Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Transcription

1 Seeing Him Who Is Invisible Psalm 115 November 17, 2013 Psalm 115 opens with this wonderful sentiment: Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. It s the sort of thing we might say after we ve done something important. We ve built this wonderful new building, but, Lord, this is for YOUR glory not for ours! We ve gone on this mission trip and helped all these poor people have a place to call home, but don t give US the glory this is all for you, Lord! It s wonderful to deflect the attention from us to God. But I don t think that s exactly what s going on here in the 115 th Psalm. [Again, you might want to follow along it s on p. 435] We learn from vs. 2 that things are not going well it s so bad, the pagan nations are asking the Israelites, Where is your God? In other words [if I could modernize it a bit]: You Christians are always bragging about how great your God is. Well, if he s so great, why did you come down with cancer, or why did you lose your job, or why are you having problems in your marriage? So, if we read it that way, vs. 1 is really saying, Things are going bad for us, Lord, but you do realize that it s YOUR REPUTATION your glory that s at stake NOT OURS! You have a reputation for love and faithfulness, [vs. 1], so we d really appreciate it if you d come through for us now! Israel s glory was not on the line GOD s was. So, let s try to answer that question in vs. 2: Why DO the nations say to Israel, Where is your God? Well, they ask it first of all because God s people are not always on top, not always WINNING, and so they wonder how powerful their God is. After all, if God were as great as they claimed, they would be a lot more POWERFUL and SUCCESSFUL in the world. But they say it, second, because they literally can t SEE Israel s God the Israelites can t even see Him! Have you ever heard anything so preposterous in your life? 1

2 It s not just pagans who ask that question, is it? A God you can t see? [They could see their gods anytime just go down to the TEMPLE!] These people must be ATHEISTS! What good is a god you can t see? A lot of us CHRISTIANS feel that way sometimes. Those times when we re sick, or troubled when life is going badly for us. Haven t you ever wished God would just SHOW UP and take care of things for you? The author Philip Yancey has thought a lot about these sorts of things. I first met him (through his books) back in 1977 when he wrote, Where Is God When It Hurts? And, more recently with the tragedies at Sandy Hook Elementary School and elsewhere, he s written, What Good Is God? Those are just variations on the question of vs. 2, aren t they: Where is your God? And sometimes, as Christians, we have to answer, I m NOT SURE! I thought He would show up, but apparently He was busy somewhere else! So this all gets the Psalmist thinking about the differences between his God the God of Israel and the gods of these pagan nations who are making fun of him. And he lays out the differences in vs. 3 8 between our God and their idols. And He is our God, isn t He? So, who is this God? (vs. 3) Not in the sense that we POSSESS Him or CONTROL Him, but in the sense that we have a relationship with Him. I can say, my God, in the same way that I can talk about my dad when I m telling you about my own father. He s in heaven and he does whatever pleases him. 1) He s in heaven. That doesn t mean that He not HERE God can be in our HEARTS, He can be in the CHURCH when His people are gathered here; in the Old Testament He could be in the TEMPLE. God is certainly everywhere. 2

3 But when we want to locate His ultimate address, we don t look here on earth, we look in HEAVEN. 2) He does whatever pleases Him In other words, He is sitting in authority above it all. That doesn t mean He doesn t get His hands dirty in the messiness of life just look at JESUS. But it does mean He s not caught up, not controlled by, the messes of life. He s in HEAVEN. That doesn t mean He operates on whim or caprice I m bored today. I think I ll send a typhoon over the Philippines just to see what happens! It means He is totally free and independent of all the forces that tend to influence us. I m influenced by my pride or greed or laziness As Paul says in Romans 7, I do what I don t want to and don t do what I want to. But none of that effects God. He does as He pleases, and He always pleases to do what is good and right. By the way, that also means (as Calvin notes in his comments on this Psalm) that He s also free NOT to do some things. Like JUDGE sinners the moment they sin or do some evil. Why is that some person can get on the radio or write a letter to the editor and say the most terrible things about God and He doesn t ZAP them on the spot! Because He does what He pleases; and GRACE always colors what He pleases even when we wouldn t mind a little REVENGE now and then! This also means that we are most content when what pleases GOD also pleases US. This morning s Prayer and Praise quotes from Psalm 37:3 5, Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. That s because when we delight ourselves in Him, HIS desires become OUR desires! So that s GOD He s in heaven, and He does what He pleases. 3

4 What about the IDOLS? 1) They are made by the hands of men. (vs. 4) God is the CREATOR of all things [He wasn t made by anyone], but somebody has to MAKE the idols. More than that, while God is in heaven doing whatever He pleases, the idols are here on earth doing NOTHING! They are impotent imposters. They LOOK the part they have mouths, and eyes, and ears, and hands, and feet, but none of them WORK! God is FREE and POWERFUL; He can SPEAK and ACT. But idols are dependent, and limited, and silent. I love vs. 7: [sarcasm] Not only can they not SPEAK, they can t even clear their throats! So why in the world do we chase after idols so? (And I say, US, very purposely.) It is because they LOOK so attractive and POWERFUL, and when we look around us, they DO seem to work! Israel looked at her neighbors, how powerful and successful they were how much their CROPS yielded and she began to say, Maybe there IS something to these gods! And we do the same thing. We allow ourselves to be seduced by the gods of prosperity and political influence and technology the CAN DO spirit of America! And we try to decide for God what He SHOULD be doing instead of realizing that he does whatever pleases him, and whatever pleases Him is ultimately for our best. So our idols strut around us like that emperor with his new suit of clothes, and all too often we re so enchanted that we can t even see that he s naked he doesn t have ANY clothes on! And, in fact, as vs. 8 makes clear, those who make them [the idols] will be like them and so will all who trust in them. Our idols CHANGE us. We hang on to these weak, impotent imposters and somehow think we NEED them. 4

5 What s the REMEDY for our idolatry? Vs Three times the Psalmist calls out, Trust in the Lord, trust in the Lord, trust in the Lord. Why? Because vs. 12, The Lord REMEMBERS us and will bless us. Despite all appearances despite the fact that it SEEMS as though the God of heaven has simply RETREATED back to heaven and left us alone, the Lord has NOT forgotten us He remembers us. I had us read that passage about Moses from Hebrews 11 because I am always struck by that beautiful phrase, he persevered because he saw him who is invisible! How can you SEE what is INVISIBLE? Only through the eyes of faith. We don t see Him when He makes us rich or powerful or successful. According to Hebrews 11:1, Faith is being certain of what we DO NOT see. We can see the IDOLS that s why they re so easy to follow. No mystery there! It s following this God we CAN T SEE that s so tough. No wonder people scoff and say, Where is your God? But when we DO see Him who is invisible when we quit relying on our own efforts and trust this God who is in the heavens who does what HE pleases, the only thing we can say is what the Psalmist says in the last line of the Psalm: Praise the Lord! In Hebrew it s: Hallu-Jah! Instead of my closing in prayer this morning, I d like you all to join with me in using Psalm 115 as a closing prayer (tan insert). This is clearly a liturgical Psalm it s intended for a responsive reading in public worship so let s use it that way. WOMEN: MEN: Not for our sake, God, no, not for our sake, but for your name s sake, show your glory. Do it on account of your merciful love, do it on account of your faithful ways. Do it so none of the nations can say, Where now, oh where is their God? 5

6 PASTOR: ORGAN SIDE: PIANO SIDE: ORGAN SIDE: PASTOR: MEN: WOMEN: PASTOR: ORGAN SIDE: PIANO SIDE: Our God is in heaven doing whatever he wants to do. Their gods are metal and wood, handmade in a basement shop: Carved mouths that can t talk, painted eyes that can t see, Tin ears that can t hear, molded noses that can t smell, Hands that can t grasp, feet that can t walk or run, throats that never utter a sound. Those who make them have become just like them, have become just like the gods they trust. But you, Israel: put your trust in God! trust your Helper! trust your Ruler! Clan of Aaron, trust in God! trust your Helper! trust your Ruler! You who fear God, trust in God! trust your Helper! trust your Ruler! O God, remember us and bless us, bless the families of Israel and Aaron. And let God bless all who fear God bless the small, bless the great. Oh, let God enlarge your families giving growth to you, growth to your children. May you be blessed by God, by God, who made heaven and earth. The heaven of heavens is for God, but he put us in charge of the earth. Dead people can t praise God not a word to be heard from those buried in the ground. But we bless God, oh yes We bless him now, we bless him always! Hallelujah! [The Message (MSG) Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson] Rev. Robert Smallman Bible Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America) 1605 Highway G Merrill, WI