Sermon 041009 Psalm 42
I’ve had a few things to celebrate this week…..etc.
But it doesn’t always go according to plan; in fact some days do anything but go according to plan. I can remember a day when I was on faults (I was for years a faults-man in the power distribution industry) I was called out in the wee small hours, to a Ute that had hit pole and the lines had fallen onto the ground, starting a fire just out of Oamaru. The blokes who hit the pole had been out shooting. I arrived to find the fire brigade, doing their job. The shooters appeared to have bagged a rabbit, a black bird and a seagull; it must have been a hunting trip to remember. We soon discovered that we would have to drop out the power to the whole area to make the accident site safe.
So we did, got that fault fixed after a few hours just to be called to another fault three quarters of a hour away; this was fairly basic, a possum had got cooked up on a transformer, that job was completed quickly.
The next call came in, just as I finished the last this one from the Omarama Fire Brigade, a couple of fishermen who had dropped a line as a result of hitting a power pole up by the Lindus Pass with their rental car. The power was still on. Within about an hour and a half we arrived on site. Thankfully no one had been killed that day and the Fire Brigade up the Lindus had had the good sense to stay clear of the live 11000 volt wires. I got home for diner that night. Interestingly the fishermen who hit that pole never did pay for the repairs. I offered to go to Japan to take them the bill, the boss wasn’t so keen.
We all have days that start out not quite how we expect, we even have days when we wonder why we got out of bed. I know there have been a few days that I’m more than happy to see the end of. Days like the one I described made life more than a little interesting.
The Psalmist in psalm forty two had had more than one or two rough days, it is thought he was a Levite Priest who for some reason was at the time of his writing this poem, physically distant from Jerusalem and the temple. Scholars believe that he may have been in exile with King David somewhere beyond the Jordan.
This man was missing his being in the presence of God. It should be remembered that at that time God was worshipped at the temple You may remember me preaching about how the Holy of Holies was the place of Gold and the that glory of God hovered between the Cherubim’s wings on top of the Mercy seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant, behind the curtain.
Now this despairing priest compares the state of his soul to the thirst of a deer as it pants for need of water. He feels it is only within the presence of the Living God that he can be refreshed. Not only that, he’s grief stricken at the thought of not being able to be in the presence of God.
He is challenged by some of those around him, “where is your God?”
On being challenged he remembers where his God is, where he used to go to worship his God with the multitude of the people; leading the procession of the people to the house of God, to the temple, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving, among the festive noise and bustle. This man knew what it was to be in God’s presence and to be joyfully praising God.
In his crying out to God it sounds to me like he was busting at the seams to get back to the temple.
He then remembers I’m paraphrasing, “get it together man, why are you so down, why such a mess. Put your hope in God, you’ll be praising him yet; he’s your saviour and your God. I’m down but I’m not out, so I will remember Him. I may be distant from the place I worship God but I will remember him where I am.”
The psalmist / the poet is giving himself a bit of a shake up. He sees that he is in despair but that God is still there but he is finding it hard to acknowledge that, as he’s always worshipped in one place, at the temple. He is realizing that he needs to refocus his gaze.
In verse seven he starts calling out in despair again “deep calls to deep in your waterfalls; all your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. This is metaphor a word picture for despair. We could read “deep calls to deep” as “blow after blow hits me.” This man is down in the dumps; we could compare his situation to being homesick and threatened. Life literally is the pits.
Again he reminds himself in the following verse that in the day, God directs his love to him and that at night his song is with him, this song is his prayer to God and he has much to be thankful for.
Again he declares that life is the pits; he feels that God has forgotten him that he is grumbling and groaning, mourning and oppressed by the enemy. His foes taunt him saying “where is your God?” Even his bones ache within him. This mans grief is extreme.
But, remember he knows where his God is, he’s worshipped at the temple, he’s lead the procession, he’s been joyful in the Lords presence.
He wakes up, he smells the coffee, again he says, “get it together man, why are you so down, why such a mess. Put your hope in God, you’ll be praising him yet; he’s your saviour and your God!
In life we are there are often times of pain, upset and grieving. A great aunt of mine passed some of her wisdom on to me once, when I was in a bit of a spot, with a line that my Great Grandfather had passed onto her, the wisdom was, “Life is full lots of disappointments.”
The Psalmist was grieving, he was disappointed.
If we look at this week in retrospect it’s not been a good week, some of our Corps family have had it very hard, losing family members and friends in the Samoan Tsunami. We offer them our condolences and support. The Salvation Army has launched a relief appeal the details of which are in the newsletter……….
Life does not always go how we would expect it too, or how we would like it too.
This is what the psalmist was experiencing, if we look at this psalm, he was up and down. He was grieving/lamenting his situation, there are three laments in this psalm each answered by a comment of hope. Interestingly the laments, the cries of grief get shorter through the psalm as he remembers God. The psalmists hope is in the Lord.
The psalmist realises that God is there with him / directing his love to him by day and night. God is always with him, God is always with us.
Some events in our lives are not always in our own control. God will never forsake us though. In Deuteronomy 31:6 God tells Moses “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or terrified because of them (the people of the nations in the Promised Land) for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you.”
The author of the book of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13:5 “keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” We also can hold fast these promises.
What God is to the Psalmist, what God is to Moses is, what God is to the writer of Hebrews is, is close at hand. Closer than close at hand, he was with them.
The psalmist because of his physical circumstances feels distant, then he realises where his hope lies, it lies with God.
Moses is assured that God will not leave him, the writer of Hebrews also is sure that God will not leave him, he is content in that knowledge, he passes this message onto those he is ministering to, his readers: “God is always with you!” In his case he even points out that while money and things may not always be with you, God is! And God is always with us
When circumstances are such that those around you question, “Where is your God” and notice it was the Psalmist’s enemy’s who asked this question. Be assured he is with you. Remember we also have an enemy who would very much like us to turn away from God to despair, to remain in our own grief and suffering.
But we have a hope, God is always with us.
Jesus himself, before he left this world made it clear that when he left the Holy Spirit would come to his disciples, the Holy Spirit who is sent from our Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit is the Counsellor, who testifies about Jesus (John 15&16).
We are able to experience the presence of God with us, when we are challenged when we are grieving and despairing, and these things grief and despair if they are not with us now will come but we can be assured that God is always with us.
Jesus assures his disciples in the great commission that he will be with them, with these words, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b). We too can hold onto that promise!
You may be grieving, you may have disappointments, you may be in pain, you may be suffering – Hope.
We may be grieving, we may have disappointments, we may be in pain, we may be suffering – Be assured
You may be grieving, you may have disappointments, we may be in pain, we may be suffering – Put your hope in God, praise him our saviour and our God. He is always with us!
Response.
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