Psalm 13 – “Life of Faith in the Psalms” – 7/6/2008
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
**SECOND SERVICE – PRAY FOR LEHIGH DAN (END OF AUGUST)
Thank you for many of you who helped and served our family. We really appreciate it.
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- My grey Saturn’s hood is Dented…rear windows are Superglued shut…it’s been Keyed all over. It’s gone through A LOT. Once when I was driving back to Philly from Seminary I noticed that my car was sluggish. I pressed on the gas thinking something was wrong with the engine. Every time I let go the car would slow down quickly.It wasn’t until after 20 MINUTES and driving at 75 MILES PER HOUR that I noticed SMOKE COMING FROM UNDERNEATH MY CAR because I had been driving with the PARKING BRAKES on.
I share this because many of our LIVES PARALLEL this story. After P Paul’s message 2 Sunday’s ago I was reminded of how many of us have PERSONAL STRUGGLES that continually weigh us down.
HIDDEN SECRETS…FAMILY BAGGAGE…PERSONAL SCARS…things that many of us CARRY without REALIZING how it affects our lives. It affects our MARRIAGES…FRIENDSHIPS… SPIRITUAL WALK…our SELF-PERCEPTION.
The HOPE we have to be SET FREE is found in living a LIFE OF FAITH…understanding WHO GOD IS.
The only way to be HEALED is to RE-discover GOD and RE-learn his CHARACTER.
P Paul mentioned that the best place to read about Living a Life of Faith is the PSALMS.
The Psalms are BEAUTIFUL, POETIC EXPRESSIONS of what a GOD-FOCUSED life looks like. They are ILLUSTRATIONS of what it LOOKS LIKE to SEE GOD in our CHRISTIAN LIFE.
And they are also often written in the CONTEXT OF DIFFICULTIES…in the midst of PERSECUTION, FAILURES & SIN. Therefore, they are a GREAT TOOL in teaching us what LIVING A LIFE OF FAITH looks like in the midst of DIFFICULTIES.
Therefore let’s look at this SHORT PSALM and see what we can learn...
1) One of the first things we notice is its HONESTY & VULNERABILITY. EMOTIONS are EXPRESSED BLUNTLY.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
It’s RAW…NOT PLEASANT…NOT POLITE.
He’s expressing BITTERNESS…DOUBTS. He’s ACCUSING God.
He’s HOPELESS and TIRED and BROKEN.
We see this RAWNESS and HONESTY in other Psalms…
22:1-2 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
74:1 Why have you rejected us forever, O God? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
Initially these Verses seem almost SINFUL. We think that they must be LACKING FAITH…DOUBTING.
But it’s the OPPOSITE. It’s ONLY when you TRULY BELIEVE in God’s GRACE that you can be so honest.
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- None of you have heard me FART…Pop a ZIT…or Clean my EAR Wax? There’s only 1 PERSON and that’s Michele! With all of you there is NO SECURITY. If I did any of these things, you would probably RUN AWAY IN DISGUST. But when there is SECURITY…UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE then there’s NO FEAR.It’s a STUPID but HELPFUL illustration of living BY FAITH!! I need to BELIEVE that Michele’s Love for me is GREATER than the DISGUST she feels when I do NASTY things.
Similarly to be NAKED BEFORE GOD with all your BAGGAGE & SHORTCOMINGS can only happen when you have FAITH & ASSURANCE in God’s LOVE. Only when you BELIEVE that his LOVE for us is GREATER than OUR SINFULNESS will we NOT try to HIDE or COVER ourselves up.
To STRUGGLE with God’s TRUTHS in the midst of DIFFICULTIES is NOT SINFUL. What’s sinful is to try to CLEAN YOURSELF UP in order to make God HAPPY.
This is a POWERFUL thing that we have. It’s UTTERLY DIFFERENT from what we experience IN OUR LIVES.
To be FULLY KNOWN and yet at the same time FULLY ACCEPTED is such a FOREIGN and yet AMAZING thing.
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- What would people think of me if they really knew me? If they could come home with me, see me without the makeup and smiles, straight into the depths of my being, would they understand who I am? If they read the terrible thoughts that cross my mind, if they knew how insecure I feel at times, if they knew of my weaknesses, my fear and loneliness, would they even care? If people knew of the selfishness, jealousy, and greed in my heart, would they accept me anyway? Would they laugh at me if I told them I dream of marrying young, traveling the world, and learning new languages? If I were to fall — hard, flat on my face — would there be anyone there to hold me, regardless of the shame and embarrassment? Is there anyone in this world — family, friend or man — willing to take the risk for me? Willing to love and be loved? I just want to be known. Does anyone see the real me?The ANSWER to this person’s question is CHRIST!! He sees the REAL ME. And yet he doesn’t TURN AWAY or look at us in DISGUST. What an amazing thing it is to be FULLY KNOWN and yet still FULLY ACCEPTED.
*BELIEVING THROUGH FAITH…that we have such SECURITY & SAFETY gives us the FREEDOM to NOT HIDE but to come AS WE ARE.
2) Another thing we see in this Psalm is DESPERATION. He has NO OTHER HOPE other than God.
SLIDEÆ 2 How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
This man is at the END OF HIS ROPE. He’s DESPARING and SCARED. You see a man who feels SO HOPELESS and therefore TURNS TO GOD looking for help.
We see this DESPERATION throughout the Psalms also…
SLIDEÆ 59:1-2 Deliver me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me. 2 Deliver me from evildoers and save me from bloodthirsty men.
57:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.
51:11, 14 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me… 14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me…
38:8-10 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. 9 All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. 10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.
You get the sense that these people are STUCK IN SITUATIONS that are BEYOND THEM. And in their HOPELESSNESS they see that GOD ALONE CAN HELP THEM.
One THEME throughout the Psalms is that GOD IS SUFFICIENT…WE DON’T NEED ANYTHING ELSE.
It’s a Theme throughout. People are at the END OF THEIR ROPE and all they have to CLING ONTO is GOD.
To live a life of Faith, therefore, is to live a life continually RELINQUISHING & REALIGNING.
Relinquish – You STOP TRYING BY YOUR OWN MIGHT…you STOP HOPING IN YOUR OWN ABILITIES…you STOP TRUSTING IN YOUR OWN WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING.
Realign – And instead you TURN TO GOD and say that HE is STRONGER…WISER…and ABLE. He becomes our SOLE HOPE!!
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- A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The boy dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and budged to rock across the sandbox by using his feet. When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the wall. Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed and pried, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox.This boy grunted, struggled. Pushed and shoved. But his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration. All this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the box. It was the boy’s father. Gently but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had available?” Defeated the boy sobbed back, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!”
“No son,” corrected the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t ask me.” With that the father reached down, picked up the rock and removed it from the sandbox.
The lesson this BOY learned is the same one we see throughout the Psalms. There came a POINT in his DIFFICULTY where he had to RELINQUISH his own efforts and strength and then REALIGN himself towards his Father who alone could move the rock.
It requires GREAT FAITH for us to believe that in our HOPELESSNESS & FRUSTRATION the one we would rather have be IN CONTROL is GOD and NOT US!!!
3) What we see in this PSALM is that this author wants ANSWERS but has found SOLACE in something else.
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death
VV.1-2 are a list of QUESTIONS and V.3 is a list of DEMANDS of God.
In the midst of his DIFFICULTIES the author wants CONCRETE ANSWERS or ACTIONS in order to find SOLACE and PEACE. Explain this to me!! When will this be over?! Do this for me!!!
But in the end the SOLACE that the author finds is NOT from an ANSWER to his Questions. It doesn’t END by saying…
“I will sing to the Lord for he said this will last exactly 2 more months plus 1 day!”
“I will sing to the Lord for he said that my enemies will be wiped out by a huge earthquake tomorrow afternoon!”
“I will sing to the Lord for he said that this is happening because after I go through this suffering I will be rewarded with a great paying job and a beautiful family!!”
Instead it says… 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
What gives this person COMFORT is the CHARACTER OF GOD. He trusts in God’s UNFAILING LOVE…he trusts in what GOD HAS DONE in the PAST.
These are NOT ANSWERS but ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of the CHARACTER of GOD.
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- When we were trying to have kids all I had were QUESTIONS!! Why is this happening? What did I do wrong? When will it happen? Why does it have to be like this?But I never got an ANSWER. God never said well one day you will be holding JACOB & THOMAS in your arms.
Instead God said…I HEAR YOU…I AM LISTENING…I WANT GOOD THINGS FOR YOU TOO…I AM ABLE.
These were NOT the RIGHT ANSWERS and yet they were the ONLY THING that TRULY CONSOLED and gave us PEACE.
Knowing we have a PERSON who is WITH US through the DIFFICULTIES is more important than simply getting a SOLUTION to our PROBLEMS.
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- Let’s say a WIFE has been hearing a lot about AFFAIRS and begins to FEAR that happening. There’s 2 ways she can FEEL PEACE. She can ask her husband – Where were you? Why did you come late? Why did you look at that woman? Who just called you? You could be CONSOLED by knowing the ANSWER to all the QUESTIONS you have.OR…you don’t ask the questions but instead TRUST in his CHARACTER. You look at how he TREATS you. You look at what he SAYS to you. You look at what he DOES for you. You look at WHO HE IS and then you find PEACE even though you don’t know WHY he came home a little late.
This requires FAITH!! You BELIEVE that there is a GOOD ANSWER to the QUESTIONS we have NOT because he gave you the RIGHT ANSWERS but because he has the RIGHT CHARACTER.
4) The final thing we see from this Psalm is that the MEANS BY WHICH these individuals GROW IN THEIR FAITH is THROUGH these LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES.
These Psalms and these Convictions are BIRTH from a CONTEXT. It’s BECAUSE of some LIFE SITUATION that they are going through that these PSALMS are being WRITTEN.
It’s NOT as they are hidden in a MONASTERY but it’s as they are LIVING LIFE and WRESTLING with these TRUTHS.
The difficulties we face are NOT times when FAITH IS TESTED…but rather it’s when FAITH IS TAUGHT or GAINED. We do not LEARN these things in a CLASSROOM but we learn them EXPERIENTIALLY as we LIVE LIFE.
More than any Sermon, Class or Conversation…the most powerful LESSONS I’ve learned about WHO GOD IS have been through HAVING TO WRESTLE with these TRUTHS in the MIDST OF LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES.
The difficulties we FACE IN LIFE are NOT just OBSTACLES in our lives. They are also OPPORTUNITIES to truly GROW IN OUR FAITH…to have our FAITH STRETCHED.
I’m NOT saying that’s WHY God is doing what he’s doing. I’m NOT saying that’s WHY God put you in that family.
BUT…I am saying that EVERY DIFFICULTY we face can be seen as an OBSTACLE or an OPPORTUNITY.
We can see them as an OBSTACLE that pushes us AWAY FROM GOD.
Or we can see them as an OPPORTUNITY that draws us CLOSER TO GOD.
Let me conclude with this story…
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- When I was in elementary school I remember going shopping with my mom at the mall and there was a huge PLAY AREA full of FOAM SCULPTURES that you could jump on. She told me to stay there until she came back. I have no idea how much time had passed but I started to PANIC. Where was my mom?! How come she wasn’t back yet?! All of the sudden the thought that she FORGOT ME and LEFT WITHOUT ME started to FILL MY MIND. Then I began to panic EVEN MORE!I started wandering around the mall crying saying that my mom left me!!!
A security guard found me and brought me to a MIC and he asked what my mom’s name was. I didn’t know! I just said MOM! Finally he asked me what MY name was and asked for Mrs. Lee to come to the front entrance.
When she came and picked me up she asked why I left the play area, and I told her that I thought she forgot me and left me. Then she said, “HOW COULD I FORGET YOU AND LEAVE YOU BEHIND?!”
All of us face DIFFICULTIES every day of our lives. Many of us have BAGGAGE that we are still DRAGGING around in our lives.
HOW WE WILL DEAL WITH THESE THINGS depends on WHAT KIND OF GOD WE HAVE!!!
Do you see yourself as an ORPHAN who’s GOD HAS ABANDONED YOU?
Or do you see yourself as a BELOVED CHILD who’s GOD HAS NEVER LEFT YOU?
An ORPHAN…PROTECTS himself from this WORLD…he TRUSTS NO ONE…he’s ON HIS OWN to deal with everything.
A CHILD…FINDS SAFETY in his Father’s Arms…he TRUSTS IN HIM ALONE…he knows HE’S NEVER ALONE to deal with all the HURTS of this life.
We have an AMAZING GOD!!!
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- There are times as I take care of Jacob & Thomas that I get so frustrated and tired. I’m trying to reason with them and explain to them why their crying isn’t LOGICAL!!! I have no idea what they want but all I know is that want me to do something.And I sit there realizing that GOD looks down on me and he sees my Crying and Complaining and instead of wanting to give up, he continues to FEED us…LOVE us…CARE for us.
DO NOT LIVE LIKE AN ORPHAN!!! Live like a CHILD…because ONLY IN CHRIST will we find HEALING…will we find STRENGTH…will we find HOPE!!!!