HOW TO BE HAPPY IN A DARK TIME

Psalms 41:1-13 (KJV)

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

Dark times.

As tempting as it is to ignore them and pretend that everything in life is bright and cheery the fact is that dark times happen.

• Sometimes dark times happen in our personal lives
• Sometimes they happen in our family life
• Sometimes to a country or a region

Dark times are such a reality that there is a whole period of history called “the Dark Ages.”

Turns out there has been more than one.

I found this list of periods of dark ages in human history:

• Dark Ages the period in Europe following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (5th to 15th centuries AD),  1000 YEARS LONG!
• Saeculum obscurum or "dark age" in the history of the papacy, running from 904 to 964 AD
• Irish Dark Age, a period of apparent economic and cultural stagnation in late pre-historic Ireland, lasting from c. 100 BC to c. 300 AD.
• Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100 BC – 750 BC), a period in the history of Ancient Greece and Anatolia after the Bronze Age collapse
• Dark ages of Cambodia (c. 1450–1863 AD)
• Digital dark age, a future time when it might not be possible to read historical digital documents

The United States has experienced some Dark Times too:

• The Civil War when brother was fighting brother
• World Wars I and II
• Korea and the protests of Vietnam

Not to mention the economic depressions of 

• the Reconstruction Era and 
• the Great Depression.

I tend to be the sort of person who deals with my dark times quietly and privately. 

That is not King David’s way of dealing with them.

Mind you, he didn’t crawl into a hole and hide until they were over. He had a country to lead and people to protect in battle.

But neither did he ignore them.

He dealt with his dark times by taking pen and paper and pouring his heart out to God through Psalms.

Expositor’s Bible says

“The central mass of this psalm describes the singer as suffering from two evils: sickness and treacherous friends…”

it then goes on to say,

“…he is comforting his own sorrow with the assurance…”

In other words, he used what he knew to be true about God to comfort and strengthen himself during his own dark times.

I want to take you through this Psalm today under the theme, How to Be happy in a Dark Time.

I want you to notice first of all that David comforted or cheered himself,

I. BY THE GENERAL TEACHINGS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE BIBLE 

Psalms 41:1-3 (KJV)

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

Albert Barnes

“…The particular application here is, that if any one showed kindness to him that was sick or enfeebled by disease, he might expect that God would interpose in his case under similar circumstances, and would “preserve” him, or “keep him alive.” Of course this is to be regarded as a statement made under the general principle. It is not to be interpreted as teaching that this would be universally true…”

Generally speaking then, the Bible says that the person who “considers the poor” the person who sees someone suffering and takes them into account.

• He takes the time to notice they are suffering
• He takes the time to consider what sort of suffering they experience and very likely 
• He then takes the time to attempt to alleviate his suffering

Is going to be a happier person than the one who ignores the poor and goes about his own way.

A couple of thoughts I want to present to you here:

A. A poor person is not necessarily financially poor

For instance:

• A wealthy person suffering from a painful disease or
• A strong person suffering from the loss of his family

could easily be considered poor.

I would suggest that, 

• The successful person who is without eternal salvation 

is also suffering poverty of the most terrible kind.

I was taught in the early days of my ministry that,

B. The suffering person can be lifted from their suffering by ministering to people suffering

A depressed person can often be helped from their depression by visiting people in a nursing home.

A person dealing with terminal cancer can often find meaning by ministering to others with the same cancer.

I have a friend who lost a son in Iraq.

She spends a great deal of time trying to be a blessing to other gold star parents and soldiers suffering from PTSD.

Very often those who are in dark times don’t feel like doing much.

The truth is, it is in the doing that they will begin to feel like it and things will begin to seem brighter for them.

C. Notice the general promises of the passage

• The Lord will deliver him
• The Lord will preserve him
• The Lord will cheer (bless) him
• The Lord will protect him (from his enemies)
• The Lord will strengthen him in his sickness
• The Lord will comfort him on his sickbed

It is true that these are general principles and they do not always mean that those who consider the poor will:

• Defeat all of their enemies
• Win all their battles or
• Be healed from all their illnesses

But it does mean that they will be happier for considering the poor while even in their own poverty.

David comforted or cheered himself,

II. BY PRAYERS FOR MERCY AND OF CONFESSION

Psalms 41:4-10 (KJV)

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

At this point David goes straight to the Lord in prayer, with three specific focuses in this prayer:

A. A clean conscience before the Lord

Vs 4

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

1 John 1:9 (KJV) says,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I think we can become too religious about everything and I believe I have known some who have become too religious about this too, they live as they please and feel good about it because every night they confess their sins before they go to bed.

Religious ritual never accomplishes anything.

But genuine confession of our sins to God: 

• Cleans the conscience
• Clears the accounts between us and the Lord and
• Creates an atmosphere of fellowship with the Lord

We ought to confess our sins to God: 

• Sincerely
• Specifically and
• Certainly

B. A clear delineation of the circumstances

Vs 5-9

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

This part of David’s prayer is a detailed catalog of the circumstances he faced.

In other words, he didn’t sweep his circumstances under the rug.

• Some people deal with their problems by pretending they have problems
• Some people face their challenges by ignoring them

Sometimes ignoring problems can amount to a pretty serious mistake.

I am reminded of the lesson Jesus taught, 

Luke 14:28-30 (KJV)

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 

Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 

Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 

When you are in dark times, it’s best to take the time to “count the cost” and identify the specific problems.

The final focus of David’s prayer was

C. A Concise request for mercy, strength and enablement

Vs 10

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

Having laid out exactly what he was facing, David’s next step was to get specific.

Generally speaking, David knew that God was merciful.

Now, he asked for mercy

Generally speaking, David knew that God would lift up those who considered the poor.

Now he asked God to raise him up and heal him.

Generally speaking, David knew that God helped his own defeat their enemies.

Now he asked God to help him defeat them.

1 John 5:14-15 (KJV) says

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Confidence that God answers our prayers is a heart cheering thing.

Lastly, David comforted or cheered himself,

III. BY RECOGNIZING GOD’S FAVOR

Psalms 41:11-13 (KJV)

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

I think he is doing here what we regularly do in church.

• We remind ourselves of the truths of the Bible
• We encourage each other in the promises of God and
• We join together to worship and praise the Lord because He is worthy of it

I always leave church a happier person.

I am always glad I came into the house of the Lord.

Conclusion

So David teaches us how to be happy in dark times by:

• Reflecting on the general teachings and principles of the Bible 
• Prayers for mercy and of confession and
• Recognizing God’s favor and giving Him worship