that on the surface would seem to offer satisfaction for our thirsty souls. It might be material things and stuff. If only I had such and such. If only I had this or that. It might be friends and relationships. If only I had this relationship in my life, it would satisfy my soul. It might be a successful career, a career track or path. It might be something that's not even good and wholesome, but just the right to hold on to a little anger and bitterness to this person who is wrong to me. But all of these things are toxic salt water to our souls. And it is a wise person that knows he must resist the temptation to seek satisfaction for the soul in such things. But this trial from God is not the only reason that David is seeking God's face. I want you to notice what else is also going on in his life. Notice verses nine and 10, verses nine and 10. I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgot me? Why go I mourning because the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where is thy God? See, David is also dealing with the oppression of his enemies. See, he's not now here speaking of the actions of God, but of the actions of others in his life. And these enemies aren't the kind of people who encourage you when things are going wrong, right? They take delight in seeing you have a hard time. They're the ones who kick you when you're down. Well, David is down, and they're kicking him. They mock him, and they question the wisdom of placing his faith in God. In verse 10, he says, they just keep asking me every day, where is your God? Where's your God, David, right? You talk so much about your God. Where's your God now? This is your God? You abandoned? You were this once high and mighty king, and now you're nobody out here hiding out in the wilderness? Where's your God? In verse 3, he makes the same point. In verse 3, he says, My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? In the sense of the Hebrews, they say this every day, all day long. They will not stop raising that challenge. Where is your God, David? I mean, there can't be a God. It can't be real that this has happened because surely if there were a God, what kind of God would let this happen to his children? Don't people say that all the time? Why God can't be real because surely he wouldn't be letting this happen. So where is this God you talk about so much, David? Every day, all day long. But God had not abandoned David. David knew that God is present even in the midst of such circumstances. And so he seeks the face of God because he knows that if he seeks God, he will find him. What is God's timeless promise? You shall seek me and you shall find me when you search for me with all your heart. If the search is real, if it's genuine, you find him. I recall reading an account once about a young man who felt that the whole world had turned its back on him, so he turned his back on the world and gave himself to a life of crime. Naturally, he eventually ended up in prison, in solitary confinement, all alone. He had nobody and nothing. But there in that prison, he encountered a New Testament, and he began to read it, chapter after chapter. And as he was reading through that New Testament, that little book in his hand, those words suddenly came to life. The words were literally almost like jumping off the page at him. They were interacting with his soul. And as he was here in this prison cell, reading the Bible, and those words were just resonating with him. He was responding to those words. And so there in his cell, he would pace, he would cry, he would sing. He was responding to the Word of God and the Bible. He was carrying on a dialogue with God. God was speaking to his heart and soul, and he was responding. Through that experience, he came to an understanding of the Gospel, and there in that prison cell, he got saved. You see, when everyone else had abandoned him, God had not. God was there all along, just waiting for this fellow to seek His face. You know, and later, and then looking back at an era in his life, he'd said, you know, that dank, smelly cell became the happiest place for me. I rejoiced that Jesus loved me, that he died for me and that he accepted me. I knew that I was in God's hands and I was saved from my past. As a hoodlum, I had rejoiced whenever I'd escaped from danger, but that relief was nothing compared to the joy that I discovered in my cell. The Lord gave me a new heart and I became a new person. See, even in the midst of such circumstances, God was there and God could be found. So David's enemies asked, where is God? And David would say, oh, God is here. And I just want to spend time with Him. So he seeks the face of God because of the trials he's facing and because of the oppression and the mockery of his enemies. But that's not all that's going on in his life. That alone would be enough. But it's not all that he's dealing with. There's more he is struggling with. Notice again the wording of the first part of verse 5. Verse 5, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Likewise, look at verse 6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Likewise, verse 11, verse 11, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? So the refrain makes it clear that David is also struggling with some depression deep in his soul. And hence David's problems come not only from without but also from within as he struggles with this. I mean, He hasn't been the greatest father in the world. He was a great king and a strong leader, but not a great father. And now the chickens have come home to roost. He knows that the only sap for his soul is the face of God. To spend time with God, personal, intensive, one-on-one with God. So then in light of this truth, what is his response? How does David respond? Well, there's a twofold response. First of all, he talks to God. This is what he wants more than anything. He wants to be in the presence of God. He wants to be with God and commune with God. So he talks to God. Now, what does he say? Well, look at verse nine. I will say unto God my rock. Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Well, first of all, David has some questions, right? God, why are you allowing this in my life? David is frustrated, right? And, you know, he's upset. This is very hard stuff. I don't understand why God is allowing this to happen in my life. Well, we can all relate to that, right? Who among us has not had those times in our life when God has allowed things and I can't possibly see any redeeming value in this thing happening. I can't see any positive or good whatsoever in this. Why would God possibly allow this to happen in my life? So David, he doesn't see it. He doesn't get it. I don't understand why God is doing this to me. So David's got questions for God. And you know, that's alright. As another psalm will remind us, he remembers our frame that we are but dust. God knows we're struggling with the difficulties of this life. And so there's no sense in trying to hide it from God. There's no sense in being hypocritical with God. Just love it with God. You know, you tell him what you're struggling with. Tell him what you're feeling. Tell him what you're thinking. And this is what David is doing. He's being honest with God. This is a very important part of seeking the face of God. Like I said, God said, again, that the promise is, you'll find me when you seek me and search me with all your heart. Meaning sincerely, genuinely, honestly. Honestly, this is the part of the honesty. See, a true relationship with God is a relationship where you're serious and you're honest with God about what's going on in your life, about your thoughts and your feelings. And it begins right there. God, I don't understand what's going on. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to pretend to be this super spiritual saint who's got it all together and just smiling all the time. But David does more than question God, he also makes a commitment. Notice again the first part of verse six. Verse six he says, oh my God, my soul is cast down within me, therefore will I remember thee. There is a commitment that he makes to God, to remember God. You remember in the Bible, when it speaks of remembering something, it's not the accidental kind of jarring of your memory. Remembering in the Bible is an intentional, deliberate thing. What David is saying is, I've made a commitment. I will consciously keep you on the forefront of my mind. I will keep my relationship with you the primary thing. No matter what happens in life, no matter what comes my way, God, here's a commitment I'm making. My relationship with you comes first, no matter what happens. No matter what happens, God, my relationship with you and me comes first and foremost. There's nothing I value more than my relationship with the Lord. You see, often we get discouraged and disappointed with God. And at such times, we're tempted to run away from God, to lay out of church for a while, get slack about church, maybe not pray or read our Bibles like we should, because we're upset with God, we don't understand what God is doing, we get angry with God, so we run from God. Those are the times when you feel like that. Those are the times when you most need to run to God. When you least feel like praying or reading your Bible and going to church is exactly the time when you most need to pray, read, right? And go to church. So David makes a commitment. I don't care whether I feel like it or not, my relationship to God comes first. Sometimes we're so busy, we've got so much going on, we think we really don't have the time and the luxury of pursuing our relationship with God. I don't really have time to be praying and reading my Bible like I should. But David's commitment is, no, this comes first. I make time for this. I'm reminded of Martin Luther, the reformer, who had commented that, you know, I've got so much to do today, I can't possibly get it all done unless I start my day out with at least four hours of prayer. It's just counterintuitive. I've got so much to do today. Sorry God, I just don't have time to pray today. Maybe a quick prayer and then I'll get on. But Martin Luther knew if he were going to be effective for God and actually get done with his life the things that God wanted getting done in his life, the one thing that could not go was prayer because I've got to be in fellowship with God and I'm going to have the blessing and the effectiveness of God. So I'm not spinning my wheels by spending four hours in prayer. He understands the other way around. I'm spinning my wheels if I don't spend quality time with God pursuing the relationship. That comes first. And that's what David is saying. God, I'm committed. I'm in this relationship. I don't care what comes my way. I don't care what you send my way. But of course, he not only talks to God, what's important about the psalm, one of the key characteristics of the psalm, which leads us to really the concept that we began with this morning, is the concept of talking to himself. Did you notice that David talks to himself in the psalm, not just to God? Notice again the first part of verse five. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? And again in verse 11. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? You see, David is talking to himself. And you know what? He's also got questions for himself. He has a question for God. God, why are you allowing this? But he's also got a question for himself. Why? Why are you so depressed? Why are you so down in the mouth? What David is doing is here, he is facing his problem head on. He's acknowledging it. I'm struggling here. He's acknowledging it. He's confronting it. And he's dealing with it. See, this is why David is talking to himself. He's confronting it rather than sweeping in the rug and just go on and pretend like nothing here to see. We just go on and we just go forward from here. It's like, no, no, there are issues here in my soul. I'm struggling. I'm going to face it head on. So he challenges himself about what is going on in his life. Secondly, there is an affirmation that he makes. Look at verse 8. He says, Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me. He makes an affirmation that God is faithful. He speaks of his lovingkindness. The term translated as lovingkindness might better be translated as loyalty or faithfulness. That's really the idea. God is absolutely loyal to his people. He's faithful to His promises, He's faithful to His covenants. When God makes a promise, He keeps it. And God is loyal to His people. You've often heard me say, God is big on the principle of loyalty. It is one of the chief characteristics of God, and it's one of the characteristics of God that He asks us to mirror in our lives. This is why there's an entire book in the Bible, the book of Ruth. This entire theme is the importance of loyalty, that God expects His people to be like Him. We should be loyal. Be loyal to your friends, Be loyal to your family, be loyal to your church, be loyal to God, and keep your word. Be loyal. Well, I tell you, that's a concept that has been lost in our society today, right? Loyal to anybody is gone. It's like, no, I'm gonna look it up for number one. And as soon as a better opportunity comes my way, I'll drop this one. I know I've done business here for many years, but look, he's selling the same product for two cents less. So forget all the years of faithful service and good customer service I got from this guy, this guy's selling the product for two cents less. He gets my business now. There's no sense of loyalty. Work for that employer for how many years and get the best use of your life, but on a dime when it's inconvenient to the company, you're out of a job and you got a pink slip. Don't expect the same loyalty back from the company that you worked for for so many years, right? Loyalty is not much valued in our society today, but understand that God's values are different. David understands that God is loyal and he's faithful. And so he says he'll command his loyalty in the daytime and in the nighttime his song shall be with me. God will never abandon me. He will never leave me. He will never forsake me. He's with me through these circumstances. Not saying they're not hard, not saying they're not difficult, but I'm saying that God is walking with me through it. That's what it's all about. It's, again, it's the relationship. It's God with me. David's not interested in ceremonies or rituals. He's not interested in a bunch of do's and don'ts. He's interested in a God walking with him through life. That's what God has promised and he knows that's what God will do. There is, moreover, a commitment that David makes. This is in the very last part of verse eight. See, in the first part of the verse, he talks about what he knows God will do. Now there's his commitment to what he's gonna do. And in the last part of verse eight, my prayer unto the God of my life. So again, as he talks to himself, he makes a commitment. So to God, he made a commitment. Keep the relationship primary. Now to himself, he makes a commitment. I will pray. I will pray, whether I feel like it or not. Whether I like how God is dealing with me now or not makes no difference. I will pray. I will keep the lines of communication open between me and God because it's all about the relationship. And then finally, there is, of course, encouragement that he gives himself. Again, we see this echoed in the last half of verse five and the last half of verse 11. Notice the last half of verse five. What does he tell himself? Hope thou in God. See, he's talking to himself. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. And likewise, again, the second half of verse 11. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. And so there's this encouragement, hey, put your hope in God. Oh, that'd make a great website, wouldn't it? Oh, that's right, it's already taken, my wife's website, putyourhopeingod. So if you're listening to the sermon online, look up putyourhopeingod.com, my wife's website. But certainly there's a biblical idea, right? Put your hope in God. because he is absolutely sure, he's absolutely sure that he'll know the benefits of that. You understand that in the Bible, of course, hope is not an iffy thing. That's how we use the word in modern English. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow, we say, and that's a 50-50 thing, right? But in the Bible, hope really expresses what you fully expect, what you're eagerly anticipating in the future, what you're absolutely convinced is your destiny. So essentially David is putting his life and his future in God's hands with the anticipation that God is going to provide exactly what he needs. That is the path to spiritual success. And thus it is that the spiritual realm operates on a four-fold progression just as the physical realm often does. What do I mean by that? Well, we look at life and we often recognize there are things that we have a duty or an obligation to do, the things that we know we ought to be doing. Let's say for example maybe Maybe you need to be in better shape physically. You know that you ought to be exercising regularly. See, there's that sense of that recognition, the duty obligation, I should be exercising. But of course, merely knowing that you should doesn't mean that you're going to, right? Beyond this, there is a desire. Suppose you say, you know, I know I should be exercising now, and so I actually want to. Some people will say, I know I should exercise, but I hate exercise. Nothing more boring than exercising. I cannot make myself just get on a treadmill and run nowhere. They're talking more boring than just sitting there lifting weights. It's just boring. I can't, I can't. But other people, yeah, you know, I know I need to exercise and I want to. I've got the desire. I really want to get in shape. But of course, simply desiring to get you in shape isn't going to get you there. It doesn't happen just because you want it to. What have you often heard me say? God doesn't bless good intentions. He blesses obedience to His Word. And so it is, there actually has to be a commitment. You've got to make a commitment. Because wanting it to happen is one thing, but it's never actually going to happen unless you actually make a hard and fast commitment. This is what I will do. I am going to make this happen. And you see, when you actually make the commitment, you follow through, that then is when you enjoy the reward, the payoff. Well, in the spiritual realm, then what is that reward? As we find David expressing not only the desire to be in the presence of God, of course he knows he should spend time with God, we all know that, David has the desire, a very intense desire and a longing, but we find David making the commitment, I will consciously pursue the relationship with God, I will remember him, I will pray, He's committed. So he's going to know the payoff. He's going to get the reward. But for David, what would be the success? Well, he says it is help. The help that he so desperately needs in these trying times. He is absolutely convinced it will come. Both of these stanzas in this psalm end with the confident expectation of help coming from God. Now, the first stanza ends by affirming the source of that help. Notice again the last part of verse 5. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." What is the source of his help? Well, it's God's countenance. That is God's face. See, help comes from God. It comes from pursuing my relationship with God and spending time with Him. That's how I get through this trying time. And this help, David says, this is not an uncertain thing. He is absolutely sure and convinced. It's his hope, that is, his expectation that help will come as a result of pursuing his relationship with God. And by the way, when he speaks here of help coming from God's face, in the Hebrew the word help is in the plural. David's problems are multiple and multifaceted. Like I said, when it rains, it pours. He's got a lot he's dealing with. And correspondingly, God's salvation comes in multiples, whatever the need. Thus, whatever David struggles, the answer is always the same. Spend time with God. I don't care what your problem is or what you're struggling with, the answer is the same. Deliverance. Deliverances. They all derive by coming into the presence of God. You walk with God. You spend time with God. You pursue the relationship with God. And you know you know there will be help. So David knows that if he runs from God or allows himself to become distracted, because I got a lot of problems I got to deal with here, such that he has no time for God, then he'll lose the very help he needs. Precisely because help comes only from pursuing and developing one's personal relationship with God. So it's important to observe the source of help. Now, the second stanza parallels verse 5 in how it ends. Again, it's like a refrain. Nearly identical wording, but not exactly identical. There's a subtle change in wording, if you notice, between the last half of verse 5 and the last half of verse 11. For in the last half of verse 11, he affirms the object of help. But notice the second half of verse 11, he says, hope now in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my continents and my God. He speaks of health here, the health of his continents, the word translated as health is that word health, same word translated as health in verse five. So in other words, what David is saying is that my face will be helped by spending time in the presence of God. So the source of help is God's face. The object of help is David's face. I spend time in the face of God. You know what? It'd do a little good for my own face. You see, that sad, dejected, depressed countenance will undergo a marvelous transformation. Why am I depressed? He says. There is no call or reason for my being depressed. I'm not saying life is easy. I'm not saying, you know, that's not difficult. I'm not saying, you know, that I'm enjoying the pain. But I am saying this, I shouldn't be depressed. And my face will undergo a marvelous transformation if I will spend time in the presence of Christ. The more time you see that he spends looking to Christ, the more he himself will begin to look like Christ. He'll begin to think like Christ. He'll begin to view his circumstances as Christ does. He'll see everything through the lens that Christ does. And that will absolutely transform his perspective, his outlook on life, everything he's dealing with, and it will show in his life. It will show in his face. Paul says much the same thing in the New Testament. Look at 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18. In 2 Corinthians 3, the Apostle Paul is talking about the Scriptures. What happens when we read the Scriptures? as saved people who have the Holy Spirit indwelling us to illumine our understanding. And so he says, you know, if you're not saved, you read the Bible, they're just words on a page. It's like you're reading it with your face being veiled. You're seeing it, but you're not really seeing it. It's not really resonating with you. It's not really doing anything for you. Well, that's because you're not saved. But if you're saved, you've got the Holy Spirit indwelling you, then your face isn't veiled, it's open, meaning you've got a clear view. And in this regard, here's what happens when saved people read the Bible in 2 Corinthians 3.18, he says, But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass, that is, a mirror, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. He says, you know what, the Bible is really like a mirror. In it you see the image of Christ reflected. This is a reflection of Christ. And so, when I gaze at the Bible, it's like I'm looking at a mirror that's showing me Christ's reflection. And the more I gaze at His image, the more I look at the reflection of Christ in the Scriptures, something amazing happens. It's miraculous. But it's the work of the Holy Spirit. I begin to look just like Christ. I begin to look Like the image I'm seeing reflected in the mirror of God's Word, I take on that image. It doesn't happen instantaneously, not an instantaneous transformation. He says it happens by degrees, from glory to glory, meaning You know, little bit by little bit, get a little bit more glorious, and a little bit more glorious, and a little bit more glorious. But over time, in the long run, see, we're not talking about a quick fix, right? Christianity is not a pill that you pop, you know, you take as a real quick solution to all your problems. Let me get saved, I'll become a Christian, and all my problems go away. No. You get saved, you're guaranteed that you're going to go to heaven someday, but your problems aren't going to go away until, as a disciple, you walk with the Master. The more you walk with the master, the more you become like the master. And then you'll see a lot of those issues in your life going away and being dealt with. And David knows this. You see, my face will change when I start spending time looking at the face of God. Psalm 21, six says, thou has made him exceedingly glad by thy continence. And look at Psalm 89, verse 15. I love the wording of Psalm 89, verse 15. We talk about how the face of God affects our own face and our own continence. Psalm 89, verse 15, the psalmist says, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy continence. When you walk in the light of God's presence, what happens? You know the joyful sound. And that's why David says, you know, I don't need to be depressed. I'm not saying life is easy, but I don't need to be depressed just because it's not easy. I can know joy, a deep seated joy, by spending time in the presence of God. And so in conclusion, here's the bottom line. We all know that the world often speaks of following your heart, right? The world always tells us, follow your heart. But David, of course, would say, no, no, no, no, wrong, wrong, wrong. David does not follow his heart. Rather, he leads his heart. For he knows that your heart is merely reflecting the emotions and the feelings of the moment, not the facts and the rock-solid truths of God's word. David knows that your heart merely reflects your subjective perspective on matters, not the objective reality of how things really are. You're following your heart. No wonder you're depressed when times are getting rough. It's precisely because you're following your heart. No, David will not follow his heart. David leads his heart by the truth of Scripture. And that's why he talks to himself. So what is he doing? He's leading his heart. He's telling himself. He's confronting himself. He's telling himself what he needs to be doing. What about you? Do you follow your heart or do you lead it? Do you listen to your heart or do you talk to it? You know, it's really not a bad thing to talk to yourself. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the opportunity we've had to look at the scriptures. I ask that you would take this experience in David's life and drive it home to each of our lives. While the specifics may be different, yet we share in common with David the frustration of living a life in a fallen world as fallen people among other fallen people. It's difficult and it's messy at times, but we pray that you would help us to cut through all the clutter and recognize that in the midst of it all, you are with us. And you've called us to be your people. As you are our God, and that means we are to walk with you and to pursue the relationship with you. May we never be conned by the world or the devil to give away the pearl of great price, the most precious thing we have. a living relationship with a living God as we cast it aside for the stuff and the busyness of this world. Lord, help us to keep our relationship with you front and center. And we ask this in Christ's name, knowing that as we do so, we will reflect Christ's image. Amen.