The Soul Restored (Psalm 42:1-11, ESV)

Transcription

1 INTRO: The Soul Restored (Psalm 42:1-11, ESV) Tech Upgrade à Next Weekend/Light the Night à Psalm 41 1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, Where is your God? 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. 5 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 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock: Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 10 As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, Where is your God? 11 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 (Psalm 42:1-11, ESV). THE ROLLER COASTER WE CALL LIFE : One thing I like about the Psalms is that they take you on a journey. They often begin with one emotion (joy, sadness, apathy) and then end on another with a variety of ups and downs in between. That s often what life is like, isn t it? Life is rarely steady (like this). It s full of jolts and surprises, like one big roller coaster. In fact, as you go through the challenges and changes of your life, perhaps you ve felt something like this. 1 It s even better when you don t know what they re screaming. My wife, Sarah, hates roller coasters. And that s saying something because she likes most everything. I could never get her on a ride like that. I, on the other hand, love roller coasters. What I can t handle are the teacups à Kings Island story. 1 Capture clip from 0:53 to 2:26. 1

2 So I was both terrified and a little intrigued when I learned of a roller coaster in Long Island where each individual cab is also a teacup. Check this coaster out but I need to warn you if you get motion sickness, you may want to divert your eyes. 2 I m convinced that machine is an invention of Satan. When you re on a coaster like that one of three things go through your mind: (1) How did they convince me to get on this thing? (2) Why am I such a glutton for punishment? (3) Will Taco Bell taste as good coming up as it did going down (the answer is no)? TRANSITION: Life is often like a roller coaster. One jolt after another and as soon as you ve survived the worst of it something else happens. A hard turn. A quick drop. A dark corridor. A loop that flips you upside down. Psalm 42 starts out on a positive note, remembering a time of joy, sort of the good ole days. TEXT: 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. But notice the change of tone in v Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? This is a person who at one time led worship in their church. They were the first one in the building each weekend. They oversaw a ministry. They hosted a small group. People came to them for spiritual counsel. But then something happened A hard turn. A quick drop. A dark corridor. A loop you that flipped everything upside down. The specifics don t matter. The bottom- line is something stole the joy they once had. And if it can happen someone like this it can happen to anybody. 2 Capture clip from 0:28 to 1:17 (replace audio with music). 2

3 This verb cast down is written in a form that carries the idea of going back and forth. It s a picture of being thrown down and pulling yourself back up only to be thrown down again as if your soul was being bullied and beaten day after day. I know it s hard to believe but I didn t always have the rippling physique you see now. Growing up, I was also a rule follower and a good student so I got picked on from time to time. If you ve ever been bullied, odds are you can recall the person s name, the things they said, and the feelings they produced within you, like that. The effects linger with you. That s why we love when someone stands up to the bully. I mean how much did you enjoy seeing these famous movie bullies go down? ü Ivan Drago (Rocky IV) ü Scut Farkus (A Christmas Story) ü Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid) ü Regina George (Mean Girls) ü Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cookoo s Nest) ü Biff (Back to the Future) We love it when the bully gets it. But what happens when the bully isn t identifiable? The Psalm writer describes his soul as being thrown down again and again. He feels beaten. He says his soul is in turmoil. But he doesn t necessarily have any person to blame. And when we don t have a clear cause for our frustration, we often take it and turn it upwards towards God. That s what the author does in v. 9: 9 I say to God, my rock: Why have you forgotten me? The author is calling out God. Where are you God? This is someone who knows God, used to be a leader in the church, but their spiritual life has become dry. Many of the greatest Christians leaders in history have been in that place. You re not alone. If you re experiencing a season of dryness or depression it doesn t make you a bad Christian. As my friend, Jamus Edwards says, The Christian life isn t just about happy people getting happier. But even so, you still have to guard against bitterness because bitterness, towards God or others, will kill your soul. 3

4 A few years ago I was talking to a high school student at the church where I served. His name was Daniel. And Daniel was telling me how sad he was that he wouldn t be able to go to CIY with the youth group that summer. You see CIY (Christ in Youth) is a summer event for students, high school going into their first year of college. Daniel had already started college courses so he was too old to go. And I stood there listening to him go on and on about how he didn t know what to do because it was at CIY that he felt closest to God. The conference had become for him sort of spiritual jumper cables that charged his battery enough to get him through the rest of the year. Now that s not all bad. I speak at CIY events each summer; there s a lot of good in getting away and having a mountaintop experience. We need those. The problem was Daniel had only learned to relate to God in highly emotional environments. So when the intensity and emotion were taken away something was lost. He knew God was there but he no longer felt like God was there so he grew bitter and the bitterness began to kill his soul. For Daniel, God only seemed available and worthwhile in the near perfect moments. And I fear he s not alone. PHOTOSHOP ILLUSTRATION: You may have read online this past week about a wife who gave her husband an album full of sexy pictures of herself that had been taken by a professional photographer and then doctored up by that same photographer using Photoshop. After receiving the gift, the husband wrote the photographer. But he didn t say what you might anticipate. Hi Victoria, I am (blank)'s husband, ********. I am writing to you because I recently received an album containing images you took of my wife. I don't want you to think that I am in any way upset with you... but I have some food for thought that I would like to pass on to you. I have been with my wife since we were 18 years old, and we have two beautiful children together. We have had many ups and downs over the years, and I think...well, actually I KNOW that my wife did these pictures for me to "spice things up". She sometimes complains that I must not find her attractive, that she wouldn't blame me if I ever found someone younger. When I opened the album that she gave to me, my heart sank. These pictures...while they are beautiful and you are clearly a very talented photographer...they are not my wife. You made every one of her "flaws" disappear...and while I'm sure this is exactly what she asked you to do, it took away everything that makes up our life. When you took away her stretch marks, you took away the documentation of my children. When you took away her wrinkles, you took away over two decades of our laughter, and our worries. When you took away her cellulite, you took away her love of baking and all the goodies we have eaten over the years. I am not telling you all of this 4

5 to make you feel horrible, you're just doing your job and I get that. I am actually writing you to thank you. Seeing these images made me realize that I honestly do not tell my wife enough how much I LOVE her and adore her just as she is. She hears it so seldom, that she actually thought these photoshopped images are what I wanted and needed her to look like. I have to do better, and for the rest of my days I am going to celebrate her in all her imperfectness. Thanks for the reminder." TRANSITION: Many of us could use that same reminder. It doesn t matter if we re talking about our relationship with our spouse, children, friends, or God. Relationships are about the journey. It s the good and hard times that make a relationship meaningful. The mountaintop views mean nothing without time in the valley. If you re a Christian, you re going to have moments when you feel close to God and moments you don t. There will be times of great passion with God and seasons of dryness. Part of believing the Gospel is trusting that God is present in your life even when it feels like He s not. We see it Psalm 42: 9 I say to God, my rock: Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? But then the author reminds himself, Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. CONCLUSION: My salvation, that s what the author calls God. It s telling the Bible speaks of salvation in the past, present, and future tense. There are times it says, you have been saved; other times it says, you are being saved; and finally times when it says, you will be saved. God s not confused. He s simply out to save all of you. When the Bible speaks of salvation in the past tense, it means as soon as you put your faith in Christ you are saved from the penalty of sin. 3 You no longer have to worry about God s wrath because He has already placed your penalty upon Jesus on the cross you have been saved (we call this justification). 3 Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5. 5

6 When the Bible talks about salvation in the present tense it means all throughout your life you are being saved from the power of sin. 4 God s forgiven you but, as you and I know, we still sin. God knows this too. Over time, by His grace, God is making you into a person who both desires and does good you are being saved (we call this sanctification). The future tense of salvation means one day you will be saved from the presence of sin. 5 Revelation 21 says God will wipe every tear from our eyes and there will be no more crying, or sickness, or sorrow, or pain you will be saved (we call this restoration). All three aspects of salvation past, present, and future make up what we call the Gospel. You see the Gospel isn t just for nonbelievers. All of us need the Gospel because life, even our spiritual life, is often a roller coaster. Full of ups and downs and twists and turns, unforeseen loops and dark corridors. And if you don t have the proper foundation, you won t make it. That s why Hebrews 6:19 says, 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19, NIV 11). Think of the Gospel as your anchor, that harness that keeps you safe through the roller coaster of life. Don t try to go through life without a harness as many people do. It doesn t work. And don t get out of the harness and try to rescue yourself like I did when I didn t think I would make it. Stick with Jesus and no matter what happens, God will see you through to the end. I m supposing many of us today need God to restore our soul in one way or another. Perhaps you had a strong faith at one time as a child and it s since wavered perhaps you have fully abandoned Jesus and need to repent and come back to him some of you have never accepted Christ and until you do you re without hope and with no anchor in the world. Perhaps you used to be a leader in the church but over time your soul became dry and you long for God s presence again. There are any number of reasons we need our soul restored. The beauty is that whatever the reason in every situation and in every season, God is there. Prayerà Hillsong s Desert Song (Brandy??) à Then All is Well (Bethel version) 4 1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:1-2; Philippians 2:12. 5 Romans 5:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Hebrews 10:35-39; 1 Peter 1:5. 6