From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart, you can learn how to stop singing the blues. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve, Christian if you're.

Speaker 2

In a difficult situation in life and you're ready to throw in the towel, wait patiently for the Lord. Keep trusting him. Sing his praises, sing his songs of deliverance.

He has not forgotten you. He knows what he's doing. He's going to bring you out. He's going to give you a song and a testimony to share.

So keep looking up. He can heal every scar with real truth, real love, real from his heart.

Speaker 1

In the 40th chapter of the book of Psalms, King David was singing the blues in the pit of destruction. But then God entered the picture and everything turned around. And what God did for David, he can do for you and he can do for me.

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today for a message that will lift your spirits and change the song that you're singing in life. It's called "What Song Are You Singing?" from Pastor Jeff's nine-lesson series, "Life is Hard, But God is Good."

The series is our gift of thanks to you for your support this month of any amount. You can find out more about that when you go to fromhisheart.org and get yours in the format of your choice. And when you do, we'll also send you the booklet "Strong Faith for Tough Times."

Right now, open your Bible to the Book of Psalms and turn to chapter 40. Here's Pastor Jeff with part two of the lesson, "What Song Are You Singing?"

Speaker 2

You know, lots of people come to church and they put on a happy face, but down in their hearts they're really struggling and they know the right things to say. But man, they're hurting inside. And really in their heart, they're singing the blues. They find themselves in sorrow and sadness, and their life is down in the pit of despair and discouragement and depression. Why? Because of marital problems, because of relationship problems, because of financial problems, because of family problems, because of physical disabilities, because they lost a loved one and their heart is shattered in a million pieces.

When I was in seminary, I was taught this: guys, if you will preach to broken hearts, you'll never lack for an audience because in every row, in every church sits a broken heart, somebody who is hurting inside, somebody who has found themselves in a pit of discouragement and despair and maybe even depression. Well, in our series on the Psalms, life is hard, but God is good. David shares in Psalm 40 about a pit experience that he had where he was down in the pit, so to speak. Not a literal pit, but an emotional pit, a spiritual pit. And he was hurting and he was singing a sad song.

This is what he says in Psalm 40, beginning in verse one: "I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay. And he set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. And he put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. Many, O Lord, my God, are the wonders which you have done and your thoughts toward us; there is none to compare with you. If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count."

Hey, David was singing the blues in the pit of destruction. But then God entered the picture and everything turned around. And he had a song of the blessings of God. And what God did for David, he can do for you. He can do for me. So I want you to notice with me three discoveries from the passage of scripture.

**Discovery number one:** When your life is in the pit, it is easy to sing the blues. We're just going to be honest here. Hey, when everything, when the bottom drops out and you find yourself down, down, down, down, dooby doo, down, down. I mean, you're just down in the pit. It's very easy to sing the blues, and it's very hard not to sing the blues. Why? Because your heart is filled with questions. Your heart is filled with sadness. Hey, when you look forward and you don't see anything because you're down in the pit, you can start to feel helpless and hopeless and think it's never going to get better.

Why do people bail out on their marriage? So many people bail out on their marriage because one of the spouses says, "I can't live like this anymore. It's never going to change. It's never going to get better. I am out. I'm out. I check out." Why do people kill themselves? Because they say, "This is never going to get better. I can't stand this. I see no future for me. I'm checking out. I'm done. I don't want this anymore." And they end their lives. They lose all hope.

When I was in seminary, I took a counseling course. And one of the things they taught us in the counseling course is, guys, when people come to you for counseling, just know this: you want them to leave with hope because they typically, most people, they don't come in when things are just a little bad. They come in when everything has fallen apart. And then they say, "Hey, can you fix this?" And they're coming in and they're feeling very helpless and very hopeless. And so you want them to leave with hope.

One of my favorite verses, Romans 15:13: "Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound, overflow in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Hey, when you're in a pit, it's very easy to sing the blues.

**Second discovery:** When your life is in the pit, it's critical to engage your faith. Critical to engage your faith. Whatever is born of God, John says in First John 5, "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" When you find yourself in a pit, and all of us will find ourselves in a pit, from one set of circumstances to another. David found himself in a pit a lot. Joseph found himself twice in physical pits. Life was really bad for Joseph in the book of Genesis. And so when you're in the pit, you must engage your faith.

**Discovery number three:** When your life is in the pit, it's vital to know that God is there with you. Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you," says the Lord. "I'll be there with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you." He's the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The Lord was there in the fiery furnace in that pit with them.

You know, the first person that's ever talked about being in a pit, the first time you ever run across the word "pit" in the New American Standard Bible is in Genesis when it talks about Joseph. Joseph, the guy that had the dream that his brothers were going to bow to him. Joseph, the guy that got the coat of many colors. His dad sends him. Jacob says, "Hey, go check on your brothers. I hadn't heard from them in a while. See what's going on." And so when he goes to his brothers, they said, "There's that dreamer." They hated Joseph. And what did they do to Joseph when he got to them? They abused him. They took his coat off of him, and they threw him down in a pit. They were talking about killing him, but then they sold him to some Midianite traders that were going by. They said, "Well, let's not kill him. Let's sell him. Let's get some money for this guy."

And so they pulled him out of the pit, sold him, and the Midianite traders took him down to Egypt and they sold him to Potiphar. Potiphar had him run his business at his house. And Joseph was doing great. But then Mrs. Potiphar took a liking to Joseph and she wanted to have a sexual relationship with Joseph. He wouldn't do it. And so watch out for a woman that is scorned. Because when he backed off of her, she took the opportunity to accuse him of rape. And Joseph hadn't done anything wrong. But Potiphar took Joseph and he put him in prison. And the word that is used there is a dungeon. And it's the same word that's translated pit. And so here is Joseph back in the pit. And the Bible says, "But the Lord was with Joseph." Joseph, the Lord was with Joseph there in the dungeon, there in the pit.

And as a believer in Jesus, the Lord is with you. David said in Psalm 23, "Even though I pass through the valley, walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. Why? Because you, Lord, are with me. You're with me." And so the God who is with you, some things you need to know about him. He's the God who answers prayer. He's the God who answers prayer. "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me. He bent down to me, and he heard my cry. And he brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay." He answered my prayer. God is the God who answers prayer.

Jeremiah 33:3: "Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." For we do not have a high priest, says in the book of Hebrews, "who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, as we are yet without sin. Therefore, because we have a high priest like that who doesn't shun us, who knows when we're struggling, therefore we can come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Psalm 116: "I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my supplications because he has inclined his ear to me. Therefore I shall call upon him as long as I live, because I have access to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords anytime I want. The throne room is open. And I can talk to the one who can make a difference because he is the Sovereign of the universe."

Hey, the one who's with you is the one who answers prayer. He's the one who can make a difference. And he delivers those who trust him. That's why David said in verse four, "How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood." The Lord delivers those who trust him. And so David in his pit cried out to the Lord. He waited on the Lord. He waited patiently. And God heard his prayer. And God delivered him. And he brought him up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay. And he set his feet upon the rock, making his footsteps firm. He delivered David.

Now, Psalm 40 is a picture of salvation. It's a picture of deliverance as for the life of a believer, but it's also a picture of salvation. And when you look up the word salvation, you'll notice that the definition of salvation also means deliverance. So there's deliverance from difficulty, but there's deliverance from sin. So if you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus, let me tell you where you are. You are in the pit of destruction that is going to lead to eternal hell. That's where everyone starts out. You're in the pit of destruction that's leading to hell. You're on the highway to hell. But if you will see, "I'm a helpless, hopeless sinner," and cry out to the Lord and put your faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone, what does he do? He hears you. He lifts you up out of the pit of destruction. He takes you from the domain of darkness, as it says in Colossians chapter one. He delivered me from the domain of darkness and has transferred me into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and he forgives your sins. And he sets your feet on the rock of ages cleft for me. That's a pretty awesome thing. That's what God does for every sinner who cries out to him in repentance and faith.

But now, what about for the Christian? Because David is talking about a difficulty in his life. He believes in the Lord. He's trusted the Lord. He has a personal relationship with the Lord; he's still in a pit. Now, this is not a pit to save his soul. This is a pit for his situation. And he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord delivered him out of that. Because the Lord is a deliverer. He's a deliverer. He loves to deliver and he loves to change situations. Paul said this in Second Corinthians, chapter one: "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which comes to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life." This is Paul talking. He despaired of life. He's in a pit of despair. "Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead." God put us in that pit so we wouldn't trust in ourselves, but we would trust in God. The God who raises the dead delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us. He on whom we have set our hope, he will yet deliver us.

Listen, when you're in the pit, you trust him and you remember that God has delivered you before. He has delivered us, past tense. And I remember that. God has done it before. God's delivered before and he will deliver. God in my situation, he will deliver and he will yet deliver in the future. I can trust him in my situation right now. I can trust him in the future because he is a delivering God, a God who answers prayer. And he'll take me out of the mud, out of the miry clay and put my feet on a rock and make my footsteps firm.

And then this God who is with me in the pit, he gives us a song of praise, verse three: "And he put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord." Hey, have you been singing the blues? Has there been a song going in your heart that's just negative and sad? You know, that's why people talk about singing the blues. You know, when you're sad, what do you sing? You sing the blues. You sing a sad song. "Sad song says so much," Elton John used to sing, and it's like, well, how does that work for you? It just makes you more sad, you know? If you're sad and you sing a sad song, you're just more sad.

So here I am, I'm a 10-year-old boy, my mom and dad separated. My dad's living in Texas. My family, the rest of us, we're living in California, and I can still remember. I didn't understand all that was going on. I just knew my dad wasn't there. And I knew my mom was sad a lot. She didn't want this separation. But the song came on the radio, and it was the Gilbert O'Sullivan song "Alone Again, Naturally." Some of you may remember that song. It was really popular back in the 70s. Well, I could remember my mom singing that song. And it says, there's a line in that song, "For if God really does exist, then why did he desert me in my hour of need? I truly am indeed alone again, naturally." And she would sing that song, and the tears would come down her cheeks. It's a terrible song to sing because you're not alone. And my mom was a believer in Jesus, and the Lord was with her, and the Lord was working in the situation.

But see, when we sing those kinds of songs, it takes us down, down, down. We don't need to sing those songs. We need to sing songs of deliverance. We need to sing songs of praise. That's why Paul in prison says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I will say, rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." And so circumstances may be terrible. Paul wasn't rejoicing in his circumstances. He was rejoicing in the Lord, the God who never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is faithful and true, and we can sing his praises. Psalm 32:7 says, "You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with songs of deliverance." And so the Lord will give you a song of praise as you look to him, as you trust him, as you call upon him, as you wait upon him.

And then what's the purpose of it all? He gives us a testimony so we can shine and share. David says, "Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. Man, I'll be able to tell them what God has done for me." That's so wonderful. You know, we don't like the pits. We don't like the difficulties. But God says, "If you'll trust me in this, I'm going to take you out and I'm going to use you to be a witness so you can tell other people who are in the pit that there is a God who loves them. There's a God who delivers. There's a God that they can trust. There's a God that will pull them out at the proper time if they can just patiently wait and trust in him."

You know, why do we like to hear testimonies? Because we love to hear what God has done for someone else. As the Stuart Hamblin song says, "There is no secret what God can do. What he's done for others, he can do for you. With arms wide open, he'll carry you. There is no secret what God can do." God changes lives.

Now, one of my favorite heroes in the faith is a woman who has been in heaven now since 1983. Her name was Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie lived in Amsterdam. Their family had a clock repair shop. That's what her dad did. That's what Corrie did. They lived right above the clock shop there in Amsterdam. And they lived there when the Germans took over during World War II. And they were, as you know, exterminating the Jews. And when Corrie and her family heard what they were doing, they began to hide the Jews. And they had a place in their home that was specifically built where they could hide Jews and protect their lives. And she wrote about that in a book called "The Hiding Place." That book came out in 1971. It was wildly acclaimed because she talked about all her experiences in the Nazi concentration camp.

Because the Nazis found out they were hiding Jews and arrested Corrie, arrested Betsy, arrested her dad. Her dad died in prison. Her sister Betsy died at Ravensbruck, the concentration camp. Corrie was released from the concentration camp. She experienced terrible, horrible atrocities. She was released from the concentration camp through a clerical error. And a week later, all the women her age at Ravensbrook were gassed and killed. God spared her life. And she tells about that in "The Hiding Place." And if you've seen the movie, Jeanette Cliff plays Corrie. And then at the end of the movie, "The Hiding Place," the real Corrie Ten Boom comes on. And she ends the movie in her own words: "Even in our darkest moments, in our deepest pit, the best is yet to be. God is at work. He knows what he is doing. No matter how deep the pit you're in, he is deeper still. His love is deeper still. And you can trust him."

Listen, if you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus, today is the day to do that. If you'll look to him, if you'll cry out to him, if you'll quit trusting in yourself and trust in him, he will forgive you. He'll pull you out of the pit spiritually. And he'll deliver you from the domain of darkness and transfer you to the kingdom of his beloved Son. And listen, Christian, if you're in a difficult situation in life and you're ready to throw in the towel, wait patiently for the Lord. Keep trusting Him.

Speaker 1

If you want to, but you've never understood what a personal relationship with Jesus is like and how to have it, we invite you to go to fromhisheart.org and click the "Why Jesus" link on the homepage. There's a lot of material there—a wealth of it—with downloadable resources and answers to your important questions about how to surrender your life to Christ, why to do that, and how to become born again into a new life with Jesus for now and forever. Click the "Why Jesus" link at fromhisheart.org.

Listen, no matter what song you're singing—one of problems or one of praise to God—life is filled with ups and downs. Everyone likes the ups but dreads the downs. However, God teaches us key lessons in the tough times in life. The Book of Psalms provides a great source of spiritual comfort, strength, and encouragement for the trials and tribulations we all face. In Pastor Jeff's nine-lesson series that we're in this month, called "Life is Hard But God Is Good," he shares important and practical truths to help you remember that although life can be a very hard thing, God is always good and worthy to be trusted.

This series is available in multiple formats: CDs, DVDs, USB, or MP3 download for your gift of any amount. From His Heart and your support are very important this month as we end our fiscal year, and we want to maintain our powerful financial footing. God is opening doors wide for From His Heart to expand our global outreach, equip more believers, train the next generation, and be a lighthouse for clarity in a culture drowning in confusion.

To make your fiscal year-end gift to From His Heart this month and receive the series "Life is Hard But God Is Good" and the booklet "Strong Faith for Tough Times," call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org to request the series. We'll also send you the companion booklet "Strong Faith for Tough Times." Get these timely resources today so they can bring you real hope only found in Christ.

Our prayer is that you'll be right back here next time. That's when Pastor Jeff will open God's Word and share how to rise above defeat with a declaration of devotion and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream. Love he can heal.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out about that when you go to fromisheart.org.