When People Want to Harm You -- Psalm 43
When People Want to Harm You -- Psalm 43
By Pastor Lee Hemen
October 14, 2007 AM
The question of why do bad things happen to good people has been around since the garden of Eden. Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl was imprisoned by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Once set free, he wrote Man's Search For Meaning, which became a perennial bestseller. In it, Frankl shared an all-important lesson he had learned from his suffering: “There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life.” Here in this passage of Scripture we find the writer asking why bad things are happening to him. Was there meaning to his life, when there were those who sought to murder him if they could? Let find out what he discovered shall we?
READ: Psalm 43
What do you do when others seek your destruction? Do you fuss and fume, begin to draw up alliances with those you count as “friends,” or do you trust in the Lord? We discover that life has not changed much in several thousands of years, and we also discover that God has the answer for us if we are willing to listen to the words of this little Psalm. It will help you when those around you seek to harm you. So, through this Psalm, you can discover that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is to…
I. Ask God for help! (vv. 1-3)
1. The question remains: Whom do you depend on? The Psalmist saw God in several ways here: 1) As his vindicator (judge), 2) As his lawyer (advocate) where he could plead his innocence, and 3) As his rescuer, the One who could deliver him from his trials and tribulations! We find that he wanted vindication from his “enemies,” who were ungodly “deceitful,” and “wicked.” He asked God to plead his cause right in their presence. His unusual request is based on what he intrinsically knew about God. That the Lord was indeed his “stronghold” someone whom he could trust. God was the One whom he could ask for “light” and “truth” to “guide” him when he could not find answers anywhere else. “Light” in the Old Testament represented Godly understanding and life, and “truth” here represented God’s faithful Word by which the Psalm writer would find guidance. He awaited God’s expression of love for direction. It has been ultimately expressed by “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” the “light of the world” Jesus Christ! “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus!” (1 Timothy 2:5) In fact, “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1b) We can go directly to God and ask for help!
EXAMPLE: We often want to run and hide away when people want to harm us either physically or emotionally. It is a natural response. But we find that God’s people do not have to live in fear. “Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) Paul would ask, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And then he would make a tremendous declaration: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32) Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” (Matthew 7:7) and yet we do not. We know we should ask for help yet we think we can either handle it on our own or that it will simply go away if we ignore it long enough. Both are founded in pride. The Psalmist discovered that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is ask God for help!
Our writer continued his questioning of God from the previous Psalm. Many think that both Psalm 42 and 43 should be one Psalm. If not, they were probably written around the same theme as the writer struggled with people who sought to “get” him. What would he do? How could he continue to seek God and be in worship? As you look into this passage you soon discover that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is to…
II. Praise God for the answer He will give you! (v. 4)
1. The question remains: Whom will you praise for your deliverance? The Psalmist was quick to say he would “go to the altar of God.” This is interesting because it brings up several issues that we must address. 1) Not just anyone could approach the altar of God, 2) Only a priest could offer a sacrifice, and 3) You had to be willing to pay the price of the sacrifice involved! You went to God’s altar to confess your sins and offer a sacrifice for them! Notice that the Psalmist calls God “my joy and my delight!” It is evident therefore that he had already confessed his sins and was now ready to praise God: “I will praise you with the harp!” He is ready to praise God for the answer He would give! He knew that when he went before the Lord, God was ready, willing, and able to answer his prayer. He had paid the price, he had made the sacrifice, and he had confessed his sin—he was ready to praise God for His answer! How sad when we hesitate to praise God for the answer He desires to give us. We are often like the man with leprosy who “came and knelt before [Jesus] and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said.” (Matthew 8:2) God is always willing, but we often are not. He has made the sacrifice for you through Jesus, all you have to do is praise God for the answer He will give you!
EXAMPLE: The problem is we may not like the answer we get. I find it humorous when someone asks for my advice and I later discover they have gone to several others as well. I once asked someone why they did this and they responded indignantly, “many advisers make victory sure.” (Proverbs 11:14) So I quoted back, “The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.” (Proverbs 10:21) Often we ask for advice from many people not looking for an answer but for justification for our own foolish decision. God knows the plans He has for us, plans that will prosper us and give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) We may not like the answer, but God always has our best interest in mind. When people want to harm you the best thing to do is praise God for the answer He will give you!
It is hard for people to learn that happiness is a fleeting thing. One day we are on top of the world and the next we find ourselves in the dregs of despair. Why is that? I believe it is because we are emotional creatures. From Eve, finding delight in a forbidden fruit, to our day where we seek emotional hope in the things of this world. However, if we have matured, we discover that placing our hope on emotional anchors is a sure way to be on a collision course with reality! Yet, like the Psalmist you can discover that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is to…
III. Remind yourself where your hope is placed! (v. 5)
1. The question remains: In Whom do you place your hope? A question that has vexed mankind for centuries the Psalmist gives voice to when he asks the duel lament, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” We all have wondered this when faced with life’s circumstances. It is the same dual question he pondered in Psalm 42, verses 5 and 11. However, the Psalmist does what every warrior of God learns to do when faced with difficulty in life: Pray. Spurgeon wrote that “Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God.” Prayer is the reminder of where the believer is to go when faced with life’s difficulties. Notice the tri-fold response the Psalmist comes away with each time he prayed: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” He will hope in the Almighty. There he finds comfort enough to praise his Savior and his God. He is reminded where his hope is placed! The same is true for you as well. When people want to harm you the best thing to do is remind yourself where your hope is placed.
EXAMPLE: In Whom do you place your hope? People place their hope in a lot of things: Work, money, houses, family or in friends. Yet none of these things are truly lasting in life. David would write that his hope was in God alone (Psalm 25:1; 39:7; 62:5; & 71:5), in God’s law (Psalm 119:43), and in God’s Word (Psalm 119:74, 81, 114, 147; & 130:5). The Lord was the total source of his hope. Paul would say we are to “rejoice in the hope of the glory of God… And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:2, 5) The Christian’s hope is not based on a wish. When we were at Disneyland standing in line I overheard a young girl of about six say to her Dad, “I hope this ride is not too scary!” When believers pray they are not wishing upon a star or hoping that things will go okay, their confidence is certain and sure. Like Paul who steadfastly commented, “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) In Whom have you placed your hope?
Conclusion:
When people want to harm you the best thing to do is to 1) Ask God for help! 2) Praise God for the answer He will give you! and 3) Remind yourself where your hope is placed!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
October 14, 2007 AM
The question of why do bad things happen to good people has been around since the garden of Eden. Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl was imprisoned by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Once set free, he wrote Man's Search For Meaning, which became a perennial bestseller. In it, Frankl shared an all-important lesson he had learned from his suffering: “There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life.” Here in this passage of Scripture we find the writer asking why bad things are happening to him. Was there meaning to his life, when there were those who sought to murder him if they could? Let find out what he discovered shall we?
READ: Psalm 43
What do you do when others seek your destruction? Do you fuss and fume, begin to draw up alliances with those you count as “friends,” or do you trust in the Lord? We discover that life has not changed much in several thousands of years, and we also discover that God has the answer for us if we are willing to listen to the words of this little Psalm. It will help you when those around you seek to harm you. So, through this Psalm, you can discover that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is to…
I. Ask God for help! (vv. 1-3)
1. The question remains: Whom do you depend on? The Psalmist saw God in several ways here: 1) As his vindicator (judge), 2) As his lawyer (advocate) where he could plead his innocence, and 3) As his rescuer, the One who could deliver him from his trials and tribulations! We find that he wanted vindication from his “enemies,” who were ungodly “deceitful,” and “wicked.” He asked God to plead his cause right in their presence. His unusual request is based on what he intrinsically knew about God. That the Lord was indeed his “stronghold” someone whom he could trust. God was the One whom he could ask for “light” and “truth” to “guide” him when he could not find answers anywhere else. “Light” in the Old Testament represented Godly understanding and life, and “truth” here represented God’s faithful Word by which the Psalm writer would find guidance. He awaited God’s expression of love for direction. It has been ultimately expressed by “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” the “light of the world” Jesus Christ! “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus!” (1 Timothy 2:5) In fact, “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1b) We can go directly to God and ask for help!
EXAMPLE: We often want to run and hide away when people want to harm us either physically or emotionally. It is a natural response. But we find that God’s people do not have to live in fear. “Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) Paul would ask, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And then he would make a tremendous declaration: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32) Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” (Matthew 7:7) and yet we do not. We know we should ask for help yet we think we can either handle it on our own or that it will simply go away if we ignore it long enough. Both are founded in pride. The Psalmist discovered that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is ask God for help!
Our writer continued his questioning of God from the previous Psalm. Many think that both Psalm 42 and 43 should be one Psalm. If not, they were probably written around the same theme as the writer struggled with people who sought to “get” him. What would he do? How could he continue to seek God and be in worship? As you look into this passage you soon discover that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is to…
II. Praise God for the answer He will give you! (v. 4)
1. The question remains: Whom will you praise for your deliverance? The Psalmist was quick to say he would “go to the altar of God.” This is interesting because it brings up several issues that we must address. 1) Not just anyone could approach the altar of God, 2) Only a priest could offer a sacrifice, and 3) You had to be willing to pay the price of the sacrifice involved! You went to God’s altar to confess your sins and offer a sacrifice for them! Notice that the Psalmist calls God “my joy and my delight!” It is evident therefore that he had already confessed his sins and was now ready to praise God: “I will praise you with the harp!” He is ready to praise God for the answer He would give! He knew that when he went before the Lord, God was ready, willing, and able to answer his prayer. He had paid the price, he had made the sacrifice, and he had confessed his sin—he was ready to praise God for His answer! How sad when we hesitate to praise God for the answer He desires to give us. We are often like the man with leprosy who “came and knelt before [Jesus] and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said.” (Matthew 8:2) God is always willing, but we often are not. He has made the sacrifice for you through Jesus, all you have to do is praise God for the answer He will give you!
EXAMPLE: The problem is we may not like the answer we get. I find it humorous when someone asks for my advice and I later discover they have gone to several others as well. I once asked someone why they did this and they responded indignantly, “many advisers make victory sure.” (Proverbs 11:14) So I quoted back, “The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.” (Proverbs 10:21) Often we ask for advice from many people not looking for an answer but for justification for our own foolish decision. God knows the plans He has for us, plans that will prosper us and give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) We may not like the answer, but God always has our best interest in mind. When people want to harm you the best thing to do is praise God for the answer He will give you!
It is hard for people to learn that happiness is a fleeting thing. One day we are on top of the world and the next we find ourselves in the dregs of despair. Why is that? I believe it is because we are emotional creatures. From Eve, finding delight in a forbidden fruit, to our day where we seek emotional hope in the things of this world. However, if we have matured, we discover that placing our hope on emotional anchors is a sure way to be on a collision course with reality! Yet, like the Psalmist you can discover that when people want to harm you the best thing to do is to…
III. Remind yourself where your hope is placed! (v. 5)
1. The question remains: In Whom do you place your hope? A question that has vexed mankind for centuries the Psalmist gives voice to when he asks the duel lament, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” We all have wondered this when faced with life’s circumstances. It is the same dual question he pondered in Psalm 42, verses 5 and 11. However, the Psalmist does what every warrior of God learns to do when faced with difficulty in life: Pray. Spurgeon wrote that “Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God.” Prayer is the reminder of where the believer is to go when faced with life’s difficulties. Notice the tri-fold response the Psalmist comes away with each time he prayed: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” He will hope in the Almighty. There he finds comfort enough to praise his Savior and his God. He is reminded where his hope is placed! The same is true for you as well. When people want to harm you the best thing to do is remind yourself where your hope is placed.
EXAMPLE: In Whom do you place your hope? People place their hope in a lot of things: Work, money, houses, family or in friends. Yet none of these things are truly lasting in life. David would write that his hope was in God alone (Psalm 25:1; 39:7; 62:5; & 71:5), in God’s law (Psalm 119:43), and in God’s Word (Psalm 119:74, 81, 114, 147; & 130:5). The Lord was the total source of his hope. Paul would say we are to “rejoice in the hope of the glory of God… And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:2, 5) The Christian’s hope is not based on a wish. When we were at Disneyland standing in line I overheard a young girl of about six say to her Dad, “I hope this ride is not too scary!” When believers pray they are not wishing upon a star or hoping that things will go okay, their confidence is certain and sure. Like Paul who steadfastly commented, “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) In Whom have you placed your hope?
Conclusion:
When people want to harm you the best thing to do is to 1) Ask God for help! 2) Praise God for the answer He will give you! and 3) Remind yourself where your hope is placed!
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