In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith addresses the issue of seeking righteous judgment from God in the face of an ungodly nation. He begins by acknowledging the sad reality of a nation influenced by evil and calls upon God to judge and plead his cause against the deceitful and unjust. The sermon then transitions to a reflection on the history of God's work, highlighting the glorious revivals and the way God drove out the heathen and gave possession to the nation of Israel. However, the speaker also expresses confusion and frustration over why the righteous causes often suffer while the ungodly prosper.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that mold you And His Spirit like a dove Will descend upon your life and make you whole Welcome to The Word for Today Featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith Of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse venture Through the entire Bible And on today's edition of The Word for Today We'll be continuing with prayer in a time of trouble As we turn in our Bibles to the 43rd Psalm Beginning with verse 1 And now with today's message Here's Pastor Chuck Smith Judge me, O God, and plead my cause Against an ungodly nation Deliver me from the deceitful And unjust man David here again is calling out for righteous judgment from God That God would plead His cause Righteous cause Against an ungodly nation It is sad to see a nation Come under the influence of evil It seems like the voices of evil cry loud And it seems like the forces of evil Oftentimes triumph over good I think of the evil causes That are espoused by the ACLU I think how they stand for just about Everything that I'm against If a school district decides to establish Some kind of a moral standard To help the children Develop some kind of morality The ACLU steps in and threatens the school district And cows them into relenting from any kind of a program That might embrace some form of morality It seems like those who are involved in litigation in the ACLU Are determined to destroy anything that is pure, holy, or good And in the name of freedom They have brought our nation into the worst kind of bondage in slavery The bondage to the flesh And yet it seems like they triumph in almost every court case As they present their liberal causes to the liberal judges And the legislature is not really the lawmaking body of our nation always But many times it is the interpretation of the court That establishes the law of the land Rather than the legislative processes David is facing that kind of a situation He's asking God to work Plead my case against this ungodly nation Lord, you take up the cause Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man For you are the God of my strength, David declares He recognizes his own weakness He is relying upon the strength of the Lord And that is an extremely important thing for us To recognize our limitations, our weaknesses In order that we might put our trust in God He is our strength And then David asks, why do you cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? God, why aren't you working? Why don't you defeat these forces? Lord, why is it that it seems like the righteous causes suffer And the ungodly causes prosper Why, Lord, do you cast me off? Why am I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Oh, send out your light and your truth Let them lead me Tremendous prayer of David here He wants God to lead him to the holy hill, to the tabernacle of God Lead him to the house of God, the place of meeting God The tabernacle in the Old Testament was called the tent of meeting It was the place where the people gathered to meet God This is a tent of meeting or a building of meeting We gather here to meet God There are those who call this the house of God I sort of object to that term In that this is no more the house of God than any place else God dwells and fills the universe And I think that it is wrong for us in our minds to seek to localize God as to a place It is a part of our innate idolatry, I think To sort of hold in reverence a place, a spot Where at one time God met me there in a wonderful way And if you have such a place that you have just sort of a special feeling towards that place Because of some experience that you had with God there And you find yourself sort of going back to that place It is sort of a sad commentary on your current spiritual condition It means that you sort of lost that consciousness of God That sense of his presence that you once had And you are trying to recapture it by going back to that place where God moved in your life On a particular occasion Yes, God dwells here but God dwells outside God dwells in your homes, God dwells in the universe And sometimes we think that as we come in now I've got to act differently I can't laugh because I am in the house of God And I have to change my behavior because I've suddenly come into the presence of God And that's not good I need to realize that as I go out of here I'm in the presence of God As I'm driving home I'm in the presence of God Where can I flee from thy presence, O Lord? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there If I descend into hell, O thou art there If I take the wings of the morning and flee to the uttermost parts of the sea Even there you encircle me, you surround me And so we need to have the consciousness of the presence of God whenever and wherever we are And not in one place more than in another But living in the conscious presence of God So vital to our holiness and to our Christian walk So the place where we meet God The place where we gather to worship God Then will I go to the altar of God Unto God my exceeding joy I love this way by which David expresses God He is David's exceeding joy Joy of David's life That relationship with God Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within me? In the modern vernacular you would say Why am I so depressed? Why am I filled with such anxiety? We're depressed often when we feel trapped We're under pressure And living in this society there are pressures of many sorts Interpersonal relationships Financial pressures Spiritual pressures And when we are in a situation where we are overwhelmed We can't see any way out We're uncomfortable with what's going on But we can't see any changes or any possibility for changes It leads to depression It leads to anxieties And so David It seemed like God wasn't working He was mourning because of his enemies Who were oppressing him It seemed like God wasn't answering his prayer That God had forgotten him, cast him off And thus he was cast down He was depressed He was filled with anxiety But David Talking to himself, asking himself the question Why are you cast down? Why are you disquieted? Gave to himself the solution Hope thou in God The reason why I'm depressed and cast down is I've lost sight of God God has been removed out of the equation I'm trying to figure out the answer apart from God I'm trying to find the solution And I haven't put God in the equation And thus I'm trying with my strength With my ability To somehow cope with this situation And it's beyond me, I can't do it And therefore I get depressed, I get upset I get filled with anxiety Now the answer to that is to come back and put God in Factor Him into the equation Hope thou in God And when you put God back into the situation Then suddenly it's not impossible anymore Suddenly it's just, you see the solution Hope thou in God And your soul is quieted You're encouraged You're strengthened Because you know that God is on the throne And God is going to take care of it And as God is factored in As David said, for I shall yet praise Him The moment I factor God into the situation I know now that I'm going to come out victorious And I'm going to come out praising God I don't know yet how He's going to do it I don't know how He's going to work I don't know what solution He's going to bring to this situation But I know He is And I know it's going to be good And I know that it's going to be rejoicing my soul And I shall yet praise Him And so factor God in And it turns your depression into praise Your fear into hope Hope thou in God For I shall yet praise Him Who is the health of my countenance And my God Psalm 44 begins the first eight verses With the declarations of the things that they have heard about God As far as their national history is concerned Through the years From parent to child The stories of God's power and God's deliverance For the people of Israel Have been rehearsed The parents sharing with their children how God worked How He brought their fathers out of Egypt How they came through the wilderness After wandering there for 40 years How He drove the enemies out of the land And how they gave them the land as a possession And how He defeated their enemies And they had heard the glory of the eternal God In gathering the nation And in giving birth to the nation of Israel And so the first eight verses Deal with the history of God's working as they have heard it And the confidence that it inspires But then beginning with verse 9 He takes a nose dive Let's look at it We have heard with our ears, O God Our fathers have told us What work You did in their days And in the times of old How God has worked in the past The glorious revivals of the past The way the Spirit of God moved in the past Lord, we've heard about these things How You drove out the heathen with Your hand How You afflicted the people and cast them out How our fathers came into possession As You went before them, driving out the heathen For they did not get the land in their possession By their own sword Neither did their own arms save them But Your right hand and Your arm And the light of Your countenance Because You had favor unto them We've heard about this, Lord It wasn't by their strength, not by their power But Lord, Your hand brought them into this place You favored them And thus Thou art my King, O God I've heard about You And thus I make You my King Command deliverances for Jacob That is, the tribes of Jacob Through Thee we will push down our enemies Through Thy name we will tread them under That rise up against us For we will not trust in our bows And neither shall my sword save me But You have saved us from our enemies And put them to shame that hated us In God we will boast all the day long And praise Your name forever Man, sounds like this guy can't be defeated I mean, he's on top He's heard how God is blessed And thus, you know, You're going to be my God I'm going to trust in You I'm going to trust in Your deliverance I'm not going to trust in my bow or in my spear But Lord, I'm just going to trust in You Because You will deliver Now, David just takes a nose dive But You have cast off And put us to shame You're not going forth with our armies You've made us turn our backs from the enemy And they that hate us Spoil for themselves Thou hast given us like sheep that are appointed for meat You have scattered us among the heathen You have sold Your people for nothing And You did not increase Your wealth by their price You made us a reproach to our neighbors A scorn and a derision to those that are round about us And You've made us a byword among the heathen A shaking of a head among the people They were going through hard times They'd heard of how God had helped them in the past How God was with them and gave them the land Driving out the enemies It wasn't by their strength It was by the hand of the Lord We're going to trust You Lord But Lord, how come When we've placed our trust in You You've cast us off You've put us to shame You don't go with us as we face our enemies One of the problems That we have in our relationship with God One of the major problems Is somehow I have the concept That because I serve God That God should somehow then Be my servant That by the fact that I am seeking to please God By serving Him That He should do the things that I want done And we think that prayer Is a device established by God Whereby I can see my will accomplished on this earth Somehow, someway, we've got things twisted Where we have lost the concept of the sovereignty of God God is not under any obligation to fill my will In fact, in His wisdom He so often goes against my will I have in my mind a way I feel God should be working in this situation Because I've been thinking over it I've been worried about it And I finally have figured out a plan And so I present my plan to God And this is the best way to go Because I've thought of every angle And so I present this plan to God I say, now God, here's what I want you to do And I start laying out this complicated solution That I have conjured in my head And I'm wanting God now to sort of He too, just come on in now And get working here, Lord Got it all scheduled out here for you We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse venture Through the Bible in our next lesson As Pastor Chuck continues to guide us Through our study of the Psalms And we do hope you'll make plans to join us But right now, I'd like to remind you That if you missed any part of today's message Or perhaps you'd like to order a copy For that special friend or loved one You can do so by simply contacting One of our customer service representatives And they'd be more than happy to assist you With the ordering details Simply call 1-800-272-WORD And phone orders can be taken Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time Once again, our toll-free number is 1-800-272-9673 And for your added convenience You can order online, anytime When you go to TheWordForToday.org And while you're there, be sure to browse Through the additional resources That include Bible studies, commentaries CDs, DVDs, and so much more Once 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Box 8000 Costa Mesa, California 92628 And be sure to include the call letters Of this station with your correspondence And now, on behalf of The Word for Today We'd like to thank all of you Who share in supporting this ministry With your prayers and financial support And be sure to join us again next time As Pastor Chuck Smith continues His verse-by-verse venture Through the Psalms That's right here On the next edition of The Word for Today And now, once again Here's Pastor Chuck Smith With today's closing comments May the Lord be with you And give you a blessed week As you live and walk in fellowship with God May you be strengthened by His Spirit In your inner man So that you might be more than a conqueror Through His love And through the difficulties, the trials May we keep the perspective Of God working out His eternal plans in our life For our eternal good May you come to that place of strength And power Through the ministry of the Spirit to your heart As He works in your life effectually In Jesus' name Amen Have you ever seen a person Who was once enslaved to an addictive lifestyle And then all of a sudden They came to know Jesus as their Savior And they're like a different person? They're happy, they're excited about life They've become transformed If you or someone you know has an addiction Whether it be to drugs or alcohol Even prescription drugs An eating disorder Or a problem with gambling or pornography I'd like to recommend this year's One Step to Freedom conference on DVD Entitled, High Time Here guest speakers Mike McIntosh, Jerry Brown, Tommy Kota And testimonies by Ibo Elder and Hannah Parks I can only imagine what this guy's face was just like Like, wow, you set me free And Jesus just smiling down at this man As he's been set free To order a copy of this year's conference For a friend or loved one Call The Word for Today at 1-800-272-WORD Or visit us online at thewordfortoday.org This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today In Costa Mesa, California