The Joys of Trusting God

Psalm 40:1-5

We see so many Christian people that seem so sad and they feel beat down by the pressures and the problems of this life, Facing Trials and temptations on every hand.

King David gives us a firsthand personal witness of the benefits and joys of trusting God with all the problems of life. No matter what he faced, David had the privilege of taking everything to God and then fully trusting Him with the problems in his life. In the first 3 verses David tells us the benefits of confidence in God.

In Psalms 40:1-3 (NLT) ¹ I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. ³ He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.

 David  gives us a report of how God delivered him from all his troubles. V:1 The first benefit is patience! David says he had learned to wait on God to move and help him.

David could even have patience while waiting for God to help him. Then David says God turned to face him and inclined His ear (bent down to hear) his request. God promises that He will hear us when we continue to ask, seek and knock, with continuous praying. Matthew 7:7 (NLT) “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 

V:2 The next benefit of having confidence in God is His answer. David says he was going through a time of despair or hopelessness. He felt the pressure of his many enemies and He was in helpless in the mud and mire of guilt for his sins before God. But when he prayed to God out of his pitiful state, God changed his guilt of sin to pardon. He changed his corruption to holiness, his despair to joy. God had now set David’s feet on solid ground by giving power over sin to where he could walk steadily in the paths of God’s leading.

V:3 Another benefit of confidence on God is a new song of praise to God for His goodness. God will bring a new song to your heart when He delivers you. We are to tell others about God’s mercy and grace in delivering us from our hopeless problems and troubles. When we do we will see another benefit of our confidence in God and that is people will see what He has done and they will put their trust in God as well.

In the next two verses David gives us encouragement to commit our troubles and our lives to God.  Psalms 40:4-5 (NLT) ⁴ Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.

V:4 In this verse we see the joys and blessedness of trusting God. We will have no confidence in arrogant people (those who are full of self and think they know it all) and those that brag about what they can do; God says the arm of flesh will always fail you. Jeremiah 17:5 (NLT) ⁵ This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord.

Neither will we trust in idols. Idols are anything that takes up more of our time then God does! People look to everything the world has to offer (idols) trying to escape from their despair and hopelessness. We Christians will look only to God!

V:5 ⁵ O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

We are filled with joy when we remember the wonders God has performed for us. Count your many blessings, name then one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Look at the wonders of creation, the vastness and order of the universe and beyond. Look at the wonders here on earth, Food, clothing, houses, cars, TVs, luxury items!  Nature itself is a wonder of God. God’s wonders happen every day. As a pastor, I have seen many miracles and wonders that God has performed in people’s lives. They are too numerous to mention, we would forget some. One of the joys and blessings of trusting God is there is no one equal to Him. Many people fear the devil instead of God. The devil is not omnipotent, omniscient, he cannot create. He came to deceive, steal, kill, and destroy. Let’s take David’s personal witness and take everything to the highest authority there is. God invites us come to Him day or night. We have a High Priest who understands our need and presents our case.Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT) ¹⁴ So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. ¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Invitation: Have you experienced the joys of trusting God lately? Take your worries, fears and doubts to God right now as He gives you this invitation to come to Him.  Have you fully trusted Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord? Ask Him to forgive your sins against God and invite Him into your heart. Come to Him while He is near and experience the joys of trusting God!

The Hope of Glory

Intro: I have two questions for you! Are you a saint or sinner? Now in God’s eyes, are you a saint or sinner? God calls us saints 101 times in the K.J.V. How many Christians do you know who have been forgiven of their sins but still do not see themselves as a saint, but a sinner  still struggling with the past and unable to forgive themselves..                                                                                                       

Some Christians feel condemned in themselves because they have let God down in some way.

And they go on trying to please God by their works and efforts to keep His laws.  But the bible plainly states that:

Romans 3:20 (NLT)  No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. Romans 5:20-21 (NLT)
²⁰ But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
²¹ So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are made right with God by His wonderful grace through Jesus Christ.

The bible says in Colossians 1:26-28 (NKJV) ²⁶ The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. ²⁷ To them [saints] God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope [confident expectation] of glory. ²⁸ Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

The mystery is that Christ actually lives within the believer. When God looks at you, He sees Christ in you. He is our hope of spending eternity in glory.

This is the truth of the Indwelling Christ—that Christ actually lives within the hearts and lives of believers and that His presence is their guarantee of living forever in glory and being righteous in our standing before God. The presence of Jesus is a living, eternal presence. He died, but He did not stay dead. He arose and conquered death; He arose to live forever. Now think: if Jesus Christ is living forever and He dwells within the believer, then that means the believer lives eternally. He never dies.                          Everyone who has Christ dwelling within will be presented as perfect before the Father God.

Romans 8:1 (NLT)  So now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Because we are in Christ & He is in us, we are no longer condemned in God’s eyes.

  We must see ourselves as God does. Don’t condemn what God has forgiven in Christ.                 

Romans 6:1-14 (NLT)
¹ Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
² Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
³ Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?
⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.
⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.
⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
¹⁰ When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
¹¹ So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
¹² Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
¹³ Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
¹⁴ Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

We are not to see ourselves as sinners, but because of Christ in us we are dead to sin. It no longer has power over us because we have been crucified with Christ. We have died to sin and are to consider [think through the truth of] ourselves as crucified with Christ and therefore dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ. Galatians 2:20 (NLT) My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We are to live daily in Christ Jesus as we surrender our lives daily to Him and pursue Him through time alone in prayer, bible reading, study and meditation. We should be thankful and surrender our lives to Jesus and be obedient to Him. Jesus in you is the hope of glory.

This is the way to be fully pleasing to God the Father.

Invitation: Is Christ in you? Do you have the hope of glory! Pray and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life right now to give you the hope of glory and eternity in Heaven!