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Psalm 145: What the Righteous Love to Talk About

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INTRODUCTION

The nature and character of God is of course worthy of all praise and adoration. But we are finite, and sinful on top of that, and so we cannot even begin to praise Him as He deserves to be praised. Nevertheless, the effort must be made. As forgiven sinners, how on earth are we going to declare His worth? What are we going to do? Shout? Stand on a chair?

One of the ways that Scripture assigns to us is the method of declaring His works—the mighty works that He accomplished down here where we live. This is something we can do, and David shows us the way.

THE TEXT

“I will extol thee, my God, O king; And I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; And I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: And I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness . . . And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:1–21). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As we begin to work our way through this psalm, take note of all the verbs that the psalmist promises. Over and over, up through the seventh verse, this is what the psalmist does. He extols God, and blesses His name (v. 1). He blesses His name every day, and is going to praise Him forever (v. 2). The magnitude of the task is recognized—God is greatly to be praised because His greatness is unfathomable. Following David’s example, one generation will praise God to the next, declaring His mighty acts (v. 4). David returns to the task, speaking of the glorious honor of His majesty . . . and His works (v. 5). Others will speak of the might of His terrible acts, and David will declare His greatness (v. 6).  Men will recount their memories of God’s great goodness, and will sing about His righteousness (v. 7).

What is this God like? Gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and He has great mercy (v. 8). God is good to all, and His tender mercies are the arch over our lives (v. 9). His works turn around and praise Him, and His saints echo that praise (v. 10). They, as David did earlier, will speak of God’s glory, and talk about His power (v. 11). This is instructive; men learn about His mighty acts and His glorious majesty (v. 12). His kingdom is forever; His dominion is forever (v. 13). 

But He does more than throw galaxies around, and make volcanos blow up. He operates at our nano-level as well. He upholds those who fall, and raises up those who are stooped over (v. 14). This is why we little ones look to Him, like baby birds in a nest (v. 15). We all had breakfast this morning because God opened His hand (v. 16). Same thing with real baby birds (v. 16). Always remember that God is good, all the time (v. 17). If someone calls out to Him in truth, they can be assured that God is right there (v. 18). Do you fear Him? He will fulfill your desire, hear your cry, and save you (v. 19). God preserves those who love Him and destroys the wicked (v. 20). So don’t be wicked. All of this caused David to speak God’s praises (v. 21), and he issues the invitation to all flesh to bless His name forever and ever (v. 21).

THE NATURAL DUTY OF PRAISE

It is a commonplace that our mouths are filled with the same thing that fills our hearts. The voice is the overflow valve for the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34). This is speaking of the ungodly, but the principles works in both directions. The godly speak about what they love too. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, And a book of remembrance was written before him For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16). 

THE GENEROSITY OF GOD

God is a generous God. The picture of God opening His hand conjures up the image of someone going out to feed the chickens, spreading the feed by the handful. He is not stingy. He gives with an open hand. God is good to all (v. 9). If you are struggling, if you are beaten down, if you have been worked over . . . God sees you and stoops to lift you up (v. 14). He knows your desires, top to bottom, front to back, side to side, and He is the God who will both sanctify and fulfill those desires. 

THE GOD WHO IS NIGH

And this brings us to the realization that God is good—all the time God is good. But it is equally true that sin is bad—all the time sin is bad. And because we live in a fallen world, we have to deal with the impact of sin, our own and that of others. We have to deal with stupidity, our own and that of others. We have to deal with wickedness. And remember that God preserves those who love Him, and He destroys the wicked (v. 20). And this hard sentiment is expressed in a psalm of praise. Remember that the only passage where alleluia occurs in the New Testament is when the saints of God are observing the smoke of Babylon the great going up forever and ever (Rev. 19:3). 

So God is good all the time, and sin is bad all the time. But the goodness of God overarches and outranks everything else, including the wickedness that He is engaged in destroying. So when you are in trouble, and you are crying out to Him, remember the promise of the psalm. God is nigh. This is not the same as to say that it has to feel like He is nigh, but our task is to walk in the truth of His Word. And so don’t doubt in the dark what you knew in the light.

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Psalm 144: Genuine Health and Wealth

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm overlaps a good deal with what David prayed in Psalm 18, as well as in 2 Samuel 22, near the end of his life. His life had been a long series of battles and conflicts, and he certainly knew the truth of what he was expressing here. This is a psalm of jubilation, rejoicing in the sort of prosperity that the deliverances of Jehovah can bring to a people. It begins with war, but concludes with the harvest of true peace.

THE TEXT

“A Psalm of David. Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; My shield, and he in whom I trust; Who subdueth my people under me. Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away . . . Happy is that people, that is in such a case: Yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 144). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

David was a man of war, and he blessed the name of Yahweh, the one who had taught him how to fight (v. 1). In battle, the Lord was both his strength and his instructor. God Himself was his goodness, and his fortress—high tower, deliverer, and shield (v. 2). The word for fortress is masada, and it is possible the place called Masada is in view. Why would the infinite God condescend to deal with man, who is a trifle (v. 3)? Man’s lifespan is like that of a mayfly, with an average life span of a day (v. 4). The plea is for God to bend the heavens and come down (v. 5). David wants God to answer with volcanoes, lightning storms, emptying the divine quiver (v. 6). David then prays for his Fortress God to undertake for him (v. 7), saving him from the strangers. All men are vanity, but these adversaries speak vanity (v. 8), and they lie with great dexterity (v. 8). David anticipates the resulting victory, and he promises to praise God with a new song (v. 9). God even gives salvation to kings, and so He delivers David (v. 10). He prays for deliverance again, and repeats his point about how they speak vanity, and lies are their right-hand weapon (v. 11). What will the peace that follows this victory be like? Our sons will be strong and sturdy, like well-rooted plants (v. 12), and that our daughters might be the sort of cornerstones you would find in a palace (v. 12). In short, that our sons would be strong and brave, and that our daughters would crucial and beautiful. His anticipation continues—that our storehouses might be full (v. 13), that our flocks would be abundant (v. 13), and that our oxen would be strong (v. 14). The crime rate would be low—no burglaries, no need to flee in a refugee column (v. 14). Under godly rule, the people rejoice and there is no complaining in the streets (v. 14). Such people would be happy (v. 15) . . . but then he catches and corrects himself. Such people are happy provided God is their Lord (v. 15). 

DON’T WASTE YOUR BATTLES

The psalmist routinely assumes that God, when He intervenes in human affairs, does so in order to take sides. There is a division in the human race between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Remember the antithesis. Always remember the antithesis (Gen. 3:15). You have enemies. We all have enemies. And God instructs to fight them, and to fight them in the way that He leads. He provides the strength to fight, and He teaches the techniques of fighting.

This is one of the reasons we are to sing psalms. The psalms are filled with enemies, and in our music we are learning how to deal with them. The hymnody of the last few centuries is distinguished by its singular lack of enemies.  

THE GREATNESS OF GOD, THE BREATH THAT IS MAN

When man, who is vanity itself, speaks of the greatness of God, he is doing so because God has placed eternity in his heart (Ecc. 3:11). But when man, who is vanity itself, takes up a lie in his right hand, he starts to speak vanity, which he has no business doing (vv. 8,11). 

God is infinitely high, but we learn in Scripture that He is also infinitely condescending.

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). 

God dwells in two places. He inhabits eternity—He dwells in that high and holy place. That is one. But He also dwells in the hearts of the lowly. Men cease to be vanity when they acknowledge that they are vanity, and confess the greatness of Almighty God. 

When a mayfly puffs himself up in his own conceits, imagining himself to be the next Alexander or Bonaparte, it is clear that he has no scriptural map of the cosmos, and he has no x on that map indicating his actual position, and the actual state of affairs. Man is scarcely a breath . . . and yet, created in the image of God. And yet, the prayer of v. 5 was answered. Bow the heavens and come down, which is exactly what He did in the Incarnation. 

DEUTERONOMIC BLESSINGS

And this brings us to a subject that is guaranteed to make the pietist’s left eye twitch. It is easy for pietism to say that the simplistic “health and wealth” gospel is a heresy, which it is. But it is equally true that the masochistic “sorrow and borrow” gospel is also a heresy. The former assumes that we are just so many swine, happy when the trough is full. The latter assumes that we are just emaciated swine, who ought to be happy with the occasional acorn.

Balance, always balance. Not Epicureanism, and not Gnosticism. What is the fruit here of learning how to fight with God the instructor? What is the fruit of adoring the greatness of the Almighty? What happens when vain men repent of speaking vanities? The answer is that God exalts them, and this is not limited to the spiritual plane. I call these Deuteronomic blessings. Take care that when the blessings multiply that you do not forget the Lord your God (Dt. 8:7-14). Remember the conclusion of this psalm—provided that God is their covenanted Jehovah. 

Remember Him . . . in the name of Christ, remember Him.

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Psalm 143: When Sinners Withstand the Wicked

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm is offered up to God in a time of great distress. We do not know if it is from the time of Saul’s persecution, or from Absalom’s rebellion, or from some other time. Regardless, the need is pressing and great, and David is presenting his prayers to God with great urgency.

THE TEXT

“A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications: In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: For in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; He hath smitten my life down to the ground; He hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: Hide not thy face from me, Lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; For in thee do I trust: Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; For I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake: For thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, And destroy all them that afflict my soul: For I am thy servant” (Psalm 143). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The psalm is from the pen of David. He begins with the plea that his prayers and supplications be heard (v. 1). He makes the request on the strength of God’s faithfulness, God’s righteousness (v. 1). David is taking a stand against his persecuting enemies, but he well knows that if God wanted to get him, he could not be justified (v. 2). The enemy is persecuting his soul, and has struck his life to the ground. He has been made to dwell in darkness, like a long-dead carcass (v. 3). David’s spirit is overwhelmed; his heart is desolate (v. 4). It was not always this way. David remembers when times were better. He thinks about that. Why could not God do that again? (v. 5). So he stretches out his hands to God, pleading with Him (v. 6). His soul is like cracked earth, parched and dry (v. 6). Pause and reflect. Selah. David urges God to hurry up because he can feel his spirit failing. He does not want to go down to the pit (v. 7). He prays for a hesed-deliverance, and wants to walk uprightly (v. 8). He hides in God, seeking deliverance from God (v. 9). He prays that God teach him to do God’s will, which is distinct from merely knowing it (v. 10). That will is necessarily good because God’s Spirit is good (v. 10). He prays that God would enliven him. And the basis of the prayer to deliver his soul from trouble is for the Lord’s name’s sake (v. 11), for His righteousness’ sake (v. 11). He concludes the prayer with the desire that God (in His mercy) cut off David’s enemies, destroying all those who afflict his soul (v. 12). For David is His servant (v. 12). 

MY SERVANT DAVID

This psalm concludes with David entering his final plea—“for I am thy servant.” To be a servant of God is a great honor, and like all such honors, it is not one for us to take upon ourselves. We do not get to appoint ourselves to this station, even if outsiders consider it to be a lowly station. And David certainly does not take such an honor upon himself.

When David wanted to build the Temple, and Nathan the prophet comes back to countermand what he had earlier approved, this is how that passage begins. “And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?” (2 Samuel 7:4–5, cf. 8). The Lord tells David no regarding the Temple, but then gives him a staggering promise instead. Someone descended from David will reign on the throne of David forever (v. 13). It is after this that David dares to call himself God’s servant (vv. 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29), and he does so again and again.

BEFORE MAN, BEFORE GOD

The basic plea of this psalm is for God to defend. But there is an interesting comment made right near the beginning. “And enter not into judgment with thy servant: For in thy sight shall no man living be justified” (Psalm 143:2). He is asking God to defend, and here he asks that God not attack.

There is righteousness before men, and there is righteousness before God. It is possible for a man to claim righteousness over against other men. The charges and accusations they make are false. They are liars. “False witnesses did rise up; They laid to my charge things that I knew not” (Psalm 35:11). At the same time, in a different respect, what would happen if God took over the prosecution? “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Psalm 130:3). 

This is the set up when sinners are used by God to withstand the wicked. Those of us who are involved in the controversies of the day should recognize that if our enemies knew just a fraction of what God knows about us, it would be all over. But they don’t, and He’s not telling. 

RIGHTEOUS FORGIVENESS

Why is He not telling? There is something very strange in this psalm. David is praying for deliverance here, and in the first verse, he is asking for it on the basis of God’s faithfulness, God’s righteousness. He is not asking for mercy, but rather righteousness. How can a sinner ask for anything remotely connected with righteousness? And he does it again in v. 11—“for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.”

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

This is a great mystery, and the only possible solution to it is found in the blood of Christ’s cross. That is the only place where you could ever find a righteous forgiveness. God intends to be just and the one who justifies (Rom. 3:26).  

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The Politics of Christmas (Advent Grab Bag #1) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION 

As is our custom, we began using the Definition of Chalcedon this morning for our Creed, which was adopted and published in 451 A.D. The purpose of the Definition was to further defend the full divinity and humanity of Christ from several heresies, while preserving the Creator-creature distinction. 

All non-Christian societies are fundamentally what Peter Jones calls “oneist.” Oneism teaches that everything is essentially one, part of the same basic substance, and therefore oneism is pantheistic. Christianity is the lone religion in the world that teaches “twoism,” that there are fundamentally two different realities: God and everything else. This has profound implications for all of life, including how we think about politics and power. 

The Texts: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:21-23).

“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Ps. 102:25-27). 

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

The center of human rebellion is the refusal to acknowledge God as He truly is and that is “uncorruptible” and utterly unlike anything in creation, all of which is “corruptible,” and refusing to be thankful for this reality, people become foolish idolaters (Rom. 1:21-23). Likewise, Psalm 102 describes God as the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth, and the difference between the Creator and His creation is that creation perishes, wears out, and changes, but the Creator endures, remains the same, and has no end (Ps. 102:25-27). Finally, the Bible says there is only one God and one mediator between God and man: Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). 

THE COUNCILS & HERESIES

Leading up to the Council of Nicaea in 325, a pastor named Arius taught that Jesus was not fully God, but rather was a man who was very much like God. Arius taught that there was “a time” (so to speak) when the Son was not. He said, the Son had a beginning. Athanasius and others argued that Christ was fully God and was therefore of the “same substance” with the Father (“homoousias”). The later Arians would say that Christ had a “similar substance” with the Father (“homoiousias”). This really is a watershed issue. If Jesus is merely the highest created being, the most exalted creature, right next to God, then the Creator-creature divide has collapsed. Instead of the infinite chasm between God and His creation that the Bible teaches, there is a ladder, a hierarchy or gradation of “being” that may ascend to Godhead. 

The Council of Nicaea concluded that Athanasius was correct and published the Nicene Creed which affirms that Christ is fully God and fully man, eternally begotten, “not made,” and of the same substance with the Father. The Council of Chalcedon came along in 451 and further nailed the coffin shut on Arianism (and other Christological heresies), insisting that the Divine and human natures come together in Christ “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” While this might seem esoteric or pedantic, it really is glorious. It is saying that the Creator-creation distinction remains intact even in the one mediator between God and man. There is no hierarchy of being ascending and merging into God. There is only God and everything else, and Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and everything else, and in His person, those two natures are united “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union.”

CHALCEDONIAN POLITICS

The political ramifications for this are enormous. The tendency of all cultures dedicated to “oneism” is toward the Tower of Babel: consolidating global resources and power in an effort to ascend to Heaven, whether literally or simply by achieving heaven/utopia. This process always includes leaders claiming the authority of God/gods. In the ancient world, Pharaoh was the human representative of the sun god, Ra, and in Rome, Caesar was hailed as the divine “lord” and son of Jupiter. When the early Christians acclaimed Jesus as “Lord” and “Son of God,” this was in direct defiance of the emperor cult. Later, when the Roman Pope claimed to be the universal pontiff and exercised massive political power, it was somewhat based on the supposed authority to change bread and wine into the flesh and blood of God. Political power has often been exercised under the guise of unlimited divine power. But the Biblical religion has always insisted that all authority comes from God and is therefore “under God” and limited by God and His Word. While modern governments have not yet had the audacity to openly claim this divinity, this hasn’t stopped them from acting like it in their totalitarian claims on our property, income, children, and healthcare. 

APPLICATIONS

What we are celebrating at Christmas is not only our eternal salvation but also freedom from every kind of tyranny, beginning with death itself, but also sin, the Devil, and all Satanic manipulation, oppression, and power grabs. The state is not God, nor is it the mediator between God and man. And no one can ascend to God or Heaven. The One born in Bethlehem, He is the eternal Son of God, the Lord and only mediator between God and Man. All earthly authorities answer to Him. Christmas means limited government. 

And this is why the Kingdom goes forth as proclamation, baptism, communion, and worship. There is nothing that we can do to ascend to God in Heaven. There is no way for us to cross that chasm, and our sin only makes the distance greater. Only God can come to us, and so He has.

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Psalm 142: Prayer Ascends from Low Places

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INTRODUCTION

This is a maskil, meaning a psalm of instruction. There is much for us to learn here. The occasion for it was when David was “in the cave,” with that being doubtless the time when Saul was in hot pursuit of him with 3,000 men. David was in a very low place, and this was compounded by the fact that he was in a very low condition, a very low way. But Scripture teaches us that “with the lowly is wisdom” (Prov. 11:2) Remember that the Lord has “respect unto the lowly” (Ps. 138:6)

THE TEXT

“Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the Lord with my voice; With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: Refuge failed me; No man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; For I am brought very low: Deliver me from my persecutors; For they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: The righteous shall compass me about; For thou shalt deal bountifully with me” (Psalm 142). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This is a maskil about affliction, and who does not need to learn the lessons here? This is a prayer from a deep cave. David was in enough distress that he cried out to the Lord aloud (v. 1). He says this twice—he presented his supplication out loud. He did not pray about his troubles in a vague or general way—he poured them all out before the Lord (v. 2). He showed Jehovah all his troubles, and not because God needed the information. Rather it is because we need to see Him seeing it. David reminds himself that when his spirit was overwhelmed . . . God knew the steps of his path (v. 3). And the path that God knows is the same path where his enemies have laid their snares (v. 3). David looked at his right hand, where his defender should have been, and there was no one there (v. 4). All had abandoned him. Nobody cared (v. 4). Bereft of friends, he cried out to the Lord (v. 5), the God who was his refuge and his portion in this life (v. 5). He pleads with God to hear his cry. His first argument is his despondency (v. 6). His second argument is that he is very weak (v. 6). Bring me out of this prison/cave in order that I might praise Your name (v. 7). And then he turns, as on a dime. He ends on a confident and jubilant note . . . from the same cave. This deserted one will at some point be surrounded with righteous men (v. 7). And why? Because God is going to deal bountifully with him (v. 7).

NOBODY LOVES ME BUT MY MOTHER

There is a pitiful blues lament from B.B. King that we might remember here. “Nobody loves me but my mother, and she could be jiving too.” This is the dilemma of the psalmist in vv. 4-5. He looks around for support from friends, and he sees that he doesn’t have any.

This is a common theme in Scripture. We should not be surprised that Job experienced it (Job 6:15). The apostle Paul knew what this terrible experience was like also. Demas deserted him (2 Tim. 4:10). At his first defense, everyone was absent (2 Tim. 4:16). All of Paul’s friends in Asia had ditched him (2 Tim. 1:15).

And of course, the ultimate experience of this is seen in the passion of the Lord. The shepherd was struck, and all the sheep were scattered (Zech. 13:7). This is made more poignant in that Jesus saw that particular desertion coming (Matt. 26:31). Judas, who had been one of the twelve, betrayed Him with a kiss, a fact that Jesus noted (Luke 22:48). Peter, spokesman for the Twelve, and very loud in his professions of loyalty to the Lord, denied Him three times, and with curses (Mark 14:71). And at the final, fatal moment, Jesus turned and looked at him (Luke 22:61). 

“I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: They that did see me without fled from me” (Psalm 31:11). 

PRAYER ASCENDS

It is the nature of true prayer to rise, to ascend. And if all you have left is prayer, it is no argument to say that you are in a very low place. We sometimes joke that from “down here” there is no place to go but up. While that may or may not be true about you personally, it is always true about a sincere and heartfelt prayer. There is no place for such prayer to go, but up.

True prayers don’t puddle on the floor. They don’t sink down like a heavy gas. They don’t clatter when you drop them. 

ENVISIONING THE END

There are two sorts of imagining. One is the more common of the two, and can best be described as daydreaming. The second kind of imagining is that which sees Christ with the eye of faith. And when you see Christ, you see everything that comes with Him. When Christ delivers, He delivers in real time, in history. And so, when David lifted up his eyes at the end of the psalm, his eyes following his prayer, what did he see? He saw, with the eye of faith, how this trouble was going to turn out. He had been deserted by his sunshine friends, but one of the things he foresaw is that he was going to be surrounded by a crowd of righteous men. In the moment of desertion, it is a temptation to say there are no righteous men. There are no true friends. This is a lie. It is accurate to say that there are no true friends here, but there are true friends. Remember, David. Remember Jonathan, one of the truest friends in all of Scripture. 

And we all have a friend who is even truer than that. When we walk in the faith of Abraham we find that we have become friends with the Friend of Abraham (Jas. 2:23).

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