Testing, Testing, 123
Text: Psalm 11:1-7
Once again; I want to thank you all for the privilege of sharing God’s Word with you this morning. I’m grateful for the opportunity. Let’s go ahead and open with a word of prayer. (PRAYER)
I’m taking some graduate courses over at Northwestern right now, and a little over a week ago, I had to take a test. Now; when I was in high school – many years ago, I hated taking tests. I always felt like it was some evil scheme created by teachers in order to get me, and make me ineligible to play sports or something. You know; I had it in my head that the teachers were really out to get me. But then, as I got older, it hit me. It’s the job of the teacher, or the professor to educate their students, but how is the teacher or professor supposed to know if their students are gaining the knowledge and getting the education they’re supposed to be getting, if they never give their students a test of some sort? You see; the whole purpose of a test is to show whether or not you truly know the material you’re supposed to. And sometimes, the test shows that you have mastery over the material. Sometimes it shows that you know it, but maybe not as well as you should. And sometimes, the test shows that you don’t know it at all. It shows that you haven’t learned the material, or subject matter, or the lessons. Now I want you to keep that in mind as we open up God’s Word this morning.
We’re in the Book of Psalms – Psalm 11:1-7 (READ).
Now let’s break down this passage together. It’s written by David, and it’s pretty obvious from reading through it, that David is going through a rough patch. His enemies are giving him trouble and we can see by the first few verses, he’s been told by someone… maybe it’s his friends, or his advisors, that he needs to run away and go to a stronghold of some sort. That’s what they’re saying to him here… “The wicked are all around you… they’ve got their bows and their shooting… and even if they’re shooting in the dark, even if they’re shooting blindly, one of the arrows might find it’s mark. It’s best to take shelter – flee like bird to your mountain. Wait this thing out. Lay low for a while.”
But I love David’s answer to them. “In the Lord, I take refuge.”
So in a very literal, and physical, and real sense, someone has told David to go to his mountain. Go to your fortress, your stronghold. You’ll be safe there. That’s what they’re saying, but David has a deeper understanding. The people are saying “Flee to your mountain!” But David is saying, “The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress. He is my strong tower! He is my shield and strength!” You see; David understood that. And so he rebukes those advisors who are telling him to flee to his mountain. He says to them, “How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain”? “How can you say to me, seek safety, and security, and salvation in something other than the Lord?” “No, no… IN THE LORD – I TAKE REFUGE!”
And then he asks a question in verse 3, he says, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” And basically what he’s saying here is: “If we as a nation, and I as the king… if we turn away from the Lord… if we start seeking salvation in physical, worldly means… if we start relying on our own wisdom and strength… if we start trusting in our own ability, and our military might… and we turn away from the ways of the Lord. It’s going to destroy us. It’s going to destroy the foundations of our nation, it will destroy our economy. It will destroy our political and social system. And then what are we going to do? What are we going to do if everything that our society is built on is destroyed?”
And man, that is a great question, isn’t it?
Because that’s what the enemies of God want to do isn’t it? They want to destroy the foundations. They want to replace the Biblical teaching of creation with evolution. They want to transform the way the culture thinks about marriage, and morality. They want to exchange truth for relativism. They want to destroy the foundations, and then what will the righteous do?
So David is saying, “No, I’m not going to run and hide in some mountain stronghold.” And here’s why he says that - Look at verses 4 & 5, “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous…”
So David sees this crisis that he’s going through – as a test… And what’s the purpose of a test again? The purpose of a test is to show, whether or not you actually know what you’re supposed to know. Think about that for a second. Do you want a surgeon operating on you who has never had to take some kind of test to make sure he knows what he says he knows?
So David sees what he’s going through – as a test… and it’s a test FROM THE LORD.
That’s what he says, “THE LORD TESTS THE RIGHTEOUS…”
If you go back up and look at verse 4 he says, “The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord’s throne is in heaven.” What David is saying there is, “Listen, God’s on His throne. All this craziness that’s going on around me, isn’t some random thing, and it’s certainly not something outside of God’s control – God is on His throne. He’s in complete control of this. This is a test from the Lord… and you’re telling me to trust in the wisdom of men, and the strength of men, and in worldly things… Uhm… nope, The Lord is my refuge. I will trust in Him.”
Now understand this – the threats being made against David were serious, and the danger around him was real. There were people who literally wanted to kill him. But David understood that it was a test from the Lord. And here’s the thing. This test wasn’t about whether or not God was going to keep David safe. IT wasn’t about whether or not God was going to give him victory over his enemies, or allow them to defeat David. God was not the One being tested here. David was. So ultimately; this was a test to show whether or not David really and truly trusted in the Lord.
Now let me ask you – do God’s people have to go through tests?
Well, I’m sure you all remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego… You remember that story right? Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon sets up a golden image and commands everyone to bow down and worship it, and those 3 young men said, “NO! We’re not going to worship some idol.” And Nebuchadnezzar said, “Listen fella’s if you don’t worship that golden image, I’m going to throw you into a burning hot furnace.” And do you remember what they told the king? They said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery, furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, (in other words, even if God doesn’t deliver us from the fiery furnace, and we die)… if not, we WILL NOT serve your gods or worship the golden image you’ve set up.”
And I’m sure you remember the story of Daniel? How king Darius had made a law that said, no one could make a petition or pray to any god, or any man, other than himself, and if they did, they would be thrown into a den of hungry lions? And what did Daniel do as soon as he heard about that law? He went and prayed, not to Darius, but to God. And what about Esther? You remember the story of Esther, how she went before Xerxes, even though she could’ve been killed. Or we could jump to the New Testament, and look at the disciples. How they were commanded not to preach in Jesus Name, they were beaten, and thrown in jail, and the governing officials commanded them not to preach about Jesus. And they did it anyway. And we could look at Job… he was a guy who loved and served God, and yet he had to go through some serious hardship… But Job ends up making, probably one of the greatest statements of faith in all of Scripture. Right in the middle of all of his suffering and pain, and hardship, Job stands up and says, “Even if God slays me, I will trust in Him.” (Job 13:15).
ARE YOU GOING TO TRUST IN THE LORD?
ARE YOU GOING TO TRUST IN THE GOODNESS AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD?
R.C. Sproul – a great theologian, pastor, and philosopher used to say, “There are no maverick molecules”. What he meant by that was that God is always in control. There’s no random out of control virus going on right now… it might seem that way from our perspective, but our God is sovereign, and He’s almighty, and He is in control!
Colossians 1:16-17 says, “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him, and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Church, knowing this about our God should give us a great deal of confidence. It should motivate us to live as we should in these crazy times that we find ourselves in. God is in His holy temple – God is on His throne! He is the Almighty, Sovereign, Lord of the universe.
So let’s get to some application here.
We know that God is Sovereign, and in complete control of the universe He has created. We know that God is Almighty and All-Powerful. We know that God is Good, that He is morally upright and perfect in all of His ways. We know that right? That’s what we confess as Christians. But what does knowing and confessing all of that do for us right now? If we know God and we know these things about God, ‘How should we then live’?
How should you – as a follower of Jesus Christ, respond to the things you see going on in our world right now? How should you – as a follower of Jesus Christ, respond to the things that are going on in your personal life? Maybe, one of the first things we should do, when we find ourselves going through hard things and difficult times is ask ourselves – “Is this a test?” And then of course; another question comes out of that… “If it is a test, am I passing?”
Christian brothers and sisters – what has all this COVID-19 mess revealed about your heart? When you turn on the TV and you see anarchists and communists rioting in the streets of Portland, and Minneapolis, and Kenosha – what do the thoughts that fill your mind reveal about your heart? When you get that cancer diagnosis, or you get laid off from your job, what does that reveal about your heart? Where is your faith at? What has been revealed about your heart over these last few months? What’s been revealed about your priorities? What’s been revealed about your faith? What has this test that we’ve all been going through shown to be the most important thing in your life? Is it your health? Your money? Your comfort? Or is it God and your walk with Him? Are you spending more time with God through all of this, or less time?
Is what you’re going through right now a test? And are you passing the test. Let me give an illustration and then we’ll close:
~ Captain America/Hand grenade example: “Is this a test?”
Church; I pray that as we all go through various tests throughout life, we come out shining like gold. I pray that as God searches our hearts, that He shows us these areas where we fall short, and gives us grace to grow, and mature in our faith. And I pray, that on that “graduation day” as we stand before the God Almighty, we are found in Christ – having passed the test.
CLOSING
