MPC, 6th January 2002.Psalm 77 - "Promises, Promises: Who can we Trust?"
Maurie Cropper MPC, 6th January 2002.
"Happy New Year" is a greeting we repeat heaps of times at the beginning of every year. Guess how many days there are before we'll do it all over again? 359... if we've done our sums correctly.
And every twelve months we boast about our New Year Resolutions. Have you made any this year?
Some of us let everyone know what we have resolved to do or not do. Watch less television, or the few perverted few who say they're going to watch more! Then there's those who resolve to be better organized or get fitter by eating only healthy food and exercising more; or to really go hard at their studies.
It's hard not to get the resolution urge on the eve of a new year. Oh sure, there's last year's resolutions that didn't get past the first week of January... but hey, this year's going to be different, right? Yeah... right!
Once I even made a resolution to figure out a way to keep resolutions.
And who's to blame for the silly idea in the first place? It seems it all began about four thousand years ago. It's said that the Babylonians most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
And as for us Christians, be it new year or not, we're forever making resolutions. Like: I'll always trust God; or I'll read my bible and talk to God at least once every day; or each day I'll pray for the members of my family and my church family; or I'll regularly give to the work of ministry. And how about this one: I'm gonna' work at being a friendlier and more caring person. Sure!
And we all know that resolutions are hard to keep. Listen to this prayer:
Dear God,
So far today I have done alright.
I have not gossiped.
I have not lost my temper.
I have not been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, proud or
over indulgent.
I am very thankful for that... but in a few minutes, God... I'm going to get out of bed.
Resolutions just don't seem to last.
You'd like them to; but in the end they don't. And as you look back over the year you see broken promises everywhere. And sometimes it's meant that someone's got hurt. Maybe someone else, maybe you. Either way, people get hurt from broken promises.
So who can we trust to keep their promises? Are we even able to trust God? What if something comes out of the blue... like a serious illness, or a natural disaster. How would you react? How are we as believers, as Christians, to react?
Take the bush fires in NSW.
You might have seen the news report from the Blue Mountains, where last week people lost everything but their lives in the fire that ravished their community.
Afterwards, a camera crew went back and interviewed a number of residents including a Cecily Jackson. Cecily said that although they had lost everything, they could still be thankful that no-one had lost their lives and that as a community they could come together and plan to rebuild their homes and their lives. An amazing reaction I thought.
And then Cecily told the reporter that as a Christian she trusted in the Lord and that the Lord would bring them through the heartache and into a new beginning. Cecily said: "We have been so looked after. Our Lord loves us, we love him, and that's what's seen us through."
Well, the author of Psalm 77 also faced heartache. We are not told what it was, but his words tell us it was incredibly stressful... driving him to despair. It even caused him to question the love and the promises of God. The God of his forefathers. The God in whom he had trusted. The God he now turned to for answers and comfort.
But when the chips are down would God hear his cry for help, his cry for mercy? Could God's promises be trusted? Or would they fail him like some fleeting new year resolution.
This guy's hurting. A natural reaction to pain and evil. His words come from the painful realities of human life. Like what's happening for people caught up in the bush fires or in the war in Afghanistan; or the pain we feel when a friend or relative or a pet dies.
Listen to what he says. Reading from verse 1 to 7.
1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered you O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
He's so upset he can't even TALK ANY MORE. Instead, he broods.
He's got so many nagging and disturbing questions on his mind he can't sleep through the night. And it's like his pain increases with the thought that God might have rejected him.
Look at verses 4 to 7.
4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
7 Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favour again?
He wonders whether God has given up on him. Verses 8 and 9.
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?
His complaint is that God is not answering his prayer. He's not stopping what's troubling him. Is that where we sometimes find ourselves? Doubting God and murmuring misgivings in our minds about God's willingness to be there for us?
Why me, God? Why have you allowed this to happen? Why don't you do something about it?!
It's easy to slip into demanding that God comes through for us. And if God doesn't come through for us as quickly or in the way we demand... we feel rejected. And then we're tempted give up on Him.
The Psalmist was tempted to give up.
So what changed for him?
Well it seems that he shifts his thinking from being somewhat self-indulgent, to remembering that the One he is murmuring about... is the Most High God, the God of Israel... the God of his forefathers.
This is a turning point for the psalmist. The point at which he turns from the pessimism of the present situation, to remembering the mighty deeds of God. It's then that his thoughts are suddenly filled with the past miracles of God.
Take a look at what happens. Verse 11:
11 Then I thought; to this I will appeal: The years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds."
It's like the penny's dropped.
From verse 13 the remainder of the psalm invites us to think about the miraculous works of God. Like how God saved the people from Egypt.
So can the psalmist now trust in God's promises?
Can we?
Verses 12 to 20 gave the psalmist a platform for a "yes" answer. And we have so much more. Because unlike the psalmist, we have the fulfilment of God's promises made known to us in Jesus.
The writer to the Hebrews begins his letter with these words.
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
We have the miracle of His coming, His birth, His mighty deeds, we know how Jesus controlled everything from the wind and the seas, to illnesses and evil spirits, from life to death itself... all have come under his power. Even the forgiveness of our own sin!
So when something comes out of the blue... like a serious illness, or a natural disaster... how should you react?
Well the psalmist realized that turning inward and murmuring disappointment with God was the wrong option. Instead, he remembered the miraculous work of God in bringing salvation to his people. And that's what we should do.
If you're stressed by something, don't turn away from God. Instead, remember the cross of Christ. Focus on his resurrection power... a power that gives us salvation, and hope for a life and time to come. A time that God tells us "when he will wipe away every tear A time when there will be no more death or sorrow, no more crying, or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away."