Ever Present God

Psalm 42:1-3;43

Psalm 42:1–3 NKJV

As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”

Psalm 43

Psalm 43 NKJV

Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

Introductory Statements

I love the Psalms they appeal to the whole person; they demand a total response. The Psalms inform our intellect, they arouse our emotions, they direct our wills and stimulate our imaginations.

When we read the Psalms with faith, we come away changed and not simply informed

If I were to ask, what are some of the Psalms that have ministered to your life, i guarantee most have more than two or three.

You want to strenghthen your prayer life? Read psalms. Talk about Johan.

As one reads through these Psalms it is evident that David, a man after Gods own Heart, is experiacing a heaviness, experiancing Fear, Uncertaintinty and we can sense a feeling of despondency.

So, if today Or you ever identify with David, I just want to remind you that we are not with out hope, nor are we defenseless, we have an EVER PRESENT GOD…and He’s on our side.

Pray

Introduction

Lets start off by saying that as we journey through life, it will not always be roses. Jesus once said “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have over come the world.

I understand Jesus was and is God manifested in the flesh when he uttered theses words.

But he also had feelings and emotions, and if He conquered and made it through that means He has enough faith in us to do the same.

When David wrote these Psalms, He was hurting, afraid, His heart was heavy. Has anyone ever felt this way?

Has anyone ever felt that your running from something painful or freighting? I believe we all have.

Like ive stated before, we are not defensless, or without Hope we can always do something about it. And that’s what I’d like to address today.

First we must understand.....

First we must understand that though you might feel like God is not there you have an ever Present God, willing to help!!!

Psalmist David several times in these psalms expresses the notion that God was somehow not there. Almost felt like he had been abandoned.

God is real no matter how we may feel.

There will be times in our walk with God that He will set aside periods of seeming separation, this is simply to mature our relationship.

A relationship based on emotions is very superficial.

It’s been during some of the most difficult times in my life that I've learned more about God.

We must understand we’re just headed to a deeper degree of maturity.

In our text, God did not really leave David and He will also not leave you. He promised he’d never leave us nor forsake us.

We Just need to express to God what we feel, we need to learn to pour our heart out before Him.

Job 7:11 ““Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

Dont be silent, feeling bitter, angry, God can take care of your doubts, anger, pain, confusion, and questions.

Acknowledging our hopelessness is also faith.....

We dont have to pray eloquently to get his attention, we just need to be sincere. Sincere about how we feel.

We just need to focus on His Unchanging nature.

Never forget, He love us, He is with us, He knows whats happening to us, He cares about us, and He has a plan for our lives.

Malachi 3:6 ““For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

If he’s ever been a healer, He’s still a healer, deliverer, way maker

He's still the truth, way and life.

He's still love.

If He's ever done it once for you, He can do it again. If hes ever restore you he can do it again.

God is no respecter of persons and if you know of an miracle he's done for someone and you'd like it He can do it for you aswell.

Job 19:25-26 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,”

Like job we must learn to declare this, when the voices around us are speaking the contrary begin to to lift your voice.

Psalm 43 Be Strong in the Lord

Psalm 43: 1-2 “Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

1. Sure he followed this statement with worry and doubt. How ever before complaining he recognizes that He needed His devine strength. How many times have we grumbled without seeing the power we already have.. The Power Hes already given us…if you need the strength you can receive it today.

Romans 5:6 “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

Is there anybody thankful for that??? When you had no strength God came in to your life and gave you the power in which to over come.

Folks we dont have to do this on our own.

2. You Shall recieve power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you....

a. Through the power of the Spirit of God we have the strength to overcome, all we need to do is learn to be led of the Holy Ghost. Rely on the Holy Ghost.

b. Paul said “ for I know nothing good deals in me, that is, in my flesh”

if your trying to get the victory by sheer will power you can do it till a certain extent, but there is no amount of self dicipline that can help us overcome sin.

The only way to over come it is by putting it to die through repentance and submitting to God. Relying on His strength.

Psalm 43:3 Stay in Gods Word.

David Goes on to say .....Psalm 43:3 “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.”

David yearned for Gods word.

Being in a place of brokeness unites the often-petty issues in our heart, lowing us to recieve the word of God openly.

Turning to the word of God is the most important thing we can do in a tough situation. Simply reading or hearing the word enlightens us and empowers us.

Faith come th by Hearing.... this is why we cannot afford to neglect the word, nor the preached word of God. It builds our faith.

Like a light house, Gods word guides us to shore. It cuts through the fog of discouragement, it sheds light in the darkest of places.

Is there anyone thankful for the word of God?

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

This is a dark world but aren't you glad you've got a lamp. We just need to learn to use it.

The Psalmist is seeking to come into the presance of God, He's longing to touch Him.

Psalm 43:4 Keep Praising God

As synonymous with David's entire life, He cant help but worship God in His time of need… He said “ I will go to the altar of God…And upon the lyre I shall praise you, O God, my God.

This is powerful, nowhere to go, in the midst of calamity and dispair, he musters up the heart of worship.

when things are going well in our lives it is easy to worship and praise the Lord. when He has provided us with food, health, friends, family, health and Joy.

How about when things are not going so well, will we maintain a heart of worship and an attitude of praise?

The deepest adoration is to praise God despite the pain, thank God during a trial, trust Him during temptation.

There are several reasons why praise and worship is so vital to us and there are so many rewards to true worship. In fact God is looking for worshipers....that'll worship Him in Spirit and in Truth...

When we being to praise Him he comes in our midst. In habits, enthrones….

He overshadows us with His Glory.

He blesses us with peace.

Joy can be imparted during praise and worship.

His Spirit begins to manifest, we know Hes everywhere present but does not manifest everywhere. But when we begin to worship.......

Worship Brings victory

Joshua 6:20 “So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

2 Chronicles 20:20-21 “So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”” A whole army was driven because of praise.

Acts 16:25-26 “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”

Praise and worship is where you can exchange a spirit of heaviness for agarment of praise. When your going through it, I Challange you, come take that heaviness off and-robe yourself with praise and see if your situation wont change.

Why carry the heaviness when it can be lifted by handing it over to God in praise and Worship.

Psalm 42:5; 43: 5 Stay Hopeful In God

Psalm 42:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.”

Psalm 43:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”

1. Finally, when the going gets rough, whenever where experiancing pain, anguish, fear, confusion and dispondancy we must maintain our Hope in God.

Finally, David hopes again. He said, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God.”

important to keep our Hope in Him and not on us or things.

Psalm 33:16–17 NKJV

No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship.

Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water.The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned.

The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over twenty-four hours.

Why?

Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope.

Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them.

If mindless rodents can be sustained by such hope, how much more would this be true for us?

If we remember that help is coming, we can swim a little longer, we can hope a little more.

Never forget that as soon as you lift your voice unto God in faith help is on its way....

Like David we must talk to ourselves, encourage ourselves in the Lord… Hey Ariel your going to make it, some way some how things will work themselves out.

Dont cave into the lies of the enemy… He's a merachant of lies, Hed like to convince you that there is no hope for you. He had me convinced for a while until I turned to Christ. Árbol torcido jamas se endereza.

Conclusion

Life can lead us into caves of pain and distress. Life gets heavy. But if you can cry out to God, like David did, He will come to your rescue.

Does it mean your situation won’t hurt anymore? Does it mean that all your problems will be wiped away? Maybe not, but maybe Yes!

What will be evident is the hand of God, pulling you through each step and changing the lenses on your life--so that you can see him more clearly.

Would Someone like to come to the altar and pray.

Maybe you've bee dealing with fear, distress, heaviness, anger.

Sometimes its the devil attacking us, other times it's just every day life, an you'd like prayer, these altars are open. Need deliverance, restoration it is here.

There are things you'd like to get the victory over, it can happen today.... “we have faith for the past and the future but how about now..”