Victory in the Day of Trouble Sacrifices that Win the War

Good evening. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 20, verse 3. I want to return there for a moment and then pretty much summarize where we've been the last couple of times in this series, what I'm calling the Victory in the Day of Trouble series. I intend this to be the last of the three messages in this Victory in the Day of Trouble series.

Looked at this morning, pressing on to maturity inevitably involves going through life, growing in faith and confidence of the Lord. And inevitably, that's going to involve days of trouble. Days of trouble. Tonight, I want to talk about those sacrifices that will win the war. Victory in the day of trouble, specifically the sacrifices that will win the war.

I think the general population here in the United States, we know little about real sacrifice. I know there are some exceptions. Generally, as a population, we have it pretty good. Really good. I saw a bumper sticker this morning on the way in To church, honoring our military. The bumper sticker said this: all gave some, but some gave all.

You may have seen that or heard that. All gave some, some gave all. I'd venture to say, most of us here when it comes to the Christian life, we have all given something, but very few give all. Trouble. The day of trouble is a reality. This phrase, I've been looking at the day of trouble in the Psalms, and there's a little grouping of them, and we've actually covered all of them except for one, and I'll mention that one tonight.

But we've gone through a couple of the Psalms that really go deep in this concept with that expression of day of trouble. Now, it's expressed in many ways, in different ways throughout the Psalms and throughout the prophets, but specifically, we looked at this phrase, the day of trouble.

I'm most interested in how do we achieve victory in the day of trouble? Because the day of trouble is coming. By way of review, remember we looked at Psalm 20, and there, victory, day of trouble. Of trouble. It talked much about the battle before the battle. Really, the victory in the day of trouble is won in the battle before the battle.

We looked at that. First of all, remember that the day of trouble will come. It's going to come. A day of trouble, a day of distress, anxiety, a day of straits, anguish. And trouble comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes in military conflict, sometimes a slander, sometimes the health, sometimes an issue, sometimes all kinds of conflict, internal and external.

There was conflict in Mordecai's day. Remember, we looked at Esther recently. Conflict, trouble. It's to bring about Holocaust in a major way. Mordecai and Esther and many others cried out to the Lord and became a day of victory. Saul's day of trouble, he saw forces surrounding him, Philistine armies.

He got anxious, and instead of waiting on the Lord and waiting on Samuel to come and offer the sacrifices, he did something that was unlawful and offered the sacrifices himself, which cost him his kingship because that was only the threat of war. And yet he couldn't wait for the Lord.

And so it cost him a war. him his kingship because God wants a man after his own heart. David had trouble, many days of trouble, some brought about by his own sin, some because enemies wanted to take him down, some internal, some external, some all kinds of things.

So know that the day of trouble will come. It will come to you in various shapes and sizes, various times. It is a reality of life. Know that. Settle that. It's coming. Something strange isn't happening to you. The day of trouble will come. Psalm 20 goes on to show us how we need to recognize the source of victory.

The source of victory is not in us, it's Yahweh, God. He is the one who delivers us. Also, in the battle before the battle, you need to understand the purpose of victory. What is the purpose of victory? Psalm 20, verse 5 says, This, we will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners.

Purpose of victory is to bring glory to God for you to experience his deliverance and for others to see you victorious and encourage them. It's God's glory. Battle before the battle, you need to settle in your heart that you're going to rely on the means of victory. What is the means of victory?

It is God's anointed, he will save by his right hand. He will answer. And finally, you need to call on his name in the day of trouble. This is the battle before the battle. This is what you settled before that day of trouble comes. You need to know these things, to know, to recognize, to understand, to rely.

And then you need to call on him when that day comes. It's the battle before the battle. Then we looked at Psalm 27 and looked at the calm in the storm. The calm in the storm. There is really the calm before the storm, which is faith when the day of trouble is a threat.

David could say he could see armies all encamping around him, the threat of war. And he said, you know, I'm not, even if great numbers encamp and get me, I'm not going to be shaken. I will not be afraid. So he was not afraid during the threat of war.

So faith, calm in the storm, first of all, involves faith when the day of trouble is a threat. And many of us get wigged out over just the threat of trouble. But David said, no. We have to have faith and confidence. Calm in the storm involves faith when the day of trouble is a reality.

That is, calm. During the storm, when it's pressing in, when the day of trouble has not only become, not only was a threat, but has become a reality, and you are in the midst of it. Psalm 27. And victory involves believing in and waiting upon the Lord in either situation.

That's how you maintain a calm in the face of the day of trouble, whether it's just a threat or whether you're experiencing it, the threat becomes a reality. Victory involves believing in and waiting upon the Lord. In fact, this is what David says in 27, verse 13: I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. That's a verse we should take to heart and memorize and put there in our heart, put it on our walls. I would have despaired unless I had believed this, that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

So tonight, I want to continue on this theme and talk about the sacrifices that win the war. What is victory in the day of trouble? Well, it's about honoring God through it all. And that it's about honoring God through sacrifice. Inevitably, our days of trouble become days of sacrifice.

In ancient times, when they were about to go out to war, before they went out to war, they would make sacrifices. That's what Saul was anxious about. We need to do the sacrifices. We need to get God's favor. And so he rushed through. And David would honor God through sacrifice before going into battle.

The question is: how do we honor God through sacrifice? What kind of sacrifices? That's the theme of tonight's message. Our days of trouble inevitably become days of sacrifice. They're going to cost us something. And the days of the troubles of other people, now think about this. The days of trouble that other people face can also become days of sacrifice for those who love them.

So when your loved one is going through, or one of our own is going through a day of trouble, it can become a day of sacrifice for all of us. And we do better as a group. When one member is facing a day of trouble or is in war, We do well to see that the day of trouble is a day of sacrifice for all of us, not just the one individual who loves them.

The psalmist has a lot to say about the kind of sacrifices that honor God and the kind of sacrifices that prepare his people for victory in the day of trouble. And so tonight, what I want to do is I want to survey some of these sacrifices. I'm going to look at specifically at psalms where the language about sacrifice is made and then the clear sacrifice that God is wanting or is in clear context implied.

And that's what I want to do. I want to survey the sacrifices that honor God in the day of trouble and also prepare us for victory. You see, look, we need to know what kind of sacrifices God wants from us so that we will accustom ourselves to offering them.

So that's where we're going. I've put these sacrifices that win the war in five groups, five sacrifices, or five groupings of sacrifices, and we'll just be bouncing around thematically looking at a few of the psalms that bring, that really express. This clearly. So, the first place, go to chapter 4 and verse 5.

Chapter 4, Psalm 4 and verse 5. It says this, Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord. There they are. The sacrifices of righteousness and trust. Let me give you a little context. Look at chapter 4 and verse 1. Answer me when I call, O God, of my righteousness.

You have relieved me in my distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for himself.

The Lord hears when I call to him. Tremble and do not sin. Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord. Here, the day of trouble. Sacrifices. What kind of sacrifices is God looking for from us? Well, he's saying to offer, look back at verse 5.

Offer. That's the command. Offer. Make a sacrifice. Slaughter something. That's the. Command, that's the plain meaning. Slaughter something. Notice, offer the sacrifices, plural, many slains. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. What is he talking about? The sacrifice of righteousness, that which is right. Make the sacrifice of doing the right thing.

And sometimes doing the right thing involves sacrifice. He's not talking about make a sacrifice for sin, go save yourself. No, he's not even looking for the atonement here. Yes, that's the foundation of our life with God: His sacrifice and what He has done for us. But what He's talking about here is: you offer, you slaughter, you come and make the decision.

Choose the right thing. There is involved in that sacrifice. Choose the moral thing. Choose the honest thing. Choose the fair thing. Choose what is just. Choose what is right. Choose what is loyal. All of that may take sacrifice. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, many. And trust in the Lord.

Trust. Again, they come in. Be trusting. Be choosing. When we're talking about sacrifices, we're really talking about a choice here, a volition. You bringing something and saying, God, I am going to do the right thing. I'm going to do what is right in this situation. And I'm going to trust you while I'm doing it.

Even trusting God to do the right thing sometimes goes against everything in us. But it's a choice. I'm going to choose to do the right thing. That's the sacrifice once. I'm going to choose to trust in Him. I'm going to put my confidence in Him. I'm going to be believing in His Word.

And I'm going to trust. I choose trust. And when I feel like I'm wavering, I'm going to choose trust. God, I'm going to trust in you. I'm going to take your word, what it says, and I'm going to do what is right before your eyes, and I am going to trust in you.

Choose to think, to say, and to do what is right. It's a choice. Doing what is right when trouble comes around can sometimes be very costly. And sometimes, It even deepens the distress of our war or our conflict. Or it heightens our temptation. I remember it was a day of distress, anxiety for Nancy and I as we started our own company.

And it was a very challenging time, very stressful. We had to take out every penny out of our home, mortgaged everything, put our whole life savings into it. We launch off into this venture. And on one of the very first occasions, I'm with one of our main clients, and I've told this story before.

And after this big construction meeting with a whole bunch of guys and a whole bunch of people, successful meeting, very political, a lot of politicians involved. And afterwards, we're going to celebrate. We got this thing approved. We're going to celebrate. And so the whole entourage goes over to a place that I wouldn't go into.

Morally objectionable, in my opinion. And there we are in the parking lot. We all followed him over. He's got the whole entourage. He looks over at me and I said, you know, I'm not going to go in. Everybody knew I was a Christian. And I remember sitting there in the Car, and I said, I think we may have just lost everything because I publicly offended one of my most important clients.

God took care of it. My point is: sometimes doing what is right can sometimes be costly. Are you caught in sin? You're feeling the conviction of sin? Sometimes a full confession may be very difficult, but it's the right thing to do. Honesty, truth, the sacrifices of righteousness and trust.

That's why we call them sacrifices, because we must choose to do what is right and the whole right, often make the whole sacrifice and trust God while we were doing it. Verse 3, Psalm 4 says, But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for himself.

The Lord hears when I call to him. Know that. That's why we call them burnt sacrifices. Sometimes the sacrifice is to do what is right. It's costly. Second category is the sacrifice of delighting in God's will. If you'll turn over to Psalm 10, Psalm 40. Psalm 40. Look at verse 8.

I delight to do your will, O my God. Your law is within my heart. I delight to do your will. The sacrifice of not only doing what is right and trusting him, but delighting. That takes the sacrifice to a whole nother level. But this is what? Well, win the victory.

It's also what he delights in. Let me give you a little context back up to verse 6, Psalm 40. Sacrifice and meal offering you have not desired. My ears you have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, Behold, I come. In the scroll of the book, it is written of me.

I delight to do your will, O my God. Your law is within my heart. To do your will. I delight to do your will. The first word is the word of emphasis here, and it is the word to do your will. To do your will. To carry out what you want in this day of trouble.

To bring about what your course of action is. I want to accomplish that which pleases you most. You're the object. To do your will, your will is the object in this difficult and all times, not just the day of trouble, but in all times. I want to be accomplishing that which you desire in this trial or watching somebody else go through a trial.

I want to be doing my part in what God wants me to do in this trial rather than accomplishing what I want. Delight. I delight to do your will. I delight. I am taking great pleasure in doing your will. It's not, I'm reluctant. Okay, God, I'm going to submit to you.

No, I delight to do your will. This verse, I delight to do your will, is quoted in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 5 through 7, speaking of Jesus, whom we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, Behold, or Hebrews referring to Jesus, behold, I come.

In the book of the scroll, it is written of me. I delight to do your will. A body prepared. And so that's exactly what God of Christ is our Lord. He delighted to do God's will. You see, when the day of trouble comes, what happens? Our natural reflex is to fret, isn't it?

To fret over loss. The day of trouble comes, there's some kind of loss, there's some kind of discomfort. And our mind goes, okay, let's just get back to where we were. You know what I'm talking about? If I could just get back to where we were. But instead, our focus needs to be somewhere else.

Our focus needs to be on delighting in bringing about what God wants. Not getting back to the old normal, but getting to the new normal. So when the day of trouble comes, we need to slay our own ideas. We need to mimic the Lord. We need to be seeking to understand God's glorious purpose.

We need to be making ourselves available to do our part. We need to be choosing to delight in all of that as we go. What he says in verse 1 of this Psalm 40: I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me, and he heard my cry.

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction. Out of the miry clay, he set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song of praise in my mouth. Many will see and fear and will trust the Lord. So delight. Sacrifices that win the war.

Well, there's the sacrifices of doing what's right and trusting God. Do, and not only that, but delighting in God's will as we go through it. Third grouping, sacrifices come from Psalm 50. You can turn there in Psalm 50. The psalmist talks about the sacrifices of thanksgiving, vow paying, and calling upon the Lord.

Look at verse 14. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble. I shall rescue you and you will honor me. A little context. Look back. At there, at verse 12, God's talking about how he owns everything.

And he says, This: If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is mine and all it contains. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of male goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High.

Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I shall rescue you, and you will honor me. God said, Do you really think I'm about the blood of goats? Do you think that's really what I need? Is the flesh of that's who I am and what I need?

No, he's not about spilling lifeblood, not even yours. The sacrifices he wants involves your lifeblood flowing through you, sacrificing, doing what is right, trusting in him, delighting in him, being thankful to him, just going through life. He's not looking for just blood to be spilt and a life pass away.

He's wanting our lives, our lifeblood, pumping through our veins as we go through life and doing his will, delighting in him. That's. kind of sacrifice, spiritual lifeblood being spilled out, not physical lifeblood. He's one of the sacrificing, yielding to him. That's the kind of spiritual sacrifices that win the war.

So let's look at this verse 14. Offer to God a sacrifice. There's really three commands here. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Make a sacrifice. Again, slaughter something. A sacrifice of thanksgiving. It's a noun, one word. It's an offering that expresses thanks. An offering of gratitude, appreciation.

Look around and see what's going on in your day of trouble. Look around for things to be thankful for. They are all around. What do you think that looks like? Making a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Any ideas? Anybody bold enough to say something? What might a sacrifice of thanksgiving look like?

Yes? Maybe simply just giving credit to the Lord for things? Yeah, giving credit. Looking around. God, this trouble is here, but you know, I. I see the goodness of you all around. Anyone else? Sacrifice? Yes. Would you take God in spite of your emotions? Worshiping God. In spite of your emotions.

In spite of your emotions. Yes. Say, God, I can't see what all is going on here, and I'm feeling heavy. I'm feeling the pains of this conflict, but I know. Even if I can't see, I know who you are. I'm thankful for who you are, the promises you've made, and that you have not going to leave.

And there's all reasons for who God is that you can give thanks for. And a sacrifice means think about it, actually do it. Bring it about. Make time to express thankfulness to God. Make time to, whether it's word, deed, celebration, gift giving, whatever it is, take time to make a sacrifice.

Notice there's another sacrifice in this grouping. Pay your vows to the Most High. That's the second command. Pay. Cause your vows to be paid off. In full. Pay them in full. Carry out anything you've promised. If you're going into a day of trouble, Keep your promises. You'd be sure that's what God wants.

Keep your promises. We keep our promises as an expression of honoring God. I remember the man flying his plane to an island. It went down right in the middle of the sea. Fortunately, he got a little life jacket and started swimming to shore. He's there in the middle of the sea, and he starts saying to the Lord, Lord, if you will get me out of this, I will give you everything in my life.

He keeps swimming to the shore, and he sees land. He says, Lord, you know, I'll probably need to keep at least 10% that I can live off of. So, Lord, if you get me to the shore, I'll give you 90% of everything. He got a little closer, and he goes, Lord, boy, if you get me there, I'll give you 50%.

And he keeps talking, he keeps getting. He gets to the shoreline. He said, He's just about there. He says, Lord, I'll give you 10% if I can get out. And then he gets out of the water and says, You know what? I had to swim the whole way.

You didn't help me out that much. So I'm not giving you anything. But isn't that kind of what we do sometimes? We start out making these, God, if you will do this, I will do this. And then we get a little. Closer to the shore, and all of a sudden we start whittling that down until we completely forget all together.

You know, one of the most noble things I've witnessed in my life are those people who honor their wedding vows when they're married to a real loser. That is honorable. They stay in marriage and they're married to a real loser. But they do so because they're honoring God.

They're keeping their promise. They're in a storm. And yet you see an honoring third command, third sacrifice in Psalm 15 actually comes in verse 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble. I shall rescue you. Call on me on that day of trouble. Call. There's that command again.

You call. You make a formal request. Sometimes we start, not sure what, we start crying out. But are we actually calling upon, appealing to, and making a formal request? A calculated thought through, God, this is what I'm asking you in this situation. Choose to call upon him. Depend upon him.

Rely upon him. In that day of trouble, in that day of straits, anxiety, call upon him. Over and over. That's going to be the message and theme of Christian life and growing to maturity, getting accustomed to calling upon him. Notice what he is saying. I shall rescue you.

Verse 15. I shall be causing you to be drawn out of trouble. When you call upon me, I shall be causing you to be drawn out of trouble. I will be saving you from ruin. I will be saving you from the evil of the trouble. Not necessarily going to deliver us from all trouble, but he will deliver us from the evil of the trouble.

That which would turn our hearts, turn away. And he will bring about his rescue, whatever that looks like. And notice what he says: I shall rescue you. I shall be causing you to be drawn out of trouble. And then he says this, and you will honor me. You will be causing me to be honored.

I will be drawing you out of trouble. This, again, goes back to that purpose for the day of trouble. It's victory, and God's going to draw you out of your day, and others will be able to also see and honor God. You will be causing God to be.

honored in not only in your own life but in the lives of others but here's a question how can calling upon God be considered a sacrifice well first I think there's three reasons why people don't call upon God in the day of trouble number one I think we are proud and we think we can handle trouble in our own way.

First reason why I think many people don't call upon the Lord. And your day of trouble could be smaller. It could be great. The call is the same. God is the same. But we're proud and we think we can handle trouble on our own way. Second, we're impatient.

We're like Saul. Let's get on with this thing. And third, we really do not want God's salvation. Call, cry out. Do we really want his salvation? We've been studying a lot about the Exodus generation in our study through Hebrews. You know where that whole Exodus begins, Exodus chapter 2 and verse 23, 24?

The Israelites are crying out to God for help. But then God sends the deliverance. Deliverer. He brings them out, brings them all the way across the desert to the land promised, and they want to go back. They really didn't want the salvation that God was offering them. We may pray for a lot of things, but many times we don't ask for God's salvation because we really don't want his salvation.

So calling upon the Lord, calling for his help can be a sacrifice. I've seen this dynamic at work where people in troubled marriages, I've seen this dynamic at work in troubled marriages where people are like, we want to fix something, and yet you really don't want to fix something, do you?

You really don't want God's solution to the problem. You want a solution, but not God's. I see this dynamic at work when sometimes God's deliverance involves you telling the truth to somebody, owning up to somebody, yeah, I'm not really ready to do that, or to make some kind of sacrifice or some kind of discomfort or some kind of inconvenience or having to make something right.

Sometimes we really don't want God's solution. So how can calling upon God be considered? A sacrifice. Well, formally calling on God is giving God that opportunity to insert Himself into the situation, bring about the salvation He desires and the glory that He wants to His name. So we should ask God, call upon Him.

God, you accomplish what you want. Deliver me however you want, to wherever you want, whenever you want, and let me delight in the process of glorifying you through it. For your namesake. And God, thank you for this privilege. I'm going to go to another Psalm: sacrifices that win the war.

There's sacrifices of righteousness and trust, sacrifice of delighting in God's will, the sacrifice of thanksgiving, vow paying, and calling upon the Lord. And then there's the sacrifices of humility. Psalm 51, just turn over to Psalm 51 and look at verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not.

Despise. A little context. This is one of David's day of trouble that came about because of his own sin, because of what he did with Bathsheba and to Uriah, killing him. A little context, look at verse 14. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation.

Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You were not pleased with burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Sacrifices of God. This speaks about the slayings that God is pleased with. Sacrifices to God. What are they? Broken spirit. This is a Passover, one who has been broken, a spirit that has been shattered, devastated over sin and personal failure. That's what it is in this context. Broken, a wind.

You think about a spirit. It's like the wind, something that blows the sail. It's the very opposite of pride, to be shattered and. To have a humble spirit is to have a shattered and broken spirit, very opposite of pride. It's the wind of humility. Have you ever just had this, you hear this word aura?

Some people, that guy's got an aura of pride, or that person's got a well, wind, think wind. You know, those people that are driven by pride, driven by themselves, that's the wind of pride. But then there's another kind of people, and you can pick them out in a crowd.

They're humble, driven by a spirit of humility, and especially over their own personal sin. They're humble people. Second sacrifice is contrite heart. Again, a passive verb. Crushed, collapsed, similar to what broken. But this speaks of the heart. A heart that grieves over personal sin. There's one who's humbled because of personal sin.

But then there's a heart. There's a spirit that is humble, but then there is a heart that grieves over personal sin. And say, My sin is not a good contribution to this world. Father, forgive me. This is a disposition, this contrite heart, of someone who owns their sin, grieves their sin, doesn't excuse it, blame others.

For it, justifies it, or whatever, or denies it. And notice how God says, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. You will not be despising this. You will not treat this lightly. You will not just blow this off.

There's one more sacrifice. It doesn't have the specific sacrificial language as the other four, but it is very specific to the day of trouble, and that comes from Psalm 41. Look back, and this is the last of the day of trouble Psalms with that express phrase. Look at Psalm 41:1.

How blessed is he who considers the helpless? The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. This is a sacrifice of considering others. It's a curious statement. It almost seems a little like a non-sequitur with the others. But listen, a little context there. Verse 1: How blessed is he who considers the helpless?

The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. The Lord will protect him and keep him alive. And he shall be called blessed upon the earth and not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The Lord will sustain him upon his sick bed. In his illness, you restore him to health.

How blessed, how happy is this state that the divine favor that is upon an individual who considers the helpless, who is considering. I love the word. It's the one who's paying attention with the intention to help or concern. Someone who's paying attention to others out of a loving concern.

That's the idea of someone who considers. The one who is causing someone else to be considered. That's who God, how blessed is he who is causing the helpless to be considered, to be remembered. Who are the helpless, the powerless? Ones maybe are insignificant, poor, destitute, weak, downcast, the ones who are easily forgotten, the ones who are easily taken advantage of, but the powerless, they're in a situation where they need help of some kind.

Blessed are the ones who considering him. And I think there's something that goes on to say that if you have a disposition of considering others, you get a vantage point of fellowship with God, like that. He's talking about. Meal offerings and burnt offerings. Well, this is more of that meal offering.

If you are considering, you're walking with the Lord because that's his vantage point. He is always looking out. That's him. He considers the helpless. If you want to walk with God, go around considering the helpless. Notice he says, the Lord will protect him. The Lord will keep him alive, and he shall be called blessed.

The Lord's going to keep that one alive, that kind. And he says, and do not give him over. It's not a plea, it's an expression. And he does not give him over to the desires of his enemies. The Lord is not going to be handing him over. So considering others, number one, is what God does.

He gives us fellowship with him. Considering the well-being of others can be costly when you see others going through a day of trouble. The helpless in society or near you, around you. Be sacrificial. We really don't know how to sacrifice. Like I said, we're kind of weak on sacrifice.

Considering others' well-being can be costly. But considering others are. Also brings about fellowship with others. Not only does considering others bring fellowship with God, but it also brings fellowship with others. So, victory in the day of trouble is about honoring God before the day comes and when it comes and all the way through it.

And the sacrifices that win the war, I can assure you, whatever comes against you, go down the road of choosing to do what is right and trusting in God, delighting in His will, being thankful, honor your promises, call upon the name of the Lord, be humble and consider others.

Those are the sacrifices that will win the war. It will prepare you for victory. And this does not mean this is all of a sudden you doing all the work. No, quite differently. It is laying these things before God, making these sacrifices that will bring about the victory.

It's God at work. All gave some, but some gave all. Expression that speaks of our military. I want to break that down a little bit. I know that. There are some who gave all in that category. I want to make a division. There are some who gave all unintentionally.

They showed up for war. They didn't really, they got enlisted by some reason. They didn't really intend to give their life away, but it cost them. It's what it came about to. So some gave all, but some of them gave it unintentionally. But then there's another category within that class that gave all.

They did it intentionally. They knew what was coming and they laid down their life. There is one individual who continues to give all. He's given all and he continues to give all. And he is the one we follow. John 15:13, Jesus says this: Greater love has no one than this.

That one laid down his life for his friends. That was Christ's love for his people. That's what drove him to the cross. That's what took him through the grave. That's what has lifted him to the right hand of the Father. And he is still the one who lays down his life for his friends as our king and high priest.

And so he is the one who is guiding our victory. Through all the troubles, through all the days of trouble. He said, in this world, you are going to have struggles, distress, tribulation. But be a good cheer. He's overcome the world. He knows how to lead his people to victory.

So let's continue to follow him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for giving us such a wonderful king and priest, calls us into his way, who made all of these sacrifices and so beautifully and wonderfully laid down his life. And Father, he continues to consider us from his throne in glory.

Yet his heart is very much with his people and with us tonight. And Father, we thank you for comforting thoughts. Guide us that we might be a little more wise and careful and strategic in the day of trouble. Pray for everyone who's going through a day of trouble right now.

And Father, I just pray your protection, your blessing, your growth in them, your sanctifying work, and that good things will come out on the other end, and we would all see victories and glorify you. The God of our salvation, we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.