Times of Trouble

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;  the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.
 The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land
    and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.
The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.

So David begins with these words, recorded in Psalm 41. He recognizes the weakness of man and the power of the Lord who delivers in times of trouble. David knew some times of trouble and the strong arm of God to deliver. In addition, David says it is the Lord that protects and preserves life, and offers blessings in the land, and will never surrender him to his enemies. 

As the Psalm continues, David is seeking mercy from God and confessing sins. Then he mentions his enemies, those who speak bad of him, those who speak falsely of him, and those who slander him. Even his close friend in which David had placed his trust had failed him.  So David knew what it was like to live in troubled times. 

The end of the Psalm shows David's confidence in God. He seeks God's mercy again, knowing it is God who raises him up. He experiences God's pleasure with him, and because God is pleased, David's enemies will never beat him down.  Now look at verse 12:

In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.

David knew he had enemies, but he also knew that he was living a life that pleased God. He knew he was a sinner but he also knew God had forgiven him. He had trusted in the Lord for deliverance, protection, preservation and victory. 

In our day, we would do well to pay attention to David's actions, and especially the way he places his confidence in the Lord.  We are also living in a world where there will be those who continually accuse us, reminding us we are sinners. Satan is always ready to fulfill his role as the accuser.  We even have friends and brethren who might disappoint us or turn their backs on us. We are no different from David when it comes to facing times of trouble in our lives. 

David is our example for overcoming adversity. Like David, sometimes our troubles are brought on ourselves, and sometimes it might be the fault of others. The bottom line is this; regardless of where the difficulty has its origin, the answer always lies within the power of God. 

I refer you to the opening verse of Psalm 41 again. Learn to trust in the Lord for your deliverance. Know that it is God  who sustains us and protects us.  Believe in God's victory for your life.  You, as well as David , can know " In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever."

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