Paradox of Loneliness, Part 3

When life seems to be going sideways, what do you do? What we need to do in your time of despair is to pastor God. God wants you to pastor Him because people can't do much for you, because people can't really help you, because people can't really lift you up from your despair, but God can. And He wants to hear our warfare in prayer. So beat on His door, call on Him, pull your heart out to Him, and keep on doing it until your prayers are answered. Thank you for joining listeners from all around the world for Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.

Connect further with Dr. Youssef at ltw.org. You know, there are times when difficulties seem to multiply, clouding life with darkness and uncertainty, which is where we find David, chosen king of Israel, right there in Psalm 142. David is on the run.

He's hiding in the shadows of a cave, crying out to God in his despair. And if that's where you feel like you are today, stand by. Dr. Michael Youssef is ready to reveal hope from God's Word for you. Hey, when you get in touch with Leading the Way, maybe to be a part of this month's Giving Challenge, do let Dr. Youssef know how and where you listen. That information helps our entire team make stewardship decisions.

All right, right now, let's join Dr. Michael Youssef as he begins today's teaching on Leading the Way. Despair and discouragement can be one of the most haunting form of loneliness. When loneliness of despair begins to set sin, no amounts of trinkets in the world, no things in all of the world is able to fill that void. You see, despair has nothing to do with what you have or what you don't have. Despair has nothing to do with who you are or what you do in life.

Loneliness of despair and despondency comes to every one of us at some point in our lives, in the seasons of our lives. When David wrote Psalm 142, he was in a cave with a band of his followers, just few of loyal friends. But right outside the cave, there were 3,000 trained soldiers, together with King Saul, out to get him.

They're out to kill him after his life. So this psalm, David tells us from first-hand experience inside that cave of how to deal with despair, loneliness that comes from despair. In fact, he teaches us 5 lessons. Let's look at them in this psalm, very short psalm, 7 verses. The first lesson is in verses 1 and 2, and David tells us that in the time of loneliness of despair, God is hearing your prayers. Secondly, in verse 3, he tells us that the time of loneliness of despair, God knows where you are. Thirdly, he tells us in the time of loneliness of despair, in verse 4, God feels your anguish. And fourthly, in verse 5, he tells us that in the time of loneliness of despair, God is your portion. And finally and fifthly, verses 6 and 7, he tells us in the time of loneliness of despair, God will set you free through the praises of his name.

Let's look at the first two verses. Please hear me right of what I'm going to say, because most believers don't understand this principle. There is a time when prayer is worship, but then there is a time when prayer is a warfare.

Some of you can identify with this, but others don't. Learn it in case you need it down the road. In times of despair, God wants you to pray your heart out to him. God wants you to strive with him in prayer. God wants you to call upon heaven and earth and shake them down. The psalmist said, he said, I cry aloud. You know what that means in the Hebrew language? It means that I lift my voice so loud like the shout in the battle cry.

Tough luck for you, private guys and gals, because it's not going to work for you. You're going to be a big stuffer. You're going to stuff it in. That's not what David's advising you. He's advising you to let it out. And you let it out on God, because God wants to hear it. When you are in loneliness of despair, speak your mind to God. Don't be too polite to God. God does not want you to be polite with him.

He really does not. Do you remember when Jesus talked of the woman who kept him going to the judge in Luke 18, and she kept on knocking on his door, kept on knocking on his door, vindicate me, vindicate me, vindicate me. She knew she was right, and she wanted the judge to act, and the judge said, so I can get rid of her.

So I answered her prayer. And secondly, Jesus said, there's a man who comes on his friend's door, and he will knock. And he will keep on knocking. And the man finally doesn't want to get up, but he said he's going to disturb all the family.

They're going to wake up, and they want to sleep, and they'll keep me up all night. So I better go down and shut him up. So he goes down, and he opens the door, and gives the guy whatever he needs.

Now, listen carefully. Jesus is saying, don't do that to people. Do it to God. He's saying that's what he wants you to do.

To keep knocking on his door, to keep knocking on his door until he answers you, and he will answer you. You know what happens among most Christians? Is we reverse God's formula. We reverse God's biblical principles.

We are very polite toward God, but we tell everybody about our problems who would listen to us. That's not what the Bible said. That's not what Jesus is teaching here.

And that is not what David is saying. What does Scripture say? Scripture said, let your moderation be known to who? All men.

Okay? But let your needs known to who? God.

What do we do? We let our moderation be known to God. Oh God, I know you're so busy running the universe.

I don't know if this is really important or not. Oh God, and apologize before you get there. God is saying that's not the way to pray. And then we go around and blab our problems to everybody else.

Now please hear me right. What we need to do in your time of despair is to pester God. God wants you to pester him. Because people can't do much for you. Because people can't really help you.

Because people can't really lift you up from your despair. But God can. And he wants to hear our warfare in prayer. So beat on his door. Call on him. Pull your heart out to him. Cry to him. Put your troubles in words. Verbalize those words.

Speak those words aloud to him. And keep on doing it until your prayers are answered. That way, when your prayers are answered, only one person gets the credit.

You're indebted only to one person. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. You've often heard me say that God will always answer your prayers. He can say yes. He often says no. And there are many times. And that's the kind of answer that he can seem to give me all the time.

Not yet. God is hearing your prayer. But secondly, God knows where you are. Look at verse 3. Where was David?

He was in the cave. Why? Well, why? Because he was afraid of these 3,000 trained soldiers out to get him, wouldn't you?

I would. I'll be shaking like a leaf. But wait a minute. What happened to David when he was 16 years of age?

You remember? Samuel came over, poured oil on his head, said, David, you're going to be the king of Israel. David has not been a king yet, right?

Has God changed his mind? God has not yet fulfilled his promise for David to be a king. David's life is not yet ready to be snuffed out.

Why? God is not through with David yet. God has not yet fulfilled his promises to David yet. And that is why, look at verse 3, he said, when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk, men have hidden snare for me. David's life in the cave is a portrait of Christians.

This Christian person who has committed his life or her life to the Lord Jesus Christ have the salvation of God, the promises of God, the protection of God. But often, the enemy tries to scare you and intimidate you. The enemy thinks that he can destroy you. But can he?

Absolutely not. David, when he is in the spirit, he realizes that can't happen. But every now and again, he gets in the flesh and he sees and he panics.

And he hears what is happening and he listens to rumors and he'll panic. You are not going to be defeated unless you allow defeat come into your life. In your loneliness of despair, you are running scared and the enemy loves it. What about God's salvation to you? What about God's anointing on your life?

What about God's promises to you in the word of God? What about all this? Well, you're not really thinking about this. In the loneliness of your despair, you're not thinking any of this. And David is saying to you, you better do. You better think about God's promises to you because that is the only thing that's going to lift you up from the depths of despair. That's the only thing that's going to encourage you in your Christian walk. God knows where you are. You know, there are basically three Ds.

It has nothing to do with glasses or films or cameras. But there are three Ds in the Bible that will absolutely stomp your Christian growth. The first D is defeat because spiritually speaking, we are no match to the world, the flesh, and the devil. And every time we try to face him on our own strength, you're going to be defeated. And the second D is for distress. No one knows defeat.

Please listen carefully. No one knows defeat without experiencing distress. Feeling sorry for yourself can wear you down until you feel you can't get up anymore. And the third D, which is the third stage, is the D of despair. Despair is when you see that no way out. Despair is when you feel that you're all alone.

Despair is when you feel that nobody understands you. And that's what brings David, thirdly, to the conviction that God feels his anguish. God feels his pain. That's the third point in verse 4.

Listen to what he said. He said, I look to my right and see no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge and no one cares for my life.

Although David was surrounded by a band of loyal men like Abishai and those guys who would literally die for him. And yet he would say, in the time of his despair, he was so blinded by his despair that he can't see those folks who are around him to help him. And he says that I'm alone. God feels your pain.

God feels your anguish. Even though when you think that he doesn't, when you think that he's abandoned you, that he has deserted you in your despair. But you have to make him first in your life.

You have to make him the focus of your life. And David said, I look to my right. Why is he saying I look to my right? Because in the judicial system of his day, if there's a court set up, the advocate, the lawyer in our modern language, always set on the right hand side of the accused. And David was looking for an advocate. He was looking for somebody to defend him. He was looking for someone to speak on his behalf.

Someone who would give a word of encouragement. And he looked to the right, but there was no advocate. Do you think it is an accident that the Bible said that Jesus is on the right hand of the Father? He is the advocate for you and for me. He is saying a good word for you and for me to the Father. He is constantly interceding on your behalf. He is constantly saying good things about you to the Father. He's constantly asking the Father to forgive you. He's constantly asking the Father to restore you. He's constantly asking the Father on your behalf.

He's on the right hand side of God. Whenever you get into the loneliness of despair, remember 1 Peter 5, 7. Cast all your anxiety on him.

Why? Because he cares for you. He hears your prayers. He knows where you are.

He feels with you. And fourthly, God is your portion. Verse 5. David said, I cry to you, O Lord.

I say you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Now the word portion here means the highest prized treasure. The highest prized treasure. God was David's highest prized treasure.

I want to ask you and I hope that you will never have peace until you answer that question to yourself. Is God your highest prized treasure? Is he? Does he come ahead of your net worth? Does he come ahead of your profession? Does he even come ahead of your family? David said, God is my portion.

He is my highest prized treasure. It's most likely if you are suffering from loneliness of despair, it's because a friend or a spouse probably have betrayed you. You might suffering loneliness of despair because you counted on someone and they let you down. You might be suffering loneliness of despair because you have trusted a friend and he betrayed that confidence.

You built your hope on a person or a thing and when the crunch came, they're not anywhere to be seen. I want to tell you right now, it is not so with God. David said, he is my sure portion. He will always be there for me.

He is my prized treasure. He will always be there for you. The story told of a mother who was so busy but she overheard her two daughters having a conversation and she thought the conversation was so intriguing that she wanted to listen and she kind of eavesdropping on these two sisters who are talking to each other and one said to the other, she said, how do you know you're safe? And the little girl said, well, I put my arms around Jesus and I hold him so tight and that's how I feel safe. And the sister said, well, what about if the devil comes in and cuts your arms off? Would you feel safe then?

Well, the little girl was bamboozled for quite a while and her face was down but all of a sudden, as if by way of a revelation, her face let up and she said, no, I forgot, I forgot. It's Jesus who's holding me with his arms around me tight and the devil cannot cut his arms off. Therefore, I'm safe.

The little girl had a grasp on the meaning of David's words here. You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. God hears your prayers. God knows where you are. God feels your anguish. God is your portion. And finally, God will free you from your despair through the praises of his name. Nothing can lift you up above your defeat, above your discouragement, like beginning to praise the name of the Lord. You see, the scripture said that God inhabits the praises of his people and the devil can be around when God is around. But I know that it doesn't look like it in the time when you're suffering from that loneliness of despair.

It doesn't look like there's a way out. But I want to tell you through the praises of God's name, one day God will bring good out of your anguish. If you remain faithful to God, one day he will be glorified in you. He will bless you and he will victoriously deliver you.

That's God's word on it. One day as you begin to praise his name in the middle of your cave, whatever it may be, he will bless you might be. One day when you begin to praise his name, you'll be able to see his face again and rejoice again.

Meanwhile, what God is doing in your life and in my life is purifying us. He's strengthening us. He's toughening us up. There are no weakling or fair-weather Christians going to be ruling with Jesus in heaven. He's toughening you up like the strong ship in the middle of the ocean.

The storm could rage. The waves were built, but it's steady. Is your life anchored, founded on a commitment to Jesus Christ? Did you count the cost of this apple ship? Or are you in it for what you can get out of God?

I think you can answer that question alone. You know, John the Apostle was exiled in the Isle of Patmos. In Patmos, they were sending all like they did a couple of hundred years ago in England.

They were sending all the bad guys to Australia. And that's what the Roman Empire was doing with sending all the undesirables to Patmos, to that island so they can be isolated from the rest of the Roman Empire. All he was surrounded with are hardened criminals in Patmos.

All he can see for miles around is water. He was separated from his family, from his friends. He was separated from his Christian friends. And what did he do?

He cried out and he said, Oh God, that's not fair. Oh God, you give me a real deal? God, I deserve better than this. God, have you forgotten about me? God, have you forsaken me? Oh God, remember, I'm the one who leaned on Jesus' shoulder.

God, remember that when everybody else ran off, I stood at the cross with Mary. But none of that is read in the scripture. None of that is here. Why? Did he know something that you and I don't know?

Most likely not. He understood something that you and I have constantly failed to grasp. And it is this. That God wants us to trust him in the middle of our difficulties. That God wants us to see him and receive his victory in the middle of our problems. I'm convinced in my own heart that John and Paul and Peter, those great apostles who suffered for the name of Christ, and James who was beheaded in Jerusalem, probably did not have any greater knowledge or revelation than we find in the word of God. But they accepted what they knew.

We don't. They did not always understand God's purpose. They did not always know God's way.

But they believed him and trusted him even in the midst of their difficulties. Someone said, pain is not evil until it conquers us. I want to repeat that. Pain is no evil until it conquers us. In the midst of loneliness of despair, remember, God is hearing your prayers. Remember that God knows where you are. God feels your anguish. God is your portion.

God will set you free through the praises of his name. You know, often we live in spiritual poverty. Often we focus too much on our own loneliness of despair and our own circumstances. And we tippy toe around the promises of God. While in reality God wants us to praise him in the midst of our difficulties. God wants to enrich us and wants to bless us in the midst of difficulties.

And we creep on the promises of God when God wants us to run on his promises. Dr. Michael Yusef on this episode of Leading the Way with an encouragement to cling to the promises of God. Please do remember that Leading the Way is listener supported. Made possible right here in this area and worldwide by your prayers and your generosity. Stand with Dr. Yusef. Stand with him today.

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My eyesight has also failed in recent years. Several months ago, a pastor brought me a Navigator with sermons and the Bible in my language. I am so blessed to hear the word of God in my heart language and be encouraged through teaching.

Friends, isn't that beautiful? Please know that when you support Leading the Way, you become a part of reaching your community with this radio program and also reaching people in remote locations, people hungry to hear God's word and especially to hear it in their own language. Learn how you can partner with Dr. Yusef in Leading the Way. Get in touch with our team. Call us at 866-626-4356. Ask about this month's Giving Challenge. Or you can visit us online, ltw.org. Learn more about the many outreaches that are touching lives, like the Navigator, at ltw.org. All right, time to say goodbye for this episode. Thank you for being with us, and please accept this invitation to join Dr. Michael Yusef once again next time for more Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef.