When God Is The Problem
Sermon
The Psalms Were Made For Lent
Six Sermons And Worship Services
Introduction
During Lent we are focusing our biblical attention almost exclusively on the passages from the psalms, allowing their themes and their spirit to rise up and identify themselves to us. Today we are continuing to gain a greater familiarity with these conversations from the heart. Through song and reading and spoken word the religiosity of the psalmists of old is speaking to us today.
A
For the first two Sundays in Lent our attention was on what Old Testament professor Walter Brueggeman called Psalms of Orientation. The reason they're called that is because they hold a definite set of presuppositions about life and about God which consistently come through. Two of those fundamental presuppositions are key: Happiness in life is directly correlated with living in harmony with God's Will; and second, pursuing Wisdom is the way to learn about God's Will. The "good" person, these psalmists presumed, would naturally and diligently seek to know and live by the will of the Lord.
Today and next Sunday we are looking at another large section of the psalms which challenges those notions. In contrast to the Psalms of Orientation, which start with the assumption that there is an underlying goodness in the world, the various Psalms of Disorientation are written from the experience of those for whom that proved NOT to be true. The Psalms of Disorientation are written from the starting point that bad things happen not just to bad people, but to good people also. Sometimes people suffer when they don't deserve it.
How nice it is when we live inside the circle where the good things of life reside and can be enjoyed. And how uncomfortable are those who cry out in pain and bitterness that their lives are being lived out "outside" the circle and they don't deserve this. Their lives are in some sort of crisis from which they need to be delivered. That crisis could be serious illness, or militant enemies threatening at the borders, or a bad marriage, or children who turn out to be an embarrassment, or gossipy neighbors, or any of a number of things. The issue for them is "This shouldn't be happening to me!"
I know there are people sitting in this sanctuary today who are saying the same thing. "After 27 years of faithful service to my company it isn't fair that I am being retired early and against my wishes." Another is saying, "I take good care of my body; why should I be a victim of muscular dystrophy?" Another, whose retirement years ought to be enjoyable, lives in perpetual disillusionment because the children will have nothing to do with their parents. And the list goes on at great length.
You remember our former attorney general, Ed Meese. He had a memorable way of putting it. Meese liked to recall the advice of the man who preceded him in that office, William French Smith, who advised Ed Meese that there would be days in this position when he would feel like the javelin competitor who won the coin toss and elected to receive. Some people go through much of their lives in resentment because they are undeservedly living outside the circle, and they don't like it one bit.
These people (like all of us if we are brave enough to admit it) have made an implicit bargain with God that if I am honest and caring and a good citizen and a good neighbor and a hard worker, then I deserve a pretty fair measure of good things coming my way.
Most of the time we can get through life without any real challenge to that bargain we've made with God. Most of the time things work out pretty well. Sure, there are rocky places along the path, and once in a while I stub my toe on a rocky outgrowth. But I recover, pick myself up, and keep on living.
But some of us don't just stub our toe. We do more than fall down and bruise our elbow. Some of us fall so badly that we can't seem to get back up. And I'm thinking that there are more than just a few people in this sanctuary today who have fallen badly at some point in their life and seriously wondered if they could get back up.
And as bad as the fall was, the even greater hardship than the fall is that our implicit bargain with God was seriously challenged. With a bleeding spirit and a bruised soul we plaintively argue, "I'm keeping MY part of the bargain. Why isn't God keeping his?"
Might you not say along with the psalmist, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" (vv. 1-2).
The real problem that some of us have to live with is not just that life has turned sour, but that life has turned sour and God has forgotten about us.
B
What are we to do when it hits us like a two-by-four on the side of the head that God has turned his back on us? You know what some people do. They become very bitter. If they let all their anger out at once they'd explode, so they let it out in constant, belligerent shots fired at everybody for just about everything. They're the "skunks" of this world who make a big stink about everything.
Other people withdraw into themselves. They may become depressed. They may become apathetic. They certainly turn their backs on religion, for that has been a big part of the problem: they trusted God, and God let them down. These people express their anger like "turtles" - quietly but equally effectively.
The psalmist isn't bitter. He isn't withdrawn and pessimistic. Instead he renews his trust in the Lord, the same God who seems to have let him down. There's a simple truth here, and it's a gold mine of spiritual strength when we discover it for ourselves. Even when God is the problem, God is also the solution. So keep trusting in God, and count on him to deliver you.
Conclusion
Our tendency when we're angry at God and believe he has forgotten about us is to wallow around in our self-pity and become absorbed in our troubles. But that's not the helpful way to go. The better way is the way of faith. The better way is to keep our focus on God and not give up on him. For he hasn't really given up on you. He is still the source of your deliverance and your salvation.
Bulletin Material
When God Is The Problem
Psalm 13 (A Psalm Of Disorientation)
Notes of the Psalms of Disorientation
We'd like to think that everything is managed and under control; that things inevitably come out right in the end. We cling to the hope that enough knowledge and good intentions will eliminate the darkness in our lives. Unfortunately, the darkness has a remarkable resiliency.
We know that not everything does come out right in the end. Good intentions sometimes get us in trouble. Innocent people sometimes experience great hardships. Sometimes we are victims of other people's mistakes and sins.
These Psalms of Disorientation recognize the unfairness in life and the extreme hardship that some deserving people unavoidably suffer. With amazing candor the people of Old Testament times felt free to cry out in pain and sorrow, to vent their anger at God and anyone else, and to argue their case in the highest courts of the Lord. And while there often was no possibility of changing the reality against which they railed, there was healing and comfort that came by "talking out" the problem and knowing that the cry for mercy was heard.
Hymn No. 1
Psalm 90 (Tune: St. Catherine, "Faith Of Our Fathers")
Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place
Through the ages of our race;
Before the mountains had their birth
Or even Thou hadst formed the earth.
From everlasting Thou art God; To everlasting our abode.
O teach Thou us to count our days
And set our hearts on wisdom's ways;
Turn, Lord, to us in our distress.
In pity now Thy servants bless.
Let mercy's dawn dispel our night, And all our day with joy be bright.
O send the day of joy and light,
For long has been our sorrow's night;
Afflicted through the weary years,
We wait until Thy help appears;
With us and with our sons abide, In us let God be glorified. Amen.
Hymn No. 2
Psalm 80 (Tune: Marion, "Rejoice, Ye Pure In Heart")
Hear our cry, O Lord. Now hear us as we pray.
You guide us as a shepherd leads, So keep us in your way.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now.
Enthroned above all worlds, You shine with holy light.
Lord, pour your power upon us all, And save us with your might.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now.
O Lord, the God of Hosts, Turn not your face away.
Our tears have been both food and drink, Foes mock us night and day.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now.
O Lord, our God, return. Bring peace into each home.
So let your face shine on us all, Restore us as your own.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now. Amen.
Hymn No. 3
Psalm 51 (Tune: Evan, "The Lord's My Shepherd")
Have mercy on us, living Lord, Remember not our sin.
According to your steadfast love, Come cleanse us from within.
Our sin and guilt are heavy, Lord, And evil in your sight.
Against you only have we sinned, Your judgment, Lord, is right.
We're born into a guilty world, And sinful in our ways,
Lord, teach us wisdom in our hearts, And lead us all our days.
So come and purify our lives, Our hearts with love redeem.
Restore us to your life-filled ways. Come, Lord, and make us clean. Amen.
Call to Worship:
Leader:
God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
People:
So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths; even if the seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence.
Leader:
There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, to the sacred house of the Most High.
People:
God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn he will come to its aid.
Leader:
Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders and the earth dissolves.
People:
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Leader:
Come and see what the Lord has done. See what amazing things he has done on earth.
(Psalm 46:1-8)
Call to Confession:
Our God is a God of justice, waiting to be gracious to you, yearning to have pity on you. Blessed are all who wait on the Lord. In penitence and faith, let us confess our sin to Almighty God.
Prayer of Confession: (Unison)
Lord, we feel that we are lost from you in the midst of the changes and challenges facing our church and our own lives. We see dimly ahead of us, due to our lack of faith in you and in ourselves. Forgive us for having wasted yesterday, for failing to make the most of the opportunities, and for failing to plan to become better followers in the future. Help us not to waste today, but to use wisely the opportunities that come to us for strengthening our faith and for serving you. Guide us to look forward to tomorrow when we shall see, and know and understand, through Christ. Amen.
Declaration of Pardon:
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us. Christ rose for us. Christ reigns in power for us. Christ prays for us (Romans 8:34). Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life is gone; a new life has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17). Friends, believe the gospel. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Hymn of Response: (Please sing after the organist plays the melody once)
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he, Lord Sabaoth his name,
From age to age the same, and he must win the battle.
(Note: The tune for this response is Ein' Feste Burg, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," Psalm 46).
Bulletin Material (Notes, hymn texts, calls to worship, prayers, responses, etc.) may be copied for local church use by permission of CSS Publishing Co., Lima, Ohio.
During Lent we are focusing our biblical attention almost exclusively on the passages from the psalms, allowing their themes and their spirit to rise up and identify themselves to us. Today we are continuing to gain a greater familiarity with these conversations from the heart. Through song and reading and spoken word the religiosity of the psalmists of old is speaking to us today.
A
For the first two Sundays in Lent our attention was on what Old Testament professor Walter Brueggeman called Psalms of Orientation. The reason they're called that is because they hold a definite set of presuppositions about life and about God which consistently come through. Two of those fundamental presuppositions are key: Happiness in life is directly correlated with living in harmony with God's Will; and second, pursuing Wisdom is the way to learn about God's Will. The "good" person, these psalmists presumed, would naturally and diligently seek to know and live by the will of the Lord.
Today and next Sunday we are looking at another large section of the psalms which challenges those notions. In contrast to the Psalms of Orientation, which start with the assumption that there is an underlying goodness in the world, the various Psalms of Disorientation are written from the experience of those for whom that proved NOT to be true. The Psalms of Disorientation are written from the starting point that bad things happen not just to bad people, but to good people also. Sometimes people suffer when they don't deserve it.
How nice it is when we live inside the circle where the good things of life reside and can be enjoyed. And how uncomfortable are those who cry out in pain and bitterness that their lives are being lived out "outside" the circle and they don't deserve this. Their lives are in some sort of crisis from which they need to be delivered. That crisis could be serious illness, or militant enemies threatening at the borders, or a bad marriage, or children who turn out to be an embarrassment, or gossipy neighbors, or any of a number of things. The issue for them is "This shouldn't be happening to me!"
I know there are people sitting in this sanctuary today who are saying the same thing. "After 27 years of faithful service to my company it isn't fair that I am being retired early and against my wishes." Another is saying, "I take good care of my body; why should I be a victim of muscular dystrophy?" Another, whose retirement years ought to be enjoyable, lives in perpetual disillusionment because the children will have nothing to do with their parents. And the list goes on at great length.
You remember our former attorney general, Ed Meese. He had a memorable way of putting it. Meese liked to recall the advice of the man who preceded him in that office, William French Smith, who advised Ed Meese that there would be days in this position when he would feel like the javelin competitor who won the coin toss and elected to receive. Some people go through much of their lives in resentment because they are undeservedly living outside the circle, and they don't like it one bit.
These people (like all of us if we are brave enough to admit it) have made an implicit bargain with God that if I am honest and caring and a good citizen and a good neighbor and a hard worker, then I deserve a pretty fair measure of good things coming my way.
Most of the time we can get through life without any real challenge to that bargain we've made with God. Most of the time things work out pretty well. Sure, there are rocky places along the path, and once in a while I stub my toe on a rocky outgrowth. But I recover, pick myself up, and keep on living.
But some of us don't just stub our toe. We do more than fall down and bruise our elbow. Some of us fall so badly that we can't seem to get back up. And I'm thinking that there are more than just a few people in this sanctuary today who have fallen badly at some point in their life and seriously wondered if they could get back up.
And as bad as the fall was, the even greater hardship than the fall is that our implicit bargain with God was seriously challenged. With a bleeding spirit and a bruised soul we plaintively argue, "I'm keeping MY part of the bargain. Why isn't God keeping his?"
Might you not say along with the psalmist, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" (vv. 1-2).
The real problem that some of us have to live with is not just that life has turned sour, but that life has turned sour and God has forgotten about us.
B
What are we to do when it hits us like a two-by-four on the side of the head that God has turned his back on us? You know what some people do. They become very bitter. If they let all their anger out at once they'd explode, so they let it out in constant, belligerent shots fired at everybody for just about everything. They're the "skunks" of this world who make a big stink about everything.
Other people withdraw into themselves. They may become depressed. They may become apathetic. They certainly turn their backs on religion, for that has been a big part of the problem: they trusted God, and God let them down. These people express their anger like "turtles" - quietly but equally effectively.
The psalmist isn't bitter. He isn't withdrawn and pessimistic. Instead he renews his trust in the Lord, the same God who seems to have let him down. There's a simple truth here, and it's a gold mine of spiritual strength when we discover it for ourselves. Even when God is the problem, God is also the solution. So keep trusting in God, and count on him to deliver you.
Conclusion
Our tendency when we're angry at God and believe he has forgotten about us is to wallow around in our self-pity and become absorbed in our troubles. But that's not the helpful way to go. The better way is the way of faith. The better way is to keep our focus on God and not give up on him. For he hasn't really given up on you. He is still the source of your deliverance and your salvation.
Bulletin Material
When God Is The Problem
Psalm 13 (A Psalm Of Disorientation)
Notes of the Psalms of Disorientation
We'd like to think that everything is managed and under control; that things inevitably come out right in the end. We cling to the hope that enough knowledge and good intentions will eliminate the darkness in our lives. Unfortunately, the darkness has a remarkable resiliency.
We know that not everything does come out right in the end. Good intentions sometimes get us in trouble. Innocent people sometimes experience great hardships. Sometimes we are victims of other people's mistakes and sins.
These Psalms of Disorientation recognize the unfairness in life and the extreme hardship that some deserving people unavoidably suffer. With amazing candor the people of Old Testament times felt free to cry out in pain and sorrow, to vent their anger at God and anyone else, and to argue their case in the highest courts of the Lord. And while there often was no possibility of changing the reality against which they railed, there was healing and comfort that came by "talking out" the problem and knowing that the cry for mercy was heard.
Hymn No. 1
Psalm 90 (Tune: St. Catherine, "Faith Of Our Fathers")
Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place
Through the ages of our race;
Before the mountains had their birth
Or even Thou hadst formed the earth.
From everlasting Thou art God; To everlasting our abode.
O teach Thou us to count our days
And set our hearts on wisdom's ways;
Turn, Lord, to us in our distress.
In pity now Thy servants bless.
Let mercy's dawn dispel our night, And all our day with joy be bright.
O send the day of joy and light,
For long has been our sorrow's night;
Afflicted through the weary years,
We wait until Thy help appears;
With us and with our sons abide, In us let God be glorified. Amen.
Hymn No. 2
Psalm 80 (Tune: Marion, "Rejoice, Ye Pure In Heart")
Hear our cry, O Lord. Now hear us as we pray.
You guide us as a shepherd leads, So keep us in your way.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now.
Enthroned above all worlds, You shine with holy light.
Lord, pour your power upon us all, And save us with your might.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now.
O Lord, the God of Hosts, Turn not your face away.
Our tears have been both food and drink, Foes mock us night and day.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now.
O Lord, our God, return. Bring peace into each home.
So let your face shine on us all, Restore us as your own.
O come, Lord, come. Restore and save us now. Amen.
Hymn No. 3
Psalm 51 (Tune: Evan, "The Lord's My Shepherd")
Have mercy on us, living Lord, Remember not our sin.
According to your steadfast love, Come cleanse us from within.
Our sin and guilt are heavy, Lord, And evil in your sight.
Against you only have we sinned, Your judgment, Lord, is right.
We're born into a guilty world, And sinful in our ways,
Lord, teach us wisdom in our hearts, And lead us all our days.
So come and purify our lives, Our hearts with love redeem.
Restore us to your life-filled ways. Come, Lord, and make us clean. Amen.
Call to Worship:
Leader:
God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
People:
So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths; even if the seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence.
Leader:
There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, to the sacred house of the Most High.
People:
God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn he will come to its aid.
Leader:
Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders and the earth dissolves.
People:
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Leader:
Come and see what the Lord has done. See what amazing things he has done on earth.
(Psalm 46:1-8)
Call to Confession:
Our God is a God of justice, waiting to be gracious to you, yearning to have pity on you. Blessed are all who wait on the Lord. In penitence and faith, let us confess our sin to Almighty God.
Prayer of Confession: (Unison)
Lord, we feel that we are lost from you in the midst of the changes and challenges facing our church and our own lives. We see dimly ahead of us, due to our lack of faith in you and in ourselves. Forgive us for having wasted yesterday, for failing to make the most of the opportunities, and for failing to plan to become better followers in the future. Help us not to waste today, but to use wisely the opportunities that come to us for strengthening our faith and for serving you. Guide us to look forward to tomorrow when we shall see, and know and understand, through Christ. Amen.
Declaration of Pardon:
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us. Christ rose for us. Christ reigns in power for us. Christ prays for us (Romans 8:34). Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life is gone; a new life has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17). Friends, believe the gospel. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Hymn of Response: (Please sing after the organist plays the melody once)
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he, Lord Sabaoth his name,
From age to age the same, and he must win the battle.
(Note: The tune for this response is Ein' Feste Burg, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," Psalm 46).
Bulletin Material (Notes, hymn texts, calls to worship, prayers, responses, etc.) may be copied for local church use by permission of CSS Publishing Co., Lima, Ohio.
