I Trust In You

Scripture Passage

Psalm 31:9-16

⁹ Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
    my soul and body with grief.
¹⁰ My life is consumed by anguish
    and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
    and my bones grow weak.
¹¹ Because of all my enemies,
    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
    those who see me on the street flee from me.
¹² I am forgotten as though I were dead;
    I have become like broken pottery.
¹³ For I hear many whispering,
    “Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
    and plot to take my life.

¹⁴ But I trust in you, LORD;
    I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My times are in your hands;
    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
    from those who pursue me.
¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your unfailing love.

Sermon Script

What kind of pain is the most difficult to endure? I believe that it’s loneliness.

Bodily or physical pain – even though it is painful, we can handle it. We can try to fight through it. There are also medications that help reduce the pain. Other than the discomfort it brings us, we don’t think much of it.

However, there is no medication for the heartache that loneliness brings. You can try numbing the pain but that’s about it. The feeling of being isolated is too much for us to handle. It puts a heavy burden on us. It makes our life dark. It leaves us depressed.

Loneliness is not necessarily what we experience when we are alone. Some people feel comfortable when they are by themselves. Having some alone time is good for us. You can feel lonely even when you are with other people. You can feel lonely because of others. What they do can make you feel isolated and alone. Especially when they look at you in a certain way, speak badly of you, and make you feel totally invisible. You feel like there is no one who sees you, understands you, and feels what you are going through.

David experienced loneliness in his life. He articulated his experience in today’s psalm.

The exact context of the psalm isn’t very clear. But what is clear is that David is going through a difficult time. Everyone seems to be against him.

Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbours
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.

Psalm 31:11, 12

David felt rejected and abandoned by everyone around him. He felt as if there was no one who saw and understood what he was going through. He felt like he was reduced to nothing. He was crushed by the heavy burden of loneliness.

But what does he eventually say? David declares in his psalm—

But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”

Psalm 31:14

When he had no one and nothing else to rely on, David looked to God. He trusted in God. He put his confidence and security in God. Deep down, he knew that he could trust in God.

That, my friends, is faith. Faith is not an intellectual belief. Faith is our complete trusting in God’s goodness. Faith comes from looking to God rather than our circumstances. In that sense, faith is not easily shaken.

It is easy for us to say that God is good when things are going well. But when things aren’t going well, we can say the opposite about God just as easily.

Yes, bad and unpleasant things may happen to us. But they don’t mean that God indifferent to our situation. God is always good, no matter what happens. Even when we experience the effects of sin in our life. God sees what we go through and feels what we feel. God knows us.

David trusted in God because he knew this about God. He saw how connected he was to God.

You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Psalm 139:1, 5-6

When we persevere in our suffering with faith, we will see that we are not all alone as we had thought. Faith reveals our connectedness to God. Faith opens our eyes to see God’s helping hand at work.

Today is Passion Sunday. It marks the beginning of Holy Week, which is the final week of Jesus’ life and journey to the cross. We reflect on the pain and suffering that Jesus went through.

We may think that what was excruciatingly painful for Jesus was the violent, physical beating he took. When they hammered the nails into his hands and feet. But it wasn’t. By then, Jesus was ready to bear all the physical pain of being crucified on the cross.

Jesus suffered the most before he went to the cross. He experienced the heavy burden of loneliness when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was with the three of his closest disciples (Peter, James, John), but even with their company, he felt all alone.

Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Matthew 26:38

Not even his closest disciples understood what Jesus was going through. They kept falling asleep. Jesus couldn’t explain himself to them anymore. He knew even they would eventually betray him.

Jesus didn’t look to his circumstances or other people to deal with his pain. Instead, like David, he looked to God. He trusted in God’s goodness and nothing else.

It was by no means “easy”. Jesus wanted to trust in God, but he also found it difficult to bring himself to do it as he wanted to. He prayed three times in the garden. Luke writes that Jesus was in so much anguish that when he prayed, his sweat was like “drops of blood falling to the ground”.

Through faith, Jesus ultimately found his confidence in God. God’s presence lifted the burden of loneliness from his heart. He didn’t lose hope. He found the strength to march to the cross boldly.

Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!

Matthew 26:46

I TRUST IN YOU. This isn’t what we say only when we “feel like” trusting in God. This is what we say even when we don’t feel like trusting in God. This is all that we can say when we are feeling down and alone. But we say it in faith – even if it’s as small as a mustard seed.

When you feel dark and lonely, don’t be easily discouraged. Do not lose hope. Remember what Jesus did. Remember that you are still in God’s hands.

God knows – even if no one else does. God will comfort you and strengthen you. God will show you the way out. Nothing will be able to destroy you, as St. Paul said—

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9