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Psalm 55
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Psalm 55
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July 13, 2023 Treasures in Christ, Psalm 55 Jehovah para nefesh shalom quereb ra. Our Lord God who redeems our soul in peace from the battle that is against us. Psalm 55, 18. He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me, so that none came near me, for they were many who strove with me. Oh, Heavenly Father, we're just so grateful this morning as we come boldly in Christ, but yet humbled at the very throne of grace and mercy with which we must come every day as we learn to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow you. We thank you for your sovereignty, Father God. We thank you for your all-authority, that you can shield us, Father God, in the midst of the battle. That your wings of protection, your shadow, Father God, even, can bring the defense and protection that we need as we walk and sojourn on this time on earth. Serving you, Father God, ministering to you in the kingdom of God in the body of Christ. So transform me this morning, Father God. As I seek you, I know that I'll find you. And I know this morning I must seek you in spirit and in truth. So we thank you for that Holy Spirit that was given and the very Word of God, the very truth has been put inside of me and each one of your children today that we can operate in spirit and in truth. And we're grateful to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the very kinsman, redeemer, and shepherd of our soul, who is the one who came and offered his life as a living sacrifice, completely all the way to the cross to give us access into this kingdom. So we thank you for your grace and mercy today that comes through Jesus Christ. We're thankful for the Holy Spirit of power as we come submitted under your powerful hand in sacrificial worship. We desire you to transform us in every way that is necessary. So we're grateful for that transformation today. We're grateful for that. And in the process of this sojourning, Father God, you made me realize this morning of your redemptive power over our soul to bring it into that place of perfect peace in the midst of the battle. So we thank you for this truth, Father God, and pray it will be transformative in nature, that from us will flow rivers of living water. And those around us will be able to see your glory as you lift it up in our lives, Father God, as you transform us and that they'll be drawn to you. For you want none to perish but all to come into repentance. And I know this is the very purpose of the kingdom today. So thank you for giving us another day in it. Thank you for leading us in the way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen. What an encouraging characteristic of God this morning. As I was just browsing through Psalm 55, and I was just seeing this beautiful verse that jumped out at me. If we've got the Pollyanna doctrine, we've gone off course. We've got to come to this place because it's a battle. It's a battle because the flesh is at enmity with God as long as we walk around in the world. And he says, you know, of course he can't take us out of the world or away from the battle because then we'd be taken out of the world. And the battle is a battle for souls. It's a soul battle. It's a battle for redemption. It's a spiritual battle that comes to bring the value to the relationship. See, without the battle, there's no point in God redeeming our soul in peace. There's just no point of that. There's no point for the redemption, and there's no point for the peace because if there was no battle. So I'm grateful today for the battle. And in that place, there will be redemption, and my soul will be in peace because of it. And so I'm encouraged by this word. I'm encouraged by this characteristic of God. What a good God we serve. And so we're going to take a look at Psalm 55. Let's take a look and see what God has to say. We've got to seek him today in spirit and in truth. If we just look at the brass tacks of this passage, we might get distracted and think, well, this is talking about somebody else. This is not for us. But God doesn't waste a word. And so I'm encouraged by that today. So let's take a look and see what Psalm 55 has to say to us spiritually and in truth. And let's just start off right in verse 1. It says, Listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my supplication. When we're in this place, we know God is the ultimate power. God is the sovereign power. And we're never coming to the throne of grace. We can come boldly in Jesus Christ in that we have the qualifier to come there. But the reality is, if we're not submitted under the powerful hand of God, if we're not in submission to God, then we're operating in pretense and pride and other places. And this is an enemy with God. So I love the way the psalmist is starting this. And they say it's a psalm of David. But either way, it's the writer of the scriptures, and he's given us the direction. Where do we start? What's the brass tacks? How do we have to start this process? And listen to his reaching out to God, not in a pretentious, prideful, boastful, like you have to do this for me. But it's a plea and a cry. And he says, listen to my prayer, O God. So he's asking God to listen to what he's saying. He's saying, you know, God already hears it. You know, I mean, it's not that God can't hear because he can hear everything. He's everywhere. He's omniscient, omnipresent, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present. But it's more than just listening. You see, it's like they say, are you actually listening to me when you're having a conversation? Or am I just speaking out loud to hear myself speak? You see, listening implies an interaction. See, listening requires a relationship of interaction there between what's being spoken and what's being processed by the hearer. So David is asking God in this humble fashion to pay heed to what he's saying. You know, listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my supplication. See, because God has the choice. Because sometimes our prayers are amiss. Oftentimes, I would say, more times than not, we're praying amiss. We're not even on target. Because we're wanting some selfish thing. You know, we're wanting something for ourself. You know, it's not that we're just praying evil prayers that are just obviously blatantly outside God's will. But the reality is if it has a selfish motive, we see that in the New Testament, that we don't receive because we pray amiss, because we pray to satisfy something in ourself. And we know this is not kingdom work. So let's see how this psalmist unpacks this standing operating procedures here. So we know that we're in this place of submission. We know that we can't demand of God anything, but we can plead to God. And what we want God to do is not hide himself from the prayer as far as his response. We want him to respond, but at the same time, we have to have that proper pecking order in the prayer where we're in submission under his powerful hand. Never a commanding, demanding thing. But he wants honesty, and here we're going to see it. We're going to see the honesty coming out right here, verse 2. Attend to me and answer me. See, attend to me. There's that trust and lean on, rely on again. First we see the submission, and now we see the trusting and leaning on, relying on. The faith in God, right? And answer me, knowing that God is the only source. Again, it keeps everything in proper order. And he goes on to say, here's some honesty coming out. I am restless. Now, God knows this. But it's like when we're in a situation that is difficult. I was talking to my daughter the other day. As we learn just in interpersonal relationships with other humans, that we learn that we can't blow up, right? We don't see the psalmist blowing up at God. And we can't just withdraw. We don't see him withdrawing either. There's a middle ground where you come and you respect, if it were an interpersonal example, like just a relationship with another human, you would want to respect the other person, which is that reverence that we see the psalmist giving God here. Now, we know God is the answer to all things. And so this is where we must go as his children. We must go to him, even if it's involving interpersonal relations with others. And we're going to see that play out here. But here comes some honesty. The psalmist isn't hiding his feelings and emotions. He's not blowing up with them. But he's being honest with them in a place of submission. And it says, I am restless and distraught. So he's being honest about the impact it has. And in interpersonal relations with other humans, we have to have a degree of honesty in what's taken place. And particularly if they don't know it, they may know it, but it's not relevant. They may not think that it's as big a deal as we're thinking. But this is where the honesty comes in. And we can, with God, this is how we must operate. We must be submitted first, reflective of his ability to answer in any way that he wants, and our need for him to attend to us. And the fact that he can hide himself as far as the response goes if we're praying amiss, and have him have an interaction with our prayer, then the prayer has to be in accord to the proper pecking order. We have to be in the proper place of submission. And so David, or they say it's David. So David goes on, I am restless and distraught in my complaint. And must moan. Now, we think about his complaint. So he's distraught in my complaint. The thing that is causing him issues is bringing restlessness, and it's bringing him into a place of distraught, where he's getting flustered and, you know, sort of speaks. It's the opposite of peace, it sounds like, right here. He's restless and distraught. And in his complaint, and must moan. See, he has the complaint, but complaining implies a degree of lack of faith in some fashion, because lack of trusting in God's ultimate will and way. And so while he has one, he just moans. He says, in my complaint, and must moan. So in his flesh, he has a complaint, but he's only reflecting on the fruit of that complaint, which is the restless and distraught place that he's at. There's no peace in this place. And he must moan about it. And I like that moaning. Moan, you know, you don't think, there's not a lot of verbalization going on there. So he doesn't go in and just say, start going, well, you know, his complaint is, you know, it's there, because in the flesh there's a complaint causing restlessness and making him distraught. But he just moans about it. And this is an interesting concept to understand, because if we just find ourselves constantly just coming and just complaining about the situation, like, God, I just want you to change this situation. I don't like being in this suffering situation, and I just want you to change it. But what David is pointing out is the aspects by which this situation is causing him not to operate in a good place with God, because now he's at a place of unrest. His spirit, his soul is restless, and he's distraught. But he just moans about it, really. He's honest about what's going on to the degree that he'll moan about it, and he's given some specific details to why there's this moaning in him, because the opposite of peace is restless and distraught. We see that, and that sucks. You know, this is why, you know, it should give us compassion for those who reject the Lord, because in the Lord is found perfect peace, and outside of the Lord there is no peace. So we've got to think about this when it comes to those that are lost. And this is why God wants none to perish but all to come into repentance and come into relationship with him. But I like the way David does this. Attend to me, God's the source, and answer me, he's the source. He has the capacity to answer in whatever fashion he wants. And here's my honest situation inside of me, Lord. You already know because you're all knowing that I'm going to express it and I'm going to moan about it, right, because it sucks, right? Being in a place of unrest and not in peace is not a very nice place. And he goes on to say, and I am distracted at the noise of the enemy. Oh, this is beautiful. Because of the oppression and threats of the wicked, for they would cast trouble upon me, and in wrath they persecute me. Interesting, verse 3. This is an interesting verse because it shows us where our focus needs to be. What did God tell us in the New Testament? He tells us we must focus on the thing of good report, right? But here David's being distracted because the flesh wants to come at the enemy. Flesh has ego and pride that wants to survive, and it will come at the enemy. It will try to come at the enemy, but then that doesn't leave the room for God. So David is reflecting on the challenge he's facing right now because the attack, the oppression, the threats, all this trouble being cast upon him, and the wrath that's coming towards him, the persecution is distracting, right? Which is why he's restless and distraught and is moaning about it because it's distracting him. The flesh is distracting him from operating in the peace of God, which is anybody in their right mind that is going to want to operate in the peace of God. I know I've been in the peace of God, and I can think of a very simple example. When God first showed me what his peace looks like, and I was staying with a buddy of mine, and I was going to go shoot some hoops, and I asked him if I could use his car. His car had had issues, and it was in a position where it would just randomly stall out, just at a stop sign or something, stop light. And sometimes it would just start right back up, and sometimes it wouldn't. But sometimes it didn't stall at all. So in my selfish ambition, I wanted to just go shoot some hoops. And of course, him being the guy he is, he says, no problem, go ahead and take the car, not a big deal. And so I did, and I'm heading over to shoot some hoops. And I get to this stop sign. Now, this is a two-lane back highway road thing. It's a pretty busy intersection, but it's simply one lane. There's no turn lane to the right. There's no turn lane to the left. It's just two lanes total. And I get up to the stop sign, and the van dies. Now, my normal response back then was to just blow up, start smashing the vehicle, start smashing things, start breaking things, really a place of restlessness and distraught. But God was teaching me that he is the one that attends to me. He is the one that I need to seek in these situations so that I don't respond that way, that I don't operate in this place of restlessness and angst and all of these things. These are not fruits of the spirit. These are fruits of the flesh. And for the first time, I decided to just sit. Now, there were people behind me that wanted to turn right. I saw a couple had turn signals on, and, of course, the rest of the people wanted to go straight or left. And I've got traffic piled up behind me now. It was a perfect opportunity for me to just blow up and get upset and just do something in the flesh to try to get out that energy of embarrassment and shame in this situation, you know, the fact that I couldn't just get it going. So I just sat there. I didn't try to turn the key. I didn't do anything. I just sat there, and I prayed. And I stayed in the secret place for just a moment. And this feeling of peace that I can't explain, the situation for sure can't explain it, because it's embarrassing when you block traffic because you chose to do something knowing the risks, and you took the risks, and you fell victim to the risks, and it came true, and the vehicle stalled. And I just sat there for a moment. And I sat there for a moment longer, and I stayed in the secret place. See, I didn't really understand that at the time, but I did. I was in prayer, and I was saying, Okay, God, you're in charge. You can come at any time and do anything that you want, recognizing my need for him and his ability to do anything. And I just sat there, and this overwhelming sense of it's okay came over me. No matter what was going on around me, the restless anxiety I normally felt wasn't there. My heart wasn't racing. I wasn't getting sweaty and nervous. Nothing was happening. I was just sitting there calmly in peace. And God showed it to me. And, you know, when he moved my spirit to just reach out and turn the key, it started up and drove on from there. But the reality was he gave me a taste of that peace just to show me in an isolated situation exactly what needs to happen. So while I was in a position of distraught restlessness, and I was moaning in my complaint, and the noise of the enemy was heavy, cars coming up behind me. It might even have been some offers. I don't even remember. But the reality was it was right there, and God was able to just hold me in his perfect peace when I cried out to him, when I turned towards him and sought his help in the situation. But the threat to the flesh we see in verse 3 is the noise of everything going on, the oppressions, the wickedness, the trouble, the wrath, the persecutions, the enemy coming against us, can be a distraction to distract us from the first two verses, which is where we must be operating. And he goes on to say in verse 4, My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. He's showing me. He's showing us the depth of this battle that we go through as we operate in the world as we're sojourners here on the planet. He's showing us the depth. I mean, you can't get any more depth than death has fallen on me. My heart is grievously pained. Verse 5, fear and trembling have come upon me. Horror and fright have overwhelmed me. So we see the depth of what the battle, the mindset, the heart direction, that just this place of grievous, the grief in our heart from the situation is paining us, the terrors of death, the fear and trembling, and the horror and fright, and they're overwhelming. And I love the way David responds to this. See, now he's being honest, though. He's being honest. And really, we notice what he's not doing. He's not asking God why. He's not saying, why, God? Why? Why? Why am I feeling this way? Why? Why? Why? And become like that kind of a complainer where we start to accuse God. That's the proper way to say that is because we can complain about what's taking place as far as, you know, we saw David say and moan. We don't want to just start out, you know, why, God? Why? And I was so good at this. Why, God? Me again? Why must I do this again? Whatever. And that was not the right direction. David's showing us the standing operating procedures. We want to get submitted. We want to be honest without asking, questioning God's authority. And he says, and I say, oh, that I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and be at rest. Yes, I would wander far away. I would lodge in the wilderness and calmly. Oh, and then it says, so I'll pause and calmly think of that. So let me read that together. Listen to my prayer, oh God, and hide not yourself from my supplication. Attend to me and answer me. I am restless and distraught in my complaint and must moan. And I am distracted at the noise of the enemy. Because of the oppression and threats of the wicked, for they would cast trouble upon me. And in wrath they persecute me. My heart is grievously pained within me. And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling have come upon me. Horror and fright have overwhelmed me. And I say, oh, that I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and be at rest. Yes, I would wander far away. I would lodge in the wilderness. So I'll pause and calmly think of that. What a beautiful way to start. He gives us the standing operating procedures. And he gives us the resolver. He gives us the honesty. And then he gives us the resolution, which is, I like the way he says this, If I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest. He's bringing his attention into nature. It's interesting how he does this. Because in nature we see God. We see the peace of God. Now, when man interacts with nature, we can see it come out of that place because it's running for its life. Because man will just wash it. He's not talking about, you know, the wings like a dove who's about to fly into a trap. He says, who would fly away, you know, as a bird flies off into the sky. It's free. You see, it's free from the things that bind. And it's a reflection of the freedom in God. And, yes, I would wander far away. Because God is in the heavenly realms. And this is why, when we go into nature, we can feel so close to God. Because we're so far away from man that the further away from man we get, the closer we can get to God. As far as what we can visualize and what, you know, the situation around us is. And so not only would he just fly into the freedom of God and wander far away, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. See, wilderness is a reflection where no man is touched, right? It's completely a place of safety in the Lord. He's not actually talking about going running out to the forest and actually strapping on some wings and trying to fly. He's talking about his situation and what he wants. And he's requesting of God, I don't want just you to remove the situation. I want you to bring me into your place, into that place of your freedom, into that place where you are at. I want to lodge in the wilderness, in that deep place where God alone resides. You see? And I just think it's amazing. I think this is an amazing poetic symbolism for the freedom of God, the intimacy of God, when God is, when we're just coming after God. We're not trying to do some of this and then we need to go do some of this too, some human stuff. This is a complete reference back to verse 1 and 2, where the only solution for us is God. Getting more intimate with God, in the freedom of God, that God can cover us. And we're going to see as he goes out. And he says, I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest. And that's an interesting symbolism there, because stormy wind and tempest are natural events. Right? And so he just went with all the temporal things above, where he's being attacked, oppression, things are coming against him. But now there's stormy winds and tempest. I would hasten to escape and find a shelter from the stormy wind and the tempest. Destroy their schemes, O Lord. Confuse their tongues. And there's an intimacy there in the sheltering in the storm. See, God doesn't remove the storm or the tempest. David's not asking for the storm and tempest to remove. He's not asking for the wicked, the enemy, the oppressor, the threats, the trouble, the wrath and persecution to be removed. He is asking to be sheltered in the Lord. And that's a beautiful thing. It's an intimate thing. And it reminds me of that fire shelter we used to have when I fought fires. You don't get rid of the fire. You just shelter in it. And this is what David wants to hasten to. He wants to hasten to escape and find that wing and shadow of God in the midst of the stormy wind and tempest, which is also an indicator of non-directional. That means it's coming from all sides. That means there's no other option other than to shelter in place. Now, to remind us who does this sheltering and protection and who works this out in our lives, David goes into verse 9. Destroy their schemes, O Lord. See, so when things are coming at us all around us, it's God we want to be doing vengeance and fighting for us. O Lord, he says, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. So God is the one who's operating to defend us. God is the one who's operating to take vengeance, to thwart the plans of the wicked and all of these things. It's not our position in place to do that. Our position in place is to take shelter in him. Verse 10, day and night they go about on its walls. Iniquity and mischief are in its midst. Violence and ruin are within it. Fraud and guile do not depart from its street and marketplaces. And he's just hitting a lot of angles here because we see around us the iniquity. We see around us the iniquity, the mischief. He was showing me the other day about mischief and having our own agendas. And this puts us in a place of iniquity. And violence and ruin are within it. Our egos and crimes, when we're operating in our own agenda, come in and it brings violence. The Scripture says it this way, too. It says because we were all born perfect in beauty and full of wisdom, and we walked on the holy mountain with God until the day when because of the goodness of our hands, it leads us to violence, which leads us to sin. When we realize our capacity and can choose right from wrong, we'll choose wrong in the flesh to defend what it is that we want, our agenda. And from that we know comes violence and ruin and fraud and guile because we have to sell everybody a bill of goods to try to get what we want. And it doesn't leave. He's talking about the sin and iniquity of the fallen world around him. It's never going to go away. It's streets and marketplaces. In commerce, in our interactions socially and economically, we see him talking about all the angles. We see the work of the flesh, the iniquity, the mischief. And it's day and night. It never ends. It's all around. But God is the one who must destroy their schemes and confuse their tongues. David knows where to go for help. For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me that I might bear it. See, when something comes right against you and attacks you, it's a little easier to bear. Nor is it one who has hated me who instantly bonds himself against me, see? And it's more of that. Things that come directly in our face and attack us are much easier to bear because, you know, there's that thing. And let's see what he has to say because I think this is going to be. Then I might hide from him. If we know where the direct attack is coming from, from an enemy that's coming right in our face against us, we can hide in that shelter knowing that's a clear picture. But he goes on to say, but it was you, a man, my equal, my companion, and my familiar friend. We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company. So this is an intimate attack coming. This is intimacy that is reflected here. This is not who you would pick as the attack, as the enemy, and this is why it was probably so distracting. It was probably so distracting. And, you know, why he, if we go back to verse 3, we see the threat in this situation is to be distracted, you know? How can he do that? You know, it's funny, and this is a simple example, but it's not really, you know, there's no piety trying to be encouraged here because I have my own mistakes. But, you know, I know people and we'll walk and we'll be going somewhere and, you know, one of us, you know, just doesn't mind throwing trash on the ground and littering. And I'm like, no, you know, and it's like that's an easy thing not to do. But that's an example of this day and night kind of stuff where we're seeing this and the threat to operating correctly from what the Spirit is showing me in this passage today is that if we keep our eye focused on the iniquity, we're going to end up in a bad way. So we've got to keep our eye not from being distracted by the iniquity, knowing that God is a redeeming God and God is a God that wants to, you know, transform every creation into relationship, have a relationship come forth from every created person. And so, you know, of course, I became distracted by it a lot of times. And then it used to be pretentiously about how much good I was for not doing it. And see, that's the wrong angle. But it was just to give an illustration what he means when he's saying all around him day and night he's seeing the iniquity and mischief are in its midst in the city, right? So this is a place where you live. This is an intimate community, right, and he's seeing it constantly. Violence and ruin are within it, fraud and golf. But he goes a step further in verse 12, 13, and 14. He's showing us it's not just like an enemy coming against him who just is against him. It's an intimate companion of his and a familiar friend. They used to go to church together, right? I mean, wow. And they used to walk to the house of God in company, right, fellowship, sweet fellowship together. They had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company. So we're going to get this attack from intimate sources as well as those outside enemies, stranger places. So this is covering all the angles. But our response doesn't change. Our response doesn't change. So let's see what he has to say. Verse 15, let desolations and death come desolation, desolate, so make it be unproductive, and death, which is unproductive again and have no lasting impact. Let this come suddenly upon them. Let them go down alive to shield to the place of the dead. So let them operate in a life that's dead. You know what I mean? So he's talking about let them realize that they're operating in a place that has no value, no life, no substance to it that is of any value. For evils are in their habitations, in their hearts, and they're in those parts. The soul of man, the heart of man, their habitations, I'm thinking of their influence. They go away from God's way in every way. But here's what David's going to focus. So he's recognizing the situation that it's coming from an intimate source. And verse 16, we see what the standing operating procedures needs to be when we're in this situation. As for me, okay, so here we go. This is what we must do. I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me. All of those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. God cannot lie. Not call upon the Lord to smash the enemy. For God will take vengeance and will do those things. And he's recognizing it in verse 15, that God is the one who will bring the recompense, right? But as for me, he says, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Because he saves us from all. Many of the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers them from them all. So he's going to bookend it here. So we have the first five or six verses that show him a start in this place of submission. And now, while he's being honest about the situation, recognizing with discernment where it's coming from, the response in 16 gives us the standard operating procedures. It brings us, ties in the bookends with the submission under God's powerful hand. And as for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord, this is the leader, right? The Lord is now a reflection of the one who leads us, will save me. So salvation comes in our obedience to his leadership, and this is an important truth. Me not blowing up that day in that car was key. I see that now looking back. I didn't understand this at the time. I was thrilled to get the peace of God, and I was amazed by it, and I was overwhelmed by it, how powerful it was to override that whole situation. And how does he stay in this place of submission? Well, 17 tells us, Evening and morning and noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and he will hear my voice. See, if he just keeps coming to God 24-7, God will respond at the appointed time. And this is an important truth, that it has to be, it can't be wishy-washy. It can't be, well, okay, God, I'm coming after you in the morning, but by night time rolls around. You know, and actually I like the way he starts evening, morning, and noon. So going to bed, if we're not, you know, we can start off great in the evening. Okay, we're going to see God, and here's all, you know, my stress from the day, all these things that are taking place, Lord, I'm just going to give them to you. I thank you, Lord, I need you to save me from this situation. I'm calling upon you, but the morning rolls around, and it's like, I got this. You know what I mean? This is what he's encouraging us here, that it's not just a momentary thing, it's a lifestyle, which makes it a relationship. And so he's going to continuously bring this to the Lord, and he will hear and respond at some point. In verse 18, he has redeemed my life, and again, nothing's happening with the battle. He has redeemed my life in peace. We're given the perfect peace of God when we bunker down in that sacrificial worship in the secret place of the Most High, in the midst of the battle, continually trusting and leaning on, relying on God to come in and do what he does. When it's his appointed time, in his appointed way. And this gives us peace. This redemption that he gives us, he says, he has redeemed my life. God has paid the ticket for our life and gives us peace from the battle that was against us. So he has redeemed our life in peace, and we just know that salvation is what he's crying out for, and that's where the redemption comes into play. And in knowing the fact that he's saved, and knowing the fact that we are saved, I am saved by God and redeemed, my life has been redeemed by God, gives me peace from the battle. That's going to remove the battle. It gives me peace from the battle that was against me. So that none came near me, see, because when we're in the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty, nothing can come against us like that. Nothing can remove us from that place. For they were many who strove with me. God will hear and humble them, even he who abides of old. See, he hears and humbles those that come against us, even who abides of old. Salah, pause and calmly think of that. Let's go back up and let's read the whole Salah section here. I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest. Destroy their schemes, O Lord, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about on its walls. Iniquity and mischief are in the midst. Violence and ruin are within it. Fraud and guile do not depart from its streets and marketplaces. For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me, then I might bear it. Nor is it one who has hated me, who instantly vaunts himself against me. Then I would hide from him. But it was you, a man, my equal, my companion and my familiar friend. We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company. Let desolations and death come suddenly upon them. Let them go down alive to shield the place of the dead. For evils are in their habitations, in their hearts and their inmost part. As for me, I will call upon the Lord and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh. And he will hear my voice. He who redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me, so that none came near me. For they were many who strove with me. God will hear and humble them, even he who abides of old. Salaah, pause, and calmly think of them. And I like the way he closed that up. Where do we need to be when we're in the secret place of the Most High, humbled under his powerful hand? When people operate outside of that, ourselves included, then we get this other thing, this other response, you know, where we're the walking dead, I guess they would call it. And it's the abiding of God from Alpha to Omega that gives us peace, because there is none greater than the Lord, and the Lord is our defender and the very shepherd of our soul. And that is what brings us the peace of God, which is a fruit of God that is required of us to stay humble under his powerful hand. So, verse 19, that second half says, Because in them there has been no change of heart. They do not fear, revere, and worship God. See, I got ahead of the Scripture. See, God is looking for a transformed heart. He needs us to walk with fear and reverent awe of him. And worship, which is our living act of offering our lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is our living act of worship. It's not a song we sing. Worship is an obedient way of walking under God's powerful hand, submitted with fear and reverent awe of God, having a heart's direction corrected from the flesh to the godly heart. And this is what he's really summing up the brass tacks for sacrificial worship right there. It's beautiful. My companion has put forth his hand against those who were at peace with him. And now this is the peace that we bring to the table, because, see, God says for us to be at peace with everyone as far as we are concerned, as far as what we can do. And this is what he's talking about. This is the peace he's talking about here. When we have done everything we have, my companion has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him. He has broken and profaned his agreement of friendship and loyalty. The words of his mouth were smoother than cream or butter, but more was in his heart. See, it's the heart direction that matters. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. This is where that guile comes in, that deception comes in. We have to be cautious and guard our heart and mind, because if it becomes displaced where it pushes its own agenda, it's going to operate in a way that will try to get what it wants. In verse 22 he says, Cast your burden on the Lord, releasing the weight of it, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the consistently righteous to be moved, made to slip, fall, or fail. This is the secret place of the Most High. We have to come casting all our burdens on the Lord, for he careth for us, and he will sustain us in this place. He won't remove the thing that's causing the burden, but he will sustain us under the weight of it, and he will not allow us to be moved out of his powerful shadow and under his mighty wings. Verse 23, But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of destruction. Men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in, lean on, and confidently rely on you. See, and this is a great prophetic word that the wages of sin is death, and early death. You know, God's given us 120 years, and quite frankly, we don't see it. We just don't see it. I mean, we see a few in a generation that are in their 90s now. There's a few. And honestly, it's because they live more of their life in obedience to God as far as the body goes. But any sin, not just food, stress. I mean, he was talking about casting our burdens on him. That's stress, and we know that in it, this place of his peace, we're going to get a sweet sleep. And they used to walk to the house of God. You know, we see the little bit of exercise. We see the release of the stress. We see the obedience to God in all of this. And this gives us the full and abundant life. A full life, I should say. Abundant in fruit. But a full life. He gives us 120, and I really would be excited to start seeing the body of Christ go just the opposite. Instead of having a bunch of people dying in sickness and disease, and we're constantly just praying about the fruit of the sin, where we come into that place and we start praying and focusing on surrendering the root to God so that he can uproot the sin in the body of Christ and kill it and put it to death. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He puts to death the deeds of the flesh. If by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh, right? So this is what he tells us. So if we continue to operate outside of this place, death is our end. A short life and a dead spiritual life. There won't be any significant impact. It will be like we're just the walking dead. Faith without works is dead. I mean, we see it. But David is reminding us at the tail end here, for us to operate in this place, we must walk in faith submitted under the powerful hand of God. He says, but I will trust in, lean on, and confidently rely on you, the Lord. And so we have to be willing to sacrifice and put to death those agendas of ours, to walk in this place of submission in faith, right, where we're trusting and leaning on and confidently relying on God, casting all our burdens on God. These are the actions of our faith. And knowing that in this place, in this place that we will never be moved, nothing can take us out of the powerful hand of God when we submit into it. And it is a reminder that Psalm 55 truly is a treasure in Christ and an eternal treasure in heaven. And God is Jehovah Padah Nefesh Shalom Quorab Rah, our Lord God who redeems our soul in peace from the battle that is against us. Oh, heavenly Father, we're just so grateful for this truth today, that you're redeeming God, Father. But we have to come in this place of sacrificial worship where we submit under your powerful hand in reverent awe of your mighty power, that you are the very redeemer of our soul. And that gives us peace from the battle, the battle that we all must go through. We are not removed from the battle. We're just protected in your mighty hand against the battle. And we just are so grateful by this truth, Father God. I pray that as it goes forth, those that hear it in the body of Christ will be transformed by it. And I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.
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