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Past Ponderings

Saturday, June 15, 2019

PONDERING... How Are You Praying In Times Of Trouble? (Ps 20)

How Are You Praying In Times Of Trouble? (PM Lesson Outline)
GIST: We should pray with passionate intercession, personal conviction, and a messianic perspective.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 20
Tonight, we’re coming to Psalm 20. This is a psalm of David likely written to be prayed and sung by the people as a king leads them into battle or through times of trouble. However, there are implications and encouragement for each of us here tonight. Though this psalm was written specifically as a prayer for someone else, I think we can see at least three implications for us this evening. I want to break down our gist like this: when we’re facing times of great need we should→ pray with passionate intercession, personal conviction, and a messianic perspective. I know this might seem like a daunting task, but I want to look at the whole psalm three different times this evening so we can see this all put together. However, fear not, it’s only 9 verses, and I talk fast ☺️.

I. Passionate Intercession
Let’s start with the most obvious implication here. This is a prayer for someone else—specifically the leader of these people. Therefore, we undoubtedly should take away something about how we should be praying for those who lead us.
Now, I don’t want this sermon to seem self-serving. Yes, there are definitely implications here for how we should be praying for our pastors. However, this is not limited to pastors, but applies to everyone who leads us in any capacity. Given the context, it seems spiritual leadership is the assumption. So, we should pray that our spiritual leaders, at home, work, school...life, should be blessed this way, and that our leaders who do not know Jesus would come to be these kinds of spiritual leaders. That’s the background for you, so let’s dive into the meat!

“1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! 3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah”
Again, there is an assumption here that the person being prayed for is a Godly leader. He has been sacrificing to and for God. Otherwise, there would be nothing for God to remember. However, these sacrifices are not what earn the favor of God. They are just the signs that this leader belongs to the true King. It’s an outward sign of an inward transformation!
When trouble comes, leaders need help. They need protection. We need to lift them up and pray that they find that help from God from His sanctuary and His holy hill. This means we’re praying that our leaders would seek His face and be comforted, that they would be God’s people and be protected by Him. Leading is hard.
Leading without the constant support of God is impossible. Solomon knew this. Remember when he was given the opportunity to ask for anything? Look at his response over in 1 Kings 3:5-10, “5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, "Ask what I shall give you." 6 And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.”
At this point, he got it. He couldn’t lead God’s people without the guidance of God. It’s only when he takes his eyes off of this direction that he and his kingdom begins to crumble.
Let’s keep moving here ☺️→

“4 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! 5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!”
Again, there is an assumed clean heart. They aren’t praying that this leader just get whatever he wants, but that his desires, which already belong to God, are fulfilled—that he would be a vessel in God’s success. We want our leaders to succeed in Christ, and we’re ready to raise His banner when they do because we expect God to work in this way! Do we? Do we expect God to use people like this? We should.

“6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”
God’s anointing is the only source of any meaningful victory! We need to pray that they trust not in their own strength or worldly influence, but in the LORD alone.

“9 O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.”
May He move as we seek His face! This is how we should be praying for the people God has allowed to lead us. Now, let’s look at this from a slightly different angle (don’t worry, I won’t draw this out☺️!) →  

II. Personal Conviction
I feel like this psalm speaks to the kinds of people we should seek to be, as well. It’s not just our leaders who need Jesus in times of trouble.
“1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! 3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah”
We need to be the kind of person who prays like this and lives with this hope. We should be people who seek the LORD daily and give our lives to Him as living sacrifices. Then, in times of trouble, we will approach a very familiar throne!

“4 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! 5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!”
This is only pray-able if our hearts are like His. It’s then that we can raise our banners in expectation of victory!

“6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”
This speaks to complete trust and absolute surrender. Notice that it says that those who try and trust the world’s strength will collapse and fall, but those who trust in God will stand! We can stand when our whole life is given over to Him!

9 O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call."
This should be our desire: that the one true King would be Lord of our life and hear us when we call! And that points to the last perspective I want to run through this evening which is having a→

III. Messianic Perspective
“1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! 3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah”
So often, David’s psalms prophetically pointed to the coming Messiah, Jesus. We definitely see that here. This points to Jesus’ suffering. He sacrificed everything, and though it may have appeared to have been the case on Friday, Sunday showed how He was never neglected by God the Father!

“4 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! 5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!”
Remember the Lord’s prayer? We’re to ask that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We should look for Him to be victorious in lives now, but we also know that, ultimately, Jesus has already won! And because He lives, we have hope and joy and salvation. We can raise our banners for the one who has already overcome!

“6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”
He is the true anointed! He’s the One we trust and who gives us strength to stand!

“9 O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.”
He’s the King! He’s the One who has given us the ability to be heard!

TAKEAWAYS
1. Pray for those who lead us. Pray that they’re a Jesus seeker who trusts wholly in God instead of worldly strength.
2. Be a Jesus seeker, yourself, who trusts in Him instead of worldly strength! Even in times of trouble, not only in times of trouble. And→

3. Worship the King! Who is your everything!

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