Good evening and thank you very much especially and welcome all of you to our Thursday prayer gathering. I hope you'll be blessed again this evening. I know that some are watching, still watching on our live If you're happy, please say good hearty amen. Amen. So we miss services for the past five months, more or less. So we feel revived. And we're hoping soon we'll be able to have services gather on Sunday. Again, I'd like to express my personal appreciation to those who have helped us form our local guidelines. There is a church. We've been able to hold our services and observe the proper protocols of our services. During our first meeting, it was attended by Dr. Raymond Liberato, Tony Robledo, Tony Mixon, and Sir Christian Gambaya, Sir Mark Ingay, Ma'am Ellen Ingay, Ma'am Elsie, and also Sir Leonardo. So we came up with a good things for the services. And then also I'd like to again thank Brother Raymond, Dr. Raymond and Mamba Joyce for briefing our workers here around the proper use on how to properly use our face shields and our face masks. I feel like you're helping the sick in the space shuttle. It's a new thing to us. We thank the Lord that it protects us. Also, thank you, Rejoice Raymond. face shields and also face masks. The Imam Joe Asano for face masks and also alcohol. So we really need that around here in the church. Your Bible, please. I preached on Psalm 91 last night and this time I am preaching on Psalm 57. There are 11 verses here in Psalm 57. One more announcement on this coming Tuesday, 2 o'clock, 1.30. Most likely at 1.30 we will have the interment, the service for Sir Mike Marisigan, funeral service for Sir Mike Marisigan. And of course the government allows relatives to attend. It will be online also, live online, so if you want to watch for that, So you can, so the services will be here in church. So please pray for that. And Psalm 57, verses number 1 to 11, in your Bible please tonight. Psalm 57, verses number 1 up to verse number 11. Psalm of David. And then, be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusted in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until this calamity, this pandemic, be overpassed. I will cry unto God, Most High, and to the God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions and lie even among them that are set on fire. Even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword, be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. And they have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have digged a pit before me into the midst, whereof they are falling themselves, Sela. My heart is fixed. O God, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. Awake up my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp. I myself will awake early. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto Thee among the nations. For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens and Thy truth unto the clouds. Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let Thy glory be above all the earth. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for the Word of God. Thank You for this gathering. here tonight to give our people the chance to join us in our midweek prayer gathering. Lord, I pray that the Word of God will bring real strength to us, encouragement to us. We know that there is always the strength and power that we receive from the hearing and the learning from the Word of God. And so, we know it is so important for us to preach the Word of God to your people, especially nowadays. During this time of great crisis, we need the encouragement from the Word of God, consolation that would come from the Word of God. Lord God, those who are hearing us through live streaming tonight, I also pray for your blessing upon them. Heal those who are sick right now. And those who need revival, touch their lives, touch their hearts tonight. For in Jesus' precious name we pray, Amen and Amen. The message tonight is entitled, Glorifying God in Times of Trials. Glorifying God in Times of Trials. This is a psalm of David. And it most probably was written when he was being chased by King Saul and was in the cave of Enjidim, being chased by King Saul. Saul actually entered the very cave where David and his men were hiding. Later, if you study the Bible, Later Saul's life was spared by the generosity of David. That is recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 24. According to the record, the rabbins, these are the scholars, the rabbins say that God sent a spider to weave a web on the mouth of the cave in which David and his men hid. saw the spider's web and went into the cave with complete confidence that it was empty. We have no way of knowing whether this actually happened or not, but if it did happen, it would illustrate how God can use the most feeble means to protect. His children. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, the Apostle Paul said, whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. We are glorifying God in all aspects of our lives and most importantly, we need to recognize, we need to glorify God even in times of trials. Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all Paul said to the glory of God. Paul meant let the promotion of God's glory and honor be your aim in all that you do. Strive in everything to act in such a way that others may praise Others may honor God whom you profess to serve because they have seen His attributes shining through your life. You see, we live as a testimony. We give a clear testimony of our God, the God that we serve, especially in a time of trial. Like Job above, God was glorified. And like David and the three Hebrew men, in the end, God was glorified. You know what Jesus said? This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. There are 11 verses, and there are two major thoughts that we would like to consider in this chapter. From verses 1-6, the first thought is this, we glorify the Lord, when we trust Him in our trials. We glorify the Lord. Last night our first point in Psalm 91 was trust God. Trust God. Here we are glorifying God. We give Him the glory and we give a good testimony to others. We glorify the Lord when we trust Him in our trials. Psalm 57 was written during one of the lower points in David's life. while David had been anointed as the future king of Israel and is growing in respect among the people. Not everyone is eager to see that David prosper and Saul, King Saul, the current king, despises David's growing popularity. He hates that and eventually determines that David must die. In God's plan, David David finds out about Saul's intention, and as a result he was able to hide himself. Before long, David finds himself hiding in a cave from King Saul, and those who seek his life He was able to run away from them. Now, it's from this experience of hiding in a cave that Psalm 57 is written. So you have the background there. Now let us look at the things involved in trusting the Lord. Remember this, we glorify the Lord when we trust Him during the times of trials in our lives. There are things that are involved when we say trusting God. Number one, trusting God means relying upon God alone. That's number one. Trusting God simply means you are completely relying upon God alone. Look at verse number one, please. In verse number one, Psalm 57, Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. For my soul, He says what? Trusteth in Thee. For my soul trusteth in Thee. In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my repudes until this calamity be passed. This calamity be overpassed. David describes his cross as taking refuge in God. Like the thought we had yesterday, he uses the picture of baby chicks which take refuge under their mother's wings when a predator threatens them. They are entrusting their lives to their mother's protection. And let me say this, in the same way, we are to take refuge in God. We are to entrust ourselves depending upon Him to protect us, casting all your care upon Him, for He, the Bible says, careth for you. Amen? By the way, relying upon God alone means that we consciously do not rely upon two things. Two things. Relying upon God means that we consciously do not rely upon two things. Number one, we do not rely on human merit. Human merit. You know, things that you're able to do. And maybe the Lord will help me because of this and that, because of what I have done, because of what I myself have accomplished. In verse number one, be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. This particular time was one of the most crucial times in David's life. There was no way that he, with his own ingenuity, his own resources, his own recourse, David could save himself. Therefore, he cried for mercy of God, for the health of God. What a beautiful example this psalm sets for us. David did not plead his consecration. He did not plead his dedication or his holiness. Because to do that, to have done so would have constituted self-righteousness. He emptied himself before God. Not trying to argue with how good he was and what good accomplishment he has done in his life. But he totally emptied himself and put himself at the mercy of God. Be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful, he says, unto me. And in fact, he was saying that he did not deserve to be rescued. He did not deserve to be saved. For he could not plead any merit. He said, be merciful unto me, O God. What a lesson for us. What a lesson for those who are self-righteous people. Here is a man after God's own heart. David was a man whose heart was so patterned like the heart of God. So look at this, a man after God's own heart, but yet he claimed no merit before God. David could not trust in any man to save him, but the people that he came into contact with sought to betray him. Those who he tried to help were trying to betray him. In the natural, there was no way that he could be spared. He knew his only hope was in God. His only safety was found in God. He said, My soul is entrusted in Thee. Despite the tremendous danger, David felt in his spirit that God was shadowing him, overshadowing him. David felt that God was protecting him. God was his refuge. You know what he says? Look at the statement he made here, until these calamities be overpassed. And we can say this tonight, until this threat of great pandemic be overpassed. And it's a statement actually, until these calamities be overpassed. It is a statement of faith. Even though the calamities were present, David had faith in God that one day they would end. Amen? That's our hope. And indeed, one day it did end. The problems, the trials of David have ended. It all came, so to speak, to pass. Now, again, let me emphasize that. Relying upon God alone means that we consciously do not rely upon two things. Number one, we do not rely on human merit. Number two, we do not rely on human means. Here David is hiding in a cave. But he didn't see the cave as his refuge. He never made mention about the cave being his place of safety. But he talks about God. God, you are my hiding place. You are my refuge. And during this time, our real security is found only in the hands of God. Is there an amen to that? God. He saw beyond the cave to the Lord. And the point is David hid in the cave, but he didn't trust in the cave but the Lord. We need to trust the Lord. The message of Psalm 57 tonight is we need to put our trust in the God that we serve. Trusting God means relying upon Him alone. Number two, trusting God will always bring us to His blessed presence in prayer. You see, if you trust the Lord, you pray. And prayer brings us into the very throne of God, the very presence of God. The way is open. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. That is God's invitation to us. We can come to God. Look at verse 1 and verse number 2. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. For my soul trusted in thee, yet in the shadow of thy wings. I like that. I find my security under the shadow of your wings. And yeah, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge until this calamity be overpassed. I will cry unto God most high, he says. What does it mean? I will come to the throne of God. I am praying. I will come unto God most high, unto the God that performeth all things. In my behalf. All things for me. Not just some things, but all things. Trusting God will always bring us to His blessed presence through prayer. Prayer is the language of trust. Remember this. If you trust the Lord, you pray. If you trust the Lord, you always practice prayer. This psalm is primarily, Psalm 57, a prayer. Prayer is an acknowledgement that our need is not partial, but total. Prayer says to God and to anyone else around us, those who surround us, we say when we pray, you know what we are telling them, what we are telling God, I am dependent, I am a dependent person. I am not self-sufficient. That simply means, I cannot handle this situation in my own strength. But only in your strength, Lord. That is why we pray. Once you come to the Lord in prayer, you are telling God, you are telling those who are around you, that you entirely entrust everything into the hands of God. Verse 2, I will cry unto the Most High, Unto the God that performeth all things for me. Thank God for that. Number three, trusting God simply means that I recognize that God is the Creator, and because He is the God, He is the Sovereign God, so therefore I see Him as greater than all my problems. Do you have some problems right now? You see, remember this, God is always bigger. God is always greater than our problems. Verses number 4 to 6, David describes his situation actually in a poetic language here. Let us read verse number 4 up to verse number 6. Now my soul is among lions. This is how he describes his enemies. And I lie among them that are set on fire. Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongues sharp swords, be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. And then this is another thing he describes. They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have dug a pit before me into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Can you imagine those who try to entrap you if you serve the Lord? You know, you remember in the book of Esther, you remember what Haman did to Mordecai. The very plan he had set to destroy Mordecai. He became the means of his own death. That is what the Bible is saying here. And so, David realized that God is greater than all of his problems. God is wiser than all of those people. David describes his situation in a poetic language here. It's as though he is surrounded by lions. whose teeth are like spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords." They're out there to get David. He's actually outnumbered. And it just seemed like a matter of time until he's caught in their net. They set a net to entrap me. They set a net to entrap me. Verse number 5 and 6, yes. The danger he was facing were many. But God is in full control of everything. In Genesis 15 verse 1, After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield. I am thy shield, and the exceeding great reward. In Isaiah 41 verse 10, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. That is God's promise. That is God's promise. We can claim it. Number one, we glorify the Lord when we trust Him in our trials. Let's move into number two. Another thing that David did that glorified God is he continually praised Him, not only trusting God, but he continually praised Him in all his trials. Psalms are songs, and some of these songs were uttered by David, composed by David, when he was inside the cave of Adullam, when he was hiding for his life. What does it mean? When he was hiding, when he was running for his life, away for his life, he was also at the same time singing and praising God. So David continually praised God in all of his trials. Look at verse number 7. Verse number 7, it says there, My heart is fixed. Oh God, my heart is settled. My heart is fixed. And then look at this. Fixed for what? I will sing and give praise to God. Can you imagine? I will sing. I will sing and give praise. This means that David had long since determined that whatever the price, whatever would happen to him, he would follow the Lord despite the great difficulties. He will continue to sing and give praise to God. So far as we can tell, David is still in the cave. While he was saying these words, while he was writing these songs, inspired of course by the Holy Spirit of God, Well, he was putting into words these thoughts, these things that God gave him. He was still in the cave. Saul is still the king and still after him. David's circumstances, thank the Lord, they have not changed much. And yet, instead of self-pity and complaining, Instead of pitying, David showed himself praising God. He was praising God. David teaches two things about praise. He teaches two things about praise. Number one, look at verse 7 and verse 9. Praise is a matter of concentrated focus. You are determined. That no matter what, he was so concentrated upon God. The purpose was set. Concentrated means wholly directed to one thing. No matter what, I will praise God. Praise is not our natural response in a time of trial, actually. What is a natural response? Our natural response when trials come is to complain. Our natural response is we get angry at God. Our natural response is we get depressed. We get overwhelmed. We question, we doubt. But even though David's enemy had fixed a net to catch him in verse number 6, David had fixed his heart in verse 7 to praise God, no matter what. Whatever you do against me, David says, whatever problems come to me, I will praise the Lord. It will not affect me. Praising God. The problems that we are facing today is not easy. We can continually praise the Lord. Amen. Praise the Lord. To praise God. The repeated affirmation shows that it was a matter of concentrated choice. It was a fixed choice to to serve the Lord no matter what. I will serve the Lord. I will sing and give praise. This is one thing we can learn from David that whenever we go through some difficult trial and you're getting depressed, you're overwhelmed like David, set your heart to praise the Lord and sing some wonderful hymns. You can download YouTube our songs and then begin to sing. You have a hard time catching with the right tune and what I do is I go to the YouTube and I follow their... I go into the Baptist way of singing and then they have with their lyrics and then I begin to follow. Sing and sing and sing and You have to try to sing. You have to practice it. You have to love it. Praise, number two, is a matter of sharing with others all the goodness of the Lord in your life. Look at verse number nine. Why do we have to praise God and sing in the midst of our trials? I will, verse number nine, I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations, for thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. I love that. So praise is a matter of sharing with others all the goodness of God in your life. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. David wants the nations who don't know God, to hear His testimony of praise. Now again, let me read verse number 9. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto Thee among the nations. Now begin to analyze the situation here. You know what you learn there? When He said, as a King, I want to sing among the nations." And did David go into these nations and try to conduct concerts? He said, I will go into the nations, Africa or Europe, and nations in Europe or wherever. Did he do that? I will sing among the nations. You see, being king, he would openly be visited by by other kings, dignitaries from foreign lands. Ambassadors would come and visit him. And David, you know, other presidents would greet their guests with cocktails. David would offer songs of God. And he was noted by that. He said, I will sing. That simply means those dignitaries would gather and visit David. Those ambassadors would pay him a visit. And David would entertain them with the songs and the testimony of God. God can always use your influence, the influence of your position in life. to reach the people within your circle. See, not everyone can talk to those kings, only David. You know what he did? He used that influence, being a king, to talk to those kings, to talk to those dignitaries, to talk to those ambassadors. David was a king, so God used him to testify to kings, to ambassadors, to diplomats, people within his rank. So I would say this, what a message we learned here. If you're a doctor, God wants to use you to win those who are in the medical profession. You can understand their language, you can understand their need. If you're a businessman, God wants you to reach those who are in the business world. You can better understand their struggles. And if you're a student, God wants you to reach other students for Christ. If you're a teacher, God wants you to do the same to your students or to your fellow, your co-teachers. David was a king of a nation, so his focus was to the nations. If you're a truck driver or a jeep driver, And I know that you can understand better the driver, so you give the Word of God to them. God wants to use your position in life. Whether it's high position, and whether it's a middle class position. If you're a farmer, God wants you to reach out to the farmers. If you're a fisherman, God wants you to reach out to the fishermen. If you're a fish vendor, God wants you to reach out to those fish vendors. They are souls and they need the testimony of God. So David says, I will sing to the nation. How did he do that? When dignitaries came, when kings came, he entertained them with the song. What a testimony. In my conclusion tonight, there are five things that we can learn from David in Psalm 57. When trials come into our lives, when we are bombarded with so many difficulties in life, learn from David. Number one, as part of my conclusion tonight, there are five things that I would like for us to remember. Number one, we must always take We must always take refuge in God. You come to God. We always find our help from God. That's God's people. Number two, we need to take refuge in God because He will always provide us with shelter and protection. That's number one. Number two, always cry out to God. That's number two. Practice prayer. Number three, God is always available for our help. His throne is always open. Number four, He will always provide us victory. And then number five, always praise the Lord no matter what. Verse seven, my heart is fixed. Oh God, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise to the Lord. Verse number nine, He says, I will praise Thee among the nations. I will sing unto thee among the nations. And then verse 11, be thou exalted, O God, above all heavens. Let thy glory be above all. What a life of praise. What a life of thanksgiving. The life of David was. Do you want to be more closer to the Lord? Then come to Him every time we have trials. Come to the Lord. Draw yourself closer to God. Cry out to God. And always see God as your place of refuge. And all of God's people say, Amen. We need to pray. Pray for our members who are not feeling well. Pray for our members who are struggling spiritually. Pray for strength and revival among us, for God's continued protection. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the Word of God preached tonight. Thank you for the strength you have extended to us. And dear Lord, we again look forward to our live streaming service on Sunday. Continue, Father, to bless and protect every individual member of our church. meet their needs, dear Lord. Thank you for the life of David in providing us great examples, writing these wonderful songs, even when he was hiding for his life inside the cave. Yet, Lord, he continued praising and praying and glorifying Thee. Lord, that is what we need in this time of great crisis. We need to continually pray and find Thee as our only place of refuge, our provider, our shield, our fortress. Bless, Lord, tonight. Bless the Word of God. Continue to work in our lives, in our hearts, through the Word of God. May nothing hinder the blessings of the Lord to come into our lives, the blessing of the Lord to come into our church. Bless, Lord, whoever is sick right now, whoever is having some difficulties right now, that watch us, hear us, Lord. I pray that your mighty hand would reach out to them and meet their needs exactly tonight. We thank you for who you are, for everything that you have done in our lives. All of this we pray in Jesus' name, amen and amen.