(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Psalm 60, I plan to obviously preach this on Sunday, and I'm glad I didn't, because I don't think I would have preached it as well as I would preach it tonight. I needed a little bit more time to meditate and think about what this psalm contained. But if you look at Psalm 60 in verse number 3, it says, Thou hast shewed thy people hard things. The title for the sermon tonight is Hard Things. Why would God show His people hard things? Does God show us hard things? Does He put us in hard places? And when it's hard, it's hard to understand, it's hard to comprehend. Why, God, why would you show me these hard things? Why would you put me through this hard time? And I was just thinking about this story, and the reason I'm glad I didn't preach it on Sunday is because, well, actually, let's start there in verse number 1. It says, O God, this is the psalm of David, O God, thou hast castest us off. Whoa, pretty strange way to start the psalm. Thou hast castest us off. Thou hast scattered us. Thou hast been displeased. O turn thyself to us again. You know, David is feeling like the Lord's presence is far from him, far from his armies. You'll soon see that it's actually in a time of war, and he's thinking the Lord is not with him. You know, he's going through these hard times. You know, the Lord has shown him these hard things, and he just feels like, Lord, you must be displeased. Lord, why have you turned against us? Why have you turned against me as your king, and against your people here? And the reason I had a hard time sort of wrapping my head around this for Sunday is when you look at the introduction of this psalm, and I'm sure your Bible has this introduction, it says to the chief musician upon Shushan, Edith, Mitchum of David, to teach. To teach what? When he strove with Aram, Nahiraim, and with Naram, Zobah. Now Aram is to do with Aramiums, but Aram-Zobah, you'll soon see Aram-Zobah comes up in this chapter that we're going to review. It gives us a timeline of these enemies that he's striving against. It says when Joab returned, so Joab was one of the mighty men, one of the chief men of David, one of these strong warriors, when Joab returned and smote of Edom in the valley of salt 12,000. So you can see this also has to do with a battle that took place in the valley of salt where 12,000 were slain of the enemy. It gives us this timeframe as to when this psalm was written. And you can see at the very beginning, David's like, Lord, where are you? Why have you cast us away? Why are you putting us through these hard things, these hard times? And so what I want to show you is where this story takes place. So keep your finger there in Psalm 60, and come with me to 2 Samuel chapter 8, please. 2 Samuel chapter 8, verse number 13. 2 Samuel chapter 8, verse number 13. 2 Samuel chapter 8 and verse number 13. I want to give you a moment to turn there. 2 Samuel chapter 8, verse number 13. It says, And David got him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians, in the valley of salt being 18,000 men. So hold on, the psalm said 12,000 men. Well, you can see here, there's no contradiction. What we see in the psalm is that Joab and his armies defeated 12,000, but the war at large, there were 18,000 destroyed between the Syrians here and the nation of Israel, and this battle took place in the valley of salt. And you can see, of course, here, Israel had victory. And so, you know, my first thought was, I could see that this is coming from 2 Samuel chapter 8, and if you read 2 Samuel chapter 8, and we are going to look at this very briefly, but it's a chapter of victory. It's a chapter where David is constantly at war with this enemy and that enemy and that enemy. Victory after victory after victory. The Lord is delivering the enemies in the hands of David over and over and over again. And you're like, well, surely David must be having a great time here. I mean, he's been victorious. He's in the power of the Lord. The Lord is guiding him and directing him. And again, when you read 2 Samuel chapter 8, it may just seem like, wow, man, David must be having the time of his life. And again, that's what you kind of get when you read the history books of the Bible. You get this sort of impression. You know, when you have all these battles take place in literally one chapter, which is going on for months and months, of course. But then when you read the Psalm, you actually see the heart of the man. You know, you think he's having this great time, these spiritual highs. And then you read the Psalm and he's like, Lord, you've deserted us. You've left us. Lord, where are you? You see, sometimes it may appear on the outward that someone's having great victories, great time in the Lord, and they might very well be. They may very well be accomplishing great things for God. They may be walking with the Lord and they're seeing great accomplishments. They're seeing themselves doing great things for the kingdom of God. Maybe they're winning souls week after week after week. But that same individual may be going for a very hard time just personally. You know, the challenge and the service of the Lord might be wearing him down again and again. And this is what I see happening in David's life. Even though he's having victories, seemingly doing so well, actually in his heart, you can see the Psalm, the heart of man, he's not doing that well. You know, he's struggling. Now, if we keep going there in 2 Samuel 8, look at verse number 14. And he put in garrisons in Edom. Remember, it was the Edomites that got defeated there. Well, sorry, Assyrians. But this took place in Edom here. Verse number 14. And he put garrisons in Edom. For out all Edom put in garrisons. And all day of Edom, look at this, became David's servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. So you can see here, not only are the Assyrians being defeated, but now the Edomites are being subdued under the power of David. All right. Verse 13 there, victory. Verse 14, victory. Let's get the context. Come with me to the same chapter there. Verse number 1. I just want to show you. It's a great chapter actually. Look at verse number 1. And after this, it came to pass that David smote the Philistines. Okay, the Assyrians, the Edomites, the Philistines. I start keeping track of how many battles he's having here. This is not one battle. And this is just one thing after another thing after another thing starts with the Philistines. Of course, one of the main enemies of the Israelites. And it says, and subdued them. And David took Methheg-amah out of the land of the Philistines. And he smote Moab. There's another one. Okay, let's keep going. Moab and measured them with a line casting them down to the ground. Even with two lines measured here to put to death and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants and brought gifts. Okay, so the Moabites get defeated and now they're bringing their taxes and their gifts to the kingdom of David. Verse number three. David smote also Hadad-e-Zahr, the son of Rehob. Look at this. King of Zobah. That should remind you of the psalm. Where they referred to, I just wanted to get an introduction. It says when he strove with Aram-ne-Harem and with Aram-zobah. Okay, Aram-zobah. And now we have, verse number three, David smote also Hadad-e-Zahr, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobahr. So you can see how the psalm is taking place with these battles time and time again. Enemy after enemy after enemy. It says, and he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. So this is also important to the psalm, we'll understand this later. David's trying to win back the borders. Because not only is he just defeating enemies, but some of those enemies have taken power or control over land that belongs to Israel. And so as King David's going to battle, he's winning back the land. He's regaining the borders, right? He's reclaiming that land. And so the idea of those borders will come into play later on in the psalm. And then it says in verse number, let's drop down to verse number five. And when the Syrians of Damascus came to Soka, Hadad-e-Zahr, king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. Verse number nine, drop down to verse number nine. Now, this king's really smart here. When Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had smitten all the hosts of Hadad-e-Zahr, so this king Toi, he's like, oh man, David's winning all these battles. He's going against these guys, the Philistines, he's defeating them. He's going against the Syrians, he's defeating them. He's going against the Moabites, he's defeating them. He's like, man, I think I'm just going to make peace with David. Like he's the smart one here, right? He's seeing how things are going. He's not like, I'm going to take him on. You know, I better go fight now. He says, I'm going to make peace with David. What does it say? It says here in verse number 10. Then Toi sent Joram, his son, and to king David to salute him, like an ambassador, right? And to bless him because he had fought against Hadad-e-Zahr and smitten him, for Hadad-e-Zahr had wars with Toi and Joram brought with him vessels of silver and vessels of gold and vessels of brass. So they're really trying to make peace, right? They're like, yeah, we love you, David. Here's a lot of gifts, right? And then David takes these gifts, these precious gifts. In verse number 11, it says, Which also king David did dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he had subdued. So all the gold and silver that he's claiming in these victories and these peace offerings, et cetera, he's just dedicating it all to the Lord. Again, you read chapter 8, right? You're just like, hold on. Psalm 60 doesn't seem to gel, seemingly, right? I mean, he's winning battles, he's getting wealthy, he's subduing his enemies, people are just coming and making peace with him now and offering great, precious gifts and he's dedicating it to the Lord. He realises, well, without the Lord, I would not have these victories. You say, surely David's not having a hard time in life. And that's the thing that I was struggling to reconcile a little bit on Saturday when I was preparing this sermon for Sunday and I'm glad the Lord's given me some light here in the last few days. And again, it's something more to do with something personal that I'm just going through. Turn to verse number 15. Look at this, it says, And David reigned over all Israel. So he gets all the land back, okay? And David executed judgments and justice unto all his people. It's amazing, you know, he praises the Lord, he dedicates it to the Lord and now he's reigning mightily in Israel. He's had this great victory. Again, seemingly, man, David can do no wrong, you think. Surely he must be walking every day with the Lord, surely he must be close to the Lord, surely he must be just having spiritual highs after spiritual highs. Then why does he start with Psalm 60 so depressed, so cast down? Why is he saying the Lord has left them? Come back with me to Psalm 60. And verse number 1, let's read it again. You see, one thing that I started to realize, because I wanted to preach, right? I wanted to preach on Sunday. And it bothers me when I can't preach, because that's why I'm here. Like even when I'm sick, I want to preach, but when you've got COVID or whatever, you don't want to affect the church. And I couldn't do it anyway. You know, on Saturday, I'm looking at this, I couldn't make sense of what this Psalm was about, to be honest with you. I was trying to, partly, I think I needed a few more days with the Lord. Partly, I was just too sick and tired, okay? But it started to gel with me as I was going through, you know, I was feeling so sick, and then I couldn't preach, and I just felt so cast down. And I'm like, hold on, I just had a great week, did I not, in Western Australia. I just had like an amazing spiritual victory on the other side of Australia, with brothers here at New Life Baptist Church, brothers in Blessed Hope Baptist Church, and brothers in Melbourne, and new brethren that we met in Western Australia. And having these, I just had a great time, and I think if you speak to any people that went there, they would say, that was a great time. But I'm so cast down, like literally days later. I'm sick, and I want to preach, Lord. I want to serve you. And physically and mentally, Lord, I'm struggling. Why? I said, why, Lord? Didn't I just do something good for you, Lord? I didn't do it for myself. I did not want to go on a plane and sit there for five hours, and lose sleep, and get exhausted. I don't want to do that in my flesh, Lord. I did that for you, and I come back, and you let me get sick, and now I can't preach. And I started to meditate, and I realized, hold on, even though when you read the Bible sometimes, it just goes over your head, right? Oh yeah, they won this battle. It's just a matter of facts, right? You just read the Bible. They won against these people. They won against these people. But then you forget, what is a battle? You're going out there. You're risking your life. You could very well lose. Do you think all the soldiers of Israel, they all lived in every battle? Do you think only the enemies died in that battle? Don't you think soldiers of Israel also died in that battle? Even though it was a victory in the end? Don't you think even many of David's own men that he cares about, he saw them lose their lives in victories like this? Don't you think these battles were long, and bloody, and violent? I mean, I'd rather be shot in the head by a bullet than being pierced by a sword, or shot by an arrow where you're dying slowly and painfully. You'd rather just be the bullet and that's it, the end of your life, rather than the pain of going through that process of death. And so you read these victories after victory, but then you forget sometimes the hardship of the battle. Like, who wins in war, really? I mean, it's not something we want to really experience or go through. You think David just wants to go through fight wars? Alright, maybe he's ready for the Philistines, he's defeated them before, and then you've got the next enemy turns around, then you've got the next one comes, and the next one comes, the next problem, the next battle, the next loss of life, and then you're wondering, Lord, why are you letting me go through this? Isn't that enough? Haven't I served you enough? Haven't we done enough, Lord? To show ourselves to love you and to serve you and desire your blessings, Lord? Isn't that enough? Shouldn't we have peace now, but then it's just another one, and another one, and another one. And then it finally made sense that even when you're having spiritual victories, as men, as human beings, we're frail. It's hard, isn't it? It's hard to serve the Lord. I mean, if it was easy, we'd all be doing it. It's hard to serve the Lord, and that's really what David is going through when he expresses Psalm 60. Look at verse number 2. Psalm 60, verse number 2. Psalm 60, verse number 2. Sorry, one second. He says, There has made the earth to tremble. There has broken it. To heal the breaches thereof, for it shaketh. Now remember, these are poetic words. Now that we understand the context of this Psalm, we understand what's happening. When it says thou has made the earth to tremble, what's it talking about? Is it just an earthquake? It's talking about war. This is like a world war for David, right? Enemy after enemy. Neighbours after enemies. And it's like when it's a time of battle, things are trembling. Lord, you've made this to come past. He says, Heal the breaches thereof, for it shaketh. Heal the breaches. Breaches are walls, or borders of separation. Remember we saw in 2 Samuel, that David's trying to get back to those borders. He's trying to rebuild those borders of separation. He says, Lord, the breaches are broken. The earth is trembling. It's war and battle. You know, and, you know, bloodshed. And the voices of horses. And the voices of violence and of pain and death and suffering. This is all getting to David. And as a poet, he's expressing this in his language. And that's why he says in verse number 3, Thou hast shewed thy people hard things. Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Lord, this is hard. Go into battle again. And again. And again. And again. This is hard, Lord. Isn't one enough? We've won. Okay, we lost life, but we've won. We've won for you, Lord. We've done what you've asked. Lord, now you're going to get us to go through another trial? Another hardship? Another enemy? Another problem? Now you know why David's like, Lord, why have you left us? Seemingly. That's what he's expressing. What he's feeling in the heart. Maybe you're feeling that way tonight. I don't know. I mean, we're not necessarily going to battle in that sense, but we serve the Lord. We go to church. Many of you come three times a week to the house of the Lord. We're almost six years old as a church. That's three times every week for six years, time and time and time again. And guess what? You have new problems in the sixth year of our church compared to the first year of our church that you had. New problems this year. New problems this month. New challenges. You say, but Lord, I'm doing what I'm required to do, aren't I? Aren't I serving you faithfully? I mean, this is hard, Lord, to go through trials and difficulties. Haven't I done enough? So in verse number three, the Lord has made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Astonishment means greatly surprised. Lord, I just, you know, why, Lord? You know, why? Why not a struggle? Like I said, I was just thinking, hold on, Lord, Lord, I went to WA, right? I went there. I didn't want to. In my flesh, I'd rather be home. I don't want to sit on that plane. I'd rather be asleep. I mean, I can go soul winning just here. I don't have to go to WA. I'd go soul winning. Do I? And that's why I know it's of the Lord, when it's something that I don't want to do. There's a lot of things that I don't want to do, brethren, that I just do anyway, because I know the Lord wants it to be done. But, you know, it was great. Don't get me wrong. It was a great time. And if I got any WA listeners, great fellowship, great blessing. Don't get me wrong. Like David, I'm sure, when the victories were won, they were rejoicing, you know? Victory, yes! Reclaim some land. We've done something great for the Lord. So the last thing I expect when I come back here, just to get refreshed and recharged and spend time with my family a little bit because I've missed them, the last thing I expect is for God to say, God, I'm here for you. You know, here you go. And you can pass it on to your family as well. And so you can all be struggling for the next couple of days. You say, what's the devil passed? Look, I don't know. Look, even if it's a devil, the devil can only operate within the measure that God allows the devil to operate. It's up to what the Lord allows at the end of the day. Sometimes I think we give the devil too much credit on things. I'm a bit cast down about that because I was just trying to serve you. Is this my reward? Is this the next thing that you've got for me? And look, from my perspective, I mean, like, okay, from us looking at David's life and then looking at me and going, oh, I passed. Obviously what I'm going through is insignificant compared to what King David was going through. I'm not trying to say, comparing apples with apples here. The Bible can take the applications and apply it to our own lives. And you can take this application here and apply it to your life and your struggles and your problems. We all have different things that we're going through. A different journey that God is putting us through. And you might ask yourself the question, why, Lord, why another struggle? And it can cast you down. It may feel like, Lord, where are you, though? Why have you left us? I don't understand. And that's why it's like, it's the wine of astonishment. I'm surprised, even. How? How can it be? But then you look at verse number 4 and there's a change in attitude. Just like a lot of these psalms, you'll notice he changes as he grows and contemplates and thinks of the Lord. He gets himself encouraged with these words in verse number 4. He says, You know what? I fear you, Lord. So you've given me a banner. I'll talk about that in a moment. That it may be displayed because of the truth, Selah. He goes, you know what? I'm of the truth. I'm doing what is right and honest. And so, Lord, because I fear you, you've given this banner of me. The banner is basically, in the Bible, a war flag, as it were. Sometimes, maybe you've seen this in TV shows or movies or something where you might have an army marching down and they've got these flags, these big flags. And they're for a reason. They're there to encourage the soldiers. It's also to give them a point of reference. So, if they see the banner in the middle of the war, the fog of war, and they know where their banner is, they remind themselves where they're fighting from. It also reminds them if the banner is still up, the flag is still up, it reminds them, hey, we've not lost yet. We're still in the battle here. If they see the banner moving forward, progressing, hey, we're winning. We're making some achievement here. May encourage them in that fight as they see that banner. Because it's something that's lifted up high. And so, David, in the same way, saying, you know, the Lord has put this banner over me because I fear him. I can see that even though the battle is struggle after struggle, I can see this banner, you know, moving ahead of me, encouraging me. The Lord has shown me that we've not lost the fight. The Lord has shown me that he hasn't left me. He hasn't deserted me. He is the one that's encouraging me in this battle. That's why it says in verse number 5, that thy beloved may be delivered save with thy right hand and hear me. Because, Lord, you're the one that has to deliver me. You're the one that has to save me and hear me. He's speaking to the Lord. And, uh, you know, if I can just be honest, as honest as I can be, like, you know, and I'm not trying to be some hero. I am not, brethren. I am not some hero. I promise you this. I can only give you my experiences, you know, that I go through. Sometimes the Lord allows me to go for an experience around the time that I'm preaching something that's relevant to that. And, uh, again, just back to last week, right? Preached on Sunday, two sermons. Two sermons is usually enough. Like, enough of me opening my mouth. It's exhausting. Like, on one day, right? Usually enough. And then, obviously, having, you know, going to Perth on that same night. And then, on Monday, going to Solween. A couple of salvations on a Monday. Praise God for that. By Tuesday, I'm kind of thinking, I've had enough. You know, like, you know, preaching on Sunday, Solweening on Monday. Tuesday's the day the event really kicks off in Bridgetown. I'm like, I've kind of had enough now. Because, like, you know, when I'm Solweening, I don't have someone that can preach with me. I usually have a silent partner that I'm trying to train and to encourage in the Lord. So, I'm doing most of the speaking. And then, uh, again, the marathon starts on Tuesday. So, preaching, got Solweening on the morning, got Solweening in the afternoon. But, you know, by the afternoon, I'm like, I'm thinking, you know what, I'm done. Like, I kind of just want to go into my bedroom and just hide. Like, it's kind of like, I know it's not the same as David, I understand, but it's like, it's kind of like battle after battle after battle, and the last thing I want to do is battle again. Anyway, I mean, obviously, people are getting saved, and praise God. Like, here's the thing, like, even when you don't want to do it, it's like that banner David speaks about. You just know the Lord is moving. You know the Lord is working. You know the Lord is, uh, the kingdom is moving forward for Christ's name's sake. You know, and you see the excitement of the brethren, and you know the Lord is working in the hearts of people. And you just go, I've got to, you've just got to keep going then. And then we get a perf on the Wednesday, and then you go, you go Solweening again, and then you go in the morning, and then you're like, you know what, tonight I'm not even going to sleep because I'm catching a plane to Sydney at midnight. I'm going to land at 6 AM in Sydney on Thursday. I'm not going to sleep properly. And then I'm preaching at Blessed Hope on Thursday night. And I'm thinking to myself, I've just, I've done too much. Maybe that's partly why my body broke down. I don't know. But it's like, honestly, you get to a point where you're like, Lord, it's enough. And you say, well, what keeps you going? Is it just, well, number one, you've got to kind of keep your word. That's part of it. But number two is when you just see the Lord. You know it's the Lord's work. You know it's the Lord's will. And you know, you go to Sydney on a Thursday and even though I'm tired, but I've not seen those brethren for a week now and they come to church for midweek services. Not many churches even have midweek services. We're smaller churches and we have midweek services. And so for those that turn up and those that still travel some distance, you've got a family that travels from Wollongong an hour and a half, you know, just to be there for a Thursday night service. You know, again, it's like it's the battle of the Lord and you're like, you know what, we're moving forward. We're pushing on. So we fight again. We fight again. And we fight again. And we just keep going. Verse number six, please. God has spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice. I will divide Shechem and meet out the valley of Sukkoth. So he says, you know, God has spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice. You know, we have the advantage of having the whole word of God in 66 books of the Bible. You know, when God speaks and God promises, this is what gets us moving forward. This helps us rejoice in the Lord. When David says here, I will divide Shechem, Shechem already belongs to Israel, but again, it's been overtaken by foreign power. So he says, look, I'm going to have victory in this area. Okay. And, you know, it's good when you start to get exhausted and you start to wonder, Lord, are you even in this battle? You know, I'm doing it for you, Lord, but are you even here? Why? Why aren't you here? Why aren't you helping me along? Just remind yourself, he says here, God has spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice. Remind yourself of God's promises that he has spoken to you. The promises that you've read in his word, that you've read in the Bible, and rejoice in those promises. Because they're true. They're for you. You know, to help you push you along and, you know, just give you some examples of some passages that mean a lot to me. Sometimes when you go soul winning and you get out there for a few hours and you think, man, that was unreceptive or someone's had a go at you and you feel a bit downcast and it's been a tired period. I love this passage, Psalm 55, 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sense it. See, the Lord's words when they go out it's not in vain. When you go out presenting God's word, it is not in vain. Does that mean someone's going to get saved even when nobody was unreceptive? No, no. It could be that you go out a day and, you know, they've gone three sixteens out and maybe it plays in their mind but they don't get saved that can of course happen. You go, then what was the profit of that? The advantage is that you were obedient to God's command. That you did what he asked of you. And look, it doesn't matter. You go out and go soul winning for one hour and you get ten people saved or you go soul winning for one hour and you get nobody saved. Look, you are going to be rewarded for doing what he's asked of you. You're going to be rewarded. There's no vanity, there's no emptiness when you're serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Another one, Romans 8.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Boy, what's going to separate you from the love of Christ? Nothing. No amount of tribulations or difficulties or suffering you might be going through What about 1 John 5.4 For whatsoever is born of God over cometh the world. And this is the victory that over cometh the world even our faith. Who is he that over cometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. We're looking at David. How David had victory in Israel. He had victory in the land of Palestine. He had victory He had victory in the land of Palestine. The land of Canaan. Okay. But you know what, you've been given victory over this whole world. Simply by your faith on Jesus Christ. And now you're one of God's people. Okay, not right now. I mean, you are right now, but you're going to rule over this whole earth when Christ comes back. That's pretty powerful. You're a very important person in the eyes of the Lord. You've overcome the world simply by your faith on Christ believing that he is the Son of God believing that he's come to be your Savior. Look at verse number 7. He says, Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine. These are all places in Israel. Ephraim also is a strength of mine head. Judah is my Lord giver. So it starts with the land that God has given him as the king, or he'll soon be the king of all the land. If you know the story of David, it took a little while for him to become the king over all of Israel. But David's just thinking about how God has already given him land. He's already given him victory in these places, to be the ruler. And so when he says in what he's talking about what he's saying in verse number 7 is he's encouraging himself first with what God has already given him. With what God has already done in his life. Then he starts looking at the enemies. Okay? Instead of starting with looking at the enemies and the problems and confronting that which is verse number 8 he first starts with verse number 7 and says, hold on. I need to think about what God has already given me. That's why we sang before Count Your Blessings. Name them one by one. By looking at his blessings first. And by looking at his blessings by looking at how God has come through ready for him. Now he's got the faith now he has the encouragement to go forth and go, you know what? If God's given me this already then God can give me victory over my enemies. And so if you're feeling a little downcast you're feeling like the Lord is far why are you allowing me to go through some new struggle, new problem? Why are you making me go through some hard things, Lord? Well, start by reminding yourself of what God's already done for you. The great things, the blessings. The answered prayers that he's already given you. Start there. And then you'll be in a better place mentally and spiritually to tackle that new struggle that God has given you. Your courage will grow just like David does here in verse number 8. Moab is my wash pot. Now he's describing the enemies. Moab is my wash pot. What's a wash pot? A wash pot is a pot that you would wash your dirty clothes. It's your washing machine. He goes, Moab is my washing machine. Moab is my dishwasher. I'm going to throw all my junk and Moab you're going to clean it for me. That's how he thinks of Moab right now. Then he says about Edom over Edom will I cast out my shoe? He goes, you know, Edom is kind of like just this pebble in my shoe. This annoying pebble. Have you ever had that? This annoying little rock in your shoe and you're kind of walking around. It's bouncing around in there. Eventually you take off your shoe and the pebble comes out. He goes, that's what Edom's like. This annoying little pebble. I'm going to cast you out of my shoe. Then he says Philistah or these are the Philistines triumph thou because of me. Now that might be a little bit difficult to understand come with me quickly to Psalm 108. Come with me to Psalm 108 verse number 9 because it says something very similar here in Psalm 108 verse number 9. Psalm 108 verse number 9 it says Moab is my wash pot it's the same thing. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe? Over Philistah will I triumph? Will I triumph? So he's saying look I'm going to beat the Philistines. I'm going to triumph over them. Alright? Now come back with me to Psalm 60 so it just gives us the idea. He's going to triumph over them. So when he says in verse number 8 Philistah triumph thou because of me. He's telling them you're going to triumph as well. So if I triumph over you you are also going to triumph. What he's saying to them is basically this you know the Philistines you're going to be in a better position as a nation by being submissive to my power and authority than over some other foreign power. You know over the Syrians or over the you know whatever other power and other nations that are trying to claim influence and land he's telling the Philistines look by me defeating you, by me I'm going to triumph over you you will triumph as a nation. So it's better for you that you're defeated by my hands. Verse number 9 He says who will bring me into the strong city? Strong city of course is you know the fortresses the main areas of of the barracks wherever they're fighting from he's asking who's going to bring me there? Who's going to bring me to those points where the battle is going to be the hardest? Who will lead me into Edom? Who will lead me into Edom? And then he comes to that realisation Will not thou, O God which has cast us off? See, God didn't really cast them off. He goes, who's going to let us have victory here? The same God that you Lord, that has cast us off. Like the same one that's allowed me to go for this struggle whatever your struggle is is the same one that's going to lead you into victory. It's the same one that's going to help you fight the battle that God has allowed to be put before you. He goes, and thou O God which didst not go out with our armies it's you Lord the one that I thought wasn't watching over us the one that I thought had forgotten about us the God that you just seem so far away because I'm going through struggle after struggle after struggle, but the only one that's going to bring me in victory is you Lord. You see brethren, this is where humility is required. It's tempting sometimes I think. I don't naturally do this. You know, I don't think it's in my nature too much because I really appreciate your Lord and I realise my struggles are insignificant really. You know, but people get angry at God, you know. I hear stories, I hear people talk to me pastor, I'm angry at God. And I guess when you think of David's first few words of this psalm he can almost seem like he's angry at God. He's like, God you've cast us off. Why aren't you here? You know when Job went through his self Job suffered so much. You know, when Job suffered so much and lost everything that he had he never spoke against the Lord. He was asked to by his wife and his friends to basically get angry at the Lord and he refused. The Bible says he was a man of integrity. It's easy to blame God. Say, God why? Haven't I done enough for you Lord? Haven't I served you? Haven't I gone to battle enough for you Lord? Haven't I suffered enough Lord and you've brought another one another one, another one another one. Sometimes it seems like there's no end. And there will be periods of peace. It's like David. There's periods of war periods of peace. Your life will be like that. But the truth is this is life. We live in a sinful we live in a sinful flesh. We live in a sin-cursed world. We know that the Bible ensures that this world will get worse and worse till the coming of Christ. We need to be understanding maybe and we work on being prepared, but we need to be understanding minds that struggling is a part of life. Problems and difficulties and trials are a part of life. And the only one that's going to give you victory is the Lord. So the last one you want to blame is the Lord. Right? I mean how do you have a victory? I mean people, you like who doesn't like victory? Like I like it when my soccer team wins. And that's like meaningless. Like people I like if you're playing a game with me about whatever, chess or checkers or whatever. Who doesn't like to win? Everyone likes to win. Right? Everyone. But how do you win unless there's a struggle to win? Right? How do you claim victory unless there was a problem to face to begin with? Unless there was a competitor at the beginning. So the Lord allows us to go for struggles. To refine us, to teach us to guide us even to chastise us to correct us when we need it. And we all need it. Who doesn't need correction? You know who's prideful enough to say, Pastor I need no correction from the Lord? Who's prideful enough to say that? You who repented of all your sins to get saved. No such thing. Salvation was on Christ alone. And his work. But the Lord, we need struggles. We need them because it's not just Christians even the world. The world goes through struggles. This is life. And young people you need to learn this is life. Life is struggle. Okay? Your parents try to raise you and give you, they work hard and they provide for you. Try to make your life a little bit easy while you're young. To enjoy life while you're young. And you might think hey this is what the world is like. No, no. You'll see. You'll see when you step out into the world that it's not easy. You'll see when you start paying for your first bill that working, you start working those hours okay I worked this many hours to pay that my mobile phone bill wasn't worth it. Okay well when you start working out how much it costs to put food on the table and it costs to pay rent or pay a mortgage your insurances oh now my kids need braces and things that you don't even expect. I just had insurance come up for my car in the van in this house oh how many thousands Lord? But this is life. And now you can choose. Just like anything. God does not force you. You're going to go through struggle. You're going to go through struggles. You either say Lord you blame him you get angry at him why am I going through this? Or I'll take care of this on my own. I've got it. That's all the world thinks. I've got it. Or you be like David and say like he says in verse number 10 will not thou or God which has cast us off and thou or God which did not go out with our armies Lord aren't you the one that's going to help me through this? Aren't you going to be the one that guides me? This is the advantage of being saved. You know you might stand out from the world you might feel different and who cares? You've got the Lord by your side. It's a hard life. I don't know how people do life without God. Can you understand that? For those of you that got saved late in life how did you get through life without God? Probably don't even understand how. I can't understand. It's the Lord that gives us victory it's the Lord that leads us and guides us. You know young people I say choose God. Choose God to be your help. You know in every battle in every struggle you go through. Look at verse number 11. David says give us help from trouble for vain is the help of man. Vain. I'll run to my friends they can help me. I'll run to the doctors they'll help me. I'll run to the educated whoever with the diploma and whatever piece of paper they've got on their wall I'll run to them because they've got the answers for my struggle. David says give us help from trouble speaking to the Lord for vain is the help of man. Look at verse number 12. Through God we shall do valiantly for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. He goes you know what yeah I am the instrument here David as a soldier as the king I am the instrument that God is going to use to have victory for Israel but it's God that will tread down our enemies. It's God that's going to destroy these people that have risen up against our nation. It's God that's going to bring low these struggles. It's the law that's going to give me victory. Not man. What can man do? And I'm a man what can I do? I'll pray for you. You say to me pastor I've got to struggle. My help is vain. But what I can do is take your struggle if you're struggling to talk to God. I'll talk to God for you. I'll take your struggle and say Lord sister so and so brother so and so he's going through a hardship. I'm nothing. There you go Lord because we can't do without you Lord. Help us. Help us through the struggles. Help us through the difficulties. Through God we shall do valiantly. With courage. With strong determination and courage. So you see the heart of David again in the Psalm you see the heart of David what do we see? A weak man? A broken man? A lonely man? But if you see him on the battlefield is like what do people say when they go to victory? When they go to fight? I don't know. Who's watched TV? Charge! Press forward! David's barking instructions. David's going in there with his sword. OK? Riding on his horse. Whoa! Look at him go! Look at him do valiantly for the Lord! That's what it looks like on the outside. But he didn't realize on the inside he was struggling the whole time. Because you've got to remember it's the Lord's victory. It's the Lord's work. You can only accomplish great things through the Lord. Our flesh is weaker. We struggle. And look, you know, there are Christians and they're doing so well for God, and you're like I wish I could be more like that. Forget it. You don't know what they're going through. You know, one thing I learned going to church for a long time the people that seem the happiest and doing so well for the Lord, and you just think man, they've got no problems at all. They've got it all together. And then you sit one on one with them and talk to them. And they speak of their great love for God which you know they have. But then you realize why they're like that on the outward. Why are they strong on the outward? And talk to them one on one. They share with you their struggles. And their hurt. And their loneliness. And their problems. And yet they're able to say you know what, but the Lord guided me through all of those. They just love the Lord. That's why they're on fire for God. Because they've seen the Lord come through time and time and time again. And again you think man, that'd be nice to be like that. Yeah, but in order for you to grow and develop and mature and become valiant for the Lord you have to go through the struggles. You have to. And sometimes you've had enough. Like David. And like me. You have enough sometimes. It's the Lord that has to help us. Alright brother, let's pray.