A Night On the Stormy Sea

Well, this is a most unusual kind of morning here at church. I don't know if I've ever preached to a mostly empty room. There are two others here with me. Just so you are aware, Keith and Kathy are here, helping with the technology this morning. Thank goodness, and they send their greetings to you all. And it's I wonder if this is what the queen feels like when she does her, her royal broadcasts and speaks to the camera and I thought it would be kind of fun. I was joking with Andrea about different possibilities. We could do this morning like I could wear a mask and I you could all guess who was preaching or something like that. But the see, this is what happens when the senior pastor is away, but I'll try to behave myself and I do realize that you have the opportunity to switch between me and YouTube videos of cats, but I do hope you'll spend some time with me as we look. The word of God this morning. And we know, there are people out there who are they're not well with other things, and we are praying for you, people who have experienced loss recently. We're praying for you and we are aware that the people have needs and we can't be together in person. But we want you to know that there are people in our church that are praying for you and thinking about you. Well, when Believers need comfort and Assurance, they often turn to the songs. And the songs are filled with reminders of the Lord's Tender Love. And guidance. We read about the Lord as our gentle Shepherd leading us compassionately to green waters and Green Pastures and Quiet Waters. Well, Psalm 77 ain't no Psalm 23, and I wonder if you have courage this morning to open your Bible and sail out with me in to ominous Darkness on the Open Sea. And if you do feel particularly courageous that, I invite you to open your Bible, the song 77.

We think of David when we think of the songs. Well, this song was not written by David. This song was written by a man named ASAP ASAP was the leader of worship during the time of David and Solomon. And in the Old Testament. He is referred to as a prophet and as a poet. And there are at least 12 Songs, which we know ASAP wrote. And his writing is a little bit different than David's. He has a different focus, a different style. And the famous preacher. Charles Spurgeon said that ASAP had a certain. Sadness about him. And this came through in his writing. And Spurgeon said in order to follow ASAP with understanding. It is needful to have done business on the Great Waters and weathered many and Atlanta jail.

Let's talk about the ocean. The poet. Henry, Wadsworth Longfellow said, learn the secret of the sea. Only those who Brave, its dangers comprehend, its mystery. And in conversation, I often tell people that I love the ocean. But maybe that's not entirely accurate. I think I am fascinated by the ocean and I have been mystified by the ocean since I was very young and Kathy if she'll put up that first photo. This is little Mica and my grandfather took this photo and we were on vacation near the ocean in New England. And this is my first vivid memory of being at the seashore. And it was a foggy day and I remember walking up to the waves and looking down at my feet and feeling dizzy as the waves broke and pulled the sand from around my feedback toward itself. And I think I was frightened, but also mesmerised. And I've never lost that. Sense of wonder. Concerning the ocean. And I used to look out at the horizon line. And ask my dad is the other side of this ocean, really touching Europe. And I still look out at the Horizon and think about those kinds of things. I purchased a book a few years ago, and the book is called The Wave. It's about ocean waves. You might think that would be very tedious reading, but it was fascinating to me. And here's a quote from that book. The author writes. From a science and technology standpoint. We humans like to think we're quite smart. But quite simply the ocean, doesn't subscribe to the orderly explanations that we would like it, too. It's a mosh pit of variables. Some of which science has considered and others of which it hasn't because we don't even know what those variables are. And it blows my mind that with all the scientific and technological resources. We have we really don't understand something as seemingly fundamental and accessible as the ocean. And it surprises me whenever I read in the headlines, on a fairly regular basis that another creature, which scientists had declared to be extinct for 2.7 million years. Just washed up on a beach in New Jersey.

And the ocean is mysterious. It can draw us to itself with its beauty and Kathy. If you could put the next photo up, I really don't know where this photo was taken. I know, I wasn't there. I wish I had been my Administrative Assistant found this photo for me, but I have seen water like this in my lifetime. And for instance, I've flown in an airplane over the Bahamas and look down. And seeing these colors in the ocean around all those little islands and it is like some kind of soothing therapy. To look upon this sort of a scene especially on a day like today. And people will pay thousands of dollars to sit beside water like this and just look at it all day long.

And the ocean can transform from that into this, if you'll changed the photos. With little warning, the sea can transfer transform itself from Paradise to an iron grave. The ocean can be treacherous. And in Psalm 77, we meet a sailor who is lost far out at Sea in the black night with waves like huge walls of water. The wind is carrying his bow dangerously close to reefs and rocks and the sailor has no control over the situation. He has tried everything he knows to do but he still is no better off. He is in a desperate state. And the ocean, which threatens him is not the Atlantic, or the Pacific or the Arctic Ocean. This man is lost on a stormy, sea within his own mind. ASAP is wrestling with the deepest kinds of Darkness. And I wonder if some of you can relate to him. We aren't told exactly what he's dealing with. It could be anxiety or depression, or guilt, or anger. We don't know what circumstances are causing these emotions in him. It could be a war or relational difficulties or health problems, and we aren't told the specifics. And therefore we might be able to relate to ASAP as we remember some of our own darker moments in life. Let's go through this song together this morning beginning in verse 1 and 2.

ASAP rights. I cried out to God for help. I cried out to God, to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord at night. I stretched out on tiring hands and I would not be comforted.

Asaf begins his story here and keep in mind that this could have been a whole season of time in his life. Not just one night. He describes it as a night in the song, but he might just be using one night as a picture representing a dark. Of time. He was in distress. We don't know what he was distressed about. Could have been the loss of a loved one. It could have had something to do with the nation of Israel. Maybe one of his children had wandered away from the Lord. It might have been a whole bunch of little things that had built up inside of him. All we know is that he was in deep distress.

What what do they serve do when he found himself in distress while he did exactly what he ought to do? He cried out to the Lord.

And you know when we cry out to the Lord that usually means we've tried everything else first, right? We are at the end of our rope. God is usually that Ace. We keep up Our Sleeve for emergencies. And when life is fairly standard, we might give God a passing smile or a small acknowledgement. When we Face upheaval and chaos and trouble and discomfort normally, we first try, our usual go to us. If we're in debt, we might go online and see what financial advisors say to do. If our children aren't listening to us and Behaving Badly, we might look for a book by an expert if we feel bored or lonely or depressed. We tried getting together with friends or family, and go out to eat and laugh.

And when these things don't work. When the problem is bigger than our usual, quick fixes can handle. We might remember the Lord. We might cry out to him when nothing else is working. It's sad, but if we are honest, this is how we normally operate. And I believe this is why the Lord allows some of these difficult things. These difficult times to come into our lives. Without them. We wouldn't cry out to him and we wouldn't learn the deeper lessons and truths about ourselves and about God. And so ASAP is in deep distress, and he does the right thing. He cries out to the Lord. The Sailor remembers his training, he knows what to do, you know is that in this type of situation, when a storm is blowing your ship around on the ocean. It's important to find something solid. To which to Anchor the ship and ASAP throws the anchor out into the churning. Sea and Alexa think down deep. And he hopes that he will find a solid rock which will hold his ship and keep it from being smashed to bits and verses 3 and 4.

I remembered you God and I groaned. I meditated and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing. I was too troubled to speak.

ASAP does the right thing. He cries out to God for healthy cast that anchor deep into the water. And to his great surprise and disappointment doing the right thing, doesn't seem to do any good. In fact, in some ways ASAP felt that his situation became even worse than before. He thought about God is what you're supposed to do. Fix your thoughts on the Lord, and his goodness of character.

And it didn't help if it made him feel terrible and made his Spirit feel faint. He said he was unable to sleep. You said, Lord. You kept my eyes from closing. He was too troubled to talk to people. The commentator, Matthew Henry said this. When ASAP remembered God, his thoughts, fastened only upon his Justice and wrath and Dreadful. Majesty and doesn't God himself became a terror to him.

What happens when you were facing very deep distress and absolutely nothing will fix it.

Maybe if you're a Believer and things are going very badly in a certain area of your life. You might schedule a meeting with one of the pastures which is usually a good idea and talk about things and get some wise counsels and godly advice. And the pastor might advise that you spend time in the scriptures and in prayer and maybe to share your concerns with other believers so that they can encourage you and pray for you. What if you follow all these steps? But your situation isn't getting any better.

If you have ever experienced this, you know, this is a very deep kind of Darkness. This is a place of confusion and discouragement, possibly anger, frustration, sorrow questioning. God, you promised you told us about the piece that will come. That is beyond all understanding. Will. Where is it? Where is this ever-present help in time of trouble?

What do I do now? Do I give up? How can I tell other people about you? God, when they could mock my faith, seeing as how my face doesn't seem to work when I need it to?

Let's read verses five through nine of Psalm 77. This is very interesting to me. Asaf says, I thought about the former days the years of long ago. I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated in my spirit asked, will the Lord reject forever. Will he never show his favor again, has his unfailing, love vanished, forever has his promise failed for all time as God forgotten to be merciful. Has he in Anger, withheld, his compassion.

ASAP says, I started thinking about days gone by. I thought about the past the good old days. And, you know, it's a wonderful gift to have memory. Good memories, bad memories. They can be precious as well as instructive. We can learn from our mistakes.

Sometimes though. We look at the past through lenses which distort reality we put on glasses which do not have our proper prescription in them. Sometimes when I get nostalgic, I might be looking through old photos or watch old videos and say things like, why can't life be like that anymore. Things were so much nicer than things are easier than life, more difficult than and darker. I meant Andrea might remind me, but don't you remember what other things were going on at that time? Don't you remember how hard certain Elements of Life were back then? I need Israelites were like that. Imagine hundreds of years being enslaved in Egypt. Being beaten and their children killed and forced into hard labor. No sooner had they been delivered from this terrible situation and they were on their way to the the land of promise and they started realizing that food might be a concern on their Journey. And they started saying things like, oh, if only we had stayed in Egypt, things were so much better there. We had onions. I find that interesting. They must have been special onions. I've not sure they meant a lot to the Israelites. But but they were looking at their past through and we want to remind them. Excuse me, don't you remember being beaten with whips and all that went on? Was that that life that you had in Egypt? Call ASAP was looking for something solid to Anchor, to, and his thoughts were trouble. They were chaotic and he reached back into the past to try to make some kind of sense of life. But thinking about the past, didn't bring him any comfort In This Storm. It only made him more distressed. What good are memories of the good old days? If all those days are gone forever? They only reminded him of how bad the present days I'd become. Any questions God. He says, is God finished doing good things? Has he given up on us? Why isn't he working? Like he used to work. He thrown out the anchor looking for a solid rock and it felt like the anchor was just dragging along in the sand at the bottom of the ocean. It wasn't catching. Anything. God was a terrible distant judge. She wasn't listening to his cries. And he couldn't make sense out of the present, by reliving the past.

And it's here. In this dark moment. We find a turning point. It's here. The anchor catches on the rock or to be more accurate. The Rock catches, the anchor and hold it. Let's read the rest of this song verse 10. Then I thought to this, I will appeal the years, when the most high stretched out. His right hand. I will remember the Deeds of the Lord. Yes. I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your Mighty Deeds. Your ways of God Are, Holy what? God is. A great is our God. You are the God who performs Miracles you display, your power among the peoples with your Mighty arm, you redeem your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph the waters. Saw you got the water saw you in rised, the very depths were convulsed the clouds poured down water. The heavens resounded with thunder your arrows flash back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the Whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world. The Earth trembled and quite Your path LED through the sea your way through the mighty Waters, though. Your Footprints were not seen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

After struggling and wrestling with all these troubles and confusing thoughts. ASAP makes a decision. Annie makes a declaration. And he says, in essence. I decided that in spite of all my doubts and questions in spite of how hopeless, the situation seems. And even though I don't have any real solutions to these problems. I declare that I will believe in the god of Israel. I will believe in the words that were written in the scriptures about the great things. He did for Israel. I believe he parted the Waters of the Red Sea, I believe he performed miracles in a site of many people. I confess that he is. My God, and I entrust my fate into his hands.

And this is the conclusion ASAP reached as he helplessly experienced the wind and the waves and a great deep Darkness. I don't know what will become of me. I don't know how my situation can be fixed. But this is my hope and like infection. I will trust that God is who he claims to be. I will believe though. I do not understand. I will believe though. It may not make my life better.

We recently within the last month and a half. At our annual Thanksgiving prayer and praise service here at the church. It's always a good service. Is one of my favorites. We hear testimonies from God's people about God's goodness. And sometimes when we celebrate Thanksgiving, we say things like We have so much compared to others, who have so little.

And this is true, but what about those people who have so little? Are they able to have a Thanksgiving service? We talked often about how blessed we are to live in America. Are we have food to eat and how we have a roof over our head. But what about those people who don't? Can they praise God? What would they praise him for?

And sometimes we encourage people to look at the brighter side of life. We'll try to give them some good perspective by saying, we'll just remember you have so many good things in life. You have a wonderful family. You have your health, you have your friends. Don't let the few bad things, get you down.

but what if things get as bad as they possibly could get what if you lose your family and your health and your friends? What if there is no positive thing left in your Earthly life? What is there to live for at that point? What hope could there be for a person in that situation?

Well, Joe was that person? We read about Jobe in the Bible. He lost his children to tragic circumstances. He lost his wealth. He lost his health and essentially lost his friends. And as his wife looked at Jobe sitting in the dirt covered in horrible disease, she was overcome by a tall. It was too much for her. She told him to curse God and die. If by cursing God, he will end your misery, then you might as well just give up and do it.

And I think we sometimes picture job is the stoic patient character who just kept on taking the hits with quiet resignation, but that's not really what happened. The entire Book of Job is filled with Joe struggling to understand why he was being made to suffer. He questioned God. He was crushed by grief. He curse the day that he had been born. And Joe said to God. When I sync my bed will comfort. Me and my couch will ease. My complaint. Even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions. So that I prefer strangling and death. Rather than this body of mine. I despise my life. I would not live forever. Let me alone. My days have no meaning.

Joe wrestles with the question of why? Why is God allowing this or doing this to me? What did I do? To deserve this. And he goes and reflects on his life. And and he says, I I did live in the ways that God wanted me to live. I was a good father. I tried to be hospitable to strangers, I had wealth, but I don't think that I was in love with it. Why has he done this to me? And in Chapter 13 of Jobe, he decides to boldly, I approach God himself to argue his case before God. Knowing that standing before God could result in God, killing Joe. But Joe said, I will go to God with all these questions because he is the only one who can possibly help me. He said, God might kill me. But he is my only hope. And we know this verse perhaps better as though. He slay me yet. Shall I hope in him? Joe was learning some very hard lessons about trusting, God when nothing makes sense and our situation seems very bleak.

What does perfect trust in God? Look like?

It looks like Jesus asleep in a boat on another stormy night on another see while other men panicked around him.

What does a life without trust in God? Look like? Well, it looks like the unbelieving world. Struggling to deal with overwhelming problems through things. Like, distraction by, just not thinking about the storm in the Waves by just closing their eyes and imagining that they are safe and happy, and all will be well as their ship slowly sinks.

And who are we?

We are somewhere in between.

We are learning to trust but we have a long way to go. We're like another man who we meet in Mark chapter 9. This man had a son who is having seizures, which we are told were caused by a demonic activity. And this man's son had been suffering this way from the time. He was born. You imagine what that would do to a parent. I'm sure he had tried everything else. Before he met, Jesus. And this man came to Jesus, and Desperation, and he said to Jesus, if you can do anything. Take pity on us and help us. And Jesus returned. This man's words to him and said, if, if you can. Everything is possible for one who believes. And then this suffering, father, cried out to Jesus and he declared the confession of faith of a frightened sailor on a dark and stormy sea. And he said, I do believe help me overcome my unbelief. This is you and this is me, and this is asaph. I wrestle to comprehend God's ways and I often can't make sense of it. I don't know how some of the dark X fit into any kind of wonderful plan. I don't understand why God isn't fixing my problems. But in spite of this, I have faith. That is the size of a tiny mustard seed. And I will plant that face in, my God. And I will believe that he is who he claims to be, and I will ask him to take that tiny Mustard, Seed of faith and make it grow into a great sturdy tree. And I will trust that when I cast my anchor out into the deep, the Rock of Ages will catch that anchor and hold my ship and I will be safe. The wind and waves may not stop. The darkness may still make me feel Disturbed but I will trust the God is who he claims to be in that his promises to me of Eternal peace and rest and reward will be fulfilled.

And while we wait for the Fulfillment of all of God's promises, we have the assurance that God is with us holding our anchor, even through the worst and darkest storms of life. And we certainly are thankful for Psalm 77 this morning. And for the Insight from the book of Jobe, but thank God for Psalm 23, though. I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for thou art with me.

Will you believe that God is with you even in your darkest time? Will you plant that Mustard Seed of faith and ask God to cause it to grow? I hope you will. Let's conclude today's service with a song.