Series: Psalms
Title: What Time I Am Afraid
Text: Ps 56:1-3
Date: 2-2-2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
In Psalm 56: 1, the heading says this
Psalm was written by David when “the Philistines took him in Gath.”—
1 Samuel 21: David
fled from one enemy king Saul into the hands of another king Achish: 11: And
the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the
land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain
his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 12: And David laid up these words
in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13: And he changed
his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and
scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his
beard. 14: Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad:
wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 15: Have I need of mad men,
that ye have brought this [they are calling David a nobody, a nothing]
to play the mad man in my presence? shall this come into my house?
During this time, David wrote Psalm 56. In 1 Samuel we see David’s old man of flesh
of Adam but in Psalm 56 we hear David’s new holy man created of Christ. In 1 Samuel David
underwent a change outwardly, while in his heart we hear him cry out to God in
faith, Christ underwent a change outwardly when he made him sin for us, yet
inwardly, as we see in this Psalm, Christ persevered in holy faith looking to
the Father.
Like David, enemies pursued our Savior the
entire time he walked this earth. As David
does, our Lord Jesus looked to God his Father.
But David did so in sin while our Head did so in perfect faith even to
the death of the cross. That is why he is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Title: What Time I Am Afraid
Psalm 56: 3: What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee.
Proposition: What time we are afraid, believers trust
in Christ because in Christ we have already overcome all our enemies and by Christ
we shall overcome our enemies throughout our life.
Divisions: As believers we often become afraid, don’t
we? 1) Of the devil 2) Of our old man of sin 3) Of worldly, unregenerate men
and women
WHAT TIME I AM AFRAID OF THE DEVIL
Psalm 56: 1: Be merciful unto me, O God:
for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. 2: Mine enemies
would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against
me, O thou most High. 3: What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Everything we desire, everything we need,
is contained in the petition, “Be merciful unto me, O God!” Brethren, we plead for God’s mercy every
day, don’t we? God will never turn away that plea. Scripture says, “God delighteth to show
mercy (Mi 7: 18). Why did David need
mercy?
It was due to his enemies. The margin says “mine observers”—those
that watch for my sins, that seek to entangle me in my words, those who impute wicked
motives to my actions. The Pharisee’s
did this to Christ though he knew no sin.
They observed his every move to try to find something wherewith to
accuse him.
Believer do not be an observer of your
brethren (or any sinner). To do so is to be like the devil. He is called in
scripture “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10). We see the devil working in the Pharisee’s—observing,
accusing. Christ told them, “ you are
children of your father the devil and the lusts of your father you will do, he
was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (Jn 8:44) It is not difficult to observe sin in our
brethren. But don’t do it. Let us observe our own sin, and shut our
mouths. But let us cease observing sin in
our brethren.
At this time, the devil was ruling king Saul, so Saul
daily sought to swallow David up, to kill him.
The devil was working in many so that David had many enemies
fighting against him.
Believer, the devil is a very real, very crafty, very powerful
foe. He does not come to us dressed in
red, with a forked tail and horns. Satan
comes using men and women. When we see Saul
fighting with David, we see the devil fighting with David. The devil will use a close friend who makes
us confide in them. He will appeal to your
sinful flesh. Your friend will listen to
you, show you sympathy, side with you, give you advice that appeals to your
sinful flesh. Before long, the devil
will have you separated from your brethren like a wolf separates a weak sheep away
from the flock. That
is where satan had David, separated in the wilderness.
Ask Eve if the devil is a foe to fear. In a perfect, sinless environment, the devil
tricked our sinless mother, which led to Adam willfully sinning and plunging
the whole world into sin. Seeing the
devil’s cunning subtlety to beguile our sinless mother, do we think he will
have any problem beguiling sinners like us?
Ask Job if the devil is a foe to fear: Job
had done nothing wrong, he was a godly man, but in short order: the devil took
his family, his wealth and his health—the devil’s objective was to wreck Job’s
life to get him to curse God.
Job 1: 9: Then
Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10: Hast not
thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath
on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is
increased in the land. 11: But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he
hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12: And the LORD said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not
forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Did you notice in our text that David
prayed, “O thou most High!” The devil
can do nothing but what God permits him to do.
As it was with Job, it always ends better for us than the
beginning. So when Job held his
integrity,
Job 2: 4: And Satan
answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he
give for his life. 5: But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his
flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 6: And the LORD said unto Satan,
Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
The only reason Job was not overcome, the
only reason David was not overcome and the only reason we are not overcome is
because our Lord Jesus Christ conquered the devil for his people. At Christ’s birth, Herod ordered the male
Israelite children killed. Who was
behind that? “The dragon [devil]
stood before the woman [Mary the mother of our Lord] which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child [Christ Jesus] as soon as it was born” (Rev
12: 4). Yet, even at his birth our
Lord Jesus Christ defeated the devil and at the same time fulfilled prophecy by
Joseph fleeing into Egypt from whence prophecy said Christ would be called.
After his baptism, having received the
Spirit, having entered his public ministry, our Lord Jesus was tempted of the
devil 40 days and 40 nights. But Christ
won that battle staying faithful to God and his word. As Christ says in verse 6 of our Psalm, "In
God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust;…In God will I praise his
word: in the LORD will I praise his word.”
It was the devil’s hour from Gethsemane to
the cross: the devil bruised Christ’s heel but our Savior crushed his head. Christ destroyed the devil’s power for his
people by putting away our sin so the devil has nothing with which to accuse us
to God
Hebrews 2 :14: Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise
took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil; 15: And deliver them who through fear of
death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Believer, we are more than conquerors
through Christ who loved us. The devil is
under the complete control of Christ the most High. Therefore, what time I am
afraid of the devil, I will trust in the Lord.
WHAT TIME I AM AFRAID OF MY OLD MAN OF SIN
David had enemies in his own camp. Every believer has a great enemy in our own
camp—our old man of sin. What time I am
afraid of my old man of sin, I will trust in the Lord.
By the irresistible grace of the holy
Spirit of God there is a new, holy man created in us “which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:24).
The new man created of God is righteous and holy after Christ’s
image that created him. God’s elect
are justified by Christ’s righteousness imputed to us through faith and
sanctified by Christ’s holiness imparted in us in regeneration.
Yet, as a regenerated child of God, with
this holy new man, Paul wrote “I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth
no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is
good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I
would not, that I do.” (Rom 7:18)
I remember my disappointment when I first discovered
that my brethren, who I looked up to, were sinners. I recall the disappointment after my baptism when
I discovered I am still a sinner. Brethren
never be disappointed when you find out God’s saints are still sinners. Even the apostle Paul still committed evil he
hated.
But I will tell you what you will find out
about your brethren, they are the only merciful people in this world because
they know that in their flesh dwells no good thing. We see our flesh is nothing but sin. We know we cannot do what we would; we keep
committing sins we hate. Our own flesh
is the enemy who would daily swallow us up, who fighting daily
oppresses us; in our flesh they be many that fight against me.
Yet, God continues to show us mercy for
the sake of Christ! That is why God’s
saints are merciful. We know our brother
hates the sin he commits because we hate the sins we commit; we know our
brother can’t do the good he wants to do because we can’t do the good we want
to. Yet, God continues to show us both mercy;
therefore, we continue to show one another mercy.
Years ago, there were some brethren who
offended me greatly. I got to the point
where I was determined not to show them mercy.
It took a year of trials but God broke my heart and brought me down to see
that I was overcome with a far worse sin than the sin I saw my brethren commit. I was overcome with pride and
self-righteousness. I had sat down in
Christ’s judgment seat and passed unrighteous judgment on my brethren by imputing
wicked motives when I had no idea what was in their heart. I trampled underfoot the blood of Christ by thinking
his blood was not enough for me to be merciful to them. There is no sin as evil, as wicked, as cruel
as pride! It is the sin for which God cast satan out of heaven.
So why did God leave us in the body of
this death? Why does God allow us to commit acts of sin? There are at least two
reasons. One, by revealing our sinful flesh,
God prevents us from trusting in ourselves. If we finally abstain from a certain sin,
unless Christ keeps us humbled, we become puffed up in pride that we did not
commit that sin. We flee one sin, into a
worse sin—pride! I know a new free will preacher. He claims he is not a sinner anymore at all! Would
you want a preacher that does not now the sinfulness of his flesh? How could he teach about God’s mercy?
John Rusk wrote, “I want an experimental
preacher, one who, when he has had one meal, is tried how he shall get the
next; one who is tormented with devils fit to tear him limb to limb; one who
feels hell inside himself and every corruption in his nature stirred up to
oppose God’s work; one who feels so weak that every day he gets over he views
it as next to a miracle.”
So one, God uses our sinful flesh to keep
us from trusting ourselves. Two, by
revealing our sins, God keeps us crying out to Christ alone. It is Christ alone delivers us from our
sinful flesh? Paul said, “O wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The sins of our flesh will never cause God
to say, “Enough” and cease showing us mercy!
God our Father chose us by free and sovereign grace, not based on any good
or evil in us “that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth;)” (Ro 9:11)—therefore grace never gives
up on us because of something we have done.
Christ bore our sins away therefore before God’s judgement-seat we have
no sin.
Jeremiah 50:20:
In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
Therefore it is unrighteous judgment for me to condemn my brethren
for their sins when God doesn’t! Paul said,
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in him, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” So, for Christ’s sake God continues to show
us mercy.
1 John 1: 9: If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…2: 1: My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2: And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world.
God leaves us in our sinful flesh to keep us from trusting
ourselves and to keep us trusting Christ, “What time I am afraid of my sin-nature,
I will trust in thee.”
WHAT TIME I AM AFRAID OF UNREGENERATE,
WORLDLY SINNERS
David also had enemies in unregenerate
worldly sinners. So do we. We are tempted to befriend this ungodly world
on a daily basis. God calls it adultery.
James 4:4: Ye
adulterers and adulteresses, [that is what God says it is when we flirt with the
ungodly world, courting their friendship. Why?] know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God.
But our Redeemer gave us this good news—
John 16:33: These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Believer, since our Redeemer has overcome
the world, we have overcome in him.
Therefore, our Redeemer shall keep us so that we overcome at last. That same Redeemer who gave himself for me on
the cross is King of kings and Lord of lords ruling all things for my good.
Proverbs 21:1: The
king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it
whithersoever he will.
He leaves us in this world—to teach us these
two things. One:
1 John 2: 5: Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16: For all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17: And the world passeth away,
and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1Jo
2:15-17)
Two, he teaches us that our purpose is to
spread his gospel. He left us in this
world because he has a people who he shall call out. And he will use us, his church, to preach his
gospel that he might call them out.
So brethren let us spread this gospel in
the face of every enemy, knowing, when it comes to the devil—by Christ our Prophet,
Priest and King "the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.” When it comes to sinful flesh, Christ shall
make the walls of our Jericho-heart fall flat.
Despite worldly enemies who daily fight against us, Christ shall “add
to the church daily such as should be saved.”
Therefore, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” May God comfort you with those words!
Amen!