I Cry And You Do Not Answer!
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Just listen to each of these cries to God.
Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.
To You, O Lord, I call; My rock, do not be deaf to me, For if You are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit.
I’ve been crying out this way lately especially in light of the past week’s revelations about Gary’s status.
I go through James 4 when I pray.
...You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
I evaluate my motives and cry out:
Hear a just cause, O Lord, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.
I then plead with God to hear and grant my request on behalf of Gary and the family.
And then I hear the official news:
Weeks to live.
Or with every 2-3 day of transfusions, short months to live.
Medically speaking, there is nothing more to do and no prognosis of anything improving.
And I think, it’s possible that this is the last Sunday that I get to worship with Gary on this side of Heaven.
And my heart breaks and now, I cry out:
O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest.
Now, I fully admit this is an emotional response based on my feelings at the moment.
But feelings are real and we have to learn how to deal with them appropriately and biblically.
So in moments like these this Scripture always comes to mind.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
So, I stop and go back to what I know to be true so I can take my emotional feelings and thoughts and bring them into submission to God’s truth.
Remember Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
This applies just as much in these situations as it did to the Pharisees that He was debating with in John 8.
Many times I turn to the Psalms for comfort and specific ones bring more comfort than others.
Sometimes I go back and look at past sermons I’ve preached and preach it to myself.
This is one such time both occurred. I preached a message in October of 2022 not long after I got here. And today I’m going to re-preach it, with some modifications, for you and to me.
At the end of the message, I have gotten Gary’s permission to have him come forward for prayer, but this will be a prayer offered from all of us on behalf of Gary and the family.
Read Psalm 77
Hopeful Exasperation (vs. 1-2)
Hopeful Exasperation (vs. 1-2)
Asaph was describing how he felt when he was pleading with God.
In spite of the angst of his circumstances and the feeling that God was not hearing him, he still showed faith through the hopeful declarations that in the end God would in fact answer.
vs 2 - Faith - In The Day Of Trouble … I Seek The Lord.
Trouble - A situation of a time of extreme discomfort.
Seek - Studying and inquiring of God.
Instead of running from God, I run to Him.
Instead of trying to figure it out on my own, I inquire of Him.
I go to Him because He is the only one that has the answers I seek.
He is the only one that can act and do something in this situation.
Men have failed, medicine has failed, and my heart is failing within me.
Also a Psalm of Asaph:
Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
vs 1 - Hope - I Cry Aloud To God … He Will Hear Me.
Not in a demanding tone, but one of confidence.
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Some translate this as boldness, but it means freedom or frankness in speaking.
Being open with what one is thinking and feeling.
Laying bare my heart before the King of Kings.
We have nothing of which to be ashamed or to be afraid when we come to God with our request.
And what are we crying out for?
Mercy and grace.
God have mercy on Gary and Lu and his condition.
God give him and Lu the grace to handle it all.
The Angst (vs. 3-9)
The Angst (vs. 3-9)
The more I think about God the worse it gets.
I sigh and complain and my spirit grows faint.
You keep me up at night as I ponder days gone by
And I’m so troubled by it all, I have no words to describe it.
What is he pondering? The Questions In The Night
1) Will the Lord spurn/reject forever?
You say God is there, but it sure feels like He’s abandoned me.
2) Will he never be favorable again?
You say God is good, but I sure am not seeing much good right now.
3) Has God’s steadfast lovingkindness ceased forever?
You say God is love, where is His love, all I have is disappointment.
4) Has God’s promises come to an end forever?
You say to trust Him, but how can I trust when all I feel like I’ve experienced is broken promises?
5) Has God forgotten to be gracious?
You say God is a gracious God, but all I see is pain and suffering.
6) Has God in anger withdrawn his compassion?
God must be mad at me since He has withdrawn his compassion from me.
The Solution (vs. 10-15)
The Solution (vs. 10-15)
The Key is Fourfold. (vs 10)
I Will Appeal to the Most High - Elyon
The Creator and Protector of creation.
You created me in Your Image.
I am Your child.
You care for me and protect and provide for me.
I Will Appeal to the Right Hand
The right hand – the power, control, and decrees of God.
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
I Will Appeal To The Years
I will remember how the right hand of God has sustained in the past.
And this is not just about what He has done for me personally in my life, but the appeal in context, is to Israel’s history, but in application to us, it’s all of God’s dealing throughout all of history.
He’s calling upon the past record of God’s dealing with His people as testimony against His present feelings and doubts.
Then He adds the name of the Lord - Yah, short for Yahweh. (vs 11)
I Am that I Am. Dynamically present.
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
The declaration of The Name:
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
By these four truths about God, this knowledge of God refutes all the questions in the night he had been wrestling with.
In Appealing To The Years, What Is He Remembering?
I Will Remember The Deeds Of The Lord and His Strength And Power (vs 11)
God’s wonders – powerful, unusual, extraordinary and applies to God’s deliverance of His people – these things become the focal point of people’s worship of God.
God’s works – performing an activity with a distinct purpose, a perfect and complete work.
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
God’s ways – holy: above, separate, better, special, sacred
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
These verses combine those three thoughts together.
“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
He Remembers God’s Redemption (vs 15-20)
Specifically bringing Israel out of Egypt
Your way was through the sea. (vs 19)
The enemy pursuing behind
A barrier blocking ahead
But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”
God has been fighting for you and He will keep fighting for you.
Why Is God Not Answering?
Why Is God Not Answering?
I might cry out that God is not answering, but Psalm 77 brings out 4 reasons why we don’t think He’s answering.
We Are Focusing On Ourselves And Our Problems Rather Than Focusing On Him (vs 1-9)
There’s a well-known saying from the past:
Believer’s Bible Commentary Psalm 77: The Cure for Introspection
Occupation with self brings distress;
Occupation with others brings discouragement;
Occupation with Christ brings delight
Sometimes God’s Answers Are Seen In Hindsight. (vs 10-15)
Why was the psalmist able to write this psalm?
Because he had wrestled through it and come to the conclusions he did.
Sometimes God’s Ways Are Hidden To Us In The Moment. (vs 16-19)
His footprints were not seen.
Also translated unknown.
Just because we aren’t seeing the answer doesn’t mean He’s not answering.
Sometimes it looks like natural phenomena - thunderstorms (vs 16-18) - but it’s actually God moving.
We may not perceive God moving.
But He is.
God is making some kind of way for you, it just might not be the way we thought.
Sometimes The Answer Is In The Difficult And Seemingly Impossible Way. (vs 19)
We want the easy way, the easy answer, the pleasing outcome.
But sometimes the answer is through the sea.
Sometimes the answer is bearing the cross.
The End Result?
The End Result?
Peace (vs 20): Led by our Good Shepherd safely through the valley of the shadow of death.
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Praise (vs 13): “What God Is So Great As Our God?”
Closing:
So even though I don’t feel like God is answering my prayer, I know He is. I don’t know what the outcome of that prayer is yet, but whatever happens will be what is best and right.
I may complain that God is not doing something, but He is, I just can’t perceive it, yet.
And in spite of the medical news, and with full knowledge of the constraints on the effective prayer of faith in James 5, I will still ask for God to heal Gary, physically, knowing He can, and hoping He will, while trusting in His perfect plan.
Have Gary Come Forward:
Ok Lord, I’m asking very specifically, once again. Please spare Gary’s life and allow Him to stay with us a little longer. You are all-powerful and our Great Physician, come and heal Gary of his leukemia. Remove that cancer out of his system. I know by faith, by the testimony of Your Word, and by the testimony of others you have healed, that you can do so.
I appeal to your mercy on behalf of Lu and the family to bring this suffering to an end.
Father, reveal to me if my heart is wrong. I don’t believe it is and I don’t think I ask this from wrong motives.
And my heart hurts over the pain and grief that this is causing the family and others.
Even keeping in mind the truths I believe about the contextual constraints on all of this that You have me preaching on, I still pray the wish of faith, “If You are willing, would You please restore Gary back to health?”
I know Your ways are higher than mine, and Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I know You never change even if how you handle your creation changes on a case by case scenario.
So, in the end I will trust Your perfect will and Your perfect outcome in this situation.
Please hear my cry and grant my request.
In the precious and mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
You’ve Already Won
