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- Welcome to Drive Time Devotions.
We're looking at Psalm 60 today.
As with all the Psalms in this section,
we're told the circumstances in which they were written.
And this Psalm is a part of the history
recorded in 2 Samuel 8, 1 to 14,
when David was winning battles,
when he was getting a name for himself.
Twice in that section, it is said,
"The Lord gave David victory wherever he went."
And you get the sense as you read this Psalm,
that this is the prayer that David prayed
before these battles.
Because before these victories,
Israel had been struggling with defeat.
Things had not been going well.
But then all of a sudden things turn around
and the victories start to come.
As a result of the heart for God
and the attitude of faith that David expresses
in this Psalm, they begin to see victory
after victory in their lives.
Psalm 56 was about what to do
when victory had faded into defeat.
Psalm 60 actually gives us the next step.
How do you move from defeat to victory in your life?
Just some very practical things that David teaches us here.
How do you move from defeat to victory
in your spiritual life, in your life of faith?
Well, number one, be honest about the defeat.
Verses one to three, "You have rejected us, O God,
"and burst forth upon us.
"You've been angry, now restore us.
"You've shaken the land and torn it open,
"mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
"You have shown your people desperate times.
"You've given us wine that makes us stagger."
David sees that the defeats they'd been facing
were because they'd been trusting themselves and not God.
And so God rejected them.
He was angry with their actions.
Now, as followers of Jesus Christ,
we know that God will never condemn us.
But he does reject our lack of faith.
He does reject our living for selfish motivations.
So when things aren't working out in your life,
you ask God the honest question,
is there some sin in my life
that is keeping me from your blessing?
Now, defeats in your life,
they're not always the result of your sin.
It could be another person's sin,
or just the fact that we live in a fallen world.
But more often than we want to admit,
we miss God's blessings because we're depending on ourselves
instead of depending on him.
It's not usually some great sin
that you already would have known about that's the problem.
It's just the fact that you're depending on yourself
and not depending on him.
So first, you're just honest to God
about the fact that I'm facing defeat in my life
because I'm trusting myself and not you.
That's where you start.
The second thing you do is this,
and this is a wonderful picture in this psalm.
Number two, you run to God as your banner.
Let me read the verses and then explain what that means,
verses four and five.
But for those who fear you,
you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.
Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
The banner in ancient armies,
it was a rallying point for the army.
The banner would come up, would be raised,
and that would be the point that everybody could see
on the battlefield so they could all rally to that banner,
and that would give them strength again together,
and they'd be able to attack together in unity.
And so when you saw the banner unfurled,
you would run to the banner.
Otherwise, you'd be left out on your own.
It's the mercy of the enemy.
Well, here's the beauty of this picture.
Exodus 17, 15 tells us that one of the names of God
is Jehovah-Nissi.
That means the Lord our banner.
Run to the Lord as your banner.
That's what this is saying.
Don't waste any time.
Run to the Lord as your banner.
Otherwise, you're left out on your own
at the mercy of the enemy.
The rallying point of the cross and the love of God,
that's where the victory is found.
So run there.
That's the second thing you do
to begin to turn defeat into victory.
Third thing we do is this.
You move upon what God has spoken.
Verses six to eight.
God has spoken from his sanctuary.
In triumph, I will parcel out Shechem
and measure out the valley of Sukkoth.
Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine
and Ephraim is my helmet and Judah is my scepter.
Moab is my wash basin.
Upon Edom, I will toss my sandal.
And over Philistia, I will shout in triumph.
Now a lot of places here.
He talks about the places of victory over the enemy,
Shechem and the valley of Sukkoth.
But he also talks about the people of Israel.
Gilead and Manasseh and Ephraim and Judah.
He's talking about the people of God.
These are all mine, my helmet, my scepter.
And then he talks about the enemies
that are gonna be defeated.
Moab is gonna be just a wash basin.
Edom, a place to toss a sandal.
God has spoken that he's gonna accomplish victory
over those nations that have been attacking Israel.
God declares the victory.
Listen, this is what happens.
God declares the victory and then they go in battle
for what God has already declared.
One of the main reasons I face defeat in my life,
and I would guess the same is true of you.
One of the main reasons we face defeat in our lives
is we haven't listened to God
about the battles we should be fighting.
And so we're fighting our own battles.
They might even be good battles,
but they're not God's battles for you.
They're not the battles that God wants you fighting
right now.
So if you want to move from defeat to victory,
one of the definite keys is you listen
for what God has spoken.
Listen for where God has spoken.
He wants to give you a victory and you move on that.
I know some people, they put their all,
they want a victory and they put their all
into building a business and they want God's help
in building that business.
But at the same time, they're ignoring their family.
They're ignoring their time with God.
They've become so focused on the battle
of making that business work that they don't have time
for God's battles, the most important things in their lives.
So instead of asking God to help you win your battles,
start listening for what he has spoken,
for the battles he wants you to be fighting.
It's often gonna be the things that you already know,
relationships and deepening those relationships,
worship and spending time with him,
discipleship, growing in him, spending time in his word,
service, deciding to serve other people.
Get involved in those battles that God wants in your life.
That is the key to victory.
Stop fighting your battles.
Start fighting God's battles.
Then there's a fourth thing that we learned
from David in this Psalm.
Number four, you'll look to God as your only hope.
He's your only hope for victory.
Verses nine to 12, who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
Is it not you, O God, who have rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies?
So give us aid against the enemy,
for the help of man is worthless.
With God, we will gain the victory
and he will trample down our enemies.
One of the greatest keys for moving from defeat to victory
is recognizing our desperate need for God.
See, sometimes we try to make God
just a part of our strategy for victory.
We prepare the army, we plan the attack
and oh, we gotta make sure we pray before we go out.
So God's just a part of the plan.
He's not the leader even of the plan,
but we include him because we really want to have victory.
God is not part of a good strategy.
He is your only hope.
You start there and out of that, you can prepare the plans.
Out of that, you can take the actions of faith.
In verse nine, David asks,
who will bring down the fortified city?
So the question I'd have for you
as we end our look at this Psalm is,
what fortified city do you need to win victory over?
Maybe some struggle with unforgiveness.
Maybe some calling that God has put upon your life
that you've never been able to say yes to.
Maybe some sin or sin pattern
that you've struggled with in your life, some addiction.
Maybe some victory, some point of growth and change
that you know God wants to work into your life,
but you've never quite been able to cross the line
into seeing yourself in the way
that you know he wants you to see yourself.
What fortified city do you need to win victory over?
And the question is,
are you gonna trust yourself to win that victory?
Are you gonna trust God?
Now, why in the world would we trust ourselves?
Well, we trust ourselves when we feel like
God hasn't been coming through for us.
David says, God, you're the one
who's no longer going out with us.
You're the one who's rejected us.
So you say, well, God, it's not working with you,
so I guess I'll need to trust myself.
I guess I need to do it all by myself this time.
Many times, you're gonna find this in your life of faith.
Many times, the Lord will withhold a victory in your life
so that you can see whether you were simply using him
as a means to win your victory, or are you trusting?
Are you trusting him in victory,
or even in seeming defeat,
to accomplish his ultimate victory for your life?
That victory that seems to be withheld
in your life right now,
that place where you feel like maybe God has rejected you,
you keep trusting him there.
You keep desperately recognizing he is your only hope there,
and he will turn those defeats into victories.
That is his promise.
And so, Father, as we pray, we trust that promise.
We don't always know what victory looks like in our lives.
We think we want this, we want that,
but it's really not the best for us.
But we know that the victories that you have planned for us
are the best.
And so, God, we come to you,
and we ask that we hear your voice,
we hear your direction,
maybe even right now like never before.
You clearly speaking to us, not out of our selfishness,
not out of what we want to happen,
but out of a depth of wanting to follow you, God.
Show us what's next.
Show us what victory you want to accomplish in our lives.
Show us how you want to turn what feels like a defeat
right now into victory in our lives.
We trust you with this.
In Jesus' name, amen.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)