Troubles are not new to you or me. Job once testified, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire”…”Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”…Even the Lord Jesus promised His followers, “in this world you will have trouble…”-{Job 5:7, Job 14:1, & John 16:33.}.
Troubles come in different sizes, shapes and longevity. They can be little irritations or deeply painful, soul destroying, overwhelming bouts of darkness as David testified to in Psalm 61:2, “… I call to You when my heart is faint…” The word “faint” literally refers to being “covered in darkness”, “overwhelmed.” So great were the trials and troubles of the psalmist. David had been told he would be the future king, when he just was a simple shepherd boy. He had taken his stand against the might of the Philistine army and their champion Goliath, who mocked the Israelites with taunts. All were afraid of him, but, up steps David and asks, “Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that, he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” -{ 1 Samuel 17:26}. He killed Goliath, the Philistines were defeated and David’s popularity grew. The women sang songs about him, Saul, the king, invited him to play his instrument for him, and Saul’s son Jonathan became one of David’s greatest friends. All was looking good…and then trouble hit! The king turned on him, and sought to kill him, chasing him, pursuing him relentlessly, and with one end in mind…to destroy David. So he went from being a popular hero, serving in the palace, with the promise of one day becoming king…to being a wanted man, hunted by a mad man, who held the position once promised to him, living in caves.
Where was God? Why was this happening? I thought he was supposed to be the next king? Indeed, in God’s time he would be. The longevity of the troubles got to David and exposed some false concepts that he had come to believe about God. In Psalm 13:1-3 we read, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,” Four times he asks “How long…” the longevity of the troubles were wearing him down, he had wrongly concluded, that God had forsaken and forgotten him! Troubles reveal some crazy, irrational and untrue notions we sometimes have about God…don’t they? God was in the process of making a man of faith. He was training him to lead a people, to be a military man and the process of the troubles, he was encountering, would be used of God to work for his good, others blessing and God’s ultimate honor. David, out of fear for his life, would eventually flee to the camp of the Philistines, who I am sure could not believe their eyes. He was so stressed and driven by fear, that he walked into the camp of the enemy and feigned madness. But…it was here, in the midst of his trouble, caused by others and his own choice to deceive, that he cried out to the Lord. And you know what…the LORD listened and saved him out of ALL his troubles!
The LORD is bigger and greater than our trouble. The LORD is not vindictive, indeed He knows, left to our own devices we cannot, but sin. Such is the bent of our own sinful inclinations when trouble comes we often revert back to our old ways…old habits…old patterns of dealing with things, still confident in our own self-sufficiency…still depending on the arm of flesh….still leaning to our own understanding. “But God…”full of mercy and compassion, heard the cry of David, acted on his behalf, rescued him, and delivered him, not from a few, but from “ALL his troubles”. How gracious is God! He not only had the power to deliver him, but also, the love for him, to deliver and deliver him He did!
RESCUED FROM “ALL HIS FEARS” IS THIS POSSIBLE FOR YOU?
Those fears that are irrational and seek to paralyze one emotionally, and physically, that torment and bring forth doubts about God, His goodness, His ability, His concern for your welfare and fear never travels alone. It is accompanied by such tyrants as discouragement, (Nehemiah 6:9) and anxiety (Luke 12:22 & 32).
RESCUED OUT FROM ALL HIS TROUBLES” IS THIS POSSIBLE FOR YOU?
There is no fear, no trouble that is so big that God has to cower before it. What are they in the presence of the Almighty, who is the Sovereign Lord? They are nothing, less than nothing!! They raise their ugly, venomous heads, and seek to intimidate the believer, to flood their minds with thoughts that would cause them to doubt God’s goodness, just as the serpent in the Garden did. “But God…” scatters and delivered David from “all his fears” and “out of all his troubles.” And this He did and can do effortlessly for you and for me.
Is it possible to be delivered from “all fears and out of all troubles?”
Consider the words of the Lord Jesus who conquered the grave, Satan and sin, “All things are possible with God”, Matthew 19:26. God is able…period!!
Note; it does not say David did not have troubles, but that He was saved, rescued out from those troubles. Peter testified to the reality of this many, many, years later when he wrote, “…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials,…” 2 Peter 2:9. (Amplified Bible)
Troubles are inevitable but they do not have the final say…God does!
He is able to save, rescue, and deliver if it so pleases Him to do so, as it did in David’s time from ALL his fears, and ALL his troubles. The result was Praise, v.1, Testifying v. 1-11, and Teaching others v 12-22.
Truths about Troubles;
Troubles are inevitable;
· Some troubles are caused by others.
· Some troubles we bring on our self.
· Troubles do not have to define or defeat us.
· Troubles can reveal false concepts we have about the character of God.(See Psalm 13:1-3)
· Troubles should be viewed through the lens of Scripture.
· God…is bigger and able to deliver us, no matter whom or what is the cause of the trouble.
Troubles must be viewed as a means to an end.
· To draw us closer to God.
· To confidently Know The LORD has listened to our cry,
· To know and see the LORD IS ABLE to rescue us from “all” the fears and out of “all” the troubles we find our self in, if this so pleases Him! (Psalm 135:6)
· To TESTIFY to others, that they too may draw hope, encouragement, comfort and who causes our hearts to testify. v. 1-11
· To TEACH others of Him who has caused our hearts to sing. v. 12-22
Memorize, and meditate on this verse and recount your own experiences of the reality of the LORD saving…rescuing you from fears and troubles. Worship Him through thanksgiving, as you recount your own Stones of Remembrance, to Him. The Israelite’s, upon some wonderful intervention by God on their behalf, would gather stones and pile them on top of one another as a testimony of a work of God on their behalf. A father while walking with his child, and seeing this pile of stones, might be asked what it represented and the dad would recount the goodness of God in testifying to Him of some particular work.
I remember once while traveling through a city with my oldest son, who was 5 at the time, seeing a particular place and recounting to Him of how the LORD had once made provision for me in a wonderful way at that particular place. Indeed it is to remember Him and His deliverance’s and to thank Him.
Testify of Him to others. Teach others of Him, who delivers out of troubles. This need not be a formal setting but in casual one on one conversation around a table, when walking, or taking a drive. Wherever, you find yourself, look to Him to grant favor in the hearts of others to Testify and teach “…He saved me out of all my troubles”.
If David hadn’t known trouble, he wouldn’t have had a TESTIMONY of the God who does deliver, rescue, and save!
APPLICATION;
1. MEDITATE on the phrases in Psalm 34:6. Use the four devotionals if they may be of help to you. Write out the verse on a 3 by 5 card and keep it on you and look and meditate upon it as you have time.
2. PRAISE THE LORD He listens to you. PRAISE Him for past deliverances for you and others.
3. PRAY to the LORD in your troubles. PRAY to Him for those with fears and ask Him to fulfill this verse in their lives…for His Sake.
4. SHARE this verse, and some of its meaning, with others this week. ASK GOD to give you an opportunity to share gently, into the lives of those battling fears and in troubles, of the One who delivered David out of ALL his fears, and ALL of his troubles!
5. You can then TESTIFY OF HIM, and how He has delivered you.
“In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; He saved me from all my troubles.” Psalm 34:6 NLT
I hope these thoughts on Psalm 34:6 have encouraged you, as well as others you may know, who need some reassurance. Our God is a God who listens and delivers out of ALL of our fears and ALL of our troubles, as it pleases Him-{Psalm 135:6}.