Why Me Lord?

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How many of you remember the country singer, Kris Kristofferson? I don’t know if he’s still around, but I really like Kris Kristofferson. I can’t stand his music, but I like him because he’s the only person I know who makes me feel good about the way I sing. There was one song of his that really sticks out in my mind. It was called Why Me Lord. Why me Lord… what have I ever done… to deserve even one… of the pleasures I’ve known. Good lyrics. It would have been even better if he would have believed them. But have you ever done that yourself? Have you ever sat back and said, “Why me Lord?” So many times we do that when things are going wrong. If we lose somebody we love. If we get sick. If something bad happens in our life. Many times the first thing we want to say is, “Why me Lord?” But do you ever find yourself looking at everything that God has given you? Do you ever sit back and look at all the blessings in your life and ask that same question? That’s what the psalmist did here. You can almost picture him laying on his back staring up at the stars and thinking this. Maybe that’s what we need to do tonight. Maybe we need to spend some time thinking about the way the Lord has blessed us this year. No matter what has gone on in your life this year, God has blessed you. This Psalm starts and ends the same way. It starts and ends with the biggest blessing we have. Notice what the psalmist says. He says, “O Lord, OUR Lord.” Think about that for a minute. If that were all there was—wouldn’t it be enough? The fact that the all-sufficient, all-powerful God of eternity chooses to be our God. Don’t skip over that. In and of Himself, God is completely sufficient. That means that He doesn’t need anything. He is completely fulfilled and satisfied in His relationship between Father Son and Holy Spirit. He was never lonely. He was never needy. He was never discontent. But for some completely unexplainable reason, He chose to create us. He chose to create human beings for the sole purpose of being our Lord. Oh Lord OUR Lord. If He never did anything else for us, that would be infinitely more than enough. That would be enough to proclaim His name as excellent. That would be enough to proclaim his name as majestic. That would be enough to proclaim His name as worthy of all praise and honor and glory. But, oh He gives us so much more. First, He gives us the assurance of His control. Look back at the second part of verse 1 and verse 2:

PSALM 8:1a-2

What comfort there is in knowing God is in control. An all-knowing, all-powerful, righteous, holy, loving and gracious God is in control. What wonderful assurance that is! It brings to mind the picture of rest that is given us throughout the Bible. From the seventh day of creation on through the 4th chapter of Hebrews, rest has been an important theme. Why is that? Because the only time you can truly rest is when you’re at peace. And the only time you can be at peace is when you know that you are safe. When the eye of hurricane George passed within a couple of miles of my house in Gulfport, MS, we weren’t sleeping. We caught some cat-naps, but we didn’t rest. We didn’t rest, because the weather around us was spinning out of control. When I was in Saudi Arabia and the scud sirens would go off, I didn’t rest. I didn’t rest, because I didn’t know whether it was an exercise or if we were under attack. It was unknown. There was danger out there and the control that I thought I had was gone. But no matter how out of control I felt, God was still in control. And He’s still in control today. And He will always be in control. And isn’t it wonderful how He shows us? He shows us in the awesome grandeur of creation… and He shows us in the supreme humility of our weakest moments. He sets His glory above the heavens. He shows His strength through the weakest and most helpless. Have there been times this year when you have been made weak? Have there been times when you thought, “How am I going to make it?” This sounds strange, but what a blessing. What a blessing, because unless the Lord was truly in control, you wouldn’t have made it. Pray that the Lord will give you the eyes to see how He was shown to be strong in your times of greatest weakness. In those times when you felt as helpless as a nursing baby—how did God still the enemy? Isn’t there comfort in that? Isn’t there comfort in the fact that nothing will come after you that hasn’t passed through the hands of an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God? Isn’t there comfort in the fact that He’s promised that no matter what things might look like today—He’s working it all together for good? Look back. Look back and see God in those times. See God in those times and thank Him that He’s in control. The Lord gives us the assurance of His control. He also gives us the assurance of His love. Look at verses 3-4: