Psalm 143

Psalm 143

The Valleys

I.   Valleys in life are always fruitful when they're cultivated in Christ; so we must lift up our circumstances to the Lord in life’s valleys (Vv. 1-6)

a.        David opens his psalm by crying out to God for His mercy. He needs God’s mercy because, like all human beings, he’s sinful and unrighteous by nature. And because God alone is completely righteous, his prayer reveals the sinfulness which is the fundamental barrier between God and all humanity. No matter how good we think we are, or how diligently we attempt righteous works, we’ve all sinned against our Creator, fallen short of His glory, and deserve to be judged by Him accordingly. Thus we’re all in desperate need of God’s mercy, but because God is perfectly righteous and just, He must hold us accountable for our sin against Him, and we have no basis by which to request or obtain God’s mercy, but for His grace! Mercy is when we don’t get what we deserve, and grace is when we get what we don’t deserve, and David cries out to God for His grace on the basis of His faithfulness alone. God has promised to be merciful, forgive, and eternally save those who trust in Him, repent of their sins, and seek salvation in Him. God’s motivation in His salvific mercy and grace is solely His goodness and unconditional love for us, and His sole mechanism for satisfying His own righteous and just nature, and fully expressing His mercy, grace, and love, is the perfect life, sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of His only begotten Son and our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In his time of greatest need, David is trusting in God’s great goodness, faithfulness, and righteousness, and pointing straight forward to the only place and Person to whom we must all look, and in whom alone we have any hope no matter the circumstances in our lives! (Vv. 1-2; Gen. 3:15; Ps. 51:3-5; 130:3-4; Isa. 64:6; John 3:16-17; Rom. 3:19-26; 4:4-5; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 2:16; 1 John 1:9)

b.       Now David specifically describes his circumstances to God. He’s being overwhelmed by an enemy who is pursuing him, pressing in on him, crushing him to the ground, and making him dwell in dark places that seem like a grave. He’s likely describing his persecution under King Saul, whose murderous pursuit of David caused him to hide out in caves. David is overwhelmed and running out of hope, but as he’s faithful to lift up his need and specific circumstances to the Lord, He’s moved to, “remember the days of old”, which means to remember God’s amazing, merciful, and gracious creative and sustaining works. Through the circumstances of this dark valley in David’s life, God has moved David to consider his sinfulness, seek mercy and grace from Him, lift up his needs, consider God’s righteousness, goodness, mercy, grace, and faithful lovingkindness, and consider that the God who helped him in the past is the same God now and forever. And so David is moved to desire more than just relief from his circumstances, he’s moved to desire more of God! Whether our valley is matter of discipline from sin, spiritual attack, or a result of our sin broken world. Whether we’re experiencing overwhelming doubt, fear, temptation, anxiety, sorrow, grief, or hopelessness. All valleys in life must move us to repentance, meditating on who God is, and desiring more of Him. When we do, we’ll remember that our faithful Lord and Savior has experienced and overcome every valley in life which is common to us all, and He’s all we need! (Vv. 3-6; 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Ps. 42:1-6; 63:1-11; 73:25-28; 142:3; Matt. 5:6; 26:37-38; John 10:10; 15:18-20; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; 4:7-10; 12:7-10; Heb. 2:14-18; 4:14-16; 12:5-11; 1 Pet. 1:6-9; 4:12-14)

II.   Valleys in life are always fruitful when they're cultivated in Christ; so we must trust and serve the Lord in the valleys (Vv. 7-12)

a.        As David continues to plead for God’s mercy in his desperate circumstances, he specifically calls out to God desiring the full impact of His constant presence and revelation. He also prayerfully reaffirms his trust in God and is moved to seek His direction, deliverance, priorities, motivation, and stability in His life. David is moved to trust deeply in God and to desire to serve His will and glory in all things. He prays for revival, deliverance, and victory over his enemy and his circumstances, and declares that all of those things are obtained only by serving God’s righteousness for the sake of His Name. So often, when we find ourselves in the deep dark valleys of life, we try to endure by minimizing the severity of our circumstances, allowing the darkness of the valley to cripple and freeze us in fear, or trying to climb out in our own strength, only to continually slide back down. None of these methods are effective for enduring or escaping the valley because God doesn’t desire us to simply endure the valleys, we’re to be fruitful in them. This is the example David gives us, but it’s also the example which Jesus gave as He continually sought the Father’s will above His own in every circumstance. Only by imitating our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, lifting our circumstances up before God, trusting in Him, and serving Him will we be fruitful in the deepest darkest valley, and gain true perspective for our whole lives. (Vv. 7-12; Numb. 6:22-27; Ps. 5:3; 18:1-3, 31, 46; 19:4; 30:5; 37:23-24; 119:105; Prov. 3:5-8; Matt. 7:24-27; 27:39; Mark 11:22-24; John 8:30-36; 15:1-11; 16:20-24, 33; Rom. 8:18-39; 10:17; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; 5:9; Heb. 11:1, 6; Jas. 1:5-8, 22; 1 John 5:11-15)