Where Is God In Times Of Trouble?

INTRODUCTION

 It all started out as a normal Tuesday morning for many Americans. People got up and got ready for work just like ever-other normal Tuesday morning. There were people who were getting ready to take flights just like any other day. That morning, I woke up and went to the High School for my morning walk, as has recently been my habit.

 As the whole nation was preparing for a normal day, something tragic happened that would change the very fabric of our nation. This terrible tragedy begged the question, “Where was God?” Even people who normally would not acknowledge God’s presence with us was asking this question.

At approximately 8:50 a.m. Eastern Time Zone American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 81 passengers, 9 flight attendants and 2 pilots aboard, headed from Boston to Los Angeles crashes into World Trade Center, the northernmost of the twin towers.

Where was God?

At approximately 9 a.m. a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 headed from Boston to Los Angeles with 56 passengers, 7 flight attendants and 2 pilots strikes World Trade Center, the southernmost of the twin towers.

Where was God?

9:38 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 58 passengers 4 flight attendants and 2 pilots, heading from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, crashes into the west side of the Pentagon, where about 20,000 people work, including most of the nation’s highest-ranking military officials.

Where was God?

10:09 a.m. World Trade Center (the southernmost tower) collapses.

Where was God?

10:30 a.m. World Trade Center (the northernmost tower) collapses.

Where was God?

10:42 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 45 people aboard headed from Newark, NJ, to San Francisco, crashes in Somerset County, Pa.

Where was God?

 911 2001, a date that will live in infamy for all who witnessed or who were affected by the cowardly acts perpetrated against thousands of innocent American citizens.

 911 2001 started off like any other ordinary Tuesday morning throughout America.

 Was God with us before 8:50 a.m. Eastern Time? What happened to God after 8:49 a.m.?

 Today I am going to take us to a few passages in the Psalms to bring some perspective to this question. I love to go to the Psalms for answering some of the tough questions of life like this because when many of the Psalms were written, they were written in the midst of crisis. Psalms like Psalm 51, which David penned after Nathan the prophet, confronted him about his sin. Others were written as Saul was unjustly pursuing David. The Psalms cover the full range of emotions from love and joy to anger and fear, from stability to insecurity. They range from praising God to questioning God. From running from God to seeking comfort from God.

 This recent tragedy has affected the whole nation, today let us see if we can find out where God was during this tragedy and where He is during our personal tragedies.

SERMON

I. THE QUESTION- PSALM 10:1-3

 To start off, let’s turn to Psalm 10:1-3. In Psalm 10, the Psalmist is asking the same question that we are and have been asking of God, “Where are you?”

Verse 1

 Verse one wonders why God is standing off in the distance during our time of trouble? We are not sure what the circumstances were when this Psalm was written, nor do we know who wrote this one. This Psalm seems to be written at a time when the author felt some distance between himself and God during some trial in his life.

 This Psalm seems like a good one for the present situation in which we deal with because according to verse two, the problem the writer is facing seems to be caused by some wicked enemy who is pursuing the author and causing him trouble.

 Verses 2-11 describe the character of the enemy that is being dealt with. Look at verse 9.

Why do you hide your face?

 This is the same question that Job asked in Job 24 where he asks why God seems to turn His back when wrong happens.

 Many people are wondering even today how a loving God could allow some psycho terrorists to destroy so many people.

 911 2001 would rank up there as one of the worst days in this nations history with the exception of the civil war.

 "Things are never going to be the same in this country again," said lawyer Alan Krauss, 48, watching the ruins of the Trade Center from a bluff in New Jersey. "This is the worst day in the history of our country, with the exception of the Civil War." Some feared his qualifier would prove unnecessary. Until Tuesday, the bloodiest day in U.S. history was Sept. 17, 1862, when about 4,700 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Civil War battle of Antietam. Pearl Harbor killed 2,388 Americans, and the first day of the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, killed 1,465.