Sermon Tone Analysis
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There are days when I am amazed that the discontentment that is found in my heart.
Recently, I was listening to a sermon where the individual made a point that if you are having family problems, it means that you have the blessing of having a family.
If you are having co-workers problems, it means you are blessed with have a job.
We have a tendency to become discontent with our current things in life; and often this happens without our recognizing it.
What is doubly amazing about this is that we readily recognize this discontentment in others, especially in our children.
Whether if it’s a matter of the toys at a party or the amount of candy they wished they would have gotten at trick or treating…this they complain about as they sort through hundreds of pieces of candy.
What is more sobering, than this kind of childishness, is the reality that God’s people can become people who refuse and become discontent with the offer of God.
In our lives, we often forget the blessing that it really is to have eternal life, to have the word of God, to have a church family…etc This discontentment becomes apparent by the choices we make.
Having eternal satisfaction in Christ, we decide to attempt to satisfy ourselves on the lusts of this life.
Having the word of God available to us, we decide to neglect it as if it is meaningless.
Having the treasure of a church family, we often are satisfied with superficial relationships with them.
This kind of refusal is what we enter in upon with the people of Judah.
The account before us can be broken up in three segments:
We find the refusal of the Lord
We find that Israel (both Judah and Samaria) had rejected the Lord and rejoiced outside of the Lord - This means that they had refused to trust in the Lord.
Within this segment we note a phrase - “the waters of Shiloah”.
At this time in Judah, this flowing waters that supplied liquid to the southeast part of Jerusalem.
Later under Hezekiah developed a complex aquaduct system, and in Jesus tells a blind man that had been healed to go and wash in this pool of Siloam.
The text points out that these waters flowed softly.
They were waters provided by God, and the name Shiloah means “sent” or “sending”.
God has already sent soft waters and provided for his people.
Instead of trusting the Providing One, they chose to trust in other sources; thus, the same Provider was going to bring strong rivers and overflow.
We find the judgment predicted by the Lord
God's judgment would come through Assyria against Israel/Syria and Judah, all the way to the neck of Jerusalem.
In addition, God's promise and power are shown by his ability to stop Assyria from taking the blessed city of God.
This segment closes with a reminder that ultimately God had given a sign, and that this was his land, and that in spite of the judgment against his own people, He was good on his word.
We find warnings from the Lord
First, there appears to be warning to Judah not to yoke up with these countries.
In addition, the far countries are warned not to involve themselves because God was with Judah.
What was the root problem?
The refusal of the Lord led to these impending judgments.
In addition, there were warnings; but what was the root issue?
At the heart of this is the fact that while God had provided for them, the people of Israel and Judah had consistently refused Him.
Speaking later in the history of Judah, the writer of II Chronicles says in
This passage along with others and our current text show to us how Judah was constantly prone to refuse the Lord and his provision.
While God had provided softly flowing waters, they did not and would not trust the Lord.
Rather they grew increasingly discontent and neglectful of the Lord’s provision and sought out other sources for their satisfaction.
(i) Judah failed to see who was really sovereign.
(ii) Judah, in the face of hardship, placed their trust in other means to overcome their enemies
The problem is not that they wanted victory over their enemies.
The problem is that they were placing their faith in the wrong place for this victory.
This is not at all uncommon to us today.
We tend to face trials with a tunnel vision, or maybe trials force us into somewhat of a tunnel vision.
Because of this we think temporally about what would ultimately overcome the immediate problem rather than turning upwards to trusting in the Lord.
Because of this we think temporally about what would ultimately overcome the immediate problem rather than turning upwards to trusting in the Lord.
When we encounter financial hardships, we try to find deliverance in another career
When we encounter marital hardships, we try to find deliverance in another partner
When we encounter identity hardships, we try to find deliverance in another social means
When we consider national hardships, we try to find deliverance in more policies/politicians
Principle:
Our trust should be in the Lord!
Our contentment should be found in the gentle waters that God has sent.
What has God provided that should call us to faith in Him?
(i) The Lord provided his word -
(ii) The Lord provided a sign -
(iii) The
Lastly, it should be noted that the overall context is one of trial/suffering.
Suffering can also be identified a the gentle rod of the Shepherd.
It is better to fall into the hands of our Father for chastening than to the hands of an enemy who seeks to destroy.
In summary, the people of God had become discontent with God.
They refused his word.
They refused to believe his sign, and though he was worthy of faith, they had rejected the Lord.
They had done this by trusting in other countries and other gods beside the Lord.
Application:
Again, we often see ourselves as so removed from these truths of the passage.
The fact is that we are sight-oriented, feelings-motivated, seekers of convenience.
Our flesh is easily stirred by sight.
Our bodies are often motivated by cravings and feelings.
Our decisions about how we spend our time are typically a matter of choosing what’s most convenient.
Because these things are necessarily true, we tend towards:
(a) a growing belief that the waters of the world can provide better for our children than the gentle Shepherd
This is the lie of the Serpent simply repackaged.
It is presupposing that God is withholding some good from us, and that God is not telling us the truth.
(b) a celebration of victories with a short-sighted view
Immediate deliverance from a current trial is not the primary end.
The primary end is the exaltation of God through the trial.
A short-sighted view will lead us to grasp for things that will overcome whatever the trial is and call us to faith in them rather than to faith in God's overarching purpose.
(c) a neglect of the word and a lack of faith in the promises of God
We withdraw ourselves and our children from private devotion and corporate devotion to the word of God and the God of the word.
The place where we can find our souls soothed with soft waters - we neglect.
(d) a neglect of the sign that the Lord has already fulfilled
For all: it is important to remember how the Lord fulfilled this sign of the child’s birth.
He fulfilled it by sending Jesus Christ:
* The living waters in Jesus Christ.
Christ is the Good Shepherd who came to gather His people.
* In the coming of this Shepherd, we note that He came to His own, and they received Him not.
He is the rejected One, who lived a life of faith - showing us what it means to be satisfied in the Father.
* This Shepherd came and gave His life, so that we would be confronted with yet another faith decision:
WILL WE ACCEPT THE GENTLE LIVING WATERS THAT HE OBTAINED by going through the TURBULENT WATERS OF GOD'S JUDGMENT?
Or, dare we think that there is something better?
Through Christ we are brought to lay down by the still waters.
WILL WE ACCEPT THE GENTLE LIVING WATERS THAT HE OBTAINED by going through the TURBULENT WATERS OF GOD'S JUDGMENT?
Or, dare we think that there is something better?
For Christians: it is not that we were not saved, but we forget that we were purified, and consequently we become short-sighted and unfruitful
It is then not that our Lord has not provided, but rather we have refused to give diligence to growth.
It is on this that I would tell you:
(1) It is better to personally rehearse and believe the gospel every day than to have a full bank account.
It is possible to be rich financially and bankrupt spiritually.
This is NOT profitable.
(2) It is better to scroll through the scriptures and have your soul calmed by them than to calm yourself by feeding your carnal appetites.
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