Worship in Times of Trouble
Psalm 138:1–8 (ESV)
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
You might say that the word “worship” is underutilized in our vocabulary; not used very often
We understand how important it is. We came here this morning to worship God
When we realized that God has blessed us, we worship him…or at least we should because all blessings come from Him
We should also worship God when times are tough…when the days are overwhelming and even dark
Because God is the one that will see us through
The Psalm we are looking at this morning is written by David
David certainly realized the need for worship of God because God meant so much to him
David was thankful to God; he was deeply grateful to God
So, David worshipped God, because thankfulness is the essence of worship
Thankfulness brings on worship of the God we are thankful to
Often, it takes going through a time of trouble that brings us to worship God
David only mentions his trouble briefly in v3 when he said; “On the day I called”, but it doesn’t mean that David’s troubles were brief
David was well acquainted with trouble and knew that he must call on the Lord…
But notice, David didn’t begin this Psalm with asking God to fix his trouble…he began this Psalm with worship
“I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart”
That should be the beginning of our prayers…
Much of the time our prayer to God starts out with our troubles…we just want to back the truck up and unload our troubles on God
Don’t get me wrong: God wants to hear from us. He wants to hear about our struggles, but let’s not forget to be thankful
Notice too that David worshipped the Lord with his whole heart
David wasn’t someone who just sat in the presence of the Lord in a passive way murmuring some memorized prayer that he was in the habit of
David began his prayer with worship and he did so with his whole heart
Doesn’t it make sense, that if we come before the Lord we should give it all we got?
We don’t mind getting excited over sports or so many other things…but when it comes to worshipping the Lord we don’t have a heart for it at all
I’ve discovered when I am in trouble, that my prayers and my worship of the Lord is more intense
I believe God sends difficulty into our lives to drive us upward toward Him, so we will praise Him with a whole heart
Also note that David wasn’t ashamed of God: he said in v1 “before the gods I sing your praise”
David would boldly praise his God in the presence of all the false gods and rulers around him
He wasn’t worried about what anyone would say or think of him
Are you ashamed of God?
It cannot be said of David that he was ashamed of God or ashamed to proclaim to all that he belonged to God
Before the kings and rulers, David gave thanks to God for his steadfast love and his faithfulness
May I remind you this morning that God loves you with a constant, persistent, unwavering love!
David also gave thanks to God for his faithfulness…
Who is more faithful than God?
God demonstrated the highest form of his faithfulness when he sent his only son Jesus to the cross that you could have life everlasting
Faithful! God is faithful!
And God will be faithful to you in the good times and the bad
He has given us his word
V2 said that God has exalted his word over everything that exists
His promises are great and his word is true
And God always provides.
Again v3:
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
David was remembering one of the difficult times he was going through
How he called out to God and God answered him!
David recognized that the Lord was high and lofty…but not so high that he doesn’t regard the lowly
David considered himself among the lowly even though he had been anointed King
We see in beginning in v7, that David was grateful that God had preserved his life…
So many times, David’s life was threatened, yet God stretched his hand out against the wrath and hatred of his enemies and preserved his life
Sometimes God delivered David completely from his troubles; other times God just protected David from harm while going through his troubles
That’s what he does for you and me; sometimes he keeps us from trouble and other times he lets us go through trouble, but protects us and preserves us until we reach the other side
Just because we cry out to God, doesn’t mean that he’ll make all our troubles go away
But like David, God will strengthen you
3 “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.”
He answers us and gives us strength
Strength to take us through the trouble, help us in the trouble, or keep us from the trouble all together
But he does answer us when we pray…and whatever the answer is, he’ll give us strength
We can face our trouble with boldness and strength, knowing that God will see us through
I believe God will do that; because God has done that many times for me…how about you?
But note a word of warning here:
v6 “For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.”
God distances himself from the proud. Those folks who say they don’t need God
And Christians who have a prideful and lofty spirit; God knows from afar…he knows you but he is not walking close to you because you have pushed him away with your pride
That’s the warning: watch out for the prideful spirit
Pride is offensive to God because He alone is the exalted One
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”
Jesus said: Matthew 23:12 (ESV)
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
And then in v8 of our text today; the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me
He will fulfill his purposes for you and me…
Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
God’s still working on us
God will bring us through the tough times and rejoice with us through the good time
Trust him with your needs and your struggles…He will take care of you