This morning, I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 34. Now, for those of you who pay attention to details and have noticed the bulletin is not incorrect, we will also be dealing with Psalm 34 tonight. As I've been considering a communion meditation on Psalm 34, verse 8, as I studied the psalm, I was reminded of a conversation I had with one of you maybe a little over a month ago talking about a certain state of our congregation, especially in recent months. And the psalm reminded me of that. So we consider the psalm this morning as well as tonight. This morning we consider verses 17 through 19 in a particular way. Let's read together the entire psalm as we now give our attention to the Word of God. I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant. Their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called and the Lord heard him. He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil to cut off the memory of them from the earth. And again, verses 17 through 19, our text in particular, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. He protects all his bones. Not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked. The foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems his servants. No one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, if I were asked to state the overall theme of Psalm 34, I think I would have to say that after reading it over and over again and considering it, I would have to say that in a general way, this psalm is talking about the blessing of a true and right relationship with the Lord. That's quite broad, and the psalm then unpacks that, but about a blessing of a true and a right relationship with the Lord. And now the foundation of that true and right relationship, of course, is redemption. And as verse 22 says, the Lord redeems His servants. No one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him. Those who are redeemed from sin and shame by the Lord Jesus Christ are free from condemnation by God and instead take refuge in God. And they confess, as David did in Psalm 27, The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. And God's people then display that true and right relationship by keeping their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking lies and turning from evil and doing good by seeking peace and pursuing it. Those who by the grace of God enjoy that true and right relationship with Him taste and see His goodness in life. And as David makes clear, in the second half of the psalm, this is especially true in the midst of the afflictions and the adversities of life as he speaks extensively of God's goodness to the righteous in adversity. As we consider that this morning, we notice that God's goodness is a goodness that is first of all professed. And secondly, it is a goodness that is experienced. Now some might be tempted to say that God's goodness and the believer's adversity or affliction is a contradiction. The two don't go together because if God were truly good, there would be no troubles in life, no troubles of life for His people. How could that be, you see? But very simply, that's far from true. We know that because of sin in the world, there is hardship and pain and sickness and death and persecution, Disappointment, hurt, ridicule, selfishness, greed, pride, envy, offense, and so many other troubles that cannot be counted. We also know, many of us by experience, that believers are not excluded from these things. The Psalms are filled with references to the trials of God's people. David says in Psalm 3, O Lord, how many are my foes? How many rise up against me? He says in Psalm chapter 6, O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long? I am worn out from groaning all night long. I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow. They fail because of all my foes. And David says in Psalm 25, verse 18, Look upon my affliction and my distress. They are there. They are real. O Lord, look upon them. And then David continues, though, and take away all my sins. Jesus said we could count on these things, especially persecution and tribulation. Yet, beloved, our comfort in the midst of adversity is that we are not condemned by God. And our comfort is that we will not bear the punishment for our sin because Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and He rescued us from the curse of sin. Yet on this side of glory, While we are still in this life, we still suffer the effects of sin. We still suffer the hatred of the world. John Calvin wrote, Although God governs the righteous and provides for their safety, they are yet subject and exposed to many miseries that, being tested by such trials, they may give evidence of their invincible constancy and they may experience so much more that God is their deliverer. And the late Dr. James Boyce wrote, The fear of the Lord is indeed the foundation of life, the key to joy in life and long and happy days, but it is not a guarantee that life will be easy. It, that is the fear of the Lord, may mend the broken heart, but it does not prevent that heart from being broken. It may restore the spiritually crushed, but it does not crush the forces that may create oppression. See, David, we know, was no stranger to this. He suffered the result of his own sin as well. he suffered at the hands of his wicked enemies and we are no strangers to adversity and affliction either are we this has been and is even at this very time true for some of us personally again whether because of sickness or death or other hardship during these times or or sometime throughout our life and this has been and is true of us also corporately as a congregation what I mean is there have been times over the past months where our list of the sick and the afflicted in the bulletin has been so long so many it takes up a lot of space the prayer needs seem to be endless and this can be hard even for a congregation to deal with at times especially when we are used to so many of the blessings the good things as we see them of this life including good health and prosperity and strong relationships. But then when things turn for the worse, when we face failing health or the death of a loved one like a spouse or a child or even a grandchild or our parents, when our marriage seems broken and our other relationships to be out of sort, we're tempted to cry out, why me, Lord? What have I done? Why me? Or others may cry out for us, well, why you? Why is this happening to you? As I mentioned in the earlier service, I remember that about eight years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer. I had people say that to me. Why you? Of all people. You've given your life to the Lord in ministry. You've just finished seminary with a wife and four children. Looking forward to a ministry in the church of God. Why you? By God's grace, I could say, why not me? I'm no different than anyone else. But the truth is, in those difficult times, we do wonder, don't we, how can I praise the Lord? How is it possible to praise the Lord for His goodness in the midst of affliction? Is it possible? Beloved, we need to be reminded how we as God's redeemed people are to face the troubles of this life. In the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 10 deals with the providence of God and because God governs and controls all things and because nothing happens by chance, He calls His people to be thankful in prosperity. Again, not proud or arrogant as I've said from time to time, but thankful in prosperity, but also patient in adversity. Patient in adversity. Of course, we know that this is the very opposite of how the world handles adversity, isn't it? The world is impatient. The world gets downright angry and bitter in adversity. The world wants to lash out and strike out because it's always someone else's fault when adversity strikes us. We are called, as God's people, to be patient in adversity. Well, how are we to be patient? And how can we be patient in adversity? Very simply, it's because God is good. And because all that He does is good. And in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him. Boys and girls, believe it or not, this is even true when you get sick and you miss a party at school or you miss a time at a friend's house or something else you were really looking forward to. God is still good. And that is still for our good. Again, in this text, through David, our Lord teaches us about God's goodness to the righteous in adversity. And first of all, God's goodness is professed in adversity. It's professed. Verse 17 begins, The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them. The righteous cry out. You see, believe it or not, this crying out is a profession of God's goodness. Because the righteous cry out to none other than the Lord. And the righteous are, as verse 18 says, the brokenhearted, those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous are those who come before God with a broken heart and a contrite spirit which God will not despise. The righteous are those who are righteous not in themselves, but they are righteous in Jesus Christ. They are those who have the comfort of the Lord's redemption. They are those who take refuge in Him. those who have the assurance that there is now no condemnation for them because by God's grace they are indeed in Christ Jesus. And their crying out to God in adversity and affliction is a profession of God's goodness because they know there is no other so good and so reliable and so able to help them. And they have the confidence, as verse 19 says, a righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers Him from them all. The cry of the righteous is a profession of God's goodness as God's people take Jesus at His word when He said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. How can you and I have this confidence, especially during, in the very, very heat of the troubles of life? Well, we know that David speaks from experience, doesn't he? He told King Saul that the Lord had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. We know that David was delivered from the taunting and the wrath of Goliath. As David wrote this psalm, this very psalm, he enjoyed deliverance from the hate of King Saul. As Jonathan had found out that it was indeed Saul's intention to put David to death. And David had to flee to the Philistines, those who hated him. Those to whom he had done much destruction. But David enjoyed deliverance, even as he had to act crazy for a time. But through that, the Lord provided that way of escape. We know that David experienced deliverance as well from his sin with Bathsheba. You see, all David had to do was remember what God had already done for him. God had proven Himself to David over and over and over again. Psalm 77. About a year and a half ago, Pastor Kamminga preached a powerful sermon on Psalm 77, dealing with much the same subject. And Psalm 77 reminds us that at all times, but especially in the midst of adversity, when we don't see God acting on our behalf, in our time, at the snap of our fingers, when we don't see that, we are not to lose heart. We are to remember God's faithfulness in the past. The psalmist says in verse 9, he says, Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger withheld His compassion? And then notice verses 10 through 15. Then I thought, to this I will appeal, the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What God is so great is our God. You are the God who performs miracles. You display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. You see, beloved, in the midst of the many troubles that a righteous man may very well have, as David says, we too, even in this day, we are to remember God's mighty acts in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is our anchor of hope. We are to look to the cross of Jesus and remember why He came to this earth, why He humbled Himself as a man, why He was nailed to that cross. Because of sin, huh? My sin and your sin. And on that cross, beloved, He delivered us from the greatest and the most terrible adversity that anyone could ever face more terrible than anything. And the worst thing that we could even consider in this life. The wrath and punishment of God and the eternal torment of hell. Beloved, Satan is conquered. Sin is no longer master over us. Death and the grave have lost their sting. The curse and the condemnation of sin will never ever touch the believer again. There is no greater deliverance for God's people. Yes, the righteous man may have many troubles, but none can compare to the trouble from which we have already been delivered. And when we cry out to the God of our salvation in the face of the adversities of this life, then we confess that our help indeed comes only from the Lord. And that, beloved, is also a profession of His goodness. But God's goodness to the righteous is also then experienced in adversity. Read with me the text again. Actually, let's begin at verse 15 through 20. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. He protects all his bones. Not one of them will be broken. Now, if we were to take these words and simply apply them only to the physical trials and troubles of this life, boy, we would be in trouble, wouldn't we? We would be in trouble because our hope would disappear in a flash. Because our experience tells a much different story, doesn't it? Our sicknesses do sometimes lead to death. Our faith does get us laughed at, picked on, sworn at, even fired from our jobs. We do sometimes struggle in our marriages and in our other relationships of life. Our money often does run out before the next paycheck comes. Our friends do turn their backs on us. You see, beloved, nowhere does God promise deliverance from the trials and the temptations in this life our way. In fact, pretty much the opposite. In Isaiah 43, the Lord says, When you pass through the waters, when you pass through the rivers, when you walk through the fire, not if, but when, you will. But He says, I will be with you. You are mine. I have redeemed you, you belong to me, I love you. He does promise hope for the life to come as His people own and enjoy the ultimate deliverance of redemption as we have said. In Jesus Christ we have an inheritance kept safe in heaven for us which is guaranteed and because of that hope which is ours by faith, that hope that we know. Through that hope we experience God's goodness in the midst of adversity in this life. So much so that David could say after he says that my foes are many in Psalm 3, he says, but You are a shield around me, O Lord. You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. And as mysterious as it may often seem to us, we know by the illumination and comfort of the Holy Spirit, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and the good that God accomplishes for us through our adversity is that He chisels and He shapes or molds and He polishes our faith as He prepares us for heaven. Peter speaks of this in a most comforting fashion in 1 Peter 1, verses 3-9. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, in that blessedness which you just spoke, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These, these trials, have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you are receiving the gold of your faith, the salvation of your souls. There's no greater good, beloved, that God is working toward. Through the difficulties of this life that we endure, whatever those difficulties may be, He is preparing our faith, completing our faith for that day of Christ Jesus. But not only does God prepare us for heaven through the troubles of this life, but He also, through the troubles, draws His people closer to Him in this life. Indeed, with the goal being that one day our faith at His coming, at Christ's coming, would glorify and praise and honor Him. Sure, God's people are called to remember what God has done in the past and what He has promised for the future. But our experience of God's goodness is not just past and not just future, but it comes even in the heart and heat of adversity. And of course, again, this is foreign to the world, isn't it? It doesn't make sense. And we need to admit that even for us at times, because of our sin, we too wonder about all of this. But in the midst of adversity, believers understand more fully God's blessed deliverance from sin. And as Calvin says, we experience so much more that God and God alone is our deliverer. But we understand more fully God's blessed deliverance from sin. You see, our miseries in this life cannot compare with the misery of sin, and we've already been given deliverance from that. And how wonderful that must be to us as we endure affliction in this life. Even boys and girls, you need to remember that when something doesn't go the way you had anticipated because you get sick or something. We are to think about what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. That He has delivered us from something so much greater than words can express. We have such a great salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and God in His grace continually holds that great salvation before us in the midst of the troubles of life. But also, as Calvin says in his commentary on Psalm 34, if they, that as believers, were exempted from every kind of trial, their faith would languish, they would cease to call upon God, and their piety would remain hidden and unknown. I think that's why we're called to be thankful in prosperity, isn't it? So we don't forget God. But in other words, through adversity and affliction, God continually reminds us of our need for Him. And He reminds us that deliverance can be found only in Him. And therefore, through the troubles of life, you see, He draws from our hearts and lips our cry to Him for help. He draws from us, in our experience of adversity, He draws from us our profession of faith in Him. and that, beloved, is also for our good. That's one of the ways He preserves His people in the faith. But now we must also confess that we do experience deliverance from all the adversities we face in this life. That adversity may not be in the way that we think. The persecution and tribulation may not stop. Most likely it will not. Our sicknesses might not be healed. In fact, they may very well lead to death. our debt might not be erased overnight, if at all. Our employer might not become more gracious towards us. We might not get into that college or get that job that we think we so desperately need. Satan and his hosts, I dare to say, will not stop attacking and tempting us. Yet we are still delivered in this life. How? You see, Paul says it beautifully in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 7 to 12. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. Beloved God's goodness is experienced by the righteous in adversity as we face adversity in faith. And He delivers by giving joy in our sorrow. Comfort in our mourning. Hope when things around us look hopeless. Contentment when we have little. Strength when we think that we cannot possibly go on another day. Contentment and hope in the face of death. Boys and girls and young people, when your friends turn their backs on you and forsake you, God delivers you when you look to His Son, Jesus Christ, who is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And beloved, when we look around and witness the state of our country becoming more and more wicked and also see our country more and more challenging the Christian faith and our freedom of religion, God delivers us with the knowledge and the hope that Jesus Christ, the ultimate judge, will return one day to set all things straight and that those who rise up against Him will not stand. When we lose our believing loved ones to death in our sorrow, we are delivered as the Word of God reminds us that Christ's prayer is answered, which He prayed in John 17, verse 24, Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am and to see My glory. God's goodness is experienced in adversity as we are given the comfort that God is in control, that He makes no mistakes as we experience the truth that His grace is sufficient for us in our weakness. We are given the comfort that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and that nothing shall separate us from His love. And all of this, beloved, is truly a reason to boast in the Lord and to glorify Him as individuals and as a congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, Our church prayer list is long. Again today. Some names come off. It seems like others are added right away. There are so many who are suffering affliction of various kinds. And as individual believers and as a congregation, may we not grow weary in adversity, but may we continue to look to the Lord and His strength, because indeed our deliverance comes only from Him. And our comfort is, as verse 15 says, the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry. And by God's grace, we can bear the burden of adversity here in this life because our present sufferings, as Paul says, are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Yet we cannot miss David's warning in verses 16 and 21 when he says, The face of the Lord is against those who do evil to cut off the memory of them from the earth. And evil will slay the wicked. The foes of the righteous will be condemned. Congregation adversity of any kind will crush, at least eventually it will crush, the unbeliever. A number of you have said to me, and I know have said throughout your life, and when you face troubles, I don't know how anyone can face this. Without the Lord. We hear that from people even in these days. We saw that in the contentment of John Johannes. In Dick Hutting, who we know said, Why does the Lord have to make me wait? It's all paid for anyway. My eternal home is paid for. And our brother Ross Zatlin, who freely confesses that God has a great plan for him. Whether in this life or the next. But adversity of any kind will crush the unbeliever because they have no hope. And that adversity points to the eternal trouble of hell. But, verse 18 says, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. There is hope even today for those who turn to the Lord Jesus Christ with a broken and a contrite heart. There is that salvation full and free. And beloved, may that be our comfort as a congregation and as individuals as we face the trials and the troubles of life. And may that be our comfort as well as we look forward to coming back tonight and gathering around the Lord's table to celebrate the full and free salvation of our God. And may we at all times, as verse 8 says, Taste and see that the Lord is good because blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You and praise You for that comfort so rich and so free that comes only by Your mercy and Your grace applied to our hearts and lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. That comfort which in the midst of adversity lifts our eyes to the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ and reminds us of the misery from which we have been delivered and therefore gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow that we might be led and guided by the power of your Spirit to face the difficulties of this life, that we might not roll up and crawl under a stone. and that's not what it means to be patient in adversity, but that we might face adversity in faith, with our heads held high, with our eyes focused on the cross of Jesus, knowing you are the one who keeps us safe in the palm of your hand. We cannot jump out. You will not drop us. You will never let go. And Father, continue to lead us and bring us into your glory one day. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.