There are so many times in Scripture when we’re urged to be prepared. There have been so many times in my life when either I, or someone I cared about, was caught off guard for lack of preparation. How many times in your life have you been caught off guard financially? Financial people preach the value of preparation all the time! If one day, you want to go to college or buy your first home… if one day you hope to retire, or have long term care… you can't be caught off guard.
Recently I was hanging out with a young man who loves shooting hoops in our parking lot. He takes videos of his moves! I convinced him to shoot a video where me (an old white guy) tomahawk blocks one of his layups. You can tell it’s fake—my feet never leave the ground! This week it was a video of me doing a drive-by layup shot out my jeep window. No work gets done here during the week!
As a young person, people told me about the value of preparation. So, I'll often ask hard working young people if a million dollars is a lot of money to them. They always say yes. And then I ask, “How hard would it be to come up with million dollars if you had to? Impossible, right?” But then I ask “How hard it would be to pull together $75 a month? Piece of cake, right?” $75 monthly invested over a lifetime easily becomes $1 million. But you’ve got to do it! And if you don't it’s nearly impossible to make up lost time!
Talking to a young person about financial preparation is the perfect segue to talking to them about spiritual preparation. I lot of people are “financially" prepared for catastrophic life events… but how many are “spiritually” prepared? There is a passage in the New Testament where Paul urges Timothy to “train” for godliness. Training is all about preparation. In fact, I often think of faith as a muscle. If you let your faith grow cold, it will be of little value to you when it’s most critical. But if every day you go to the gym and exercise your faith, it will never fail you.
In this Wrestling with God series, I’m excited to talk with you about the Psalms. We know that “many” of the Psalms were written by King David. We “sometimes” know the circumstances out of which David writes. But there are so many of them. They are like journal or diary entries. They provide an amazing window into the daily rigors of what spiritual preparation looks like. The Psalmist just keeps coming to God in season after season of life… in the face of one Goliath-sized challenge after another. They have confidence that no matter what life is throwing at them, God will shine his face upon them.
Consider Psalm 1:1-6 which says, “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! {Would you say you are happy in life? Perhaps you've been listening to the wrong voices!} 2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. {That my friends is spiritual preparation…training for godliness! So why bother?} 3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.”
Notice that whatever the Psalmist does, in whatever season of life, he prospers! Do you remember what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8? He said, “There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; 3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; 6 a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; 7 a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; 8 a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.”
Boy, life is like a roller coaster of highs and lows. And it's not a matter of whether we will face these tough seasons of life—it’s a matter of when. And when life happens will we have delighted enough, meditated enough, prepared and trained enough that our faith doesn't wither and die on the vine?
This morning, I want to share a kind of “training regimen” with you. Honestly, I don't know how this sermon is going to go. I hope it will be helpful. I could tell you to “go meditate" but what does that actually mean? Do the Psalms offer us any insights into what it looks like to meditate or prepare?
Training Element #1: Ask your question as boldly and clearly before God as possible and wait. One observation we can make is that nearly every Psalm arises in the midst of some life crisis. The crisis is framed in the form of a Goliath-sized question, posed directly to God. Your workout partner is God Himself—and as you struggle under the weight of life, it’s God's words that we delight in, meditate upon, draw encouragement from…
Allow me to share a partial survey of predicaments the Psalmists raise:
• Why do nations, kings, and people rage, and plot against God? (2:1-3)
• My foes increase, many attack me, many say, "There is no help for him in God" (3:1-2)
• Answer me when I call, vindicate me (4:1). Let the light of your face shine on me (4:6)
• Listen to my words, consider my sighing, pay attention to my prayers, I plead and watch expectantly (5:1-2)
• Be gracious for I am weak, heal me Lord for my bones are shaking in terror … And you Lord, “How Long?” … Turn Lord, rescue me, save me because of your faithful Love (6:1-4).
• Lord my God I seek refuge in you: save me from all my pursuers and rescue me (7:1)
• Lord why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide in times of trouble (10:1)
• Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand. Do not forget the oppressed (10:12)
• When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (11:3)
• Help Lord, for no faithful one remains, the loyal have disappeared (12:1)
• “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?" (13:1)
• Lord who can dwell in your tent? Who can live on your holy mountain (15:1)
• Protect me God for I take refuge in you. "You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides you." (16:1-2)
• Lord, hear a just cause; pay attention to my cry, listen to my prayer (17:1)
I thought carefully about this. What good is it to complain and whine (to air, to post, to tweet) these questions before the seat of mockers? You can turn to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tiktok… but you won't find much insight. Get on your knees before the God of the Universe. Open up his Word. Learn to exercise the faith of men and women of old… to deepen your roots that you prosper not wither. Training Element #1: Ask your question as boldly and clearly before God as possible and wait.
Training Element #2: Stay in faith while you seek a resolution to your question. This is a central feature of the Psalms. The wicked give up on God immediately. There are so many apt descriptions of the wicked in the Psalms. They turn away from God and dishonor him. They begin to love what is worthless. They pursue lies. They grow desperate and forfeit their integrity. They become driven by their cravings, desires, and fears. In the face of crisis, they begin living reactively, impulsively, and destructively. The arrogant think, "There's no accountability, since there's no God" (10:4-5). The arrogant think, "I’ll never face calamity” (10:6) The arrogant think, "God has forgotten; he hides his face and will never see {what I do} (10:11).
In stark contrast, the righteous resolve to stay in faith, trusting God. They delight and meditate on God's word. They receive instruction. They serve in reverential awe. They rejoice with trembling even when don't have all the answers. They pay homage to the Son. They take refuge in God. Though angry, they don't sin. They determine that their mouth will not sin. Psalm 15:1-5… They choose to live blamelessly, practice righteousness, acknowledge truth in their heart, do not slander, do not harm their friends, they honor those who fear God, they keep their word whatever the cost. In short, the righteous stay in faith. They don't let bad things become a justification to do bad things and become wicked people. The time to decide how you will live is before a crisis. Survey the Psalms. List the ways the righteous choose to live even while their faith is being rattled.
Training Element #3: Know the nature of God and his mighty works. Ask yourself, “Who is this God I’m praying to?” The Psalmists discover that God is most like a good Father in his character. He watches over the way of the righteous. He is our helper. He is faithful in love. He is gracious and hears our prayers. He is a refuge for the persecuted and troubled. He does not abandon those who seek him, even the needy and oppressed. He provides safety for all who long for it.
The Psalmists also discover that God is a Mighty King. He is seated on high. God is right, and righteous. He is just, and judges evil. Evil cannot dwell within him. He hates evildoers. He abhors the violent and treacherous. He seeks an accounting for bloodshed. He shows his wrath every day. *The Psalmists help us calibrate, or greatly expand our understanding of God.
Perhaps in your prayer life you've wondered, just what should I pray? The God of the Psalms is anything but passive or neutral. God examines, judges, laughs, speaks, terrifies, strikes, breaks teeth, shatters, hates evildoers, destroys liars, punishes, let's fall, drives out, rises up. You don't want to be on the wrong side of God—the way of the wicked leads to ruin. God does not let humans prevail, he reminds them of their mere humanity. He rains burning coals and sulfur on the wicked.
But then positively, proactively God takes up the cause of the righteous. Psalm 3:8 says that salvation belongs to the Lord! Psalm 4:1 that God frees us from affliction. Psalm 5:11 that God blesses the righteous ones. Psalm 6:1 that the Lord turns to rescue me. Psalm 7:8 that the Lord vindicates us according to our integrity. Psalm 7:9 that he establishes the righteous. Psalm 9:8, that he executes judgement fairly. Psalm 10:17-18, that God hears the desire of the humble, that he strengthens their hearts, listens carefully, does justice, terrifies our enemies. I love Psalm 13:3—that God considers our prayers, he answers, and he restores brightness to our eyes! Psalm 14:7 that God restores the fortunes of his people. The Lord counsels me--even at night when my thoughts trouble me. The Lord guides. The Lord displays the wonders of his faithful love. He protects us like the pupil of his eye, he hides us in the shadow in his wing. There are 150 Psalms. I'm just giving you highlights out of the first 20!
Training Element #4: As you wait, offer thanksgiving and anticipate joy. If life really has you discouraged, the Psalmists will lift your spirit. What are the many fortunes the righteous?
How happy they are (1:1, 2:12). How prosperous (1:3). The Lord watches over the way of the righteous (1:6). The Lord shields (3:3, 5:12), The Lord lifts my head (3:3), The Lord answers (3:4), He sustains (3:8), He saves (3:7), He blesses (3:8, 5:12). He vindicates, frees from affliction, is gracious, and hears (4:1). The Lord sets apart the faithful (4:2).
The Lord is in his temple, in his throne, his eye watches, his gaze examines... He loves righteous deeds, the upright will see his face (11:4-7). The Lord has put more joy in my heart than a farmer has at harvest; than vinedresser has tasting new wine… (4:7). He enables me to lie down and sleep in peace (4:7). He enables me to live in safely (4:8). He is my refuge, my shelter.
Shout for Joy. God blesses, he favors the righteous. “I have trusted in your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in your deliverance; I will sing to the Lord because he has treated me generously (13:6)” “Lord you are my portion and my cup of blessing; you hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance (16:6)
“My heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, my body rests securely, you will not abandon me, or allow decay. You reveal the path of life to me, in your presence is abundant joy, at your right-hand eternal pleasures! (16:9-11). “I will see your face in righteousness... I will be satisfied in your presence (17:15)
Psalm 1:1-6 which says, “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! 2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.”