Help! The Walls Are Closing In

 

May 17, 2021

 

Worship in WORD

 I. Hope – vv. 1-8

            A. Verse 1: Action

            B. Verse 2: Appeal

            C. Verses 3 & 4: Acknowledge

            D. Verse 5: Abandon

            E. Verse 6: Abhor

            F. Verses 7 & 8: Acclaim!

II. Help! – vv. 9-18

A. Verses: 9 -13: Sorrow

1. Soul sickness – vv. 9-10

2. Societal scorn – vv. 11-13

b. Verses: 14-16: Sovereign

C. Verses: 17-18: Silence

III. Hail – vv. 19-22

IV. Heart – vv. 23-24

In verse 8, we entered the eye of the storm. Or, as David says, a broad place. The KJV says “a large room.” All these analogies are apt, for they illustrate the rest God afforded David amid the turmoil he faced. It also meant that he was not out of danger, for the eye of the storm is temporary, and the second half of the storm that encircles will come soon enough. Broad places have boundaries, and rooms have walls.

The first eight verses begin with a proclamation and a petition:

¹ “In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.” (NIV)

 

They end in praise and proclamation:

⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. ⁸ You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

 

Hope pervades the first eight verses. However, when we enter verse 9, the mood changes. The sun is no longer shining; the walls seem to be closing in on him. The spacious place doesn’t seem so broad anymore. He sees the enemies threatening on each side and his neighbors and acquaintances abandoning him.

The change seems so abrupt that some have said that this psalm is a composite put together by David or later editors. However, the internal evidence indicates that a single author composed the psalm. And if David had no problem putting two disparate psalms together, why propose the hypothesis in the first place? No, we have here the honest thoughts of one who was glad in a broad place but who was weary from worry, slander, and rejection. Who hasn’t begun their prayers in praise followed by a cry for mercy at the middle or end? Even the Lord’s prayer begins with praise and ends in a plea for deliverance from evil.

And we will see soon that though David descends into a time where hope seems to be swallowed up by circumstances, and he cries out for help. That hope was never really lost. The sun is still shining, even if blocked by the clouds momentarily or for an extended period.

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.   Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs And works His sovereign will.   Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.   His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.   Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.   William Cowper (1731-1800)

Source: https://finestofthewheat.org/god-moves-in-a-mysterious-way/

 

Worship in Witness:

For three weeks, I have been battling and recovering from Covid-19. I want to give praise and thanksgiving to my Lord, Who saw me through it all. I am thankful that it never got severe enough to go to the hospital. Through much rest and the prayers of many, He guarded my soul and body through the whole ordeal. Thank you, faithful brothers and sisters, who lifted me up in your prayers. They were heard, and we give praise to God, Who is faithful. Continue to pray, for I still am experiencing some bronchial irritation, but nothing that won’t keep me from work. The Lord has chosen to heal me, and as someone has said, “I am immortal until the Lord calls me home.” And one day, I will, in reality, become immortal (and this may even happen within my lifetime).

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

⁵⁵ "Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Cor 15:50-58 NIV

 

 

 

Worship in Promise, Poetry, Prayer, and Praise:

Isa 25:8-9

8 He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face 

and remove His people's disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.

9 On that day it will be said, "Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us.

This is the Lord; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." 

(from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)

 

One Day

 

Cast out from the garden

Paradise was lost

Hearts began to harden

Frozen by sin’s chilling frost

 

Death like an angry hornet

Then took to wing

Encircling o’re the planet

Delivering its lethal sting

 

Such is the state of creation

As a result of Adam’s fall

Death, decay, and damnation

Has universally infected all

 

But death was defeated at the cross

By Christ, to all who will believe

Our gain for His pain and loss

One day, an immortal body receive

 

One day the trumpet will sound

The dead in Christ will be raised

And immortality will abound

Even to us, when death is razed

 

“Where, O death, where is your victory?”

The Church triumphant will sing

And gloriously declare this benedictory

“Where, O death, is your sting?”

 

Your Perfect Work

 

Lord, let Your word do its perfect work

Reveal the hidden faults that in me lurk

That by Your sword it may be destroyed

You said Your word will not return void

Bring to light all the things that hinder me

So I may cast them off and run fully free

And may I constantly fix my eyes on You

Always keeping Your example in view

Persevering in faith until my final breath

And cross the finish line with joy at death

Amen

 

Note: I chose this song after much searching. The simple and powerful music struck me. Music that is mournful in keeping with the message being conveyed concerning our suffering Savior. But more importantly, this hymn powerfully portrays the passion of our Lord, His abandonment by His friends, and the rejection and mockery of His foes. In many ways, these were the same feelings that David was experiencing in Psalm 31:9-13. Verse 3’s lyrics poignantly portray the utter evilness of sin and the inestimable greatness of Christ’s sacrifice. And finally, verse 4 declares Him as the “firm foundation,” a “refuge of the lost,” and a “rock of salvation.” (themes that permeate Psalm 31 as well)

 

Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted by Thomas Kelly, 1769-1855

 

1 Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,

see him dying on the tree!

'Tis the Christ by man rejected;

yes, my soul, 'tis he, 'tis he!

'Tis the long-expected Prophet,

David's Son, yet David's Lord;

by his Son God now has spoken:

'tis the true and faithful Word.

 

2 Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,

was there ever grief like his?

Friends thro' fear his cause disowning,

foes insulting his distress;

many hands were raised to wound him,

none would interpose to save;

but the deepest stroke that pierced him

was the stroke that Justice gave.

 

3 Ye who think of sin but lightly

nor suppose the evil great

here may view its nature rightly,

here its guilt may estimate.

Mark the sacrifice appointed,

see who bears the awful load;

'tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed,

Son of Man and Son of God.

 

4 Here we have a firm foundation,

here the refuge of the lost;

Christ's the Rock of our salvation,

his the name of which we boast.

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,

sacrifice to cancel guilt!

None shall ever be confounded

who on him their hope have built.

 

Lyrics: https://hymnary.org/text/stricken_smitten_and_afflicted_see_him_d

Video: https://youtu.be/x-QFx5RRqFM

 

(Here is also a video containing this song. As well as a dramatic reading of Scripture before, between, and after the verses were sung to a contemporary musical score) - https://youtu.be/8skXD7AMQlo

 

 

Some Further Notes & Quotes:

 

Exposition

 

In this great song of trust struggling through tears to triumph, we have a fine example of an experience often repeated in the history of the children of faith. There are three divisions. In the first (1-8), the double sense of trust and trials clearly manifest. In the second (9-18), the trial seems for a time almost to have overcome the trust, so keen is the consciousness thereof. In the last (19-24), trust has completely triumphed and the sense of the singer is the sense of perfect safety in the pavilion of Jehovah.

 

In the first, the soul of the singer valiantly affirms its confidence and pleads for help. In the second, the affirmation of trust is in a past tense and the present is one of trial and tears. In the last, trust is a condition which needs no formal declaration but sings itself out in victory and gladness. In this song we find the seasons of the soul as we know them all sooner or later. First, autumn with its winds and gathering clouds, yet having sunlight and a golden fruitage even though the breath of death is everywhere (1-8). Then follows winter, chin and lifeless, full of sobs and sighing (9-13). After that the spring with its hope and expectation and its sweeping rains and bursting sun gleams (14-18). At last the glad and golden summer (19-24). We need them all to complete our year!

(from Exposition of the Whole Bible, by G. Campbell Morgan. Biblesoft Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2014 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)