When All Seemed Lost

Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 31.  We have been looking at Psalm 119.  Let’s continue to walk through this amazing psalm.  Today we will look at verses 92 and 93 from The Passion Bible Translation.

David said:

(v.92)  Because your words are my deepest delight, I didn’t give up when all else was lost.

(v.93)  I can never forget the profound revelations you’ve taught me, for they have kept me alive more than once.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  David knew what it was like to feel like everything was lost.  One day he was minding his own business in the field, tending to his father’s sheep alone like he had been doing for years, when one of his brothers came to get him.  He was told that there was a visitor in their home and he was being summoned. This visitor was a prophet sent from God. The prophet told David that he was selected of God to be the next King of Israel.  The prophet even anointed David as the next King, right there, in front of his brothers and his father. The oil of God was poured on David when he was 17 years old. He did not know what it meant. He did not understand why he had been selected.  Being the King of Israel was never his dream. He was content living as a shepherd boy. But God had a dream for David was that bigger than his dream for himself. And after he was anointed as King, his life went crazy. Shortly thereafter he killed a giant with a slingshot and a stone.  This obscure shepherd boy was thrusted into the national spotlight. David quickly got close to the King he was supposed to replace and after a falling-out, the King wanted David killed. David spent 13 years on the run, living as a fugitive, with a bounty on his head, all because he had a call from God on his life.  It was on those occasions — when he was on the run, fending for his life, thinking of how crazy things had gotten just because God called him to a life he never asked for — that David remembered God’s words. When all seemed lost, when he wanted to give up, when he was tired of running and tired of life, it was God’s words that kept David going.  I know how David felt. I have been there. Have you? When all seems lost and you are too tired to even want to keep going, it is God’s words, His promise to you, His call on your life, that keeps you going.

2.  While it is amazing to receive a Word from God, you must remember that satan comes immediately because of the Word (Mark 4:15).  In the parable of the sower Jesus explained that persecution will actually come BECAUSE of the Word we receive (Mark 4:17). The attack is not really against us.  The attack is against the assignment. The attack is against the Word God spoke over us. This is what David was talking about in Psalm 119:92,93. When he felt like giving up, when he was tired of running, when he just did not want to do it anymore, he remembered God’s words.  It was the assignment that kept him going. It was the promise that gave his life purpose. While the assignment from God attracted opposition from satan, it also kept David going when all else seemed lost. I have been there too. You may be there this morning. You may feel like you are tired of walking with God.  Maybe God gave you a promise and you got excited because you thought it was going to be easy, and ever since the day you received the promise things have been going crazy. Remember, the problems are coming because of the promise. The attack is against the assignment. But the same God who called you will keep you. Look up… God is still with you.  The fact that you are never helpless means you are never hopeless. God will see you through it. He did it for David. He did it for me. He will do it for you!

3.  The life of faith is not always easy.  Knowing that you are called to do something and holding on through the opposition long enough to see it happen are not the same thing.  Many give up along the way. Many throw in the towel when times get rough. Don’t let this be said of you. Being fully transparent, there have been many times when I was tired of waiting on God to do what He said He is going to do.  Like David, after he was called to be King, things have often gotten worse before they got better. But that’s part of the journey. No one wants a God you only read about in a book. God must be experienced. His words on paper only come alive in the real world.  You have to live what you learn. You have to experience what you read. You have to undergo what you think you understood, and you then realize that you don’t truly understand it until you undergo it. So my message to you this morning is simple and it is one you have heard from me before: keep going, never give up, never cave in, never quit.  God’s grace is already on you to face it, experience it, overcome it and have a testimony because of it. Looking back, you will be glad you went through it. David said, “I am glad I was afflicted, because I learned your decrees in the process” (Psalm 119:71).  There are some thing you learn in the middle of a challenge that you can’t just learn from a book.

Closing Confession:  

Father, this is a season of expectation for me.  I keep my expectation in You. I look UP when I do not know where I am going.  I remember Your Words to me when I am tired and I don’t want to do it anymore. Your Words to me keep me going when all seems lost.  I know the attack is against the assignment. So I embrace the grace to keep going. You are ON me, IN me, WITH me and FOR me! Therefore I shall never give up, never cave in and never quit.  Forward ever… backward never! The best is yet to come! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word.  Apply it and prosper!