Outline

I. Brace for the Crush: Expect Trouble to Overwhelm Your Life We shouldn’t be surprised when suffering, loss, strained relationships, or persecution hits hard in this fallen world of sinners, yet those waves can still beat us down and suffocate us—Jesus Himself warned that faithful service guarantees days of trouble.

II. Seize Heaven’s Lifeline: Approach God with Raw Humility and Persistent Faith David models coming before the holy God as poor and needy, claiming holy status as His servant and child in Christ, trusting Him fully, crying out all day long, and lifting up the entire soul in devoted surrender—reminding us that prayer is bold fellowship with the throne of grace.

III. Anchor in God’s Unshakable Character: The Only Solid Ground for Prayer David roots every plea in the Lord who is good, ready to forgive, abundant in covenant mercy, the only true God with no rivals, and sovereign over all nations—giving unshakable confidence that the same God who passed by Moses in glory will hear and answer.

IV. Vow Allegiance in the Fire: Commit to Learn and Praise While Still Afflicted David pledges to be taught God’s ways and walk in truth with a united heart, then commits to wholehearted praise and glory right now in the middle of trouble—not after deliverance, not as a bargain—turning the original purpose of creation into defiant worship amid the storm.

V. Plead Boldly for Mercy and a Shaming Sign: Cling to Christ as Your Deliverance With enemies—proud, violent rebels who reject God—closing in, David finally names the threat and cries for mercy, strength, and a visible sign of good that will shame them; that sign is ultimately Jesus: incarnate, crucified, risen, and returning—the victory that comforts the redeemed and condemns every foe.

Bottom line: In the day of trouble, pray like David—humbly anchor in God’s mercy, commit to praise Him in the fire, and trust Christ’s cross and crown as the sign that turns every assault into eternal victory.

Psalm 86

A prayer of David. Bow down your ear, O Lord. Hear me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am holy. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to you all day long. Rejoice the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon you, for you will answer me.

Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, nor are there any works like your works. All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord. I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name.

I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify your name forevermore. For great is your mercy toward me, and you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. O God, the proud have risen against me, and a mob of violent men have sought my life, and have not set you before them. But you, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth. Oh, turn to me and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. Show me a sign for good that those who hate me may see it and be shamed because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Opening Prayer

Let’s seek the Lord’s blessing on this holy word. How gracious God and heaven, we do praise you and thank you for the gift that you’ve given to us in your word.

That it is our only infallible rule for faith and life. And as we come to this passage, as we consider this Psalm this morning, we pray that you would truly open our hearts, our ears, our minds to hear, to receive the truth that is here. That we would not only see the example, but that we would see the glory of our Savior, Jesus. And what He has accomplished for us. And the sure and certain hope that He has secured for us.

And so we ask, O Lord, that You would truly bless Your Word. And that as Your Word goes forth in the power of the Spirit, we pray, that it would truly find within each and every one of our hearts here that rich, fertile soil that will bring about a great and abundant fruit for your glory. So we ask for your blessing upon your word. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

We Shouldn’t Be Surprised When Trouble Comes

Well, we shouldn’t be surprised when trouble comes into our lives. Maybe it’s suffering and sorrow, the loss of a loved one, maybe a strain in your relationships, economic hardships, perhaps even persecution because of your faith in Christ. We shouldn’t be surprised of these things because we know that we’re sinners, we’re surrounded by sinners, and we live in a fallen and sinful world. And we know especially we shouldn’t be surprised because Jesus Himself, our Savior, has promised that if we do faithfully serve Him, we would have days of trouble. But as our lives can attest, even when we expect such troubles, we know that they can at times become too overwhelming for us, beating us down, even perhaps suffocating us. And so what do we do when those troubles come, wave after wave?

Well, God who is rich in grace and mercy hasn’t left us empty-handed. He hasn’t left us without a lifeline. And that lifeline is God’s gift of prayer. Because you see, it’s through prayer that we talk to God and we communicate to God, our Creator and our Savior and our Redeemer, that we communicate to Him our needs and our concerns.

And it’s especially through prayer As we see here in Psalm 86, that we would seek God’s grace and mercy in the day of trouble. And we don’t know the specific setting for this Psalm, but, but again, as we often see in the Psalms, David finds himself in the midst of a great day of trouble. And he, he cries out to God is seeking God’s mercy for deliverance. And so in this psalm, we’re going to consider how David first approaches God in prayer, and then how he commits himself to the Lord’s service, and then we’ll consider the particular plea that he makes for deliverance. Indeed, this psalm should challenge us this morning, challenge each of us to consider the lifeline of prayer whenever you would find yourself in the midst of your own day of trouble.

I. David’s Approach to God in Prayer

Well, first we want to note David’s approach to God. We remember that in Christ, though we have the privilege to boldly come before the throne of grace and we can talk with God as we would talk with a friend, we must still remember who God is. He is the most holy God. He is the creator of heaven and earth.

Therefore, it’s critical That when we come to God in prayer, we come to Him with great humility. And David expresses this humility in verse 1 when he says, You see, a key aspect of humility is acknowledging our neediness. If you’re proud, you tend not to think you’re needy. But if you humbly come before the Lord, you acknowledge before God, before the God of heaven, that you are truly needy.

And of course, our greatest need is for God’s grace and mercy in our lives. In fact, it’s this humble plea that David makes three times in this psalm. In verse 3, in verse 6, and then again in verse 16. And David finds himself here in constant need of God’s grace and mercy.

For He’s not only needy, but He’s also greatly afflicted. He’s suffering at the hands of His enemies. He’s feeling trapped and helpless. He can’t do anything to save and deliver Himself, and so He humbly seeks grace from the Lord so that He might be able to endure, to withstand these assaults, and to be saved.

But what’s interesting here is also is that as David humbles himself before the Lord in prayer, he prays that the Lord might also humble himself as well. That the Lord would bow his ear to hear and to answer his prayer. You see, David acknowledges that God, who sits enthroned in heaven, must condescend or must lower Himself to hear the prayers of His people. Now, we can rejoice and give thanks because we know that this God has graciously done. He has humbled Himself. He has lowered Himself to hear His people, especially through the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that God humbled Himself and came in the form of a servant So that He might not only hear us, but also identify with us in our weakness and in our misery. And so when we pray, we do so mindful of how Jesus so loved us. that He would humble Himself to save us from our sins. And even now how He continues to intercede on our behalf as He sits at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms. What a great blessing then when we seek God’s grace through prayer with all humility.

Mindful of Our Status in Christ

And secondly, as we approach God in prayer, we should be mindful of our status before Him.

In verse 2, David says, Preserve my life, for I am holy. Now you may be thinking, okay, wait a minute. Is David now overruling his earlier expression of humility with a claim of personal righteousness before God? Saying, I am holy. Well, no. You see, though it’s true that there is only one who is perfectly holy, we know the Lord Jesus Christ is that one.

And certainly we can find these words of David spoken most aptly on the lips of our Savior. And indeed, these ultimately are the words of our Savior. But David isn’t preempting his greater Son here. No, he’s only claiming what is rightfully His by God’s grace and ultimately what’s His and ours through Jesus Christ.

You see, we are holy ones in Christ. We are saints. We are the godly ones whom the Lord has redeemed and adopted into His family. And indeed, it’s our adoption through Christ that makes us children of God. It makes us possible for us to be able to cry out with all confidence, Abba, Father, preserve my life, for I am your holy child. And so you see, our status before God in Christ, through adoption, is the very reason that we can boldly come to the throne of grace. And we would do well to remember that great privilege. That in Christ, we are holy.

And in Christ, we have the great privilege and the great honor to be able to enter boldly into the throne room of the most holy God. And so David acknowledges his status before the Lord.

Approaching with Sincere Faith

Thirdly, David approaches the Lord with sincere faith. In verse 2 he says, save your servant who trusts in you. The servant trusts his master to do what’s good and right.

You know, we’re so used to the disappointments and the hurts from human relationships. That it can sometimes be difficult for us to truly trust anyone. Even trusting God. Trusting a God that we can’t see. But friends, this is what we’re called to do. The world tells us that seeing is believing.

And they’re constantly demanding evidence. And I see this all the time in social media, the different things that are currently filling my feed, all these atheists. And they say, well, we want evidence. We want evidence. And yet the reality is they are suppressing the evidence that God has clearly given. Seeing is believing for them.

That’s what the world tells us. But what do the scriptures tell us? What does God tell us in his word? He tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Christ calls us to faith, to believe in what we can’t see, to trust in Him because of how He has revealed Himself to us.

And so this becomes all too real for us, of course, when we pray. Because the challenge when we pray is not only do we not see God, and not only do we not see the God whom we’re praying to, but often our prayers concern things that are completely outside of our control. And so we truly are helpless. We’re helpless except for the fact that we trust the Lord to be true to His promises.

We trust the Lord to do what’s good and right according to His most holy and perfect will. We must trust Him to work out His perfect plan, even when we don’t fully understand it. And there’s a lot of times when we don’t understand what God is doing in our lives, but we need to trust Him. We must trust and believe that He truly will work out all things for our good. and his glory, just as he tells us in his word.

So David approaches with a sincere faith.

Approaching with Persistence

Fourthly, David approaches God with persistence. He says in verse three, be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to you all day long. Not just once a day, but all day, every day. He’s seeking the Lord’s grace and mercy through prayer.

And too often, even in difficult times. I know this is true for you. Maybe it’s not true for you, but it’s true for me. You know, I pray. We pray a few times. We pray, Lord, help and save and deliver, whatever the situation may be. Give wisdom, give understanding. But then we get discouraged. We may get tired. We may get distracted with things going on in life. And we stop praying. Friends, the Lord desires that we persist in our prayers.

And this was Jesus’ charge in the parable of the widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18. Remember there that the judge wasn’t inclined to give the widow the justice that she desired, but because she persisted, He finally did relent and gave her exactly what she desired. And Jesus made the point that God is no unjust judge. This was an evil, wicked judge. And yet He relented because this woman persisted. But Jesus says God is no unjust judge. He is just and right and good.

And so how much more will He respond graciously to our prayers when we persist in asking Him. So friends, our persistence in prayer shows that we’re serious about our prayers as we trust God to answer them.

Approaching with Sincere Devotion

And this leads to the fifth way we approach the Lord in prayer, and that’s with sincere devotion, meaning no No doubts, no half-hearted efforts.

Verse 4, For to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Think about the image of lifting up your soul. Lifting up your soul to the Lord is fully and completely entrusting every aspect and every area of our lives into the hands of the sovereign Lord God. And when we do this, grief and sorrow is turned into joy and gladness. Because all our cares, all our concerns, Our needs and the needs of those for whom we’re interceding, they’re all lifted up. And they’re laid at the feet of Christ. And in return, we take up the yoke Christ has set before us, which He says is light and easy. This is the devotion that David is talking about here when he’s lifting up his soul to the Lord. Such devotion relieves our worries and our anxieties.

And so with humility, mindful of our status as children of God, with faith, with persistence and devotion, this is how we ought to approach the Lord in prayer.

II. Grounding Prayer in God’s Perfect Character

But again, we must still remember who it is to whom we’re praying. And so we must be challenged to acknowledge the holy and perfect character of God.

And this is what David does in verses 5-10 here as he grounds his prayer in God’s character, gleaning great comfort and assurance that his prayer will not only be heard, but also will be answered. In verse 5, David makes an allusion to Exodus 34, verse 6, a passage that he’ll go on to quote more directly in verse 15.

In Exodus 34, and I think we talked about Exodus 34, 33 last week or maybe a couple weeks ago, in relation to the gospel of John and the glory of Christ. The glory of God revealed in Christ. Well, in Exodus 34, again, that passage is where the Lord passes by Moses. Moses is hidden in the cleft of the rock and the glory of the Lord, the glory cloud passes by. And the Lord is sealing his covenant with his people and assuring them of his glorious and perfect character. And as he passes by, he describes who he is. revealing himself to Moses, revealing his true glory to Moses. And so David here seems to be recalling this event and uses it as a basis for his prayer for grace and help in this day of trouble.

Verse he says that the Lord is good.

Now God’s goodness is that aspect of his character that leads him to deal kindly with his creatures. And even though creation has been corrupted by sin, We know that God continues to sustain His creation with His benevolent and providential care. His goodness sends down every good and perfect gift, not just to us, but to all people. Sending the rain upon the just and the unjust. That’s God’s goodness at work in the world. And so our great comfort as we pray to a good God is that we know he’ll always respond with not only what’s good for us, but what’s best.

And this was Jesus’ encouragement. Remember in Matthew 7, Jesus says, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, well, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? Again, there’s this vision. Look, if your evil fathers know how to give good gifts to you, well, how much more so will this God of perfect, glorious goodness? give you good gifts to His beloved children when they come to Him in need. God is truly good.

Secondly, we see that God is ready to forgive. That is, He’s most gracious and patient toward undeserving sinners. He’s graciously ready and willing to forgive us of our sin.

And because of what Christ accomplished for us on the cross, that atonement for sin has been made. And God generously applies that forgiveness to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. Now we know that our sin, if we don’t repent and turn away from it, that our sin can hinder our prayers, as our sin can drive a wedge into our relationship with God. But our great comfort, as we pray, is that God is truly gracious and is ready. He’s so ready to forgive us of our sin when we confess it. And so that our prayer then is not hindered, it’s not blocked, if we come to Him confessing our sins. God’s grace removes the obstacles that would hinder our prayers.

And thirdly, we ground our prayers in the truth that God is abundant in mercy.

And this is the term that Kesed, the Hebrew word, that describes God’s covenant love toward His people. God has promised to be our God and that we are His people. And our great comfort in the covenant love and mercy of God is that we know with all certainty that God will be faithful. Because we know this because He has now sealed that covenant. He sealed that covenant bond with us with the blood of His own precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we pray, we need to be reminded of God’s mercy.

As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, verse 32, that He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? You see, friends, God has already given us everything. He’s given us the perfect gift, all that we ever need in Jesus Christ, His Son. And so when we have other needs, how will He not then freely give us all things? He’s already given us. The greatest gift. Because of his great love, his covenant love and his mercy. And so God’s mercy then gives us confidence that God will not only hear our prayers, but that he will answer them according to his most holy and perfect will.

And this is the confidence David expresses here. For example, in verse seven, when he says in the day of trouble, I will call upon you. for you will answer me. David can be confident that God will answer him because of God’s covenant love. David doesn’t doubt or question that love. He knows God will answer him. Friends, God will answer your prayers because of his great love for you, which he’s already demonstrated to you through Jesus Christ.

And fourthly, we should remember God’s uniqueness in verse 8, that as He alone is the one true living God and there is no other name in heaven or under heaven by which we can be saved. Here, David’s mindful of the false gods of the nations around him. He knows that they’re merely vain idols formed in fashion by the imagination in the hands of men. And he knows that if they’re powerless, he knows that they’re powerless to do anything. let alone save and deliver His people, their people. Because the Lord God is God alone.

There’s no one like Him. And there are no works like the works that God has done. And so as we pray, our great comfort in this characteristic is that if the one true living God is on our side and if He’s for us, well then who can stand against us? And the answer, of course, is no one.

Because our God is the only God. And then in verse 9 and 10, we see the sovereign power and the glory of God on display. All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name, for you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God.

God has created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. It’s God who raises up rulers and who establishes kingdoms, and He also brings them down according to His own purpose. And no sinful man has suppressed this truth, rather worshiping the creature and the creation rather than the Creator.

David is confident that one day all the nations of the earth will acknowledge His sovereign power and glory. We know that even now, Our Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, reigning and ruling over all things, and He is subduing His enemies under His feet. And those who embrace the gospel truth will acknowledge and will worship Him now and forever in glory. But friends, even those who would harden their hearts and who would reject Christ and the gospel will on that last great day be compelled to confess with their tongues and their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings. And they will be compelled to confess that before they’re cast into the fires of eternal damnation. our great comfort as we pray is that we know this sovereign Lord will truly work out all things for our good and His glory. And that even now, Jesus Christ is reigning for the blessing and the benefit of His people, even the church.

III. David’s Commitments to the Lord

As we’ve considered David’s approach to the Lord in prayer, and have been reminded of the perfect character of God that gives us great assurance and comfort as we pray. But as David continues, he now makes commitments. He makes commitments to the Lord as a way to show his gratitude.

Commitment to Be a Student of God’s Word

And the first commitment David makes is that he’ll be a student of God’s word in verse 11.

He says, teach me your way, O Lord. I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. David wants to know God’s ways. He wants wisdom to know and to understand the truth that God has revealed. David knows that the light and the life is to be found in God’s Word. He wants to be reminded of the wise counsel and the instruction, the promises and the comforts, the precepts and the examples that have been set down. But for David, it isn’t just a head knowledge or even outward conformity that he desires, but he seeks to have his heart, the very essence of his being, his heart united to God’s wisdom. Again, so that every aspect of his life, how he lives, how he walks, how he talks, would be conformed to the truth of God’s Word. Brothers and sisters, is this your commitment to the Word of God and to the study of God’s Word? May it truly be that you too would have this commitment to be conformed to the Word of God, even the Word become flesh, Jesus Christ.

Friends, if you want to learn, You have to be teachable. You see, too often we’re not teachable. Or at least we want to just kind of pick and choose the lessons that the Lord would teach us. And so we’re inclined to be eager students to learn of God’s promises, of the comforts and the blessings that He has in store for us. But we’d rather not learn The lessons about things like patience and self-denial or loving our enemies. You see, because those would be too costly to us. But David, already being tested and tried, commits himself to learn it all. And he calls upon the Lord to teach him so that he might truly walk in truth.

Teach him, yes, about the promises and the blessings. And they are a great comfort. So, yes, teach him those things, but also teach him about faith, enduring affliction. Teach him about contentment in the midst of great pain and suffering. And hope and confidence. Teach him about hope and confidence. even the darkest days of trouble and despair.

David’s commitment, and certainly our commitment, should be that the Lord would teach us to be like Christ and to walk as He walked.

Commitment to Wholehearted Praise

A second commitment we see in verse 12 and 13, I will praise you, O Lord, my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify your name forevermore. For great is your mercy toward me, and you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” And so here, David commits himself to being a worshiper who’s filled with gratitude and focused on giving thanks and glory to the Lord, not only now, but forever.

And this, of course, is our original purpose. The reason why God created us is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But we know that sin has clouded this purpose. So that our natural inclination is to glorify and serve ourselves. You see, David’s been redeemed. And his heart’s been transformed by God’s grace. And even though he’s in the midst of this time of affliction, he commits himself to this very original purpose. To give thanks and glory to the Lord who spared him not just from the grave, But from the depths of Sheol, that is hell. But what’s remarkable here, though, is that David does this.

He makes this commitment. Now, that is, he commits himself to give thanks and to glorify the Lord not only in the future when it’s all over. He’s not saying, okay, Lord, you get me through this and, you know, I promise, you know, to do this. If you do this for me, he’s not bargaining with the Lord, as we often might bargain with God.

And people do that. They say, Lord, if you get me through this, I promise I’ll do this, this, and this. No, David is saying, I’m doing this now. I’m doing this now in the midst of trouble. I’m praising you. I’m committing to praising you and to glorifying your name even though deliverance hasn’t yet come. He makes this commitment to be a thankful worshiper. Think about that. What a challenging thing to consider. to praise God and to worship Him, to give thanks to Him, even in the midst of your greatest trouble.

And David’s able to do this and we’re able to do this because of the confident hope that we have in the promises of God and in God’s faithfulness and His power to fulfill those promises. What a great commitment for us to make. And perhaps we can make it even with more assurance than David was able to make it. Because we can make those commitments in the midst of trouble because of what Christ has already accomplished for us. David was just looking forward to Christ. We can look back on what Christ has already accomplished.

Though we still live in the flesh with all its afflictions and though we battle against sin each and every day, we can still give thanks. And we can still glorify the Lord now and forever. Because we know that Christ has already won the victory. And that one day, we shall be made perfect in Him.

IV. David’s Specific Plea for Deliverance

Now up to this point, David has shown great restraint. He’s afflicted and needy. He’s been careful though to approach the Lord with great humility and yet boldly with faith, with persistence and devotion. He’s been very careful to remember the Lord’s perfect character. And he’s even confidently made these commitments to be a faithful disciple and a sincere worshiper of the Lord.

But there’s one thing that’s missing. Maybe you picked up on it, maybe you haven’t. But there is one thing missing. David has yet to lay before the Lord his specific petition. He hasn’t asked God yet, really, for anything. He hasn’t said, this is the problem I’m dealing with.

Now we know it’s tempting, it’s very tempting to just jump to the point and blurt out to God our requests and our petitions. Especially when we know it’s an urgent kind of thing, as David seems to be experiencing here. You see, this just would reveal a self-centeredness that contradicts the purpose of prayer. And prayer certainly includes making petitions to the Lord, but prayer is especially a means of grace. It’s a means of grace by which we can communicate and even fellowship with the Lord. And this is what David’s been doing, feeding his soul with fellowship with the Lord through prayer. And he’s been glorifying God and praising God for his character. And he’s been making these wonderful commitments.

And now, finally, David declares this specific problem. Verse 14, a band of proud and violent men have risen up against him. David describes his enemies here really in stark contrast to the attributes of God that we’ve already considered, but are again here repeated in verse 15. Again, this is kind of more of a more direct quote from Exodus 34.

But you, O Lord, are God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and abundant mercy and truth.

So the enemies, they’re violent. They’re wicked men. They’re just looking to destroy. But you, O Lord, you’re very different. You’re full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in mercy and truth. And so the distinction between the enemy and the Savior is drastically clear. With the darkness pressing in all around. David knows that the Lord is truly the light of his salvation.

But even with this very urgent personal petition, David is still more concerned, not so much with himself, but he’s more concerned with the honor of the Lord, as he says there in verse 14, that these proud and violent men, they’re doing this because they have not set you before them.

They’ve offended you. They’ve rejected you. It’s not so much about what they’ve done to me, but they have rejected you, the one true living God. And this is evidence, first, because, again, they’re seeking to kill David without cause. So they’re clearly rejecting God’s law, right?

The sixth commandment. But secondly, David is the Lord’s anointed. The one whom God chose to be king of His people. And so ultimately, by assaulting David, they’re, by implication, assaulting and rejecting the Lord who has anointed him. This is the very reason why David never raised his hand against Saul, because Saul was the Lord’s anointed. Saul was the one whom God chose to be King of Israel. David respected that. Saul didn’t. But David did. And so this They have ultimately, these evil ones, have ultimately rejected God.

Declaring the Need for Mercy and Strength

Well, having stated the problem, David now declares his great need, grace and mercy, leading to his deliverance. Verse 16, O turn to me and have mercy on me. Give your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. There are two things to note here.

First, David looks for God’s mercy to strengthen and sustain him during this day of trouble. And again, we’re reminded each and every day the Lord is gracious to renew for us his grace so that we might have God’s grace renewed fresh every day to face whatever particular trials and struggles we might have that day. The problem we have though is typically We never know how long those trials will last, which is again why David is seeking to be persistent in his prayers. And so we’re challenged then, even as David does here, to seek God’s sustaining all sufficient grace daily, regularly, throughout the day, several times a day, so that we might have the strength to endure to the end. We trust and believe the end is coming. We just don’t know when.

Secondly, David seeks the grace of God leading to his salvation. Now the context here is Saul seeking to destroy David. We know that David was confident in the Lord’s promise that one day he would be king, despite the most vicious assaults of the enemy. But even if this was after David took the crown, this confidence remained, knowing that even if his life was taken, that the Lord would bring about his salvation and spare him from the flames of hell. And so either way, David was saved, and either way, it was by God’s grace alone.

Asking for a Sign for Good

But in verse 17, David makes another request.

He says, show me a sign for good. Show me a sign for good that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. David’s faith is firm and secure in the Lord. And yet he asks for this sign of good that will bring shame to his enemies. But what is the sign for good? Most immediately, the sign for good that brings shame will be the Lord’s deliverance. You see, because when the Lord delivers David, his enemies will see this and they will be brought to shame because they had dared to raise their hand against the Lord’s anointed. But this sign for good that brings shame also points toward the coming of David’s greater son, Jesus Christ.

You see, the sign for good that brings shame is the Word of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us to identify with us in our weakness. The sign for good that brings shame is the righteous one nailed to the cross for the sins of his people. so that they might have peace and reconciliation with God. The sign for good that brings shame is Jesus being raised from the dead on the third day, securing our salvation. The sign for good that brings shame is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which brings dead sinful hearts to life and continues working in that renewed heart, purifying, transforming, strengthening, and empowering the redeemed to live and be like Christ.

The sign for good that brings shame is found in the Lord Jesus Christ coming in power and glory at the end of the age to establish the fullness of his kingdom. Friends, these are truly the signs for our good because they remind us of the grace of God poured out upon us, giving us comfort and strength in the day of our trouble.

But these same signs, To those who reject Christ and who harden their hearts to the gospel, these same signs for the good of the redeemed will bring nothing but shame and eternal judgment on the last great day. Because that day will be for them a day of trouble from which there is no relief and no escape. Friends, take heed then to the gospel. for whoever repents of their sin and believes in Christ Jesus will not be disappointed. Not now in this life, not in your day of trouble when it comes, and most certainly not on that last great day.

All to the praise and glory of God alone.

Closing Prayer

O gracious God in heaven, we do rejoice and give thanks to you for your word. We thank you for the great comfort and assurance and hope and even the challenge, the challenge of the commitments that David made that are example for us of the commitments that we ought to make in our day of trouble, whenever that day comes. And maybe for some of us, that day is upon us right now. And so we come before you, Lord, humbly acknowledging the great promises of your word, acknowledging your glorious, perfect character, acknowledging what Jesus Christ has graciously done for us, the salvation that he has secured, the forgiveness of sins that he has secured with his own blood, the victory over Satan’s sin and death that he secured when he rose again from the dead on the third day. and the sure and certain glorious hope of His return on the last great day. Father, we pray that we would remember these things, and that we would cry out to You with full confidence, that because You have done all these things already for us, we know You will answer us in that day of trouble.

All to the praise of Your glorious name. Father, we pray that you would just draw all of our hearts closer to you, that your spirit would even now be impressing these truths to our hearts, that we would come confessing Christ as our Savior and Lord, committed to serving you, glorifying you, and worshiping you. We pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.