Crisis of Faith-Assurance of Hope

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Good morning church family. I hope everyone is doing well. We are continuing our Summer in the Psalms series today and we will be in Psalm 22.

For those of you that don’t know me my name is Mike Ragain. I have been a member of FBCRR for 21 years and have been attending Truett seminary for over half that time. In a few short days I will walk across the stage in Truett’s chapel and receive my Masters of Arts in Christian Ministry.

Some of you might know that I am essentially still in class this Summer just not at Truett. My class room is FBC and the many ministries that I have had the privilege to serve in and my professor is our very own Dr. Dustin Slaton.

Let me tell you a story about why I am delivering the sermon today. Well my Summer mentorship required me to write the syllabus for each week. I met with Dr. Slaton to go over it so he could help me in fine tuning it some.

After he had a chance to go over the syllabus with me he asked me “Do you want to preach a sermon this Summer?” Without hesitation I said “Yes”. Then I am thinking to myself did I just say yes? surely that wasn’t me. Let me tell you it wasn’t me it was the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Slaton said we are doing the Summer in the Psalms series and here are the Psalms you can chose from. Psalm 2, 22, 43, 68, 73, 116, 128 and 141. I prayed about them, read and listen to them over and over. and Psalm 22 was the only one I felt led to preach on.

Remember that I said my yes was the Holy Spirit and not me? Well God knew I was going to need this message because I was going to go through my own Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? moment. Praying through and preparing for this sermon a month before, honestly I believe saved me from a path of darkness that I would have gone down without it.

Open your Bibles to Psalm 22

Psalm 22:1–21 ESV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

Prayer

Point 1 When God seems absent, remember His faithfulness in the past.

Psalm 22:1–2 ESV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

David is feeling like God is silent, like he has been abandoned, and God is just absent right now. David isn’t just crying in the since of he is crying out in a whiny voice with tears streaming down his face. Lets read Psalm 22:1 again “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” This word groaning is שְׁאָגָה šeʾā·ḡā(h) in Hebrew. It means roaring, like a lion. David was screaming at God and not being quiet in his time of distress. Lets read on.

Psalm 22:3–5 ESV

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

“In You our fathers trusted”. David remembers the faith of his ancestors and how God delivered them from their distress.

Psalm 18:6 ESV

In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalm 34:17 ESV

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Point 2 Ever have the feeling you are unworthy, or less than others, God knows your worth.

Psalm 22:6–8 ESV

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Sometimes in a crisis of faith our first feelings are the world is coming down on us, making fun of us like we shouldn’t have feelings of sadness , depression, anxiety because we are Christians. During this time we can feel like the world notices us hurting and they find joy in our suffering.

But we can have hope in our suffering as scripture tells us, Jesus suffered our punishment on the cross and we know He He counted it as joy to suffer for us.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

and Psalm 22:9-11 says

Psalm 22:9–11 ESV

Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

Right feelings come when we focus beyond the suffering to our risen savior Jesus Christ. He sacrificed Himself on the cross so you and I can have a right relationship with our Father God, our Creator who has known us, cared for us and had a plan for us before we were even conceived.

Psalm 139:13–16 ESV

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Point 3 When your enemies are like a relentless storm,have faith we have a rescuer.

Psalm 22:12–18 “Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Have you ever felt the way David is feeling here? Listen to what David says; Psalm 22:15–16 “my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—” I have felt this way for the last month. Like the enemy is sitting on chest, suffocating me to the point I feel as if I don’t have enough energy to speak. But I trust in the Lord that He will rescue me from this valley of death.

Psalm 38:7–11 ESV

For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.

Read

Psalm 22:19–21 ESV

But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

In verse 21 he says “Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!” Hoshieni (הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי) is the Hebrew word here which means; "Save me!" or "Deliver me!" We can hear in this verse David is urgently pleading for God to rescue and deliver him. On the surface this looks like a final desperate plea but in reality it shows us that in fact the Lord has heard him. 21b states “You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!” Wild oxen were deadly, dangerous beast that could not be tamed and David says that God has rescued him from this beast. Meaning that all the evil doers that surrounded him with the intention of killing him are no longer a threat because God has rescued him.

We see verse 21 is a shift from certain death to everlasting life.

Praise Finale Now I have a story to tell a message to proclaim, God never wastes A Hurt.

Psalm 22:22–31 ESV

I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

Pray and close