“Out of the Depths I cried”
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
When we think of Depth we think of the distance from the top or surface to the bottom of something. It is used to specify the distance below the top or surface of something to which someone or something percolates or at which something happens.
SCRIPTURES:- Psalm 130:1-2 “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Psalm 42: 11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God”. Jeremiah 20:3-13.
It amazing how so many-times I find myself repeating something my father has said with just a little twist on it. I heard my father tell this story a little different but the same concept! The Devil had a garage sale and he was selling most of his tools. All the tools were laid out on the table and had been marked with prices. There were a lot of treacherous implements of destruction for sale: tools of hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, pride, lying, adultery, fornication and so on. However, over to the side apart from the rest of the tools was a special tool, it was worn more than any of the others and was it did not have a price on it at all. What's the name of this tool? asked one of the customers. That, the Devil replied, is the tool of discouragement. You do not have a price on that one why? Because that is not for sale, the tool of discouragement is more useful to me than all the others. With it I can pry open and get inside a person’s heart when I cannot get near them with any other tools. It is extremely worn because I use it on almost everyone. Therefore it is not for sale.
Stay with me for a little while because today we are going to deal with this tool and learn how to react when it is used against you. Don’t think that it won’t be used because it will, but how we deal with it is paramount.
PRAYER:
OPENING:- I want to start this message off with a question? How many of you feel this way:- Tired, overwhelmed by news reports, puzzled by political rhetoric, sadden by riots, proud of peaceful protest, concerned about a second wave of coronavirus, praying against hate and racism, mad at watching black men being killed on national television, outraged at police brutality, proudly know why we need to say Black Lives Matter, support good cops, will kneel during the national anthem until things change, respect the flag, prayerful, frustrated, alone, scared, profoundly impacted by the situation in our nation and very well aware of the changes that need to take place both in policy and behavior. There seems to be a loss in society of time and place, a disconnection from reality, and a disappearance of normalcy and any hope of being heard. You feel like you are drowning in the depths of despair, anxiety, confusion, disappointment, discouragement, and hopelessness. Don’t worry you are not alone.
Discouragement is part of life. Discouragement comes most often when you do right things but experience poor results. You work hard, but you don't make progress. You have expectations and goals and they don’t come to pass. You seek change and yet nothing changes.
Discouragement eats a hole in our hearts. It makes us want to quit, saying things we shouldn't say, even get upset at God and feel like He doesn’t even care. We call into question our very souls asking like David said Why art thou disquieted with in me.
Understand this feeling does not negate my salvation; however, if you do not know how to handle when discouragement comes it will destroy you physically, mentally, and spiritually.
One mistake that people have is believing that every moment of your spiritual life in Christ that you are going to be on the mountain top experiencing great joy, but every mountain top has beneath it a valley. It is those valley experiences that build your character, endurance, and make your mountaintop experiences even greater.
One time I said what I am about to say and someone said in utter shock, how could you say that and I was like how could I not say that WATCH THIS:- there are even times when I don’t feel like praising God at all. Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20:9 “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name…” WHY because he had just prophesied and Pashhur had him put in the stocks. Now he is spiritual and a prophet, but he is still living in flesh and flesh wareth against the spirit and flesh doesn’t deal well with discouragement and disappointment.
Let me give another example Jonah prophesied to Niniveh and they repented. Jonah got angry and sat waiting to see what was going to happen to them WHY because flesh was disappointed in not seeing vengeance – Jonah 4.
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane said “Father if it be thy will let this cup pass from me”. WHY because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:39.
Let me clarify this.
Whenever discouragement comes upon you, and it will come as long as we are in this flesh, but we must do like David, Jeremiah and Jesus Himself did and let God be God in our lives. In Psalm 42:11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me”, you have to speak to your inner self, call your inner being into question, do an attitude check on the soulish you and remind your inner spirit to hope in the Lord. David spoke to his soul hope in the Lord. Speak to your soul and remind your soul that there is no reason to be discouraged for hope lies with the Lord. Then it says “hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God”.
HOWEVER:- in order to do that you must:-
1st Be Honest with yourself and with God you have to tell God how you feel. He is God He know how you feel but sometimes He wants to hear you cry out from the depths of your discouragement and disappointment. Jeremiah 20:7 says “O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me”. Jeremiah was honest. He felt deceived by God. The word deceived means to be enticed or seduced. Obviously, God does not mislead or trick people, but Jeremiah felt that God had lured him into the ministry only to make him a laughingstock. He felt ridiculed and offended. His voice was not making a difference. He was crying out for the people to repent, yet they continued in sin and disobedience headed toward destruction and judgment. Jeremiah to;d God exactly how he was feeling. Jeremiah's intense cry was a private communication with God. Don’t get it twisted you can’t challenge God, you don’t try to embarrass God. When you are in your secret closet it’s just you and Him let Him know how you feel. Deep calleth unto deep. Out of the depts I cried Lord I need your help. Lord I am messed up. This is not what I thought it was going to be. I am being persecuted, ridiculed, talked about, I didn’t sign up for this.
God wants us to talk to him, even when we are angry, upset, and frustrated. He wants us to tell the truth. He is not on Prozac He’s not going to be like I can’t believe they feel that way about me. He is not going to stop loving you. God is big enough and strong enough to handle you and your emotions. That’s why Peter said in 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your care upon Him because He careth for you”. When you hold nothing back, tell God exactly what's in your heart, pour out those emotions, free yourself of their hold and enter a deeper relationship with God because a broken heart and a contrite spirt are the sacrifices of God and He will not despise
2nd we must Be obedient and continue to do what God has called you to do. Verse 9 says “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay”. Because of what happened, Jeremiah was ready to close his scrolls, shut he doors of the church, put his ministry on the shelf and never mention the name of God again. But he couldn't do that because God had placed a call upon his life. God's message and that call upon his life was like a fire shut up in his bones that he could not put out. You may be discouraged because what you thought the call was going to be is nothing like that, but you can’t stop be obedient to His Word. Do what He called you to do and victory will be yours.
3rd Remember, that the Lord is with you. Verse 11 says “But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten”. Jeremiah realized that he wasn't alone. He was not on the losing side. He was going to win because the Lord was with him like a mighty warrior. God would deal effectively, in his own way and time, with his enemies. So many times when things aren’t going the way we think they should we look at our problems, frustrations, discouragements, disappointments and get upset. But we have to tell our inner man like David did in Psalm 42 :11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God”.
4th Praise God. Praise God in the midst of your troubles. Verse 13 says “Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers”.
Because Jeremiah praised God his despair turned to joy, his defeated attitude turned to triumph, his discouragement to courage. He could say Isaiah 61:3 had come true “give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”.
WATCH THIS:- The key that unlocked the door to victory was praise. Jeremiah triumphantly proclaimed, “Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord” Jeremiah 20:13 David said I shall yet praise him Psalm 42:11.
WATCH THIS:- Praise is the weapon that we defeat the Devil with. When we praise God we acknowledge that he is in charge and He has everything under control.
Praise is more than just acknowledging God for the good that comes our way. Praise is accepting from God all that comes our way, both the good and the bad. The praise we offer when things don't go our way of crying out from the depths.
Praise does several things:
1. Praise recognizes God is Jehovah Jireh the Lord my provider. Praise takes our minds off our situation and focuses them on God. It gives God the right to rule and to reign in our lives how he sees fit. It acknowledges that God knows more about what he is doing than we do. It accepts that God can take all the bad stuff of life and make something beautiful out of it.
2. Praise acknowledges God’s plan. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. God has a plan for our lives. We don't always see the finished product. Sometimes to get to the end we have our share of disappointments, discouragements, and hearaches. When we realize God has a plan, we praise Him in the midst of it all.
3. Praise accepts the present. Praise is based on a total and joyful acceptance of the present as part of God's loving, perfect will for us. Praise is not based on what we think or hope will happen in the future. That’s why David said “I shall yet praise Him”.
4. Praise causes God to take up residence. David said in Psalm 22:3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel”. God actually dwells, inhabits, and resides in our praise; therefore, when we praise God in the midst of discouragement, disappointment, despair, anxiety and so on God comes dwells in the midst of our praise. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. Liberty is freedom. Freedom from discouragement, disappointment and so on.
Conclusion:- Let me close with this Out of the Depths I cried – out of the depth of discouragement, disappointment, sadness, frustration, anxiety, hatred, coronavirus. Do like David said in Psalm 150:1-6 “Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD”.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
