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Hope & Light When All Around Is Dark... (1 of 2)
Trusting God When We Are in Distress
Psalm 31:1-24
We’re considering how to hope in God and trust Him in the midst of the storms of life. We all know that difficult and painful circumstances are a reality. During seasons of our lives, I’m sure we’ve all faced things that are deeply difficult and even distressing.
Psalm 31:24 (ESV) –
“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 73:28 (ESV) –
“But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”
Psalms 31 and 73 give voice to the emotions we face when experiencing hard seasons and help us maintain a godly perspective. The Bible is honest about the reality of struggle.
Psalm 34:19 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
John 16:33 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Psalm 119:71 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”
James 1:2-3 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
Psalm 31:9-11 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my 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, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.”
There is an entire category of psalms known as laments. David laments the trouble, pain, danger, grief and humiliation that he found himself facing.
• How should I respond when life goes sideways?
• How do I respond when things go terribly wrong?
Sometimes we face circumstances that are overwhelming, painful and distressing. Responding faithfully to such difficulties doesn’t mean minimizing these painful realities. Faithfulness includes lament and boldly calling out to God in trust!
Psalm 31:1-5 (ESV) –
“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 for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
1. In the midst of difficulty and pain it’s right to lament.
When we find ourselves in anguish facing hard things, we need to be honest with God about our deepest feelings. This is the circumstance for lament, for crying out to God with our feelings of pain and in the midst of it all expressing deep trust in Lord.
Psalm 31, superscription (ESV) –
“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.”
Psalm 31:2 (ESV) –
“Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!”
Psalm 18:2 (ESV) –
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 31:6-8 (ESV) –
“I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in 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.”
Psalm 31:6 (ESV) –
“I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord.”
Psalm 31:7 (ESV) –
“I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul…”
In verses 9-13, allow yourself to feel the emotional weight.
Psalm 31:9-13 (ESV) –
“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my 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,
and 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 like 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.”
Allow yourself to feel and experience the anguish in these words – the words distress, grief, sorrow and sighing all appear in verses 9-10.
Psalm 31:9-10 (NIV, emphasis mine) –
“Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.”
In verse 11 we see that his neighbors, acquaintances (or friends) and people on the street rejected him. He felt abandoned and alone. In verse 13 we see that people were plotting against him to take his life. We’ve all known what it feels like to be surrounded by the pain.
Psalm 23:4 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Job 3:24-26 (ESV) –
“For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
Psalm 31:14-18 (ESV) –
“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 from my persecutors!
Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
O Lord, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon 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.
2. When facing awful times and painful circumstances we must actively choose to trust God!
David’s prayer continues from the point of desperation and anguish and we see that in the midst of crying out to God and pleading for His deliverance he expresses a deep and enduring trust in the Lord.
Psalm 31:5 (ESV) –
“Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
Luke 23:46 (ESV) –
“...Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.”
When life attacks and everything is crashing down around us – we need to place ourselves in God’s hands and boldly declare: God, I trust you. Even though I don’t know what’s next, I know that you know.
Psalm 31:14-15 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“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 from my persecutors!”
Psalm 31:15 (ESV) –
“My times are in your hand…”
How can we maintain hope in God in the midst of trials? We must admit – We’re not in control, God is. Joy and peace are found in celebrating this. This transforms our perspective.
Instead of being ruined by hardship we can be driven back again and again to trust God – remembering that the events and timing of our lives are in His sovereign hands which is where true security is found.
Romans 8:28 (ESV) –
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
We need to say – God, I know that you are in control and I trust you! I don’t know what’s next but I know you do and I’m trusting you.
Psalm 31:19-24 (ESV) –
“Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked 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 am 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 preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!”
3. Trusting God in the midst of suffering leads to thanksgiving and praise.
Psalm 31:21 (ESV) –
“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.”
Psalm 31:24 (ESV) –
“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”
From our perspective living after Christ’s coming, His perfect life, His death on the cross and His victorious Resurrection – our perspective is fuller because we live after Jesus’ first coming and in anticipation of His second coming.
The need for lament is very real and also temporary.
Revelation 21:3-4 (ESV) –
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
We face hard things in this life and find ourselves needing to lament and it’s healthy to lament, to cry out to the Lord and place our trust in Him in the midst of difficulty. And here is glorious news, when we take the long view, we see that the need for lament is only temporary.
As we jump to the message of Christ’s coming and His death and resurrection, we see that in love God sent His Son to save us from the far greater peril of slavery to sin and death.
Matthew 1:21 (ESV) –
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
We’re reminded that we’ve been rescued from slavery to sin and death and we look forward to a day when there will no tears or sorrows. There will be no need to lament. This glorious promise belongs to all who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior (not to everyone generally). If you don’t yet personally know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, today should be the day.