Mm. King David was a man after God's own heart.
So it's natural to assume he was immune to the troubles of life. But his prayers tell a different story. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah reveals the times King David cried out for God to deliver him from the same troubles you might be facing. From Prayer the Great Adventure, here's David to introduce his message, Prayer and Protection, Part 2.
In these next two lessons, we're going to look into the life of David for illustrations. of the challenges he faced in his life. This is a really good study on the life of David that just looks at it through this one little prism. David in Temptation. How God used temptation and how David dealt with it, and we'll begin that in just a moment.
But first, I want to remind you that during the month of August, We're making available to you a very, very special resource, a beautiful book called Everything to God in Prayer, filled with prayers about particular situations that you face. Each page has a prayer to pray and the scripture upon which that prayer is based. And when you use this book as a guideline, you won't just be reading the prayers from the book, but these prayers will be. Places for you to begin. They'll be starting places for you and give you ideas of how to pray for the specific things that are going on in your life.
It is a beautiful book with beautiful truth to help you grow and be more efficient in your prayer life. And I hope you'll ask for your copy of it when you send your gift to Turning Point today. During the month of August, we need your help, as we do every month, but August is a vacation month, and sometimes people have a hard time keeping up with the routines of giving to ministries like this.
So your help is really, really important, and we thank you. We are beginning part two of this discussion of prayer and protection, but this is about the life of David. Listen carefully through these next two days as we sort this truth out together. I remember a story about a young man who was trying to get ready for the football game on Saturday afternoon. He had lived in that day when people still receive the signal for their television set Threw an antenna on the top of the roof, and his was malfunctioning.
So he went out in the middle of the afternoon to fix that antenna. And he was hurrying, trying to get it done so that he wouldn't miss the game that started at 4 o'clock. In the midst of his hurry, he lost his balance and he slid down the tile roof. And over the edge of the roof, and he was hanging on the ease trough by his hands. His first thought was, he's two stories up, he doesn't know what to do, so he hollers down.
Can anybody down there help me? But everybody was inside and nobody was paying any attention and And so nobody responded.
So, I guess intuitively, he looked up into the heavens and he shouted. Can anybody up there help me? And he heard a sound from the heaven that said, Believe and let go. He said, can anybody else up there help me? Yeah, great.
Right. We want help as long as that help is the kind of help we need. can deal with. Danny Sutton is a boy who wrote this for his third grade Sunday school teacher. She had asked her students to explain God, and this was his attempt.
He said one of God's main jobs is making people. He makes these to put in the place of the ones who die, so there will be enough people to take care of things here on the earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, he just makes babies, I think, because they're smaller and easier to make. That way, he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to walk and talk. He can just leave that up to the mothers and fathers, and I think it works pretty good.
God's second most important job is listening to prayers. Awful lot of this goes on because some people, like preachers and things, pray other times beside bedtimes. Grandpa and Grandma pray every time they eat except for snacks. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or watch TV on account of this because God hears everything. And because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears unless he has thought of a way to turn it down.
God sees and hears everything, and He is everywhere, which keeps him pretty busy.
So you shouldn't go wasting His time asking for things that aren't important. Or go over parents' heads and ask for something they said you couldn't have because it doesn't work anyway. His understanding of God. And somewhere along the way, all of us began to have an appreciation for who God is and how He responds to us when we pray. And I think the reason why And the Lord Jesus gave us this prayer that we're studying is so that we have.
a growing appreciation of what it means to pray. This pathway to prayer that we have been and journeying on is a very important process. For this is not a prayer that we are to just memorize so that we get up every morning and. in a mindless way, repeat a prayer. But these are signposts along the way.
to remind us of the important issues whenever we pray. We always begin with praise because our Father who is in heaven. has a name that is worthy to be hallowed. We Invoke his Priorities in our lives as we pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We petition him for the things we need as we pray: give us this day our daily bread.
And we are sensitive to our need for protection as we learn so we are not afraid to pray, lead us not into temptation. Because whenever there is a trial or a temptation, there are always two possibilities. You can pass it or you can fail it. And because we know how Very inadequate, we are without God. We would just as soon not have to take the test.
And then there is this second part of our protective prayer, and it goes like this: and deliver us. from evil. The first part of the prayer is that we might not enter into the problem. The second part of the prayer is that. in the midst of it we might be delivered out of it.
Someone has said that the Lord's Prayer encompasses three basic truths. The first is devotion. The second is dependence and the third is danger. And every time we pray this prayer, We should be reminded that we live in a world of spiritual landmines. We live in a world where danger is about us on every hand.
And wise is the Christian who prays with all of his heart every day. Deliver me. from evil. Lord. And I'd like to begin by reminding you that we have a God who delivers.
He has a good record of deliverance. He delivered the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. after 400 years of bondage and then in just a matter of days delivered them from the Egyptians who changed their mind. He delivered Daniel. from the lion's den.
He delivered the Hebrew children from the furnace. He delivered David from the giant Goliath. He delivered Lot and his family from Sodom. He delivered Noah and his family from the flood. He delivered Joseph from the pit and then later from the prison.
He delivered Elijah from the hand of Ahab and Jezebel. He delivered Job from all of his loss and restored it to him. He delivered Peter from drowning one night. and then later delivered him from prison. He delivered Paul from perils of every imaginable kind.
God is a God who delivers. Isn't that good news? He's a God who sees us in our predicament and delights to deliver us. In fact, Of all of the things that I can imagine and study in the Bible, the one thing that stands out is the only one He did not deliver was His own Son. Oh, the Bible says it this way: He delivered him up.
That he might be crucified so that we could be delivered from the biggest problem we all have, and that is the problem of sin.
So I began with this affirmation that we have a God who delivers, and therefore it is very, very proper for us to pray to that God. Deliver us. from evil. It is a plea for protection. People give me books all over the country, and they know I like old books, and so I've got some really, really old books.
And some of the books that I'm given are not books I would normally buy, but when people give them to me, I like to see what they're all about. Not long ago, I was given an Anglican prayer book. that goes way back to the beginning of the Anglican church here in this country. And in the Anglican Prayer Book, they have a little rendition of this particular phrase in the Lord's Prayer that is quite. Illuminating.
It goes something like this: O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers. that we cannot always stand upright. Grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations. And then later on in the prayer book, as a part of this prayer, The Anglicans who wrote it Gave us some idea of the kinds of evil that they wanted to be delivered from. And here again, in this old English style, is their prayer.
from sin and from the crafts and assaults of the devil. From all blindness of heart, from pride and vainglory and hypocrisy. From envy and hatred and malice, and all uncharitableness. from fornication and all other deadly sin. And from all the deceits of the world and flesh and devil, from sudden, unexpected, and unprepared for death.
from hardness of heart and contempt of thy word and commandments, Good Lord, deliver us. And that's the way the Anglicans prayed when they came to church and they opened their prayer book and they would pray. Deliver us from evil in all of the ramifications of it.
Well, we're not going to start that process. We don't have any prayer books because the prayer book we have is the Bible. And I want to tell you that when you want to discover how to pray for deliverance, there is ample evidence there for you to know. And one of the things that's been so intriguing to me as I've meditated on this little phrase in the Lord's Prayer has been the opportunity to go back and discover. How many times in David's prayers he asked God to deliver him?
David was the man after God's own heart, and yet constantly prayed for deliverance. When we read that he was a man after God's own heart, part of the meaning of that is that he was a man who had a heart for God that drew them together in close proximity and fellowship. And yet, in spite of his closeness to God, If you read his prayer journal, which is the book of Psalms, Over and over and over again, you hear David pray, God deliver me. God deliver me.
So I went through all those scriptures, like reading the whole book of Psalms. Because it's everywhere, almost on every other page. And I began to write down some of the things that David prayed for. When he prayed for deliverance. And I haven't time to share all of them with you, but I think some of them are instructive to us and they give us a little pattern for praying for deliverance.
And I would be surprised if. Before we're finished here, one of these. Doesn't resonate with your life, and you're saying, Oh, yeah. I could pray that one all right. Begin with me, if you will, in the book of Psalms.
As we look At Psalm 7. And we will move kind of chronologically. We'll move across the Psalms without going backwards and forwards too much, so that you can follow and just look right in your own Bible. In Psalm 7, in the first two verses of this prayer, Hear the word of the Lord. O Lord my God.
In you I put my trust. Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me. Lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces while there is none. to deliver. David said, Lord God.
Deliver me from my persecutors.
Now, please understand: persecution is not all the bad things that happened to you because you didn't do what you should have done in the first place. Persecution is that which happens to you by virtue of the fact that you represent God in a godless world. Persecution is that kind of trouble you face. Because you are a believer amidst unbelievers, and they resent it, and you are a source of condemnation to them. And so many of you know this from personal experience in their own little subtle ways.
They play mind games and cruelty games to try to injure you or hurt you. and persecute you. And some of you know what it's like to feel so very alone. Even though you're surrounded by people, because they have shut you out, they have turned you off, they have moved you away, they have determined that because your lifestyle causes them discomfort, they will remove you or persecute you in such a way as to make you uncomfortable. And David said, Oh God.
Deliver me. from my persecutors. Or just Lift me up from the midst of it. and surround me with your love and protection.
Some of you need to pray that prayer when you pray every day. Please God. Please deliver me. from their evil intentions. Keep reading in the book of Psalms and Turn with me now to the 22nd Psalm.
In Psalm 22, We have another illustration of how we can pray for deliverance. This is a great prayer, beginning at verse 19 in Psalm 22. But you, O Lord, Do not be far from me. O my strength, hasten to help me Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen.
And now, of course, there is a messianic context to this prayer. But it still is an illustration of the kind of praying for deliverance that we can do when we pray. Here are the kinds of random things that happen. This prayer is a prayer to be saved from the sword and from the power of the dog and from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. Prayed in this simple way.
It is a prayer to remind us that there are all kinds of hurt. that can touch us. That there is random senseless things out there that can get their tentacles into our life. And David, in this messianic psalm, this psalm concerning David and the Messiah. He prays this very wonderful prayer for deliverance.
From the sword, from the dog, from the lion's mouth, and from the wild oxen.
Now that's set in his generation, in his time. Those represented the kinds of things that could hurt him. But you could translate that into any of the kinds of random things that could hurt you. And so we're encouraged to pray, God, Deliver me from the perils of life. Every week, we read in the newspaper something that we.
Put the paper down and say that doesn't make any sense. Why would that happen? How did that happen? Why them? Why in that situation?
We live in a world of many kinds of evil, and the Bible gives us permission to pray every day: God, deliver me from evil. Keep reading in the Psalms. And go with me now to Psalm 25, just a few pages over. And look at Psalm 2012. 25 verses 19 and following.
Here David prays For deliverance from his enemies. Consider my enemies, for they are many. and they hate me with cruel hatred. Keep my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in In you.
Turn over to Psalm 31, and there's a similar prayer there that kind of goes along with this one in the first two verses and in verse 15. In you, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in your righteousness. Bow down your ear to me, deliver me speedily, be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.
Verse 15, my times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. And the gist here is. David is praying from those who are not necessarily persecuting him for his faith, but who are just his enemies, his adversaries. He's praying for protection.
against personal adversaries. Do we all know how much hurt and danger there is even in the relationships that we hold. How easily we can be injured. And I know that what I'm talking about here is a very, very common danger that God's people face. And so the Bible says when you pray.
Pray, Lord, deliver me from that. Deliver me from that. Let me give you a couple more. Let me just ask you to turn in your Bibles, if you will, to Psalm 34. And while this is more of a statement about praying, it is certainly.
A reminder to us of the kinds of things for which we can pray deliverance. Psalm thirty-four and verse four. I sought the Lord. And he heard me. and delivered me from all my fears.
Turn over in the same Psalm to verse 17. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears. and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Back in the fourth verse, the psalmist says, The Lord delivers us from all of our fears. Anyone here have any fears? Hmm. We live in a fearful world, don't we? Roger Bennett, who plays the piano for the cathedrals, gave an eloquent testimony of his experience with leukemia.
He said something with which I had complete agreement. He said it wasn't the chemicals, and it wasn't the treatment, and it wasn't all of that that was so difficult to deal with it. He said it was the fear. He said, My biggest battle in the whole thing. was the fear.
Fear paralyzes. Fear comes from nowhere. to take over your life. Oh, the overwhelming power of fear. It may surprise you to know.
that I Have Fear days. I put them in my journal like that. This has been a fear day. And it comes on me in the strangest ways out of nowhere. And I don't like to have to deal with that.
And I don't like to admit the fact that it touches me, but I have days when fear grips me. And some well-meaning children of God. Help me with that problem. They move fear right into my life. I think I may have told you that During the time when I was first coming back from some of the things I experienced, people would come and they'd tell me their story.
Oh, Pastor, I heard about what happened to you. Let me tell you this. And they start to tell me the story about their loved one or their friend who had exactly the same thing I have. And they're not here anymore. And believe it or not, that didn't encourage me.
I didn't walk away from that experience feeling, oh, I'm so glad you came to share with me and minister to my heart.
So I finally developed this little technique, and some of you know this. When the story starts, I stop you and say, Does this have a happy ending? Because if it doesn't, I don't want to hear it. Fear.
Sometimes it's a book someone will send you, and you open it up, and it falls open to the page with all of the statistics for all the various kinds of disease, including the one you have. When fear just overwhelms you, I know a little bit about that that I never knew before. And David said, The Lord delivers me. out of all my fears. You know what I have to do some days?
Walk away from everything that's going on in my life. I have a little place where I go. I was up there not long ago. I didn't have time to go home. change.
I only had the lunch hour and it was kind of one of those days and So I went up there and parked my car. I'm walking up there by the camping little The little guard house there, the lady comes out and she said, What are you doing? I said, oh, I'm just walking. I walk up here all the time. She said, we don't get too many people in a suit up here, I want you to know.
She said, but if you want to walk, you go ahead. And she said, why are you doing this? I said, well, I'm walking away my stress. I come up here and pray sometimes. And she said, okay.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
Sometimes you have to go deal with your fear before God. But he delivers you and he will do that. if you ask him. Deliver me from my fear. Amen.
Amen. There's more of this. We'll finish this section up tomorrow. Before we say goodbye today, I want to just remind you that we have a very special event coming up in October. I've tried to be faithful in telling you about this and encouraging you to think about coming with us.
We already have quite a group that have registered, and this is going to be a full event. But we still have some rooms, and we hope that you will take advantage of this invitation to sail with us on Holland America Zyderdam, October 4th through the 11th. To New England and Canada. A beautiful, beautiful cruise. Visiting some places you've heard about and read about.
places where books have originated. My wife is so excited about this trip because she's read some books from this area.
So I hope you'll go with us. Find out about it when you go to our website. But whatever you do, don't miss tomorrow right here on this good station, the next edition of Turning Point. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, Prayer the Great Adventure, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected, our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional.
Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio. Or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's new book, Everything to God in Prayer, guided prayers for your deepest needs and biggest dreams. It's yours for a gift of any amount.
You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Prayer: the Great Adventure on Turning Point with Dr.
David Jeremiah.
