Be strong, take heart, and hope in the Lord. Amen. Let's turn then together to Psalm number 31. Psalm number 31, as you can see on the screen above me, that's on page number 461 of the church Bibles, if you're using them. So we're going to read Psalm number 31. We're going to read it and consider some of the lessons from it in its entirety. Psalm number 31. In you, O Lord, do I take refuge. Let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me, rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress. And for your name's sake, you lead me and guide me. You take me out of the net they have hidden from me. For you are my refuge. into your hand I commit my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad of your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction. You have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a broad place. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress. My eye is wasted from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances, those who see me in the street flee from me. I have been forgotten like one who is dead. I have become a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many, terror on every side, as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord. I say, you are my God. My times are in your hand. Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and my persecutors. Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your steadfast love. O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call to you. Let the wicked be put to shame, let them go silently to Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you. and work for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind. In the cover of your presence, you hide them from the plots of men, you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me. When I was in a besieged city, I had said in my alarm, I'm cut off from your sight. But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserved the faithful. but abundantly he repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. Amen. And we know that God always blesses the reading of his word. So as we come into Psalm number 31, we meet David, don't we, who's clearly recognized as the author here. We meet David praying that essentially God will deliver him. And you want to say that God will deliver him again, because as we read through the narratives in the Old Testament of the life of David, so constantly does he seem to need that supernatural help when things conspire against him, when the challenges befall him. But here he's praying that God will very much deliver him. He is clearly confronted by some kind of conspiracy so strong as this that even his friends are abandoning him. And you know, friends, as we come to God's Word, as we live here on a day-by-day basis, so the trials of living, so the challenges of living in a world but not of the world, a world that is riddled, is infused with the effects of man's rebellion on every side, It can sometimes, can't it, just cause us to wonder, where are you in this, Lord? And we see a real sense of the psalmist opening up his soul, opening up his heart to the Lord and saying, I don't always understand, Lord. No, I don't understand, I don't know where you are coming from tonight. I don't know what's been going on in the past week in each of our individual lives. I don't know all the ins and outs of say the last 18 months. as we emerge from this COVID pandemic. And as we are dealing with perhaps changes to circumstances, maybe changes to ways of working, maybe changes to even queuing at the shops, but certainly changes in how on earth do we interact with people? How do we welcome people? How do we meet people that we've not seen for a long time? or perhaps putting aside the pandemic. Tonight you find yourself still challenged with just ongoing grief or with trying circumstances, things that weigh you down, things that would deflect you from your faith. whatever our situation is tonight. And David would understand these more than most. He's constantly hounded by King Saul. He's betrayed even by his own family. He's chased, he's fought, he's found starving. The list is almost endless. And so with David, we can understand a little more of what it means to trust in the Lord in the trials. So let's come to Psalm 31 together tonight. And it would be helpful if you have the Psalm open. I'm going to dot around. I'm not going to just work through the verses. And so I'll make reference to the verses as we go through. And this psalm echoes familiar themes that we see repeated throughout the psalms, expressed in various different ways. But it has much to teach us, I believe, about how we should respond to challenges, to trials. And I can almost imagine sitting down with David or speaking to David as he kind of talks through this psalm. Because it's not just a psalm to the Lord, but it's a psalm of testimony. It's a psalm to others as well. How the Lord has led him through trials as he unpacks the psalm, as he progresses through. And he gives testimony clearly that God can be trusted in all circumstances. Now David finds strength in remembering that looking back to when God has been faithful in the past or God has been good in the past, but also there is a call here in the psalm to take refuge, but to take refuge in the right places. And there's a call here to right action as well. So we will find that David is looking back, yes, but he's looking forward and encouraging us to take right refuge and to take the right actions. And he takes us, doesn't he, as you heard as I read through, he takes us from pain and despair through to assurance. And to emphasize that, he does it twice. So there's a cycle of pain and despair through to assurance in verses 1 to 8, and then in verses 9 through to the end of the chapter, there is the same cycle, as it were, repeated. But what I would like to do tonight is just to divide our passage into three basic areas. And I should warn you that these are of differing lengths. So please don't be expecting an equal division of my time according to the points as we go through. So firstly, trusting in God when? Now, there's a whole host of things that David lists for us here, the different trials and tribulations that he is suffering from, and all the time we can trust in God in these situations. Then secondly, how should we respond in these situations? And finally, why should we respond in these situations? Or why should we respond like that? So firstly, trusting in God when? Well, we can trust in God when we are in danger. Now clearly, danger is present in David's life here. Look at verse number one, the second half. In your righteousness deliver me. Verse two, rescue me speedily. It's not just Help me. It's not just, Lord, I need your help in this vague circumstance. It's no, I need rescue. And furthermore, I need it right now. Rescue me speedily. Verse 13, there's a plot to take his life. So we can trust God when in danger. Now, yes, in David's life, there is real threat. clear and present danger, if you like. Now, perhaps we are not in that physical danger tonight, but certainly in many, many places around the world, which we frequently pray for, that people are very definitely in danger, even for their very lives. even tonight as we sit or stand here. Just this week, across my desk has come a prayer request from open doors for three believers in Iran who are facing imprisonment due to a change in the law. and also the horrific stuff that's happening in Nigeria and how this just happens under the radar of the news reports that go around the world where we would rather discuss trivia and economics. But we can trust God and we can entrust our brothers and sisters to God in their danger and in the dangerous situations they face. David says that we can trust God when testing is near. In verse four, it talks about a net being set as a trap. The concept here is as the fish is swimming along, it gets ensnared and entrapped in the net. And David says, the net that they have hidden for me, something to trip him up. entrapment. And the devil loves to entrap us. That is his mission, to lay this net, if you like. And it's worth our while just pausing to recognize the nets that the devil uses, because he uses different nets for each of us, doesn't he? and to identify that net because when we know what that entrapment is likely to be, so therefore we can be on guard. We can trust God when testing is near. Now in these verses, particularly 7, 8, and 9, we see that we can trust God when our soul is in turmoil. Look with me at the words David uses, verse 7, seen my affliction. Verse seven, the distress of my soul. Verse nine, I am in distress. Verse 10, spent with sorrow. Surely friends, I don't even need to unpack this, do I? Because we know what some of these things feel like. And many of us have experienced them. Many of us perhaps are even going through this right now. David's soul is in turmoil. His emotion is laid raw before the Lord. Bring him your heart in prayer, friends. You know, when you give the Lord that time in prayer, explain to him how you feel. He wants to know. And Dave is speaking of very deep anguish or affliction. He questions the Lord and he is not receiving any apparent answers. And even, as we'll see in a moment, has physical ramifications. Verse 10, my years with sighing. Some of us here tonight know what it's like to carry burdens for years. And it causes turmoil to our soul, does it not? And this is what David is saying. But ultimately in this psalm, he is saying we can trust God when we are in turmoil. We can trust God when that turmoil lasts, even for years. He is under great stress. He is under great grief. Verse nine, my eye is wasted from grief. and there appears to be no respite. There appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel. But David's testimony is and David's encouragement to us is that we can trust God when our soul is in turmoil. As I just alluded to, we can trust God when our body is weak, when our strength is failing. Verse 10, when my strength fails, my bones waste away. All of us are aging. I'm aware that some of you tonight probably see me as young. I certainly don't see myself young. Indeed, I've even reached the age where you can go to sleep and then wake up injured the next day. And it's like, well, how did that happen? Yeah, I didn't do anything. And yet our body is wasting away. Even youths grow weary, do they not? And it's a reminder our physical frailty, our physical limitations which we all have, it's a reminder that there is more to come. It's a reminder to us, isn't it, that here is not forever. It's a reminder that there is a new creation coming and, praise the Lord, a new body coming as well. But we can trust in God when our body is weak. When you wake up tomorrow morning at five in the morning because the pain is too much and you're forced out of bed and you need to take more medicine. We can trust in God when the body is weak. We've already looked at David and the immediate danger that he was in, but we can also trust God when enemies surround us. In verse number eight, you've not delivered me from the hand of my enemy. Verse 15, rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors. In verse 13, he implies that there's conspiracy, there's whispering of many, they scheme together, they plot to take my life. So there's this sense of enemies surrounding him on every side, of people trying to undermine him, of being shunned and having a sense of everything and everyone is against me. Enemies surround him and we can trust in God when enemies surround us. In my own reading this week, I read Matthew chapter 10, where Jesus is sending out, and he says, I send you out, how? As sheep among wolves. Now reflect on that for a minute, folks. Send out the sheep among the wolves. As I walked the dog this morning, we've chased some sheep. Well, I didn't chase some sheep, but I should rephrase that. Dog was on the lead. There were sheep on the track in front of us. And you know, they just kept on moving. But I was reflecting. Imagine that I had two or three wolves with me rather than a well-behaved dog on the lead. These sheep would have no chance. But yet, that's what the Lord says. I send you out as sheep among wolves. Surely, in that sense, enemies surround us all the time. Trust in God when friends have deserted us. Those who see me in the street flee from me. Have you had people step to the other side of the road to avoid speaking to you? Do people avert their eyes when passing in the corridor and in the workplace? Somebody that you were previously friends with and now something has come in the way and you maybe don't even know what it is, have become forgotten. Verse 12, so his friends have deserted him. Loneliness is a hard, hard thing, isn't it, friends? Being isolated, we're created as relational beings. And that's been one of the big challenges of this pandemic, that people have been isolated. And the danger then is that people then become forgotten or ignored. And I guess just in passing, is there an application for each of us? Is there somebody this week that we can reach out to? to just say you're not forgotten, you're not ignored. But in David's case, his friends have deserted him, and it results in a real sense of hopelessness. Verse 12, I have become like a broken vessel. I'm just useless. I can't be of any use to you, Lord. Trust in God when friends have deserted. Trust in God, verse 18, when lies are told, when they speak insolently against the righteous, let the lying lips… You know, perhaps if we're honest, one of our biggest fears as sinful humans is, well, what do people think of me? that we kind of want to be part of the crowd, we want to be part of what's going on. Our ego is probably a much bigger thing than we might be prepared to admit. What is it like when there's a whispering of many? What is it like when people in our class are on social media and talking about you? What is it like? We feel the urge to want to defend ourselves, but David is saying, yes, but we can still trust in God. He's big enough for all of this. And so, friends, as we look at this psalm, and there's many others, as you will be aware, there are just so many examples of how hard things were for David. And as I've said already, I don't know. the hardships that you are facing just now. But that is one of the wonders of us being able to gather back together to demonstrate that this body is a united body as people look in from outside and think, well, how can all of those people get along so well as they see how we love our Savior, as they see how we love each other? So David says, when things are really bad, when we are sinking, when we are failing, when we feel forgotten, when we are falling, when there's plotting, when there's scheming, when there's whispering, God can be trusted. That is a clear message of this psalm. And that message comes through as we see how David then responds to all of this. So how should we respond to these kind of things? Well, we got a big clue, didn't we, as we read the whole psalm before? We got a big clue as we finished in the final verse in verse 24, when we spoke the psalm together. You see, despite all of these horrendous things that are happening in the life of David, the psalm is peppered with statements of faith and trust in God. And firstly, how should we respond? Well, we need to remember God's faithfulness. We need to remember God's faithfulness. And these verses here are here for us tonight, friends. Verse number 19. Oh, how abundant is your goodness. God's goodness, it's not just that God is good, but that his goodness is overflowing. It is endless. It is continuous. Verse 21, he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me. Now these verses don't come out of mere sitting in a library and studying hard on the part of David. No, these come out of real experience. How can he speak of God's abundant goodness unless he has experienced it? How can he speak of God's showing his love unless he has that personal experience of God's love and care? Verse 21, he has shown his steadfast love when I was in that besieged city. Verse 23, The Lord preserves the faithful. The psalmist can't say that the Lord preserves the faithful in a vague hope. No, he knows this. He knows the Lord will preserve. Indeed, he knows the Lord must preserve. So we are to remember the Lord's faithfulness. And I don't know if you keep notes in your Bible or you write journals or whatever, but it's good to take time to look back at God's goodness and God's faithfulness, even in our very lives. And David, as he gives this testimony, he then comes onto this call of all you his saints. In other words, God's covenant people, you know, the people David's talking to, God's covenant people, as we are in covenant with him, they are called saints. These are the people that God will preserve with his steadfast love. So David gives testimony and reminds those whose hearts are committed to him that the Lord can be trusted. Secondly, how are we to respond? We are to take refuge. And as I said earlier, we are to take right refuge. Verse one, in you, O Lord, do I take refuge. Now we're tempted to take refuge in all sorts of things. We're tempted to take refuge in the savings that we've got in the bank. We're tempted to take refuge in our pensions or in property or whatever. We're tempted to take refuge in the acclaim of others. We're tempted to take refuge in feeling part of the in crowd, of feeling part of the peer group. But what does David say? In you, O Lord. In you, Lord God, my Lord God, says David, do I take refuge. No one else will do. We cannot take refuge in anything else. Nothing else can deliver. So we are to take refuge. Verse two, be a rock of refuge for me. Be a strong fortress, that sense of protection. So we are to take refuge in the Lord and he will be that refuge for us. He will be the fortress that will preserve us. And what does he say in verse six? But I trust in the Lord. Verse 20, being stored in your shelter. So we've got this theme running all the way through the psalm about the importance of taking refuge. And verse one gives us it on the nail, in the Lord. But that almost seems like it's a passive thing, doesn't it? I just need to be there and I can be in that fortress and then nothing else. Well, no, because this taking refuge takes place with the right actions. Verse six again, but I trust. So there's a choice. I could do this, but I am going to trust in the Lord. Verse 14, but, I trust in you. I could look over here for my trust, but no, I trust in you. Verse 14, I say, you are my God. In other words, I am acknowledging you, Lord, as sovereign, even sovereign over these very trials that I am experiencing right now, which he then unpacks in verse number 15, my time is in your hands. My time is in your hands." That personal acceptance as an individual before the Lord that His way is best. Yes, He is sovereign. He can be trusted. And this is how we take refuge with the right actions. And that's easy to say, isn't it? When things are going well. But what about What about during COVID? What about when you've got somebody that you know is struggling to breathe in intensive care? What about? the different circumstances of life? What about when you're actually the victim of people saying hateful things about you and about your beliefs? What about, as I've said already, when we are shunned in the workplace? No, it's easy to say, I trust in the Lord when things are going well, but David is exhorting us to trust in the Lord when things are not going well. Because in spite of everything, he declares God to be God, God to be faithful, and God to be worthy of our trust. And this is based on David's real living relationship with God. He's proved God in the past, and therefore can trust God to the future. This is no positive thinking mantra. This is not... God owing us anything. No, this is the creature dependent on its creator, his creator for everything, even our very next breath. These are statements of faith for the future. David claims God's promises for the future. His is a deepening, a developing faith. Is our Christian life a deepening, a developing faith? We need to preach this to ourselves. Well, again, I fall into that trap. I need to preach this to myself. I don't want to presume what you need to be doing. But we need to be developing our relationship with the Lord. Look back to this week. Look at the input. Look at what has been preached to you. Think about the adverts. Think about the TV programs that we've seen. All legitimate in their own ways. I'm not saying that. Don't mishear me. But just think about the messages that we have received just by living. Think about what we've read in newspapers, in magazines, on websites. What we've listened to. And think about how much we've spent time with the Lord. Think about thinking on Him. What do we expect to come to mind when things get tough? Let's fill our lives. Let's listen to perhaps some praise music in the car on the way to work instead of the radio. Something to turn our mind to our Savior. We need to preach to ourselves. We need to be with David developing in our Christian life. God can be trusted. Remember his faithfulness. take right refuge with the right actions. And so finally, and briefly, why should we respond to this? Like this, sorry, why should we respond like this? Well, we should respond like this because we've already said that in this psalm, images of safety abound. God has responded and answered in our past too. But the Lord gives us a secure foundation. Look at verse number eight. You have set my feet in a broad place. The message there is one of security, is one of stability, is the one of being able to stand firm. God has done this for us. He will hold his people firm. Verse 19 speaks of His abundant goodness. Verse 21, His wondrous love. Verse 23, He preserves. So there are many reasons for us in this psalm to why we should do this. but particularly we need to focus on verse 5, into your hands I commit my spirit. We studied this recently on Sunday mornings, didn't we? Jesus is prepared to entrust himself to God's plan. We can do no greater thing, And it's because Christ entrusted himself to God's plan in that very extreme agony and depth of suffering that we will never be able to explain or understand. But because He went through that, so we have the opportunity of new life in Him. We have the opportunity whereby our sin is taken and His righteousness is credited to our account. No, this is the key to our psalm. Verse five, you have redeemed me. This is what we need. We need redemption. And this is why we should be trusting in the Lord. This is why we should respond to trials that we face on a day by day basis. We can trust because He has been there. And as we follow Jesus in active obedience, we have security in our trials, even those ones that go on for years and years and years. You see, God is sovereign and is working all things to his end. And everything that takes place in life is part of this. And he knows, verse 7, you have known my distress or the distress of my soul. This is the unchanging truth. God tonight knows about your trials. There is nothing confusing or perplexing to him about what you're experiencing. Although, oftentimes, it might be to us. No, God is always working out things for His good and His purposes. And this is how He is glorified. You see, God is glorified when we, as His children, are able to trust in Him. When we, as His children, are able to point to Him in every circumstance, particularly the tough ones. How many times in COVID when speaking to people, do you find yourself, no, again, did I find myself just saying nonsense, just kind of agreeing with whatever, oh yes, it will get there in the end or stuff like that, you know, meaningless things. When we have an opportunity to share our faith and point out the one in whom, we can stand secure in that broad place. And so, as we close tonight, friends, we see in this psalm that God can be trusted in all of our circumstances. As Christians, we know it in our testimony. As we look back, we have many reasons to trust Him. We can take security in this. And we can take refuge in him by taking the right actions, by praying statements of truth about God, even when we don't understand. And so how does David then finish? Well, he calls us to trust. He calls us to, verse 23, love the Lord, all you his saints. Why? The Lord preserves the faithful. This is the truth. Verse 24, be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. Verse 14, but I trust in you, O Lord. I say, you are my God. We can do no greater thing in the trials that we face. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your word that is so deeply encouraging, that meets us wherever we are. We thank you for your word that allows us to express the uncertainty, the emotion, the hurt, the hardship that we often feel. And we thank you that your word gladdens our hearts. We thank you that it encourages us when we need it, and it motivates us when we need that. And so again, Lord, as a body of your people tonight, we thank you for your word. And we pray, Father, as your word has gone out across the globe today, We pray that it would be powerful in its effect. We pray that by your spirit, you would apply it to the hearts of individuals, that you would quicken in them a realization of their sin and a need to turn in saving faith to you. Father, we recognize that we live in a world, we live in a culture that has alienated you, that has actively and speedily turned its back on you. And so we pray for the various aspects of mission that we, there's many aspects that we frequently bring before you in this place and as a body of your people. And we just take time to bring those things that are on our hearts, those particular mission organizations and works that we know of, that we know the details of, we give them to you just now. And Father, we pray that as we go into this week, that we too would be part of Your mission, be it a letter or an email here or a meeting in the shop there or a meeting in the street or whatever it happens to be, Lord, I pray that we would be Your people. And whatever is going on in our lives, that we would be able to give You the glory by pointing to Your faithfulness and the security we have in You, even in the midst of the trials that we face, and by then that others would know that we are your disciples. Lord, go with us into this week. For those of us that are experiencing very particular trials, we ask for your enabling, we ask for your strength, we ask for your comfort, and we ask for your encouragement. And so again, we bring these prayers before you now in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.