Assurance In Affliction
Today we’re continuing our summer teaching series on a book of the bible called Psalms. It’s a teaching series that can help give us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. The specific Psalm we’re studying today is about afflictions. It's about finding hope when facing afflictions, and everybody faces afflictions in life. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, rich or poor, a skeptic or a believer; everybody faces afflictions in life.
In fact several people in our church just got back from serving in the Dominican Republic, and you know what we saw in the DR?...Afflictions...We saw people facing afflictions in the DR too...I’ll share more about the afflictions we saw in the DR later, but for now I want you to know you aren’t alone in your afflictions. You aren’t alone in your afflictions, because everybody faces afflictions. The Psalm we’re studying today teaches us how to find hope when facing afflictions, so let’s turn to Psalm 31 and get into it. You can find the book of Psalms in the middle of the bible, and we’ll be in Psalm 31:1-24. The title of today’s message is Assurance In Afflictions, and the big idea of the message is: Afflictions will shake you, but with God’s assurance, they won’t break you...Afflictions will shake you, but with God’s assurance, they won’t break you...
Here’s your context. The book of Psalms is an Old Testament biblical hymnbook, and it contains various songs and prayers that can help give us daily encouragement. They’re written by Old Testament historical leaders who are expressing real, raw, honest emotions we can all relate with. Psalm 31 was written by King David, who is considered one of the greatest kings in Israel’s history, but he was also a man who knew afflictions. He was mocked when he offered to fight Goliath. He was attacked by his enemies and often had to fight to stay alive. He was even betrayed by his own son Absalom who tried to kill him. David was a man who knew afflictions, and he wrote Psalm 31 while he was facing some more afflictions. As we study this psalm we’ll learn about: 1st the reality of afflictions, 2nd the assurance in afflictions, and 3rd the hope in afflictions. We’ll learn about the reality, the assurance, and the hope in afflictions. Let’s check it out.
Psalm 31:1-24 states, “Lord, I seek refuge in you; let me never be disgraced. Save me by your righteousness. 2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly. Be a rock of refuge for me, a mountain fortress to save me. 3 For you are my rock and my fortress; you lead and guide me for your name’s sake. 4 You will free me from the net that is secretly set for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hand I entrust my spirit; you have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth. 6 I hate those who are devoted to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. 7 I will rejoice and be glad in your faithful love, because you have seen my affliction. You know the troubles of my soul, 8 and have not handed me over to the enemy. You have set my feet in a spacious place. 9 Be gracious to me Lord, because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from frustration—my whole being as well. 10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief, and my years with groaning; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.” What we’re learning about in these first 10 verses is The Reality Of Afflictions...It’s the reality that our afflictions can shake us up a bit. David’s facing an affliction, and it’s shaking him up a bit. He says he’s in distress, and his entire life is consumed with grief. The other reality is people can’t always be there for us when we’re facing afflictions. Sometimes the people we lean on for support are working, doing other things, struggling with their own afflictions, and they can’t always be there to help us. But God’s always present and willing to help. He doesn’t promise you an easy path; he promises to be with you on the path. David knows he’s never alone on the path of life, even when he’s facing afflictions in life. So responds by praying for God’s help in his afflictions, and we need to pray for God’s help in our afflictions too.
But we also need to be honest with God about how our afflictions are making us feel. David is being very honest in his prayers. He tells God he’s in distress, and his entire life is consumed with grief. It’s like Zack said last week, we can be fully vulnerable and honest with God in our prayers. In the words of Tim Keller, “God can handle your doubts, your fears, your heartbreaks, and your honesty.” There’s nobody you can be more vulnerable and honest with than God. You don’t have to pretend everything’s okay when it isn’t. True faith doesn’t ignore pain; it expresses pain and trusts God in the pain. David doesn’t ignore his pain; he expresses his pain and trusts God in the pain. He’s shaken, but he isn’t broken...David’s shaken by his afflictions, but he isn’t broken by his afflictions...It’s because he’s prayed and anchored his life to an unshakable God...What are you anchoring your life to?...What are you anchoring your life to, so when afflictions start shaking you, they won’t be able to break you?...Everything you anchor your life to, everything you turn to for help, is shakable and breakable except for God...We need to anchor our lives to God like David.
Vs. 11, “I am ridiculed by all my adversaries and even by my neighbors. I am dreaded by my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run from me. 12 I am forgotten: gone from memory like a dead person—like broken pottery. 13 I have heard the gossip of many; terror is on every side. When they conspired against me, they plotted to take my life. 14 But I trust in you Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’” In vs. 1-14 David uses the phrase you are three times, and it’s one of the things that keeps David anchored to God. It’s that he’s reminding himself of who God is. So the 2nd thing we’re learning about is The Assurance In Afflictions...We’ve learned about the reality of afflictions, but now we’re learning about the assurance we can have in afflictions. It’s the assurance that we’ll make it through our afflictions, because of who God is. In vs. 3 David says you are my rock. In vs. 4 he says you are my refuge. In vs. 14 he says you are my God. The reason David has the assurance he’ll make it through his afflictions is because he isn’t relying on himself, instead he’s relying on who God is. You can’t have the assurance you’ll make it through your afflictions by relying on yourself, because you’re too shakable and breakable. So you have to rely on something that isn’t as shakable and breakable as you, and that something else is God. When afflictions are shaking your life you need to say, “I’m shakable and breakable, but you are an unshakable, unbreakable God...You are my rock...You are my refuge...You are my God.” The only way to have the assurance you’ll make it through your afflictions, is by relying on the unshakable, unbreakable God, because everything else in this world is shakable and breakable.
Again vs. 14, “But I trust in you Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ 15 The course of my life is in your power; rescue me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors. 16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me by your faithful love.” This is the second time David mentions God’s faithful love. He mentions it in vs. 7 and 16. He’s remembering God’s faithful love will carry him instead of abandon him in his afflictions, and the same is true for you! When afflictions are shaking you, remember God’s faithful love will carry you instead of abandon you. In the original Hebrew manuscripts David uses the word hesed, which is translated as faithful love. Hesed love is a much deeper love than the love I have for brisket...It’s a much deeper love than the love I have for the N.Y. Giants, which is a love hate relationship...The word hesed is a much deeper, more committed, faithful love, based on God’s faithfulness not our faithfulness. That’s important because we’re often unfaithful to God, but God’s never unfaithful to us. It’s because he has a hesed faithful love, which means he’ll never abandon us. In The Jesus Storybook Bible Sally Lloyd-Jones says, “It’s a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.” It’s this hesed love that can give us the assurance, that God will carry us instead of abandon us in our afflictions.
Vs. 17, “Lord, don’t let me be disgraced when I call on you. Let the wicked be disgraced; let them be quiet, in Sheol. 18 Let lying lips that arrogantly speak against the righteous in proud contempt be silenced. 19 How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you. In the presence of everyone you have acted for those who take refuge in you. 20 You hide them in the protection of your presence; you conceal them in a shelter from human schemes, from quarrelsome tongues.” David is again expressing concerns about his afflictions, but he's also expressing something else he remembers about God. In vs. 19 he remembers the goodness of God, which is critical because some people are quick to doubt the goodness of God in afflictions. But instead of doubting the goodness of God, David remembers the goodness of God. He remembers all the good things God’s done in the past, and it helps him trust the goodness of God in the present. It’s what he means when he says in Vs. 19, “In the presence of everyone, you have actedfor those who take refuge in you.” Notice he says you have acted, which is past tense. He’s talking about all the good things God’s done in the past since the beginning of creation. It’s things like saving the Jews from Egyptian slavery, helping David defeat Goliath, and so much more! He remembers all the good things God’s done in the past, and it helps him trust the goodness of God in the present.
It’s like when a loving parent says no to something their teenager wants, and the teenager starts doubting and challenging their parent’s good intentions for them. But if the teenager can remember all the good things their parent has done and said yes to in the past, it should cause them to trust their parent has good intentions for them in the present. This is what David’s doing with God. He’s remembering all the good things God’s done and said yes to in the past, and it helps him trust God still has good intentions for him in the present afflictions he’s facing. When we’re facing afflictions, we need to remember the goodness of God in the past, so we don’t doubt God’s good intentions for us in the present. David’s continually expressing the reality of his afflictions, but he’s also expressing the assurance he has in God to make it through his afflictions. It’s a good reminder for us to keep expressing the reality of our afflictions, but also to keep remembering the assurance we have in God. We have to keep reminding ourselves that his faithful love will carry us instead of abandon us, and that God always has good intentions for us, even in our afflictions.
Vs. 21, “Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his faithful love to me in a city under siege. 22 In my alarm I said, ‘I’m cut off from your sight.’ But you heard the sound of my pleading when I cried to you for help. 23 Love the Lord, all his faithful ones. The Lord protects the loyal, but fully repays the arrogant. 24 Be strong, and let your heart be courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.” David ends by encouraging us to be strong, be courageous, and put our hope in the Lord. So the 3rd thing we’re learning about is The Hope In Afflictions. We’ve learned about thereality, the assurance, and now the hope in afflictions. David says put your hope in the Lord, meaning keep holding onto the Lord. I know some days it feels like you’ve reached the end of your rope, but with God you’re never without hope, so don’t let go of the rope!... Keep putting your hope in the Lord, keep holding onto the Lord, and don’t let go of the rope!...The way to keep holding onto the Lord so you don’t let go of the rope, is to do the same 2 things David did.
1st Face The Reality and Pray Honestly - You can face the reality of your afflictions, and pray honestly about the way your afflictions are making you feel. Like David you need to pray your real, raw, honest emotions, struggles, and desires, because God can handle your honesty.
2nd Anchor Yourself In The Assurance of God - Anchor yourself in the assurance of who God is, what he’s already done, and remember his faithful love and goodness won’t abandon you. When afflictions shake you, let the assurance of his hesed faithful love and goodness anchor you.
These are two things that helped David to keep holding on, they’re two things that can help us to keep holding on, and in vs. 24 he’s encouraging us to do these things. He’s encouraging us to be strong, be courageous, and put our hope in the Lord. It’s because he knows the assurance and hope he received from God isn’t just for him; it’s for anyone who puts their faith and trust in God. He knows the assurance and hope he received from God is something that needs to be shared with others, which is exactly what our team did in the Dominican Republic. One of the things we said we wanted to focus on as a church this year, is bringing much hope and joy into our lives, relationships, city, and world. Like David we don’t just want to keep the hope and joy of God to ourselves, we want to spread it to other people, including people in other parts of the world. So we sent a team to spread the hope and joy of God to people facing afflictions in the Dominican Republic, by doing a VBS program, a basketball camp, and building a chapel. I wasn’t on the VBS team so I can’t share much about that, but I can share about the basketball camp and chapel.
The basketball camp we did was in a very poor area called Duquesa, which is a place where kids are facing many afflictions. For example when I say poor, I mean they’re literally living on a garage dump for survival. It’s so they can dig through the trash for food, but also to find things to sell for money. Most of the clothes they get are either donated or stuff from the garbage dump. Several little kids kept saying to my son Noah agua, agua, because they don’t have easy access to clean water. These kind of afflictions cause many of the boys to eventually turn to gangs, drugs, alcohol, and stealing to survive, while many of the girls turn to prostitution or are sold in human trafficking. But there’s a Dominican man named JC who loves Jesus, and he’s bringing the hope and joy of Jesus into their lives. He’s been a consistent presence in these kids lives, planting gospel seeds in their hearts for the past 2 years. He knows the kids love basketball, so he wanted us to put on a basketball camp and share our Jesus testimony with them. Well during the camp we really poured into two 17-18 year old boys who were the leaders of the group. Our team kept building relationships with them and praying for them, because we figured if we can reach them, then we can reach the entire community. And on the very last day, both of those boys committed their lives to Jesus. So let’s praise God for that!...JC was planting seeds in their hearts for 2 years, and the Lord allowed us to be a part of the fruit. JC is going to be discipling those boys, but he’s also offered to give a new basketball to any kid who attends his basketball camp for 8 weeks, and during those 8 weeks he’ll be teaching them about Jesus. City Awakening it’s your financial giving to our church, that gave JC 30 new basketballs, to be bridges to the gospel. So thanks for your generosity!
But we also built a chapel, in a poor community called Baharona. It’s a place where 9 years ago a pastor had a vision to build a chapel on a specific piece of land. But the landowner was a skeptic, he laughed at the pastor, and he said, “You Christians are all the same. You think your God can do anything, but he won’t be able to do this. You’ll never build a church on this land.” But the pastor kept praying for 9 years! After 9 years of praying, the skeptical landowner came to faith in Jesus, met with the pastor, gave up the land, and our team built a chapel on the exact spot he said it would never be built. Let’s praise God for that!...All of this aligns so much with our church’s desire to reach both skeptics and believers, to plant churches that’ll plant more churches, or in this case plant chapels that’ll plant more chapels, so we can Reach People and Reach The World with the Gospel. All of this aligns so much with our church’s desire, that we decided we’re going back to the DR in 2026 to do more VBS programs, basketball camps, and build more chapels. You can be a part of that next year, but you can also spread the hope and joy of Jesus to people in our city now. How can you do that? How can you spread the hope and joy of Jesus to people facing afflictions in our city?...David says to be strong, be courageous, and put our hope in the Lord, but we also need to lead others to Jesus so they can have hope and joy when facing afflictions too.
The big idea of the message is afflictions will shake you, but with God’s assurance, they won’t break you...Afflictions will shake you, but with God’s assurance, they won’t break you...In Psalm 31 we learn David’s afflictions were able to shake him, but they weren’t able to break him. It’s because he anchored his life to God. In vs. 2 he calls God his rock of refuge, meaning God is a rock solid, unshakable, unbreakable anchor for his soul. The reality is afflictions will eventually come, and you need something to anchor your life to when they do come. The only firm foundation you can anchor your life to that isn’t shakable and breakable is God...The only firm foundation you can anchor your life to that isn’t shakable and breakable is Jesus, who proved with the power of his resurrection that not even death on a cross can shake him or break him. He died for our sins on the cross and rose again on the 3rd day, to give us the assurance we’re eternally forgiven, loved, and headed for a joyful eternal life in heaven with him that’s free from all afflictions. He’s the only anchor, the only firm foundation you can anchor your life to, that isn’t shakable and breakable. Your afflictions will shake you, but with Christ as your firm foundation, they won’t break you!...