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Selected Psalms July 4th, 2010 Lee Tankersley Click here for Print Friendly Version! Audio Version Psalm 57 
hen we find ourselves in the midst of suffering, one question we can be most tempted to ask is, “Why?” Why are we suffering? Have we done something to deserve this? Is the Lord disciplining us? For some reason, it’s difficult merely to go through suffering without asking this question. I think there is something within our minds that tells us that if we knew the answer to that question that it would somehow alleviate the suffering. And we all ask it, don’t we?
It seems that if we might say, “I am suffering because I committed this evil,” then we are comforted by a sense of justice, aren’t we? I had a friend whom I grew up with who killed a lady while drinking and driving. He later became a Christian in prison, and they he didn’t want to be there, “I don’t think he woke up every day asking why.” But the young mother who gets cancer, or the Christian couple who seem to have miscarriage after miscarriage no doubt wonder why? Like Job, there are times we’d like to have a council with God. We’d like to sit on the bench with God in the dock and question him. After all, though we know that he is making us like Christ and working all things together for our good, God doesn’t seem to answer specifically “why” suffering happens, case by case. When God shows up to speak to Job, he doesn’t say, “Job, this is a good question. Let me tell you why you’re suffering.” He shows up and says to him, “Dress for action, like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know!” (Job 38:2-5). That is, God simply shows up and let’s job know that he will not be put in the dock while Job sits on the bench, judging whether God is just or unjust. So, if the answer to our question, “Why is this happening?” may never be answered specifically by God, is his message to us, “Suck it up and remember you’re like a spec of dust in relation to the vast universe I’ve created”? Is the biblical response, “Quit thinking and just endure your cancer, your likely premature death, your constant pain, your consistent miscarriages, the slander that has come against you, your seeming unjust firing from work, and on and on and on”? No it isn’t. There are a number of times the Bible reminds us that there will be much we simply do not know and that God is not pleased to reveal to us, there is much we can know. In fact, there are many things we can know that God has revealed to us so that we might find comfort in the midst of our suffering. And I think that Psalm 57 is one text that reminds us of some of those things that we can know and be strengthened by in the midst of our suffering, whether or not we know specifically why the suffering has come to us. The reason Psalm 57 is helpful here is because David writes this psalm in the midst of suffering (again). If there are around sixty psalms of lament in the Psalter, it feels like David writes a number of them, and it is the case yet again with Psalm 57. David writes this psalm when he was fleeing from Saul, who wanted to kill him. But you’ll notice that this psalm in which David laments his situation (v. 4 (and perhaps v. 6)), as his enemies pursue him like fiery beasts, is also a psalm that is filled with statements about God’s goodness, David’s commitment to give thanks, and praises toward God. In fact, these statements make up a majority of the psalm. It’s as if David’s lament becomes crowded out by other realities – realities for which David should give praise and thanks. So, why does this happen? Is it because lament is wrong? Of course not. In numerous other psalms, the lament of the psalmist is clearly in the foreground, and I’ve suggested that this is a helpful guide for us in lament. But I think the reason the lament almost fades into the background here is because although in much lament there are questions as to why and how long the suffering will last, David focuses in this psalm on things that he does know. And these are things that I want us to see this morning. So, in the midst of having a number of questions unanswered in the midst of our suffering – especially why specifically it is taking place, let’s stop and meditate corporately this morning on some things that we do know. We, like David, can know that God will fulfill his purposes for us David turns to God in verse 1 and asks for mercy, telling the Lord that he is seeking refuge in him. He says, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” (v. 1). It’s as if while in a cave hiding from Saul, David pictures himself hiding within the Lord’s covering until the violent storm passes. He clearly sees the Lord as his protector. But why? Why is David so confident in God? Why does David think that it will do him good to cry out to the Lord for mercy? David answers in verse 2, saying, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” David cries out to God in confidence because David is absolutely certain that God will fulfill the purposes he has for David. Now, since we want to be careful in interpreting the text, it is fair to note that just because David says that God will fulfill his purpose for him does not necessarily say that God will fulfill his purpose for us. After all, David does stand in a different place than us. He was promised by God himself through the prophet Samuel that he would be Israel’s next king. That was, in part, God’s purpose for David. So, here David stands – prior to taking the throne (i.e., prior to God’s purpose being fulfilled for him) – and he rests in the fact that even though Saul is threatening to take him about before David takes the throne God will indeed fulfill his purpose for him. None of us has received that particular promise. God has told none of us that we will be king over America or any other land. So, we might think, “Good for David, but I’m not so sure I can say the same.” But let’s consider this statement once more. David says that he’s confident that God will fulfill his purpose for him. Does Scripture allow us to rest in the same reality, even though our paths are vastly different from David’s? I think it does. I think that on the basis of Scripture we too can say, “God will fulfill his purpose for me.” After all, consider the fact that in Romans 8, when Paul is encouraging the Gentiles who might be tempted to think that they were God’s plan B or simple reaction to things not going well with the Jews, Paul says to them that the only reason they stand justified before God right now is because God foreknew them and predestined them to be conformed to the image of his Son. That is, the only reason they were justified is because God had set his affection on them before they were ever born, indeed, before the world had ever been created. That means, if you’ll allow me to use myself as an example, that when I was nine years old and realized that was condemned to hell because of my sin against God, repented and believed, and was saved, I was justified at that moment, but I was coming to faith because Christ had set his affection on me before the foundation of the world. And that is the case with all of us according to Romans 8:29-30. Paul wants us to know that so that we’ll be encouraged and strengthened in the midst of our anxiety. So, first, we who believe, believe because God set his affection on us before we were ever born. We were the objects of his affectionate devotion before the world was ever created. Second, Paul also reminds us in Ephesians 2:10 that God was very hands-on in crafting us. Paul writes there, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Do you see, God has prepared beforehand for you to walk in good works. O’Brien well states this verse, writing, “His plan from of old was not simply to introduce his sons and daughters into a relationship with himself through his Son, but to bring us fully to glory (cf. Heb. 2:10), and this included the intermediate steps by which we were to reach our final goal (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13-14). These embrace the good deeds he has marked out for us beforehand.” You see, O’Brien is noting that if you concede that God has planned for you to be glorified in the end, then you must acknowledge that he also intends to sanctify you (i.e., make you holy) along the way. So, if we can then say that God has set his affection on us from before the foundation of the world, called us to himself, foreordained sanctifying works for us to walk in, and made certain that we will be conformed to his Son at the return of Christ, then isn’t it more than reasonable to conclude, like David, that God will fulfill his purposes for us? In fact, wouldn’t it stand against many Scriptural claims to say that somehow God might fail to fulfill his purpose for us or that we might thwart his purpose for us? Therefore, let me encourage you to rest in the fact that you, like David, might cry out to the Lord in your distress, resting in the reality that God will fulfill his purpose for you. I don’t say that to somehow encourage you to inactivity and irresponsible living. That is as preposterous as sinning in hopes that grace may abound. As Paul says, “God forbid.” Indeed, live responsibly before God, seeking to obey him, and then rest in the midst of your struggles, your suffering, and your confusion in knowing that God will fulfill his purpose for you. Yet David links something else very closely with that truth, and it’s something I want us to see as well, namely, that we, like David, can know that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is toward us. We, like David, can know that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is toward us David trusts that not only will God fulfill his purpose for him, but (in David’s situation) he knows that it means that he will be delivered from his enemies. He says, “He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness” (v. 3). But verse 3 is not the only place that David mentions these two attributes of God. He also notes in verse 10 that God’s “steadfast love is great to the heavens, [his] faithfulness to the clouds.” David knows that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is toward him. But where is David getting this? I mean, consider the audacity. David is a mere man, claiming that the Creator of everything that existed commits his steadfast love toward David and is faithful to David. Who does David think he is? Isn’t he presuming on the Lord a bit? No, he isn’t. Rather, he’s believing God’s Word. You see, even though Israel had done nothing to deserve it, God had decided to enter into a covenant with them, and in that covenant God made promises. When we went through Galatians, we talked much about the covenant God made with Abraham and then again through Moses on Mount Sinai. And one thing we celebrated there was that God had made promises to Abraham that were certain and sure, one of them being that he would justify even the Gentiles by faith. Paul says in Galatians 3:8 that God was preaching the gospel to Abraham beforehand. And not only did God decide to enter into covenant with his people and even make promises to them, but he made clear to them him commitment to be faithful to his promises. Therefore, in Exodus 32:11-14, Moses pleads with God not to destroy the Israelites. John Piper has pointed out that Moses built his prayer on the platform of God’s passion to uphold his glory, and encourages us to do the same. He notes that Moses appeals to God’s reputation and asks why he would let the Egyptians mock him, as they would if he destroyed Israel. But it is not just God’s commitment to his glory that Moses notes. Listen how he ends his prayer in Exodus 32:13. He says, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” Moses asks God to remember his covenant promises and to be faithful to them. And when God later reveals his glory to Moses, Exodus 34:6 tells us that God passed by Moses and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Therefore, when David makes mention of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in verses 3 and 10, he is not simply coming up with ideas that he feels must be true of God, attributes that he figures God surely must possess. He is speaking of the nature of God as revealed to his covenant people. God reveals himself as one who directs his steadfast love and faithfulness toward those with whom he is in covenant. So, as David sits and considers the promise that God made to him through Samuel that he would be king, David considers God’s steadfast love and faithfulness and finds himself rejoicing in the midst of trial, tribulation, and suffering. He begins to celebrate God freeing him, noting in verse 6 that the traps his enemies have set for him have actually caused the enemies themselves to stumble. So, again, what does that have to do with us? Well, the New Testament tells us that all who are united with Christ by faith as heirs of the covenant promises. Jesus even tells us that as we take the cup in the Lord’s Supper, we are to remember his covenant with us which has been sealed with the shedding of his own blood. And one of his covenant promises, according to Jeremiah 31:34 is that God would forgive our iniquities and remember our sins no more. Therefore, when we confess our sins, 1 John 1:9 tells us that God is just to forgive us. That is, God is acting justly to forgive us guilty sinners because Jesus has already paid the penalty for our sins. But John doesn’t just tell us that God is just to forgive us, he says that God is faithful and just. Do you see, God is faithful to his covenant promise to forgive the iniquities and no longer remember the sins of those who are his covenant people, and those who are his covenant people are those who have been united with Christ through faith. Therefore, we can remember the promises that God has made for his covenant people – e.g., that he will work all things together for their good, make them co-heirs with Christ of all things, give us everything necessary to be conformed to Christ, and provide for our needs as we seek first his kingdom – and rejoice that God has made promises to us (who are most undeserving) and that God will be faithful to his covenant promises and he directs his steadfast love toward us. God will fulfill his purposes for us, and he will direct his steadfast love and faithfulness toward us. We can allow our hearts to rest in these realities even in the midst of our suffering. But this psalm also calls us to action, and I want to end with this note. We, like David, must spread God’s glory over all the earth As David is in the midst of suffering, meditating on what he knows to be true about God, he begins to break out in praise. He says in verses 5 and 11, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” He commits himself to awake early the next day so that he might sing to God, play instruments before him, give thanks to him, and praise him. In fact, he is so anxious to do so that he declares that the dawn will not wake him, but he will wake the dawn. He writes, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Awake, my whole being! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds” (vv. 7-10). As David meditates on this God whose steadfast love and faithfulness is toward him, he declares that he will praise this God, thank God, and spread this God’s glory to all the nations. He is not content keeping in his thanks and praise. He is not even content letting it be known to the Israelites. He will sing God’s praises among the nations. Everyone must know of this God. And, David writes this, sitting in a cave, hiding from Saul who is trying to kill him. Even in the midst of suffering and trials, there is sufficient reason to praise God, given thanks to him, and long to make his glory known among the nations. A few years ago I went to a conference at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis to hear Don Carson, and while I was there he told a story that I (thankfully) have had trouble forgetting. He told a story about a named Mike Wheeler. Mike went to Bolivia as a single missionary to labor among the people so that they might know of God’s greatness and hear the gospel. He learned the language, saw fruit from the preaching of the gospel, and the missions agency was so pleased with him that they sent him back to Trinity (where Carson teaches) to get a Ph.D. They wanted him to get a Ph.D. so that he might go back and help educate some of the pastors of Bolivia. But before they sent Mike back, he met a lady who was also a missionary in Bolivia. They got married, had a little girl, and they arrived in the states for Mike to start his Ph.D. work. Shortly thereafter, when their little girl was only two, Mike’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. So, they did a mastectomy, gave her chemo and radiation, and eventually said her cancer was gone. So, Mike went back to his studies, but shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. The doctors in Chicago said they couldn’t do anything, but the mission agency decided they would pay for him to go to the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic only had experimental treatments and ended up removing ninety perfect of his stomach so that for the rest of his life he would only be able to eat a little bit every couple of hours, but Mike survived. And went back to working on his Ph.D. studies full time when his wife’s cancer came back, and she died. Carson ended that story, however, sharing that he had just heard Mike speak Carson’s church. Carson’s church is a financial supporter, and so Mike came back to share, right before going back to Bolivia (with his daughter then eight or nine-years-old). And Carson said that for thirty minutes he gave thanks and praise and spoke of God’s goodness. He shared how good God had been to give him a wife, to give them a child, to not allow this child to lose both parents, to allow him to know that he will one day see his wife again, to let him go to the Mayo Clinic, to give them a healthy child, to give him Christians who would so faithfully support him, and on and on. And then Carson said, “And that’s normal for the Christian.” And he’s right, isn’t he? We have the same God Mike Wheeler has, and he has the same God that David had. And as David considered God’s mercy, steadfast love, and faithfulness, he couldn’t help but long to give thanks and praise and to spread his glory over all the earth. How can we long to do anything less when we consider that that God is our God, that he fulfills his purposes for us, and that is steadfast love and faithfulness are toward us. Let us give thanks and praise to him even as we now come to the table. Amen. 3720 North Highland Avenue Jackson, TN 38305 731-664-3295 Contact the Webmaster
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