Message
Psalm 69:1-3
Forgiving God
You can listen to the full message here:-
http://www.nec.org.au/listen-to-a-sermon-series/forgiveness/
Over the past months we have kind of been working our way through a mini sermon series.
The topic of this series was FORGIVENESS.
So far we have talked about
… forgiving ourselves - how do we move forward from the point where we have acknowledged that our guilt and sin has overwhelmed us.
… forgiving others - what it means to pray, “Forgive our sins as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.”
Today we are going to look at an issue that is also important, but which we may be a little hesitant to think about.
For the moment we will think about it as the question of “Forgiving God”.
But I want to be careful here.
The concept of biblical forgiveness is very clear.
Forgiveness is God’s response to the sinfulness of mankind.
We … people … humans … have broken the relationship between ourselves and God.
We have let God down … turned our back … kicked sand in His face … broke the covenant.
We have done that.
In response God has acted.
God forgives by proclaiming that something which we have broken has been restored.
It happened at Eden when humanity was initially plunged into sin - God comes and says “Where are you?”. God restored what is broken.
It happened at the Flood. The inclination of all mankind was evil all the time. But God saved a people and set up a covenant. God restored what is broken.
It happened through the Babylonian exile. The people of God had turned so far from God that He punished them by sending them out of the land. But after 70 years they came back and restoration had taken place. God restored what is broken.
Most clearly it happened with the coming of Jesus. The punishment for our sin being placed on His one and only Son. God restored what is broken.
The concept of forgiveness is clear. We must start there.
So we need to be a little careful about how we talk when we say things like, “We need to forgive God”.
BUT … BUT
You know and I know that events happen in life which do cause us to question what God is doing.
Why is God acting the way He does?
Why do I feel so much under pressure from God?
Those times when the activities or decisions of God make you upset … at God.
And if the issue was just … that is how I feel … well maybe we should swallow our feelings and put up with it.
But it isn’t just how we feel. Scripture …
… God’s Word.
… the record of God’s interactions with his people through history.
Scripture records
… God has inspired the author to record …
times and emotions and responses when people get pretty ticked off at God.
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
Psalm 69:1-3
I am drowning in the depth of the difficulty I am going through.
It is a deep flood. I have no hope of rescuing myself.
I am calling out. I am surround by water so can drink to quench my thirst. But I have called out so much that my throat has gone dry.
And God … you are nowhere to be seen.
No footprints in the sand.
No still quiet voice.
No rescue team.
Nothing. It is a deep flood and you give me nothing.
13 I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbour—darkness is my closest friend.
Psalm 88:13-18
I wake up and my morning devotion - that action which I do before anything else - in my morning devotion I am praying.
I’m committed to you God; I’ve been committed since I was a youth.
But it seems that my whole life has been a struggle.
Despairing. Overwhelmed. Destroyed.
You are meant to be light … a lamp … the friend who walks close.
These words are full of emotion … and in the Hebrew the emotion is so prominent.
In the Hebrew of this Psalm the last word is “darkness”.
“God you are not my friend … my friend is darkness”.
14 Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, “A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns the Lord overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?
Jeremiah 20:14-18
All Jeremiah has been doing is to be faithful to God … a faithful prophet.
In the process of being faithful Jeremiah has had his integrity questioned, has been accused of being a false prophet, has been locked in stocks and ridiculed.
Even after this text Jeremiah will be threatened with death and left to die in a cistern.
Job is doing God’s work faithfully.
Job has been set apart as a holy servant.
Yet, the challenges have been so great -- and God’s care of him at that time has not been what he expected -- that Jeremiah basically says “I wish I had never been born.”.
6 Know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.
7 “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my honour and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.
Job 19:6-11
These are the words of Job. And because we know the wider context …
The context being that Satan has asked to test Job, with both God and Satan admitting that Job has done nothing wrong …
Because we know that context we have large sympathy for what Job is saying.
It does feel as if God has wronged him.
There is a real sense of admitting that God has been acting in a way that looks like he is treating Job as an enemy.
Job is upset at God, and it seems that Job has a real case here.
No matter which way you look at these passages or however you try to explain them it is still pretty obvious that these people are ticked off at God.
They are calling God to task, “I thought we had a deal, God. Why are these bad things happening?”
They are pointing the finger at God, “My life is caving in. It's not fair."
They want answers, “God I am upset. It is time to explain Yourself”.
And we know how they feel don’t we … because most of us have been there.
Why do I have to struggle financially when others have it so easy?
What was the point of being in a situation where I suffered abuse?
Where are you when I feel so alone and afraid?
When my husband abandoned me where were you?
Why do I have to watch the ones I love suffer?
What is the point … ?
What is the point … ?
… …
You put your question there.
Your disappointment.
Your hurt.
That thing where we end up in this really difficult space.
When you are upset … and disappointed … and hurt by something you have done you can ask for God’s help to forgive yourself.
When you are upset … and disappointed … and hurt by others because of something they have done you can ask for God’s help to forgive other people.
When we feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do we do?
Let’s go back to Psalm 69
When you feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do you do?
13 I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favour; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.
Psalm 69:13
When we feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do we do?
We trust in the timing of God
Part of our difficulty in living on this earth is that we only have a limited perspective.
We have the past … our own past which at the most we can remember back 90 years … and even then we forget so much!
And we have the present moment.
That is our timing.
God has it all past … present … future.
God has full memory of it all past … present … future.
10 years ago the Bwisengo family were sitting in a refugee camp in Tanzania. Maybe at the time they felt God had let them down … now look.
10 years ago Alex was living in persecution in a Muslim country. Maybe wondering if God cared. Now look.
We have lost babies. We have buried loved ones. Sickness has taken its toll. Lack of finance has cause distress. Abuse. Pain. Suffering.
At the time we may have felt let down by God.
But today … isn’t there joy? Is there answers? Isn’t there hope and security?
God doesn’t forget us … ever … but his plans work themselves out in ways that do require patient trust.
Let’s go back to Psalm 88.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.
9 I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
13 I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
When we feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do we do?
We keep coming to God in prayer
Psalm 88 ends with darkness. But the darkness has not caused the relationship to stop.
Heman is the author of this Psalm … and despite how he is feeling Heman just keeps coming back to God.
Which is the opposite of what commonly happens.
Commonly what happens is we shut down, and withdraw, and keep silent, and stop communicating.
Why bother if God is not listening?
Why bother if God doesn’t care?
But where does that keep us? It keeps us in the dark, doesn’t it.
But crying out to God takes us out of the dark.
I’ve already said that Psalm 88 is written by Heman.
Let me read 1 Kings 4:29 which is talking about the wisdom of Solomon. (Solomon) was wiser than any other man including Ethan the Ezrahite —wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.
Heman was in the dark, but didn’t stay there. People used Heman to get an idea of the wisdom of Solomon in the early career of Solomon.
You can’t be in the dark and get that recognition.
When you don’t understand what God is doing keep crying out.
The dark will end.
Let’s go back to Jeremiah
7 I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
8 … the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.
10 … All my friends are waiting for me to slip
11 But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
When we feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do we do?
We remember that difficulty does not mean God has forgotten us.
Even in the mocking, insult and reproach … the Lord is the warrior.
The Lord has power and control and sovereignty.
And we kind of expect God to use His power and control and sovereignty to make our lives … well to make it easier and smoother.
But that is not Christianity. Here are just a few verses.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:22
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.
Rom 8:17
When disappointments in life come it is so easy to act as if God has somehow forgotten us or that He is silent and doesn’t care.
But God never promised it would be easy. It has never been like that.
Ezekiel 14:14 defines Noah Daniel and Job as righteous men.
Noah suffered by watching all humanity … except 8 … die.
Daniel suffered constant treats … including the lions’ den.
Job’s suffering is very well known.
The disciples … all of them were martyred except John.
David is described as a “man after God’s own heart”. God spoke with Moses as “one friend speaks to another”. Paul is one the greatest apostles. Yet each one of these people’s lives are filled with disappointment … disappoint which could be traced directly to God.
Noah. Daniel. Job. Paul. David. Moses. The 11 disciples. These are the big names in biblical history. If anyone deserved to be protected from disappointment and hurt and being upset you would think it would be these people. Yet they are not.
That’s because, when God looks at our lives – our lives now at the moment – when God looks at our lives it isn’t His priority to make our lives easy and smooth.
His ultimate goal is for us to understand that we have a place in His plan.
Sometimes our place looks messy … but there is an ultimate purpose.
Which brings us back to Job.
25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:25-26
When we feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do we do?
We bring to mind the eternal perspective.
In the very same chapter where Job wishes he has not been born …
In that same chapter he gives a confession of faith.
Despite how he feels. Despite what he has been through.
Despite the confusion and doubt and harsh words spoken to God.
Despite all that Job knows all that he has at the end of the day is God’s eternal care.
God will come through and Job will see God for eternity.
Redemption trumps disappointment every single time.
Death - life. Angels - demons. Present - future. Powers - height - depth
Nothing … nothing in all creation … will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Not even those times when we are ticked off with God and tell him.
We will see. We will be at peace. We will be secure.
When you feel upset … and disappointed … and hurt by God … what do you do?
Trust in the timing of God
Keep coming to God in prayer
Know that difficulty does not mean God has forgotten us.
Remember the eternal perspective.
Don’t let what is going on in front of your eyes.
… what you see.
… what you feel.
… what you experience.
Don’t let this become your ultimate reality … or your identity … or your worldview.
It is not really an issue of forgiving God.
But it is an issue of continuing faith.
Believing that, as you take your first step into eternity and see Jesus face to face.
You will see the scars from His life.
You will see the scars from your life.
And you will say with joy, “Jesus now I finally get it.”
And he will say, “the trial is over … you’re home.”
Prayer
