Amen. You may be seated. And to begin, let us open to the book of 1 Samuel chapter 19. We're going to be studying Psalm 59, but the context, the historical context under which Psalm 59 was written is from 1 Samuel 19, that which we studied last time. Psalm written by David. As we've been going through 1 Samuel, you've seen that we were introduced to David in chapter 16 of 1 Samuel. He was the youngest son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. And he was anointed as king privately, if you recall, by Samuel. He was selected by Saul's court. to play the harp or the lyre to soothe Saul's tormented soul. But it's not until he slays Goliath in chapter 17 that we see the changeover where suddenly now David becomes popular. When he slays that uncircumcised Philistine, that nine foot tall uncircumcised Philistine and released Israel from bondage, now the people know David and now the people love David. Up until then, David was no threat to Saul. But as soon as the public asserted David's victory as being greater than Saul, remember the song that was sung? David has slain his 10,000. Saul has slaved his thousands. David has 10,000. Well, as soon as they sang that song, the king became so jealous that he sought to take David's life by hurling a spear at him on three occasions, each time David escaped and Saul failed. Yahweh protected David and he returned to the safety of his home. But as we're going to see, his home was not safe. He was not safe even in his own refuge, even in his own home. In the text that we're going to read right now in 1 Samuel 19, Saul changes the strategy. Rather than directly hurling the spear at David, he sends these messengers to the home of David. So let's read the story in 1 Samuel 19, verses 8 through 16. And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow so that they fled before him. Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the liar, and Saul sought to pin David to the wall with a spear. But he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that night. Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, if you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. Michal took an image or an idol and laid it in the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair on its head and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he's sick. And Saul sent the messengers to see David saying, bring him up to me in the bed that I may kill him. And when the messengers came in, behold, the image or the idol was in the bed with the pillow of goat's hair at its head. Now, I want you to imagine for a moment this circumstance. Your father-in-law is the king and he hates you. He has attempted your life on three occasions, take your life on three occasions. You have done nothing but good for him. He has chosen to repay your good with the greatest of evil. He is now sending assassins to your home by night seeking to kill you. What would you do? What does David do? He writes a song about it. Now, that might seem strange to you. The most painful events of David's life ends up enriching us. Not only us, but God's people throughout the ages through the Psalms. What might be considered unusual for us was common for David. He found his inspiration as a songwriter amid personal trials and national warfare. Had Saul never so cruelly treated David and hunted him down, Israel and the church would have missed out on this and a few other Psalms. Spurgeon writes of this, he says, the music of the sanctuary is in no small degree indebted to the trials of the saints. Affliction is the tuner of the harps of sanctified songsters. And we see that even in hymnody, right? We see examples of that. What a friend we have in Jesus, the author writing that hymn after the death of his fiancée. We have, It Is Well With My Soul, for example, the author of that, writing that hymn in the context of the loss of his family at sea. So it's so true what Spurgeon said, affliction is the tuner of the harps of sanctified songsters. Now, turn to Psalm 59. I'm gonna read the first five verses with you as we begin, and then we will pray. Psalm 59, verses one through five. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God. Protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For behold, they lie in wait for my life. Fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Awake, come to meet me and see. You, Lord God of hosts, our God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations. Spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would open up our hearts and eyes to your word. Grant us understanding by your spirit. Enable me, O Lord, to preach this with the unction and with the passion with which it was written millennia ago. Help us, Lord, to understand these ancient words and to apply them to our very lives, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Psalm 59, again, is a song. It is written, as the title indicates, to the choir master, according to Do Not Destroy, a miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him. Now, Do Not Destroy is the title or the melody of Psalm 57, 58, 59, and 75. And it's believed to identify a particularly popular tune, a musical piece by which the psalm would be sung. It's a miktam, which is an unknown word attached to Psalm 56 through 60, as well as Psalm 16. These were all written by David. It's believed to either mean golden psalm or secret prayer. What is clear is the context. The title of Psalm 59 identifies the events of 1 Samuel 19, which we just read, as the context in which David penned the psalm. See that again in the title, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him. going to be the first of a few Psalms of David that David wrote about his trouble fleeing from King Saul. And though it was personal, and it was written from David's house, personally, literally, while he's surrounded by Saul's men, David sees God's protection extending beyond himself to the nation, as we'll see in the psalm. By the time we come to verse 5, he's extending the protection that he has to the nation, the whole nation, all of God's people, against whatever enemies threaten them, including us here today. And as such, the psalm has blessed all of God's people for generations. Looking at the lyrics of the song, the song is laid out like this. Verse one, chorus one, verse two, chorus two. So when I'm going to speak about verses, I'm going to often be speaking about the verse of the song, not the particular verse that we're looking at. I'll try to distinguish that as we go through it. But it's basically in two parts. Verse-chorus, verse-chorus. In the first part there is an appeal in verses 1 to 5, corresponding to verses 11 to 13. Then there is a description of his foes in verses 6 through 8, corresponding to the second verse of the song, verses 14 to 16. And then there is a chorus in verses 9 and 10 that's repeated with a slight variation in verses 16 to 17. So let's look, beginning with the appeal, the first verse of the song. And notice with me how it is made to God with urgency. This is an urgent appeal that David is making. Deliver me from my enemies, oh my God. Now, you know the context. You can sense the urgency in it, right? There are these people that he sees who are assassins come to him by night. Deliver me from my enemies, oh my God. Protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men. He calls upon God to protect, deliver, and save him. The word protect there is linked to the Hebrew word found in the chorus of the song in verse 9 and 15, translated as fortress. The word is misgabi. It is translated at times as defense or protect. But what it means is a strong tower or a stronghold. The enemy is described in verse 1 as rising up against David. So what the idea of that word protect is, is that God is placing David securely on high. He's putting him above, in a high strong tower, above the enemy, above the tumult that's below, that's rising up from below. So he's in a place of safety, high up, where he is out of reach from the enemy. David's house, which is perhaps considered a refuge to him, had become a death trap for him. He found no refuge at home. In fact, he needed to run away from his house to find safety in Yahweh. His danger is evident. Notice in verse three how David calls attention to his danger to God. He says, for behold, they lie in wait for my life. Fierce men stir up strife against me. I ask you, are you in danger? Is there some temptation, some trial, some person in your life that is constantly threatening you, constantly provoking you, Tell God about it. Speak to the Lord about it. It's never wrong to call God's attention to your trial, to your plight, to your trouble, to your temptation, whatever it is that threatens you. Behold, they lie in wait for me, for my life. Are you weary? Are you heavy hearted? Tell it to Jesus. Are you grieving over joys departed? Tell it to Jesus alone. We must not be ashamed, brethren, to go to God with our trials, to pray to God when something is rising up against you. You have a very real enemy, a very real enemy, and the Word of God tells us that that enemy is seeking to devour you. And one of the means that God gives us to overcome the enemy is prayer. So make use of prayer. God gives his children prayer for the very purpose and very reason when we are in danger. See, one of the reasons why we don't pray as often as we ought is that we're not keenly aware of the danger our soul is in every single day. You have a very real, though invisible, enemy. And though sometimes you do not see him, he is real. And he comes, in the words of Jesus, to steal, to kill, and to destroy. 1 Peter 5 says that he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. And that he does this to all people. So a true sense of danger lends urgency to prayer. When we're urgent in prayer, it's because we really sense the reality of danger. I'm sure we've all been in a position at some time in our life where we really felt in a position of danger and we cried out to God. And the reason why we don't do that every day is because we don't sense that reality. of the danger. If, for example, you truly understand the danger of your unsaved loved ones in their lost condition, the danger that they are a hairbreadth away from spending eternity in hell, you will pray for them with greater urgency. If our eyes are open to the spiritual enemies who pursue us, That our warfare is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers that resist our doing good and resist our sanctification and seek to cause us to fall. Our prayer, lead us not into temptation, Lord, will be with greater urgency. If we could see the danger, the problem is we can't see it, but if we could see the danger that Satan threatens, we'll spend less time fighting with people and more time waging war with our spiritual armor and weapons. So I ask you, brethren, to take an inventory of your prayer light. How often do you pray for your protection in your walk? How often do you pray, Lord, guard my mind, guard my heart, guard my eyes, guard my thoughts, guard my actions? Protect me, Lord, from those that would seek to cause me to stumble. Some of you are stumbling every day, falling into the same temptation day in and day out, simply because you're not urgent in your prayer for protection. Do you think that God will not answer that prayer? Protect me, Lord. The problem is, though, we become so used to the presence of certain sinful attitudes and actions in us that they become familiar to us. Whereas once we might have urgently prayed, Lord, lead me not into temptation, over time we lose that urgency as that besetting sin becomes more familiar, becomes part of the furniture of our lives. Sometimes we don't even recognize it as sin anymore. We no longer urgently pray. This can happen also with the devil as well. He hasn't stopped. For you've been in Christ for many years. You haven't seen him. Most of you have not seen him. But he hasn't stopped his scheme to steal, kill, and destroy you. But after being in Christ, that danger doesn't seem to pose the threat that it once did, as he fades in the background and seeks to hide himself. This is why we're called to be vigilant and be aware of his schemes, so that we would urgently pray for spiritual protection. In Ephesians 6, that's Paul's exhortation. He says, you don't battle with flesh and blood, but principalities and powers. That's why you need to put on the whole armor of God. That's why you need to pray always in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert, he says, with all perseverance. We need to be alert. Now as we continue looking at David's plea in verses 3 to 4, we see that his plea to God is based upon his own guiltlessness. Look at verse 3, or the middle of verse 3. He says, So David is pleading from the place of innocence. Now, we're not to understand this innocence as absolute, but rather pertaining to that particular circumstance. He doesn't suggest here a general sinlessness. Rather, he's saying that in this present circumstance, I've done no wrong. Now, David was never afraid to confess his sin, right? When his sin was revealed to him, he was ready to confess it. But in this case, in the case of Saul's pursuit of him, he's done nothing whatsoever with anyone or anything. This has nothing to do with what he's done. In fact, Jonathan even recognizes that, Saul's son, Jonathan. In chapter 19, if you want to look at it, chapter 19 of 1 Samuel, Jonathan appealed to his father on David's behalf, basically saying, this man has done nothing, why are you pursuing him? In chapter 19 verse 1, I'm sorry, verse 4. It says, Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand when he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. David was innocent. David was blameless before Saul and remained so for many years. And this enabled him to boldly make this appeal, this confident appeal. What do we learn? Well, we learn here that it's easier to pray boldly when your heart is right. If you're convicted by some personal sin, it makes it more difficult to go, to boldly approach the throne of grace in prayer. Psalm 66 verse 18 says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. This is why repentance, regular repentance is necessary. As often as we sin, it's important that we keep a short account with God and with others. We don't allow unrepentant sin to linger lest our prayers be hindered. I think we all know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of someone's anger or injustice. And you know when it is that God is chastening you through that, through the circumstance. Or maybe the person that's treating you wrongly is basically just giving you back what you gave them, and you're reaping what you sowed, and you kind of know that in your heart. Still unjust, but you're getting maybe a bit of what you deserve. And it puts us in a fragile state. Even if we're wronged, we kind of know, right? I'm just getting what I deserve. But then there are situations in which you know you did nothing but good for a person, you really tried to help them, and they chose to repay your good with evil. It's times like that you can pray so confidently, Lord, vindicate me. Lord, you know my situation, you know my heart, you know that there was no evil intention, but God, for your glory, make this right. And that's a confident prayer that you could pray, because you know you truly had nothing but good for the individual. Finally then, in the first appeal of this song, David's boldness is evident in verse five. He broadens his personal perspective now to extend to the nation. That which he experienced now extends to the whole nation. Look at verse five. You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations. Spare none of those who treacherously plot evil Selah. David had not yet been physically installed into office of a king. People did not know he was the king. But here he is already taking on the kingly role of praying for his nation, this imprecatory prayer that is praying that God would vindicate his nation against their enemies. Remember when David faced Goliath and Goliath was breathing threats. How David said to Goliath, you come at me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied. David was able to see beyond the natural enemy. He was able to see through the circumstance, to the spiritual root. It was not Goliath's armor. It was not his size or his spear. These were impressive by earthly standards. But what is that compared to the Lord of hosts? You, Lord God of hosts, our God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations. Spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah. And that selah then tells us to pause, meditate before continuing. So let's pause. Let's take a Selah and consider what that last verse tells us about the power of our God, the power of Yahweh. Just His name is greater than all the most powerful weapons on earth. Psalm 20, verses 7 and 8, some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. All of the power on earth, all of the human strength are nothing compared to the name of our Lord. You, Lord of hosts, you are the almighty creator of all. You are Yahweh. Our covenant-keeping God, rouse yourself, punish all the nations, spare none who treacherously plot evil. Following this urgent appeal of verses 1-5, the psalmist goes on to describe his foes in the second part of this song's first verse, verses 6-8. Each evening, they come back howling like dogs, prowling about the city. There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with swords in their lips, for who they think will hear us. He shows the enemies that are coming back. Apparently, it was not just one night that they came, but they came back on several evenings. In his mind here are those who are coming to ambush him at his house. They're dogs, he says. Now, when you read that, don't think Luke. Don't think Snowflake, okay? Think, think, or Buttons, or any dog. These are wild dogs, okay? David was very familiar with these kinds of dogs because he was a shepherd and he had to fight these wild dogs from threatening the sheep. So like we saw when he faced Goliath, right? When David was facing Goliath, he told Saul, he said, your servant has struck down lions and bears. What is this uncircumcised Philistine? But like them. So he had experience facing animals that threatened his flocks. And that gave him confidence over Goliath. And now these night assassins had come. But they're just like wild dogs to him. They're vile creatures. They're no threat because they're no threat to God. Look at verse 8. But you, O Lord, laugh at them. You hold all the nations in derision. I want to pause here and think again about David's situation, bring you back to that situation. The evil that is attacking him right there in his home. Now, there's a saying, I believe it's a British saying that says, a man's home is his castle. And what that means is that a person has a right to safety and security in his home. He should not feel threatened in his home. But in this case, the threat came right to his home. This howling, prowling, bellowing enemy was right there in his earthly castle. Where is it that he's going to run? Where does one run when even in their own home is not safe, when the enemy is right there in their presence in their earthly castle? Some of you know what this is like. You live with an unsafe spouse or children who provoke you. That's not your castle. You need another castle. You need another stronghold. Your home is not your protection. There is another stronghold for you that is secure and safe. That is your stronghold. Look at verse 9. Oh my God, I will watch for you. For you, O God, are my stronghold, my fortress. Brothers and sisters, that's the fortress that we need. We need a place to run where we know that we are safe. The Lord, your strength, is your stronghold. Run to him often, especially when you're under attack. Run into him. He is your refuge. Now before I go on, I want to go back again and just look at verse 8 again because verse 8 reminded me of another psalm. Verse 8 says, But you, O Lord, laugh at them. You hold the nations in derision. If you know the psalms, it's reminiscent of Psalm 2. Remember Psalm 2? The nations rage against God. And it says, He who sits enthroned in the heaven laughs, he scoffs at them. See, God sees how ridiculous, how stupid, if you will, that anyone would have in their mind the idea that they would destroy God or his people. So he scoffs, he mocks at their ridiculous attempts to thwart his plan. Again, remember the context. The context is Yahweh's protection of David amidst Saul's attacks. You would think that Saul, witnessing, I mean Saul, you may have missed the point, Saul missed David with the spear three times. He was trained in military battle. He didn't miss people with swords, let alone a guy sitting alone with a harp. And he witnessed this. He witnessed David protect it. It should have proven instructive to King Saul. You think that Saul would have woken up to the fact that God was blessing David and Saul was failing? Instead, Saul continued to rage against God. Rage against his anointed King David. And so, Saul, rather than being what he was first anointed to be, which was what? The king of Israel, the king over God's people, now he becomes like the kings of the earth that are raging against God and his anointed. Saul's voice becomes those among the kings that are plotting evil against Yahweh and his son. Saul was the king more akin to the kings of the nation of Psalm 2, of whom God laughs. And instead of repenting and being counted with David as a child of God, Saul becomes exactly what the people asked for, a king just like the nations. Now, before considering verses 9 and 10, which is the chorus, I'm going to come back to the chorus at the end, let's look at the second verse. I'll be more brief here. Structurally similar to the first verse, there's an appeal followed by a description of the foes. Let's read the appeal in verses 11 through 13. First, the appeal, verse 11, Psalm 59. Kill them not, lest my people forget. Make them totter by your power. Bring them down, O Lord, our shield. For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter, consume them in wrath. Consume them till they are no more, that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah. Again, reminiscent of David's contest with Goliath, the biggest menace in Goliath were not his armor, nor his spears, but his threats, his words. And this is what David notices here. Look at verse 12 again. For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For their cursing and lies that they utter, Much like the devil, Goliath's most powerful weapon was his tongue, his lies, his threats. Greater damage has been caused in this world by words than by nuclear weapons. So beware of the words you speak and beware of the words you listen to. Because there are windbags out there that you listen to, that you lend your ear to in podcasts and social media. Beware of what you listen to. Understand the power of words. The media understands this. Satan understands this, and he uses media to divide, to conquer, not with bombs and missiles, but with words. The psalm The psalmist likens the words of his enemies to swords. They're cutting. The lies that we consume on a daily basis as you scroll through your social media feed that has been designed just for you are daggers and spears designed to destroy you. Don't be taken in by them. Beware of words. They are lies. Interestingly, look at verse 11. It's curious. He says, kill them not, lest my people forget. This tells us something about God and evil. Don't kill them. Why? So that we can learn from it. It tells us here that God at times tolerates a season of evil. Why? Not to torture us, not to torment us, but so that we learn from the evil. That we might not, he says, lest my people forget. Sometimes we need to see the process of evil and corruption destroying itself from the inside so that we don't forget, lest we act the same way. Further, David's greater concern here is not even the evil, that that evil be vanquished immediately. See, if David was only interested in his own comfort, it's, Lord strike them down while they're in the yard so that I can be safe in my home. He doesn't pray that. He prays, Lord kill them not, verse 11, lest my people forget. considered about God's glory, and then verse 13, consume them till they are no more, in order that, that word that, so important, in order that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. David prays for God's will to be done in his time and for his greater purpose. Again, just like we saw with Goliath, he said to Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 verses 46 and 47, which if you remember back, that was on Resurrection Sunday, and I asked you to mark down verses 46 and 47 of 1 Samuel, because they were so important, the most important verses in that story of 1 Samuel 17, of David and Goliath. when David says, this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head, and I will give the dead body of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth. Why? that, in order that, all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly would know that the Lord saves, not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give it into your hand." You see, his passion, David has a passion for the glory of God. You see that in verse 13. His passion in his imprecatory prayer was not that he would be vindicated. He was not praying for himself here. He doesn't seek a swift vengeance for his own sake. This is not some generic justice just for justice sake. Lord, allow time for evil to unfold until it comes when you will receive the most glory. Do you pray like that when trials come? When trials come, do you seek immediate relief for your trial? God, I can't take it anymore. Strike down my enemy. Or is it even in the equation of your prayers? Lord, I'm innocent. I want deliverance from you, but your will be done. Jesus modeled this for us. God, do this at the time when you will receive the most glory, even if it means an extended time of pain for myself. It's the desire of every servant of God that God would be magnified and glorified. And we all share this. We share this longing as believers. God, be acknowledged among your people. Be acknowledged among the nations. That's our greatest concern as believers. Do you live your life seeking for opportunities for God to be glorified through you? That's the chief end to which you were created, brother or sister. I'm not talking about merely going out and sharing the gospel and preaching the word, as important as that is. But I'm talking about your day-to-day life and your struggles and your battles. Is your mind all about what's good for you? Or will this and how will this glorify God? When you face a decision, is that decision all about you feeling better, your own comfort, yourself? Or when you're praying for healing, let's say, Lord, I want to feel better. Or is it that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth? May the Lord burn this as an indelible thought into our minds in all that we say and do, that God, that the world may know that there is a God that rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Verses 14 and 15 then, we see another description of the enemies paralleling verses 6 and 7. Each evening they come back howling like dogs, prowling about the city. They wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill. He's scorning them in a sense here. Those who are stalking him by night, they're dogs, they're going about, they're never satisfied, they never have enough. They're always seeking more for themselves. And brethren, that's the nature of evil. It is the nature of evil to be selfish, to be consumed with getting one's fill, If you're here today, and you can take an honest assessment of your life, and you could say that your primary concern is getting your fill in life, getting what you deserve, or what you think you deserve, I have to tell you there's a better way. There is a way of living that forgets about oneself and seeks the good of others, and ultimately, above all, the glory of God. You don't need to run around in circles in your life seeking personal satisfaction from this world that will never come. Like these growling dogs. You're going to find yourself roaming around and it's never going to receive the satisfaction that you're looking for. And instead I invite you today to a better way. A way, yes, that requires you to die to yourself. A way, yes, that will require you to repent of selfishness and take up a cross and follow the most selfless person that ever walked the earth, Jesus Christ. But because he is selfless, you can know that he will take care of you. He will take care of all that concerns you and He will work it out for your good. And because He's Almighty God, that's more than just a sentiment. It is a reality because He has the power to change the circumstance as well as, more importantly, change your heart. So I would invite you to come, all you who labor and are heavy laden, running around in circles in this world, seeking satisfaction. Come to the only one who will satisfy you, the only one who is worthy of praise, that you would repent and believe the gospel and follow Jesus Christ. He will make you, as His Son, selfless, loving, holy, different from this world. Finally, then, take the rest of our time here to consider the chorus in verses 9 and 10, and then 16 and 17. I want you to look at the confidence of a man who is enduring a torrential attack, knowing that he's safely protected by a supernatural power. Verse 9. Oh, my strength, I will watch for you For you, O God, are my fortress. My God, in his steadfast love, will meet me. God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. In this here, the first of two choruses, the psalmist is in a passive position. He's watching. He sees God as his strength and his fortress. He sees this and he's confident in the triumph over his enemy. He understands that God is protecting him and that protection is a manifest of God's chesed, his mercy, his steadfast love. And how does he gain all this security? How does he gain this confidence? How? By watching. What does he say? I will do what? I will watch for you. Don't miss the great blessing here, brothers and sisters, in watching for God. Looking for what our brother, I've heard our brother Bill Rizzo call those God sightings, right? Be on the watch for evidence of God's grace, His goodness, His protection, every day that is surrounding you. Biographer Ian Murray writes of the theologian John Murray, no relation, about how John Murray was in the highlands of Scotland when it was stricken with poverty, and many of the countrymen were coming to the United States, and Murray was urgently praying for guidance. Should I go to the United States as well? And as he's engrossed in prayer by the riverside, suddenly there was a thud by his side, and a salmon had leapt out of the water, fallen by his side, and Murray took that as a sign that he was going to provide for him in Scotland. Now, these kinds, that's a God sighting, right? But they're not always as miraculous, not always as spectacular, but just as they happened to us. Just this week, I was walking in a parking lot. A driver was not looking, backed out, and almost hit me. I literally had to jump out of the way as the car was backing out. Could have gotten angry. The man was negligent. I could have yelled at him. But thankfully, by the grace of God, he didn't hit me. I was thankful. Lord, thank you for protecting me. Maybe there's a lesson for me. Well, there was a lesson for me. Because as soon as I got in my car, I started to back out. And I had the thought, I could do the same thing. And wouldn't you know it, just as I backed up, someone walked right in the back of my car. Why was I alert to that? I was alert to that possibility of their presence because of what just happened to me. And brethren, these kinds of things happen every day. Watch for them. Watch for them. Oh my strength, I will watch for you. Oh God, my fortress. Now look at the second chorus in verses 16 and 17. Slight variation on the second chorus. He says, but I will sing of your strength. I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning, for you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. I want to call your attention to the contrast between the two choruses. Or just first, the contrast in general. The psalmist is singing here of the sufficiency of God's strength, right? He contrasts that to the dogs, unsatisfied dogs, who are growling for more. So they have these dogs, unsatisfied dogs, he contrasts, Lord, you are sufficient. You're my strength. These dogs come in the evening. The psalmist says, I will sing of your love in the morning. There was so much power in having a song in your mouth. You can't complain while you're singing. Also notice here, I will watch, verse 9, which is great. Learned a lot. But verse 17 in the second chorus, I will what? I will sing praise to you. So from the passive posture of watching to the active action of singing. And interestingly, the Hebrew word for watch and sing aloud differ by a single letter, ra'a to ra'na. So going from watch to worship is the pattern of scripture, going from ra'a to ra'na, from watching to worship. It is as we watch and see God working in our lives that we then worship him. You think I had anything else but worship on my mouth as that happened to me last Thursday? Amazing. Verse 17, the ESV says, I will sing praises to you. One translation in the New English Bible has it, I will raise a song to you. So as God raised David from his circumstances by placing him in this proverbial high tower, this fortress, this stronghold, How else can he respond but to raise his voice by singing and shouting and raising a song? For you, God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. I'll close by asking you a question. Can a human being have God as his or her protector? Can you have God as your protector, your shield, your stronghold? The scripture answers this in Romans chapter 8. It says, if God is for us, who can be against us? Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? According to the Apostle Paul's understanding of justification, if God has justified a sinner and cleared him entirely, his record is clean. He is innocent before God. And to think then that he would have anything laid to his charge, anything at all, is unthinkable. as he asks, who is it that condemns? Certainly not Christ, who died for us and intercedes on our behalf. Who is it that condemns? If a person comes under the shelter of the shed blood of God's Son, he is secure. Can you have God as your stronghold? You better believe you can. How? By laying all of your trust on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, as your Lord, as your intercessor, as your deliverer. And nothing shall be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And brethren, that's something to sing about. The refrain again of verse 17 says, oh my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, oh God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. Can imagine maybe he wrote that last verse down as he's going out the window to escape. How it's sung with passion, the same kind of passion as the urgent prayer of verse one. Nothing's changed in his circumstances. He's still got to escape out that window, but he actually sings praise to God in the midst of the danger. This is only possible if he has implicit trust in the stronghold. So my brother or sister, if you're in a situation that is difficult for you to sing praises in, maybe you lack joy, maybe you're facing a particular trial in your life, Start by watching. Look for him. Look for those God sightings. Look for him. Look for his protection. Watch and see how he has kept you in the hour of trial and in the hour of temptation. And then trust him to be the strong tower, your stronghold, who sets you on high above the tumults that threaten your peace. Wait in his watchtower. those are familiar with the Prophet Habakkuk. If you want you can turn to Habakkuk 3. I'm going to close just looking at a few verses there. Just like David, the Prophet Habakkuk waited and watched and that turned into singing. I just want to read you his song in Habakkuk 3 verses 17 to 19. Many of you are familiar with this. Habakkuk 3 verse 17. Notice how the circumstances don't change, but his song, nevertheless, he sings. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail, the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the folds, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet. I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like the deer's. He makes me tread on my high places. Like Habakkuk, like David praised God in the midst of tribulation, when you see danger, don't let that paralyze you. Rather, worship God. Run into your stronghold and worship him as if the danger has passed. You sing to God even while there's no fig, no fruit, no oil, no food, no herd. Sing to the Lord regardless of the circumstance. Put all of your trust in the living God, no one else, nothing else, for He only is your stronghold. Amen. Brother Rob's going to lead us in a prayer of confession.