Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central Podcast, making theology central. Well, have you ever made any bad decisions? Have you ever made just a really bad decision and then you kind of lived with the consequences? I don't know about you. My life is filled with bad decisions and the consequences. And what you are about to hear is another one of my bad decisions because I probably should not be broadcasting right now. I should not be doing this episode right now. But here I am, I'm going to do it even though I shouldn't. And the reason I'm going to do this broadcast, even though I shouldn't be broadcasting right now, is because I think it fits perfectly with what we're going to talk about. I think this would be, I could talk about this at any time, but I think it is more important to talk about it right now because it really, it really connects. There's going to be a sense of, it's going to be more real. It's going to be more, relevant to what is happening right now, and I'm going to explain everything after I say, good afternoon, everyone. It is Saturday, January the 25th, 2025. It is currently 2.32 p.m. Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio, located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, in your life, Now, I've asked you a question about bad decisions, but in your life, I think you would acknowledge that you have experienced times of trouble in your life, right? Times of difficulty. And those troubles could be a number of things. They could be physical. They could be financial. They could be relational. They could be emotional. They could be mental. It could be a lot of different things, but I think we can all say we've all encountered troubles in our life. We've all, we've all encountered them, right? To some level. Sometimes the troubles are severe. They're almost tragic. Sometimes they may be one small trouble. added to another small trouble to another small trouble until they really start, you know, they basically start compounding and they're becoming worse and worse and worse and you have great difficulty. Now, here's the real question. I'm asking a lot of other questions, but here's the real question. When it comes down to it, when you find yourself in times of trouble, no matter how great, no matter how small, do you feel in a real tangible way that Christianity offers you any real answer, any real comfort in your time of trouble? And if so, what is that comfort? What is that help? If it's real and tangible, now it's okay to just, you know, oh, you have a theory, you have an idea, and you just throw out kind of a vague thing that, well, this or this, but you don't really have anything tangible. You may try to claim you feel something that helps you in a time of trouble, but that's just a claim about a feeling. That's a claim about an emotion. Now you can tell yourself, You're supposed to have this feeling or emotion when you actually don't. But in times of trouble, do you feel Christianity offers any real hope? Now, Sunday after Sunday, Bible studies all around the country, every day, every week in America and around the world, it's common for, hey, in times of trouble and times of difficulty, Christianity offers you hope. It offers you, you know, comfort, it offers you peace, and we make a lot of claims. I just don't know if it ever tangibly really amounts to anything other than a lot of claiming that it does and a lot of people claiming they receive it, but I don't know if it's tangible. Is it even supposed to be tangible? Now, why am I asking all of these questions about bad decisions? And why am I asking all these questions about trouble? Because well, right now, first, the bad decision, I shouldn't be broadcasting right now. And the reason I shouldn't be broadcasting right now is I haven't slept. Or many of you know, I'll just go ahead and add the fuller context. Many of you know, I have a seizure disorder and neurological issues that all comes from the fact of what happened to me when I was in the military. And there are some times, there's periods of time, there's sometimes a day, a night where everything just goes wrong. And right now, no sleep and my head feels like, I think I can accurately say this may be the worst. headache, the worst I have ever felt in regards to my neurological issues, other than I haven't had seizures yet. I'm waiting to have about 37 seizures and die in the next 30 minutes. Okay, maybe that's a little bit of hyperbole, but yeah, it's not a good day. Now, I know what you're saying. Why are you broadcasting? Why, why? Let me explain. Now, you know that I'm almost to the point of death because I literally, lay down, I don't know, was it about two hours ago? Three hours ago? I don't even know anymore. It all runs together. I literally laid down. So that's in the middle of the day and I slipped into a full-blown coma. Okay, I didn't think I was ever going to awaken from it that you know that that's like something is right if I lay down you know something is horribly wrong so I shouldn't be broadcasting everything says I shouldn't be broadcasting right but why am I broadcasting well that that's that's a good question right well I'm trying to broadcast because I'm trying to help myself in this period of trouble. We'll call it a period of trouble, right? It's a time of trouble. It's a time of physical trouble, mental trouble, emotional trouble, because it all starts compiling, right? It all starts... building, right? Because you've got the physical, the seizure, neurological issue, the headache, which then causes you not to be able to do this or do this, messes up your routine, which then leads to frustration and emotional, and then mentally, okay, it just starts all compounding, compiling, whatever the correct word. I don't even know if I'm going to use any correct words in this episode. You're just going to have to spare, you're going to have to just, you know, stay with me and give me a little bit of grace here. I mean, because again, I should not be broadcasting. I probably should be laying down and not moving. But here I am sitting up trying to talk. But it's a time of trouble. I think that's an accurate way to describe it, right? At least for this episode, let me describe it that way, right? I mean, man, my head hurts so bad. So, But what do I do, right? Do I just allow my neurological issue and my head pain to stop me from doing anything? I just go the whole day not being productive, can't do anything. I just sit and do nothing. Well, see, that will drive me to the point of total insanity. I'll lose it, right? So this is really my attempt to say, you got to do something. So get up there, sit down in front of that microphone and do something. You've got to do something or you're just going to spiral. It's just going to get worse and it's going to get worse and you're going to get frustrated and that's going to lead to more irritation. So it's almost like I've got to do something to make myself feel better. So it's me trying to say in a time of trouble, I've got to do something. So I'm like, what do I do? Well, the bottom of the stairs of the studio was a stack of Sword of the Lord newspapers. Now, many of you know I subscribe to the Sword of the Lord newspaper, the actual physical paper. I do so more kind of like, I just like the idea of getting an actual paper, right? It's just kind of cool from a historical perspective. And Sword of the Lord, I always can find something in a Sword of the Lord that turns into a podcast episode. Sometimes it turns into multiple ones. Whether I agree or disagree, it's always there. So I went down, and what had happened is our, our mailbox here in the neighborhood. It's kind of like a, I guess you call it a community mailbox. There's like, you know, it's one big box with like, I don't know, 10 individual mailboxes within it. And everyone has their own key. You walk about half a block, you know, down to it. Well, someone broke into it, stole all the mail, broke the box. And then the post office says it wasn't their responsibility. Nobody knew how to get it fixed, so no mail was being delivered. So finally, they got the mailbox fixed. I don't know who fixed it, but it finally got fixed. And once it got fixed, well, all of our mail started showing up. And in that stack was like, I don't know, four months, five months of Sword of the Lord newspapers. So they were at the bottom of the stairs. So I was kind of going downstairs, coming back upstairs. I'm just trying to like, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? And I saw them. So I picked them up and I'm like, hmm, I don't know what to do. Sword of the Lord always allows me something to broadcast about. So I picked one up and I picked up the January the 3rd, 2025 edition of the Sword of the Lord newspaper, all right? The first article kind of to the left, if you're looking at the paper is, yes, there is a hell. I'm like, okay. Now, if I'm just being truly honest with you, okay, and I know this is not a correct way of understanding it, I'm like, yeah, there is. And I think it's all inside my head right now because I am in great pain. I know that hell's far worse than my headache, but if I'm just being honest, that's how I was thinking at the moment. Then the next one was the dangers, the danger of forgetting. I'm like, okay, well, right now I can't remember anything. I've forgotten everything because my head hurts so bad. So I'm just kind of like, I'm just kind of like, this is the way my thinking is. I'm just kind of being, you know, a smart aleck about everything I see, just kind of being a jerk in my head because I'm just my, I'm in pain. I'm tired. I'm, you know, nothing is great. So I'm like, okay, whatever. Then I see right underneath that, what do you do when trouble troubles you? What do you do when trouble troubles you? And I'm like, yeah, let's talk about what I do when trouble troubles me. What do I have a tendency to do when trouble troubles me? Well, I get frustrated about the troubles. I don't like the troubles. I want them to go away. I don't like any trouble to mess up my schedule, mess up my routine. I don't like troubles to stop me from doing the things I want to do, the things I need to do, the things I like to do. I don't like when troubles hit me on a Saturday and I know that I've got to prepare for tomorrow and I've got to teach for two hours. I don't like it. I get irritated. I grumble. I complain. I get mad. I get bitter. I get frustrated. What do I do when trouble troubles me? I typically don't handle it in a way that a Christian should handle it. And look, if you can look down upon me and say, man, what a piece of trash that person is. But I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm just a sinner with a microphone. So I'm being honest with you. Now, what do you do when trouble troubles you? So I looked at the headline. I'm like, okay. And then all of a sudden I thought, wait a minute, wait a minute. This is an article in the Sword of the Lord newspaper. What do you do when trouble troubles you? This is going to be, obviously, a sermon slash article in the Sword of the Lord newspaper that's going to tell me, as a Christian, what I should do when trouble troubles me. give me the Christian solution to what to do when trouble troubles you?" Well, I feel trouble today because my head is pounding and all of the neurological issues. So what do I do? So what is the biblical answer? And is it going to be a good biblical answer? So I'm like, you know what? I'm not even going to read the article. I'm going to take the article, turn on the microphone, and we're just going to find out in real time, what do we do when trouble troubles us? What do you do? Now, again, I would want you to just answer that. What do you do when trouble troubles you? And be honest with yourself. What do you do, right? I guess in my case, what do I do when trouble troubles me? I turn on a microphone and talk about it, right? Is that a good thing? I don't know. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Maybe it helps someone else. I don't know. So I saw that. Now, I did do this. I did pick up my iPad and ask chat GPT. And this is the question I asked. When someone refers to the fact we all have troubles, What is most likely the definition of troubles being used? Because that was just when you see the word troubles, how do people understand it? AI said, when someone refers to the fact that we all have troubles, the word troubles is most likely being used in a broad general sense to mean challenges, difficulties, or problems in life. Well, it's a challenge to have neurological issues and seizures. It is difficult and it is a problem. These can include emotional, physical, financial, or relational struggles, as well as other hardship setbacks that are common part of the human experience. The definition often depends on context, but usually implies personal or situational adversities that causes discomfort or distress. All right, so everyone has this. Everyone can relate. Everyone has troubles. So it's not if trouble troubles you, what do you do? It's when trouble troubles you, what do you do? Well, let's find out what this has to say. Are you ready? Here we go, from the January the 3rd, 2025, Sword of the Lord paper. This is really, and I want you to understand the way I'm setting this up. Some of you have already caught on. I'm the person currently, now you probably have your own troubles, but I'm someone broadcasting with a present trouble, right? My neurological, physical issues, sleep deprivation, everything else that's going on, okay? That's real time, like I'm currently experiencing it. You can probably hear it in my voice and probably how poorly I'm going to communicate during the rest of this, okay? So now, imagine someone going through a trouble, something even far more serious than just physical, something maybe really emotional, tragic, tragedy in their life. Well, what does Christianity offer them? So what does Christianity offer me in my time of trouble? Well, let's see how the article begins. First paragraph. Since we all have troubles, what is the solution? Oh, now that's, all right, we're getting right to it. The article doesn't waste any time. You and I have troubles. What is the solution? What is the solution to our troubles? What does God teach about how to get out of trouble? And what do we do with our troubles? Now, does God always teach us how to get out of our troubles? I can't get out of my trouble, ladies and gentlemen. I can't. What happened to me in the military was not my fault, right? So, I can't do anything about my neurological problems. I can't do anything about my seizure disorder. I can't do anything. So, can I get out of my trouble? I mean, that's a real question. Does God teach you, what does God teach you about how to get out of trouble? Well, are we, I think that, if I can speak correctly, on one hand, we're never gonna get out of our trouble because we live in this world and this world is filled with trouble. So you're always gonna, you may get out of one trouble, but another trouble will be ready to knock on the door and say, hey, I'm here to replace the last trouble left, well, I'm here to replace it. So, I guess maybe you have periods of time where you have less trouble, but even in times of less trouble, there's usually something there, correct? So, does God actually teach us how to get out of trouble? Maybe he teaches us how to get out of a specific trouble. What do we do with our troubles? What do we do with them? Sometimes we had best find out what to do by first knowing what not to do. So the approach of this article is like, sometimes what we need to do is find out what we shouldn't do. Before we can find out what we should do in our trouble, we have to find out what we shouldn't do. There are things we shouldn't do in our trouble. Now that may be a better way to approach it, right? Hey, I don't know if we're gonna have any positive answers, with our troubles. I don't know. I mean, we could come up with some vague things, cast all of your care upon God, you know, pray. I mean, those are the typical things. What does that actually do? I don't know. Everyone would say, well, I felt something. I mean, that's such, we could get into the placebo effect. Are you just convincing yourself you felt better? Did your trouble actually go away? I mean, we could get into a whole conversation about it there, right? But I think it is easier to say, here are the four things you should not do in times of trouble. That may be a more interesting approach, right? Because then at least you know, hey, positively I don't know, but negatively I know, don't do this. All right, so we'll see how they go with this. Next paragraph. Unfaithful men will fell us. All right, that's an interesting next line, okay. Hey, hey, we all have troubles. Sometimes in your trouble, before we can figure out what we should do, we got to figure out what we shouldn't do. And then the very next paragraph, unfaithful men will fail us. So it goes on to say, before we share our troubles with men, we had better be absolutely sure they are qualified to help. Now, sometimes in our trouble, you're right, going to people, sometimes the worst thing to do. I think most of the time it's the absolute worst thing to do, right? I mean, what happens when you take your troubles to people? In many cases, there's nothing they can do anyway, right? So, all right, let's see where it goes with here. The article continues, a bankrupt man is hardly the one to give financial advice. Well, maybe. Now, I don't know. I don't know if that fits because the whole point of the article is to find out what not, before we can find out what to do, we got to find out what not to do. I think going to a bank, a bankrupt man is probably the one who can tell us what not to do, right? So I think the article kind of is contradicting itself. Hey, before you can know what to do, you got to find out what not to do. Hey, don't go to a bankrupt man for financial advice. Well, wait, if I'm supposed to find out what not to do before I find out what to do, going to the bankrupt man first would be in line with the whole hypotheses of this article, right? Because they could tell me, don't do this. It led to my bankruptcy. So I think sometimes going, I don't always agree that going to people who have failed is the wrong approach, especially if we have to learn what not to do first. If we want to learn what not to do, go to the people who have, I think that's where sometimes it's this idea that if anyone has failed, they have nothing to offer. Sometimes the people who have fell have the most to offer because they can tell you, well, this is how I fell. This is how I got there. This is what happened. This is what happened. This is what happened. So I don't like that. I mean, that seems to go against the hypotheses of this entire article, but okay. God put it this way, right? So now they're quoting from scripture here. Confidence and an unfaithful man in times of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint. Proverbs 25, 19. Proverbs 25, 19. I'm gonna actually open up my Bible and look at it. Proverbs 25, 19. Proverbs 25, 19, confidence in an unfaithful man. Now see, I don't think Proverbs 25, 19 is about not going to, I don't think that has anything to say about going to a bankrupt man for financial advice, because you're going to the bankrupt man to find out what not to do. This is the idea, putting confidence in an unfaithful man. You put your confidence in someone who's unfaithful. You're not putting your confidence in someone, so I don't know if this all fits the overall idea, but the idea here is, Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint. If you put your confidence in someone who's unfaithful, well, it's probably not going to go well for you. Okay, I think I can agree that. Now, the issue is, well, who among us is faithful? Is there any person we can go to then? All right, that leads to a whole different question. All right, but the article goes on to say, hang on, open this up, we will hardly be helped with our burden by nursing a bad tooth or by hobbling through our calamity on a crippled foot. So, hey, you're not going to be helped out with your burden if you end up with a broken tooth or a foot out of joint. So how to avoid, I guess what he is saying is, so then what do you do? You don't put your confidence in an unfaithful man. When you are in a time of trouble, don't put your confidence in an unfaithful man, or you're just gonna end up with a broken tooth and a foot out of joint, so therefore it's not gonna help you in your times of trouble. So in your time of trouble, or when trouble is troubling you, what do you not do? You don't go to an unfaithful man. I guess that's kind of the approach here, all right? Next paragraph, neighbors. Fellow workers, friends, and even family members may be quick to offer a solution, but often they are themselves unfaithful comforters who have more sympathy than sense. Now, there is a lot of truth to that. A lot of time people are quick to offer information and they have more sympathy than they do sense. And when you start listening to some of the things people say, sometimes you're like, what are you talking about? And I could go through stories of things people said to me, ridiculous things people said to my sister when our mother died when we were young. And it was typically, all of the horrible things said were typically by professing Christians who said some of the most ridiculous, insane things I've ever heard in my entire life, right? I mean, just absolutely messed up stuff. It was the atheists and agnostics who never said anything ridiculous. It was Christians who offered just ridiculous comments, right? I mean, oh man, I don't ever want to go back and ever hear a Christian offer me any form of comfort, right? So, why is that? I think Christians feel the need to offer comfort, and they think because they've memorized a couple of Bible verses in Sunday school that they're now qualified to offer comfort. Just because you memorize a couple of scriptures, you rip them out of context and you throw them at somebody. Sometimes you would be better to be like Job's friends and just not speak. Okay, but that's a whole different subject. All right, so this first, this is kind of the introduction. The introduction acknowledges we all have trouble. We agree. That it acknowledges that sometimes before we can figure out what to do, we got to figure out what not to do. One of the first things offered as what not to do is you don't go to an unfaithful man or you're going to end up with a broken tooth and a foot out of joint. And that neighbors, fellow workers, friends, and even family members may be quick to offer a solution, but they often are themselves unfaithful comforters who have more sympathy than sense. All right. So, so far, so good. I don't, I don't have any so far. The only thing I've been told to do so far is don't go to an unfaithful person. Okay. I'm not feeling any, are you feeling any comfort in your time of trouble? I'm not feeling any comfort right now. I'm not, I'm not. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Right now, it would make more sense to, yeah, find some drugs, okay? That would make more sense right now, but okay. All right, let's open this up. Now, it says go to page 20. It says to go to page 20. All right, here we go. I'm gonna flip this over. I know, it feels like I'm in the 1800s or the 1900s or something, right? Turning an actual physical paper. What strange device is this, right? Wouldn't it be interesting? You go from page one to page 20. What is that? Why wouldn't you just put it all together? What is this? Who came up with this concept, right? But all right, I digress. Here we go. What to do, what do you do when troubles trouble you? Continued from page one. I'm pausing here because the next words make absolutely no sense to me, okay? All right, maybe, okay, let's just, I'm just gonna read them to you. This seems completely confusing here. Are you ready? Here we go. The next words are satanic sources can be a tragic risk. All right, so I'm assuming it doesn't start like, it doesn't offer a trend. There's no transition here. Hey, hey, many times your friends and family, they have more sympathy than they do sense, period. Next, satanic sources can be tragic risk. Are you saying my friends and family are satanic sources? What is happening? There's no transition. It doesn't say so. I think what's supposed to be happening here. Now I'm doing trying to clean this up. I think it's like, okay, what I'm going to do now is give you the things you should not do, right? So I guess what it's going to say is we don't, in times of trouble, I don't go to a satanic source. I think that's what is being said here. Let's read what happened. Satanic sources can be a tragic risk. King Saul got so far away from God that he consulted the witch of Endor. He was full of fear and jealousy, sensing that David would soon be king. To his servants he gave the command, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her. 1 Samuel 28 7. All right, so I guess what we're being told here, if we were to break this down in outline form, I'm the one creating the outline, is the first thing you do, the first thing you don't do in times of trouble, you don't go to an unfaithful person, you're gonna end up with a broken tooth and a foot out of joint, metaphorically speaking. All right, that's not going to help you. Don't go to an unfaithful person. That's number one. Number two, don't consult the witch from Endor. Don't consult a witch. So I guess in times of trouble, All right, so I live here in Abilene, Texas. I think it's still there, okay? I live here in Abilene, Texas. If I was to drive out of my neighborhood, take a left, go through the traffic light under the underpass, take another left, Go down, just keep driving straight on the highway. It kind of veers off. Keep going straight. You end up on Treadway Street. Just keep going. It's going to veer off onto Butternut Street. Go down Butternut Street. And I don't know how far down on Butternut, but there's a house on the right hand side that's a psychic. All right. Now, I know, I don't know the psychic personally, but I know that house has been there. They have a big thing in front and I guess you call and make an appointment and it's, she does it from inside her house and you go in, I guess she has a room set up and you go in and you can get a psychic reading. All right. Now I'm very familiar with the house because the story goes, here's the story, that my father at some point in his life went to that psychic on Butternut Street and was told that his wife was going to die young. And, well, my mother died before she reached the age of 40. Now, that's the story. I can't verify it because all my parents are dead and there's no one, you know, there's no one around to confirm or deny the story. But that's the story I was told. So I guess what you could say is in times of trouble, why did he go to the psychic? I don't know. Were they having problems? I mean, there was all kinds of problems in our family. There was a host of issues. There were problems and drama and craziness. And I won't go through all the stories. Did he go because there was times of trouble? So he consulted a psychic? I don't know. I don't know. Who knows? But so I guess what's being told, hey, when times of trouble, and I guess, I mean, I think it's fair to say that sometimes people can be so just distraught, depending on their trouble, not knowing what to do. They may consult a psychic or the witch of Endor. Now, the next paragraph says, Saul knew better than to do this. He had formally given the order to cut off from the land wizards and fortune tellers. Now he now he gives in and goes to one himself. Now that's interesting, that's interesting. Let's see, where is it recorded that Saul, hang on, that King Saul, I'm gonna look this up, if I can spell right, that King Saul, had given an order that King Saul, okay, hang on, if I can spell correctly here, that King Saul gave an order to have all, what does it list here? Wizards and fortune tellers to be cut off. All right, let's see here. I'm gonna look this up. Looks like 1 Samuel 28.3. Let's go to 1 Samuel 28.3. This is interesting. I don't know how this is gonna help me with my trouble, but all right, this is interesting. 1 Samuel 28. All right, verse three. 1 Samuel 28.3. Now Samuel was dead and all Israel had lamented him. Hang on. Yeah, 1 Samuel 28.3, okay, I make sure I'm reading it right, okay. And all Israel lamented him and buried him and Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and wizards out of the land. So he puts them all out. He puts them all out of the land. And then, hang on, I'm going back to this. And that's 1 Samuel 28.3. This happens pretty quick. So in 3, that's 28-3, he has them all put out of the land. Verse 4, and the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched. And Saul gathered all Israel together and they pitched in Geboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart greatly trembled. So, hey, get rid of all these people. Now he's facing trouble. He's facing difficulty. And what happens with his difficulty, his trouble? He's afraid and his heart trembles. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor the Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servant, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her." So this is a good example of someone, hey, they know the right thing to do. They even did the right thing. Get rid of the wizards, get rid of the fortune tellers, get rid of anybody with a familiar spirit. Get rid of them. Oh wait, times of trouble. God doesn't seem to be answering. God doesn't appear to be helping. So what do I do? I'm going to go seek the very thing I knew I was supposed to get rid of because I need help. Okay, that makes Saul appear to be very, very real. I think we can all relate in some way to that. So Saul knew better to do this. He had formally given the order to cut off from the land wizards and fortune tellers. Now he gives in and goes to one himself. The text doesn't explain why he does it. He does it because he's facing a military, I mean, he's facing trouble. Trouble with a capital T because, I mean, about a war and he doesn't know what to do. And well, you don't want everyone to be wiped out. So he's seeking advice. You can understand the motivation here. So I guess what we've been given so far is in times of trouble, what are we not to do? Don't seek an unfaithful person. you end up with a broken tooth and a foot out of joint. Number two, you don't go find a fortune teller, a wizard, a witch, a psychic, you don't do that. Deuteronomy 18 warns us about witches, astrologers, enchanters, charmers, necromancers, and such. In chapter 13 of the same book, God again speaks of prophets and dreamers of dreams who gave signs and wonders. Those fascinated by the New Age movement thus need to be aware it is the old satanic trickery come back in a new dress. In Galatians 5.20, witchcraft is listed as a work of the flesh right along with adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, idolatry, hatred, murder, and drunkenness. We find no solutions to our problems and our own hearts. Solomon wrote, he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. Okay, I guess that's a third point. This is outlined horribly. Okay, this is one of the worst developed outlines I've ever seen in the history of outlining. All right, so let's go through this. Let's write these down, all right? I got a piece of paper. So number one, what's the first thing we don't do? We don't go to an unknown place. Faithful person. The first thing we do is we don't go to unfaithful person. And that is based off of, let me go back to the front page. That's based on Proverbs 25, 19. Proverbs 25, 19. All right, so let's write that down. Proverbs 25, 19. The second thing we don't do is don't go to, we'll just put a witch. That's 1 Samuel 28 seven. Number three, third thing we don't do is we don't look to our own hearts. Don't look to your own heart. That is Proverbs 28, 26. 28, 26, I'm gonna look that up. Proverbs 28, 26. You may wanna make this list down, okay? I don't know how any of this is gonna help me with my trouble today, all right? But that's okay. Proverbs 28, 26. Proverbs 28, 26, He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool, but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. Don't trust in your own heart. So you can't go with your own feelings. Now this is where it gets a little complicated, right? Because when people talk about Hey, you know, God is helping me. They're just, they're relying on a feeling, an emotion. Well, you can't trust on feelings and emotions because you don't know they could be misleading. You don't know what's going on, but don't trust in your own heart. I think the main concept here is in times of trouble, don't trust in maybe your own feelings, your own, because you can start coming up with solutions. I think in a roundabout way, that's what Saul did, right? He started trusting his own heart, his own concepts. The article goes on to say, Jeremiah 17 9, the heart is deceitful, deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. So the heart is an untrustworthy guide. I agree there. So we don't go to witches, we don't trust our own heart, and we don't go to an unfaithful person. This is what not to do in times of trouble. I still don't know what to do in times of trouble, but okay. All right, what does it say next? The article goes on to say, many times we have heard someone say, I just feel in my heart that it is the right thing. Even though discussing something the Bible expressly forbids, the heart is not a reliable guide. I completely agree with this. The heart is not a reliable guide. In times of trouble, You do not rely on your own heart, your own feelings, or your own emotions. They are not a reliable guide. In fact, they are a flawed guide. They're faulty. Your software, your hardware, okay, forget software. Your hardware is all messed up. You were born messed up. You were born with a faulty GPS system. You can't trust it. Now, next. Neither is money the panacea for all our troubles. In this present money-mad society, it is believed by many that if you can just get their hands on enough money, everything will work out fine. However, money can fail, as the people found out in Egypt during the great famine described in the days of Joseph. When money felled at the land of Canaan, they came to Joseph and said, give us bread, for why should we die in thy presence? For the money felleth. That's Genesis 47, 15. Genesis 47, 15. So don't turn to money. The next thing you do is don't turn to money. Okay. Don't turn to money. Genesis 47, 15. Now, I find that kind of funny to read in a Christian publication, hey, money's not the answer. And then, well, everything, ministries constantly ask for money because you need, churches constantly ask for money. Okay, but I understand there's a difference, I guess, needing it versus trusting in it. But the idea is, hey, money is not the answer. They go on to say movie stars, TV personalities and rock stars are among the wealthiest of all people, yet the rate of suicide, drunken debauches, and drug overdoses is among the very highest among these people. Now, okay, I don't, is the rate of suicide highest among movie stars, TV personalities, and rock stars? Is that even factual, right? Would it be factual to say movie stars, TV stars, and rock stars have a higher rate of, if I can spell right, higher rate of let's just fact check this of suicide if I can spell right and the answer is The claim that movie stars, TV stars, and rock stars have a higher rate of suicide is commonly assumed but not entirely straightforward. While there is evidence suggesting that people in the entertainment industry face unique stressors that may increase their vulnerability to mental health challenges, the actual suicide rates among celebrities compared to the general population are not definitively higher in all cases. Here's what we know. They talk about some of the things that could contribute to problems amongst celebrities. Pressures and public scrutiny. They have pressure to perform. Everyone's criticizing every move they make, everything they do. Substance abuse. Mental health struggles. Loss of fame or relevance. Sometimes it's when you lose everything that leads to it. So yeah, there are some studies that have been done, but there's no specific breakdown between celebrities and non-celebrities. There are some high profile suicides, which then gets all the attention. While specific industries like arts and entertainment do show elevated risk, these rates may not always exceed those seen in other high stress occupations, first responders, medical professionals, military, et cetera, et cetera. There's no factual statement saying that. He's just kind of making an argument that, hey, these people are rich, but they commit suicide at a higher rate. There's no proof of that. And not only that, just because they commit suicide and they were a rock star or they were a movie star, they may have lost everything and they're no longer rich. So then that would kind of defeat your argument anyway. So that's not really helpful. That's not really helpful. Over and over, money fails to bring the happiness and satisfaction it promises. Okay, well, all right. I always make the joke. Well, I'm willing to try it, right? So, you know, send me a million dollars and I'll tell you how happy or satisfied I am or not. Okay, but all right. We cannot count, right? Next page here. We cannot count. on it to keep us out of trouble, to get us out of trouble. So we can't count on money, all right? So what are the things we're not to do? We don't wanna go to an unfaithful person. We don't wanna go to a witch. We don't wanna look to our own hearts and we don't wanna trust in money. So when you're in trouble, don't go to those things. That's what we are not to do, all right? 43 minutes in, we've been given some things we're not to do. Okay, I still would like to try the money one, right? I still would like to try the money one. I still would. I'm still willing to try it, right? If you want me to do a social experiment, right, where I can once and for all test this theory, then by all means, send me a million dollars, and I will do a daily audio update of how things are going with my million dollars, and we'll find out if it worked or didn't work, okay? All right. Yeah, a little bit of joking there, but a little bit serious. I mean, I do understand money may not bring true happiness, but you know all the things money can do? I don't know. I struggle with that. But I understand that it can also lead to other problems. So then finally, we get to this. So what do we do with our troubles? Well, here we go. Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. Psalm 60, 11. Psalm 60 11 appears to be what we are to do with our troubles. Psalm 60 11, all right, give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man. Now, I'm a little concerned that this verse is ripped out of complete context here, all right? So, I'm gonna, once again, do a little, I'm using AI right here. Does Psalm 6011 tell us what we are to do with our trouble? OK, so let's look here. All right, at first it gives me two, it gives me the King James, gives us, give us help, give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man. DSV, oh grant us help against the foe for vain is the salvation of man. Psalm 60 is attributed to David and reflects a time of military struggle. David acknowledges God's sovereignty and pleads for his intervention, recognizing that human efforts are insufficient without divine aid. This verse emphasizes reliance on God rather than trusting in human strength or resources. Now, again, if you apply this, hey, you don't need to trust in human strength or resources. Well, if I don't need to trust in human strength or resources, well, then no ministry should ever be asking for money in any way. We should just trust in God. we should not be trusting in human strength or our human resources. We'll just trust in God. Well, all the ministries say they're trusting in God, but then they have to ask people in order to give money, and they say, well, God actually helps me through you giving me your money. And it's interesting, God helps me by you giving me your money. Now, some people think that that's perfectly okay, but then I've got to rely on people. So how does that work? Okay, well, this is what AI says, does it tell us what to do with our trouble? It says, yes, Psalm 6011 instructs us to turn to God in trouble. Specifically, acknowledge the limitation of human help, depend on God's help, It says, application for today, Psalm 6011 encourages believers to recognize that while human means can assist, they are inadequate on their own. Place your ultimate trust in God, seeking his guidance. The verse reminds us that God's power is sufficient to handle troubles beyond our control and calls us to respond with dependence on him rather than relying solely on ourselves or others. So AI seems to like this idea. I have some struggle with this, all right? Because look at verse 6, Psalm 60 verse 6, God has spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, meet out the valley of Sukkoth, Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. Judah is my lawgiver. Moab is my washpot. Over Edom will I cast my shoe. Philistia triumph thou because of me. Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? Will thou not, O God, which had us cast us off, and thou, O God, which did us not go out with our armies?" I don't know about that. And all of a sudden, Psalm 6011, in the midst of that, is about us and that we can bring our troubles to God? Now, remember, David is in a unique situation because of the Davidic Covenant. So he can go to God for specific things because God has given him specific promises that are not for us. Okay. I'm going to, isn't Psalm, I'm going to ask, I'm going to struggle with AI here for a minute. I'm going to have a fight here. Isn't Psalm 60 11. specifically about David and what God has done and isn't it all connected to the Davidic, if I can spell right, to the Davidic, oh come on, Davidic, I'm gonna just go with that. Covenant. All right, let's see if we can get some answers here. Okay, yeah, now, Chad GPT says, yes, Psalm 6011 is specifically about David and must be understood in its context, which is tied to David's leadership, Israel's national struggles, and God's promises within the framework of the Davidic covenant. The historical setting, Psalm 60, is written during a period of military conflict. The superscription connects it to the battles against the Edomites and Arameans, 2 Samuel 8, 1-14, 1 Chronicles 18, 1-13. David reflects on Israel's struggles and calls on God to deliverance, acknowledging that ultimately victory belongs to God. Connection to the Davidic Covenant The Davidic Covenant, 2 Samuel 7, promised David an eternal dynasty that his throne would be established forever. Psalm 60 reflects David's reliance on God as the one who secures victory for his anointed king and fulfills his covenant promises. David's military victories and leadership were not simply personal achievements, they were acts of God's faithfulness to his covenant with David and his overarching plan for Israel. God's role in Israel's trouble and deliverance. Earlier in the psalm, David acknowledges that God has allowed Israel to experience defeat. This is likely seen as God's discipline or testing consistent with his covenant relationship with Israel. Verse 11 highlights the futility of human effort. Vain is the help of man and reinforces that God alone is the one who grants deliverance and fulfills his purpose for his covenant people. Psalm 60 reflects David's understanding that God's help is covenant-based, the victory belongs to God, David as the covenant representative. Is it about us? Psalm 60 11 is directly about David's situation and God's action and fulfilling his covenant promises to Israel through David. However, AI continues to argue its theological principles can be applied indirectly provided we respect the covenantal and historical context. So it still tries to argue for an application. I'm still going to struggle here. Hey, what do I do with my trouble? Well, I go and I act like David and I say, give us help from our trouble for vain is the help of man. Hey God, no one else can help me, but you can. help me. But the only problem is, David can cry this out based off the Davidic covenant, based off the covenant God had made with Israel. There are specific promises tied there. If I take that and apply it to me, there's a high probability I'm going to end up very disappointed, disillusioned, and confused, because God is not acting in a way that he did with David, and no one can—if you try to convince yourself of that, you're out of your mind. So I'm going to struggle with applying Psalm 6011 directly to us. I am going to... Now, you can say, I can give my trouble to God. I can. I'm like, God, here's all of my troubles. That doesn't have any... There is no promise that he's going to do anything in this life, in eternity. Yes, but not now. So, how do we get out of trouble? So, what do we do with our trouble? So, what do we not do with our trouble? Well, we don't go to an unfaithful man, we don't go to a witch, we don't look to our own heart, and we don't turn to money. What do we do? We cry out to God, okay? I think I would use some other verses if you're gonna go with that basic concept, right? I think you go to Philippians, right? That would be more applicable. Psalm 60.11, I'm just... Oh, no, no, no, no, no. All right, so how to get out of trouble? Well, we know that God is most anxious to help. In Psalm 91 14, God speaks of the one who has set his love upon the Lord and his promises. His name, okay, let me read this again. Let me read this again. In Psalm 91 14, God speaks of the one who has set his love upon the Lord and has known his name. Immediately he promises, he shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. Here, God precisely declares that he will hear, deliver, and honor the believer. God will hear and deliver. See, they're making this as an absolute promise. God is going to deliver me. So if I go to God today—so basically what this is telling me, this is the typical Christian answers, right? Okay, so today I'm having all of these neurological issues. The worst, my head feels like it's going to explode. Any minute, I feel like I'm going to fall down, have 15 seizures, and die. But I'll just go to God, and he's going to deliver me. So if I go to God today, all of my seizure disorder is going to disappear? I know it's not going to happen. You know it's not going to happen. And you can say, oh, you don't believe. Oh, trust me. I think I have talked to God about my seizure disorder far more than you have ever talked about God about my seizure disorder. So I don't think you should speak for me. Can you even apply that? I have major problems. If we go to Psalm 91, do we have any? Clearly Psalm 61. I mean, the whole context there is nothing about us. I mean, come on. Psalm 91. I don't know if we have the clear... Oh, yeah. Psalm 91, 14. Okay. Can we apply and claim the promises of Psalm 91, 14? I think it's more messianic if you ask me, but okay. Let's see. Psalm 91, 14, Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him, I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. The question of whether we can apply and claim the promises depends on how we interpret it in light of the context, its original audience and place within the broader biblical narrative. The context, Psalm 91 is a psalm of trust and assurance focusing on God's protection for those who seek refuge in Him. It is filled with vivid imagery about God's care for His people, particularly in the face of danger, pestilence, war, and spiritual attacks. The psalm was originally addressed to Israel, a notice again, particularly those who faithfully trusted God. It assures them of God's protection under his covenant relationship with him. I say this all the time. This is the problem with so much preaching. We love to take promises that are directed to a specific people based on a specific covenant, and then we go in and say, I'm sorry, we slap their hand, let go. Let go. We slap it. Let go of that promise. That promise is mine. And then we take it. And then we stand behind a pole, but we give everyone this promise. Hey, you trust in, you do this and God's going to deliver you. God's going to do this. God's going to do this. God's going to do this. And then people go and believe it. They give some, they convince themselves they have the placebo effect that God's doing this. But if you look at their lives, you're like, well, I thought God was going to deliver you. I thought God was going to do this. Yeah, but you've been fed lies. You've been fed promises that were never for you. and they ripped them away from Israel and applied them to you and they should not have done that. The verse specifically speaks of God's response to someone who loves him and acknowledges his name. The focus is on an intimate relationship with God and faithfulness to him. The promise of rescue and protection are conditioned on the love and trust. Well, that's really problematic. It's not just, hey, God's going to do this. You've got to love him. Well, how much do I have to love him? Because you're never going to love him perfectly. Oh, this becomes all kinds of problems. Oh, now see, AI plays this weird game. Can we claim the promises? Yes, but not as an absolute guarantee. What is that? God's love, protection, and care for those who trust him are consistent with his character revealed throughout scripture. For example, Jesus assures his followers of God's care and ultimate security. For Christians, the promise in Psalm 91 find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. God provides ultimate deliverance through salvation in Christ, even if earthly circumstances involve suffering and trial. While God may protect us physically, the New Testament emphasizes spiritual protection and eternal security more than guarantees of physical safety. Yeah, there is no guarantee of physical safety. If you're going to claim that God's going to deliver you, God's going to protect you, then why do churches are so—why are Christians so wrapped up in having a gun for protection? You just trust in God. See, Christians deep down know God's not going to protect them. That's why they're typically so very pro-gun, and that they need a gun to protect their family, and they need armed people in their churches, because they know God's not going to show up to help them out. If they really believed that, they wouldn't need that. Psalm 91, now AI does say Psalm 91, is not a blanket promise that believers will never face trouble, harm, or suffering. In Scripture, faithful believers, Job, Paul, and the early martyrs experience hardship despite their love for God. The Psalm is best understood as a poetic expression of God's faithfulness to those who trust in Him. I don't know if we're getting any help here. They go on to say, furthermore, I am convinced that God takes no delight in the trouble of the ungodly, for they will For why will ye die?" he cries in Ezekiel 33. And in Jeremiah 2, the Lord says, For they have turned their back unto me, and not their face, but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise and save us. Thus we see that God longs for troubled souls to turn to him for help. Find and claim his promises. The article goes on, it is not enough to know that God can help and that we can refresh ourselves with his promises. We must learn to wait upon him. In Psalm 27, 14, he says, wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. But who is Psalm 20? We would have to go find the context. Nahum 1.7 tells us that our God is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. But that's in the book of Nahum. Is there not any context to any of these verses? The sermon is not offering any context. renew your vows to the Lord. Make sure nothing is between your soul and your Savior in a time of trial. David cried, I will go into the house with burnt offerings. I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. Psalm 66, 13 through 14. Again, there's no There's no context to any of this. All of these require great care to go, wait, who's being spoken to? So the article then turns into basically what you're supposed to do. You need to make a comeback. You need to rededicate your life and get back in the place of blessing if God puts his finger on some sore spot in your life. So the issue is, hey, If you really want God to help you in your time of trouble, what you need to do is you've got to get right. You've got to come back. You've got to rededicate. You've got to get back in a place of blessing. So you can't be blessed if you're over here. So this becomes now maybe the reason you're in trouble and God's not helping you in your trouble is you're not in a place of blessing. And the way you get your place of blessing is you've got to do something. Well, that's great. That's great. When people are in great times of trouble, tell them that basically they've got to do more. They gotta get right with God, supposedly. God must sometimes do something in us before he can do something for us. Knowing that your troubles will cease, know that your troubles will cease, are not most of your troubles you're worried about last year over and done with? In fact, I can hardly remember at all what troubled me a month ago, much less a year ago. Well, I guess that's a good thing. Hey, your trouble's not going to last, It is in the sense that there's going to be a new trouble that's just waiting for me. All right. Then they quote 2 Corinthians 4, 8, Paul declared, he was troubled on every side, yet not distressed, perplexed, but not despair. There's no context. There's nothing offered here. So we're just said to cast our troubles upon the Lord. There's no explanation of what we're supposed to do. Our attitude and reaction to trouble have much to do with, Our attitude and reaction to trouble have much to do with the outcome. So many times these distresses are nothing disastrous or fatal, just bothersome. So why get all stressed over incidentals? Even with bigger troubles, we are prone to push the panic button and go to pieces instead of facing the problem and getting on to the sometimes simple solution. So hey, Now, now it just gets to practical self-help. Hey, just don't, just don't get all upset about it. Just, just keep your head and just move forward. I mean, there's nothing, there's nothing inherently Christian about that, right? Hey guys, look, your troubles don't always last. They're going to end. And hey, just, just don't get all upset and lose your mind over it, right? Just don't panic, right? That's just basic. This has nothing to do with Christianity in any way, shape or form. All right. we cry to the Lord in our trouble, he frequently will reply not with some earth-shaking miracle, but with a very simple reminder of what we can do to unravel the matter ourselves." So sometimes the way this works is God's not going to actually do anything. He's just going to remind you of what you can do for yourself. Okay. That's good. And I guess God is going to speak to you outside of the Bible. Okay, now we're getting into all kinds of issues here. They cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. We read in Psalm 107, 6. The trouble is not always immediately gone, but the distress of it can be removed and his peace can flood our hearts. We go on, cast, I'm almost done. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. That's Psalm 55, 22. Again, none of these passages are giving any, we don't have any context here. We don't have any. These are almost being given as blanket statements that you, that I'm telling you, if you just take as a blanket statement, even AI is like, you can't take this as a blanket statement because it doesn't work that way. The wise King Solomon advises, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. So God often delights to direct us to the exact remedy when we just acknowledge him about. Does God direct you to the exact remedies? And now this is getting into, oh, God speaks to me on inside voice, and he gives me a feeling, and this all becomes subjective. And now God is gonna lead you to the solution. Is he gonna lead you to the solution? And then you've got to figure it out. So now this just puts more pressure on you to figure it out. When we do cast our trouble upon him, it is most expedient that we leave it there and let him either solve it or show us precisely how it to be done in his own way, in his own good timing. Remember the beautiful hymns that go, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. Where could I go but to the Lord? He is able, he has never broken any promise spoken. And that is what I'm supposed to do in my times of trouble. Now, 66 minutes. Massive, the worst headache I've ever had in my life. Having trouble even talking. And I don't think I got much, I don't think I got very many answers. I don't think I got much answers. I don't think I got very many answers. but I got the typical Christian answer. Now, being told what not to do, those were very specific and we can say, okay. All those other things, it's just very questionable verses, just ripped out of context. Just remember when you see verses in the Old Testament about God doing this or this, or God will do this or this or this or this, almost in every situation, I would probably say 95 to 98, maybe even higher, maybe 98 to 99, almost in every situation, those are verses being specifically given to Israel. What is the basis? covenant promises given to the nation that God promises to do this or to do this or to deliver or to protect or to provide. You can't just slap those things out of their hands and then give this to everyone else saying, in times of trouble, trust in God based off these promises that God was giving to a covenant nation based off the covenant he gave to that nation. You don't have those promises. Now, if you want to quote New Testament verses, then we can consider each one. And again, we have to determine the context. What is going on? And then we have to understand, are the promises about tangible, material, physical deliverance, provision, and protection, or is it about spiritual? All of these things have to be addressed, but typical sermons, we don't want to address all of that. We just want to promise everyone everything's going to work out. Everything's gonna be great, but let me tell you, doesn't always work that way. Did I get any comfort here? No. Did I get any solutions here? No. Not. Am I frustrated by it? Not really, because I kind of expected it when I saw it. But I wanted it to be a good reminder to you that when you, and I hate to say this, but this is really the reality of it. When you are in trouble and times of trouble, which you will be if you're not one now, it's coming. I don't know what your trouble is. I don't know physical, mental, financial, whatever it is. If you look to Christianity for solutions, You're going to be handed all kinds of promises that in many cases are not for you. If you apply them to you, then you will either have to convince yourself that somehow it's doing something that it's not actually doing. But one day, maybe it's late at night, maybe it's early in the morning, you're going to kind of go, I don't think any of this is happening. And you're going to have a crisis of faith. And a lot of the crisis of faith is because you've been fed promises and comfort that was never meant for you in the first place. Sometimes the worst place to look for comfort and help in trouble is anything related to Christianity. I don't have any easy answers there for you. I could compile a list of all of these verses given in this sermon-slash-article, and I think what we're going to find is that—I think we could probably go through most of those and call into question the application of those verses to anybody. I mean, did you notice most of them came from the Psalms over and over and over? Those are specifically almost, I mean, 100% directed towards Israel. And there's a theological basis for the words being utilized, and it goes to covenants made with them. There's very physical, tangible, material promises. All right, I'll stop there. Thank you for listening. I don't know if this was any good, but 71 minutes, when I feel like I'm five seconds away from death, Even if I didn't do anything, the value, that's a pretty big accomplishment, right? On my tombstone, it will read, his last podcast was 71 minutes long. And everybody can just go, yay. He did a podcast that was 71 minutes long right as he died. What a great accomplishment. People will be like, what an idiot. And you would probably be right. All right, thanks for listening. Everyone have a great day. God bless.