The Hope of the World
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Scripture
Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?” 4 I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts. 5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God. 6 I[a] am deeply depressed; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your billows have swept over me. 8 The Lord will send his faithful love by day; his song will be with me in the night— a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” 10 My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” 11 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.
Context
In our second week of Advent, we are looking at Psalm 42. When reading this psalm from your bible, you probably noticed the titles or subtitle script at the beginning of it. These titles which are included in many of the psalms are additions that were made after the original writings for the sake of helping the reader understand the stylings and tone of the psalm. For example, this Psalm in my bible reads: Longing for God For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. Meaning that this was typically a musical piece for worship. The word Maskil itself means the giving of some kind of wisdom or lesson from a wise person, and the reading of this most likely helped the director understand the speed, volume, and style of the song. We also know from this subscript who the author is, as it is written by “The Sons of Korah” who themselves come from the lineage of Esau who was the brother of Jacob/Israel, and to read more about their lineage you can find it in Genesis Chapter 36. With that in mind, as this is a song, it helps a person to understand this Psalm much more, when it is heard in musical form and stylings.
In this song, we see and feel deep longings and a need for God. This is a deep longing and need that all of mankind has felt since what happened in last week’s text, at the fall of man into sin and their separation from God when they were cast out of the Garden for their own protection. In today’s text, we see not just a deep longing and need, but even so much as a depression and desperateness for God and His presence. This is a feeling that no doubt every person on earth, yourself included, will feel many times in your life. You will feel at the loss of a loved one (and feel that loss strengthen during the Holiday season), you will feel it when a job or means of financial stability goes away, warriors feel it when they see the battle going very badly, a child feels it when they have news (like a bad report card) that will disappoint their beloved parents. When you experience this or any kind of other desperate situation, what is that you are looking for? Hope. You look for Hope. We may look in vain in many times of places, sometimes even lying to ourselves or thinking that “this isn’t right, this must be wrong” or “this is a mistake or this must be some kind of joke or a just a dream.” The hope in these moments that you are longing for and the Psalmist is longing for is The Hope of the World, God Himself, Jesus Christ Himself, to come and make everything right. What i’m saying is that Your deepest longings and desires come from a need for God. Let’s see that work out in this psalm and jump in where From the text, I want you to see and have these actions towards your God, who is The Hope of the World.
Message
The first action you are to have towards God is a: Thirst for the living God 1-6
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me, “Where is your God?” 4 I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts. 5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God. 6 I[a] am deeply depressed; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
The Psalmists make themselves known quickly here. They thirst for something, they hunger for something, in the same way that a deer that has been running for miles thirst for a fresh flowing stream of cool water, that same desperate panting feeling, so I long for God. I need God so badly so desperately, how soon come I come before Him? Let me right now please! I’m begging. All i’ve known to sustain myself without God’s presence is my own tears all the day long, while others mock me and You Father. God, I used to know and feel your presence so closely and strongly, that I would lead the parade to the temple to worship with shouts of thanks and joy. Now, things are different, my soul feels cold, sad, alone, dejected, and separated from You. The Psalmist then asks himself, why my soul, my innermost self and being, why are you so down? You have a great Hope in your great God, who has always saved and will continue to save me forever more. In this moment of my depression that sinks me so low, I will remember God, looking to the mountains that mark the boundary of your given Holy land in which we dwell, as a reminder of who you are and what you have done and will do.
Last week, we talked about dust (defeat) as food, now this week we look at someone’s tears as food, the only thing you have. I’m sure at some point, every person in this room, and if not you will one day, has shed tears and sorrow so large and so strong that they fell into your mouth and their was nothing you could do about it as the salty sad secretion from your eyes overflowed so much and for so long that nothing other than continuing in that sorrow seemed appealing to you.
That is the situation the Psalmist was in. That is the seriousness of the situation and a proper response to your sin that you have that separates you from God. That longing that you feel to continue in that moment of sadness, is the same longing that you and all of mankind have felt from the moment we were separated from God in Genesis chapter 3. Your deepest longings and desires come from a need for God. Fortunately for us, oh happy day indeed,You have a great hope that you can rely on. This is the great Hope of all of mankind. A Hope that was to come for the Psalmist but has come today for you believer! A hope for all the world, A free Hope for everyone that would take it! A hope that came in the form of a tiny little child, a tiny child, that held the bigness and infinite almighty God. who humbled Himself in this way, so that you can have peace and forgiveness and the quenching life giving cool water you desire from your thirst for God. This child is Jesus, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born from Mary, and would one day die for you. Indeed, He was and is the Hope of the World.
The next action you are to have towards God is to: Trust in your redeemer 7-8
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your billows have swept over me. 8 The Lord will send his faithful love by day; his song will be with me in the night— a prayer to the God of my life.
The sons of Korah’s poetic words continue. Before, we were thinking of Longing for God as a thirsty person would think of a clean, clear, cool, flowing stream. Now, the water is something quite different. Now, it is even more desperate. Now a the situation is more like deep deep need. Like a deep waterfall in a deep lake suddenly coming over you. The longing and need for God is so deep in your heart and soul and it is like you are drowning in your sorrow and despair. Down and down you go, the breaking waves and billows of water go over your head, grasping for the surface, the power and might of your deep despair are so strong that you want to cry out, Help Me! Save Me! I can’t do this! Yet even so, your deliverer and savior is close at hand. God sends and will send His relief, the God of life is waiting but for you to ask, and will be with you to see you through the darkness and like a songbird, the song of His presence brings you great Joy. What is the Psalmist saying? My depression is so deep, I need Hope. I need the Hope all the world needs.
This level of despair is one that many are well aware of. In fact, one of the finest pastors of all time, Charles Spurgeon, who is often referred to as The Prince of Preachers was well acquainted with this kind of grief and depression. So much so, that a writer of one of his biographies wrote that, “"What he suffered in those times of darkness we may not know...even his desperate calling on God brought no relief. 'There are dungeons', he said, 'beneath the castles of despair.'" Even the most well known preacher of his time, perhaps ever besides Jesus, and this psalmist as well, knew sorrow that would cripple you.
Our God, Our Messiah, Our Savior, knew this kind of sorrow as well. The Bible describes Jesus in Isaiah 53 that , “He was despised and rejected[b] by men, a man of sorrows[c] and acquainted with[d] grief;[e]
and as one from whom men hide their faces[f] he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Yes, Jesus has known and knows your sorrow, your sadness, your despair, your grief. Let me encourage you, if you are in this kind of place, be it this Christmas season or any other time. Don’t keep it hidden. Let someone know and be plain and clear about it, so that you can receive help if you need it. At the same time, I urge you to trust in your redeemer God. Your deepest longings and desires come from a need for God. What you are needing is not something this world can give you. What you and everyone else needs is The Hope of the World, Jesus Christ the righteous. Trust in Him, put your hand in His hand, and He will see you through and show you something much better than you had imagined.
Another action you are to have towards God is to: Put your hope in God 9-11
9 I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” 10 My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” 11 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.
The Psalmist calls out to God, the rock, where are you, why have you forgotten me? Why must I be in continued sorrow and be oppressed and taunted by my enemies, who’s words mock you, say you are not real or true or reject you while trying to destroy me? If only I could get to you, I would ask, why have you forgotten me? In this teaching of wisdom, the psalmist then takes a step back, and asks himself, why are you like this? Why are you so dejected (meaning sad and depressed), why do you have so much unsettledness and despair? This can and will be overcome when you put your hope in God, so let us praise Him, our almighty savior and God and King.
Hope itself, has a strong meaning here, as it does anywhere. In the Hebrew, here it means that you are waiting for God, but not waiting as a hopeless person. Waiting as a person who is expecting something. That is, waiting and expecting to see God. This is the same kind of manner that we should approach our Bibles and come to our church service, expecting that God would show Himself and make Himself known to everyone who has their eyes, ears, hands, feet, heart, and mind open and ready to receive Him. And ultimately, we wait with hope till the day that Christ will return once again and give out the justice and the renewal that all the world has long been waiting for.
Brothers and sisters, do you have that kind of hope in God? I mean really? Do you wait for Him expectantly, or are you like I oft am, willing and wanting to take things into your own hands to “get it done?” You approach God, in whatever way it may be, do you expect that He would show Himself to you? I can remember as a young child, before I was school aged, waiting with hope that my dad would come home from work. Even at that age, even though I couldn’t communicate well, or even read a clock, I knew when he would come (sometime around 5:30pm) and I knew where to be watching to see him as quickly as possible (the front door). Do you hope for God in this way? In the way that a child waits for mom or dad to get home. For some of us, maybe one day that parent didn’t come home when they were supposed to, either be that they never came back, or more likely they ran into traffic or weather. But that let down to His children, is not something that our eternal God is able to do. He is perfect, He will always appear and come to those who seek and desire Him. So, put your hope in God, who cannot let you down. Don’t rely on everything else that lies to you, Your deepest longings and desires come from a need for God, not other things. So, put your expectation of Hope and trust in the Hope that the whole world has. Put your hope in God.
Conclusion
Beloved, I want to do something a little different today. Instead of a typical conclusion, I want us to listen to this psalm being sung. If while it is on, you feel the need to come forward to the alter, it is open to you. Come on down and put your hope in Jesus, The Hope of the world.
With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.
With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.
