Hope Beyond Dissatisfaction: A Formula That Brings Relief, Part 2

Today on Insight for Living from Chuck Swindoll. You've undoubtedly heard several sayings regarding the pitfalls of overachievement, like this one.

Yeah, I was climbing the proverbial ladder of success, only to discover when I reached the top, it was leaning against the wrong wall. Well today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll invites us to follow along in 1 Peter 5. In this passage, we find ancient biblical wisdom on finding true and lasting satisfaction. Whether you're a full-time professional or a stay-at-home mom, you'll appreciate the counsel from Peter.

It contains what Chuck Swindoll calls a formula for relief. Fortune does not bring success, nor does it mean success. Fame is not a synonym for success, though the world says it is. What most people want in life is contentment, relief, satisfaction. Keep in mind that the vertical dimension is essential, and somehow there must be in the fulfillment of life an investment in other people in order for the heart to find contentment. Some sense of peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and some sense of deliberate investment in the lives of others, service, help, assistance, compassion, therein lies so much of that which brings a sense of peace and success. And by the way, I'll come to it again as I finish my talk. One success comes surprisingly to an individual.

It is not a pursuit as much as it is a surprising discovery in an individual's life. Now listen to three verses out of 1 Peter 5. You younger men, verse 5, likewise be subject to your elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting, throwing, heaping all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. The world's agenda is much more complicated than what we have just read. The world's agenda includes such things as work hard, harder than the next guy, more hours than most. Push for the higher position than you now possess. Push ahead regardless. If necessary, step on the other fellow on the way up. Worry nothing at all about anything but getting ahead, and don't let anything get in your way. Promote yourself no matter what. No problem if you have to be aggressive, or selfish, or intimidating, or mean.

After all, life comes around once, and you've got to go for the top if you want to make it. I find these three verses we just looked at a series of strong contrast to what I just stated as the world's agenda. Let me suggest to you that in God's ancient plan that brings relief, three things are involved.

All three begin with the letter A. The first has to do with authority, and verse 5 talks about that. The second has to do with attitude, verse 6 talks about that. And the third has to do with anxiety, and verse 7 talks about that. First piece of counsel, verse 5, submit yourself to those who are wise.

You want to be successful in God's eyes, clothe yourselves with humility toward others. Notice how the verse begins, it's addressing younger men, and then it becomes all of you. So it isn't limited to younger men, it's to all of us. It says, younger men, be subject, the word has in mind, submitting oneself.

Not to anyone. I learned somewhere, I think it was from Howie Hendricks, many many years ago, that experience is not the best teacher. Guided experience is the best teacher. What you need is the wisdom of another life. And so he begins here, submitting ourselves to those who are wise. Look at the term Peter uses, verse 5, clothe yourselves with humility.

I made a list of some of the things we do when we clothe ourselves with humility toward the wise. We listen to their counsel. We remain open to their reproofs. We watch their lives and follow their example.

We accept their decisions without challenging them. We respect their seasoned years of walking with God. Notice in Proverbs 3, 31, do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. For the crooked man is an abomination to the Lord, but he, capital H, God is intimate with the upright.

Do you love those words as much as I? Have you ever noticed them before in the scriptures? God is intimate with the upright.

He has an intimate relationship. Now look at the proverb again. The crooked man is an abomination to the Lord, but the Lord is intimate with the upright.

It's even stronger in the next one. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked. But he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Now the proverb that Peter quotes, though he scoffs at the scoffers, yet he gives grace to the afflicted. The wise will inherit honor, but fools display dishonor.

What we have here is a sequence of contrastive proverbs, sort of building to a climax. Peter states God is opposed to the proud. Solomon originally wrote God scoffs at the scoffers. The scoff is an expression of scorn, derision, and contempt. There was an Old Testament statement that says God will have them in derision. He will scoff at the scoffer. I don't know quite how the Hebrew humor works, but it must have been something like God will have his final laugh.

God will have his final say. As the scoffer curls his lips and shouts his cursings and resentments toward God, God will answer back in a greater measure. Notice he gives grace to the afflicted.

On your way back to 1 Peter 5, stop off at James 4, the book just before Peter. James 4 verse 6, where James quotes the same proverb but precedes it with a statement I want you to notice, referring to God. He gives a greater grace, therefore it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Okay, the first piece of counsel for those who wish to find satisfying success in life is to submit yourself to those who are wise instead of flaunting your own authority.

And what will you have when you do that? James says you will have a greater grace. And that is certainly what the successful need, a greater measure of grace.

Now back to 1 Peter 5. Second in his series of three commands has to do with attitude. First we are told to submit yourself to those who are wise. This statement says humble yourself under God's mighty hand. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.

Let me stop there before I go to the last part of the verse. No attitude is more important to those who wish to be truly successful than a humility before the mighty hand of God. I did a little study in this passage and in the Old Testament and I found this. In the Old Testament God's hand symbolizes two things.

Most often these two things. First his discipline and second his deliverance. When you read of God's hand in the Hebrew Scriptures you read of God's hand in disciplining his own and you read of his hand in delivering his own.

Let me show you examples of both. Turn back to Exodus 3 verse 19. Come on now, I don't hear many pages turning.

Some are saying, oh honey you turn, I'll just listen. So you turn in your Bible while honey turns in her Bible. Exodus 3, 19.

Look closely. This is God speaking to Moses and the bush is still burning. There's this argument between Moses and God as to whether Moses will go and be involved in the deliverance, 3, 19. But I know, says God, that the king of Egypt, that's Pharaoh, will not permit you to go. Our Bibles read except under compulsion. If you carry a new American Standard Bible you will notice the marginal reference. I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except by a strong hand. That's exactly what the Hebrew text reads.

It will be my mighty hand that will set you free. Look at Exodus 6, 1. You'll see a similar expression. Then the Lord said to Moses, now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh for under compulsion he shall let them go and he repeats it. And under compulsion he shall drive them out of the land. What's he referring to?

Look at the margin. By a strong hand my mighty hand will take control of Pharaoh's heart and I will bring discipline. I will make sure there is an exodus.

Indeed there was. On your way to tracing this, look at Psalm 32. And you know right away when I mention that Psalm it is a reference to David while he was in the pits trying to live through his days of hypocrisy as he kept the secret of Bathsheba in his life, the ugly secret of his immorality. Psalm 32 verse 4. Talk about the disciplining hand of God.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Have you ever spent a night, a hot summer night, trying to sleep without air conditioning when the temperature was hanging around 90, you say you're describing Phoenix.

Or 95, you're describing Palm Springs. I was at Mount Hermon last week and a couple of the nights, well in the daytime it was 105 which was most unusual for that part of the San Francisco peninsula, that whole area. But a couple of the nights were absolutely airless it seemed.

We had taken a little fan to blow the air and it was just like hot air, like a furnace blowing across. And my conscience was clear and I still couldn't sleep. I can't imagine having a guilty conscience on a hot summer night. He's not referring to summer nights.

Look at what he says. Thy hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. He's describing a nagging, gnawing conscience of guilt, like a hot summer night. That's God's hand. That's his mighty hand, attitude we're talking about when God disciplines his hand touches me and I respond, I respond. Second and the better part of the picture is his hand of deliverance. Go back to Deuteronomy 9 26.

We'll just look at one reference here. Deuteronomy 9 26. So I fell down before the Lord, says verse 25, the 40 days and nights, which I did because the Lord had said, I would destroy you. And I prayed to the Lord and I said, Oh Lord God, do not destroy thy people, even by an inheritance whom thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, whom thou has brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand, a hand of deliverance, a hand of deliverance. Now back to first Peter chapter five, the apostle Peter is talking, he is writing about ancient Israel, but he is implying here about all times. He's talking to people in his day and by application in our day.

Now here's the point. When we truly humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, get it now, we willingly accept his disciplines and we gratefully acknowledge his deliverances. If I were speaking to people in prison, I would say under God's mighty hand, you willingly accept the disciplines that he brings you.

And as time passes and the prison fellowship ministry brings a cool breeze of relief, you gratefully acknowledge his deliverance, his deliverance from those awful days and nights of loneliness and shattering disappointment and humiliation. In other words, we don't manipulate events or people. We don't hurry things along. We let God set the pace and we humble ourselves under his hand. It's a steadying hand.

It's a firm hand. Now we're ready for the beneficial result. Chapter five of first Peter verse six, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, why?

Here's the purpose clause, in order that he may exalt you at the proper time. I love that. I love it now.

There are times it's a little slow for me, but I do love it. Let me put it in today's terms because right now it's just a lot of ethereal truths that sound so good, but you don't know how they apply maybe. Let's say you write music and you're pretty good. You're young.

You're virtually unknown. You've got a few tunes you've done. God's given you some lyrics that are, well, in your estimation, rather profound and you're getting better at it. You're writing more. Days are up. You write certain kind of music.

Days are down. You write another kind of music and your tunes and your lyrics, yes, your tunes and your lyrics begin to blend together and you begin to wonder if you should work pretty hard to become known. I mean, after all, it's good stuff.

And the things you're hearing on the tube and over the radio and from the tapes, they're pretty good, but I mean, compared to yours, you can hardly hold a candle. What does it mean to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God as a budding songwriter? Well, what did David do?

You want a good biblical example? Don't do it now, but when you have time, go back to 1 Samuel chapter 16 and you'll read of a young man, not yet 20, who kept his father's sheep and was also sort of a homegrown musician. His first audience were the sheep. He never had the applause of the public. All he got in return for his great music was... All the woolies who must have looked at him, tilted their heads, wagged their tails, shrugged him off, he kept playing his music. He kept writing his songs. He had no idea that his journal would someday find its way into the psaltery or would someday be the very songs that got us through the night. Nor did he promote it. Didn't pursue the glory. In fact, I read it just last evening, 1 Samuel 16, 18, somebody had known about David's music and said to Saul, who needed music, he's a skillful player and the Lord is with him.

Now those are combinations that fit if you want to be able to handle the success that will come with good music, the Lord must be with you. So you humbled yourself under the mighty hand of God and let them find you. David did. God swept him into that dark tent. Coleridge writes a great piece on the dark tent of Saul's depression.

It's wonderful. Anyway, it's dark, it's depressing and in comes David with his soothing, therapeutic lyrics and music and Saul's heart is lightened. Saul kept him there. In fact, it says he would not let him go back and by and by, David killed the giant and the story is familiar from then on.

In 1 Peter 5, when you humbled yourself under the mighty hand of God, God will exalt you. Listen to Psalm 78, 70, he chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfold following the ewes, great with young, verse 71. He brought him to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance, verse 72.

So he led them according to the integrity of his heart and he guided them with the skillfulness of his hands. God found David. God chose David. God exalted David. God gave David his crown and all the way through the process, David humbles himself under the mighty hand.

It still works. You don't have to promote yourself if you've got the stuff, they'll find you. God will use you.

With humility and artistry, David ministered to Saul as no one could. There's much more application from this passage we need to consider, so please stay with us. Chuck Swindoll is talking about hope beyond dissatisfaction. This is Insight for Living. To learn more about this ministry, visit us online at insightworld.org. Right now is a wonderful season for recreational reading and the Insight for Living website clearly illustrates a wide variety of great options. If you haven't been to our online store lately, take some time to browse through the resources that Chuck Swindoll has created for you.

You can find this and so much more when you visit insight.org slash store. And then let me draw your attention to one of Chuck's most popular books because it will help your entire family grow deeper in their Christian walk. It's called Hope Again. This classic volume will reinforce your confidence in God's watchful eye and his tender compassion.

It'll also help you identify the barriers that keep you from trusting him. To purchase a copy of Hope Again, go to insight.org slash store. As a nonprofit ministry, we are completely reliant on the voluntary contributions from those who value Chuck's daily Bible teaching. As God prompts you to give, follow his leading. You can do that online at insight.org slash donate. We never know how God might use these daily programs to inspire people like you, but we do know this, Insight for Living would never get beyond our hometown of Frisco, Texas without the voluntary gifts from people like you. So thank you for joining us in an all-out effort to make disciples of Jesus Christ in all 195 countries of the world. To give a generous donation today, call us. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888, or you can go online to insight.org. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his classic series called Hope Again, next time on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Hope Beyond Dissatisfaction, a formula that brings relief, was copyrighted in 1989, 1990, 1996, 2006, 2009, and 2011, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.