All right, well, good morning. It's always my joy to bring the Word of God to God's people. Today, we continue our summer series in the Book of Psalms. Psalm 3 displays both lament and confidence. It is one of the many individual laments in the Psalms. These laments express need for God's deliverance. Psalm 3 also has imprecatory elements. What is that about? It invokes God's wrath and judgment against his enemies. Psalm 3 is the first of 73 psalms attributed to David by subscription. And if you got that, Psalm 3 right there, the subscription reads, A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom. And so we're going to dive into this family drama and observe what we are to do in times of distress. So please stand with me for the reading of God's Word. We're going to read Psalm 3. The Word of God says, Oh Lord, how my adversaries have increased. Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no deliverance for him in God, Selah. But you, oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the one who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice and he answered me from his holy mountain, Selah. I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who have set themselves against me roundabout. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. For you have smitten all my enemies on the cheek. You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people, Selah. You may be seated. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. May we pray that the Lord bless this time in his word. Oh Lord, we thank you for just bringing us here today. You've given us life. You have given us the opportunity to hear from you in Psalm 3. Help us Lord, convict us to see just how amazing you are. Help us to see our need for you. Help us to see that you are always there. You are good and gracious. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, the current number of homicides in New York State for 2023 is 1,087. 1,087 people killed, and we know that number is going to continue to rise by the end of the year. Murder has been an issue since the beginning. The first murder, if you know, it's recorded in Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel. Cain kills his own brother. Cain in his pride, what does he tell God? Am I my brother's keeper? I don't know where he is. Right after he killed him. And God was asking him, where is he? And so what do we see John the Apostle say about this first murder recorded in the Bible? He said that Cain was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. And so people kill one another for many reasons. One of the reasons is this hatred towards God's people who are lights into the dark world. They don't like to be exposed of their sin by these lights around them, these Christians. They understand that they love God and they do not. And so there's one more murder I want us to reflect on before we jump into our text. It is the murder of another brother. We read about it in 2 Samuel. And we have King David, who had many wives and children. And Absalom and Ammon were two of his sons. They were half-brothers. And so what happened? Ammon was interested in the sister of Absalom, Tamar, his half-sister. And he does the worst thing you can imagine. He rapes her. And so Absalom was not pleased with how David handled the situation, right? David just gets angry, doesn't do anything. And so... What does Absalom do? He plotted to kill his brother. He waited two years. He was very sneaky about it. He didn't speak to Amon, either good or bad, the text reads in 2 Samuel. Probably to make sure David didn't suspect anything. And so eventually, two years later, Absalom gets his revenge. He invites Amon to come with him. And he orders his men, kill him. and they do. And so, Absalom flees, and then right after, we have what? And so, what ends up happening? We see here that David is mourning daily for his son. He's crying, he's saying, man, you just killed my son. And so, Absalom flees, David's mourning, but three years later, we have Absalom returning to Jerusalem, right? And so, yes, I know this is a lot of family drama to start, but we're going somewhere with this. Absalom had children and he named his daughter Tamar. And so clearly he loved his sister. And in his mind, the murder of his brother was justified, right? He raped my sister. He deserves to die. And so Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem and did not see his father David face to face, right? David thought it would be best for them not to see each other after this murder. And so what did Absalom do? He made sure to get this opportunity to speak to his dad. What did he do? He got the attention of one of the commanders of David, Joab, and he burned his field on fire. And so just remember that act of violence for later. Absalom was not going to take no for an answer. He wanted to see his dad. And so he does. Rather than waiting, he says, I would rather die than be in this limbo state. I want to make sure either you forgive me or you kill me. And so what does David do? He kisses him. David kisses him. And the conflict seems to be resolved. But it doesn't end there. It continues. Absalom's revenge is not over. Even though the rapist of his sister was dead, he still had anger in his heart about the whole situation. Murder was not enough. And so Absalom begins to win the hearts of the men of Israel. He thought David was doing such a terrible job as king. He would make a better king. And so we read in 2 Samuel that Absalom would wake up early and stand beside the way to the king's gates. He had the answer to people's problems. If they had an issue, you don't need to go to David. Yeah, he's got some wisdom, but I'm going to handle the judgment of your matters here. I know to fix your problem. And so they could just go to Absalom, and Absalom desired what wasn't his, the throne. He said, oh, that one would appoint me judge in the land. Then every man with any suit or cause could come to me and I would give him justice. Absalom wanted to be king. And so he goes to Abram and from there he announces that he is king. And he drew many people to his side. And the messenger from David said, the hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom. That's another way of saying war is coming. And that's the dilemma we encounter in our text this morning. David is not in a good place. It's way worse than family drama. It's gonna get ugly. It seems like everyone is about to turn on him. But who will he turn to? Who should we turn to in times of distress? That is the question I'm gonna seek to answer in our text this morning in Psalm 3. We're gonna consider three reasons why we should turn to the Lord in times of distress. So let's begin with our first reason, protection from scoffers. Protection from scoffers. The focus for this section is on the enemies of the psalmist. So we're going to read verses 1 to 3 again. Let's read Psalm 3, 1 to 3. Oh Lord, how my adversaries have increased. Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no deliverance for him in God. Selah. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the one who lifts my head. And so David begins his prayer with, O Lord, the king addresses the king of kings. He is aware of only one God that could protect him from scoffers. And David tells God about his current issue, how my adversaries have increased. And so who are these adversaries that David is speaking about? There are those that have betrayed him, to go on the side of his son, Absalom. And so, I want you to turn to 2 Samuel. I want you to see it for yourself here in 2 Samuel, chapter 15. 2 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 12. And just look at the end of that verse there. It correlates with her passage well. It reads, and the conspiracy was strong for the people increase continually with Absalom. And so the enemies of David are those who think his time is up. Absalom would be a better king in their mind. He seems to be more on top of things, right? He can get the job done. But don't forget, Absalom is a murderer and a violent man. He never repented of his sins. He ran away after he killed his brother. He is a liar and a deceiver. And the enemies of David, they're following that type of leader. And so Psalm 3 continues with many are rising against me. This is typical war language, right? And if you're still there in 2 Samuel, look at verse 14. What does David say? He said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, arise, let us flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. And so David is aware of how strategic and dangerous his son was. And so in his prayer, we can sense that he is being persecuted. He may die soon. And so he puts emphasis on this word, many. He says it three times in our text. The word increase can also be translated many. So it's many, many, many. You can picture it. There are many people who are going against David. They have risen against him. And their objective is to no longer have him as king. The first thing I want you to remember about the enemies of David is that they are betrayers. In other words, they doubled-crossed David. They said, forget David, I'm going with Absalom. Not only were they betrayers, but they're also blasphemers. Look at verse 2 of Samuel 3. Notice what the enemies of David are saying. They are saying that David has no deliverance in God. He has no hope. He will die. Absalom will be king. In their pride and arrogance, they think they know the truth, but they do not. We know that David has been scoffed at before, if you remember the story with David and Goliath. What did Goliath tell him? Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? Goliath thought he was going to chew up David for breakfast. But God was on the side of David and Goliath was the one defeated. However, this time, David's battle is not with a Philistine, but rather with his own people, people he loves, people he's willing to die for. And so that emotional pain must be filling his heart as he is praying. He is thinking about, man, these enemies, these wicked men, they want me dead. People who were once on his side. And if you look at verse six of Psalm three, he says there are 10, thousands of people who have set themselves against me. And so many people are no longer on the side of David. Will he be okay in this situation? Well, there is one that remains on his side. We observe who David turns to in verse 3. But before we go there, Maybe you feel like David right now. You might have been betrayed or backstabbed by a close friend. Maybe there are those who are blaspheming around you. They're saying, God didn't come through in your situation. God isn't the solution to your problems. You need to get some real help. But we know that those blasphemers are liars. They do not know the one true God who always comes through, who is the only one that can heal a broken heart. He is the one that can sympathize with you. He also was one that was betrayed, right? By one of the 12, someone he was really close to. Judas betrayed him with a kiss. Jesus was also mocked at the cross by Jews, the Pharisees, people who were waiting for the coming Messiah. And they said this to him, you who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, come down from the cross if you're the son of God. And so yes, Jesus knows your situation. It might not be as bad as David going through physical persecution, but whatever it is, God will not leave you alone. Look at verse three of Psalm three. David says that God is his shield around him. This is another war term and so there's this attack from all different angles. This Wednesday, during our book study, we had a lot of people surrounding me, and it made me think about the situation. It was like, someone over here, someone over there. Someone was able to get me if I wasn't looking, right? If they had to, or wanted to, they could have gotten me easily. And so David is in this situation. He has no way out. He will be killed if he is not protected. And who can protect him from the scoffers? His shield. This shield is unlike any other shield. This shield doesn't rust. This shield doesn't just defend a part of your body. It defends even your soul. This shield is strong. It is mighty. This shield is trustworthy. The shield that we all need is God. He can protect us. He can deliver us from the most difficult trials. He is the one who we humble ourselves before and say, God, I'm about to die. Please protect me. And he does. I want you to notice the few of many times David calls God his shield. a fitting picture, obviously him being a king, always using that reference. But look at Psalm 18, so a couple, probably some pages to your right here, Psalm 18 verse 30. It tells us, As for God, His way is blameless. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a shield to all of those who take refuge in Him. And so we know we can run to Him. He is willing to protect us. Continuing here a couple chapters more, Psalm 28. Look at verse 7. There's plenty more, but I'm only giving you three. It says the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in him and I am helped. Therefore my heart exalts and with my soul I shall thank him. God being our shield should bring us great joy and comfort. One more, go to Psalm 144 in verse two. It reads, my shield and he in whom I take refuge who subdues my people under me. And so by being our shield, God will not only protect us, but he will also take care of our enemies. He will judge them. If you continue reading the story in 2 Samuel with Absalom, what happens? Absalom gets killed, right? He dies. And so God protected David from his enemies and he punished his enemies. So, you can go back to Psalm 3, verse 3. David calls God, my glory and the one who lifts my head. John Calvin says, God is the maintainer and defender of the royal dignity which he had been pleased to confer upon David. Right? God is the one who made David king. And God's the one who's going to be able to keep him as king. And we see here David calling God, my glory. That's him recognizing the Lord's glorious rule over his kingdom. Kings can be glorious with their vast armies, but the Lord is way more glorious with his vast angels. God's glory is greater than any human power. And so David, he's encouraged to keep going in this difficult time. He's able to lift up his head, the text says. Lifting up your head shows that you have confidence in the Lord. And the many Psalms that we read about, lifting up your head, It shows that God is victorious over his enemies. We see that in Psalm 18, 47, 48. You could listen to this. It says, the God who executes vengeance for me and seduce people under me, he delivers me from my enemies. Surely you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You rescue me from the violent man. And so what do we see there? God lifting up the humbled, right? He is going to exalt the humble and we'll see in a few that he is going to humble the exalted. Psalm 27 verses 5 to 6 reads, So again, we have a picture of security. God is going to assure that he will keep his people safe. And so we can be encouraged that we can keep going in this good fight knowing that God is on our side and he will lift up our head. And so the scoffers of David blaspheme and betrayed but we know that they will be beaten. God will get the last laugh. Psalm 37 12 reads, the wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth but the Lord laughs at him for he sees his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bows and to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct, their sword, what happens to those when they're ready to attack, they're ready to kill the upright? The text reads, their sword will enter their own heart and their bows will be broken. And so God will protect us from scoffers. We can have confidence in that. And so I want you to think about it for a moment. Who are the scoffers in your life? Do you have some enemies at your workplace or in your family? We know we all have spiritual enemies that don't want us to advance the gospel. We are in this spiritual war and the world is going to hate us, right? Christ told us that. The world is going to hate us and they're going to rise against us. What will we do? Will we get frustrated and angry with every little battle in our lives? Or will we go to the battle with our shield? Will we depend on the Lord when the trials come our way? And so let's continue to our next reason we should turn to the Lord in times of distress. The second reason is that the psalmist is sustained by the Lord. So go to Psalm 3. We're going to read verses 4 to 6 again. It reads, I was crying to the Lord with my voice and he answered me from his holy mountain, Selah. I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me roundabout. And so you see the change here. He starts with that personal pronoun. I, I. He says it a couple times. And so the focus here is going to be on the psalmist. David continues the psalm with a reminder of how God hears our prayers. He was crying to the Lord and the Lord answered him. And so we must observe here that David had a personal relationship with the one true God. David doesn't speak to the air or something unknown in a faraway galaxy. No, he calls God by his name, Yahweh. And so we can picture David shouting and raising his voice. And he was in deep agony with all these enemies ready to attack, surrounding him from every side. But he doesn't remain silent. He doesn't keep his prayer on his mind, no. He speaks out loud, something we can easily forget to do when we pray. Sometimes we say, well, you know, God, you could read my mind. He knows what's going on. Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't speak out loud our prayers. A real relationship with God demands communication. And so David cries to the Lord, he communicates with God. That's the first thing I want you to remember about this psalmist. He talks to the Lord, he communicates. Something so simple, yet so important for every believer to be doing on a daily basis. And so ask yourself, do you communicate with God? We should, not only because we have enemies after us, but we know that God hears our prayers. The Almighty God wants to hear you cry out to Him. If you love God, why wouldn't you want to talk to Him? He loves you, and He's ready to hear your heart. And so how's your communication with God? Do you communicate with your friends and family about your problems more than you do with God? Who Are we going to, in our time of distress, your therapist or your counselor or to the one who loves you a million times more? Now, I'm not saying you can't get counseling for your issues. All I'm saying is who do you go to first? If it's not God, that's a bigger issue. Another observation from this verse is that even though God is holy, he can still we can still communicate to him. Look at the text again in verse 4. The text reads, And he answered from his holy mountain. And so David, what does he do? He turns himself directly to where mercy can be found. This place symbolized God's earthly presence, right? God has sanctified the city by his presence. And many would argue this holy hill is Zion. The distinction Zion expresses hope. Reminding us of God's promise to David and sealed by his presence in the temple. And so God hears the prayers of David because of the sacrifices that were taking place in the temple and his covenant with God. Atonement was made on behalf of David. But of course we know that the animal sacrifices that took place foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice that would truly take away the sins of David. the sacrifice of Christ. And so it's because of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross that we can approach the throne of grace boldly. And so David communicates with his God in his trials because he knows him and God has forgiven him. The second thing I want you to remember about the psalmist is his confidence in God during these trials. Look at verse 5 again of Psalm 3. David is able to lay down and sleep even when his enemies are ready to kill him at any moment. And so one of the hardest things to do when you're anxious is go to sleep. Anxiety in the United States affects about 40 million people. And people with anxiety usually have sleeping problems. And so in David's case, you can say that, well, he had a good reason not to go to sleep. He might not wake up because his enemy could have easily killed him in his sleep. But what does David do in such a difficult night? Does he stay up all night to make sure he's not killed? No. David is confident in his shield. He goes to sleep, the text reads. Now, this text, it reminds me of Jesus when he was in a boat in the midst of a huge storm. The disciples, they're all freaking out. They thought they were about to die, and so Jesus is sleeping, and the disciples wake him up. Don't you care? How could Jesus be asleep in such a difficult trial? Well, we know Jesus knows who's in control. He has the power to silence the winds and the waves. And so the disciples should have had faith since Jesus was in the same boat. We also know that the disciples could have been sleeping if they wanted to because Jesus would have taken care of the problem. And so let's go back to Psalm 3. We see that David has confidence in God who can deliver him from such a scary situation. David can be relaxed even in distress. Maybe you've met someone like that before who doesn't explode when they hear about trials coming their way. They can have peace when everything seems to be going wrong or not according to plan. That's the peace that God gives us in the storms of life. Philippians 4.7 says, and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And so the only explanation for people like this that are full of peace is that they're constantly praying to their Lord and letting their requests be made known to God. They're aware of his presence. The text continues in Psalm 3. I awoke for the Lord sustains me. The psalmist is sustained. He is not destroyed by the enemies in his sleep. He wakes up ready for battle. He is refreshed. And so David finds rest knowing that he is upheld by the power of God. He has no reason to fear. He has every reason to be confident that God will protect him and sustain him. And so we observe this confidence once again in verse six. Look at verse 6 there, it says, And so the enemy is closer after a night of sleep. They're ready to attack. The situation has gotten worse for David, but that doesn't mean his confidence level drops. His confidence in Christ actually increases. He says he will not be afraid. Notice that the problem is still there. God hasn't taken away the trial. And what's the difference though? David's perspective on the trial is what is key for us to understand. He doesn't run away from the situation. He runs to God. He communicates with his Lord and he is confident that God will defend him. And so how is your confidence level in God? Do you think He can sustain you in the hardest of trials, in your marriage or with a disobedient child? Can He sustain you when everyone's making fun of you and your beliefs? God has sustained you thus far. Why wouldn't He continue to sustain you? He has promised that He who started a good work in you will perfect it until the day of our Lord Jesus. We can say with Paul in Romans 8, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, for your sake we have been put to death all day long. We were considered a sheep to be slaughtered. But what does Paul say after this? He says, but in all these things, we are overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. And so beloved, if you have the Lord on your side, you will not lose. You will conquer. God will get you through it all. He will get you to the finish line. So far, we examined two reasons why we are to turn to the Lord in our distress. God as our shield will protect us from scoffers and sustain us in any trial. The third reason we can turn to the Lord in our distress is that He is the provider of salvation. And so look at verses 7 and 8, our last verses here in Psalm 3. It says, Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for you have smitten all my enemies on the cheek. You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people. And so the confidence of David here reaches its climax in these verses, and our focus for this section is gonna be on the Lord. The first one was the scoffers, then it was the psalmist, and now we're gonna talk about the Lord mainly. We see that David, is confident. What does he do? He shouts out to the Lord and we're presented with more war language. David, he's not going to go through this trial alone. He tells God, arise. That is a battle cry for God to engage the enemy and defend his soldiers. David needs God to come through. His enemies are rising to attack him, and he needs God to rise and attack them. And so we observe this word, arise, throughout the Psalms. Psalm 68, verse 1 says, Let God arise. Let his enemies be scattered. Let those who hate him flee before him. And so God has risen before for David. He has won many battles. It is God who David turns to again. The only one that can grant him victory. The next imperative, if you read in verse 7, is to save. David asks the Lord to save him from the scoffers. He appeals to God by saying he has a relationship with him. He says, my God. Without this relationship with God, God will not answer his prayer. And so I want us to make, I want to make sure that we remember this truth about God. God is the one that can deliver. He is the one that can save. If you look at verse 8, it says, salvation belongs to the Lord. That can also be translated, deliverance belongs to the Lord. And so we have to put on our Old Testament shoes to fully grasp this word. Throughout the Old Testament, what is the greatest example of God delivering his people? The exodus. Remember? The army of Pharaoh. They are ready to pursue the Israelites. After those 10 plagues in Egypt, we know Pharaoh finally let them go, but quickly sends an army after them. And so you can hear the chariots and the horses coming. The Israelites are scared, like, man, why'd you lead us over here? We're just gonna die over here. Of course, all of us probably would have been scared in this moment, all those chariots and armies coming after us. But what does God do? He delivers his people. He saves them by parting the Red Sea. He does the impossible, and he gets his people safely to the other side. That's the type of deliverance that David believes God can do. He has faith in the God who delivers. But God doesn't just deliver his people. He also judges their enemies. What happens to the Egyptians? We read about it in Exodus 14, 27. Then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them. Not even one of them remained. And so God provided deliverance for his people, but he also brings damnation to their enemies. This is the second truth I want you to think about in our text with God. He is the one who delivers and the one who damns. Look at verse 7 in Psalm 3. For you have smitten all my enemies on the cheek. You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. These active verbs can also be translated as imperative. So in the same breath that David is praying for the Lord to arise and save him, he's also praying that the Lord will judge his enemies. So why would David pray such a thing? Let me briefly discuss the curses of the Psalms, also known as imprecatory Psalms. Some Psalms they cry out not only for the righteous to be vindicated but also for God to punish the wicked. And so we need to keep in mind that these prayers were for enemies who were attacking God's people. These prayers do not negate the fact that God could redeem a wicked person. person if they turn from their sinful ways. One example, we think of Paul, right, who used to be called Saul. He was persecuting the church, yet God saved him. And so these imprecatory prayers are not to give us an opportunity to hate our neighbors. We know we are not to be overcome by evil, but we overcome evil with good. We pray for those who persecute us. And so these prayers of cursing are made in a certain situation of great conflict, where the enemy needs to be taken out. And so God answers the prayer for protection and judgment. We know we live in this culture that doesn't like that word, judgment. However, it was proper for David to pray such a prayer in his context. The wicked there had no right to attack him. They were ultimately rebelling against God's leader and plan. And so God had already warned them to obey Him. And so, one text that could really help us to understand the purpose behind these prayers is Romans 12, 19. It says, And so God has every right to damn those who go against Him to hell. Let's continue here in Psalm 3, coming to a close. Psalm 3, in the middle of verse 7. We read about that and it's an expression of humiliation and to administer a gross insult. And so God has promised to humble the exalted. Anyone who's proud or arrogant will be humbled on the day of judgment. Absalom is just one example in history of those who were humbled by the Lord. And there are many who are worse than him. They're all gonna stand before God and God's gonna throw them into the lake of fire. We see in verse seven, continuing this illustration of judgment, the metaphor of the breaking of the teeth likens the enemies to wild animals whose strength is taken away when their teeth are crushed. And so this should remind us of just how strong the enemy is, right? They're pictured like lions, like with these teeth ready to destroy us. And they could crush us with their teeth, but there is one stronger than all the enemies combined, right? God is able to break them up into little tiny pieces. He is able to shut their mouths. And so when we talk about God's damnation of sinners, we need to remember that it displays his power. God is my shield. Yes, he will protect me, but God also has a sword. He will destroy my enemies. I want you to turn to Psalm 17. Psalm 17 verses 9 to 13. See this picture here of how the Lord has a sword. From the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me, they have closed their unfeeling heart with their mouth. They speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast down to the ground. He is like a lion that is eager to tear, and as a young lion lurking, hiding places, and look what happens here. We got the enemy, got the lion coming after us. Arise, O Lord, confront him. Bring him low. Deliver my soul from the wicked with your sword. And so God fights for us. God doesn't simply watch and hope for the best. Uh-oh. He is active, he saves and he judges, he loves and he hates, he delivers and he damns. And so we observe this contrast between the righteous and the wicked throughout the Psalms. I'll give you one verse here. It says, for the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord sustains the righteous. So beloved, when was the last time you spoke about God's wrath? We tend to shy away from this truth. God's wrath is mentioned throughout the Bible. And if you're going to preach the gospel properly, you must make mention of God's wrath. Jesus didn't die just because he loved you. He died to satisfy the wrath of God. God's anger would be towards us right now if it wasn't for the sacrifice of Christ. And so don't be afraid to talk about hell. Unbelievers need to be reminded of the truth. Now, I'm not saying to go to everyone and say, turn or burn. I'm saying you need to present the full gospel. Ephesians 2.3, it tells us, by nature, we are children of wrath. We explain that first. And then we can understand the beauty of Ephesians 2, 4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love, which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ. It's by grace you've been saved. And so we need to tell people the bad news before we tell them the good news, or they will not understand why the good news is so good. And so don't feel like you have to hide the fact that God is a judge. He is a good judge and he will punish evildoers. So the end of Psalm 3, it ends with hope. It says salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people. The enemies of God are not blessed in their pursuit of David. We know that they will be defeated. They're going to be condemned for their actions. But David's prayer ends with a reminder of who are blessed. God's people. They will be blessed in this life. God has promised that he will always be with his people in any given trial. He will shield them, sustain them, and save them. Psalm 21.6 states, for you make him most blessed forever. You make him joyful with gladness in your presence. And so we can look forward to the day when we will see God face to face, together as a family, with no more enemies surrounding us. No more pain, no more curse. Even today we can rejoice in that fact that we know him, we can experience the joy of his salvation. Calvin writes, from this passage we learn that the church shall always be delivered from the calamities which befall her because God who was able to save her will never withdraw his grace and blessing from her. The enemies may say, there is no deliverance for you, but God has the final say. He has deliverance for all of those who turn to him. And so who do we turn to in distress? Turn to the Lord, our shield and savior from scoffers. We learn that God, our shield, is ready to protect us from scoffers. The psalmist is sustained by God in one of the most difficult trials you can think of. And God is also the provider of salvation. He has delivered his people before, and he can deliver them today too. And so in his trial, David, he's probably looking back at the deliverance of God in his past trials. and the Exodus, which God displays the best Old Testament demonstration of deliverance. But I also believe that David was looking to the future deliverance of God's people with the coming Messiah. We see in Acts 2, Peter quotes David, who spoke about the resurrection of Christ, right? He will not decay, God will be with him. And so beloved, in whatever trial you are in at this moment, Remember, remind yourself of the deliverance we have in Jesus. Jesus had to die for our sins. He laid down his life for us to be forgiven. That was the most difficult trial anyone had to go through. The Exodus was a great picture of God's deliverance, but at the cross, Jesus demonstrated the ultimate deliverance for his people. And so it's because of Jesus we can approach the throne of grace. It's because of Jesus that we can have eternal life. We will be forever with him. And the most stunning part of it all is that we were once his enemies. We rebelled and hated God at one point. We wanted to establish our own kingdom like Absalom in our pride. Yet God was merciful to us. He died for sinners like us. Isaiah 53 says, Who else could we turn to but Jesus? He is the Savior of our souls. We can sing the hymn by Helen Lemel called, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus With Great Joy. It goes, O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely thin in the light of his glory and grace. Do you frequently turn to Jesus? Is he your shield? Is he your savior? The scoffers will come after you. Will you try to fight them by your own strength or will you turn to Jesus? Now, if you don't know Christ and you are a scoffer, God calls you to repent today. He has been patient with you. He has given you another day of life. And so don't wait another second. Turn to Jesus for salvation. Only He can save you. Place your faith in Him today. He was murdered by people who hated Him, but it didn't catch Him by surprise. He predicted His death before it happened. He knew He would be killed, and the amazing part of it is that Jesus was willing to die for us. Philippians 2, 8 says, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And so he laid down his life for the sheep as a good shepherd. He rose from the dead three days later. And so may we turn our hearts and minds to Jesus, the risen Christ, our shield and savior.