CRCF””2/6/11
Introduction–
Do you ever talk to yourself?
[Cartoon Slide and PhotoShop Slide]
Lloyd-Jones
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?
23 million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders.
62 percent of evangelical Christians say they are worried about the future.
Lord save us all from… a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms. ~Mark Twain
“In contrast to a freaked-out world, [we can] be people of joyful hope!” (Rene Schlaepfer).
Rene Schlaepfer
Our hope level is directly effected by my view of God.
How do you view God? Is your view of God true? Do you see him like the gods of Roman and Greek mythology, always waiting to zap us humans in our sin and show us who the boss is? Or do you see Him as the Bible, as Jesus Himself, says He is? Do you see God as a loving Father?
Hoping in the Source
Psalm 42
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
John Piper
The psalms are instruction, and the psalms are songs. And Jesus taught that they were inspired by God. They intend to shape what the mind thinks, and they intend to shape what the heart feels. When we immerse ourselves in them, we are “thinking and feeling with God.”
Psalm 42 (NLT)
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again””
my Savior and 6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you””
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again””
my Savior and my God!
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
Lloyd-Jones
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man”™s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says,: “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.” (Spiritual Depression, 20-21)
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
I want to show you just how the psalmist thinks and talks to God, and to himself.
John Piper
His external circumstances are oppressing. His internal emotional condition is depressed and full of turmoil. But he is fighting for hope.
1. He Questions God
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
God is not intimidated by our questions! In fact, we can”™t handle our own questions! But, HE can handle our questions, our doubts, our fears! So take your questions to God! That kind of questioning is an act of faith!
2. He Thirsts for God
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
The psalmist knew a little secret about his own heart””and it”™s true about OUR hearts as well”¦a lack of hope is the flip side of the coin of thirsting for God.
In other words, when we lack hope, what we need””whether we realize it or not””is a long drink from the spring of our God! What we need is a refreshing draw from the living waters of Jesus Himself!
And one place we uniquely get that drink is when we come together to worship, to drink from the Fountain of Living Water as a family!
3. He Reminds Himself that God is His Loving Father
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again””
my Savior and 6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you””
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again””
my Savior and my God!
John Piper
And the really remarkable thing is that at the end of the psalm, he is still fighting but not yet where he wants to be. The last words of the psalm””and the last words of the next psalm””are “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” He leaves us still fighting for the joyful experience of hope and freedom from turmoil. He is not yet praising the way he wants to.
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)
For the LORD your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
Psalm 103 (NLT)
1 Let all that I am praise the LORD;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the LORD;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle”™s!
6 The LORD gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The LORD is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
Romans 8:15 (NLT)
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God”™s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
Conclusion
Kevin
He doesn’t know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be. His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax. He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God – to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an ‘educated’ person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances – they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God’s care. Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I’ll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
Kevin won’t be surprised at all!
Sadly, most of us have to work hard””much harder than Kevin–to remember the simple truth that God is our loving Father.
Hope comes when we remind ourselves that God is our loving Father.
Psalm 33:22 (NLT)
22 Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD,
for our hope is in you alone.