TITLE: I COMPLAINED
SCRIPTURE: PSALMS 77:1-15
Our main focus this morning will be upon VS. 3 – I am sure that we all can find ourselves in the midst of this verse. I lift up as a thought to you this morning – I Complained– I know we don’t like to admit it but Truth be Told - we all are guilty of complaining along the way. Some of us did some Complaining before we left the house on our way to Church this morning. Some of us did some complaining in the Pews already this morning.
When I read this text a few days ago after the leading of the Holy Spirit, the first thing that came to mind was a song that has been very popular over the past 20+ years, matter of fact we heard it sung recently here at Perfected Praise Worship Center. The song is entitled “I WON’T COMPLAIN.” It is the REV. PAUL JONES (1960 – 1990) who is oftentimes credited with writing this song , however - BISHOP WILLIAM C. ABNEY actually wrote the song although it is most remembered by REV. CLAY EVANS rendition.
A few of the versus in this great song say:
I've had some good days
I've had some hills to climb
I've had some weary days
And lonely nights
But when I look around
And I think things over
All of my good days
They out weigh my bad days
So I won't complain
Sometimes the clouds are low
I can hardly see the road
I ask the question Lord
Lord, why
Lord why
Why, why, why so much pain?
But the Lord knows what's best for me
Although my weary eyes
Oh they can't see
So I'll just say thank you Lord
Thank you Lord
Thank you Lord
I won't complain
Here is what I have learned, we love to sing the song - we will wreck a church and fall out all over the floor, when the song is sung with the Anointing of the Lord. But the bottom line is the fact that for the majority of us it is a great song – BUT IN REALITY WE DO COMPLAIN! Just be honest and high five your neighbor and say “YES I DO COMPLAIN.”
I thought about using the title this morning – “I Won’t Complain” – but I would rather KEEP IT REAL. If I used the title I Won’t Complain – I would have your husband or wife or children look at you funny like – I Know You Are Not Saying Amen. So let’s talk about this topic this morning – I Complained. Even in our text this morning the writer fully ADMITS to COMPLAINING. Does not try to hide behind a song, does not try to fool God, simply admits and says I Complained.
This particular Psalm was written by a Jew who lived during the time of exile. Those were difficult times for the people of Israel - they were scattered away from their homeland. And as he looked at his nation, the psalmist could not see any hope of an end to the hardship his people were going through. We can feel his AGONY in this chapter. He was pouring his heart out to God. He was SAD – TIRED – DEPRESSED. In such a situation, there were many questions - unanswered questions. And he found himself pouring out these questions to God:
• Will the Lord reject forever?
• Will he never show his favor again?
• Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
• Has his promise failed for all time?
• Has God forgotten to be merciful?
• Has he in anger withheld his compassion?
Have you ever had some moments like that? Where you felt like God had abandoned you. I had a day like that this past week. I was having a pity party starting feeling like I am just a burden to my family. Began to wonder has God forgotten his promises - is He not concerned with what I am going through down here. Maybe it’s just me. Perhaps you have never been there before. Matter of fact I even found myself COMPLAINING most of the week. Yes, your Pastor, yes, the Bishop – I Complained.
These are honest questions being presented in this text for our consideration. A man who is trying to understand the MEANING OF WHAT HE IS GOING THROUGH. These are questions we asked too - they are forced out of our heart when we go through hardship and pain. Has God really cast him and his people out forever?
The writer found himself in a DRY PLACE – A SPIRITUAL WILDERNESS. He felt as though emptiness had taken his soul. ASAPH who wrote this psalm penned the words while in a spiritual wilderness.
• Asaph - was the worship leader for Israel
• A famous and skilled musician
• King David had appointed him chief of the Levites who provided music at the ceremony held when the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to Jerusalem
• He wrote 11 of the Psalms recorded in the Bible and was instrumental in many others
• This praise and worship leader is the same one who cries out to God and says - I am so troubled that I cannot speak
• When Worship Leader is in a Dry Place
• Responsible for Ushering God’s people to Higher Point in Praise
Can I tell you this morning there is a difference between a DESERT and a WILDERNESS:
• Desert is caused by Sin – therefore there is a need for Repentance
• Wilderness is a place of Growth – therefore there is a need for Trust
• How we respond in each is critical to our Spiritual Growth Process
• So the question is how do you survive your Wilderness?
We need to realize that WILDERNESS EXPERIENCES are a part of everyday life. Sooner or later you will find yourself in such an experience. If you find a Christian that says they never experience the wilderness in their Christian walk -- they never experience a SPIRITUAL DRY TIME – they most likely have not been with Christ very long. Always act like they are Up all the time, they are just fooling themselves.
• DAVID – a man after God’s own heart
• Cried out – My God, My God Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me
• Cried out to God Day and Night
• JEREMIAH – called the Weeping Prophet
• For these things I Weep
• ELIJAH – Hid in Cave, saying God just take my life
• PETER – Threw his hands in Air saying “You know what, you guys do what you want to do, but I’m just going Fishing”
When we find ourselves going through the Wilderness in our life, we are forced to take one of two directions:
• 1 - We get too disappointed with God - for not helping us, protecting us
• Where we lose faith, and question God’s goodness and His power
• 2 - Keep praying and drawing strength and comfort from Him
• Where our faith is strengthen because we hang on to Him through the hardship
Reminded of a Story:
A daughter complained about hardship in life. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three (3) pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil.
In one he placed CARROTS, second - EGGS, and the last GROUND COFFEE BEANS.
He let them sit and let them boil, without saying a word. The daughter waited, wondering what he was doing. After 20 mins, he then turned off the burners.
He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl, pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl; scoop the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
The father explained, "Look carefully, they’ve all changed. Each of them had FACED THE SAME ADVERSITY - boiling water - but EACH REACTED DIFFERENTLY."
-The carrot went in strong and hard, but came out softened and became weak.
-The egg had been fragile; just a thin outer shell, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
-The coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
--Will we be like the carrot, previously very strong but the hardship caused us to lose our strength and we become weak. Lose faith in God.
--Will we be like the egg, previously gentle and meek but after hardship, we are hardened and bittered against God.
--Or are we like the coffee bean? The hot water did not change us, we change the hot water. The very thing that brings us pain. We change the taste of the water, we give out an aroma that transforms the environment.
The fact remains that too many of God’s people LIKE TO COMPLAIN. We especially like to complain in order to make the problems of life someone else fault. TOO HOT - TOO COLD - TOO FAST - TOO SLOW - TOO EXPENSIVE - TOO CHEAP - TOO DRY - TOO WET - I’M NOT BEING TREATED RIGHT - LIFE IS NOT FAIR - DID YOU HEAR WHAT THEY SAID TO ME - I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW I WAS TREATED - Complaining is basic to human nature, but it is also a PRODUCT OF FAITH IN CRISIS. We are most wont to complain when we feel most INSECURE, when we do not trust that our needs will be met.
Can faith really help us overcome our drive to complain? How quickly we forget.
• How quickly we move on from security to insecurity
• How quickly we move from confidence to worry
• How easily we equate God's available means to provide for us to the limited scope of what we can see, predict, and recognize
• How quickly we limit God to the range of our own possibilities
Our Psalmist admits to it and says – I Complained - As we read through the text it almost appears as though ASPAH is about to lose it. Anybody every been there? You felt like you were about to lose it. Maybe if you just lose if for a minute or two you will feel better. At your Breaking Point – nobody better say a Word to you – don’t even look at me wrong – I’m about to Lose It. But notice what happens in our text. Asaph uses the term – I WILL – Three (3) times.
• VS. 11 – I Will Remember the Works of the Lord
• VS. 11 – I Will Remember the Wonders of Old
• VS. 12 – I Will Meditate on all your Works
When we read the first 9 verses, for a moment we thought he is going to LOSE ALL HOPE. But Vs. 10 turns it all around. He refused to focus on his situation – he refused to continue to Complain - because he knows GOD HAS NOT CHANGED – WE CHANGE – CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE – GOD WILL NOT CHANGE.
• God called out to Adam in Garden of Eden
• GENESIS 3:9 – Adam Where Are You
• Not where I left you
• God did not move
• Adam moved his position
Here is what I really like about this passage. The Psalmist did not have all the answers to his problems.
• He did not know how long the hardship would last
• Did not ask God for a Time Table or Time Frame
• He did not wait until he saw the Light at the end of the Tunnel
• Yet this he knew - God had delivered His people before, and He will do it again
• Because what He has done in the past revealed God’s heart for the people - His love
• God’s love for us has never changed
The breakthrough is not in our Complaining. The Breakthrough is in our Praise. After the Psalmist found himself COMPLAINING, he realized that he had to make a turn in order for God to bless him. The turn he made was away FROM COMPLAINING TO PRAISE.
• He now begins to Praise God for the specific things He has done for Israel
• Contrast this part with the first part of the psalm
• The first part described his struggle - he was in the midst of his pain, self-centered
• At this point, not once did he refer to himself or his circumstances
• His focus was entirely on God
• He talks about God’s Holiness
• He talks about God’s Power
• He talks about God’s Salvation
• He talks about God’s Faithfulness
• He talks about God’s Mercy
In the midst of our Complaining and Complaints we have to Turn this thing around. We must begin to Meditate on God and His Works. Think about what He has already done. It is at this point that God will begin to Deliver us from those issues and situations that challenge us to Complain. It may not happen overnight, it may be a process. Look at the LAST WORD IN VS. 3 - SELAH - This lets me know that the Psalmist probably did not write this Psalm in one sitting.
• We understand Selah to mean – Silence – Pause – or Chorus
• This tells me that we have to move to the point where we take our eyes off of ourselves hence the Silence or Pause
• We must Choose to stop Complaining and Praise God in the midst of our Spiritual Wilderness
• Praise is the Weapon against the evil forces that seek to keep us complaining and if not reversed will ultimately defeat us
When we complain it WEAKENS OUR SPIRIT - it becomes difficult to move forward. The psalmist says in VS. 3 - “when I complained, my spirit was overwhelmed” another version says that “my spirit faints.” Has complaining ever solved any problem apart from aggravating it? Complaining will aggravate Our Spouse – Our Children – Those we Love. More importantly Complaining will Weaken our Spirit and begin to Drain our Spiritual Life.
• It will Affect our Prayer Life
• It will Affect our Church Life
• It will Affect Relationships with one another
• It will Affect our Teaching
• It will Affect our Preaching
--Just admit I Complained
--Now let’s be done with it
--Put our Trust in the Lord
--IC and took my Eyes off of God
--God can take care of situation better than I can
--IC and my Spirit was heavy
--Praised God and He lifted my Load
