Waiting on God in times of testing

I tell you, some of your friends who have been here for a very long time and have been part of understanding as God has brought revelation here—I check very carefully—I would suggest very strongly that you check out a tape preached in this church called “Iraq, Iran, and the Coming Mystery of Iniquity,” which was about ten years ago. Iran, Iraq, and the Coming Mystery of Iniquity.

It’s no surprise what happened this week when Saddam Hussein, this madman in the east, invaded Kuwait. You will live with the results in the coming months. Saddam Hussein has been overlooked. In fact, most Americans were cheering for him in his bout with the Ayatollah. But I’ve said all along that’s the man you need to keep your eyes on.

He is not interested in the hegemony of the Arab world. He is interested in building a nationalistic empire. And I told you, he believes he is a descendant, a spiritual descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. He intends to rebuild the Babylonian empire. He’s already got Babylon under construction, literally. The literal Babylon is under construction, and he intends to tear down Jerusalem block by block, just like Nebuchadnezzar did.

That’s exactly his simple agenda. What he did this week is unheard of in the Arab community. Absolutely unheard of. It has never happened before. Now, you can watch two successive events. First of all, there will be an effort by the United Nations, probably in cooperation with the Soviet Union and the United States, to somehow secure the Middle East oil area and keep it in a special zone protected by multinational treaties.

And I know many of you think the bear is dead, but it’s not. Shortly after that, after you see that coming to pass, that wounded bear we have seen is going to rise again. And that wounded bear, just like a wounded animal, how many of you have ever had a dog that you loved and lived with for fifteen years, but it gets hit by a car and when you go out to touch it, it snaps at you?

That wounded bear, Russia, communism, is going to make a last-ditch effort to preserve its opportunities. It’s going to launch a single-handed attack in that direction, and that’s going to precipitate the final events before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ll tell you, if you are not excited about what’s going on, you are blind, my friend.

And of course, amidst all the rest of this, we’ve had this interesting little cutback in the stock market, a fall in the stock market. Now those who know, know that the stock market has just been waiting for something to cause it to cut back. When they tell you it’s because of Kuwait oil, that’s baloney.

There’s a three-year supply of oil. It will be ten years before there’s a price difference based on the oil of this that reaches your market. But I want you to understand that something is happening in that area, and you’re going to see and hear more about that as well. In this future scenario, with the stock market and everything else, and what those of us are watching, you know, there are two kinds of attitudes.

One, we know that the final events are at hand. Two, we just kind of lean into a normal kind of personality. If you’re the kind of negative personality that says, “Oh, well, Jesus is coming. I’m not going to do anything. This is the worst day to do anything,” no, we’ve had people here for 19 years who’ve said this is the worst time to do anything.

For 19 years, they’ve said that, and they are the same people who, when you talk to them as you’re driving with them, say, “I could have bought that house for $13,000, and it’s worth $350,000 now.” You want to say, “Well, dummy, either get with it or understand that that’s the way you’re going to be for the rest of your life.”

Other people, as Schuller says, tough times are great for tough people. And there is a sense in which the believer—you know, people asked me this week, with all this stuff happening, here’s a camp of Christians, you know, it’s like a tablespoon full of salt, and here’s a whole bunch of Christians in one location, and everybody’s running around reading the newspaper, asking what’s happening, what’s going to take place?

And my answer always is, I don’t care. It doesn’t make any difference. If Jesus comes today, if Jesus comes ten years from now, if Jesus comes a hundred years from now, I’m not going to change one thing. I’m committed to the kingdom of God—my life, my energy, my involvement, my money. It doesn’t matter. When he comes, that’s okay.

But until he comes, what am I going to do? Occupy. Brother, I’m going to occupy more and more, I want you to know. Now, that’s, huh.

Jeanette, this is your kind of service.

Isn’t it interesting how people are people? Oh, life is filled with moments that I would call time in between, and that brings us exactly to where we are today in this teaching. You understand that we’re looking at the Psalms as a laboratory of life. These men and women of God took all the things that came into their lives—hurt, anger, national disaster, everything that came to them. Rather than being overcome, feeling pity for themselves or wondering what’s going to happen, they took those experiences and said, “Lord, I’m excited about this.”

What are you going to do in this? And they used every experience, even failure, betrayal, and physical illness. They used the experience as a laboratory in which God could manifest Himself. We were here together two weeks ago. We looked at Psalm 2, and you know that important psalm. It’s the first messianic psalm.

It’s about what will happen when the Messiah comes. The nations of the world gather against Him. The world hates the purpose of God. The world is committed to destroying the purpose of God. It’s the first messianic psalm and it speaks about the world gathering against the Messiah when He comes and crucifying Him, which they did.

I want you to open your Bibles now. If you don’t have one yourself, grab one. That’s why we give them to you. It’s not on my face, it’s in the Bible. And when you look at Psalm 2, turn to it quickly and look at Psalm 8 with me because Psalm 8 is the second messianic psalm. Most of you know that psalm very well.

That’s the psalm in which the writer says, “What is man that you’re mindful of him?” And it talks about the fact that the Son of Man will have all things put under His feet. This is the second Messianic psalm and it is the exact opposite of Psalm 2. It is the psalm that says Jesus, the Messiah, will have everything put under His feet.

So these are like two posts in a bridge. One post says three thousand years before the Messiah comes, when He comes the nations of the world will gnash their teeth at Him. And the second post says, “Yet the day will come when that kingdom begun through crucifixion will be manifested in glory.” Then Psalms 6 and 7 are the Psalms in between those two points. Now just get that part straight. Just help me understand. I want to help you understand that.

Secondly, you know in the night in which Jesus was betrayed, that night in which the kingdoms and forces and principalities of darkness were arrayed against the Son of God, Jesus went down the brook Kidron, and He went into that little area of olive trees.

It was called Gethsemane. Do you know what Gethsemane means? It means the oil press. By the way, there are olive trees there that were there when Jesus was there, like the old redwood trees here in California. Some of them were standing exactly in that garden the night Jesus prayed.

“Father, if it’s possible, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” You see, I want you to keep that story in mind because these five Psalms—3, 4, 5, 6, and 7—these Psalms are in between these two great prophetic moments of victory. These five Psalms speak about a similar moment, a night in which another king, the father of Jesus in the sense of earthly heritage.

Jesus was the son of, or according to the line of, David, right? This is the night in which David, in the greatest moment of personal betrayal you and I could even imagine, David is running from his own son who has turned the people of God away from him. He has been betrayed, and of course, not only by Absalom but betrayed as well by his closest friend Ahithophel, his counselor, who had gone to Absalom’s side and brought counsel against him.

And David, here’s David leaving the palace. And it’s interesting because it is true, I’m told historically, that David fled exactly the route, in other words, that would have been the normal route to flee from Jerusalem down through the Valley of Kidron, across the Brook Kidron, and up the Mount of Olives.

That’s exactly the way David fled with a little tattered group of people. And you know, of course, Ahithophel, David’s closest personal brother and friend, had gone to Absalom’s side. And he gave counsel to Absalom. Do you remember what he told Absalom? He said, “Pursue after your father now and he can be won. This battle can be won.” Was that good advice? It was the best advice anybody could give. You see, the gifts of God continue to operate in your life even when you’re far away from God. And David knew that Ahithophel’s experience would provide good advice. So David said, “God, I know when Ahithophel talks to Absalom it’ll be good experience, it’ll be good advice, so please confuse his counsel.”

And a second man brought Absalom counsel and said, “Your men are weary. Let them rest tonight and then pursue them.” Ahithophel went and hung himself when Absalom took the wrong advice. And of course, by the time Absalom pursued, David had gathered his forces together and was able to defeat Absalom. Do you remember that whole story?

Now look at Psalm 3. Look at the top of Psalm 3. It specifically says this was written while David was fleeing from his son Absalom. Now look at the top of 7. At the top of Psalm 7, you’ll see a phrase that says, “This psalm was written concerning the words of a son of Cush, a Benjamite.” Now, some people think this is Saul, and it means Saul while David was running from him.

Saul’s father’s name was Kish. That’s a possibility. But do you remember there was another Benjamite who spoke against David? You’re right. While David was fleeing from his son, do you remember that other Benjamite whose name was Shimei, who spat in David’s face as the king was fleeing and said, “So be it on you!”

And spit in his face. David’s two or three men who were with him at that point tried to immediately take vengeance, and David said, “No, maybe he’s right. Maybe he’s right.” And if this is of God, it’ll change around. So you see, we know three of these Psalms in this five-bridge series. Three of them we know belong to the period of David fleeing from Absalom.

It is not at all out of keeping to suggest that all five of them belong to that same period of time. So what is it? It is a time in between, in between promise and fulfillment, in between the Word God gives you and the completion of that Word, in between the events in which you have been promised about something specifically that God is going to finish or complete in you, and the time it actually happens.

How many know that’s the hardest time in any Christian’s life? In between those two moments. Because it’s a time when all kinds of enemies, in fact, the key word in Psalm 3, if you’ll turn quickly to that passage, the key word in Psalm 3 is “many,” “many,” “many,” “many.” Many, how many have risen against me? How many are my persecutors?

Many who say in their hearts, and so forth. You remember in Hebrews chapter 2 it says about Jesus, it quotes Psalm 8, the Psalm of great victory, that says everything shall be under his feet. And then the writer to the Hebrews in the second chapter says, but we do not yet see everything under his feet. How many understand Jesus is as much king of the world now as he’s going to be when he finally defeats all of his enemies?

You see, here are the two posts, but we’re in the time between. Now, I’ll tell you, buddy, it’s the time in between that wipes out most Christians. Even outwardly persecuted Christians handle very well. The blood of the martyrs fills the church. Churches grow under absolute persecution. That’s why one million Chinese Christians fifteen or twenty years ago, thirty years ago, are now a hundred million because persecution is good for churches.

But how many understand the hardest thing is the waiting time in between? We haven’t time to look at all these psalms this morning, but we do need to look at some principles. First of all, you need to understand that one of the basic principles of these psalms is that it deals with the fact of covenant.

I used the word this morning. I don’t think I’ve ever said it before during the offering time. I’ll repeat it to you. I didn’t say it by misunderstanding. If you are a believer who is not tithing, you’re under the curse of God. No questions about that, friend. I’d like to be as nice to you as I can be. It’s simply that way.

The tithe is God’s. It never did belong to you. It’ll never belong to you until Jesus comes. You don’t give tithes; you pay tithe because you have a covenant relationship with God. You have a responsible relationship, just like a husband and wife. You have a covenant relationship. Now, I’m not saying that because the church needs money.

That’s baloney. I mean, God doesn’t need your money. God can turn over a stone and give us an oil well on Farm Hill property. Who’d God doesn’t need our money. He invites our participation. But I’ll tell you what, you can’t be a covenant person and be disobeying God in that area. David was a covenant person, and this psalm series tells us that covenant people have to pay responsibilities for sin.

You can’t be a covenant person. Anyone here that understands you had more fun before you were a Christian, you didn’t have any division in your life. You sinned willingly, lovingly. It was fun to sin. It’s after you became a Christian the conflict came. And then there was a war between what was right and what was wrong, the reality of sin, the rebellion of unrighteousness, the confidence in the covenant of God, and the ultimate understanding of God’s care.

But I want you to look at each of these psalms. You’ve got them there? I want you to look for, I want to give you one phrase with each one to help you understand. Why? What happens during the time in between if you’re listening to God? David’s a covenant man. David had sinned. There was a result of sin in his life, but he was a man who understood God’s purpose, who hungered for a temple to be built, who hungered to see the kingdom of God come into reality.

And it looked like this night he would never see it happen. He would never see the kingdom. He was being driven from the throne and would probably be killed. And his hope for the temple and all the purposes of God would never be realized. And in that time in between, David learned some lessons. I want to share them with you.

One, Psalm 3 is called, by most writers, the morning song because it’s a song written after a night of terror.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had nights of terror, friends, when the heart beats and you’re reminded of everything and anything that’s involved, and you’re re-going through your whole life. I remember when I first came to this church, and there was such anger and hostility against me, particularly though I had nothing to do with their problems.

Again, it was that whole kind of thing of biting the hand, whatever’s closest. But it was a horrible time for me personally, and I remember many, many, many nights of being unable to sleep and even ultimately having to find a fine Christian doctor who helped me in that period of time. It was an absolutely horrible thing.

The terror that comes in the night, and your mind is racing with all the realities and the facts and so on and so on. That was David’s condition, many, many, many against him. And the worst thing of all was what they were saying. I want you to look with me real quickly at that verse, verse 3 or verse 2, the hardest attack that comes to you in a time in between is that other believers will say, “God doesn’t hear you anymore.”

“You’re beyond the point of God dealing with you. Many are those who say there is no salvation for him in God.”

Yet this is the psalm of confidence in the Lord. The terror of the night and these hardest of all enemy kinds of things, David is able to speak about in a kind of, what’s called a peccatorial kind of way about his enemies being destroyed, their jaw being broken, and so forth and so on, but he says, “Listen, I’ve learned something about God. He’s always on the side of the righteous, and He’s not going to let His people, His covenant people, inevitably suffer.

He will provide deliverance.” So confident is God. Look at the next psalm, the so-called fourth psalm. This is an evening hymn, and it’s confidence in God’s direction of circumstances. If you go through this, you’ll see, for example, in verse one, the most incredible thing is said in this particular verse, “The Lord will enlarge me.”

In the language of Hebrew, it says, “The Lord will make room for me when the circumstances are so straight that I don’t see my way out.” That’s what it says. God is in control of the circumstances. This is called the evening hymn, as compared to the first one being the morning hymn. And so it’s saying not only is God a God of character whom I can trust as a covenant person, but He’s a God who’s in control of the circumstances.

And I’ll tell you something, when the door is slammed shut, the covenant man just keeps walking towards the door because his confidence has nothing to do with whether the door is shut or open. His confidence has to do with the God who told him to walk toward that door. Amen. And you just keep walking. God’s in control of the circumstance.

And then in the next, the third of this series, which of course is the sixth Psalm or the fifth Psalm, rather, here is a prayer for protection and a prayer for sickness. This is the issue of continuation in the place of spiritual expression. In other words, this is the psalm, it’s called by some writers the Psalm of Inheritance, and I haven’t time to go through it, but I want you to understand the principle because what David is saying in this psalm is what comes to a man who’s under covenant with God, what his inheritance is, what his right is.

But the issue in this psalm, he settled the issue of confidence in the Lord, he settled the issue that God’s in control of circumstances, but in this issue he’s saying, “I’ll just continue in this experience. I am a child of God. I don’t have any foggy idea how it’s going to turn out, but I’m going to continue on my course.

I’m not going to be diverted. I’m not going to turn to the left or the right.” And of course, this passage includes, “I’m going to stay in fellowship with the people of God. I’m going to come into the house of the people of God.”

You see, most Christians, at the first little sign of problems, give up. This psalm, the fifth psalm, is saying it’s always too soon to quit. He says, “Ten thousands have turned against me.” And it was true. In 2 Samuel, we are told that the entire nation of Israel had turned to Absalom. How fickle are people?

Stay around a while, friend. How fickle are people? They’ve all turned. Those to whom David had poured out his life, they had turned against him. But David says, “I’m just going to continue in my experience with God. Nothing will cause me to question my covenant relationship with God in any way.”

“I’m going to hold on. And let me tell you, buddy, you remember—you’ve seen the poster sometimes—you just tie a knot in the rope and hold on like a cat. That’s it. You may not be a resident picture of victory in Jesus. You may not be asked to address the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship with the story of your deliverance, but you are holding on, you’re continuing.”

“And, of course, the next psalm, which is the fourth of this series, is the sixth psalm. This is the first of the important seven penitential psalms. I have taught a series on these, but I just want you to understand this morning that God is giving us principles in this time in between.”

“Confidence in the Lord, confidence that He controls the circumstances, continuation—just staying on what God has said. And in this one, it is the story of acceptance or confidence in the repentance and chastisement of God. This is also known as a prayer for healing because much of it has to do with a man being very, very ill, probably David at some point as a result of his sin.”

“But the point is, hear me, one of the things that keeps you going is knowing that God hears you when you say, ‘Forgive me.’ And the world will often say, ‘He didn’t hear you, He won’t forgive you, that’s too big a sin.’ And one of the issues you wrestle with in a time in between is the fact that the character of God insists He hears the cry for mercy.”

“He has heard, He will forgive. What do you think was going on in David’s life that night? Come on, David’s a typical Christian. The people have turned against him. His son is leading a rebellion. His best friend has betrayed him. And he has a little tattered group of people running away for his life, not knowing when Absalom will come with superior forces and destroy his life and his hope for the kingdom and his eventual hope for the purposes of God.”

“In that moment, what do you think is in his mind? What do you think? Do any of you know a personal devil? You don’t. Maybe it’s because he’s too friendly with you, you don’t know him. What do you think was happening inside David’s mind? Condemnation. ‘Hey, turkey, you’ve lost the kingdom because of your sin.'”

“You lost your family because of your sin. You haven’t done what you should have done, and you’ve lost all these things. God never heard you when you cried out in the 51st psalm. And remember, these psalms are not chronological. Obviously, the 51st and 32nd psalms had these five psalms that describe that experience.”

“David had already confessed his sin. He had already said, ‘Cleanse me. Take away my transgression. Don’t lift your spirit from me.’ He had already written a psalm teaching transgressors how to receive the joy of God’s forgiveness. But now, as he’s reaping some of the results, the devil is saying, ‘God never heard you.'”

“And that’s the time when the man in between has to say, ‘I know He heard my prayer. God forgives. God does not rebuke in His anger.’ And he ends the psalm by saying, ‘Get away from me, you worker of iniquity,’ and it’s personalized, meaning, ‘Stand away from me, Satan. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.'”

“I will not let that come into my life. And then the fifth of our study this morning, which is the last of these, is the issue of rest. It’s confidence in the ultimate justice of God. Let me tell you something, buddy. The Apostle Paul, who wrote half the books of the New Testament, founded more churches than anyone else, raised up almost all the leadership of the first four centuries under his own personal ministry and through them and their disciples.”

“The Apostle Paul says at the end of his ministry, ‘It’s a small thing that you judge me. It’s even less important to me that I’m judged by the courts of this land or by the courts of this day.’ How many know God’s not… history is not written by contemporaries?”

You don’t know the end of the situation now. And Paul says, “It’s small that you judge me, it’s small that the courts of this land judge me,” and then he says, “I will not even judge myself.” And he says, “Not meaning that I’m justifying myself, not meaning I’m trying to be great, I’m just telling you it’s up to the Lord.”

And he knows a confidence in the justice of God. Here’s the point, and we’re going to begin communion, an opportunity for communion. We’re going to give you an opportunity to go home too, if you want to. But we’ve ended the service at this earlier time so that we’ll have time to respond. And I’m going to ask the elders and their wives quickly to come and take these places.

We have four stations, three stations on this side over here at that aisle and here and here, and three stations here. And we’ll have a couple at each of these places who are ready to serve the communion to you. Let me ask you something.

Do all Christians learn during the time in between? No. Many of them give up during the time in between. For all intents and purposes, they’re no longer believers. I have greater faith in the mercy of God than that. But they are fatigued. They’ve given up. But it’s possible for a man under covenant, a woman under covenant, when you’re in between those times, it’s possible for them to be the most fruitful learning moments of God’s revelation among you.

I’d like you to bow your heads, please, in prayer. And while our heads are bowed and no one is looking around, I wonder how many of you here this morning are in the position, in the place, where as a covenant person of God, you’re in a time in between, a time in which promise and vision is unfulfilled, and you’re about to just give up within that moment, and you say, “Pastor, that’s me, I’m a covenant person, and I’m in that kind of a moment.”

And I need to hear what God is saying this morning. Would you raise your hand quickly? It’s a simple acknowledgement. That’s where I find myself this morning. And it’s a battle. It’s a struggle. Anyone else? Just a moment. I’m desperately holding on for a word that will bring me through this experience.

Like David. Thank you. God bless you. You can put that hand down. Any others?

I ask you to do that because I want you to be able to respond to and receive the truth that a man like David and a man like Jesus in his humanity went through a period exactly like this. And the issue isn’t who’s better. David wasn’t a particularly righteous or moral man in many instances. He was a man who sinned.

But he was a man who had a heart after God, and he kept on going. He kept on going. He kept on going. And in the midst of everything, there was revelation. Don’s going to be leading us in some choruses in just a moment. We’re just going to sing. Prayerfully where we are, and as you wish, you can come and receive Communion.

I’m going to ask one thing, and that is that you always come down the center aisles and that you go away on the two side aisles. So regardless of where you are in the building, as you’re preparing to receive, come down the center aisles, and as you leave, from whatever place you leave, go down one of the side aisles, and that’ll keep the flow going for those who want to come.

But this isn’t just for Communion, and it isn’t just to come. It’s to receive what the Lord is saying and to be freed, encouraged to receive the stamina to go on in the call of God. I want to pray with you, and if you must go, please don’t be embarrassed in any way, because we want to take time for ministry, and this communion time is important to us, and we’re not going to rush it.

Sit, pray, sing, worship, and as you feel led, come. Please don’t come alone. Find another single who’s here. Come as two or three at least, or if you’re a family group, of course, come together as a family group. Now let’s pray. Father, You’re a good God. Your Word speaks to us. And this communion service, like all services of communion, is a time to be reminded that we stand not on the basis of our works, but on the blood of Jesus Christ, on the provision of Jesus.

That none of us are worthy, none of us are complete, none of us have reached the point of fulfillment and all vision’s coming, but we are all in a place where by your grace we can continue. We can keep serving you. I pray, friends, we’ll find that act of commitment this morning in Jesus’ name. Just remain with your heads bowed and begin to come now.

Please don’t wait so that people immediately fill up these six locations. And, uh, one of our brothers will stand here in the center to help ensure that if there’s an open one, you will quickly come into it. You may stay at your pew. There’s no need to stand in the center aisle if there are too many people there.

You can stay at the pew if you wish and just wait until you see there’s an open moment. As you come, there are still four locations here. Just find one of the open areas, and Brother David will quickly move to help people fill in these areas, please, at the end.