5 REASONS WE OUGHT TO TRUST GOD

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Isaiah 26:3-4

³ You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. ⁴ Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.

I.                   HE’S GOD (SOVEREIGN)

God is free and able to do all that he wills; He reigns over all creation and His will is the final cause of all things.

1.   He does what He wants to do.

Psalm 135:6

Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth,In the seas and in all deep places.

                   Psalm 115:13

³But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

Daniel 4:35

³⁵ And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

2.   God cannot successfully be opposed.

Ecclesiastes 7:13

¹³ Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?

Isaiah 43:13

¹³ Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

  

3.   He is in control of World History.

Proverbs 21:1

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

Psalm 22:28

²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s: And he is the governor among the nations.

Jeremiah 18:7-10

⁷ At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; ⁸ If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. ⁹ And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; ¹⁰ If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

4.   He has power over all gods and demonic forces.

Psalms 95:3

³ For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.

Exodus 18:11

¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”

II.           HE IS GOOD.

The benevolent nature and character of God referring to His acts of mercy, pity, compassion, long suffering, patience and justice.

1.   Demonstrated by His Actions.

Psalm 119:68

⁶⁸ You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.

2.   His Goodness extends to all of Creation.

Psalm 145:9

⁹ The Lord is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works.

3.   He’s Especially Good to those who trust Him.

Psalm 34:8

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

4.   He Boasts in His Goodness.

Exodus 34:5

⁵ And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷ Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

III.          HE IS PRECISE.

1.   He Orders our Steps.

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way.

2.   He limits our temptations.

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

3.   He keeps us.

Psalm 91:11-12

¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. ¹² In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

4.   He Faithfully Keeps Seed Time and Harvest.

Galatians 6:7-8

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

IV.          HE IS ETERNAL.

Genesis 21:33

³³ And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God (Olam El).

Even the translation, “Everlasting God,” is not quite enough to describe the full meaning of Olam El. The El portion of the name means strong, mighty, or powerful. But Olam is much more challenging to define; its meaning is greater than simply “as far as possible into the future.” Olam actually extends both directions in time. It is forward and backward— forever!

The concept of Olam is not confined to a timeline, and neither is God; the Everlasting God exists outside of time. If you were to go back to the very beginning of time, He was before that. Olam El defies definition!

The way humankind thinks about time forces us to consider a start and a finish. Olam El, however, knows no beginning or end. When time as we know it comes to a close, the Ancient of Days will continue. He sees the past, present, and future—all at once. Obviously, this enables Him to have a unique perspective, seeing the results of an action long before it happens (for example, Adam’s fall and the consequential need of the cross); it also gives God the unique ability to deal with the ramifications of events that occurred in the past, erasing their consequences as though the events never took place. For example, God doesn’t see a born-again, former prostitute as “a former prostitute;” He doesn’t see the redeemed murderer as “a former murderer.” God separates our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west,” (Psalm 103:12) and remembers them no more (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17).

Isaiah 46:10

⁹ Remember the former things of old: For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure.

V.          HE IS UNWAVERINGLY COMMITTED TO YOU.

1.   He can’t be taken away from you.

Romans 8:35-39

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2.   He will never leave you.

Hebrews 13:5

⁵ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

3.   His Mercy is consistently renewed.

Lamentations 3:22-23

²² It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. ²³ They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

KING DAVID: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

1 Samuel 13:14

¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you”

Acts 13:22

²² And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

I.                   KING DAVID’S STRENGTHS.

1.   Revolutionary

Psalm 27:1-5

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ² When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. ³ Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. ⁴ One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple. ⁵ For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

2.   Full of Mercy.

Acts 13:34

³⁴ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus:’ I will give you the sure mercies of David.’

"The merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.. Proverbs 11:17 (21st Century KJV)

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 6:7 (KJV)

Colossians 3:19

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

3.   Full of Wisdom.

1 Samuel 18:5

⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

1 Samuel 18:14-15

¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.

1 Samuel 18:30

³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

WISDOM:

a.    Preserves You. – Proverbs 2:10-11

b.   Keeps You.

c.     Promotes You.

d.   Ornament of Grace (favor).

e.    Gives length of Days. – Proverbs 3:13-17

f.     Better than Riches. – Proverbs 8:11

g.   Better than Strength. – Proverbs 8:14

4.   Strategist.

Psalm 78:70-72

⁷⁰ He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; ⁷¹From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. ⁷² So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

David observed the destructive effects of a prolonged civil war. For this reason, David learned the leadership skill of reaching out to others. He welcomed those who were outside of his realm of influence into his group.

·         This is seen with his response to the deaths of Abner and Ishbosheth. He took steps to build trust among those who had opposed him. He made overtures to them to bring peace to the nation.

·         This had the beneficial effect for David of expanding his kingdom to include Israel (Towns, Elmer, 2007).

·         This was not a rapid result but a patient progression which took seven and a half years. David had grown as a leader to be patient. He grew in his personal relationship with God to wait upon the Lord.

5.   Courageous.

1 Samuel 17:48

⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

II.                 DAVID’S WEAK MOMENTS.

1.   Lost Faith.

1 Samuel 20:3

³ Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”

2.   Embraced Pride and Self Reliance.

2 Samuel 24:2-4

² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.” ³ And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

3.   Succumbed to Idleness and Lust.

2 Samuel 11:1-3

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. ² Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. ³ So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.

ENJOYING THE SABBATH

Exodus 20:8-11

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

INTRO

We are too busy….

Many are afraid to rest. Rest has become uncool.

Ecclesiastics 4:6

Better a handful with quietness Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

I.                   THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SABBATH.

1.   Creation Principle.

i.              God rested in the midst of Creation. It is good”

Genesis 1:3-4

³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good…

ii.            God rested after creation.

Genesis 2:1-3

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. ² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

2.   Old Testament Practice.

Numbers 15:32-36

³² Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³ And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴ They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

3.   New Testament Practice.

i.              Pharisees practiced it legalistically.

Mark 2:4

²⁴ And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

ii.            Disciples changed to Sunday.

4.   Jesus Practice.

i.              Made for man not man for Sabbath.

Mark 2:27-28

²⁷ And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.

ii.            He often withdrew to lonely places.

Matthew 14:23

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.

Luke 5:15-16

But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. But he withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Mark 1:32–33, 35–36

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door … And in the morning, a great while before the day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him pursued him.

5.   Can be a day or an experience.

Sabbath is more than the absence of work; it is not just a day off, when we catch up on television or errands. It is the presence of something that arises when we consecrate a period of time to listen to what is most deeply beautiful, nourishing, or true. It is time consecrated with our attention, our mindfulness, honoring those quiet forces of grace or spirit that sustain and heal us

II.                 THE PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH.

1.   God rested and we are to be like God.

2.   It’s a Holiness Principle.

Genesis 2:2-3

² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

3.   Creates a resting place for God.

Isaiah 66:1-2

“Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? ² For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

4. It’s a Faith Principle-a statement of God Sufficiency rather than self.

III.              THE BENEFITS OF SABBATH.

1.   Rest helps intuition.

2.   Less Stress.

3.   Helps alleviate false identity. 

4.   Opportunity for Reflection.

5.   Increased Production.

6.   Gives us Permission to slow down.

7.   We can pause and see the good like God.

8.   Increases life span.

9.   Protects the heart.

10. Lowers risk of catching a cold.

11. Boosts your memory.

12. Lowers Stroke Risk.

13. Immunity to Depression.

14. Helps you make better decisions.

15. Keeps you slimmer.

IV.             THE PRACTICE OF SABBATH.

1.Make it Holy. (Set Apart)

2.Practice Silence.

3.Enjoy Nature.

4.Pray.

5.Read.

6.Meditate on Scripture.

7.Limit Commerce.

8.News Fast.

9.Swim or Exercise joyfully.

10.Seriously—go outside and look at the stars. For a long time.

11.Fast all things electronic. (At least for a while)

12.Sit on your porch or front step or deck or out in the back yard

and listen for what you usually miss.

13.Sit mindfully in God's presence and talk out loud to God.

14.No sadness or mourning but feasting and joy.

15.Share a quiet and simple meal with someone you love, or someone you’d like to get to know better, someone you miss, someone who makes you laugh.