The Lord is Our Helper & He Will Fight for You

(7th Day of UB)

Fred R. Coulter—April 29, 2024

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Greetings everybody! Welcome to the 7th day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the last day of Unleavened Bread.

We know that all of the days are listed in Lev. 23, and it's very interesting that God did it this way, because we have all of the days marked off on the Calculated Hebrew Calendar.

These are the Feasts of the Lord! They're not the Feasts of the Jews or the Feasts of the Gentiles. These are the Feasts of God!

We know that it tells us the 14th day is the Passover, we've had that, and then we find from Exo. 12 and 13 that the leaving Egypt at night, compared with Num. 33, that that begins with a Night Much to be Observed unto the Lord, and bringing the children out of the land of Egypt.

Well, that was only the start. They really didn't get out of the land of Egypt until the 7th day of the Feast. We'll see that a little later.

Leviticus 23:6: "And on the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread…."—we've already had that! Then we had the Sabbath in between, and it says:

"…you must eat unleavened bread seven days" (v 6).

Leviticus 23:7: "On the first day you shall have a Holy convocation…"—we had that!

Then we find in v 8: "…In the seventh day is a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein."

Well, this day has a really good meaning for us, and there is a lot to it. We also find this repeated in:

Deuteronomy 16:16: "Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose…"

Now then, this was the Pilgrim Feast, and all the males were required. If they couldn't go and they were in the Diaspora, and they had a local synagogue there. The one who was going, the delegate who was going from that synagogue to Jerusalem, would then bring the offerings, and he would represent those in the synagogue, in the Diaspora, wherever they were, at the Temple of God. So, it's to be in a place that God chooses:

"…in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you" (vs 16-17).

Whenever we give an offering—same way with our tithes—we know that this is something that God commands.

When we do so, then those of us who receive the tithes and offering need to hold that in sacred trust as God's money, and use it for the promulgation of preaching the Gospel, of printing the books and the Bibles and things like we have here, and not spend it on expensive things for ourselves. We have that as an example of what happened to a Church when they did that; it no longer exists!

Verse 17: "Every man… [everyone] …shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you.

So, count your blessings, we even have a hymn on that: Count Your Blessings!

(pause for the offering)

Now the title of my message is, 'The Lord is Our Helper,' or 'The Lord Will Fight For You.' Both tie together, as we will see.

We're living in a time now where we're having to fight:

• self
• sin
• Satan
• society
• false teachers

That's why we have the whole Word of God!

• we can look at the Word of God
• we can study the Word of God
• we can read it
• we can live by it
• we can obey it

Everything has to be according to the Word of God!

So let's see the lesson for us today. Let's first of all come to Isa. 40 so we can have everything in proper perspective. We need to understand that this is not a contrivance of men; this is not writings of men with their philosophies like the religions of the world. But all of these come with this in mind: 'Thus says the Lord!' It Comes from God.

All of those who deal in the Word of God—all elders, ministers and teachers—are to teach the Word of God. Not our own ideas, not our own thoughts, not our own gimmicks! And we're certainly not to rob the brethren to ingratiate ourselves.

So, let's get into perspective, because the Feast of Unleavened Bread, combined with the Passover, puts us in contact with God directly through His Holy Spirit. In keeping the days that He has proclaimed, because those are His days and He owns them.

Isa. 40—this is what we're dealing with, and why it's so important; why the connection and love of God to us and our love back to God, and our love to the brethren and everything that we do is based upon this.

It's not based upon the things on the earth. except what God has put here that we need, that we know, and so forth. But here's a perspective that we always need to have so that we understand that:

• we don't get lifted up in vanity
• we don't get lifted up to do our own way.
• we don't set out to put our teachings in place of the teachings of God

God says, 'Shall the potter be thought of as the potter's clay?' (Isa. 29). That's what people do; 'We'll do what we want and we'll put God's name on it.' NO!

Here's God's answer to that. This is why we keep the Feasts of God, the Sabbath of God, beginning in:

Isaiah 40:12: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with a span?…."

Who has done that? He commanded and they were created! As we say, in the vastness of the universe out there, it's an amazing thing! We're able to see those pictures and things that they take with the Hubble telescope and the James Webb telescope and have a picture of the very heavens and the furthest reaches that can be done, which God has created!

Everything that we do is based upon God, His Word, His power and what He does!

• that's why He's our Helper
• that's why God will fight for us

Verse 13: "Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, and who was His counselor that he might instruct Him?"

Do you want to know the outcome of that? When men try and do that, we'll read the Book of Job! Job thought he was as righteous as God. At one point, he even said he wanted a judge to come and judge between the Lord and him so that the judge would declare Job righteous in the face of God. Well, you know the story of that!

Verse 14: "With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and made known the way of understanding to Him?" No one!

Notice what He says next. This is why we need to read these things so that we never get lifted up in our vanity, our stupidity and our own human reasoning.

Verse 15: "Behold, the nations…"

All the nations! If you have a globe, take a look at it. Think of them down through time, down through history. Look at all the things that they're doing archaeologically to try and dig up the past to know what these people did, what they practiced and who they were.

All of it gets down to this: They all followed Satan the devil, and they all collapsed!

The final stages of every single one was corruption and satanism, just like it is today.

Verse 15: "Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket...'

Get a bucket and put a drop of water in it. Look at that, if you can see it, and understand that that's how God looks upon the whole world and all the people compared to :

• what He has
• what He's able to do
• what He wants to do for us

"…and are counted as the small dust of the scales; behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing" (v 15).

Verse 17: "All nations before Him are as nothing…"

That is if they don't come to God, because God created us for the purpose of coming to Him.

"…and they are counted by Him as less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will you compare God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?" (vs 17-18).

Then He talks about all the vanity of the idols and religious things that men make.

Verse 21: "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?"

• What is it that people are thinking of?
• What is it that they are doing?

They're all trying to do it without God, and they're ending up like they are today, that they are making themselves 'God.'

Verse 22: "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."

That's what He wants us to learn with this Feast of Unleavened Bread, because all is vanity. All the thoughts of human beings without God are vanity. Oh yes, there's good and evil and all that sort of thing, but not the good from God!

Notice what He says about all the rulers—all the kings, all the emperors, presidents, governors, whatever:

Verse 23: "Who brings the rulers to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity." Here's what we are to do:

Verse 25: "'To whom then will you compare Me, or who is My equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, Who has created these things…" (vs 25-26)—everything that there is!

Remember how it started out with Abraham. God said he would bless him with a physical seed from his own loins. Then he took him out and said, 'Look at the stars now, if you're able to count them.' So, here it is:

Verse 26: "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, Who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by names…"

Think about that! Trillions and trillions and trillions of stars.

"…by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; not one fails" (v 26). That's why we need to trust God:

• to help us
• to fight for us
• to lead us

Let's remember what the Psalm says. The Psalm says that 'many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers them out of them all!'

We are all going to have difficult times. No way around it. God puts us through difficult times so that He knows what's in our heart and what's in our mind, and if we're going to trust Him!

So, here's what God did in Exo. 14. He took the children of Israel not the easy way to the 'promised land,' but He took them down by the Red Sea. Alongside the Red Sea there was a very narrow space of flat land, and then the mountains rose up on the west. So here's the whole string of all the children of Israel having left Ramses. And here we come to the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They're parked all along in this column right along the Red Sea. What happened?

Exodus 14:5: "And the king of Egypt was told that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, 'Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' And he made his chariot ready and took his people with him. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them" (vs 5-7)—and they came streaming after the children of Israel.

Verse 8: "And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh…"

Why? IF he hadn't gone after them, THEN God wouldn't have hardened his heart.

Verse 10: "And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes. And, behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were very afraid…."

The children of Israel didn't have any swords or spears or shields or whatever. So, here they come in their chariots, with all of the armaments and everything that they have.

"…And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. And they said to Moses..." (vs 10-11).

The first thing that comes in mind when you have a trial! A lot of us do, and we've gone through many, many trials, and that happens quite frequently. What for? A test of faith!

• Are we going to come to God and ask Him to help us?
• Are we going to come to God and ask Him to fight for us?
• Are we going to come to Him and trust in Him, regardless of what the outside circumstances may be?

So, here's what the children of Israel did, and we learned not to do this. This is one of the lessons right here:

Verse 11: "And they said to Moses, 'Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt?….'"

Well, there were plenty of places to bury people in Egypt.

"…Why have you dealt this way with us to carry us forth out of Egypt?…." (v 11).

What happened here? They were looking to the man rather than God! God wanted them to learn a lesson: 'Whenever you are in trouble, you come to Me!'

Verse 13: "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not! Stand still… [don't go out and try and do anything that's stupid] …and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today….'"

Look what happened then. This was a great event to take place.

"…and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today, for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still" (vs 13-14)—don't complain!

• you go to God and ask Him for help
• you ask God to work it out

All of us have had circumstances where God has intervened in our lives.

• God has spared us from death
• He has spared us from accidents
• He's intervened to fight against the enemy coming after us

I can vouch for that through everything that we have done in our lives with the Christian Biblical Church of God. That is true! "The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still."

Verse 15: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.'"

So, understand this. One of the things with trials that come is so that we go forward in grace and knowledge and understanding with the Spirit of God, the power of God:

• behind us
• for us
• in us

to accomplish what God wants!

Verse 16: "And you [Moses]—lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.…"

How's that for a weapon? A rod? NO! It's the power of God behind it!

"…And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea" (v 16).

Isn't that what happened? Yes! Now, we need to get a full picture of what this is. Many of you have seen the movie The Ten Commandments—it parted the Red Sea where they went in a single column.

But the children of Israel with all the people were there because then what God did. He sent a strong east wind and it dried it up, and God split the waters. We know that the whole column of the children of Israel was a couple of miles long or longer. So the parting of the Red Sea was not a little slice down through the middle of it. It was moving the whole thing; they all went across in a column in a flanking motion.

They crossed the Red Sea on dry ground even as God said. And then the barrier that He put between the children of Israel and Egypt while the wind was blowing all night… Which, by the way, gave light to the children of Israel and darkness to the Egyptians.

Then when the children of Israel were all the way across, God lifted that darkness from the Egyptians, and they saw that the Red Sea was open, and dry ground.

They decided to go get them! That's exactly what God wanted to happen, because He was going to fight for the children of Israel! He was going to exterminate all of the Egyptians and Pharaoh.

So, they went down into the sea that appeared to be dry ground, which it was because the children of Israel passed over it. When they got down in there, God took off all the wheels of their chariots. Then He commanded the water to come back, and that ended them!

Exo. 15—the children of Israel were all happy! They were praising God. They were thanking God for all that He had done. So, that was quite a lesson for them. How long did that last? Three days!

Three days later, they needed water. They came to Marah and the waters were bitter. So again, they complained to Moses!

Think about this! Likewise with us, if something happens:

• Do we complain to God?
• Do we blame the minister?

Whatever difficulty comes along, whatever it is, because it will come!

• Why didn't the children of Israel go to Moses and say:

Moses, we know we need water, and the water here in Marah is very bitter. Now then, we saw all the great works that God did with the plagues in Egypt and then destroying Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea. Now, could you please go to God and ask Him to provide some water for us?

Same way with manna; exactly the same thing! So, God told them what they would do. They took a tree, threw it into the water, which then made the water sweet, and so forth.

Now, let's look at some of the things that we need to understand with God and how God will work with us. We're going to spend a good deal of time in the Psalms because the Psalms contain more direct personal prayers to God from King David to the Lord God Almighty to intervene to help him and to fight for him.

Psa. 27—this is quite a thing! We'll spend a great deal of time here in the Psalms because this is where it tells us all about:

• how God will help us
• how God will fight for us
• what He will do for us
• how He will intervene for us in everything that we do

Notice how David starts out this Psalm. Now, compare this to what it says in Matt. 6—the model prayer—you are to pray this way: Our Father Who is in heaven, Holy is Your name!

David does something very similar here:

Psalm 27:1: "The LORD is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?…"

Think about that! We're not to fear anyone! Anything! Any circumstances!

"…The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (v 1).

Now then, how did he look at the enemy? We have a lot of enemies against us today, don't we? Yes!

• we've got the television
• we've got the society
• we have the government
• we have the false churches
• we have false teachers

Verse 2: "When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell."

God fought for them! God changed the circumstances!

This shows us how we are to call out to God when these difficulties come, and keep after it:

Verse 7: "Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice; and be gracious unto me and answer me." God will answer!

Have you ever prayed like that? Have you ever cried out to God in your circumstances and said, 'Help me, O God, hear my prayer' in tears, and in humbleness before God?

Verse 8: "When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, O LORD, will I seek.'" That's what we are to do; seek God!

Verse 9: "Hide not Your face from me. Turn not Your servant away in anger; You have been my help…"

We will see the word help and helper, and salvation through all of the Psalms.

"…leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Though my father and my mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up" (vs 9-10).

Out of every trial and out of every difficulty here's what we are to learn.

Verse 11: "Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a level path because of my enemies.

God is the One Who is to direct us! He is the One to lead us!

Verse 12: "Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies, for false witnesses have risen up against me, and he that breathes out violence. I would have fainted unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (vs 12-13).

So with the trials and difficulties that come on, David says this instruction for us. This is part of what he learned when he was suffering.

Verse 14: Wait for the LORD; be of good courage…"

That's what we need to do. That's the whole thing of what Moses told the children of Israel: 'Stand still, see the salvation of the Lord, for He will fight for you!'

Same thing here; v '14: "Wait for the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall make your heart strong; yea, wait, I say, wait on the LORD." Now, that's quite a thing!

Psa. 119 is quite a Psalm. If you want to know all about how good the commandments and laws of God are, and His statutes, His judgments and His precepts, well, you study Psa. 119.

It's a long psalm. The reason is that it is divided in 22 segments of 8 verses a piece, and there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

Psalm 119:169: "Let my cry come near before You, O LORD…"

This shows crying out to God, trusting in Him!

"…give me understanding according to Your Word" (v 169). That's the important thing when you have a trial or difficulty!

• for God to help you
• for God to intervene
• for God to fight for you

We need understanding from God's Word. So, whenever you're in a trial and difficulty you're going through, you need to go to the Word of God, the Psalms especially, to help you.

Verse 170: "Let my supplication come before You; deliver me…"

• He's the Helper
• He's the Deliverer
• He's the Salvation

"…deliver me according to Your Word" (v 170). We can trust in the promises of God!

• He will never abandon us
• He will never give us more than we can bear
• He will see us through it

Sometimes we think that we can't have any more. But sometimes that's for us, for God needing to know, 'Are you really, really, really going to trust Me?'

You know, everyone is going to come to this point in their lives: that there is nothing else left to do than come to God and say, 'God, save my soul.' And then God will hear.

Verse 171: "My lips shall utter praise when You have taught me Your statutes. My tongue shall speak of Your Word, for all Your commandments are righteousness" (vs 171-172).

See what He did? He looked to the Word of God! Look to the Word of God always.

Verse 173: "Let Your hand help me, for I have chosen Your precepts."

Think about that! Because now He's looking at it from the point of view, 'God, I love You with all my heart. I obey You. I believe You.'

Verse 174: "I have longed for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your Law is my delight."

With everything else out here, the problems and difficulties and trials we go through, that's the perspective that we need.

Verse 175: "Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; and let Your ordinances help me."

Isn't that interesting? God will give us the help.

Verse 176: "I have gone astray…" What is this? Repentance!

That's what God wants in all of it, that we come to Him in repentance.

Verse 176: "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments"

All of this is a great start indeed for us in understanding the Word of God.

Now, let's see some more about how David came to God, confessed his sins, yielded to God to do the things that were right.

Psalm 109:21: "But You, O GOD the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name's sake because Your mercy is good, deliver me."

• God will help!
• God will deliver!
• God will bring salvation!
• He will hear you!

Notice the attitude. No accusation against God, like the children of Israel did there at Marah, and like they did at the Red Sea.

Verse 22: "For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me."

Think about that! One of the things that it says about Jesus, why He came. He came to heal the brokenhearted. That doesn't mean financial things. That means life-threatening things, heartbreaking things, sadness and difficulty.

Verse 23: "As a shadow when it is stretched out, I am gone…"

Now, isn't that true? Think about how in just an instant, any one of us could be gone!

"…I am shaken off like the locust. My knees are weak from fasting, and my flesh has become gaunt. And I also became a reproach to them when they looked upon Me; they shook their heads" (vs 23-25).

That is very low; look at how low this is. Probably, some of the thoughts of Jesus as He was praying that night in John 17.

Verse 26: "Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your steadfast love."

• this is how we approach God
• this is how He fights for us
• this is how He intervenes for us
• this is how we are to pray to Him

Now, here's the reason:

Verse 27: "So that they may know that this is of Your hand; that You, LORD, have done it."

That's quite a thing for us to understand. Now then, it's amazing the things that are here in the Psalm, and all the things that David went through and wrote them down, under the inspiration of God.

You're going to see we're going to spend most of the time in this message in the Psalms, and all of these things concerning that:

• God will fight for us
• God will hear us
• God will save us
• God will intervene in every way

This is what we need to realize!

Psa. 10—sometimes we feel this way. Sometimes we feel that God is way off there, and we need to get close to God. Well, that's how David felt here:

Psalm 10:1: "Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?"

Because it will come a time when it will look like God is not even there. Cry out to Him to help you.

Verse 2: "The wicked in his pride pursues the poor; let them… [the wicked] …be taken in the schemes that they have imagined, for the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous but despises the LORD" (vs 2-3). We'll see people like that:

• they're hateful
• they're mean
• they're wretched
• they won't listen
• there's no way you can reason with them

It seems like that God is way off someplace!

David felt this way; v 4: "Through the pride of his countenance the wicked will not seek God; in all his thoughts there is no place for God."

They don't care about God. That's how it is today. there is no place for God! Now, doesn't that describe the whole society we are living in today? Yes, it does!

There will be times when we will come up against problems and difficulties that way. Then we look at it.

Verse 5: "His ways prosper at all times. He is haughty, and Your judgments are far from him. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; from generation to generation I shall never be in adversity'" (vs 5-6).

We're confronted with people like this today. Look at how it is. There was recently some young teenagers praying for people in a park in Minnesota, and they were arrested and taken off to jail for praying. Think about that!

• think about what they're going to do later
• think what it's going to be when the troubles really come
• think about what it's going to be when they look at Christians and they say, 'It is your fault'

Well, it's not!

Verse 7: "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in the hiding places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent. His eyes are on the watch for the helpless. He lies in wait secretly like a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags him off in his net" (vs 7-9). Then he says, 'God has forgotten.'

Verse 17: "LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart, You will cause Your ear to hear, to defend the fatherless and the oppressed, so that the man of the earth may no more oppress" (vs 17-18).

That's the deliverance that we need! Think about that. Now, we're going to see a lot of these things as they come along.

Psa. 92—let's look at this, and when you look at it, you think: David had all kinds of problems all the time.' Yes, he did! And you think: we're not very many out here ourselves. That is absolutely true, too. How many were there that really believed in God around David? Very few!

Psalm 92:8—after rejecting the wicked: but You, O LORD, are on high forever. For, lo, Your enemies, O LORD, for lo, Your enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered" (vs 8-9).

So, keep that in mind. Their day is coming. Think what it's going to be like at the return of Christ.

Verse 10: "But You shall lift up my horn as the wild ox, and I shall be anointed with fresh oil."

Now, that means God will give us His Holy Spirit so that we can be

• lifted up in spite of all the things that are going on around us
• lifted up in our hearts and in our minds in love and trust of God

Verse 11: "Also my eyes shall see my desire on my enemies, and my ears shall hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me."

Think about how much David had to fight against all of this. You know, sometimes when I read some of these things, I wonder: How did he sleep? Well, he slept because he trusted in God.

Verse 12: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God" (vs 12-13). That's us!

• God has a plan
• God has a purpose
• God will intervene
• God will strengthen us in everything that we do

Notice for this purpose here. This is now at this time and then on into the time after the resurrection.

Think about what it's going to be like in the resurrection to be kings and priests under Christ and administrators and all of that; to help bring this world out from all of its destruction and misery.

Verse 14: "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green."

There are a lot of us today who are old. We've got a lot of brethren who are in their 90s. So we can thank God for the blessing of that. They are still active. I know of one man at 96 that he goes out and he's working in his garden every day.

Verse 15: "To show that the LORD is upright…"

In other words, even if that be so, which it is, it's all because of God and what God is doing, not what we are doing because we're some great thing.

"…He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him" (v 15).

(break@49:00)

Psalm 30:7: "O LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled." Now, we'll get in difficulties like that.

• What do we do?
• Do we think, 'How can I solve this?'

or

• Do we go to God and ask for help?
• Do we ask God to help?
• Do we ask Him to intervene?

Notice what David did:

Verse 8: "I cried to You, O LORD; and I made supplication to the LORD." So, he took it right to the Lord!

Verse 10—here's how he prayed: "Hear, O LORD, and be gracious unto me; LORD, be my Helper."

That's what we need, because we're all created incomplete; we're all created inadequate. Now, some people won't believe that, but sooner or later they come to it.

It's like one man said that, 'When I become old and have more years behind me than ahead of me, my view of life changes.' And that is true!

Notice what happens when you come to God His way:

Verse 11: "You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have torn off my sackcloth and have clothed me with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever" (vs 11-12).

Do we trust God like that? Remember what Prov. 3 says to 'trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.'

• this is why we have trials
• this is why we have difficulties

A lot of it is to prepare us for the first resurrection; to prepare us so we will know what needs to be done when we become the sons and daughters of God as spirit beings to help people in this world!

Think about what it's going to be like with all the disasters that take place at the end of the age. All of those who live through it, you talk about post-traumatic syndrome. That will be the story of the day to begin the Millennium.

Psalm 31:1: "In You, O LORD, have I taken refuge, let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness."

Okay, that's how we approach God. Why? In His righteousness, because His way will bring the solution!

If we try our own way, our own righteousness may not work well.

Verse 2: "Bow down Your ear to me; deliver me quickly; be my strong Rock, a fortress of defense to save me."

Think about that! Think how much He's trusting in God.

Verse 3: "For You are my Rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name's sake lead me and guide me." That's what we need!

How is God going to do that? With His Spirit, with His Word! That's why we study! That's why in going through these Psalms, we relate to them:

• because of our life experiences
• because what we go through
• because of our troubles and difficulties that we have

So, that we know God is there to help us. We know that we are not alone, though no one else is around. God is with us.

Verse 4: "Pull me up out of the net that they have hidden for me, for You are my strength."

Here is one verse that was repeated by Christ when He was hanging on the cross, dying:

Verse 5: "'Into Your hand I commit My spirit…'"

Think about that. Total reliance on God. And, with the resurrection—even death, an enemy—cannot hold us back.

"'…You have redeemed Me, O LORD God of Truth.' I have hated those who take heed to lying vanities, but I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in Your loving kindness, for You have looked upon my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul and have not given me over into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a broad place. Be gracious unto me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is consumed with grief, yea, even my soul and my body; for my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones have wasted away" (vs 5-10).

Now then, pretty strong words, but God will intervene and save. Yes, indeed! Notice David's:

• trust
• faith
• yieldedness to God
• conviction
• resolve

In spite of all of the odds that are against him. Many times there are a lot of odds against us that we just don't see our way out of it. But if we come to God and let Him help us, come to God and ask for His help, He will do it.

Psalm 33:18: "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His loving kindness."

Now then, notice the purpose of that. That's why there's faith, there's hope, there's love! That's why there's belief, obedience, and loving God! Now notice the next verse to tell us the purpose of that.

Verse 19: "To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine."

Now think about that! We're going to face some very difficult times. Famine may be one of them. There's famine currently right now for the poor brethren over in Kenya and other parts of the world, where whole countries are devastated because of sin and wretchedness of the leaders and of the people.

Yet, in the middle of all of that, there are brethren of God, and He will be with them.

Notice what we do. We do the things we need to do, but also we need to trust in God, and that trusting in God is defined as waiting on God. Let's see that.

Verse 20: "Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield."

Again, all of these show us the help that God will give us. There are times—I know in my life, and I'm sure in yours—there are times that you're asking God for help many times during the day.

Oh, help me, Lord. Help me to see. Help me to understand. Help me because I don't feel well. Strengthen me with your strength. Lead me with your Spirit.

All of those things are the result of that we understand the weakness of what we are in the flesh; yet, God with:

• His Spirit
• His strength
• His Way
• His Word

will help us overcome!

Verse 21: "For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His Holy name. Let Your loving kindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in You" (vs 21-22). Now that's quite a thing!

Psa. 34—that's why a good regular study into the Psalms and into the Proverbs will help us:

• to overcome
• to grow in faith
• to grow in knowledge of God
• to be able to trust Him
• to be able to look to Him
• to be able to rely on His help
• that He will bring about the circumstances and work with us

so that we can see our way out of the difficulty!

It may not be what we think it should be, because God has other things in mind for us.

Notice the uplifting that comes after we are delivered:

Psalm 34:1: "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall always be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear and be glad" (vs 1-2).

Always looking to God. Now the wicked always curse God. The wicked blaspheme God. They look at us, 'Who are you?' Especially those who are well-educated and the elite of the world.

That's why God has chosen the weak. That's why God has chosen those who are counted nothing in this world to bring the people in this world—when we're resurrected into the Kingdom of God—to nothing. Think about that. That's what God has done.

Verse 3: "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears" (vs 3-4).

This is the strength that we get from God. This is the result of coming through the afflictions and trials that we go through. So that:

• we have greater faith
• we have greater trust
• we have greater understanding

of what God is doing and how He's doing it!

• we have conviction that God has helped us
• we have knowledge that God has intervened for us

We see that over and over and over again!

I look at things in my life and I know there are two times He has saved me from death. I also know one instance where He destroyed someone with death and a heart attack, because they were seeking to come after Christian Biblical Church of God and trying to take it over.

The only thing we could do is pray about it, "…and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant; and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried… [cried out to God, probably in tears, probably in loud voice] …and the LORD heard…" (vs 4-6).

That's why we pray, because God hears our prayers. He will answer those prayers. Sometimes it may take a long time for God to answer. But never, never, never give up. God will hear!

Verse 6: "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles." That's quite a thing!

Verse 14—Here's what we need to do. When these things come along:

• we need to examine our lives
• we need to examine our thoughts
• we need to examine our purposes
• we need to think about what we're thinking
• we need to think about what we're doing
• we need to think about what we're putting into our minds

Verse 14 tells us what we are to do: "Depart from evil…"

That's the whole theme of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, isn't it? God forgives us our sins. It's over, but we have work to do to overcome the sins and to put them out of our lives!

God isn't going to wipe it away so that we have nothing to do, because if that happened, we would develop no character at all.

• we wouldn't develop any hope
• we wouldn't develop any faith
• we wouldn't develop any love

Verse 14: "Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it…. [Why?] …The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry" (vs 14-15).

He is there! Many times when we're out floundering around trying to do our own thing, God is waiting for us to turn to Him! So, we need to do that.

Verse 16: "The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth."

So remember that! God is going to take care of all the wicked in His way. Many different ways! So, all we have to do is just observe it.

• sometimes they fight each other
• sometimes they destroy each other
• sometimes they discredit each other
• sometimes they kill each other

But God will take care of it!

Verse 17: "The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted…" (vs 17-18).

Now, that means we have a humble heart. We have one that's not lifted up in vanity. Our minds are not set and centered on ourselves, but on God!

"…and saves those who are of a contrite spirit" (v 18).

Look at all the vanity that goes on in the world. Look at all of those that lift themselves up in their arrogance and stupidity. Remember all of those who said they were the greatest? Remember Muhammad Ali? Well, he ended up with such a disease that he as a helpless virtual wreck the last years of his life. God has a way of handling it!

Verse 19: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all." Both vs 17 and 19: "out of them all"!

When He delivers us from one, that means there may be another coming. He delivers us out of that, and there may be another one coming, and He delivers us out of that!

• that's why we need the help of God
• that's why we live
• that's why there's time
• that's why there's all of the circumstances we need to come to God

Psalm 54—Isn't it interesting that all of this is why we have this Psalm, because they show us the personal relationship between us and God; just like it was with David.

• Can you imagine what a life that David had?
• That he could write all of these things down and have them for us?
• That we can come now and read them?

No one understands that this is all from God!

There are many, many other Psalms. You can just go through each one, and you can learn from each one, which would take you many hours and many days, and probably many months to go through it all:

• to absorb it
• to read it
• to think about it
• to pray about it

Psa. 54—it's a short Psalm, but listen to it: Here are some of the words that we can use. I remember there came a time that the only thing I could say was, 'Lord, save my soul!' There was nothing else left. God heard that and answered that. ALL the credit goes to God!

Maybe you'll come to a point like that in your life, but trust in God! He'll deliver you out of it!

Psalm 54:1: "Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers have risen up against me, and violent men seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah" (vs 1-3)—think on that!

Now look at all the opposition that he had; he laid it all out there.

Verse 4: "Behold, God is my helper; the LORD is with those who uphold my soul."

That's other brethren who may be praying for you and asking God to intervene for you, to heal you.

Verse 5: "He shall reward evil to my enemies. Destroy them in Your faithfulness." God will do that!

We don't have to get guns. We don't have to arm ourselves to fight off the wicked. God will take care of them! If God doesn't, and if we are martyred, we're saved! Think about that!

Verse 5: "He shall reward evil to my enemies. Destroy them in Your faithfulness. I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good, for He has delivered me out of all trouble, and my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies" (vs 5-7).

• How many times did David say that?
• How many enemies did David have?

Amazing thing, isn't it? That's why the Bible is so absolutely the most incredible book in the world. It doesn't only tell us:

• Who God is
• where God is
• what God does
• what God has given to us

but then in a personal relationship with God, that He is there:

• to help us
• to hear us
• to answer our prayers in all things

That's quite a thing!

Psa. 70 is another short little Psalm; this is quite an interesting one indeed.

Psalm 70:1: "Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD."

How many times was David in trouble? I mean, think of all of these Psalms that say that!

Verse 2: "Let them be ashamed and confounded, those who seek after my soul; let them be turned backward and put to confusion, those who desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, those who say, 'Aha, aha!'" (vs 2-3).

Isn't that what they said about Christ while He was dying on the cross?

Aha!, Aha! Get off there! Come down here and save yourself! You saved others, save yourself and we'll believe you!'

Well, He didn't!

He waited on God because He knew the resurrection was going to come. He knew that in spite of the fact that He died, He would live! Now that's the conviction we need to have also.

Verse 4: "Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say without ending, 'Let God be magnified.'"

All credit and honor and glory and everything goes to God!

• not because we have any strength of ourselves
• not because we are mighty
• not because we have a name that everyone knows and the world ought to know not that we're important people

No!

We will have the importance when the resurrection comes!

Verse 5: "But I am poor and needy… [even David as king] …make haste unto me, O God; You are my Help and my Deliverer; O LORD, wait no longer!"

That's quite a thing for us to understand. Let's come to the New Testament:

Rom. 8—Paul puts all of this together for us. This is quite a thing! We see that it's exactly as the Psalms are, though written a little differently. Relating it to us today.

Paul gives perspective to everything. In all the troubles, all the trials and the difficulties, we come to God, and God is there to help us and intervene. Regardless of what your life is, has been, or will be,

• whatever circumstances you find yourself in
• whatever troubles that may come upon you
• whatever things that God does to lift you out of them

What we have to face and the problems we have to face is not that we get discouraged:

Romans 8:28: "And we know… [conviction, knowledge, understanding] …that all things… [each and every thing or circumstances] …work together for good to those who love God…"

That's the key! Isn't that the thing? We're to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and being! So, everything that happens works together for good to those who love God!

"…to those who are called according to His purpose" (v 28).

God has a purpose for each one of us. It says there in one of the Psalms that 'God will fulfill His purpose for me.'

God has called us with purpose—with knowledge and wisdom and understanding—so that we will be in His Kingdom!

"…called according to His purpose, because those whom He did foreknow…" (vs 28-29).

That's us! That is foreknow before the resurrection!

"…He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His own Son…" (v 29).

• Do you want to know what you're going to look like?
• Do you want to know how it's going to be?

Read Rev. 1 and how Christ looks in His glory.

"…that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Now, whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified" (vs 29-30)—a prophecy!

The glory that we have right now is the Spirit of God that's united with the Spirit of our mind. The full glory comes at the resurrection!

In thinking on this, and thinking about the vastness of things that are there, look at what Paul went through to suffer.

Read 2-Cor. 10 and see what Paul went through, and then ask yourself the question: 'Have I suffered anything like Paul?'

Think about how silly it would be for us to be discouraged and bring accusations against God, and look at what Paul went through, and he endured it all. He counted the tribulations after the fact as joy, because it brought character, and that's what God wants!

Verse 31: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us…" Think about that!

• God has called us
• God has given us His Spirit
• God has given us His Word
• He is for us
• He has called us to salvation

"…who can be against us?" (v31). Think on that! Nothing can!

Verse 32: "He Who did not spare even His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also grant us all things together with Him?"

That's at the resurrection! That's on the Sea of Glass, and that's the very next Holy Day we're going to have.

• the day of the resurrection
• the day of being raised from the dead
• the day when all the suffering and trials that we personally have gone through will be changed to glory as the spirit sons and daughters of God

That's why we need to trust in God!

Verse 33: "Who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God?…." Really? What can they say? Nothing but lies!

"…God is the One Who justifies. Who is the one that condemns? It is Christ Who died, but rather, Who is raised again, Who is even now at the right hand of God, and Who is also making intercession for us" (vs 33-34).

Remember that! Christ is right there to make intercession directly to God the Father on our behalf. Our prayers are direct access to God the Father Himself. That's why when we have troubles and difficulties, we come to God, and God will help us.

Verse 35: "What shall separate us from the love of Christ?…."

Now listen to this. All of these things cannot and will not separate us from God.

"…Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Accordingly, it is written, 'For Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter'" (vs 35-36)—and that day is coming!

• Did not the Waldensians go through it?
• Did not the Huguenots go through it?
• Did not the Sabbath-keepers in Germany go through it?

Yes, indeed!

Verse 37: "But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us." That's it!

• God will help us
• God will fight for us
• God will raise us from the dead

Verse 38: "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (vs 38-39). Nothing!

Now let's close by coming to Heb. 13 and see the promise that Jesus gave. Keep this in mind! Whenever you're confronted with at trial, whenever you're confronted with something that is more than you can handle, take it to God!

• lay it before Him
• ask for His help
• ask for His strength
• ask for His intervention
• ask for Him to work out the circumstances

so that things will be according to His will!

Hebrews 13:5—these are the very words of Christ Himself, right in the middle of it:

"…for He has said, 'In no way will I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way.'"

Now when we go through this, there are five nots, nor, or never. Five guarantees of what He's saying.

Verse 6: "So then, let us boldly say, 'The Lord is my Helper, and I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'"

• let God be your Helper
• let Him fight for you

That's the whole meaning of the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:6-8
• Deuteronomy 16:16-17

• Isaiah 40:12-15, 17-18, 21-23, 25-26
• Exodus 14:5-8, 10-11, 13-16
• Psalm 27:1-2, 7-14
• Psalm 119:169-176
• Psalm 109:21-27
• Psalm 10:1-9, 17-18
• Psalm 92:8-15
• Psalm 30:7-12
• Psalm 31:1-10
• Psalm 33:18-22
• Psalm 34:1-6, 14
• Psalm 54:1-7
• Psalm 70:1-5
• Romans 8:28-39
• Hebrews 13:5-6

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Exodus 12-13
• Numbers 33

• Isaiah 29
• Exodus 15
• Matthew 6
• John 17
• Proverbs 3
• Revelation 1
• 2 Corinthians 10

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 3/21/24

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