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Who Cares?

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 2 August 2026 · 50:03 · 8,520 words

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Psalm 142 frames a message about David’s desperate plea in a cave and the answer that the Lord truly cares for His people. The speaker calls listeners to bring their own struggles to God, acknowledging they do not deserve mercy but asking for it anyway. The talk emphasizes that God sees, knows, and cares even when no one else does, and it invites anyone needing salvation to stand and receive forgiveness. The closing request is for a personal response of faith.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

david 88 car 37 lord 109 trouble 25 true 31 cave 13 wave 11 overwhelmed 11 ever 27 stronger 9 david's 12 enemy 17

Topics

Prayer 2 Salvation 1 Faith 1 Sin 1 Righteousness 1

Scripture referenced 10

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Psalms 142 1:52 Psalms 150 2:17 Psalms 142 2:20 Psalms 142 5:05 Psalms 142 5:15 Psalms 142 5:42 1 Samuel 22 6:12 1 Samuel 22 6:12 Psalms 142 7:47 Psalms 139 19:23

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 13 lines, 0:41. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Pastor Phil.

Thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

And we are so glad that you're here

and we want to connect with you and your family.

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There you can ask questions, submit prayer requests,

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At the end of the day, we just want to connect with you

and be a blessing any way that we can.

You can also visit our website at theriverchurch.cc

to learn more about us and what we have going on as a church.

Thanks again for joining us.

We hope that you're blessed by today's message.

Good to be together with each of you this morning.

Good to see all of you.

Welcome to all of you joining us online today.

Before we jump in, I wanted to just let you know

that our building expansion stuff,

the construction stuff is all finished.

So I don't think I've ever seen

a program like this before.

I don't think I've ever seen a program like this before.

I don't think I've ever seen a program like this before.

I don't think I've ever seen a program like this before.

I don't think I've ever seen a program like this before.

I don't think I've ever seen a program like this before.

I don't think I've ever seen a project actually start on time

and finish on time.

Amazing, yeah, amazing.

So very good.

And so just really, I wanna say thank you to all of you.

I can't tell you how thankful I am

to those of you that prayed and you helped.

Some of you were here doing work

and then also those of you that gave towards this

to help us meet this need.

Just so grateful to you.

May the Lord bless you.

And as you have given to try to reach people

and disciple people and help

and may it just be used for his kingdom.

So I just wanted to thank you

before we got started this morning, okay?

So thank you.

Well, we've been in the book of Psalms all summer.

And so today we will be in Psalm 142.

And we just have one more Psalms message.

So that is next week will be our last message

in the book of Psalms.

And then we will begin our fall.

It's weird to say that.

I'm so sorry.

I didn't even prepare you for that.

I should have prepared you.

But yeah, so one more message.

We'll look at Psalm 150 next week.

But this morning, Psalm 142,

a very interesting, very interesting passage.

While you turn there, let's pray

and let's ask the Lord to speak to us today, okay?

Lord, we come to you this morning

and Lord, we just quiet ourselves

and we admit our need.

We are people in need today, Lord.

We need you.

We need you to speak.

We need you to help.

We need you to counsel and encourage

and direct us and lead us today.

We need you, Lord.

We pray that you would use your word

to drive us closer to you, Lord.

You'd bring us near.

Help us to see you and hear you today.

To know that we are loved

and to love you more when we leave here today

than when we came in.

We thank you.

It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Have you had a good summer?

Who cares?

Doing anything fun?

Have you had a good summer?

Who cares?

Oh, you're having troubles?

Who cares?

You're seeing where I'm going, huh?

Oh, something hard has happened?

Who cares?

You're sick?

Who cares?

Having a tough time making ends meet?

Who cares?

Marriage is really tough?

Who cares?

You're afraid, you're hurting, you're alone?

Who cares?

The answer, of course, is the Lord.

He cares and we do too as his people

but ultimately, above all others, who cares?

Who cares?

He does.

He does.

Do you know that?

Do you believe that to be true?

Even when you're unsure if anyone else does,

are you sure of that?

Have you come in here today hoping

that somebody would care about you,

about what you're going through,

about what you're dealing with?

You're like, you know what?

I'm coming in today.

I'm giving it one more shot.

I'm giving it one more effort

that somebody would care about what's going on with me.

Well, I'll tell you,

these people,

if you will, they're wonderful.

If you let them,

they'll try their best.

But please hear this.

if no one else sees or knows or understands or cares you have to understand something he does

and this is the central issue of psalm 142 it's really a question it's really who cares about me

that's what david is saying in psalm 142 it's david's question it's very real it's his cry

it's emotional it's vulnerable and it's a real question and he gets a real answer throughout

the psalm but you're gonna see he's like you he's like me he's gonna go in and out in and out of

what he's sure of and of what he's wondering about you're gonna see it in just a moment but

if you're willing psalm 142 will answer the question for you but you've got to be willing

to let the lord say what he wants to say to you the psalm begins with the words even before verse

one notice before verse one there a contemplation of david a prayer when he was in the cave now

this assumes you know what this means right david in the cave what is this talking about well you

you'd have to back up to uh first samuel chapter 22 and in first samuel chapter 22 david is on the

run uh the king of israel a man named saul is chasing david not just to capture him but to

kill him now david has done nothing wrong he's not done anything that would that would cause this

but the king is jealous he knows that david will be

the next king and so saul wants to kill david now to do this he has employed his army against david

and the king himself to show you how serious it is the king himself saul is actually traveling with

the army he's looking for david he wants to make sure david dies even by his own hand and so david

runs from saul and as he does this he goes from place to place to place and he's trying to hide

and he's trying to just live life like

peacefully but each time saul's men almost find him and so david is on the run david finally finds

himself alone and hiding in a cave in a dulem now i've been to this cave doesn't look much like a

cave today but it is a very interesting rock path all the way back in the in the mount i mean david

was hiding literally if the army had showed up there was nowhere for david to go he couldn't

have gone up it was too tall and there was only one route in if david had seen the army he would

stay and where david was he was trapped well this is where david is writing psalm 142 in that cave

he's alone he's backed into a corner he's exhausted and he's afraid and he's beginning to doubt and he

has a question who cares about me and as we said ultimately he will get his answer but this is the

question william mcdonald puts it this way about this psalm he says pursued by his enemies deserted

by his friends

hold up in a cave this is where we find david now the entire psalm is called a contemplation

the word um hebrew maskill which means a memory set to song so it's the idea uh we're gonna sing

about this so that we remind ourselves of how good god was about what god did we're gonna remind

ourselves about who actually cares and i pray that that is what this psalm will do for you

take a look at verse one david says i

cry out to the lord with my voice with my voice to the lord i make my supplication now the verse

actually begins with the words with my voice and it's an emphasis on the fact that david

is speaking and he's not just speaking david is actually even though he's alone in this cave

david is shouting to the lord what he needs can i ask you have you ever shouted like verbally

shouted to the lord what you need i mean i have have you ever been in a situation

it's been so intense that that you're you're not just praying in your head you're not just

praying in your heart you're literally shouting out to the lord uh out loud to god though no one

is there you're shouting out loud to god and you think what level of trouble would prompt

that kind of response in david where he's saying no lord please lord help me lord have you ever

been there where you're you're begging god please

help me. I don't know what else to do. I don't know how to, I don't, I can't fix this. I can't

solve this. God, I need you. You ever been there? That's where David's at. His echoes, his, his

cries are echoing off the cave walls, but there's no one else really there to hear in David's mind.

And you might think that, you know, you read about David hiding in that cave. You may think,

you know, I've read this. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I want you to imagine

that you're being hunted. Imagine someone determined to find and kill you, your family,

and they are nearby. David is powerless. He has no army to stop the King's army. David is running.

He hasn't done anything wrong. The King hunts him without a cause. This is where David's at.

And so he says this, he says, with my voice to the Lord, I make my supplication. The word

supplication is a really interesting word. It's a word that asks God for grace or asks God for

mercy. It's like David is saying, Lord, I'm begging.

For mercy. I'm begging you to be good to me. Now, this is something that's really important for all

of us. We need to hear this. David says, I'm asking God for good, even though I don't deserve it. I'm

asking God for mercy. That's what mercy is. I don't deserve God, his goodness, but I'm asking

for it. That's what mercy is. Undeserved kindness from the Lord. I don't know about you, but I know

this about me. I do not deserve anything good from the Lord. I think every true believer,

believes that I don't deserve God to be good to me at all. In fact, I so often hear people say,

right. You've heard this. I'm sure you've, you've had people say this to you. Why does God allow

bad things to happen to good people? You've heard that. Yeah. I've heard it many times. There's a

fundamental flaw with that question. What is it? Well, if we are being honest as people, we know

we are not good. That's the flaw. We're not good. God is good. I am not. I want to be, but I am not.

He's good. And so he's been actually much kinder to me than I've ever deserved. And so the question

should not be, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Flip it around. You want

to be biblical. You should probably ask the question this way. Why does God allow good

things to happen to bad people? That's more accurate. Why does God allow anything good to

happen in my life? It doesn't make any sense. David understands this. And this is a real question

from David. He's essentially saying, right. He hasn't done anything to Saul, but David is not

fair. Why is this happening to me? I'm a good person. I don't deserve this. Have you done that?

I've done that. I've whined like that before, right? It's not fair. I don't deserve this.

It's not right. Why is God allowing this to happen? David's not doing that. He understands

he deserves this and much worse, much worse. And so he asks God for mercy. That's what he's doing.

God, would you please, would you be merciful to me? I know I don't deserve it, but would you be

merciful to me? He goes on verse two. He says, I, I pour out my complaint before him. I declare before

him my trouble. The words pour out. It's in the imperfect tense in Hebrew, which means that David

is doing something continually. He's not just venting one time to God in the cave. David is

pouring out his need before God continually. It's a continual stream is, is that where you're at

today? It's like all day, every day for you, Lord, please help me, Lord. I need you, Lord. I don't

deserve your help or your kindness, but Lord, please look on me and help me. It's like what you

think about when you wake up in the middle of the night. It's, it's, it's the last thing you think

about before you go to bed. It's the first thing you think of when you wake up, Lord, help me. Is

that where you're at? It's a continual stream of need. It's where David's at. He pours out. He says

his complaint. Now that's not the way we would think that word doesn't mean what we would think

of with complaint. He's not complaining. He's not whining. David is talking about everything.

He's thinking everything he's feeling. He's pouring that out to God. He's not taking that

to anybody else. He can't take it to anybody else. He's taking it to the Lord. Lord,

this is how I feel. This is how I'm thinking. This is what I'm afraid of. God, this is what I'm,

I'm worried about God. This is what I'm stressing. God, here it is. This is, I'm pouring it all out

to you. He says, he's declaring it. He's making it known as the word, his trouble. And when he

says trouble, he doesn't just mean he's annoyed or he's bothered.

the word for trouble there is the strongest word for trouble. It means anguish. David is in anguish.

He's lost everything. He's lost everyone. His life is, he feels like a breath away from being taken.

And so he's making his trouble known to the Lord. I would ask you, where do you make your trouble

known? Where do you take your trouble and make it known? Is it to your spouse? Is it to your kids?

Is it to your parents? Is it to your family? Is it to your church? Is it to Facebook? I'm just

going to pour out all my problems right here on Facebook and I'm going to get so much help from it.

Just amazing how that works, you know, solves everything. If I post it, where do you make your

trouble known? David is bringing it all to the Lord, asking the Lord for his help. And then he

goes further. Verse three, when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, what does it look like

for a person's spirit to be overwhelmed? I would say, I'm not going to let you go. I'm not going to

say it looks like defeat. When a person is overwhelmed, it looks like they've been defeated.

When I hear the word overwhelmed, I see ocean waves. I grew up in Southern California. There

were obviously, there were times we would go to the beach, but when you live there, you know,

there are certain beaches you don't go to. And the reason you don't go to those beaches is

because they're dangerous. The waves are crazy. The riptides are bad. So it's not like a chill

beach day with your family. It's like a, which kid are we going to lose today in the ocean?

Kind of thing, right? So like you don't go to those beaches, you know that, but those are also

really popular beaches for surfing. And so you can go there and watch people surf, but I have watched

grown men standing in the water. Uh, they're overconfident, they're facing waves. They think

they're strong and then they get hit with a wave and it knocks them off their feet, throws them on

the ground and the riptide pulls them out and they end up in this cycle. And that's when people

drown and they keep trying to get up, but they can't get up. Each wave crashes over them again,

down again, pulls them out again. I was in one, one time. That's how people drown. But this is

also how life can be. That's what the word overwhelming is describing. It's overwhelming

you. You don't have any ability anymore. Wave after wave. And maybe the first wave of trouble

with your kid, with your parent, with, you know, illness or whatever. The first wave is like, man,

I've got this. Then pretty soon your feet come out from under you and you're on the ground and

now you're being pulled around by this thing and you're in danger of drowning. You're in danger of

all hope. You're in danger of, of hardening your heart to the Lord. You're in danger of going your

own direction. This happens. And David is describing this. He is overwhelmed by the waves

of trouble that keep crashing into his life. But don't rush to pass to, to, uh, quickly pass this

because what David says about the Lord, when he is overwhelmed is so important to hear.

Look what it says. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, when I couldn't see,

when I didn't know, when I couldn't figure it out, when I couldn't fix it, look what he says.

Then you knew my path. What a amazing, what a beautiful thing to say here. What an encouraging

thing to know in life. Let me say to you, knowing this simple truth will stabilize you in the most

difficult seasons of life. The Lord, when I don't know, when I can't see the Lord knows and sees

and understands as, and is in control when I am not in control, which I am never in control. Amen.

When I think I'm in control.

And then realize I'm not in control. The Lord is still in control. Even when we're lost in the

trouble of something, the Lord is not. He perfectly knows. He perfectly understands. He perfectly sees

whatever it is that is all consuming for you and all the stuff's floating around and you can't

figure out how to get out of this path. The Lord knows it perfectly. He sees the path perfectly.

We talked about it last week in Psalm 139. He sees in the darkness as clearly as in the day,

not a problem for him. He can lead you through all of it. Do you know that?

That when you don't know, he knows that when you don't see, he sees when you don't understand

when you are completely overwhelmed, he is not. He perfectly sees all things.

Watch this. Even when you have enemies against you, look at this verse, verse three, David says

in the way in which I walk, they have secretly set a snare or a trap for me. Um, at the end of

of verse three here, David is telling us some of what's been going on. David has enemies. Do you

have enemies? You probably, well, you do, but you just don't know it, right? There may be enemies

you know of, but there are definitely enemies you don't know of. David says, I have enemies,

people who want to see me fall, people who want to harm me. He says, these enemies, they are

secretly setting traps for me. The nature of a trap is that you don't see it, right? If you're

trying to trap an animal, you don't want the animal to see the trap. So those are hidden.

So there are, he says, there are people who are setting traps for me to harm me, to hurt me.

They're doing all of this in secret behind David's back. They're not doing it out in the open.

They're doing it in secret, private conversations. You know about David, right? Well, you heard about

what he did. Well, let me just tell you what happened. I mean, texts were being sent,

lies were being told, whole scenarios were being invented, gossip, slander, lies, on and on and on,

on and on and on, right? All of it was to crush David. You ever been there? Enemies. Well, for you

and I, this could be anything that is quote unquote out there to get us, right? There are dangers. You

know this, right? You have enemies. There's at least three of them, right? It could be number

one. It could be people for sure. There could be people who hate you, who want harm to come to you,

who want to cause you problems, and they could be plotting in secret, telling lies. And you go,

how do I stop that? You can't. You got to hear this. The Lord loves you.

He sees. He knows. You got to look to him. You got to trust him. You start defending yourself.

You'll never stop. But there could be another enemy. It could be a situation in your life.

It could be right around the corner. It's meant to trip you up, right? It's an illness. It's job

loss. It's the loss of someone you love. It's right around. You can't see it. Please hear this.

The Lord sees it. He's with you. He knows. He will help you. There is a third enemy, though,

and that is sin and Satan. And I would say to you, they are always plotting against you.

What did the Lord say to Cain? Remember this in the Old Testament, Genesis? What did the Lord say

to Cain? He said, sin lies at the door and its desire is to rule you. You know that, right? You

have an enemy. It's at your door. It is to swallow your life. It is to take everything you have and

leave you broken with nothing, sobbing in your own mess. That is what sin wants to do to you.

That is what the enemy wants to do to you. He has no mercy. He will have no mercy on your children.

He will have no mercy on your marriage. He will have no mercy on your life. He will take everything

he can from you and laugh at you the whole time. He has no mercy. He sets traps for you all day,

every day. For some of you, it's in your pocket right now. It's your phone. For some of you,

it's your life. For some of you, it's people around you. For some of you, it's these things,

right? In life, they're set as traps. The Lord knows. And so he'll say to you, no, no, no,

don't go that way. Put that thing away. Get rid of that. Go this way. Don't take that. Don't go this

direction. I see all you don't see. God sees it. And so he leads and we follow the Lord's leading

and we're safe. But in verse four, we see that David forgets he's overwhelmed. And so he forgets

he's knocked down. And so he says this in verse four, look on my right hand and see there is no

one who acknowledges me. Refuge has failed me. No one watch this. No one cares for my soul. Maybe

this is how you feel today. When David says,

your right hand, that was always a symbol for help. The idea is if someone is at your right

hand, they're there to help you. And so what David is saying, I'm in desperate need. And when I look

to my right for someone to help me, there's nobody there. There's no one to help me. And he's saying

there's no one, right? That makes sense. Of course, because David's in a cave. He's by himself.

Please hear this. What David says is not actually true. It's not true. He has no human being there

with him.

To be his help when he writes this, but it is not true that he has no one to help. And it's also

not true for you that no one is there to help. It's also not true for you and I, that no one

cares. It's not true that, that no one was there. That's not true. The Lord,

was right there with David. And David is going to remember that in the next verse. But here in

verse four, he goes on. He says, there's no one who acknowledges me. The word acknowledge means

understands. Have you ever said, have you ever thought it? Nobody understands. You ever thought

that? I have. Nobody sees what I'm going through. Nobody knows what I'm going through. Nobody

understands what I'm going through. Nobody cares what I'm going through. I've said that. I've

thought that. But it's not true, is it? In my pity party, it's true, but it's not actually true.

And when the Lord reminds me that he is there, I suddenly realize he's been there the whole time.

You see, David is only seeing things from a human, earthly perspective. And if you and I do the same

thing, we're going to come to the same conclusion. Listen, here's the truth, okay? Here's the truth.

There are times in life where this is true about people. There will be times in your life and in

mine. There will be times in your life and in mine where this is true about people. There will be

times in your life and in mine where this is true about people. There will be times in your life and in

my life and in mine where this is true about people. There will be times in your life and in mine

when people do not see, they do not know, they do not understand. Watch this. They don't even care.

They've got their own stuff going on. Sorry. That's just how it is. That's life. And if you

only look at it from the human, earthly perspective, then you're going to come to the

same conclusion David came to. No one cares. But it's not true. It's not true. And just as it was

with David, it's never true that no one knows, that no one sees. The Lord always knows, always

sees, always cares, and is always there. The Lord always does. But David is in the place that grief

and disappointment and sorrow and suffering often put us into. Overwhelmed by the waves and the

troubles of life. Look what David says. Verse four there at the end. Refuge has failed me.

The word refuge is a word that means escape. It means rest. And man, is this something that we

need to hear as people. When we are going through trouble, we often look for a way.

Of escape. We look for some relief in the middle of what is going on. We look for rest. And here's

the truth, right? We know it to be true. We very often, we turn to the wrong things to try to get

that relief. We turn to the wrong stuff. I would ask you when you're going through trouble, what

do you turn to first? What is it? Does it help? Please hear this. You have been hardwired by God.

Do you understand this? You've been hardwired by God to not be able to find rest,

or escape in anyone but him. In anything but him. The only way to escape, the only way to rest,

the only way to refresh, the only way to be safe is to turn to the Lord God. He has hardwired you

this way to never be able to find it anywhere else. You'll never find it at the end of that

bottle. It'll be there when you're sober. You'll never find it at the end of those pills. It'll

still be there when the effect wears off. You won't find your escape or your rest in the endless

entertainment. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. It's

not going to happen. As soon as it's over, your problems are still there. You're not going to

find it in spending. You're not going to find it in that relationship. You're not going to find it

in your vacation, or in your eating, or whatever it happens to be. Wherever you run to for relief,

you're not going to find it there. You've been hardwired. It might distract for a moment,

but it will not satisfy. It will not give you rest. You'll be just as tired, just as worn out,

just as broken, just as hurt when you come out of it.

Often, even more so. Hear David. Please hear David. Everything else will fail you. It will.

He says, refuge has failed me, and that means he has looked for refuge from other things. He's looked

from people, and people didn't do it, and he looked to things, and things didn't do it, and he looked

to places, and places couldn't do it, and David couldn't find it. He looked for rest. He looked

for relief. He looked for safety. He looked for it, and everywhere he looked, it failed him,

and the same is true for you and I, and so David comes to this conclusion,

that so many of us come to when we look in the wrong place. David says this, the end of verse

four, no one cares for my soul. What a tragic thing to believe, and you might be here today,

and you think this is true. It is not true. I'm telling you, it is not true.

the Lord cares for your soul.

It is not true that no one cares for your soul.

Yet so many people believe this.

So many people believe that no one really loves them,

that no one really cares.

If you believe that today, you need to hear the Lord.

He loves you.

He sees you.

He knows you.

He understands.

There's not a moment that his eyes are off of you.

This idea that no one cares

usually comes from disappointment or from hurt,

from the things in life that let us down.

And then we come to this conclusion.

No one cares.

I've seen this happen in every church

I've ever been a part of.

Maybe you've done this.

I don't know.

Maybe this is you.

It goes like this, right?

A person comes into the church out of the world

and they know the world is severe

and they know the world is brutal

and they know the world is cold.

And so they come into the church and they think,

man, I gotta find somewhere.

I gotta find something where someone is gonna prove

that I am worth something.

Someone's gonna say that I matter.

And so they come to the church,

which is wonderful, right?

Because they do matter and we do care

and we do love them.

But they come and they're like,

man, this is my last effort.

My last ditch effort is to come to the church

and try to be sure that I'm actually important

and I matter.

And then they leave disappointed.

So how does that happen?

Well, it happens because a person is looking to people

to be what only the Lord can be.

Listen, the people of the church,

they try and they will try.

These are wonderful.

People, they will do their best.

I watch you do it.

They will try to love and care for you

and help you and guide you.

They will try to show you that you are loved.

But let me tell you what happens.

If you only look to people to prove this,

you are going to end up with the same conclusion David had.

You're gonna end up with the conclusion that no one cares

because people are going to let you down.

Why?

Because we're people.

If you don't start to look to the Lord to prove this,

you're gonna be let down.

You're never gonna find it anywhere else.

You're gonna find, listen, it doesn't matter

how many people you love.

It doesn't matter how much the church does.

People could be inviting you over

and constantly praying for you and trying to help you

and doing everything they can to prove this.

If you don't believe it from the Lord,

it doesn't matter how many times people do it.

It'll never be enough.

And this is because, again, we are people.

We've been hardwired to get what we need

primarily from the Lord.

We cannot primarily get it from each other.

It's gotta come from Him.

And so a person that does that, they come in.

Again, maybe this is you.

You've come in today and you're like,

man, this is my last shot.

I need people to prove

that I'm loved.

I'm telling you, these people end up leaving the church

and they say no one cares, but it is not true.

You just looked for it primarily in the wrong place.

You looked for it from people.

And if we only look at people,

this is gonna be our conclusion.

Even if people did everything they possibly can,

you're gonna end up feeling like no one cares

until you look to the Lord.

And so this is what David does in verse five.

He turns his attention to the Lord

and watch the difference.

Look at verse five.

From looking to people to help him to look

into the Lord.

He says, I cried out to you, O Lord.

I said, what does he say?

You are my refuge.

I thought he had no refuge.

Not in people, not in places, not in things.

You are my refuge.

My portion in the land of the living.

David says, no one cares for my soul.

So I cried out to you.

And I found out that you cared about my soul.

I will tell you, if you today need someone

to care about your soul, cry out to the Lord.

You'll find he cares.

He cares about your soul.

We do too.

But he cares about your soul.

He will rescue you forever.

Whoever you are, he loves you.

He always has.

He says, I couldn't find an escape.

I couldn't find a refuge.

I couldn't find a safe place.

And so I finally recognized I can't find it anywhere else.

You are my refuge.

You are my rest.

You are my escape.

Have you come to learn this?

You've tried to look everywhere else

and it's let you down, right?

You come to learn, not people.

People can't do this.

They try.

It's not people.

It's him.

He's my help.

He's my rest.

He's my refreshment.

David says, the Lord is his portion

in the land of the living.

What a beautiful thing to say about the Lord.

David, in his mind, he's lost everything.

see, we get to read the end of the story, right? We know that David does become king and he, you

know, all this stuff, wonderful things happen, terrible things happen, wonderful things happen,

right? All kinds of stuff happens in David's life. We get to read the end of the story,

but for now, David's in a, in a cave by himself, nothing, no one, he's lost everything in his mind.

Yet in this statement, he says he has everything he needs in the Lord. Can you say this? Man,

it's true. It's tough to say though, isn't it? If I have nothing else, but the Lord, I have

everything. I have him. I have heaven because of him. I have endless life because of him. I have

endless love and hope and joy and peace all because of him, all because of what he has done.

Lord, you are my portion forever. That's what David is saying. And so now that he knows the

Lord is his help, he asks the Lord for help. Look at verse six, attend to my cry for I am brought

very low.

Deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than I. The word attend means God,

please pay attention to me. And this is the very thing God does, right? Lord attend,

pay very close attention to my cry. The very thing the Lord does. He hears you. Do you know this?

When you are broken, when you are in need, the Lord doesn't push away from you as sometimes

people do, right? If we're honest, sometimes we're in need and people are like, man, I got a lot of

stuff going on in my own life. I don't need to step into that. So sometimes you're going through

something and it's like people actually pull away.

You go, what is that? I got my own stuff. The Lord runs the other direction, like to us, right?

He draws near to us in our brokenness. He comes to us. And David says, Lord, hear me, hear my cry,

attend to it because nobody else is at 2 a.m. When no one else hears you, the Lord hears you.

He can actually do something about it. So David asked for the Lord to deliver him from his

persecutors. The word deliver, I love it. It's a military word. It means to overcome with might.

I've been, I don't know about you. I've been praying like this a lot lately. I've been just

seriously, I've been praying that the Lord would just like override, overrule, overcome like

everything. It's like, I'm praying, Lord, you are so strong. You are so powerful. I don't care what

the doctor says. I don't care what this thing says. I don't care what's happening here. Overrule,

override anything. You can do anything you want. You held the sun up and kept it from going down,

right? I mean, what can you not do? I've prayed so much this way.

This is what David is saying. He's like, Lord, overcome my enemies, overrule them. The word

persecutors there that he uses is a word that means for someone to chase you, to hurt you.

So David is asking for the Lord to overcome those that are chasing him, to hurt him.

And please hear this. If you have enemies against you today, this is what you should do.

You should not fight them. You should not, you should not enter into this thing where you are

fighting back and forth. However, you might go about that. You should go to the Lord about this.

Bring this to the Lord and let him deal with it as he sees fit. You're not doing anything on

Facebook. You're not doing anything through texting. You're not doing anything in your

fighting. You're not doing anything. You should trust the Lord. Let him do what he wants to do

with this situation. David says, Lord, you overcome those who are chasing me. Then what David says in

the end of verse six is true. And you have to realize it's true about you. And it's true about

me. Look what David says for. They are stronger than I am. They are stronger than you. Listen,

I have been here.

Many times people who hate me and my hate my wife and hate my kids and they threaten us and they

whatever, like all that stuff determined to just cause harm. They're very motivated to do harm,

to cause problems. They are very motivated. And we have many times had to just do what

David did here, right? Trust in the Lord's ability to protect because the truth is I want to believe

I'm strong, but the truth is they are stronger than I, how?

Well, listen, they spend their days and their nights thinking about ways to hurt

and harm. I don't do that. I'm not spending my days trying to figure out how to hurt and harm

people. I'm also not spending my days trying to figure out how to get out of threats and problems

and stuff. Listen, they do nothing but cause harm and, and trouble for people. They spend a lot of

energy, a lot of time. And if they're determined to cause you problems, they're stronger than you.

They're thinking about it more often than you are.

David says that.

He's like, I'm not strong enough.

You're not strong enough.

They're stronger than me.

But do you realize in that statement,

he's also making another statement.

He's saying they're stronger than me,

but they're not stronger than you.

They're not stronger than you, Lord.

So you overcome, you override, you overpower.

So finally, David says, verse seven,

bring my soul out of prison that I may praise your name.

The righteous shall surround me

for you shall deal bountifully with me.

I love this verse because it just is so clearly a picture

of us as people, maybe just me,

where I know and then I don't know

and then I know and then I don't know.

Or maybe I should go the other way.

I know and I don't know.

I know and I don't know.

Have you ever known what you were supposed to think,

what you were supposed to do?

Like, I shouldn't be afraid.

I should be trusting.

Can't get there.

I know I shouldn't be hurt.

I should be in a place of forgiveness,

but I can't get there.

I know I shouldn't.

I should be anxious, but I'm in this place.

I can't get there.

I feel like I'm stuck.

And that's what David says at the beginning of verse seven.

He says, my soul is in prison.

I know what I'm supposed to do.

Have you ever had this conversation with yourself?

I know what I'm supposed to do.

I can't seem to get there.

I'm stuck.

Sometimes, you know, David's counseled himself.

I love that because I feel crazy.

Soul, why are you downcast?

Have you ever done that to yourself?

Looked at yourself in the mirror.

Now, listen here, Chuck.

I'm tired of this nonsense, right?

You pull it together.

You know what I mean?

Have you ever had that conversation with yourself?

No, you haven't?

Okay, that's fine.

We'll move on.

We'll move on.

That's what David is doing.

He's saying, listen, I know what I'm supposed to do,

but I feel stuck.

But notice he doesn't tell himself to get out of it.

He goes to the Lord.

He says, Lord, I'm stuck in fear,

in prison to what might happen.

Bring me out of this.

Lord, I'm stuck in hurt.

I'm in prison to it.

Bring me out of this.

Lord, I'm stuck in this sin.

Bring me out of it.

Lord, I'm in prison to these things.

Help me.

And look what he says.

He says,

So that or so that I may praise your name.

This is a very vulnerable thing from David.

I don't know if you've been there.

I've been here.

David is saying,

I am having a hard time praising you right now

because of what's going on.

You ever been in a place

where it's hard to praise the Lord

or it's difficult because of what's going on?

You're like, man, it's just all consuming.

It's how it goes for us.

Lord, I'm having a hard time worshiping you right now.

I'm stuck in the mud of this trouble.

I start to sing,

but I hear the words that were said to me.

I start to sing,

but I hear the diagnosis.

I start to sing,

but I see the trouble.

I start to sing,

but then I know what's coming.

And right, it's hard for me to worship, Lord.

You ever been there, right?

I'm stuck, Lord.

But I'm asking you,

and here's what David's doing.

Lord, please deliver me

so that I can worship you.

Not, Lord, deliver me so that I have it easy.

He's saying, Lord, deliver me

so that I can worship you again.

What a thing to pray.

so that I will now sing and worship to you again.

Well, finally, in the end of verse,

seven, David is sure again.

And he says this.

He says, I know the righteous shall surround me.

And here, David is fast forwarding

all the way to heaven, fast forwarding.

And here's what he's doing.

He's doing what so many people

who have suffered have had to do.

We've got to look past the right now

and we've got to look to the day, right?

Right now is trouble,

but there's coming a day, right?

Right now, it's like, I don't see rest.

I don't see relief.

I don't see any way to fix this,

but there is coming a day.

And God's people have had to do this.

They've had to look past the trouble.

They've had to look to the day.

And that is what David is doing right now.

He is saying, I know one day

the righteous are going to surround me.

What does he mean?

He's saying right now,

I have evil people surrounding me.

They want to hurt me.

They want to take my life.

But one day, very soon,

I will be surrounded, not with enemies,

but with brothers and sisters in Christ,

Do you know that's true for you?

If you know the Lord,

can I encourage you in the same way,

whatever you're going through today,

one day, this is all going to be over.

This life is going to be over.

This life will soon be past.

All its troubles cannot last.

One day you will be in his presence

and there will be fullness of joy.

You will be with his people,

never be in fear. You will never be hurt again. You will never be betrayed again. There will never

be pain or sickness or sorrow or death again. Never again. The former things are going to pass

away. What you're going through now is momentary. This life is just a moment. This life is where you

decide where you will spend eternity. Don't get it messed up. This is not the main thing. This is

where you get a few years to determine where you will be in the main thing, which is eternity.

Where will you be forever? You have however many days you have here to decide. This is not the

main thing. Stop treating it like it's the main thing. It's not it. It's not about how much can

you get. It's not about how happy can you be. It's not about how much can you do here. This is just

the valley of decision. And if you have nothing but trouble every single day of our lives, if

that's all we ever have is trouble all the rest of our lives, we enter heaven.

With him forever. And this is not even brought up. It's not even a memory. Paul says it this way.

It's not even worth comparing with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And so that day is coming

for you. If you are his, it's coming and it will be so wonderful because watch this, because the

Lord will be so good to you. And that's what David says here at the very end for you shall deal

bountifully with me. What a beautiful thing to think about. It means the Lord. I mean, can you

even get your head around this?

The Lord is going to pour out his kindness and goodness on you forever. Have you ever had the

Lord like pour out like his goodness, his blessing on you to a point where you're like, I feel

over completely overwhelmed. It's like I'm in heaven at this moment. Have you ever had that

happen? Can you imagine every single moment, every single day for the rest of ever God pouring

out his. It makes sense. You're not even going to bring up.

Any other stuff. It's over. The former things have passed away. This life. David is reminding

himself. This life is not all there is. One day it will be over one day soon. If you love him,

you will be with him forever. He will show you forever just how good he is. So the question

this morning, who cares? The answer is the Lord, but who cares about your soul? Answer again is

the Lord. He loves you. He is trying to rescue you. He wants to save you this morning. If you

But you have to let him. He will not force you. You have to let him in a moment. We're going to

pray. And when we do, if you want him to save you, if you need salvation and forgiveness, I'm

going to ask you right where you're at just to stand up. And if you're in, if you're in need of

salvation, you just stand up. And if you're watching at home and you need the Lord's forgiveness and

salvation, you just stand up right where you're at to just connected to your need. So let's pray

together. Lord, we thank you so much for your mercy. Thank you for your love. Thank you for

coming to die in our place to save us. You care for our soul came to save Lord. I pray for any

person here, any person watching that does not know you, that they would turn to you. Now, if

that's you, if you want to be saved this morning, if you need forgiveness and salvation, and you

want to be saved this morning, I'm going to ask you right where you're at just to stand up very

simple, just to stand right where you're at. It's an admission of your need before God. Lord, I'm

standing because I need forgiveness. I need mercy.

I need salvation. If that's you, you just stand. Let's pray together. Lord, I need you. I ask for

your forgiveness. I ask for your mercy. I ask for you to be good to me, even though I don't deserve

it. Please forgive me of my sin. Be my savior, my Lord. I give my life to you now because you gave

up your life for me at the cross. Thank you for loving me. Lord, we love you. We thank you for

your mercy. We thank you for your kindness. We thank you for your love for us. Now, as we

celebrate what you did, I pray you would bless this time.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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