Pour Out Your Heart

Introduction

Come to worship. Lift your hands…the physical act of worship is important. We raise our hands because of how awesome our God is and we are reaching toward him. Bring your gifts…not because you HAVE to but because you want to. You give back to God what he’s given to you…of your time, your talents and your treasure.

Today…I want to jump right in…I believe today is going to speak to our hearts. For some of you, it’s going to hit you right where you are. You may not consider this an act of worship…but when you REALLY grasp the kind of relationship your Father wants to have with you…how CLOSE he wants to be with you…you understand that He desires this from you. This act will connect your soul to God in ways that you had not previously expected or thought possible. This isn’t an easy path, for sure…but we come to worship our God because he is amazing…he is our God…he is our Father…and so…you POUR OUT YOUR HEART TO HIM.

Pour out your heart as an act of worship. We don’t worship with just our mind…not even with just our emotions…but we worship from the very depths of our soul.

If you are here today and you find that you are blessed…that you feel so blessed by God, you’re overwhelmed with thanks and gratitude to God…then I want you to pour out your hearts as an act of worship to him. To pour forth thanks.

Some of you are finding life kinda bland. It’s not bad…but it’s also not great. You’re just existing…you can pour out your heart too because God has never left you or forsaken you…and he’s with you now.

Then there are those that are just struggling. Maybe you’ve been struggling for awhile. Some statistics came out this week about the mental health of people in America today vs. pre COVID. This poll was taken by Gallup by asking people how they’d rate their mental health in this year. This was compared to last year at this time. I could go through it all, but basically EVERY demographic by Gender, Party affiliation, religious attendance, race, marital status age group and financial status went DOWN…by an average of 9%. In fact, the ONLY group that had an increase was those that attend religious services weekly. They increased by 4%. PEOPLE ARE HURTING...

There may be someone that was here last year that won’t be here this year. You’re heartbroken. Some are afraid…you have gotten a bad medical report…COVID concerns you…loved ones are sick. Others are trying to buy Christmas gifts but don’t have the financial resources to do so. Some of you are in difficult relationships right now.

If you’re in the middle of a hard time…you’re going to have a chance to pour out your heart to God today…because God cares for the brokenhearted. He is near to those who need him.

There are so many different people that poured out their hearts to God as an act of worship…and we’re gonna look at some of them today. Let’s turn to Psalm 142. David is one who CONSTANTLY poured out his heart before the Lord. For some reason we think that pouring out our hearts before God is somehow not a good thing. Like if we are struggling then we have no faith. If we have questions, we aren’t a good Christian. I want to tell you this AM if you think this way you have MISSED IT. If you think you have it all together…you don’t need Jesus…and that puts you in a very dangerous place. In fact…if you think this way…pride is in the way between you and God. God wants to hear from you…let’s hear what David has to say…you can read entire chapter here…but I want to touch on a couple things. (David is probably hiding in the Cave of Adullam or at En Gedi running from Saul…he’s in distress.)

v 2 & 5 (ON SCREEN):

What is David doing? POURING OUT HIS COMPLAINT! He isn’t going to God and starting with how wonderful God is. He’s saying…life is HARD right now! All I see is trouble. He tells God about his trouble. Verse 5: What does he do? He cries to the lord. but then he calls God his REFUGE. God is David’s portion.

David uses this term, refuge, to refer to God in another passage in Psalm 62:8

English Standard Version Psalm 62

Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah

Pour out your hearts to God. Cry from the depths of your soul to him.

This idea of refuge is the place where you go to be safe. There were six cities of refuge in Israel. In the OT Law, if you accidentally killed someone, the avenger could take your life from you. However, if you went to a city of refuge, you were safe. This is the context in which David is speaking. God is is safe place, no matter what is going on around him.

We’ve all had safe places. Most kids have safe places or things. The bed is safe even if the monsters are under it…even safer when mom & dad are there. A safe blankie or a clubhouse. For me, I had friends that were older than me in high school…so I was safe.

God is David’s refuge…and he can be yours. Call out to him. Cry for his help. Cry for his presence. I gotta say…my kids are getting older now…junior and 6th grader…and they don’t need us as much. But when they do…it warms my heart. I love it when they ask about God…about life…not always homework…but I still help. :)

We all love to be needed…and I think your heavenly Father loves it when you go to him. Not that he needs you or is fulfilled by that need…but he loves you as his child…and when you call his name…he is ready to let you know his presence. When you pour out your heart to him…he is listening…he hurts right with you…and he is always present.

Pouring out your heart

At the end of the service today…you’re going to have a time to be able to pour out your heart to God. Right in your living room. But before we get there…I want to give you a couple things to remember when you cry out to God…when you pour out your heart.

As you pour out your heart, REMEMBER GOD’S FAITHFULNESS in the past.

As you cry out to him, reflect on God’s goodness in the past. Remember what he has done.

This is what the writer of Psalm 42 speaks of. The writer is longing for God. He is panting after God, but in verse 3 we see that the writer is struggling. Listen to his words in verses 1-3 (VERSE 3 ON SCREEN)

Tears have been his food. Continually. The writer is in agony. Not only that…the people that are around him taunt him…WHERE IS YOUR GOD?

Do you ever feel like that? Like tears are all you have? Maybe you’ve cried so much that you don’t have tears to cry anymore. You cry yourself to sleep. You’re hurting, you feel alone. Tears are your food. I’m serving you God, where are you and why is this happening?

But…the writer of this Psalm doesn stop there. He moves onto verse 4 (ON SCREEN). What does he say? Say it with me from your home…THESE THINGS I REMEMBER. When does he remember it? WHEN HE POURS OUT HIS SOUL to God.

He remembers how he used to go to the House of God under his protection and shout with glad shouts & praise to God…and worship. It’s like he’s preaching to himself. REMEMBER WHO GOD IS…and what he’s done.

Then…when he remembers this…it brings perspective. Verse 5 (ON SCREEN) Why so downcast? Put your hope in God…for I shall again praise him!

Don’t know about you…but when I’m crying out to God for his help…I need to be reminded of what he’s done in my past. How he has worked. There have been SO MANY times in this season of life where I am just down. Struggling. The world is so heavy. And I go to God. And I cry out to him. I yell, I cry, I even get mad. Then I remember. I actually say to myself…remember what God has done. Remember who he is. Put your hope in God.

I want you to have a chance today to pour your heart out to God. To pour out your soul. To lay it all out for him. To tell him you don’t understand. That this doesn’t make sense. That you are in pain. When will this all end? When will my relationship get better?

As you do…remember that you are loved. You are not forsaken. You are not alone. God has been there in the past and he is here today. He was faithful then…he is faithful now.

In the OT there’s another guy by the name of Jeremiah. He was actually nicknamed the weeping prophet…because he was always LAMENTING! He was always down…he had rough times in his ministry to God’s people. Turn in your Bible to Lamentations 3.

Read this later…listen to vs 1-3…I mean he lays it out (ON SCREEN). Man…he’s seen a lot. In fact, the next 20 verses, Jeremiah is just laying it all out before the Lord. He is POURING OUT HIS HEART. The pain, the anguish, the complaints.

You know what? YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO DO THIS BEFORE GOD. To pour out your heart. So many people in Bible have done this. God…why aren’t you fixing my marriage? Why is my loved one so sick? God…financially, I’m a wreck. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do, something always happens. If you don’t provide, hope is lost. God, have mercy on my son/daughter. They continue to make poor decisions and they are destroying their life. I don’t know what to do, God. THIS IS WHAT JEREMIAH DOES.

Again, some people think this is disrespectful to do. BUT…God already knows your heart! Do you think that by verbalizing it…that it changes something? God gives you permission to do this. In fact…verse 19…(ON SCREEN) Jeremiah remembers his wormwood (bitterness) and gall. He is FED UP! His soul is continually bowed down in him.

Verse 21-23 is where the power is. Hear Jeremiah’s cry…let it become yours (ON SCREEN,)

Why does Jeremiah have hope? God’s love is steadfast. It never ceases. His mercies never end. They are new every morning. God’s faithfulness is great. God is his portion…in other words…God is ENOUGH! He will prevail. His compassions never fail.

For many of you…you need to remember God’s faithfulness. Remember when God healed a relationship you thought was lost. Miraculously God changed your heart or someone else’s. Yes…God…I call this to mind…and I remember your faithfulness, your power, your greatness.

Remember the time when you were hurting and felt all alone and you read a Bible verse and maybe it's one you'd read 20 times before, but this time it was like it was just for you. Remember the time when you came into church and the message, it was like it was hand written for only you. It was nobody else was even in the room, but you and God and God was ministering to your soul. Yet I call this to mind, therefore I have hope. (Leave this up until next slide.)

What is in your blank?

You pour out your heart to lay it all out…so you can REMEMBER THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD…and you are led to worship.

SO MANY things I can recall:

An 18 year old boy told God where he could go after his father died and the girl he thought he would marry broke up with him in the same summer…and God didn’t go there. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

When a 19 year old boy was leading a music ministry and made some decisions that had to be made and he was ripped open by the chairman of the board and he wanted to quit ministry because it wasn’t worth it…and God gently healed his heart. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

In the middle of leaving my home church at 23…we are going to be moving out of our apartment to live with my mom until God provides us a church to minster at…and Jeannie’s dad has a massive seizure and we are told we’re losing him. Talk about shedding tears…I don’t want to see my wife cry like that again. We drive all night…thinking we are saying good-bye. We get there and he’s gradually regaining consciousness. By the afternoon he’s out of ICU…and later that night…when he realizes what had happened to him and God had healed him…he raises his hands and he praises God with us…But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

Jeannie is 16 weeks pregnant with Sydney…Kylie is four years old and we’re at GLAC. I’m working out and Jeannie is working at Jared. I get a frantic phone call that Jeannie is miscarrying. I pack up quick, drop Kylie off at a friend’s house, get Jeannie and fly down I75 and M59 at 100 MPH to Troy Beaumont. They take her back and the doctor sees tissue and to expect the worst. We are distraught and calling everyone to pray. We get to the ultrasound room where we expect they will confirm that we have now lost our second child (we miscarried two years earlier). The tech says they can’t say anything and that they aren’t supposed to do this, but that they would turn the screen around as they leave the room…and we see Sydney jumping all over Jeannie’s tummy. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

I could go on and on…but you have them too. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases his mercies never come to and end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness!

Cry out to God, DO IT! Tell him your hurt. Pour out your complaint. Tell him you don’t understand. Tell him it doesn’t make sense…but as you do this…look back. Call it to mind. The things that caused so much hurt and pain in my past…the things I HATED at the time…I can see God’s faithfulness in. And THEN I have hope. In fact…as I studied…God reminded me of so much. It came FLOODING back. Lots of tears this week. OH…GOD IS SO FAITHFUL!

So…you remember his faithfulness. Then…you trust God’s power for the future.

The psalmist in Psalm 102 is also pouring out his heart before God. He is at the lowest point in his life here…maybe you are there too. (V 1-2 ON SCREEN) Listen to what he’s going through.

Read v 1-2…expound the rest. Look at his honestly. Hear my prayer, Lord! Don’t hide from me. Answer me…PLEASE! My life is passing away. My heart is struck down. I groan loudly, I can’t sleep, my enemies taunt me…people use my name as a curse word! My tears mingle with my drink…my days are as shadow…and I’m withering away.

How have you been sleeping? What is continually in your thoughts? Trust God’s power for the future...

Then there are three words…three simple words that change the narrative. Three words that are why you are watching this message today.

My life is falling apart. I don’t understand…God I cry out to you from the depths of my soul. My enemies taunt me…my thoughts taunt me…are you ready for the three words?

Always remember…BUT YOU, GOD!

BUT YOU GOD. BUT YOU LORD. I don’ have the answers, but you do God. I don’t have the power to overcome this, but you do God. I can’t sleep, but you can give me rest, God. You are still on the throne. Your renown echoes through the ages. God will hear your plea.

Some of you watching today are going to have your BUT GOD MOMENT today. You are going to cry out right here, right now. You are going to pour out your heart before God. You’re going to complain, you’re going to be honest…maybe for the first time in your life before God you will be honest. You’re going to let it rip from the depths of your soul. You will cry out to God and keep crying out to him.

And as you do this…you will push through the point of your pain to the depth of your praise of God. You will push through the point of your pain to the praise. God, I don’t like this. This hurts…this SUCKS! (Yes…God wants to hear it all…) I wish this all was different. I made a mistake and I’m paying for it…BUT YOU GOD. You forgive. You are powerful. You know the plans you have for me and they are for my good even though I can’t see it now. I remember your faithfulness in the past and I will trust your power for the future.

Some of you have lost someone and it hurts so bad. You’re in anguish. It’s the worst pain you’ve ever had in your life and you cry out to God. BUT YOU, GOD…you will never leave me.

Some are in financial pain…BUT YOU GOD are my provider. You will never leave me.

Medical issues…you don’t know what the future holds. BUT YOU GOD…are my healer. The name of Jesus is above every name. You have not given me a spirit of fear…but of power and of a sound mind. I will trust your power for my future.

You plead and cry…but at some point, you push through to praise. It comes when you least expect it. It’s when you realize who you’re talking to and how much you are loved.

He is close to the brokenhearted…he’s close to you today.

Now is your time to pour out your heart to God. If you feel like you are blessed today…pour out your heart of praise and thankfulness. If you feel like life is bland…pour out your heart and ask for direction, for purpose. If you are struggling today…pour out your heart to him…let it rip. Let him know....and push through to praise.

We will be listening to a song called, “One More Step” by Melanie Tierce. Listen to the words. It’s from parts of Psalm 42. Pour your heart out before the Lord…take one more step. Keep taking one more step…Remember his faithfulness in the past and trust his power for the future. Pour out your heart…and declare, BUT YOU GOD!!!

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