He is Faithful

Back in January, we invited everyone to join us in claiming a word for this year. Our desire is to develop a posture of reverence as the church.

Reverence: “A deep respect for God that inspires a profound awe in us, as we then aim to rightly worship Him.”

As His children, our desire is to walk in right relationship with Him;

How we think about Him - studying the word

How we interact with Him - posture of reverence

How we respond to the Leading of the Holy Spirit

Not only did we choose to claim this word “Reverence,” but we also chose to claim Hebrews 12:28-29 as our verse for this year. We claim the verse in addition to the word because we know that without God’s word, we will lack ability to truly embrace a reverent posture before the Lord. Without the word of God - the word reverence is useless. The word of God is living and active and when treated rightly, will lead us to a place of reverence before Him.

Hebrews 12:28–29 “28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.”

FF Bruce - “True and acceptable worship must always be marked by a recognition of God’s majesty and holiness.

In order to help everyone keep this idea of reverence before the Lord and as a reminder to memorize Hebrews 12, we made some bookmarks and 4x6 cards that you can get from the welcome center. We all get distracted, we all forget from time to time, so we just wanted to provide something as a reminder to continually come before the Lord in Reverence.

Speaking of which, today we are starting a 2-week series on Reverent Worship. As the church, Easter is the most significant day of the year. So we aim to prepare ourselves for both the weight and celebration of that weekend. Not only do we want our hearts and minds prepared, but we want to set aside some time to ensure that our souls are ready to receive everything the Lord has for us at Easter. So we go for broke, by intentionally preparing ourselves now.

Lets pray as we prepare to receive what the Lord has for us today in Psalm 94.

Psalm 94:1–7“1 O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! 3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? 4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. 5 They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. 6 They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; 7 and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

We learn from these first verses of the Psalm, that this is a Psalm of lament. Here at Grace, we are not shy about lament. We purposefully lean into practices of lament as the world throws calamity, grief, sorrow, and loss at us. We lament these pains to broaden our understanding of God’s eternal plan. Biblical lament causes us to take the darkest trials of life before the throne of God which is also the throne of grace. One of God’s many grace’s to us, is that we know how the journey ends. Before His throne, we are reminded that though we endure significant trials that are beyond are ability to internalize, it is only a small piece of a much larger picture.

Our author is not lost to this larger picture. From the first line, he has perspective of eternal reality. He says,

“O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!

He rightly identify’s the Lord as the God of vengence. Now we have to be careful how we think of vengeance. For many of us, we think about it through a human lens. That in our passionate anger we seek to satisfy a vindictive spirit within us. But that is not the type of vengeance that is true of God. When we are talking about God’s vengeance on evil, we are talking about His perfect justice. That because He is perfect in justice, God cannot allow for wicked acts to go unpunished. Meaning, it is not out of a vindictive spirit, but rather out of a true and fitting consequence of sinfulness.

So our author, is not getting lost in his anger or frustration about the reality of deep pain in his life, but approaches God by accurately claiming a truthful reality, which helps him to see the bigger picture.

2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! 3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?

He now calls on God, to act. He says Lord you are the righteous judge, you are the one with final say and authority, you are the all powerful, eternal God who will fairly judge the world. How long until your promise is fulfilled? How long before you respond in judgement which will ultimately lift the burden of your children?

This is very common in Psalms of lament. This question of “how long must we endure evil?”

It is a great question to bring before the Lord, especially when it comes from the depths of your soul, because what you are doing is identifying with the Lord, the weight of our depravity and the depths of wickedness. Its a small snapshot to how the Lord looks at all of our sin.

He now begins listing, some of the specific ways that God’s people are experiencing suffering.

4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. 5 They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. 6 They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; 7 and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

Among God’s people there is no sense of safety, just the pain of their violence, the grief of loss, and the appalling reaction to their words about the Lord and their attacks on the helpless.

I want to recognize that perhaps there are some here today who feel this weight.

some who feel no sense of safety because of recent events revealing their helplessness.

Some who are at a loss, as they are struck with grief.

Some who perceive the significance of evil in their close relationships.

This can be a very difficult and challenging place to be, because:

1. You may feel as though God can’t hear you. Like there is something separating you and God - there is no sense of peace or His presence.

2. You may feel as though God has pushed you into the depths of the water without a life jacket or anything to keep you afloat.

3. You may be left wondering how long you can endure this pain.

On behalf of each other, can we cry out for those who are struggling today? Can we come before the Lord, right now, together as a family and ask for God to move among those who may be struggling. Lets pray together:

How long oh Lord, will you permit wickedness and evil to have their stay?

Lord we lift up to you those who are hurting. We pray for renewal, for strength and for healing.

Lord we commit to you those who feel helpless and alone. We pray for connection with others. We pray for opportunity’s for those who are strong to come alongside those who are week. We pray for protection and your calming peace.

Lord, we pray for those who have seen, who have felt the weight of wickedness. Those who are appalled at the depths of sin. Lord we pray that you would move, that you would have your way where it appears to us that Satan is having his.

Lord, we pray that you would win the day.

There may be some of you who have wondered why, in a series on reverence are we in Psalm 94? Why are we talking about lament?

Because we can’t truly appreciate the power and holiness of God unless we have evaluated the significance of what He has already defeated.

If we are to know the greatness and goodness of God, we must also consider the despair of our broken world.

Though we struggle through the painful realities of life, its Psalms like these that help us to be grateful. That as believers, here in the US, we are not experiencing the same type of atrocities as our Psalmist or as many other believers around the world. There is no way to empirically prove it, but there is evidence that would seem to indicate that in the 20th century, there were more Christians martyred for their faith then in all of history. We do not know what persecution for our faith is here. But we do pray for those who experience it.

That’s not to say that we don’t have struggles that we don’t have true feelings of loss and some type of separation from God because of the weight of the pain that is in our lives, we experience those things. But lets be careful not to claim this Psalm as our experience, because this Psalmist is coming from the perspective of what it is like to be hunted.

Regardless of the pain and suffering, we pray that God will win the day. One of the beautiful realities about praying for God to win the day, is that we know He will. So does our Psalmist;

Psalm 94:8–11 “8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? 9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge— 11 the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.”

The author is now openly asks rhetorical questions in light of His knowledge of God. In other words, it would take a fool to believe that you can continue in your sin because God doesn’t see it. Doesn’t know about it. That you have somehow broke through and have learned how to get away with just about anything.

The creator of the heavens see’s, He knows, not just what you have done but your very thoughts. There is nothing you can hide from God. He knows your thoughts, your motivations, your darkest realities. Not only does He know them, but unless you surrender them to Him and come in harmony with His ways, your life will be nothing but a breath.

But for those who turn and surrender to God, they will be forgiven.

Psalm 94:12–15 “12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, 13 to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; 15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.”

This is where everything flips. These verses aim to embrace the bigger picture of eternity and God’s promise to protect and be with His people. These words should be encouraging to us as we recognize that Satan’s time is limited. Depravity, wickedness, pain, suffering, it will all come to an end one day and those who have made Jesus Lord will walk in His glory for eternity.

We don’t often associate blessing with discipline. Typically, in our minds, discipline is a consequence of our actions. But here, we learn that when we experience the discipline of God it is a blessing. That it will give depth to your soul, it will develop character in you that is lacking, it will keep you rightly dependent on God.

- The Hebrew word for “blessed” here is “As-re,” it is defined as a “person who enjoys good fortune, or even has an enviable status.” Beyond that, this word is never used to describe God; but rather is used to describe people who personally interact with God’s favor.

How good is the discipline of the Lord, that He can take our pain, lift our sorrow, heal our brokenness, restore our depravity. Not only does He do this work in us, but as we go through pain and hardship He uses it as a work of renewing grace. You see, so often it is in our most vulnerable moments that the Lord is most powerfully at work in us.

According to our Psalmist, it is this “blessed” person who receives teaching from God’s law, who will experience rest, and will receive God’s justice.

Marvin E. Tate makes this conclusion, “Thus the As-re person is one who has God-given happiness; bestowed through a positive and trusting response to the discipline and instruction of God.” It’s when we learn to confidently, joyfully, trustingly respond to God’s discipline or instruction.

So often, God’s blessings come in the form of promises. In this section, we see three promises for the Lord:

God never deserts His people

Proud evildoers will eventually be rightly judged. They will not continually evade consequences for their actions.

Justice will turn to favor the righteous

Its these realities of God’s character that allow our confidence and trust in Him to soar, even in facing great difficulty.

Psalm 94:16–23 “16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? 17 If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 18 When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. 20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? 21 They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. 23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.”

In this section, the Psalmist changes gears. He is now writing in reflection to the situation as a whole, whereas up to this point the writing was in the present tense. Meaning, that he now reflects with clarity and understanding as to how the Lord would deliver. But it would serve us well to remember that in the moment, in the thick of the tension, he didn’t know. He knew that God is faithful, but he still faced the weight of the challenge in having to trust that the Lord would provide.

In other words, what is true of the Psalmist is true of us. We are not God, we do not know how God will protect, bring comfort, or intervene. What we know is that we have to trust the Lord because He is faithful, so we take one step at a time in surrender to the Holy Spirit’s lead in our life.

secondly, it is important for us to reflect on seasons of struggle and seasons of seeing God do mighty works. Because it is when we look back at what has taken place that we realize how much went our way that was out of our control - we recognize the hand of God.

In verse 17, he recognizes in His help from the Lord. Had the Lord not helped me, I would not be here. I would have died, I would have been silenced, it is by his helping hand that I am here.

When I thought, My foot slips (in other words, when I thought I was coming to me end, when I faced great peril and there was not a move I could make) - your love holds me

When the anxiety and panic was settling in, as I watched the wicked prevail, it was you who consoled me and brought lift to my soul.

The wicked threatened and pursued my very life - but the Lord has become my stronghold, my refuge.

The attitude of the Psalmist has shifted to a place of great confidence and joy. He has felt the comfort of God, He has seen His mighty hand at work, He has felt the Lords Spirit settle the turmoil in His soul. He has witnessed the Lord do what only the Lord can do.

Notice in verses 22-23 his sense of security is ongoing. The Lord has become my refuge - implying that this is an ongoing place where He can seek safety. Beyond that, He is confident that the Lord will continue to act against those who have caused such harm. Those who will not bend their knee to the Lord as their God, they will be dealt with as the Lord pursues after them.

As we study this Psalm, we must recognize that in our lives we will see the catastrophic affects of sin. We will grieve, we will feel helpless, we will get anxious, we will experience all kinds of difficulties because of the affects of sin on this world. But we can have a great deal of trust and confidence in the Lord. We can come to Him at any moment, again and again as needed. And we need Him in every moment. - We can ask for comfort, we can ask for lift in our souls, we can ask for protection, we can ask for His joy. Not only can we come to God with any concern but we know from His word that He loves it when we come. He loves it when we choose to acknowledge our inability and trust His total ability.

God is not far off, He is not vindictive. He is loving and desires for us to come into His presence in each and every moment that we live. It is His joy to bring protection, it is His joy to instill greater confidence, it is His joy to meaningfully engage with us in each moment, whether we are in times of struggle or times of great joy, the Lord’s desire is that we would live each moment before His throne.

Now, I know this all sounds wonderful and beautiful, this idea that we serve a God who wants to see us flourish before Him. But when we are in the thick of it.... Its hard to trust. Its hard to have such confidence. I am not going to pretend that everything will always be okay.

In fact, Lament has a way of drawing attention to the horrible pains and struggles of the world that shouldn’t be tolerated. Lament is a place for us to offer our confusion and ask the hard questions of life that are out of sight, that are simply beyond us?

The Lament poems of the Bible, remind us that there is a sacred dignity to human suffering. The beautiful truth about lament is we have a God who is big enough to understand that we need to Lament, He can take it, He can handle it - our open, honest, direct wrestling with what has happened.

So what do we do when we are down in the dumps, when we have been hit hard by life. First, I would encourage you to learn to lament before God. There is no way to know how long or how significant a time of suffering will be. So find strength and courage before God’s throne.

Secondly, in his book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Mark Vroegop says it this way “Hope springs from Truth Rehearsed.”

That has been so true of my life. I have to rehearse the truth and promises of God. I have to focus on His great love, His great sacrifice for me. I have to remind myself again and again that I have not always been faithful to Him, but he has always been faithful to me.

It may not bring abundant joy in the moment, but there will be a day when I look back and say, “Wow! Look what God did!”

With that in mind, we are only two weeks from Easter. We are in what should be a season of reflection for all of God’s people. Where we are intentional about being reflective, to the coming of Jesus, the weight of His suffering, and the gift that He provided to each of us in dying on the cross. Today, we are talking about some of the hardships and struggles of life and how God is still faithful. In a matter of days, we will be purposely reflecting on a far more severe situation. Where God Himself, stepped out of heaven and into the world. He chose to be beaten, to suffer unbearable pain, He chose to take all the weight of sin for all time and placed it on Himself. He did that for us, because He is loving and He is faithful.

Lets be preparing ourselves to look back and say “Look what God did!”