SCRIPTURE: Psalm 143 (ESV)
DATE: 11-19-27
It’s good to be with all of you at Gateway Church this weekend. And the one thing I want you to know — no matter if it’s your first time with us or if you’re worshiping at our North Main campus — I want you to know that God loves you and I love you too.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
We’re in week three of our series in the book of Psalms. We’re taking a look at four different psalms that deal with some very real issues that all of us have or will experience at some point in our lives.
We began by looking at where we can find comfort when life is out of control — that true comfort can be found when life is out of control.
Last week we talked about the brevity of life — how we all have a limited number of days — and we saw how we can make the most of our days.
Next week is my favorite sermon in this series as we’ll look at who the person is — and in a plural sense, who are the people — that God blesses? Who does God bless? That’s next week.
And the idea for this series came from a personal experience I had in 2014. In the fall of 2014 I experienced what I thought was a heart attack — but I’m not a doctor — and I misdiagnosed myself — I didn’t have a heart attack — but after a bunch of tests it was discovered that I was born with a heart abnormality — which is pretty shocking news.
You go the first thirty plus years of life thinking your heart is normal and then find out it’s not — well it becomes something you think about — oh — like every single day. So this was a time in my life with a lot of unknowns — I had a lot of unanswered questions about my health. And during this time, I turned to the psalms to find peace and comfort.
And today, we’re going to look at what we’re supposed to do when God feels distant. What should we do when it feels as if God has pulled away from us — especially when we need Him most.
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Psalm 143. We’ll be looking at the entire psalm.
And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question to the number on the bulletin or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
And to get us started, I need to help us understand what’s going on in David’s life — the author of this psalm. What’s going on that’s caused him to write these words that are so helpful for us when God feels distant.
Here’s what’s going on.
MAIN POINT 1
Let’s begin in verse two of Psalm 143.
In verse two David writes, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.” (Psalm 143:2-4 ESV)
So what we see is that David has three things going against him — he has three opponents — three adversaries. David’s first opponent is a…
Divine Adversary. David’s first and primary opponent is a divine adversary — meaning God. Look with me in verse two. “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” (Psalm 143:2 ESV)
Just so we’re clear, the “you’s” are referring to God. David’s pleading with God not to judge him for what he’s done. And more importantly, David’s giving us an important truth we must come to grips with. For David says that “no one living is righteous before God.” And what David means is that no person is right with God on their own.
So whatever’s going on in David’s life — which we’ll look at in a moment — but regardless of what’s happening to him — David begins by acknowledging that part of the reason he’s suffering is because he’s an unrighteous man — he’s a sinner and he knows that punishment is something he rightly deserves from God.
He recognizes the consequences he’s earned for not obeying God’s commands, for being unrighteous, for breaking God’s law — so he pleads with God to not judge him even though he’s a guilty man.
And this isn’t usually where we like to start when God feels distant. We start with “God what are you doing?” not “God what have I done?” But that’s where David begins. “I’m unrighteous. I’ve sinned. I deserve punishment, but God I’m pleading with You for mercy right now.”
And the Bible agrees with David’s assessment of his guilt and unrighteousness. In Ecclesiastes chapter seven we read, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV)
There’s not one righteous person on earth.
In Romans chapter three we read, “As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10 ESV)
How many people are righteous? None. Not…one…person.
So David’s in trouble — his situation isn’t good. And David knows this — that’s why his biggest adversary — the opponent he needs to get right with first — is God.
And when God feels distant in our life, the first thing we must do is acknowledge that our relationship with God is not right. We’re sinful people who don’t obey God like we should — we don’t love God as we’re commanded — and — if we’re honest — there are times when we don’t even enjoy Him.
We may not see the direct link between our situation and sin, but the link is there. Rebellion, sin, and unrighteousness are the root cause for all of the wrongs we do and for all the wrongs done to us by others. And rebellion, sin, and unrighteousness create distance between us and God and between us and other people.
But there is Good News. There’s a way to overcome the gap between us and God. There’s a way for our unrighteousness to be removed, so we can experience a right relationship with God.
In Galatians chapter two, Paul writes, “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16 ESV)
Our relationship with God is repaired — it’s mended, it’s restored, it’s made right — not by us working harder, but by us believing in Jesus. We’re made right with God when we acknowledge that we can’t make ourselves righteous or obedient on our own. We’re sinful creatures to our core. We’re the group of “no one’s” — the “no one is righteous” group.
But like David, we can plead with God to not judge us even though we deserve it. But if we plead to Him without faith in His Son, our pleading is in vain as God does not hear the cry for mercy of those who are depending upon their own works instead of depending upon Jesus’ work for their righteousness.
David knew that in his situation, his first opponent was God. But remember he has three opponents. His second opponent is a…
Human Adversary. David’s second opponent is human.
Look with me in verse three. “For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.” (Psalm 143:3 ESV)
Now we’re not exactly sure who this human adversary is that’s pursuing David. The best guesses — and these are only guesses — are that David’s either referring to his son Absalom or the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba.
You’re probably familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba — where David commits adultery with Bathsheba and murders her husband. Obviously those kinds of actions will make people not like you. Doing things like that will stir up some enemies.
But I think David’s probably referring to his son Absalom. You can read about their relationship in Second Samuel chapters thirteen through eighteen, but — for now — all you need to know is that it’s a story of great conflict.
Absalom takes over his father’s throne, tries to kill his dad, and is eventually killed himself — which greatly grieves David even though his son has betrayed him. And you thought your family had problems.
Can you imagine the type of heartache David must’ve felt as his son was pursuing him? How he must’ve felt as his own son chased him with hopes of murdering him? Now that’s a situation where God’s presence is greatly needed and it may have been this situation in which David felt as if God was distant.
Regardless of the exact situation, David finds himself in a broken relationship — he has a human adversary.
So David has God as an opponent, he’s got a person as an opponent, and finally David has an…
Internal Adversary. David has an internal adversary — meaning he’s conflicted with himself. We see this in verse four where we read, “Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.” (Psalm 143:4 ESV)
- David’s experiencing distance with God.
- He’s experiencing distance with other people.
- And he’s even experiencing internal distance within himself.
- His spirit is fainting.
- His heart is appalled.
At times it can be helpful to see how other Bible translations express these poetic-type phrases so we better understand what’s being said. For example, the New English Translation states, “My strength leaves me; I am absolutely shocked.” (Psalm 143:4 NET)
The New International Version translates verse four as, “So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.” (Psalm 143:4 NIV)
The New Living Translation has, “I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.” (Psalm 143:4 NLT)
David’s situation — whatever’s going on here — has exhausted him. He’s ready to faint, he has no strength, he’s lost all hope, he’s appalled, shocked, dismayed, and paralyzed with fear. He’s conflicted within himself. And to top it all off…God feels distant.
So that’s David’s situation. He has three opponents. God. Some person or people. And he has internal conflict.
Now I don’t know what you’re experiencing in life right now, but this is David’s situation as he writes this psalm.
MAIN POINT 2
So let’s look at his response to all of this. Let’s begin in verse five. David writes, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah.” (Psalm 143:5-6 ESV)
Now what we see here is that — in the midst of his situation — David does two things. He remembers and he prays. He remembers and he prays.
First..
He remembers. In verse five, David writes, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Psalm 143:5 ESV)
David remembers. He meditates. He ponders. Now I won’t spend much time here, but notice that — in response to his situation — David remembers God’s faithfulness in the past, he meditates on all that God has done, and he ponders — he allows who God is and what God has done — to shape the way he sees his current situation. David remembers.
The second thing David does, is…
He prays. He prays. Look in verse six, where David says that he does what? He says that, “I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah.” (Psalm 143:6 ESV)
David remembers and he prays. The phrase “stretch out my hands to you” implies a posture of prayer. It reminds us of First Timothy chapter two where Paul writes, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” (1 Timothy 2:8 ESV)
And as David prays he recognizes the barrenness of his soul because of the distance he’s experiencing between himself and God. His soul thirsts for God.
Thirsting for God is one of the ways we persevere when life is hard because it draws us near to God. And the Bible promises us that if we draw near to God — He will draw near to us.
Here — again — another Bible translation is helpful.
I appreciate the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases verse six.
“I stretched out my hands to you, as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.” (Psalm 143:6 The MESSAGE)
David’s as thirsty for the presence of God in his life as a dry desert is thirsty for rain. What a powerful picture of the prayer life of David. His soul thirsts for God and this thirst expresses itself in David’s prayer life.
What does your prayer life say about your thirst for God? Are you thirsting for God as a dry desert thirsts for rain?
In a situation where it feels as if God is distant — David remembers who God is and what He’s promised and David prays — he thirsts for the presence of God.
And for the remainder of our time, I want us to look at how David prays. What does a “prayer that’s as thirsty for God as a desert is thirsty for rain” look like?
And we’re going to see that it’s David’s prayer that draws him close to God. In this moment — when his life was full of adversaries — David’s prayer is what draws him close to God — it’s what closes the distance between he and God.
And this should make sense to us when we see prayer as communication with God.
For instance, when you have distance in a relationship, what’s the best thing you can do to draw closer to the person you’re distant with? Talk to them, right?
I don’t know if any of you married couples have ever experienced this, but when Emily and I have distance in our relationship — when there’s a wall up, or a barrier, or some conflict between us — there’s really only one thing that’s going to resolve the distance. We have to talk. We have to communicate. And I love talking as much as the next guy, but we need to do it, right?
And to all of the ladies in the room, you owe me a thank you card. I just told the men they need to communicate. You’re welcome.
But what we can’t do is ignore the problem; that never works. We have to talk about what’s going on. And that’s part of what prayer is. That’s not all that prayer is, but part of what prayer is — especially as we see in this psalm — part of what prayer is — is talking to God so you draw closer to Him.
MAIN POINT 3
So here’s how David prays. We’ll begin in verse one. David writes, “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!” And skip down to verse seven. “Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! 11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.” (Psalm 143:1, 7–12 ESV)
David prays a big…bold…prayer to God — in a time of his life — when it felt like God was distant.
So what can we learn from David’s prayer that we can apply when God feels distant in our life?
David begins by asking God to do what in verse one?
David says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!” (Psalm 143:1a ESV)
When David felt like God was far from him, he prayed Lord hear me. And when God feels distant in your life, this is where you should begin: “Lord hear me. Give me Your ear, God. I’m pleading with You — I need to know that You hear me.”
When David felt as if God was distant, he prayed Lord hear me. But that’s not all he does.
Back to verse one again. “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!” And skip down to verse seven. David again says, “Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.” (Psalm 143:1, 7 ESV)
When David felt like God was far from him, he prayed Lord answer me. And when God feels distant in your life, pray: “God answer me.”
Now notice how David connects God answering his prayer with God’s faithfulness.
In verse one David says, “In your faithfulness answer me.” What David’s saying is “God, Your faithfulness — who You are — requires that You answer my prayer. I’m pleading to You for mercy and You’ve promised to be merciful to those who come to You. You’ve promised to be near to Your people. You’ve promised to answer our prayers.”
Perhaps David was thinking of Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two where we read that God is, “a faithful God who does no wrong.” (Deuteronomy 32:4b NLT)
But in this moment — when his spirit was failing, when his strength was fading, when his depression was deepening, when he’s nearly at the end of his rope — David calls on the character of God in order to receive an answer to his prayer. He pleads with God to not hide His face from him.
Remember, David’s acknowledged his unrighteousness before God. He knows he deserves judgment, but he’s pleading with God for mercy.
He’s at a place where he’s completely dependent upon God for his salvation — for his rescue from his situation — and even though he’s writing this hundreds of years before the apostle John, David’s saying what John later writes. “If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ESV)
David boldly prays Lord answer me. Don’t hide Your face from me. Don’t distance Yourself from me any longer. When David felt as if God was distant, he prayed Lord answer me.
David continues his prayer in verse eight with, “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8 ESV)
When David felt like God was far from him, he prayed Lord lead me. When God feels distant in your life, pray: “God lead me.”
David asks God to hear him, to answer him, and now David makes his prayer very practical — and asks God to lead him. He prays, “Make me know the way I should go.” Guide me, Lord. Direct my path.
Teach me the way I should go so that our relationship is made right, so I hear of and experience Your steadfast love and peace.
When David felt as if God was distant, he prayed Lord lead me.
David continues his prayer in verse nine by asking God to… “Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge.” (Psalm 143:9 ESV)
When David felt like God was far from him, he prayed Lord deliver me. And when God feels distant in your life, pray: “God deliver me.”
“Deliver me from my enemies, Lord. I’m running to You for protection. I’m hiding myself in You. You’re my only hope.” That’s David’s cry. Lord rescue me — for only You can.
When David felt as if God was distant, he prayed Lord deliver me.
His prayer continues in verse ten by asking God to… “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!” (Psalm 143:10 ESV)
When David felt like God was far from him, he prayed Lord teach me. And when God feels distant in your life, pray: “God teach me.” Specifically, teach me to do Your will and may Your Spirit — Your Holy Spirit — lead me on level ground — on the path of Your perfect plan.
Notice that David’s praying for his spiritual growth. Essentially he’s praying, “God in the midst of this difficult situation, I need You near me so I don’t waste this moment. I want this difficult circumstance to be used so I grow into the person You want me to be.”
David’s not doing what many of us do, which is simply to ask God to get us out of the situation. He’s praying that God will change him because of the situation. He’s praying to learn what it means to be a follower of God — what it means to depend on God when life is hard.
As one pastor has said, “You can measure your spiritual temperature by whether your prayers are richly seasoned with expressions of longing for your own growth in godliness. Do you plead with God to make you more joyful, more loving, more patient, more kind, more gentle, more earnest, more disciplined, etc…? Or do you only pray that he get you out of this and that financial pinch or sickness or predicament at work?
If so, call to mind that God did not create us and redeem us merely to live and live well off; he created and redeemed us to be holy as he is holy, to walk in his good will and so bring glory to him. So let’s be like David, and every time we hunger for life and safety, let’s express to God that we desire spiritual vitality and godliness just as much as life itself.”
When David felt as if God was distant, he boldly prayed Lord teach me.
And finally, in verse eleven David prays, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.” (Psalm 143:11–12 ESV)
When David felt like God was far from him, he prayed Lord preserve me.
By that — he means — Lord keep me. Lord maintain me. Care for me, God. Preserve me.
And do you see David’s ultimate concern in all of this? Is it his life? No. Is it really his preservation? No.
What David’s most concerned about is the Lord’s name being honored. “For Your name’s sake, O Lord.” For the sake of Your reputation. For the glory of Your name. David prays, “God, don’t do any of what I’m asking of You, if it doesn’t honor and glorify Your name.”
And if God feels distant in your life, pray to Him. But make sure that your ultimate goal — the primary point of your prayer — is that God’s name would be honored. “Lord, may Your name be honored by the way You preserve me.”
When David felt like God was distant from him — hiding His face from him — David prayed to God. Lord hear me. Lord answer me. Lord lead me. Lord deliver me. Lord teach me. Lord preserve me. And Lord — do so — only if it brings honor to Your name.
And this — as I’ve said — is a big, bold prayer. This isn’t the typical prayer most of us pray. But David’s modeled for us the prayer of someone who desires to experience God’s presence when it feels as if God has distanced Himself.
And the implication for us — especially those who claim faith in Jesus Christ — the implication for us is this.
PROPOSITION
“The size of your prayers depends upon the size of your God.” When God feels distant — the size of your prayers depends upon the size of your God.
And David’s prayer reveals that he worshipped a very BIG God. He wasn’t depending on some puny God to take care of him — no — David’s God was the BIG God who defeated the giant Goliath with a small stone.
David’s praying boldly to the BIG God who protected him from Absalom’s rebellion. David’s praying boldly to the BIG God in whom he believes.
What’s the size of the God you pray to? Is your God big enough to answer bold prayers like “deliver me from the hands of my enemy” or is your God to small for a prayer like that?
Is your God big enough to lead you — not simply make suggestions for you to consider — but is your God a King — who doesn’t make suggestions — but gives commands that you are to obey?
The size of your prayers depends upon the size of your God. How big is the God you pray to?
When God feels distant — when it feels as if He’s abandoned you — follow David’s example and pray boldly to your big God. Hear me. Answer me. Lead me. Deliver me. Teach me. And preserve me.
Don’t let sin keep you from seeking help from God. Confess your sins to Him realizing that — without Christ you are unrighteous and unworthy to have God hear your prayers.
Remember who God is. Remember His righteousness, His faithfulness, His kindness, His never-ending love to His children. And pray to Him with great hope because of who He is. But only ask of God things that will be honoring to His name — where you pray wanting God’s name to be honored above everything else.
CONCLUSION
And as you pray this way, you’re not just following David’s example — you follow Christ’s example. On the night when Jesus was betrayed He went out to a garden to pray.
And Jesus prayed boldly. He asked God to hear His prayer and Jesus received an answer from His Father. He asked God to lead Him along the path He should go and God led Him along the right path.
If you remember, Jesus even prayed for God to deliver Him, but gave Himself over to God’s will as He prayed, “Not my will be done, but Your will be done.” And ultimately God preserved Jesus by raising Him up from the dead as He defeated Satan, sin, death, and Hell. God preserved Him by delivering Jesus out of the grave and by giving Him the Name that will be honored above all other names when every tongue confesses that He is Lord.
And Jesus has promised that He will always be with those who believe in Him. He’s promised that He will never leave those who’ve put their faith in Him. He’s promised that He will never abandon those who’ve found joy in Him.
And though there may be moments in life when it will feel as if God is hiding His face from you — know that if you’ve repented of your sins and believed in Jesus — know that God is always with you.
And what you should do — when it feels like God is distant — is remember and pray. Remember God’s faithfulness as displayed in His Son. Remember and pray. Pray boldly and pray to the BIG God who raised Christ from the dead. Pray to Him knowing that — because you come to Him through faith in Christ — He will hear you and He will answer every one of your prayers that bring glory and honor to His name. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for hearing our prayers. I ask that You would remind us often that You are always near those who’ve put their faith in Your Son, Jesus. But even when it feels as if You’re distant, we have something we can do. We can remember and we can pray.
Show each of us specific ways to live out these truths from Your Word this week as we go about our lives with great confidence in knowing that because we have believed in Christ, we can pray boldly to our BIG God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.