NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO DESPAIR

Well, maybe these words don’t resonate with some of you all today because you don’t think you come far enough yet. let me assure you today that if you are still alive and breathing, you have already come a long way. And might I add that you can’t turn around even if you wanted to. Tyrone Davis contemplated it in his tune “If I could turn back the hands of time”; the Rev. Dr. E.V. told the story of a comic strip showing a chicken egg going through the hatching process; as the newborn chicken stuck his head out of shell and saw all of the chaos in the world and his possible end on someone’s dinner table, he ducked back inside the shell covering himself with the upper part of the shell. The caption read you can’t go back little chicken.

Real Fears

That is kind of like this psalm today; it does not tell us who wrote it, but it does tell us that they are old or aging. Cognizant of diminished energies, nearness to death, and feeling abandoned, this seasoned senior saint is still determined to declare his confident trust, hope, and praise in God. The words praise, praising, or praises appear eight times and there are thirteen references to giving testimony to faith in God. While his fears are real, the psalmist meets them by hiding in God as refuge (v. 1), calling upon God for rescue (v. 4), relying on God’s righteousness (v. 2), and pleading with God to draw near (v. 12; White: 109).

Waltner, J. H. (2006). Psalms (p. 345). Scottdale, PA; Waterloo, ON: Herald Press.

I want to suggest that we too, like the psalmist are facing some real fears: diminished energies, financial instability, mental stress, nearness to death, and yes even feeling abandoned in this present crisis. But, when remember “What a friend we have in Jesus we can meet those fears by:

Hiding in God as refuge(v. 1)

I know that there are those who feel as if they invincible and ain’t scared of nothing and nobody; but even they have to hide sometimes. You see every Pharoah must encounter a Moses and every Jericho must meet its Joshua, and Every Samson will fall to a Delilah, and every Sannacherib will run up against his personal Jehosaphat. Wait a minute, y’all ain’t getting it: Even Superman has to hide from krytonite - what I’m saying is that ain’t nobody that bad where you won’t need to hide sometimes.

The psalmist recognizes his inability to handle his fear on his own and so he goes where he knows he will be safe. He goes where he has gone before and weathered the storm...He says “In you, Oh Lord, I have taken refuge. The NLT says it like this “

O LORD, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced.

if aging does anything at all, it ought to teach us that we can meet our fears by hiding in God as our refuge.

Relying on God’s righteousness (v. 2)

If anyone is under the impression that they can meet their fears of aging, diminishing energies, nearness of death, and feelings of abandonment on their own righteousness is seriously mistaken. Check out this illustration of what self righteousness looks like.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 5612 Rolls-Royce Reasoning

Driving his new Rolls-Royce through the Alps, an Englishman had his composure jolted when a front spring broke as he was making a tight curve at high speed. After limping into the nearest Swiss town, he explained his problem by phone to Rolls-Royce, Ltd., in England. The next day a company representative appeared, replaced the spring, and the Englishman purred on his way.

Back in England, realizing that no bill had come through from Rolls, he called to ask them to check their records for “Swiss repair of broken spring.” A few minutes later, a most correct Rolls manager was on the phone. “There must be some mistake, sir. There is no such thing as a broken spring on a Rolls-Royce.”

—Tide

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 5620 Epigram on Self-Righteousness

I always like to hear a man talk about himself, because then I never hear anything but good.

—Will Rogers

But, The Lord has already settled that for us: See Isaiah 64:6

Isaiah 64:6 NASB95

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

I thought we already knew! See Rom 3:10-12

Romans 3:10–12 NASB95

as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

Jesus Christ is our righteousness and we stand complete in Him. in Jesus deliver us, rescue us, hear us, and save us. Is there anybody relying on God’s righteousness this hour? I’m trying to bless somebody today and tell you that you can meet your fears by relying on God’s righteousness.

and then, beloved, we can meet our fears by...

Calling upon God for rescue (v. 4)

People don’t usually call on people who don’t mean something to them. What is is the Lord to you? Look at what the psalmist asks the Lord to be for him…see Ps 71:3

Psalm 71:3 NASB95

Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

I love that part where his says you have given commandment to save me; it sounds like he is saying, “All you have to do is call!”

300 Illustrations for Preachers No Help after 10 Calls to 911

In the early morning hours Sharon Edge was concerned for her boyfriend Curtis Mitchell, who was having severe abdominal pain and needed to go to the hospital. Sharon called 911 and was assured that help was on the way. Two, three, four calls later, help still had not arrived. The delay in response was a result of a heavy snowfall that had Pittsburgh at a standstill. Three times, the ambulance had been as close as a football field’s length from the house but paramedics did not bother to walk through the snow to rescue Curtis. About 30 hours after the initial call, Sharon made her tenth and last call to 911. This call was to report that Curtis was dead.

I can’t imagine the frustration and helplessness Sharon must have felt. She needed help—she called for help, but help never came. One thing I can assure you today is that if you call on the Lord he will show up.

—Jim L. Wilson and Wendell Ray

Yes, my brothers and sisters there are uncertainties ahead of us that threatens to leave shaking in our boots, but now is not the time to despair! We can face our fears by hiding in God’s refuge, relying on God’s righteousness, and calling upon God for rescue. But there is one more thing we must do to meet our fears…we must declare our confident trust, hope, and praise in the Lord. The psalmist says Ps 71:5-6

Psalm 71:5–6 NASB95

For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth. By You I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2273 Any Hope of Rescue?

Someone has said that if you could convince a man there was no hope, he would curse the day he was born. Hope is an indispensable quality of life.

Years ago the S-4 submarine was rammed by another ship and quickly sank. The entire crew was trapped in its prison house of death. Ships rushed to the scene of disaster off the coast of Massachusetts. We don’t know what took place down in the sunken submarine, but we can be sure that the men clung bravely to life as the oxygen slowly gave out.

A diver placed his helmeted ear to the side of the vessel and listened. He heard a tapping noise. Someone, he learned, was tapping out a question in the dots and dashes of the Morse Code. The question came slowly: “Is … there … any … hope?”

This seems to be the cry of humanity: “Is there any hope?” Hope, indeed, is the basis of all human existence in Christ!

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