Psalm 143
1 LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2 Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. 6 I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.
7 Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11 For your name’s sake, LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.
Over the next few weeks I will look to answer this question of: Where are you God? from some different perspectives that we will face in this life. Next Sunday: When Evil Seems to Win…where are you?
But today, with the help of King David, we are going to explore this question when all seems quiet on God’s side, but when everything is breaking down on our side of things.
King David, he had some weeks that didn’t go his way…..when I compare my flat tires and standing in line at Wal-Mart with what he was going through, they don’t really compare very well. But there are times in my Christian experience that I go through periods where I don’t get a clear, direct, emotional leading from God, and it brings me to this question….Where Are You God? I need you. Have you asked that question lately? Life has a way of bringing us to moments where we will ask that question….and if there is anything that we will learn from this series of sermons….I hope that we will realize God allows us to come to these moments on Purpose, and for a reason.
When you come to this question in our Christian experience, the first thing I want to make clear this morning is :
1. Keep talking and crying out to God…..He’s listening.
1 LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.
If there is one thing that I have learned over the years as I have grown in my relationship with the Lord, He is always listening…..He is a great listener…even if I’m not hearing any response, He is hearing what we are saying.
David, when he writes this passage, he is not yet quite made it to the throne of Israel, in fact he is running from his enemies, some are foreign enemies, some are from his own people, those who support King Saul….so David, even with God’s hand upon him as the future King of Israel, is sitting in a cave, in the dark, no bed, no luxuries, wondering to himself, maybe for the 100th time, God….where are you? He says it like this on this day: LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Can you hear it? He is a little desperate. Don’t think so, listen to v. 3-4
3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. Even the mighty David, the one who has killed Bears and Lions and one big Giant with his sling, even David is feeling the burden of this question……God speak to me!
I don’t know if you have noticed this, but when I get sick, it ends up being a pretty good time for my spiritual life…..one reason is because I have so much time to just focus on Him, everything else just gets put on hold. Monday night, this fever hit pretty hard, I was lying in bed waiting for the fever to break so I could go back to sleep….that “poor ole me’ thought floated through my head….but before I really even gave it much a chance, I believe God helped me get some perspective…immediately my mind went to our Brother, Saeed Abedini, the American Pastor who has been sentenced to 8 years in one of the worst prisons in the world, especially for a Christian, in the heart of Iran. The Iranian judge may not have executed him by hanging, but most likely Christian brother will not make it 8 years in this prison unless God intervenes…immediately, my mind went to him and what he was enduring, what his wife and kids were going through…and how little I had to complain about….so I began to pray for him and that’s how I went to sleep that night.
In the midst of our own problems and concerns, I challenge you to not only keep talking and praying to God, because He is listening, but also think of others…focus on others, this always helps us keep proper perspective of our own needs.
2. When you are dismayed, Remember how God has worked on your behalf, how He has been Faithful in the past. V. 5
5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. 6 I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.
When we come to tough times, or uncertain times, most of us naturally look back to gain strength. Most of you know that today the SuperBowl is going to be played in just a couple of hours, millions of people will watch the game and enjoy the fun and fellowship, but today, those players as they are preparing, their nerves, the anxiety is high, and I can promise you one thing that many of them are doing….they are remembering the journey that has brought them to where they are today, they are remembering the hard work, the dedication, they are realizing that none of them accomplished this great goal on their own, it took a team…and as they all look back it gives them strength to go forward and play their best today.
One of those players will retire today after 18 years in the NFL, Ravens LB Ray Lewis. Some of you may remember that the year after his rookie season, he was accused of a double homicide, he spent some time in jail waiting for the DA to determine if they would charge him with this crime or not. He said, it was during that time in jail where he reconnected with his faith, He told God that he would not ever move away from Him again, no matter what the outcome was. Ray Lewis said later that he was in the wrong place; with the wrong people and that he almost lost everything for something he didn’t do. He was cleared, but his reputation would forever be connected with that night. Now, 18 years later, a Hall of Fame career later, he is still sharing how God has helped him overcome so many things in his life.
Look back over your life, think about how God has been Omnipresent for you and your family. His presence doesn’t mean you haven’t been touched by tragedy or pain, what it does mean is that you have never been alone…He’s always been there, holding you and wanting to be your comfort.
JI Packer in his book, “Knowing God” shares this insight about how God’s Grace is used in our lives many times…. “It’s not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh and the devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology; but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to him more closely. This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort or another: it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast.” Pg. 250
The truth is we are like the person walking down the road, doing our own thing, making our own way, if someone was to come along and grab our arm gently and say, “let me help you”, we would most likely jerk our arm lose and say, “no thanks, I’m doing great by myself”. Right?
It’s only when we are sliding down hill and we can’t get a grip on anything to hold us, that’s when we are ready to have someone hold out their hand for help, that’s when we will decide it’s ok to have some help. Is this True?
If we are only talking to God when we are in trouble that might be a reason it’s kind of quiet. It’s not that God isn’t listening or that He doesn’t care anymore, we know that is not what the Bible teaches. We need to learn to hold onto Him daily, in the good times and in the tough times. This is what God desires, this is what we need.
In verse 6, David is expressing this idea pretty well…. “I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.”
Friends, are you seeking him with this type of desperation? Seek Him and I promise you will find Him…..what does Jeremiah 29:13 say? 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Friends, this morning many of you are going through some trials; your faith is being tested in different ways….and you need to hear from God.
1st of all, We know that God will allow some times when we just don’t seem to hear from Him, where He seemingly has went away. You need to know that He is still there, trying to teach, discipline us, helping us to move closer to Him….it’s really a part of our growing in our faith to go through these times, so keep growing…keep pushing in towards Him.
2nd – When we read the following 3 Chapters in Psalms we will notice something has changed… David has seen God’s hand….and he is praising God for all he has.
So, no matter your position today, know that God is closer to you than you know and that your answer is on the way…keep the faith, look back and know that God has been with you in the past, He has worked and been faithful, He will continue to be your Rock…will you trust Him?
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