Series: Lenten Grace
1. On the First Sunday of Lent we discovered that God’s grace extends beyond Eden.
2. On the Second Sunday in Lent we were reminded that God’s grace is a better way than our works way.
3. On the Third Sunday in Lent we observed in Jesus’ example that God’s grace knows no barriers.
4, On the Fourth Sunday in Lent we saw that God’s grace transforms darkness into light.
Title: Grace for Life (God’s grace sustains us through all of life.)
Text: Psalm 107:1 - 32
• A Call to Praise and Thanksgiving: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1
• A Gathering of people from east and west and north and south.
• 4 – Strophes or recurring scenes with repeated lines that speak of those gathered peoples.
• Cyclical Pattern: “Some were…” They had a desperate situation. They cried for help. God intervened. They had a desperate situation. They cried for help. God intervened, etc...
Thesis: Whatever our circumstances God gives us grace for life.
Introduction
It seems many, though not all, quotes about history are spoken tongue in cheek with a bit of cynicism.
• “Those who do not remember the past are destined to repeat it.”
• “History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there.”
• “History is the sum total of all the things that could have been avoided.”
I like what Norman Cousins said about history: “History is a vast warning system.”
I like that quote because I believe history is also a vast support system.
Our text today is about real people who are called upon to, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithfulness endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 And the reason the Psalmist calls those real people to give thanks to God is because of the historical record of God’s faithfulness to his people through all the challenges of life.
The Psalmist uses a series of four pictures or scenes to illustrate how real people experienced real crises in life and of how God intervened in those circumstances. So this morning I want us to:
• Either see ourselves in the scenes described and be encouraged to turn to God for help.
• Or see ourselves in looking back at times God was faithful to you and turn to God with gratitude.
The first picture we have is of despairing lost travelers… wandering through life.
I. Some lived in Despair
Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. 107:4-9
When these people started out they anticipated a safe and uneventful trip but along the way they got lost.
Feel the tension: Life carefully mapped out turns to life lost.
They set out they thought the future to be a ticket to bliss. They somehow had gotten lost along the way and they are wondering where all their wandering is going to lead them.
• Despair: Utter loss of hope
German pastor Martin Rinkart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkhart officiated at the funerals of the other two. As the only pastor left, he often conducted services for as many as 40 to 50 persons a day—some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.
Yet living in a world dominated by death, Pastor Rinkart wrote the following prayer for his children to offer to the Lord:
Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices;
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices.
Who, from our mother's arms,
Hath led us on our way,
“Some wandered in the wilderness of despair… but they cried out in their trouble, “Lord help us!” And he saved them from their distress…” God’s grace is sufficient for living through despair.
It is in our times of utter despair that we find faith enough to cry out to God for help!
The second picture is of a depressed people shackled in a dark and gloomy dungeon.
II. Some lived in Depression
Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery. 107:10-16
When these people started out they were joyful, foot-loose and fancy-free but along the way they found themselves imprisoned in deepest gloom.
Feel the tension: Life foot-loose and free to life depressed.
Many of the most depressed people we know are depressed because they have fallen into patterns, habits or addictions that have enslaved them: Addictions to alcohol and drugs; pornography and sex; etc… Most of the depressed people I know are simply overwhelmed with life. Trapped. Imprisoned by gloom.
• Depression: A state of feeling sad or dejected
Martin Luther was subject to such fits of darkness that he would hide himself away for days, and his family would remove all the sharp and pointy things from the house for fear he would harm himself.
At one point in his depression his wife entered the room he was in. She was dressing in total black. Luther asked, “Who died?” She answered, “By the way you are acting, God must have!”
Some sat in the darkness of gloom… but they cried out in their trouble, “Lord help us!” And he saved them from their distress…” God’s grace is sufficient for living through depression.
It is in times of gloom and the darkness of depression that we find faith enough to cry out to God for help!
The third picture is of disappointed people who were suffering the consequences of their sinful choices.
III. Some lived in Disappointment
Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their sins. 107:17-22
When these people started out they were adventurous and willing try anything that promised a good time but they made some really bad decisions and suffered the consequences of those choices… some were sinful while others were foolish mistakes.
Feel the tension: Life free-spirited, defiant and devil-may-care to life gone sour.
• Disappointment: A defeat in expectation
There is a story about child psychologist who wanted to observe how different children respond to negative circumstances. So he filled a room with a big pile of horse manure…
The first child whined and cried and despaired that he was in a room full of smelly horse manure.
The second child got all excited and ran around the room excitedly digging in the manure.
After a few moments the psychologist asked the boy why he was so excited. He replied, “With all this horse manure there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere.”
But what of the boy who saw no pony in the manure? Sometimes life is just that – a disappointing pile of manure!
Some were foolish and suffered for their sins… but they cried out in their trouble, “Lord help us!” And he saved them from their distress…” God’s grace is sufficient for living through disappointment.
It is in our moments of personal disappointment that we find faith enough to cry out to God for help!
The fourth picture is of a people in distress whose lives are threatened by a storm and shipwreck.
IV. Some lived in Distress
Some went off to sea in ships… their ships tossed to the heavens and plunged to the depths; the sailors cried in terror. 107:23 and 26
When these people started out they thought life was a going to be all smooth sailing but soon discovered that a dream cruise life can turn into ship-wrecked life.
Feel the tension: Life lived in tranquility to life lived out of control.
The implication is that those who have been caught in a Perfect Storm find their lives are suddenly out of control and there is nothing they can do about it.
• Distress: A state of danger or desperate need, i.e., overwhelmed by circumstances
I love the water. If I could, I would live on a water front. But I do have uneasiness when I am in the water. David and Mary Anderson have been our good friends for many years. David is a master at anything he chooses to master. He is one of those guys that can build anything and whatever he builds is fast. He built a drag boat; it had a sleek fiberglass body with two bucket seats in front of a big-block Chevy engine. There was a massive blower on top of the engine and the exhaust manifold had eight, unrestricted, and curved pipes. One Saturday we packed up the kids and drove up to Red Willow Lake northwest of McCook, Nebraska. We found a nice secluded beach and unpacked. Then we took the boat over to the ramp and put it in the water… I don’t think any ride at Disney World can compare to the ride I took across that lake in David’s boat.
I had never skied so David set out to teach me. It’s easy. He said, “Just lie back in the water and as I open ‘er up just let the skis lift you right up out of the water.” My skis didn’t lift…
Do you know what was on my mind the whole time I was out there? What’s in the water with me? Be they water snakes? Be they giant, man-eating catfish? Be they snapping turtles? Be they the Red Willow Lake Monster?
I read about an old mariner’s chart that was drawn up in 1525. It outlined the North American coastline and the waters that had been explored. What was interesting about the chart was that the cartographer had made notations on areas of the map representing regions not yet explored. Here are some of the notations: “Here be giants!” “Here by fiery scorpions!” “Here be dragons!”
It is said that a British explorer named Sir John Franklin came to possess the ancient chart and scratched out each of the fearful inscriptions and wrote these words in their place: “Here be God!” (From a sermon by Terry Barnhill, Here Is God, 10/26/2009)
In life we all may likely experience a disaster or crisis or calamity in which we are utterly at our wits end… we are in distress and dangerous need because of overwhelming circumstances.
Some went off to sea in ships where at sea they found themselves at wits’ end… but they cried out in their trouble, “Lord help us!” And he saved them from their distress…” God’s grace is sufficient for living through distress.
When we are living in distress we need to remember: Here be God!
It is in our times of distress that we find faith enough to cry out to God for help!
Conclusion
History is rooted in the Greek word “historia” which means “inquiry.” History is knowledge acquired by investigation. It is the study of the past. An historical record is the collective memory of events remembered and preserved.
I’ve brought our Wedding Photo Album this morning. It is nearly forty-four years old…
• What we had in mind on that day was a beautiful journey through life together… none of that despair stuff.
• What we had in mind was a foot-loose and fancy free life together, none of that darkness and gloomy depressing stuff.
• What we had in mind was everything being rosy not any of that disappointing decisions stuff.
• What we had in mind was smooth sailing not any of that at our wits end distressing stuff.
But guess what? It has been an historic journey in which we can look back and see the faithfulness of God through despair, depression, disappointment and distress.
When you look back… you see what God has seen you through?
“Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” Psalm 107:43
Going forward looking back… It is in looking back that we have the faith to go forward.
This morning do you find yourself turning to God for help?
This morning do you find yourself turning to God with gratitude?
