In a moment, we're going to read from Psalm 13. Psalm 13. We just heard from Psalm 113, but we're going to be reading from Psalm 13. This is the Psalm of David. It's part of a cycle, the beginning cycle of the Psalter. And in this early cycle, this first cycle, David pours out his heart in the Psalms. It's one of the wonders of the book of Psalms. is that it is so heartfelt. The book of Psalms is so heartfelt. It's David or Asaph or Korah pouring out their hearts to God. It can be very surprising and even shocking when we read these poems, really, because they are so human. They run the gamut of human emotions and human thoughts. Everything that comes into the mind of David is poured out in these Psalms, or what goes through Korah. Korah has some remarkable Psalms where he just lays it out before the Lord. It's wonderful to see this, because it reminds us that God knows us through and through. Nothing surprises Him. It may surprise us what bubbles up from our dark hearts, but it doesn't surprise the living God. And so we shouldn't hold back when we come to God in prayer, but we should pour out our hearts to Him. I love my Baptist friends, and they have wonky doctrine, but when it comes to their feelings, They're just so wonderful. They express themselves and I love hanging out with the Baptist because they they're very comfortable with their maybe too comfortable at times And I always joke my background is Scottish. So I'll tell people I know I have emotions. I'm just not sure where they are once in a while, I find them and we'll take them out and look at them, but But David pours out he's very Mediterranean and He pours out His emotions. We're going to see this in a moment. Before we do, let's gather in prayer before our Heavenly Father and ask Him to illuminate our minds and our hearts that we would receive His Word gladly. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day of rest, the day that begins the week. It's wonderful to begin each new week freshly in worship before You. In the morning and in the evening, beginning and end of the day, we come to you in worship. We praise your holy name. We hear of your promises. We hear of your righteousness. And we hear of your accomplishments in Jesus Christ. And we are refreshed. We are renewed in our minds and in our hearts as we are reminded Lord of all that you have done in Jesus Christ and that we can truly rest in Jesus Your Sabbath is a Sabbath rest in which we come and rest from our labors of the past week and and we rest in the Lord Father that's what we want to do. We want to rest in you. We don't want to live a life where we're trying to claw our way into righteousness. That was the old man, O Lord. The new man is refreshed. The new man sees with fresh eyes what Jesus Christ has accomplished already on the cross and in his life, that he is the righteous one, and that we draw our strength and our hope and our love from him. And so, Father, we pray that you would minister to us as we open your word, and as we hear David's own cry for help, that it would speak to us, that we wouldn't be ashamed of our weakness and our frailty, but we would bring it all to you, O Lord, who loves us, and who redeems us, and who continues to sanctify us by your Holy Spirit and the Word. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So the title of the sermon is A Godly Cry for Help. David writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God. Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemies say I have prevailed over him, lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me." Well, this psalm records the cry of the afflicted, the cry of the afflicted, and therefore harmonizes with several of the preceding psalms, as I said. This is Psalm 13, but the preceding 12 also have many heart cries in them. Here, in Psalm 13, David rested confidently on the royal love of the Lord. But it doesn't begin that way. By the end, he is resting in the Lord. But it begins with him very disrupted in his thoughts and in his feelings and in his soul. He rests confidently in the royal love of the Lord by the end of the psalm, even though he finds no immediate deliverance from the oppression of the adversary, God's enemy. And we don't know who exactly the enemy is. Is David talking about an earthly enemy? A human enemy? Or is he talking about an enemy from the dark domain? Satan or one of his minions. We're not sure, but David is facing an enemy. The enemy seems to be overwhelming him, and he is in despair at the beginning of this psalm. By the end of it, though, a mere five verses or six verses later, he is declaring the excellencies of God as God ministers to his beloved one, David. David feels isolated at the beginning from God and calls out to Him to be vindicated. He again finds rest in the Lord's unfailing love. Once again, David discovers God's unfailing love. He begins by questioning, does God really love me? Is basically his question. But by the end he realizes, yes, God loves me. He always has loved me. The structure of this afternoon's sermon is David's perplexity, verses 1 and 2, David's petition, prayerful petition, verses 3 and 4, and then David's praise, verses 5 and 6. We begin with the first point, David's perplexity, the first two verses. David's perplexity. Four times, four times, David asks the Lord in various ways, how long? How long is this going to go on? How long will you forget me? Verse one. How long will you look the other way? Again, verse one. How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul? Verse two. And how long will my enemy have the upper hand? Have you ever had that experience? Life can be going very well. merrily on your way. But then something happens. Either your health declines or a loved one's health declines. There's a disruption in your family or at work or in your neighborhood. It can be a physical ailment, a spiritual ailment, a moral ailment. And suddenly you hit a wall and then you collapse. And it's horrible. It can be horrible. And it can last for a couple of hours, a couple of days, a couple of weeks, a couple of months. As a pastoral chaplain at an oxford pallet, it's a factory, I'm ministering to 80 men, mostly men, there's some girls there too, but it's mostly the guys that I minister to, and I hear that often, how long? How long will this go on? Someone's little girl's in a car accident and suffers a catastrophic injury to her mind. How long is this going to go on, Lord? How long will my little girl suffer? How long before she can regain something as simple as motor skills? or speech. One moment she was speaking, the next minute she is mute because of this catastrophic injury. That's just one of many instances. You know, another young mother giving birth and is overwhelmed with all kinds of mental and emotional and moral crises all of a sudden. It's like she's suffering a psychotic episode. How long? How long will this go on? You ask the doctors. It could go on forever. It might be ameliorated by medicine. It may not. How long? How long will this go on? Well, that's the cry of David's heart as well. How long? The four-fold repetition expresses agitation. deep anguish, deep anguish. There's a sense of anguish and sorrow that closes off all other perspective. While David, it's like he is in a pit. If you've ever been in a pit, working in a pit, digging in a pit, those walls can be very high and you can't see anything around you. All you see is the walls that enclose you. That's what David is feeling. He's feeling enclosed at this moment. The anguish is overwhelming. And unless the Lord answers David and answers his prayer, it's as though David is at death's door. That's how he feels. What's next? Death? You know, one moment he is the apple of God's eye. It seems that he can do no wrong. He's a great warrior. I mean, he's a Renaissance man before the Renaissance came, a great warrior. in single-hand combat with bears and lions? I mean, what kind of guy is that? And then when he goes into the field of battle, he's a great commander, and he has thousands and tens of thousands of men behind him, and he is leading the charge. They loved him. But not only was he a great military genius, he was also a poet. He wrote some of the best poetry in the Bible and in the world. Psalm 23, has anyone read that and not been touched by how beautiful and profound it is? It's my go-to and many pastors' go-to passage when I'm with someone who is sick or dying in hospital or at home or in hospice. I read that and the person can be agitated. And after reading it, suddenly God ministers to them and there's a sense of peace. David wrote that under God's inspiration. He's a great man. But here he is in the pit of despair, wondering how long. Brothers and sisters, you may have gone through that yourself, or you know somebody who has gone through that. And you know, it grieves my heart, and maybe it grieves your heart too. Oftentimes, when we go through those moments, we cry out to the Lord, how long? Or we share with a brother or sister, how long? I'm feeling in despair. And what happens? Oftentimes, it's very sad. The person that we confide in, it's like they judge us because we're going through some crisis. And there's depression. The Reformed and Presbyterian doctrine, the best doctrine, the best systematic theologians in the Christian world, and therefore the world. And yet we have a hard time when it comes to the human stuff sometimes. And we're great when it comes to the theory and theology and doctrine. But ministering to people can be a challenge. People are messy. Human life is messy. Even Christian life can be very, very messy. We can get ourselves into pits. And David was in this pit of despair. God is giving us this example to minister to us so that we see this is part of human life. This is part also of the Christian journey that we are on. There are times when people will be in despair and we shouldn't judge them, necessarily. I mean, it could be secret sin. It's true. It could be secret sin that's bringing them there. But it could also be the mysterious hand of God in providence. Oftentimes, mysteriously, God uses human suffering to wear us down, to open up new doors, to refine us, to cultivate a new spirit within us, or refresh our old spirit. He often uses suffering for our good. It's tremendously mysterious. But that is the message of the book of Job. I would challenge you to read that if you haven't already seen that. Job is all about suffering and how God uses it for His glory, but also for the good of His people. Oftentimes, in the 21st century, because of medical wonders that we have, we pray the suffering away. Dear Lord, if you can, take away this suffering. Which is, it's normal and natural that we do that. But sometimes, oftentimes, God does not take away the suffering. We don't know what to do, and we button our lips because we don't want to share it, because people might think that we lack faith because we're suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus Christ suffered his entire life He was the perfect one, the righteous one. Suffering is often used by God's hand to refine and to refresh and to deepen. Some of our most precious insights come from struggle. Think of it. When things are going well, your mind kind of gets shut off and you enjoy the pleasures of the day. But when you're in suffering, you're forced to reflect, to look at yourself, to look at others and to cry out to God. This is what David is doing. He's crying out to God. He's had a very golden life. But if you'd look at David's life before now, he wasn't a very reflective man. He sort of had things easy. He's a great champion. But now he's reflecting. And it's painful. It's painful. How long, O Lord? Well, David doesn't remain in the pit. He doesn't remain feeling sorry for himself. He's only on the pity parade for a little while. He now, in the second point, verses three through four, he cries out to the Lord in petition. David's petition. David makes two requests of the Lord. First, in verse three, he prays to the Lord, restore me. And second, which I find very curious, verse four, do not let my enemies gloat over me. Do not let my enemies gloat over me. Now, he's not saying to destroy the enemies. He's saying that these are enemies that are ranged against God's righteousness. This is not a prayer that we can say for somebody that bugs us. You know, our neighbor gets under our skin, so we pray this prayer. No, that would be the wrong application. These are people who hate the Lord and hate the Lord's people. These are people that are trying to crush the Old Testament Church and David, who was a representative of the Old Testament Church. And David is praying that the enemies of God and of God's people would not prevail. This is a proper prayer. We have to be very careful with the imprecatory Psalms, but this is a proper prayer. When we see in our world the enemies of God ranged against Christ. Our minds will immediately go to different movements, different trends of thought and behavior. There's a lot of them out there now. The 21st century is a marvel of heresies and debauchery and twisted philosophies. Thank you, enlightenment, for all the bitter fruit that you have borne in our lives. And David is praying in his day, don't let the enemies prevail over me, over, and basically over God. We should be praying that too, that the enemies of God would not ultimately prevail in our lives, in the life of the church, and the life of our community. I originally came from the United Church, and so know keenly how the popular trends of the world, the world of flesh and the devil, can get the better of a church Because at some point, the church forgot to be righteous according to God's will. And the United Church had been praying, Lord, do not let the enemies prevail over me. Instead, they allowed, in the United Church, the enemies to prevail over them. But David is praying, Lord, don't let the enemies prevail over me. Restore me. Only the Lord can bring enlightenment, true enlightenment to the mind. And only the Lord can bring genuine relief to the sin-sick soul, or to the soul that is depressive or in despair. Yes, medicine is very helpful. I'm not an anti-medicine. I'm not anti-medical. But if we think about it for a moment, Who is the one who makes all things and who sustains all things? It's God. And Colossians tells us it's Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son, who makes all things, who sustains all things, and to whom all things will be received. Jesus Christ is the one who sustains all things. He does ordain secondary means to help us. So He ordains that at certain times, in certain ways, medicine, real medicine, Tylenol or Advil or whatever, can heal us. But ultimately, behind all of that is God ordaining it. God is the true healer. And sometimes, oftentimes, He uses the secondary means of medicine to heal but it always ultimately comes from God. God is the great healer. So when we take our medicine, it's entirely appropriate to pray, Lord, use this Tylenol. Lord, use this surgery. Lord, use this nursing program to heal. Because God is delighted to use secondary means that actually exalts His name. Look at God, He uses everything. Everything in the universe is his he is great king over all things and he is the one who orders all things But god is the source of all genuine healing And david feels afflicted And so david knows the true source or the true healing of his affliction is the lord god almighty So david prays to the lord lord restore me and don't let my enemies prevail over me May your name be exalted. He earnestly prayed, lest he sleep in death. See, he's worried. He doesn't want to die in despair. He wants to be God's, and so he prays, God, be gentle to me. Be gracious to me. And thirdly, the third point is David's praise. Notice he goes from the pit of despair to then turning to God and lifting his eyes from this world up to heaven. And then the last part is praise. So often in life, Especially when we're going through suffering, what's the first thing that we do? We almost always turn inward. We become very subjective. Even the most objective person, when they're in pain or suffering, will turn inward. We suddenly become fantastic experts in our navel. We become navel gazers. Poor me. Look at what's happening to me. And we intensify the suffering. Because we're thinking only of ourselves in our immediate condition and we're not looking at God who is eternal and who governs all things and does all things well. When we are subjective, we are looking at the immediate circumstances. and we're not realizing or we're not remembering that God has eternal plans. This is so vitally important if we're going to understand the purpose of suffering. The purpose of suffering has eternal consequences. And when we pray the suffering away immediately, we can lose the lesson. There's lessons in suffering. There's lessons. We should be praying. I'm not saying that we shouldn't pray for healing. Absolutely, but if the healing doesn't come immediately then we should pray Lord teach me through this suffering What you would have me do I want to use this suffering for your glory. Please don't let me squander this I don't want to be self-absorbed. I don't want to pity myself. I want to use my suffering for your glory so Lord Open my mind Help me to understand why I am suffering. Why is your hand so heavily on me? Is there secret sin that needs to be confessed? Or is there arrogance or pride that needs to be broken down? Is my heart too hard and I'm not loving and gracious? Lord, show me. Brothers and sisters, there's been so many people who through suffering have matured. It is wonderful and amazing. It is so mysterious. How could suffering make a person wiser, gentler, kinder, more gracious? This is God at work in the person's life. And this is a way that we become Christ-like. Christ embraced suffering, not because he was masochistic, because he was demonstrating to us a very important lesson. We are people, creatures of flesh and bone, nerve and sinew, and we live in a fallen world. And one of the ways that God makes us shine is through suffering. He is buffing our souls. So David, in the third part, gives praise to God. Verses five and six. David praises the living God. David trusts in the Lord on failing love and rejoices because God is good to him. He begins in the pit of despair, and by verse 6, he is rejoicing. He's rejoicing in spite of his suffering. He is rejoicing. David expressed his trust in the Lord's unfailing love, that royal, loyal love the Lord has for those who trust in Him. God is our Heavenly Father, and He loves us. in a way that we really can't comprehend. And yet, David realizes this God who has called him and brought him into covenant relationship with him, this is the same God who loves him and cares for him and shepherds him through these moments. David no longer hears the ridicule of his foes. As he turns from himself and looking inward and turns to God, the foes and their cries and their hackles fade because he's focusing on the eternal. This light, momentary affliction is preparing for us a weight of glory beyond all earthly comparison as we look not to the things here and now, but to the things of eternity. That's what we need to do. We need to have an eternal perspective, especially on our suffering, because the truth is, I don't need a crystal ball, and I don't need to be a prophet to know that there are people in this congregation who are hearing my voice who are already suffering in body, morally or mentally, or who will enter into a season of suffering. And brothers and sisters, if we do not learn how to suffer in a godly, biblical, Christ-honoring way, we squander that suffering. We squander that suffering. And yet, Scripture has so much to say about human suffering. And there is, in a very real way, a beauty to the suffering. Not in the suffering itself, but what can come out of it. Look at the suffering that Jesus endured. It resulted in His resurrection and glory. He's demonstrating something to us. He's demonstrating that sometimes the suffering produces great pearls. David assured, David now assured that his prayer has been heard, resolves to rejoice and sing to the Lord for giving David salvation and for dealing so bountifully with David. In the midst of his suffering, David counts his blessings. David counts his blessings in the midst of suffering. Brothers and sisters, we need to take that lesson and make it our own. To count our blessings, even and especially in the midst of sorrow. Think of Paul, who was cast into the deepest, darkest prison, but only after he had been beaten. Been beaten, and then thrown into prison, and it was the deepest, darkest part of the prison, the oublié, where people are forgotten. And what does he do there? He sings the praises of God. He could have said, poor me, I've been beaten, and so have my companions, and we're bloody and bruised. And now, not only that, but we're in the darkest, dankest part of the prison. Instead, he took that opportunity to praise the living God. In another portion of scripture, David says that he rejoices that he is included in Christ's suffering, that he's numbered among those who are worthy to suffer for the Lord. That should be us. We should count ourselves worthy. I'm saying that as a true confession. I'm a real wimp when it comes to pain, believe me. I'm not saying this because I'm a warrior at suffering. I'm simply looking at scripture, seeing this lesson, and realizing, brothers and sisters, there is real wisdom in suffering, and we might encounter it in our own lives. So we better learn from David and learn from Christ as well. David's piercing cry, in conclusion, David's piercing cry for help becomes a confident song of hope. Aside from desiring survival for his own sake, David does not want his enemies to overcome him because he was God's chosen king and beloved one. David wants God's name to be exalted. And so David cries to the Lord and the Lord is gracious and He ministers to David and he speaks peace to his heart such that David is able to rejoice even and especially in his suffering. Brothers and sisters, may God grant us the grace to also rejoice in our sufferings and to count our blessings when God's hand is heavy in mysterious providence, heavy on us when we suffer. And may God bring forth fruit from our suffering, and may it be for his glory and our good. Let us pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful, very personal heart cry from David, your beloved son, in earthly terms. He was the apple of your eye, O Lord, And you granted him so many gifts in his earthly existence. You made him a great king. You made him a great poet. He was a leader of men. He did many great accomplishments, Heavenly Father, and yet he was one who suffered in his soul and in his mind. And he cried out to you, how long, O Lord? Father, we thank you that in the pages of Scripture, your revealed word shows us that you ministered to him in his hour of need. And Lord, we pray that you would minister to us in our hour of need, that when we go through trials and temptations and tribulations, that we would tear our eyes away from ourself and our own predicament, and we would turn our eyes to heaven and to the heavenly throne and to Christ, heavenly Father. Father, we thank you that he is the risen one, that he has vanquished sin and death in the grave, and he sits in highest heaven at your right hand, O Lord, where he ministers to the church. Father, we pray that Christ would minister to us, even now, that he would minister to us, that you would fill our hearts with love and joy. that we would rejoice, O Lord, in weal and in woe, in good times and in bad, that we would rejoice in you, for you are the source of all life and the source of our blessedness. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.