We had the pleasure of attending the Top Hand Cowboy Church near Valley Mills today. This is the second time I have been to this church and I enjoyed it very much. Pastor Greg Moore is a great minister for this church. And today, my lovely bride took our little Granddaughter to Pastor Greg as he was dedicating some little children to the Lord, and Leah got her share of the blessing too.
The lesson was probably supposed to be about "training up your children in the way of the Lord, and when they are old, they will not stray." But somehow this sermon morphed into something else. Something to do with "real life," and that is that troubles are with us all our lives, even the most blessed people (which Christians are, if you think about it). But King David, in Psalm 13: 1 and verses following, was obviously having troubles:
1 How long,1 O LORD? Will you forget me2 forever? How long will you hide your face3 from me?
6">Job ; Ps 9:14 ; Isa 25:9 S33:2 6">Job
The lesson was probably supposed to be about "training up your children in the way of the Lord, and when they are old, they will not stray." But somehow this sermon morphed into something else. Something to do with "real life," and that is that troubles are with us all our lives, even the most blessed people (which Christians are, if you think about it). But King David, in Psalm 13: 1 and verses following, was obviously having troubles:
1 How long,1 O LORD? Will you forget me2 forever? How long will you hide your face3 from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts4 and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?5
6">Job ; Ps 9:14 ; Isa 25:9 S
6 I will sing14 to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
I have read this Psalm many times but there was something I had always missed, and Pastor Greg pointed it out today. He pointed out that David asked three times, "How long, oh Lord?!" King David, God's anointed king and chief over the Children of Israel, the man after God's own heart, felt alone, felt that God had abandoned him. Above all, he felt that God was not answering his prayers immediately.
But here is the most important part that I had missed, and Pastor Greg pointed it out so clearly. In the middle of King David's despair and loneliness, in his feeling of being ignored by God, of being alone in his troubles and while he was surrounded by his enemies, in the midst of this terrible situation, God did not answer David; at least it is not noted in this Psalm. But, instead of either feeling sorry for himself or cursing and yelling at God, what did David say?
In verse Five and Six, King David, who had not yet received an answer for God, said, "But I will trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.
King David knew we would not always have prosperity, peace, and rain in this world, but nevertheless he would always trust in God's unfailing love, because his heart could rejoice in his salvation no matter what the world or the Devil might have to offer, and whether or not David received an answer from God immediately.
I struggle with trying to understand why bad things happen to good people, and why Christians face the same trials, or maybe worse, than nonbelievers. There are really only three answers, as King David told us. Trust in God's unfailing love, rejoice in God's unfailing salvation, and sing praises to God, because he has been good to you.
It was a great service and a great lesson, and here it is in a nutshell. I hope these words offer a little encouragement to you even though we live in a crazy world where bad things happen, and even worse, bad things happen to good people. And I will say this again, trust in God's unfailing love, rejoice in God's unfailing salvation, and sing praises to God, because he has been good to you.
Amen, and God Bless America
No comments:
Post a Comment