31 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy
righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an
house of defence to save me.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and
guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5
Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
(The Message Verse 5)
I’ve put my life in your hands.
You won’t drop me,
you’ll never let me down.
15 My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from
them that persecute me.
Message Points
1) One of my favorite things to do with my son Paul is to sing with him. For
the first few months of his life, he would listen attentively, and would move
his lips every now and then trying to mimic what I was doing. Now that he
is a little older, he joins in with me, usually singing right at the same volume
as me so that he can listen to what I will do next in my voice. This is what
he does when he is engaged, but there comes a time where he needs me to
sing to get him to be calm, and those are usually different singing moments.
Everyone has probably seen, heard of, or experienced a 10-month old that
knows he needs to go to sleep, but is fighting it because he doesn’t want to
miss anything. And so after a round of his ABC’s, I usually depend on a
hymn of the church to reassure my baby that it is going to be okay. Here is
one that was pretty popular just the other day. I started singing to Paul like
this—He’s got the whole world, in His hands! He’s got the whole world, in
His hands! He’s got the whole world, in His hands! He’s got the whole
world in His hands. It’s funny how when I began to sing this tune, I could
feel Paul settling down and I could see his eyes starting to relax. I said I
must have a winner here! So I went for the next verse—He’s got the rivers
and the streams, in His Hands! He’s got the rivers and the streams, in His
Hands! He’s got the rivers and the streams, in His Hands! He’s got the
whole world in His hands! At this point, Paul’s eyes were almost closed, his
body was completely relaxed, and his legs were crossed at his ankles. And
this is where I said I need to go for the win—He’s got you and me baby, in
His hands! He’s got you and me baby, in His hands! He’s got you and me
baby, in His hands! He’s got the whole world in His hands! Three short
verses later, I had a sleeping baby that was no longer worried about what
was going on around him, and was resting in the promise that God had him
in His hands. I believe this was the testimony of a ten-month old that
realized that whatever happens while I am asleep will happen, but I’m in
the arms of the one that loves me, and because of that I am safe.
2) I wonder if anyone in the house today can hear the Lord singing them a
lullaby. The whole state has shut down, but you are still receiving a
paycheck? That’s because He’s got the whole world, in His Hands! The
confirmed cases of a contagious virus are on the rise, but you still have your
life, a reasonable portion of your strength, and your health? That’s because
He’s got the rivers and the streams, in His Hands! You aren’t in the
sanctuary, but that’s not stopping you from having church because you have quickly realized that the church is defined to an organization but lives
within an organism? That’s because “He’s got you and me baby, in His
Hands!” Someone oughta shout “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands!”
You see, we can sing the song, we can post the He’s got the whole world
challenges to Facebook, and we can even go to sleep at night saying “if God
doesn’t do it, it will not be done” but the question today is do we have the
faith to believe that no matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels
like, and no matter what the enemy tries to tell us, that God is a God that
can be trusted to do exactly what He says He will do? To know this God is
to know His Word; and to know His Word is to know His promises; and to
know His promises is to know that He is seeking covenant relationship with
you; and to know that He is seeking covenant relationship with you is to
know that He loves you; and to know that He loves you is to know that you
have no reason to fear; and to know that you have no reason to fear is to
know that you would have fainted unless you believed to see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living! The only way you will not faint is to
wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, so that He will strengthen your
heart. And when you wait, you will see that He may not come when you
want Him to, but he is ALWAYS on time!
3) We see this to be the case in our scripture text this morning. Psalm 31 was
addressed as a psalm of David written to the director of music and the chief
musician. It is one of 59 Psalms that is addressed in this manner. Psalms
that were addressed to the director of music were meant to be public
displays of worship that demonstrated belief in the ability of God to do
anything but fail. This particular Psalm, like most written in this fashion,
presents a dilemma that must be overcome. The Psalmist David is
expressing the distress he finds himself in as he has placed himself in the
hands of God, while also having an enemy that is trying to destroy him. In
the first four verses alone, David makes nine different prayer requests,
showing the desperation he has to be delivered from the things that were
trying to destroy his confidence in God. But after David gets these things
off his mind and after he presents them to the one that he knows is able to
deliver him, he comes to himself and says in verses five and fifteen “Lord I
put my affairs, the events of my life, my cares, my worries, my fears, my
insecurities, my disappointments, my failures, my low self-esteem, my
unbelief, my doubts, my concerns, God even my haters, in your hands. It is
fitting that David realizes that he needs to do this, because as a Psalm that is written to the chief musician, David needed to find himself in a place of
worship in the midst of what he was going through. I want to preach to
someone in here today and let you know that you can never go wrong
when you commit yourself to being a worshipper. You see when you
praise, it can make you happy and make those around you happy. When
you praise you are often thanking the Lord for what He has done for you.
When you praise, you can change the atmosphere around you from one of
gloom to one of joy. But God is looking today for someone that doesn’t
mind worshipping Him in public while you are going through hell in private.
God is looking for someone today that is in the midst of a storm, but can
still declare that He is a good God! God is looking for someone today that
has made up in their mind that if God never does another thing, He has
already done enough. God is looking for someone mature enough to stay
the course with Him even when things are not going their way. God is
saying if you worship me for who I am, you will soon be able to praise me
for what I am going to do! Oh that was good to me, so I will say it again just
in case you need to replay that moment in your spirit—God said if you
worship me now, in spite of what you are going through, for who I am, you
will soon be able to praise me for what I am going to do! I dare you to
shout to somebody I’m tired, but I got to worship Him! I’m not where I
want to be, but I got to worship Him! I’m in an uncomfortable place, but I
got to worship Him! You can even declare right now that the devil thought
he had you, but because you are a worshipper, like verse 4 of Psalm 31
says, the trap that the enemy set for you in private became your enemy’s
public demise, for the hand of God is at work!
4) This Psalm refers to two different forces whose hands operate in the lives
of the believer. I say these are two different forces and not two opposing
forces, because opposing would indicate that the enemy has the power to
oppose God, but God being omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and all
together undefeated, Satan cannot be considered competition to Him, he
can only be considered a lesser, weaker, and defeated foe. I’ll park right
here and let you know that sometimes you have to use the authority that
has been given to you by the Word of God and put the enemy in his rightful
place. Verse five of Psalm 31 speaks to the past, present, and future nature
of the hand of God. It sets up the idea that because God HAS delivered, He
CAN deliver, and He WILL deliver. This is encouraging, because this is biblical proof that anything God HAS done, He CAN do again, and WILL do in
due season.
5) We need to understand the victory in our lives is determined by putting
things in the right person’s hand.
A. A good Spalding basketball in my hand is worth $23, but that same
basketball in Steph Curry’s hands is worth over $40 million dollars a
year.
B. A football in my hand in worth $25, but that same football in Peyton
Manning’s hands is worth $35 million dollars a year
C. A tennis racket in my hand is worth $60, but that same tennis racket
in Serena Williams’ hands is worth $98 million dollars in her lifetime
D. A set of nails in my hands is not worth much because I do not have
the carpentry skills to build you anything impressive,
i. but nails in the hands of Jesus purchased your salvation
ii. Nails in the hands of Jesus made all things new
iii. Nails in the hands of Jesus took the sting out of death
iv. Nails in the hands of Jesus took the victory out of the grave
v. Nails in the hands of Jesus canceled the power of sin
vi. Nails in the hands of Jesus took us beyond the veil
vii. Nails in the hands of Jesus gave you a right to declare healing
viii. Nails in the hands of Jesus gives us confidence that this too
shall pass
ix. Nails in the hands of Jesus snatched the keys from the enemy’s
hands
x. Nails in the hands of Jesus gives me the right to believe that
when He took the nails, He also took my flaws, my hang ups,
my shortcomings, and my deficits, and said you are important
enough to me for me to breath my Ru’ah Hakkedesh breath
into your body and fill you with the Holy Ghost!
6) And so, as I draw to a close this morning, it ought to be the responsibility of
any preacher that is presenting Jesus to understand that with all of the
moanings and groanings that take place in the Earth, that the enemy
routinely attempts to put Jesus on trial as the Savior that cannot deliver His
people. Some that are listening to me right now might even wonder where
is God while all of this confusion and chaos is going on. Well today as the
preacher of the hour, I stand as the defense attorney for the Savior that
needs no help because He is the judge, the lawyer, and the jury. But God has been too good for me not to defend Him against an enemy that
thought the death penalty was enough to defeat Him. I present to you
Jesus, whose nature can be found in every book of the Bible that we read—
1) Genesis – Creator & promised Redeemer
2) Exodus – the Passover Lamb
3) Leviticus – High Priest
4) Numbers – water in the desert
5) Deuteronomy – He becomes the curse for us
6) Joshua – Commander of the army of the Lord
7) Judges – delivers us from injustice
8) Ruth – our Kinsman-Redeemer
9) 1 Samuel – all in one, He is the Prophet/Priest/King
10)2 Samuel – King of grace & love
11)1 Kings – a Ruler greater than Solomon
12)2 Kings – the powerful prophet
13)1 Chronicles – Son of David that is coming to rule
14)2 Chronicles – the King who reigns eternally
15)Ezra – Priest proclaiming freedom
16)Nehemiah – the One who restores what is broken down
17)Esther – Protector of his people
18)Job – Mediator between God and man
19)Psalms – our song in the morning and in the night
20)Proverbs – our wisdom
21)Ecclesiastes – our meaning for life
22)Song of Solomon – Author of faithful love
23)Isaiah – Suffering Servant
24)Jeremiah – the weeping Messiah
25)Lamentations – He assumes God’s wrath for us
26)Ezekiel – Son of Man
27)Daniel – the stranger in the fire with us
28)Hosea – faithful husband even when we run away
29)Joel – He is sending His Spirit to His people
30)Amos – delivers justice to the oppressed
31)Obadiah – Judge of those who do evil
32)Jonah – the greatest missionary
33)Micah – He casts our sin into the sea of forgetfulness
34)Nahum – proclaims future world peace we cannot even imagine
35)Habakkuk – crushes injustice
36)Zephaniah – the Warrior who saves
37)Haggai – restores our worship
38)Zechariah – prophesies a Messiah pierced for us
39)Malachi – sun of righteousness who brings healing
40)Matthew – the Messiah who is King
41)Mark – the Messiah who is a Servant
42)Luke – the Messiah who is a Deliverer
43)John – the Messiah who is a God in the flesh
44)Acts – the Spirit who dwells in His people
45)Romans – the righteousness of God
46)1 Corinthians – the power and love of God
47)2 Corinthians – He is the down payment of what’s to come
48)Galatians – He is our very life
49)Ephesians – the unity of our church
50)Philippians – the joy of our life
51)Colossians – holds the supreme position in all things
52)1 Thessalonians – our comfort in the last days
53)2 Thessalonians – our returning King
54)1 Timothy – Savior of the worst sinners
55)2 Timothy – leader of the leaders
56)Titus – foundation of truth
57)Philemon – our Mediator
58)Hebrews – our High Priest
59)James – He matures our faith
60)1 Peter – our hope in times of suffering
61)2 Peter – the One who guards us from false teaching
62)1 John – source of all fellowship
63)2 John – God in the flesh
64)3 John – source of all truth
65)Jude – protects us from stumbling
66)Revelation – King of Kings and Lord of Lords, The Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End, and He is coming again and the One who makes all things new.
And with that, I rest my case ladies and gentlemen, and declare that Jesus is Lord!