SERMON TITLE: Suffering and Salvation
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 143 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 7-6-25
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It’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
Today we’re finishing our series looking at some of King David’s psalms that address the topic of suffering. We’ve seen that there are many aspects to suffering — many reasons for our suffering that David touches on in his psalms. And — whether or not you’re currently in a season of suffering — suffering has a way of showing up in our lives — and it often does so unexpectedly — which tells us we’d be wise to prepare for it.
Being prepared doesn’t mean that suffering will be easy — often suffering comes when life is most challenging. Yet — though not easy — suffering provides us with a unique opportunity — because — when life’s most challenging we’re forced to change in some way.
And — in this series — we’ve been seeing how our Christian faith offers us the opportunity to become more like our Savior — Jesus — who — in love for us — experienced suffering, trials, persecution, hardships, rejection, hatred — you name it — he experienced it so that we might have hope in the midst of the sorrows we face.
Yet I know not all of us believe in Jesus. But all of us have experienced suffering or know others who have. And — if you’re honest — it’s scary. Because there’s no good answer offered by our world as to why we suffer — and even more importantly — how to suffer well. There’s just a huge hopelessness — thus many turn to coping mechanisms to numb themselves — or give up on life altogether in a seemingly never-ending depression.
But is this all there is — is this the best offer on the table in a world full of suffering? It’s not — and we should be thankful it’s not.
And that’s what we’ve been exploring in this series as we’ve looked at some of David’s psalms — including today’s psalm — psalm one hundred and forty-three. So — if you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to psalm one hundred and forty-three.
David addresses this in our psalm for today — psalm one hundred and forty-three — when he writes…
Psalm 143 ESV
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah 7 Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! 11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.
We’ll briefly look at David’s description of his suffering, which will show us how suffering reveals our need for salvation. Then we’ll look at the foundation of salvation, the result of salvation, the purpose of salvation, and the means of salvation.
The foundation of salvation — what’s the basis for our salvation? The result of salvation — what happens to a person when they’re saved? The purpose of salvation — what’s the goal of salvation? And — finally — the means of salvation — from the foundation to its goal — how is any of this possible?
But — first — David’s suffering. He describes his suffering in verse three — where we read…
Psalm 143:3–4 ESV
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
And skipping to verse seven he writes…
Psalm 143:7 ESV
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
In addition to these verses — in verse nine David mentions his “enemies” — which he does again in verse twelve where he also mentions his “adversaries.” Here’s what all of this tells us: This suffering is — once again — due to others being out to get him. And —though we’re not certain of the exact situation David’s writing about — whatever’s going on — we know that enemies and adversaries are against him and are pursuing him. David feels as if his life is being crushed. He says his life is surrounded by darkness. He’s faint, he’s weak, and he’s appalled because of what he’s going through.
And it’s in this situation that David shows us how suffering reveals to us our need for salvation — a word that means rescue. In verse two he writes…
Psalm 143:2 ESV
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
Though suffering — David makes a profound theological statement. He says, “No one living is righteous before you.” To be righteous means to be “right with God.” And — here — David says that none are righteous. A profound statement. We’d expect David to say that his enemies are not righteous — but to say “no one living is righteous” would include who? David.
You see — just how suffering reveals to us our inability to save ourselves from whatever’s the cause of our suffering — you can’t save yourself from the grief of the death of someone you love — doctors can’t save themselves from cancer when it shows up in their life — and those addicted — whether to drugs, alcohol, porn, or whatever — those addicted can’t save themselves from their addiction — just as suffering reveals to us our inability to save ourselves from the cause of our suffering — it can also reveal to us our inability to save ourselves from our unrighteousness. For no one can save him- or herself from their not being right with God.
Now many think they can — they think if they do enough good things they’ll be right with God. Many people confuse this horrible idea with Christianity — but Christianity and saving yourself by what you do are not the same — they’re not even friends. A “what I do makes me right with God” religion or philosophy or worldview makes rule following — and not love — the basis of one’s relationship with God. Instead of a loving Father you get a taskmaster or referee.
And none of us play by God’s rules when it comes to this kind of relationship. We may pick and choose a few of his rules that we’re good at — but we’re cunningly good at deceiving ourselves from even considering the many rules we’re horrible at obeying. And — though we may fool ourselves — no one fools God — he knows that none of us are righteous before him.
What David’s describing here is the biblical doctrine of sin and — even more specifically — the doctrine known as total depravity.
Here’s one of the clearest passages in Scripture describing in more detail what David says in the short phrase, “No one living is righteous before you.” The apostle Paul writes…
Romans 3:9–20 ESV
9b For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
All people — it doesn’t matter your race, nationality, gender, political affiliation, whether you root for the team in Columbus or Ann Arbor — everyone is under sin.
Imagine two buildings — one building is for people who are under — or enslaved to sin — and the other is for those not under — or free from — sin. Everyone — Paul says — is under one roof. This is our spiritual condition from birth — because we inherited this condition from our first parents — Adam and Eve. And I know this may seem unfair — but we all made it fair when we made the decision to sin ourselves.
You see, similar to what we inherit from our parents — some inherit red hair or blue eyes — a morally neutral inheritance — while others inherit a disposition towards being an alcoholic — which is not morally neutral. Though genetics may play a part in one being an alcoholic — at some point the choice to drink or not is yours. And the same is true for sin — we’ve both inherited sin and chosen it — thus we’re all guilty and — as David and Paul both say — unrighteous — or not right with God.
Paul goes on to describe this unrighteousness of ours.
This is Paul’s description of how sin has affected us — it’s affected all of who we are — which is what the doctrine of total depravity is about. Total depravity doesn’t mean that you or I are as bad as we could possibly be — it means that there’s no part of us that isn’t tainted — or affected — or infected — by sin.
And the suffering we experience — either because of choices we’ve made or because of the choices of others — is a result of all of this. In fact — even suffering that’s not because of anyone’s choice — like cancer — is still a result of our sin and rebellion against God. It’s our body's way of screaming at us, “Something’s gone seriously wrong and you need to be rescued from it!”
Which leads us to good news — the way of salvation — which begins with the foundation — or the basis for salvation. We’re back in verse one.
Psalm 143:1 ESV
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
And skipping to verse five he writes…
Psalm 143:5 ESV
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.
What’s the foundation — or basis — for salvation? God’s faithfulness and righteousness. Let’s start with God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness is great news — it means that God always does what is right. Remember — we’re unrighteous. This doesn’t mean we always do what’s wrong — but we definitely don’t always do what is right. Yet God does — he only does what is right.
Now — when we suffer — something I find to immediately pop into my mind — and maybe you can relate — is that I doubt God’s righteousness — that he always does what is right. When things are going well — I have no doubt in God’s righteousness. But now that I’m suffering — it’s like, “Hey God, why’d you change?” As if he still isn’t doing what is right.
So let me show you something wonderfully practical about theology — this is how theology goes from being all up in our head and gets down into our heart and to the core of who we are. I’m reading a book on the life and ministry of a pastor who died a few years ago. The author quotes the pastor on the relationship between our theology and life by encouraging us to ask…
“How would I be different if I took this theological truth seriously? How would it change my attitudes and actions if I really believed this from the bottom of my heart?”
How would you be different — suffering or not — if you took the theological truth seriously that God is always righteous — that he only does what is right? How would really believing this truth change your attitude or actions in your suffering? How would it change your view of what you’re currently going through?
Second, David tells us that God is faithful — another layer of the foundation of our salvation. David remembers and meditates on all that God has done in the past — he ponders God’s works. God’s past faithfulness — in Scripture, in history, and in your life — when remembered — will give you confidence in his faithfulness to you today — suffering or not.
You’ve heard me say in many sermons that one of the most popular commands in the Bible is to remember. Why remember? Because we’re a forgetful people! And what do we forget most often? God’s faithfulness to us — thus we doubt if he’ll be faithful to us when we suffer.
Yet the God…
Is the God who is always faithful to his people. He is the God who is always righteous — and only does what is right. He is the God of salvation — the One who came to rescue us.
Which leads to the result of salvation. We’re in verse six where David writes…
Psalm 143:6 ESV
6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
And skipping to verse eight he writes…
Psalm 143:8–10 ESV
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
If — as we saw earlier — none are righteous and none seek God and so on — including David — how did he get here? With his hands stretched out to God? And thirsting for God? And trusting God? In lifting up his soul to God? In fleeing to God for refuge and protection? What happened to David that changed his desires so he now longs for God to teach him his will and to declare, “You are my God” — and to believe that God’s Spirit is leading him?
He experienced salvation. And — specifically — he experienced the change that happens to a person who’s been saved.
What happens to us when we’re saved? According to Scripture — what happens to us is that we’re given a new heart. Other passages call this being given new life or a new birth or being born again or being Spirit-filled. This is something God does to us resulting in us repenting of our sins — turning from our sin and rebellion against God — as we turn to him in faith — that’s called conversion.
The point is that salvation always results in change — always. And this results in us doing some of the very same things we used to do — thinking we could make ourselves right with God — but now we do them because God has made us right with him. Works we now do — not to earn God’s love or favor — works done because God has graciously given us his love and favor.
Yet I know that many people struggle at this point — not only in discerning whether or not they’re doing something to earn God’s love — but even in knowing whether or not they’re a true Christian. Which another quote — from the pastor I mentioned earlier — I think will be helpful. And — not only helpful — but will circle us back to where we began in this series on suffering — back to prayer. He says…
“Your prayer life is the litmus test for your relationship with God. How do you know if you’re really a Christian? How do you know? That’s a hard question, but I’ll tell you this. Your prayer life is the best way to find out. Don’t look at whether you witness day and night on the street corner. Don’t look at whether you’re a moral person. Don’t look at whether you go to church. Don’t look at even how much you know your Bible. Because, you realize, other people see [those things]…and so it’s possible to be motivated out of a desire to look good. It’s possible to have an external kind of religion and be motivated by environmental factors. But only God sees you when you pray. As a result, it’s your prayer life that tells you what you’re really made of spiritually.”
Be honest with yourself: What does your private prayer life say about the reality of your salvation? Does it speak volumes? Is it barely a whisper? Does it give you assurance? Or is it non-existent?
David’s been teaching us how to pray during this series. Has he fallen on deaf ears or on a heart eager to pour itself out to a saving God who is always faithful and righteous?
Which leads us to the purpose of salvation. We’re in verse eleven.
Psalm 143:11–12 ESV
11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.
The goal of your salvation — the goal of my salvation — the goal of anyone’s salvation — is the glory of God. Salvation makes God — the One who saves — look glorious. For the One who brings our soul out of trouble — whose steadfast love cuts off our enemies — who destroys all adversaries of our soul — is the One who our lives are to glorify.
For the enemies who he’s protected us from — and cut off and destroyed on our behalf — are Satan, sin, death, and Hell. And the promise he’s made to us is that he will preserve us. God will ensure that we experience all that it means to be saved. Including the great and glorious promise that John saw in his vision when he writes…
Revelation 21:1–5 ESV
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
This is salvation fulfilled to its ultimate purpose: God’s people living in God’s presence for God’s glory for all eternity. Where separation from him — because of sin — is no more. Along with no more crying and no more death and no more pain or mourning or suffering or sorrow. For these things will have passed away and be no more. Leaving only new things for God’s people — as he makes new — and restores — everything for his glory.
And that’s good and that’s glorious — but I’ve left out the best part: how we get there — the means of our salvation. Back to verse one.
Psalm 143:1 ESV
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
The mercy that David pleas for — the faithfulness and righteousness of God that we looked at earlier — are most clearly seen in the One who came to be our righteousness.
As the apostle Peter tells us…
1 Peter 3:18 NIV
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
And as the apostle Paul reminds us…
1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Let the one who boasts — boast in the Lord indeed. For then — even our suffering will make our saving God look glorious to a world full of suffering. Even then — we’ll join the mighty chorus of voices in singing about the hope we have in Christ and make our saving God look glorious in a world that sings the music of self-righteousness and despair. For when he — Jesus — who is the Righteousness of God — is your righteousness — your life will be changed — gloriously so — for God’s glory alone — forever and ever. Amen. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, what a God you are! Faithful. Righteous. Merciful. Protecting. And a saving God. What a God you are indeed.
Holy Spirit, you apply all that Jesus has accomplished in the lives of your people. From giving us new hearts to keeping us from falling away — salvation from beginning to end is a work not in our hands — but in yours. And this is more than comforting because you are righteous — we are not. You only do what is right — we often choose otherwise. Your love is unconditional — our love often comes with conditions. Why would we want salvation to be in anyone’s hands but yours?
And — Jesus — this wonderful salvation that we’ve seen today is possible because you — the Righteous One of God — came to earth to give your life in place of ours. To pay the debt we owe for our sin. To satisfy the wrath of God while protecting us from our enemies and adversaries.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — help all who hear my voice to receive this Good News. To respond to it. To believe it to be more true than any of us currently do — for none of us believe this to the infinite degree that it’s true. And —we ask this — so that you would look glorious in all of our “changed for all eternity lives” that we now live because you have saved us. And we pray all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
As we turn to the Lord’s Table — it’s hard to not think back on the night Jesus first ate this meal with his disciples. The apostle Paul records the meal this way.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
As you may know — after the meal — Jesus went with his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. Before we remember this moment — I want to read some verses from our psalm one more time for you — I want you to see a connection between the words in our psalm and what happens in the garden.
From our psalm.
Psalm 143:8–10 ESV
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
And now we turn to Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 26:36–46 ESV
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
In this meal — there is salvation and much grace for us to be thankful for.
At this time, I’d like to invite forward those who are going to be serving us. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the trays with the bread — there’s a gluten free option in the center of the tray. Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Having believed in Jesus — may you go and make your saving God look glorious. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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