February 14, 2024 • 31 mins
Have you ever yearned for a connection with the Divine that's as deep and unshakable as King David's? Embark on a journey as we uncover the secret to cultivating a Psalm-worthy faith through the power of raw, honest communication with God. In this enlightening episode, we don't just talk about prayer; we explore the dynamic relationship that is built when our conversations with the Creator become as nurturing and trusting as those with our closest friends and family.
King David didn't hold back when he poured out his heart to God, and neither should we. By examining the profound expressions of fear, frustration, and faith found in Psalms like 56 and 34, we see the blueprint for a spiritual dialogue that acknowledges our deepest struggles while still magnifying the Almighty. Through David's example, we learn that our imperfections and doubts can be the foundation of a stronger, more sincere faith. It's a faith that's not afraid to question, to complain, and to trust in God's sovereignty, even when the path ahead is unclear.
Wrapping up our spiritual trek, we focus on the lifelong effort required to perfect our divine dialogue—a commitment akin to that which we give to our most cherished human relationships. By fostering a conversation with God that's filled with continuous praise, meditation on His word, and a healthy reverence, we open the door to a deeper understanding and a more fulfilling spiritual journey. So tune in, and let's strengthen the most important relationship we have—the one with our Creator.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you have a faith with such deep trust in God's
sovereignty that it can honestlycommunicate every thought to
him?
If you do, you may have aPsalm-worthy faith.
Welcome to Truth Trek, where wedive deep into God's Word to
(00:33):
see what treasures we can findthere.
I'm Pastor Jason Hubdy and I'llbe your host through this
journey, as we take a look atwhat is Psalm-worthy faith.
Psalm-worthy faith is faiththat has such deep trust in the
(01:03):
sovereignty of God that it canhonestly communicate every
thought to him.
A person with Psalm-worthyfaith has a relationship with
God, has confidence in God'sWord and has faith in God's plan
.
David didn't wait for others towrite Psalms about him.
(01:24):
His Psalms are a record of onewho had a relationship with God,
confidence in his Word andfaith in his plan.
We talk a lot aboutrelationships relationships in
the context of the church, inour marriages with our children
and community and we acknowledgethat for truly deep and
(01:45):
vulnerable and clearcommunication to happen, we must
have a good relationship.
It's often said that thebiggest problem in marriages is
a lack of communication.
When we are not able to addressa concern with someone for fear
of what they may say or we fearhow they may react to it.
(02:06):
We are acknowledging that ourrelationship is not so great and
when we never get past thesmall talk to the real issue, we
are not communicating becausethe relationship is not strong.
On the other hand, if therelationship is not strong, it
is normally due to lack ofcommunication.
We may blame bad communicationon our relationship problems,
(02:31):
whether at home, at church or atwork, but we can't communicate
without a good relationship.
It is a little like the dilemmaof many young people who find
themselves looking for a job andall the employers want someone
with experience and they won'thire someone without experience.
So the inexperienced person isleft wondering what in the world
(02:53):
they are supposed to do to getthe experience.
Well, communication andrelationship are the same way.
It is a bit of a conundrum, adilemma, a quandary.
You see, you cannot have trulygreat communication without
relationship and you cannot havea great relationship without
(03:13):
good communication.
The solution for the person whoneeds experience to get that
job is to find a job that offerstraining or apprenticeship, and
the employer who offers theinexperienced person an
opportunity takes a risk withtheir own money, with the
possibility that it won't workout or the person will be
(03:34):
incompetent.
But on the other hand, theperson may be grateful and have
a bond of loyalty to the one whogave them a chance.
Relationship and communicationmust go hand in hand.
You can't have a relationshipwithout communication and
communication does not happenwithout a relationship.
(03:55):
Now perhaps you are thinking toyourself that you can
communicate and not have arelationship.
However, this is not truereally.
I could go to McDonald's whenI'm out of town and place an
order and not know the personwho takes my order.
Yet we have a relationship,however surproofless it may be.
(04:15):
It's a transactionalrelationship.
I expect to state my order, paythe money and receive a meal.
It's not a deep relationship,but if I took time to have a
short conversation, therelationship could grow just a
bit.
And if I were a regularcustomer, perhaps over time I
could know that person wellenough to develop a friendship.
(04:37):
And of course, that won'thappen at many McDonald's today
because many of them now havethe kiosks.
You order on the kiosk screen,you pay with your phone or your
card and you just wait for yourfood to be served.
And we must have a relationshipto communicate, but we must have
(04:57):
communication to have arelationship.
But not all relationships areequal.
A transactional relationship,like I just mentioned, is
normally a very shallowrelationship.
It's not a marriage, it's not abrotherhood or a sisterhood,
it's just lunch.
If we want to have a deep,meaningful relationship with God
(05:20):
, we need to communicate wellwith Him.
He greatly desires that.
The chief end of man, theWestminster Confession says, is
to glorify God and to enjoy Himforever.
Thank you.
He created us to be inrelationship to him.
He wants to have a greatrelationship and that means he
(05:40):
wants two-way communication.
That is love.
That means we listen to him.
We respond to how he speaks tous through his creation and
through his word.
We do that by doing what we aredoing right now.
He speaks to you through thisteaching, through preaching from
the pulpit on Sunday.
(06:01):
You need to do this every dayby reading his word, and you
need to both speak and listen tohim in times of prayer.
He has given us a great exampleof this in the Psalms.
The Psalms show us how a personwith a deep relationship with
God builds that relationshipwith faith that can honestly
(06:23):
express to him all that we aregoing through Our fears, our
disappointments, ourfrustrations and our pain.
And also the Psalms show us howwe can and must express to God
our praise and honor him withour lips.
The Psalms are wonderful for aperson's prayer life, for
(06:46):
helping us to express ourselvesto God.
This is why so many people willtell you their favorite verses
from one of the Psalms or theirfavorite Bible reading is in the
Psalms.
So it is important for us totake a look at those Psalms and
as much as they can bemeaningful to us, they can be
(07:07):
even more meaningful when weknow the circumstances that the
Psalm writer was dealing withwhen those Psalms were written
down or sung.
And our passage here that we'regoing to look at from 1 Samuel
21 gives us a wonderfulopportunity to do just that,
because two Psalms were writtenby David on the day of the
(07:28):
events I'm about to read aboutfrom 1 Samuel 21.
Psalm 56 and Psalm 34 are bothdirectly related to what
happened on this day.
1 Samuel 21, verses 10 through15.
It reads this and David roseand fled that day from Saul and
(07:51):
went to Acish, the king of Gath,and the servants of Acish said
to him Is not this David theking of the land?
Did they not sing to oneanother of him in dances?
Saul has struck down histhousands and David his ten
thousands.
And David took these words toheart and was much afraid of
Acish, the king of Gath.
(08:12):
So he changed his behaviorbefore them and pretended to be
insane in their hands and mademarks on the doors of the gate
and let his spittle run down hisbeard.
Then Acish said to his servantsBehold, you see, the man is mad
.
Why then have you brought himto me?
Do I lack madmen that you havebrought this fellow to behave as
(08:36):
a madman in my presence?
Shall this fellow come into myhouse?
Very interesting time.
So you see, david had felt theneed to act like a crazy man.
I'll give you a littlebackground on this.
Gath is about 25 milessouthwest of Knob, where the
previous passage talked aboutDavid being there.
(08:57):
He traveled from Knob whereAhimalik had given him bread and
Goliath's sword.
Now he goes to the veryhometown of Goliath bringing
with him that same sword.
It is a testament to the factof the fear David had of Saul
that he would seek to takerefuge in what would otherwise
(09:19):
be a really terrible place forhim to hole up.
If anyone would have hatedDavid, it would be the people of
Gath, who had seen their heroGoliath, killed by David.
And yet David felt safer therethan he did sticking around Saul
.
So David shows up there and,realizing he is recognized, he
(09:41):
decides to put on a little act.
He foams at the mouth, he clawsat the doors.
We see here that sometimesacting like a crazy person is
strategic.
Sometimes acting like you arecrazy is a strategy.
Back when President Trump waspresent, he was talking about
North Korea and said I won'trule out direct talks with Kim
(10:05):
Jong-un.
I just won't.
As far as the risk of dealingwith a madman is concerned,
that's his problem, not mine.
So pretending you're a littlecrazy can be a strategy.
So David is playing this partin order to save his life.
If he acts like a crazy person,the king will not see him as a
(10:25):
threat, and that is just whathappened.
Not only that, but there is abit of humor here, since the
king makes this comment abouthaving so many madmen around, he
doesn't need another one.
It's maybe as close as we getin scripture to someone saying
I'm surrounded by idiots.
Remember what Psalm worthy faithis?
(10:46):
It's a faith that has such adeep trust in the sovereignty of
God that it can honestlycommunicate every thought to him
.
And a person with Psalm worthyfaith, as I mentioned earlier,
has a relationship with God.
He has confidence in God's wordand faith in God's plan.
And David didn't wait, as Isaid, for others to write Psalms
(11:07):
about him.
His Psalms are a record of onewho had a relationship with God
and confidence in his word andfaith in his plan.
So let's look at one of thosePsalms Now.
We know what David went throughthat day and we will see how he
honestly communicates with God.
He has a relationship with God,confidence in God's word and
(11:29):
faith in God's plan.
I'll read from Psalm 56.
It says to the choir masteraccording to the dove on far off
, teribith's amictum that's amusical term amictum of David
when the Philistines seized himand Gath.
So we know the thing that washappening here.
We just saw how David, fleeingfrom Saul, goes first to Nab,
(11:54):
then to Gath and finds himselfin danger there.
David just can't catch a break.
Every time he turns around,someone is trying to kill him
and he is on the run from Saul,the king he was loyal to, not to
mention his father-in-law andthe father of his dearest friend
.
And here is David's honestcommunication with God.
(12:16):
Be gracious to me, o God, forman tramples on me All day long.
An attacker oppresses me, myenemies trample on me all day
long, for many attack me proudly.
David's example to us here isthat, though he already knows
(12:36):
that God knows his thoughts, heis pleading with God.
He recognizes his own need tospeak these thoughts to God.
Someone said to me once that weshould never complain to God.
Well, if that is the case, thenthe Psalms would be a poor
example for us in our prayers,since they are filled with
complaints and frustrations,even frustration against God.
(13:00):
But the Psalms are a goodexample to us, since we can
learn that we can speak to Godhonestly, even in our complaints
, without sinning.
I think, off the top of my head, around 40% of the Psalms have
parts in them that areimprecatory, meaning that the
(13:20):
person is actually asking God totake action or give relief from
enemies by actively gettinghimself involved in a situation.
So, yes, we can express ourfrustrations to God, but we must
do as David did and have, atthe same time, the faith he had.
Continuing David wrote when I amafraid, I put my trust in you,
(13:45):
in God, whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not beafraid.
What can flesh do to me?
David has stated hisfrustration and fear and now he
returns to a common declarationhe makes again and again in his
life, that he will trust God.
Verse 5, all day long theyinjure my cause.
(14:08):
All their thoughts are againstme, for evil.
They stir up strife.
They lurk.
They watch my steps as theyhave waited for my life, for
their crime.
Will they escape In wrath?
Cast down the peoples, o God?
We see here that David is nowasking God to intervene to the
(14:29):
harm of his enemies.
Verse 8, you have kept count ofmy tossings.
Put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Malachi wrote of a book whereGod remembers and scripture
speaks of his knowledge of allthings, including our intimate
(14:49):
thoughts, our hurts and ourdisappointments.
Continuing, david says in verse9, then my enemies will turn
back in the day.
When I call this, I know thatGod is for me.
Again, he is declaring hisfaith in God.
Verse 10, in God, whose word Ipraise, in the Lord, whose word
(15:11):
I praise, in God I trust.
I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
I must perform my vows to you,o God.
I will render thank offeringsto you, for you have delivered
my soul from death, yes, my feetfrom falling, that I may walk
before God in the light of life.
(15:33):
So we see that David, when itcomes to his relationship to God
, wears all of his emotions onhis shirt sleeve.
He is stressed, he is fearful,frustrated, angry, and it may
seem like a conflict, but evenin those thoughts he
continuously pours out andreturns to a statue of faith and
(15:57):
praises God.
You see, here our example isbefore us.
We can cry out to God our hurtsand our complaints and fears
and ask Him to help in ourconflicts, and he indeed desires
for this type of intimaterelationship where we would do
this.
And yet, at the same time, wemust remember to have the faith
(16:20):
in him that says, even in thetrials, we will trust.
Not only trust, but even praise.
What frustration do we have?
Speak out in your time ofprayer and tell God what are
your fears, what are your hurts,what are your pains.
(16:40):
He already knows them and yethe wants to hear from you, and
not only silent prayer, thoughthere are times where this will
be the case but speak out loudyour prayers to him, speak as
though he hears you Speak asthough he loves you, speak as
though you believe in him.
And when you've poured out yourheart to him and your
(17:03):
complaints and hurts andfrustrations, be sure to always
return, like David did, to astature of faith that praises
God in the midst of your trial.
I speak often of how the Bibleinterprets itself, how the Bible
offers application of eachpassage.
If we would just search for it,the passage right before this
(17:27):
passage had an application aboutDavid eating the bread of the
presence.
That was found in the Gospels,in the words of Jesus, who
applied it to the Pharisees, whoruined the Sabbath for everyone
by making it miserable insteadof restful and joyful.
And in this passage we findadditional meaning and
application in the Psalms.
(17:47):
A Psalm worthy faith is a faiththat trusts so deeply in God's
sovereignty that it can honestlycommunicate every thought to
him and remember.
A person with Psalm worthyfaith has a relationship with
God, has confidence in God'splan and has faith in God's plan
(18:08):
.
Now I'm going to move to Psalm34, which is one of my favorite
Psalms, because it was mypreaching professor David Jones'
favorite, and he told me whathe knew best.
Both Psalm 56, which I justwent over, and Psalm 34 were
written on this same day, theday that David went to Gath and
(18:31):
put himself in danger and actedall cray-cray.
He was put out of the city andthat was better than being put
to death in the city and Davidrecognized that God was worthy
of praise because he continuedto protect David.
He protected him from Goliath,he protected him from Saul and
(18:51):
he protected him from Akesh, theking of Gath.
David is expressing what faithhe had in God and it is a Psalm
worthy faith.
He has a relationship with Godthat he is so at ease with God
he can speak honestly.
He has confidence in God's word.
God had given word throughSamuel that David was to be king
(19:14):
and, despite his currentsituation, david trusts that
God's word will come true andthat God's plan will be
completed.
So let's take a look at Psalm34 now, which says of David when
he changed his behavior beforea bimlak so that he drove him
(19:35):
out and he went away.
This is a great Psalm.
It says I will bless the Lordat all times.
His praise shall continually bein my mouth.
If you're familiar with AaronSchust, he has a song that's
based on this.
Your praise will ever be on mylips, and in a Bible study I
(19:58):
used to do.
We were in the book of Joshuaand we learned that one of the
keys to Joshua's success wouldbe to meditate, which is a word
in the Bible that literallytranslates to mumble.
Joshua was to meditate on thebook of the law, god's word, day
and night.
(20:19):
He was told that the book ofthe law shall not depart from
your mouth, so it isn't just amere thinking about it, or even
just reading it silently, but tospeak it.
So David says, perhapsrecalling Joshua here, that he
will bless the Lord at all timesand his praise shall
(20:40):
continually be in my mouth, orsome translations say will
always be on my lips.
As I mentioned before the song,your praise shall ever be on my
lips.
Continuing on in verse 2, davidsays my soul makes its boast in
the Lord.
(21:00):
Let the humble hear and be glad.
We should boast in nothingother than the Lord, and even
Paul said he would only boast inhis own weaknesses.
Why?
Because boasting in your ownweakness is an acknowledgement
that nothing could get doneother than when God intervenes
(21:20):
and uses us to his glory.
When he uses us weak vessels inhis service.
We can boast in him.
Verse 3, o.
Magnify the Lord with me andlet us exalt his name together.
Magnify means to grow up, tomake strong or to become great
or important.
Verse 4,.
(21:42):
I sought the Lord and heanswered me and delivered me
from all my fears.
Not only did David have hisprayers heard, so we can as well
.
In Matthew 7, 7, and 8, in theSermon on the Mount, jesus said
Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find.
Knock and it will be opened toyou.
(22:02):
For everyone who asks receives,and the one who seeks finds.
And to the one who knocks, itwill be opened.
Returning now to David's Psalm34, verse 5,.
Those who look at him areradiant and their faces shall
never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and theLord heard him and saved him out
(22:25):
of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encampsaround those who fear him and
delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lordis good.
Blessed is the man who takesrefuge in him.
Oh, fear the Lord, you, hissaints, for those who fear him
have no lack.
The young lions suffer wantonhunger, but those who seek the
(22:49):
Lord lack no good thing.
Come O children, listen to me,I will teach you the fear of the
Lord".
And Proverbs 1-7 tells us thatthe fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge.
Fool is despise, wisdom andinstruction.
Sometimes fear of the Lordleaves us trembling in fear of
(23:10):
the sin we have committed, andrightly so.
But better yet is to have afear of Him in the sense of a
healthy respect that would keepus focused on serving Him well
and winning the battle againstsin in our lives.
Verse 12, what man is there whodesires life and loves many days
that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil andyour lips from speaking deceit.
(23:33):
That's one of the TenCommandments.
Verse 14, turn away from eviland do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are towardthe righteous and his ears
toward their cry.
The man born blind that washealed by Jesus said we know
that God does not listen tocertain sinners, but if anyone
(23:55):
is a worshiper of God and doesas well, god listens to him.
John 9.31.
Continuing on in our Psalm,verse 16, the face of the Lord
is against those who do evil tocut off the memory of them from
the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers
them out of all their troubles.
(24:16):
The Lord is near to thebrokenhearted and saves the
crushed in spirit.
How many among us arebrokenhearted or crushed in
spirit?
I have good news.
The Lord is near, verse 19,.
Many are the afflictions of therighteous, but the Lord delivers
him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones.
(24:38):
Not one of them is broken.
This reminds us of the story ofthe crucifixion In John 19,.
It says when they came to Jesusand saw that he was already
dead, they did not break hislegs, but one of the soldiers
pierced his side with a spearand at once there came out blood
and water.
He who saw it has borne witness.
(25:00):
His testimony is true and heknows that he is telling the
truth that you also may believe,for these things took place,
that the scripture might befulfilled.
Not one of his bones will bebroken Verse 21,.
Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the
righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems the life ofhis servants.
(25:22):
None of those who take refugein him will be condemned.
So do you have a Psalm wherethey faith, a faith that's
trusting so deeply in thesovereignty of God that it
honestly communicates everythought to him, a faith that
shows your relationship isstrong with God and your
confidence in his word and yourfaith in his plan is clear and
(25:46):
strong.
We see once again the beauty ofscripture, how it connects
every part to each other.
For here in 1 Samuel, we see ashort narrative about David, in
desperation, taking a chance atrealizing he may be in danger,
acting like a fool, escapingwith his life.
By itself this passage may nottell us much, but when we look
(26:11):
at Psalm 56 and Psalm 34 we cansee a bit more.
And when we see in the accountof the crucifixion, of what
David said in Psalm 34 abouthimself, that was not only
implied to himself but was alsoa predictive prophecy that
applied to Jesus Christ.
And so the connections inscripture continue.
(26:33):
And the more I study, the moreexciting it is that I can see
how miraculous this book is.
Really, the Bible is much morethan a book.
It's a library 66 books, 40authors.
And the more you study it, themore it reveals to you about how
in control of everything God is, shows how well he planned out
(26:53):
his redemptive plan for us to berestored in relationship to him
.
And that is God's communicationwith us.
He wants a relationship with usand he's given us an amazing
set of books in the Bible tocommunicate his love and plan
for us.
God is the Creator and morethan any one of us will ever
(27:15):
understand, he knows thatrelationship and communication
are inseparable.
Deep relationship means deepcommunication.
So sad it is that many peoplego all through life never
knowing how really tocommunicate and therefore never
having deep relationships.
And there are books written andclasses offered and counselors
(27:37):
standing by that help people tocommunicate better.
Those are all helpful.
If any truth is out there, it'sGod's truth.
A secular book on communicationcan be very helpful, but God
has given us a better way.
Throughout scripture he showsus how to communicate.
The Psalms are a big part ofthat, and David has shown us a
(27:57):
way to communicate with Godhimself.
And so he started with thisconundrum that communication is
needed for great relationshipsand relationships are needed
before we can have greatcommunication.
So perhaps you feel distant fromGod relationally.
What do you do?
In some relationships we beginby being the main talker.
(28:19):
When I first dated my wife, shethought I talked a lot and over
time, hopefully, I've learnedto listen a little better.
Some relationships begin whereyou are the listener first.
But here is the not so secretsecret Whether you are listening
or talking, you arecommunicating.
If you feel your relationshipwith God is not as deep as you
(28:41):
would like, your strategy may beto listen more and talk less.
For others, it may be to talkmore and continue listening.
You see, if you're listening toGod by hearing sermons and
teachings and reading the Bible,but never opening your mouth to
speak to Him, the communicationis incomplete and therefore the
relationship lacks depth.
On the other hand, you mayspeak an awful lot to God and
(29:04):
never read His word and neverpay close attention to preaching
and teaching, and you may needto make more effort to hear Him
through the means he most oftenspeaks to His people, which is
through His word read orpreached or taught.
And perhaps you're in a thirdcategory you don't talk to God
much and you don't put mucheffort into finding out what he
wants to say to you.
(29:24):
But he desires a relationshipwith you, and relationship does
not happen in a communicationvacuum, and good communication
does not present itself wherelittle or no relationship exists
.
Rather, they must always bepursued together.
So we've taken a look at some ofthe one of the all-time greats
(29:44):
at communicating with God, davidand we take a look at what was
usually a very private affair,which is one's conversations
with God.
We see these beautiful Psalmsand for many of them we can look
back in Scripture to see whatDavid was going through when he
wrote it.
Psalm 51 is another greatexample of this, when Nathan the
(30:05):
Prophet confronted David abouthis sin with Bathsheba.
We see how he pleads with Godfor mercy and confesses his sins
without making excuses.
There are many examples of howwe can speak to God.
We don't need to be a poet likeDavid.
We don't need to write downevery prayer though that may
help some of you writers but allof us need to continue a
(30:27):
lifelong effort to communicateeven better with our God.
It is the same for the marriedcouple, it is the same for the
lifelong friend.
It is the same with businesspartners.
It is the same in the church.
If we desire good relationships, ever growing in depth and love
, we must work on ourcommunication, and our
communication with God should bethe number one priority in our
(30:50):
lives.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of TruthDreck.
I hope that you've been able toget some good encouragement
from it and, if you know ofsomeone who you think might also
be encouraged, please share thepodcast with them, and we
(31:10):
appreciate that very much andwe'll see you next time on
TruthDreck.
Do you have a faith with such deep trust in God's
sovereignty that it can honestlycommunicate every thought to
him?
If you do, you may have aPsalm-worthy faith.
Welcome to Truth Trek, where wedive deep into God's Word to
(00:33):
see what treasures we can findthere.
I'm Pastor Jason Hubdy and I'llbe your host through this
journey, as we take a look atwhat is Psalm-worthy faith.
Psalm-worthy faith is faiththat has such deep trust in the
(01:03):
sovereignty of God that it canhonestly communicate every
thought to him.
A person with Psalm-worthyfaith has a relationship with
God, has confidence in God'sWord and has faith in God's plan
.
David didn't wait for others towrite Psalms about him.
(01:24):
His Psalms are a record of onewho had a relationship with God,
confidence in his Word andfaith in his plan.
We talk a lot aboutrelationships relationships in
the context of the church, inour marriages with our children
and community and we acknowledgethat for truly deep and
(01:45):
vulnerable and clearcommunication to happen, we must
have a good relationship.
It's often said that thebiggest problem in marriages is
a lack of communication.
When we are not able to addressa concern with someone for fear
of what they may say or we fearhow they may react to it.
(02:06):
We are acknowledging that ourrelationship is not so great and
when we never get past thesmall talk to the real issue, we
are not communicating becausethe relationship is not strong.
On the other hand, if therelationship is not strong, it
is normally due to lack ofcommunication.
We may blame bad communicationon our relationship problems,
(02:31):
whether at home, at church or atwork, but we can't communicate
without a good relationship.
It is a little like the dilemmaof many young people who find
themselves looking for a job andall the employers want someone
with experience and they won'thire someone without experience.
So the inexperienced person isleft wondering what in the world
(02:53):
they are supposed to do to getthe experience.
Well, communication andrelationship are the same way.
It is a bit of a conundrum, adilemma, a quandary.
You see, you cannot have trulygreat communication without
relationship and you cannot havea great relationship without
(03:13):
good communication.
The solution for the person whoneeds experience to get that
job is to find a job that offerstraining or apprenticeship, and
the employer who offers theinexperienced person an
opportunity takes a risk withtheir own money, with the
possibility that it won't workout or the person will be
(03:34):
incompetent.
But on the other hand, theperson may be grateful and have
a bond of loyalty to the one whogave them a chance.
Relationship and communicationmust go hand in hand.
You can't have a relationshipwithout communication and
communication does not happenwithout a relationship.
(03:55):
Now perhaps you are thinking toyourself that you can
communicate and not have arelationship.
However, this is not truereally.
I could go to McDonald's whenI'm out of town and place an
order and not know the personwho takes my order.
Yet we have a relationship,however surproofless it may be.
(04:15):
It's a transactionalrelationship.
I expect to state my order, paythe money and receive a meal.
It's not a deep relationship,but if I took time to have a
short conversation, therelationship could grow just a
bit.
And if I were a regularcustomer, perhaps over time I
could know that person wellenough to develop a friendship.
(04:37):
And of course, that won'thappen at many McDonald's today
because many of them now havethe kiosks.
You order on the kiosk screen,you pay with your phone or your
card and you just wait for yourfood to be served.
And we must have a relationshipto communicate, but we must have
(04:57):
communication to have arelationship.
But not all relationships areequal.
A transactional relationship,like I just mentioned, is
normally a very shallowrelationship.
It's not a marriage, it's not abrotherhood or a sisterhood,
it's just lunch.
If we want to have a deep,meaningful relationship with God
(05:20):
, we need to communicate wellwith Him.
He greatly desires that.
The chief end of man, theWestminster Confession says, is
to glorify God and to enjoy Himforever.
Thank you.
He created us to be inrelationship to him.
He wants to have a greatrelationship and that means he
(05:40):
wants two-way communication.
That is love.
That means we listen to him.
We respond to how he speaks tous through his creation and
through his word.
We do that by doing what we aredoing right now.
He speaks to you through thisteaching, through preaching from
the pulpit on Sunday.
(06:01):
You need to do this every dayby reading his word, and you
need to both speak and listen tohim in times of prayer.
He has given us a great exampleof this in the Psalms.
The Psalms show us how a personwith a deep relationship with
God builds that relationshipwith faith that can honestly
(06:23):
express to him all that we aregoing through Our fears, our
disappointments, ourfrustrations and our pain.
And also the Psalms show us howwe can and must express to God
our praise and honor him withour lips.
The Psalms are wonderful for aperson's prayer life, for
(06:46):
helping us to express ourselvesto God.
This is why so many people willtell you their favorite verses
from one of the Psalms or theirfavorite Bible reading is in the
Psalms.
So it is important for us totake a look at those Psalms and
as much as they can bemeaningful to us, they can be
(07:07):
even more meaningful when weknow the circumstances that the
Psalm writer was dealing withwhen those Psalms were written
down or sung.
And our passage here that we'regoing to look at from 1 Samuel
21 gives us a wonderfulopportunity to do just that,
because two Psalms were writtenby David on the day of the
(07:28):
events I'm about to read aboutfrom 1 Samuel 21.
Psalm 56 and Psalm 34 are bothdirectly related to what
happened on this day.
1 Samuel 21, verses 10 through15.
It reads this and David roseand fled that day from Saul and
(07:51):
went to Acish, the king of Gath,and the servants of Acish said
to him Is not this David theking of the land?
Did they not sing to oneanother of him in dances?
Saul has struck down histhousands and David his ten
thousands.
And David took these words toheart and was much afraid of
Acish, the king of Gath.
(08:12):
So he changed his behaviorbefore them and pretended to be
insane in their hands and mademarks on the doors of the gate
and let his spittle run down hisbeard.
Then Acish said to his servantsBehold, you see, the man is mad
.
Why then have you brought himto me?
Do I lack madmen that you havebrought this fellow to behave as
(08:36):
a madman in my presence?
Shall this fellow come into myhouse?
Very interesting time.
So you see, david had felt theneed to act like a crazy man.
I'll give you a littlebackground on this.
Gath is about 25 milessouthwest of Knob, where the
previous passage talked aboutDavid being there.
(08:57):
He traveled from Knob whereAhimalik had given him bread and
Goliath's sword.
Now he goes to the veryhometown of Goliath bringing
with him that same sword.
It is a testament to the factof the fear David had of Saul
that he would seek to takerefuge in what would otherwise
(09:19):
be a really terrible place forhim to hole up.
If anyone would have hatedDavid, it would be the people of
Gath, who had seen their heroGoliath, killed by David.
And yet David felt safer therethan he did sticking around Saul
.
So David shows up there and,realizing he is recognized, he
(09:41):
decides to put on a little act.
He foams at the mouth, he clawsat the doors.
We see here that sometimesacting like a crazy person is
strategic.
Sometimes acting like you arecrazy is a strategy.
Back when President Trump waspresent, he was talking about
North Korea and said I won'trule out direct talks with Kim
(10:05):
Jong-un.
I just won't.
As far as the risk of dealingwith a madman is concerned,
that's his problem, not mine.
So pretending you're a littlecrazy can be a strategy.
So David is playing this partin order to save his life.
If he acts like a crazy person,the king will not see him as a
(10:25):
threat, and that is just whathappened.
Not only that, but there is abit of humor here, since the
king makes this comment abouthaving so many madmen around, he
doesn't need another one.
It's maybe as close as we getin scripture to someone saying
I'm surrounded by idiots.
Remember what Psalm worthy faithis?
(10:46):
It's a faith that has such adeep trust in the sovereignty of
God that it can honestlycommunicate every thought to him
.
And a person with Psalm worthyfaith, as I mentioned earlier,
has a relationship with God.
He has confidence in God's wordand faith in God's plan.
And David didn't wait, as Isaid, for others to write Psalms
(11:07):
about him.
His Psalms are a record of onewho had a relationship with God
and confidence in his word andfaith in his plan.
So let's look at one of thosePsalms Now.
We know what David went throughthat day and we will see how he
honestly communicates with God.
He has a relationship with God,confidence in God's word and
(11:29):
faith in God's plan.
I'll read from Psalm 56.
It says to the choir masteraccording to the dove on far off
, teribith's amictum that's amusical term amictum of David
when the Philistines seized himand Gath.
So we know the thing that washappening here.
We just saw how David, fleeingfrom Saul, goes first to Nab,
(11:54):
then to Gath and finds himselfin danger there.
David just can't catch a break.
Every time he turns around,someone is trying to kill him
and he is on the run from Saul,the king he was loyal to, not to
mention his father-in-law andthe father of his dearest friend
.
And here is David's honestcommunication with God.
(12:16):
Be gracious to me, o God, forman tramples on me All day long.
An attacker oppresses me, myenemies trample on me all day
long, for many attack me proudly.
David's example to us here isthat, though he already knows
(12:36):
that God knows his thoughts, heis pleading with God.
He recognizes his own need tospeak these thoughts to God.
Someone said to me once that weshould never complain to God.
Well, if that is the case, thenthe Psalms would be a poor
example for us in our prayers,since they are filled with
complaints and frustrations,even frustration against God.
(13:00):
But the Psalms are a goodexample to us, since we can
learn that we can speak to Godhonestly, even in our complaints
, without sinning.
I think, off the top of my head, around 40% of the Psalms have
parts in them that areimprecatory, meaning that the
(13:20):
person is actually asking God totake action or give relief from
enemies by actively gettinghimself involved in a situation.
So, yes, we can express ourfrustrations to God, but we must
do as David did and have, atthe same time, the faith he had.
Continuing David wrote when I amafraid, I put my trust in you,
(13:45):
in God, whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not beafraid.
What can flesh do to me?
David has stated hisfrustration and fear and now he
returns to a common declarationhe makes again and again in his
life, that he will trust God.
Verse 5, all day long theyinjure my cause.
(14:08):
All their thoughts are againstme, for evil.
They stir up strife.
They lurk.
They watch my steps as theyhave waited for my life, for
their crime.
Will they escape In wrath?
Cast down the peoples, o God?
We see here that David is nowasking God to intervene to the
(14:29):
harm of his enemies.
Verse 8, you have kept count ofmy tossings.
Put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Malachi wrote of a book whereGod remembers and scripture
speaks of his knowledge of allthings, including our intimate
(14:49):
thoughts, our hurts and ourdisappointments.
Continuing, david says in verse9, then my enemies will turn
back in the day.
When I call this, I know thatGod is for me.
Again, he is declaring hisfaith in God.
Verse 10, in God, whose word Ipraise, in the Lord, whose word
(15:11):
I praise, in God I trust.
I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
I must perform my vows to you,o God.
I will render thank offeringsto you, for you have delivered
my soul from death, yes, my feetfrom falling, that I may walk
before God in the light of life.
(15:33):
So we see that David, when itcomes to his relationship to God
, wears all of his emotions onhis shirt sleeve.
He is stressed, he is fearful,frustrated, angry, and it may
seem like a conflict, but evenin those thoughts he
continuously pours out andreturns to a statue of faith and
(15:57):
praises God.
You see, here our example isbefore us.
We can cry out to God our hurtsand our complaints and fears
and ask Him to help in ourconflicts, and he indeed desires
for this type of intimaterelationship where we would do
this.
And yet, at the same time, wemust remember to have the faith
(16:20):
in him that says, even in thetrials, we will trust.
Not only trust, but even praise.
What frustration do we have?
Speak out in your time ofprayer and tell God what are
your fears, what are your hurts,what are your pains.
(16:40):
He already knows them and yethe wants to hear from you, and
not only silent prayer, thoughthere are times where this will
be the case but speak out loudyour prayers to him, speak as
though he hears you Speak asthough he loves you, speak as
though you believe in him.
And when you've poured out yourheart to him and your
(17:03):
complaints and hurts andfrustrations, be sure to always
return, like David did, to astature of faith that praises
God in the midst of your trial.
I speak often of how the Bibleinterprets itself, how the Bible
offers application of eachpassage.
If we would just search for it,the passage right before this
(17:27):
passage had an application aboutDavid eating the bread of the
presence.
That was found in the Gospels,in the words of Jesus, who
applied it to the Pharisees, whoruined the Sabbath for everyone
by making it miserable insteadof restful and joyful.
And in this passage we findadditional meaning and
application in the Psalms.
(17:47):
A Psalm worthy faith is a faiththat trusts so deeply in God's
sovereignty that it can honestlycommunicate every thought to
him and remember.
A person with Psalm worthyfaith has a relationship with
God, has confidence in God'splan and has faith in God's plan
(18:08):
.
Now I'm going to move to Psalm34, which is one of my favorite
Psalms, because it was mypreaching professor David Jones'
favorite, and he told me whathe knew best.
Both Psalm 56, which I justwent over, and Psalm 34 were
written on this same day, theday that David went to Gath and
(18:31):
put himself in danger and actedall cray-cray.
He was put out of the city andthat was better than being put
to death in the city and Davidrecognized that God was worthy
of praise because he continuedto protect David.
He protected him from Goliath,he protected him from Saul and
(18:51):
he protected him from Akesh, theking of Gath.
David is expressing what faithhe had in God and it is a Psalm
worthy faith.
He has a relationship with Godthat he is so at ease with God
he can speak honestly.
He has confidence in God's word.
God had given word throughSamuel that David was to be king
(19:14):
and, despite his currentsituation, david trusts that
God's word will come true andthat God's plan will be
completed.
So let's take a look at Psalm34 now, which says of David when
he changed his behavior beforea bimlak so that he drove him
(19:35):
out and he went away.
This is a great Psalm.
It says I will bless the Lordat all times.
His praise shall continually bein my mouth.
If you're familiar with AaronSchust, he has a song that's
based on this.
Your praise will ever be on mylips, and in a Bible study I
(19:58):
used to do.
We were in the book of Joshuaand we learned that one of the
keys to Joshua's success wouldbe to meditate, which is a word
in the Bible that literallytranslates to mumble.
Joshua was to meditate on thebook of the law, god's word, day
and night.
(20:19):
He was told that the book ofthe law shall not depart from
your mouth, so it isn't just amere thinking about it, or even
just reading it silently, but tospeak it.
So David says, perhapsrecalling Joshua here, that he
will bless the Lord at all timesand his praise shall
(20:40):
continually be in my mouth, orsome translations say will
always be on my lips.
As I mentioned before the song,your praise shall ever be on my
lips.
Continuing on in verse 2, davidsays my soul makes its boast in
the Lord.
(21:00):
Let the humble hear and be glad.
We should boast in nothingother than the Lord, and even
Paul said he would only boast inhis own weaknesses.
Why?
Because boasting in your ownweakness is an acknowledgement
that nothing could get doneother than when God intervenes
(21:20):
and uses us to his glory.
When he uses us weak vessels inhis service.
We can boast in him.
Verse 3, o.
Magnify the Lord with me andlet us exalt his name together.
Magnify means to grow up, tomake strong or to become great
or important.
Verse 4,.
(21:42):
I sought the Lord and heanswered me and delivered me
from all my fears.
Not only did David have hisprayers heard, so we can as well
.
In Matthew 7, 7, and 8, in theSermon on the Mount, jesus said
Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find.
Knock and it will be opened toyou.
(22:02):
For everyone who asks receives,and the one who seeks finds.
And to the one who knocks, itwill be opened.
Returning now to David's Psalm34, verse 5,.
Those who look at him areradiant and their faces shall
never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and theLord heard him and saved him out
(22:25):
of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encampsaround those who fear him and
delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lordis good.
Blessed is the man who takesrefuge in him.
Oh, fear the Lord, you, hissaints, for those who fear him
have no lack.
The young lions suffer wantonhunger, but those who seek the
(22:49):
Lord lack no good thing.
Come O children, listen to me,I will teach you the fear of the
Lord".
And Proverbs 1-7 tells us thatthe fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge.
Fool is despise, wisdom andinstruction.
Sometimes fear of the Lordleaves us trembling in fear of
(23:10):
the sin we have committed, andrightly so.
But better yet is to have afear of Him in the sense of a
healthy respect that would keepus focused on serving Him well
and winning the battle againstsin in our lives.
Verse 12, what man is there whodesires life and loves many days
that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil andyour lips from speaking deceit.
(23:33):
That's one of the TenCommandments.
Verse 14, turn away from eviland do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are towardthe righteous and his ears
toward their cry.
The man born blind that washealed by Jesus said we know
that God does not listen tocertain sinners, but if anyone
(23:55):
is a worshiper of God and doesas well, god listens to him.
John 9.31.
Continuing on in our Psalm,verse 16, the face of the Lord
is against those who do evil tocut off the memory of them from
the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers
them out of all their troubles.
(24:16):
The Lord is near to thebrokenhearted and saves the
crushed in spirit.
How many among us arebrokenhearted or crushed in
spirit?
I have good news.
The Lord is near, verse 19,.
Many are the afflictions of therighteous, but the Lord delivers
him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones.
(24:38):
Not one of them is broken.
This reminds us of the story ofthe crucifixion In John 19,.
It says when they came to Jesusand saw that he was already
dead, they did not break hislegs, but one of the soldiers
pierced his side with a spearand at once there came out blood
and water.
He who saw it has borne witness.
(25:00):
His testimony is true and heknows that he is telling the
truth that you also may believe,for these things took place,
that the scripture might befulfilled.
Not one of his bones will bebroken Verse 21,.
Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the
righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems the life ofhis servants.
(25:22):
None of those who take refugein him will be condemned.
So do you have a Psalm wherethey faith, a faith that's
trusting so deeply in thesovereignty of God that it
honestly communicates everythought to him, a faith that
shows your relationship isstrong with God and your
confidence in his word and yourfaith in his plan is clear and
(25:46):
strong.
We see once again the beauty ofscripture, how it connects
every part to each other.
For here in 1 Samuel, we see ashort narrative about David, in
desperation, taking a chance atrealizing he may be in danger,
acting like a fool, escapingwith his life.
By itself this passage may nottell us much, but when we look
(26:11):
at Psalm 56 and Psalm 34 we cansee a bit more.
And when we see in the accountof the crucifixion, of what
David said in Psalm 34 abouthimself, that was not only
implied to himself but was alsoa predictive prophecy that
applied to Jesus Christ.
And so the connections inscripture continue.
(26:33):
And the more I study, the moreexciting it is that I can see
how miraculous this book is.
Really, the Bible is much morethan a book.
It's a library 66 books, 40authors.
And the more you study it, themore it reveals to you about how
in control of everything God is, shows how well he planned out
(26:53):
his redemptive plan for us to berestored in relationship to him
.
And that is God's communicationwith us.
He wants a relationship with usand he's given us an amazing
set of books in the Bible tocommunicate his love and plan
for us.
God is the Creator and morethan any one of us will ever
(27:15):
understand, he knows thatrelationship and communication
are inseparable.
Deep relationship means deepcommunication.
So sad it is that many peoplego all through life never
knowing how really tocommunicate and therefore never
having deep relationships.
And there are books written andclasses offered and counselors
(27:37):
standing by that help people tocommunicate better.
Those are all helpful.
If any truth is out there, it'sGod's truth.
A secular book on communicationcan be very helpful, but God
has given us a better way.
Throughout scripture he showsus how to communicate.
The Psalms are a big part ofthat, and David has shown us a
(27:57):
way to communicate with Godhimself.
And so he started with thisconundrum that communication is
needed for great relationshipsand relationships are needed
before we can have greatcommunication.
So perhaps you feel distant fromGod relationally.
What do you do?
In some relationships we beginby being the main talker.
(28:19):
When I first dated my wife, shethought I talked a lot and over
time, hopefully, I've learnedto listen a little better.
Some relationships begin whereyou are the listener first.
But here is the not so secretsecret Whether you are listening
or talking, you arecommunicating.
If you feel your relationshipwith God is not as deep as you
(28:41):
would like, your strategy may beto listen more and talk less.
For others, it may be to talkmore and continue listening.
You see, if you're listening toGod by hearing sermons and
teachings and reading the Bible,but never opening your mouth to
speak to Him, the communicationis incomplete and therefore the
relationship lacks depth.
On the other hand, you mayspeak an awful lot to God and
(29:04):
never read His word and neverpay close attention to preaching
and teaching, and you may needto make more effort to hear Him
through the means he most oftenspeaks to His people, which is
through His word read orpreached or taught.
And perhaps you're in a thirdcategory you don't talk to God
much and you don't put mucheffort into finding out what he
wants to say to you.
(29:24):
But he desires a relationshipwith you, and relationship does
not happen in a communicationvacuum, and good communication
does not present itself wherelittle or no relationship exists
.
Rather, they must always bepursued together.
So we've taken a look at some ofthe one of the all-time greats
(29:44):
at communicating with God, davidand we take a look at what was
usually a very private affair,which is one's conversations
with God.
We see these beautiful Psalmsand for many of them we can look
back in Scripture to see whatDavid was going through when he
wrote it.
Psalm 51 is another greatexample of this, when Nathan the
(30:05):
Prophet confronted David abouthis sin with Bathsheba.
We see how he pleads with Godfor mercy and confesses his sins
without making excuses.
There are many examples of howwe can speak to God.
We don't need to be a poet likeDavid.
We don't need to write downevery prayer though that may
help some of you writers but allof us need to continue a
(30:27):
lifelong effort to communicateeven better with our God.
It is the same for the marriedcouple, it is the same for the
lifelong friend.
It is the same with businesspartners.
It is the same in the church.
If we desire good relationships, ever growing in depth and love
, we must work on ourcommunication, and our
communication with God should bethe number one priority in our
(30:50):
lives.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of TruthDreck.
I hope that you've been able toget some good encouragement
from it and, if you know ofsomeone who you think might also
be encouraged, please share thepodcast with them, and we
(31:10):
appreciate that very much andwe'll see you next time on
TruthDreck.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.