Trouble. Nobody wants it. When it comes, nobody welcomes it. Everyone likes to see it go away. Trouble. We have trouble with people, trouble with money, trouble with our bodies, trouble with our emotions. There is political trouble, international trouble, cultural trouble, relational trouble and military trouble. My sweet little girl got in a little trouble with dad last evening. My amazing little boy gets in trouble with his mouth (regularly!). Paul promised in 1st Corinthians 7:28 that all married people will have troubles simply due to the reality that they are married. If we weren’t careful we might just want to draw the shades, lock the doors and hide in the smallest closet in the house. Yet even doing that would not immunize us from trouble because we carry big-time trouble in our very own hearts. Our biggest trouble is that we are all sinful and therefore we carry trouble’s potential with us every day, everywhere we go. Trouble is part of life’s package. So what do we do?
“You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance.” – Psalm 32:7 {ESV}
The 32nd Psalm was written by King David some time after he deeply troubled his own soul by committing adultery and subsequently ordering the death of the woman’s husband. Amazingly, David is known in Scripture as a man of faith – a man of God. Yet even the man of God could experience a lapse in character and judgment and commit sin as if he were some godless pagan. In the backwash of his moral collapse he penned Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 – precious, penitential Psalms. We Christians need to become very familiar with those two Psalms because we, like David, fall short of God’s glory (regularly!). I am frequently astounded at how bold David is when he acknowledged he needed to repent and humble himself before God. In these Psalms, he doesn’t qualify his sin. He doesn’t blame anyone else. There’s no minimization of his actions. He declares to God his guilt and immediately appeals for help and restoration. Think with me: the Psalms were not originally texts to be read and preached but songs to be sung! David was so confident in God’s grace and mercy that he penned down songs to commemorate His failure and God’s forgiveness. What do you do when you sin and fail your God? Run and hide? Make excuses? Rebel further still? Overcompensate sinful deeds with a few extra righteous ones? David wrote songs of repentance and restoration. God was pleased enough with His response to make those very same songs part of His eternal word. David’s trouble met God’s truth…and we are deeply helped by it. If you struggle with guilt and shame and fear and insecurity, you need these two Psalms to be engraved upon your heart. Trouble need not have the last word when it comes to you and God. Truth will always overtalk trouble if given the chance.
Mark it down: you are still a sinner. You may be forgiven, justified, redeemed, liberated and saved…but you still will sin. You may sin with your mouth, your eyes, your hands, or your mind. In the end, you sin with your will because we are still wrapped in flesh that is contaminated. So today I do not ask you whether you will sin, I ask you what your response will be in the moment God convinces you that you have troubled yourself. Take a cue from King David ands cry out to the merciful, compassionate, patient God of the universe. “Forgive me of my sin and save me from my trouble, O Lord!”
You will find that He has already made provision.
Predetermination or causality? Does my future depend on the decisions that I make today? Or, is it my job here to simply understand the decisions that I have already made?
Either way, I agree with you: God has given me both the power and the responsibility to create my own reality. And, only He can save me from that.
When I am in trouble ..I don’t want to hear, It could be worst, Think of all those people that
the tornado hit in kansas. Think about the Tsunami in India what about the Earh Quake in Hati
all those people in pain and agonly that lost love ones ,jobs, houses, friends.
I want to here The Lord is with us Now, even in our Trouble.Give me peace Lord,Like the World does not know or can afford.King James Bible (Cambridge Ed) Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Your statement “Mark it down, etc etc…hits home with me. I try so hard not to sin but as an imperfect child of God, I surely fail the test of perfection…and Thank my Lord for His forgiveness….something I need reminding about often.
Perfect timing! We were discussing King David and how he reacted to his sins (and God loved him always) last night with our kids. This will be the ‘next steps’ we take with them tonight. The really beautiful thing is that while we try to teach, we are being taught and reminded of who He is and it makes me happy while I am low before Him