Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - God Gives You More Than You Can Handle | The Writings | Psalm 108

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

Why does God give us more than we can handle? How do you react when you're surrounded by enemies? Do you pray? In today's episode, Keith shares how Psalm 108 encourages us to bring our troubles to God in prayer. Prepare your heart this Advent with the 2024 TMBT Advent Calendar! Each day, receive a new prompt for Scripture, prayer, and reflection—designed to help you slow down and reflect on the Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy, that Jesus offers. Sign up now to receive your free Advent calendar! Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 108

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. God doesn't give you more than you can handle. Maybe you've said that to somebody or somebody said it to you. The idea is that if something comes in your life, whether it's good or bad, you don't need to worry about it because God doesn't give you more than you can handle. So if you have a new child and all the pressures that come with that, don't worry. You can handle it. If you lost your job, don't worry, you can handle it. The reason people say that God hasn't given you more than you can handle is because they want to comfort you. They want to instill a

sense of confidence that everything's going to turn out okay. The only problem is that it's completely wrong. It's absolutely unbiblical. God doesn't give you more than you can handle? Of course he does. Most of the time, that seems like all he gives us. That phrase that God doesn't give me more that I can directs me back to, well, me. It tells me that I can handle things. I've got what it takes. And I think that's just the opposite of what the Bible teaches. According to Amazon, the most highlighted passages in all books read on the Kindle in 2014, a passage that was highlighted almost twice as often as any other passage, was from the second volume of The Hunger Games. Here's the line that was highlighted the most. Because some things happen to people and they're not

equipped to deal with them. Now that is accurate. The reason it was highlighted so often is because it really resonated with people. That's how we feel. Sometimes things happen to us and we're just not equipped to deal with them. Well, what if the things that happen to us that we aren't equipped to deal with come from God? Today we are ready for Psalm 108 and we're going to focus on two verses, two verses that are a short prayer directed to God. It's verses 12 and 13. Here's what they say. say. Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. With God, we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies. This is a prayer of a person who's learned that trusting in people instead of God is foolish. What if God brings things in our life that we can't handle

to teach us to rely on God and not on ourselves? The Bible is full of stories encouraging us to do this very thing, to trust in God and not in us. One of my favorite stories is about a king named Jehosephat. We learned in Second Chronicles 20 that a vast army was attacking Israel, and we expect King Jehosephat to respond to this military threat by calling his generals and making war plans. And the reason that's what we expect him to do is because that's what we would do if we faced that problem. When we face problems, we try to solve them. Maybe you call a friend to get advice. Maybe you feel sorry for yourself. Maybe you have another drink. Maybe you get a second job. Maybe you check your finances. Maybe you hire a lawyer or go to a counselor. I mean, some of those things are good things to do,

but I don't know if they're the first thing we should do. It's sure not what King Jehosephat did first. What King Jehosephat did is called a prayer meeting. When he's under attack, when a vast army presses in on him, King Jehosephat prays, and he teaches us that when we are surrounded by our enemies, We fight our battles by calling on God for help. Zechariah 4-6 says, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty. You'll never win by fighting with your might and power, but you'll never lose when you're depending on the spirit.

There's an old saying that Satan laughs at our toil. He mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray. Because when we pray, we don't fight our battles with human strength, but God's strength. So why is King Jehoshaphat so quick to turn to God, and I only turn to God after I've tried everything else? Why is Jehoshaphat's first option to turn to God, and it's too often my last option? I think the answer is found in the same story, this time in verse 12. King Jehoshaphat is praying, and he asks God, Our God, will you not judge them?

For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do. but our eyes are on you. Jehosephat's first option is to turn to God because he sees himself as needy and weak. He says, I don't know what to do. Have you ever felt that way? He says, I have no power to face my enemies. Have you ever felt like, God, there are so many things in my life that I don't know the right

answer to? There are so many things that I don't have the power to do. I don't have the power to change my kids' hearts. I don't have the power to heal my friend's marriage. I don't have the power to help my co-worker get out from his addiction. Until you admit and embrace your need and your weakness, you won't pray. You pray when you realize that you are utterly dependent on God, and you admit that you can't do life on your own.

See, we think strong Christians pray, and if we were stronger Christians, then we think we'd pray more. But I think it's got it exactly backwards. Strength doesn't lead to prayer. Weakness does. Strength leads to self-reliance, but weakness leads to God reliance. Mature Christians pray, not because they are getting stronger, but because they realize more and more how weak and helpless they are apart from God. I'm afraid that many of us don't pray because

we'd rather rely on ourselves than God. Prayer is bringing your helplessness to God. We are slow to go to God in prayer because we are allergic to admitting our helplessness. So surrounded by all his enemies, King Jehoshaphat got down on his knees and prayed, and God fought his battle for him. Second Chronicles 20, verse 15, this is what the Lord says to you. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours, but gods. Do not be afraid or discouraged by all the problems you face. The battle belongs to the Lord.

And when King Jehosephat prayed, God moved. God defeated the armies that threatened Israel. Do you have time for one more story that demonstrates how we should trust in God and not in ourselves? This story is about a wicked foreign king who hunts down the prophet Elisha with the intention to capture or kill him. You can read all about it in 2nd King's 6. When the king found out where Elisha was staying, his armies surrounded the house that he slept in. When Elisha's servant got up the next morning, he went outside and saw that the city was surrounded by the wicked king's forces. He was afraid, and he asked Elisha, what shall we do? The prophet answered him, don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those

who are with them. And then Elisha prayed, and asked God to open his servant's eyes so that he could see. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So do you see what happened there? The survey goes outside and sees that the king who's trying to kill them has surrounded the city and quite naturally he's alarmed. But the prophet Elijah tells the servant, don't be afraid. Why not? Because those who fight for us are greater than those who are against us. And then Elisha prayed that God would open the servant's eyes so that he could see reality. And the servant saw what was only visible through the eyes of faith. God's angelic forces outnumbered his enemies, and it all happened because Elisha prayed.

Maybe you feel like you're surrounded by your enemies, but if you had eyes to see, you'd know that you are really surrounded by God's love. All your problems seem too big until God shows up. That's why it's foolish to trust in yourself instead of him. Amen.