When The Floods Rise

Psalm 69:1–16 NIV

1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. 3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. 4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal. 5 You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you. 6 Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me. 7 For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. 8 I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; 9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. 10 When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; 11 when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. 12 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards. 13 But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation. 14 Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. 15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. 16 Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.

Why So Hard?

One of the things I appreciate about The Bible is it doesn’t shy away from life’s struggles.

I think we can agree that much of life has challenges.

Sometimes those difficulties can turn into despair.

I wonder if anyone here has seen the 1980 version of Superman II.

Christopher Reeve type with very little CGI...

Kids, it’s not as exciting but the storyline is interesting.

Anyway...

Earth is taken over by three extraterrestrials who are just as powerful as Superman...

They wreak havoc on Earth and the President addresses the nation.

Toward the end of the address he cries out...

Superman! Can you hear me? Where are you!!??

I’m guessing that many of us have felt something like that at one time or another as it relates to God.

God, life isn’t so great right now. It feels unrelenting.

I think we have all prayed something like the prayer of the Psalmist in verse 16 of today’s lesson.

Psalm 69:16 NIV

16 Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.

In today’s lesson, the Psalmist is struggling and, he’s reaching out to God...

Pleading for relief.

We’re going to look at his despair, how to approach the text like Jesus, and how to find our peace when the flood waters rise.

Sinking, Failing, Blind, and Hated

The Psalmist's situation is pretty dire

The floods engulf him

He is worn out

His is parched

Many hate him without reason

His enemies surround him

He is scorned

New Testament and Psalm 69

These descriptions are the very reason that Psalm 69 is often read as a passion Psalm during Holy Week services.

The pain of the Psalmist becomes that pain and trial of Jesus.

Psalm 69:4 NIV

4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

Whether describing Jesus’ crucifixion or the Psalmist, there is a key to the theme..

It isn’t just...

It’s just not right.

In both scenarios there seems to be suffering that isn’t deserved.

Two Types of Suffering

I suppose there are two types of suffering.

There’s the suffering we create for ourselves.

There’s also the suffering that happens to us.

The first is a little easier to deal with, in my opinion.

At least I can do something about that.

The suffering that happens to us, though, creates a sense of injustice that can descend upon us with an air of hopelessness.

It makes us feel powerless…like we have no control.

A lot of times in counseling a key to helping a desperate person find some measure of peace is to help them find one aspect of control.

OK, so life is tough. What can you control and what’s outside your control?

The idea is that the more we feel we have some control in life, the more peace we can find to work in the areas where we are suffering.

There are times though, when the floodwaters rise so much that there’s hardly anything at all that we can control.

Examples

There’s a lot you can’t control when you’re widowed

There’s a lot you can’t control when you have mental health issues and can’t hold down a job.

There’s a lot you can’t control when a rebellious child chooses to rebel.

There’s a lot you can’t control when Fox News and CNN are screaming at each other and saying it’s the other side’s fault.

There’s a lot you can’t control when the world seems to be changing at an exponential pace and you feel like you’re being left behind.

there’s a lot you can’t control when you’re enslaved, persecuted, hated and reviled...

Put on a cross for no reason...

Even Paul, the great disciple to the Gentiles, described a challenge in his life this way...

2 Corinthians 12:7–8 (NIV)

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Bible is honest about life.

I’m glad that I can see suffering in the Bible like I sometimes see in the world.

That said, I hope you’ll agree that there’s reason for great hope.

Our primary hope is Jesus, and there’s a tool to faith that we’ve lost in recent generations.

It dawned on me while I was in a bookstore the other day...

Hopeful Imagination

You know, I haven’t read any fiction in the last several years.

The Bible? Yes. Theology? Yes. Self Improvements Books? Yes.

Fiction? No. Not at all.

It occured to me that when I don’t engage my sense of imagination or wonder that the world seems several degrees harsher.

Kingdom Imagination

The problem with that is faith requires us to imagine that the end is better than the present.

When the floodwaters rise, Jesus makes a promise, and it’s a promise that must be thought over, imagined, and enjoyed in the present.

You see, when we can imagine the glory that is to come, the floodwaters feel a bit less harsh...

In the Book of Revelation Peter invites us to imagine the world that is to come instead of the often broken world that is.

So, I want to close us out today by inviting you to close your physical eyes and place the eyes of faith on future glory...

Revelation 21-22 (NIV)

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

9 One of the seven angels...carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west...22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Dear friends, when the floodwaters rise, remember that they cannot rise as high as the temple walls of the New Jerusalem.

When the path is difficult, remember that a day is coming when the streets you walk upon and the city you walk in are made of pure gold.

Imagine life in the walls of the blessed and glorious city, while remembering that Jesus made you a promise.

John 14:1–3 NIV

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

God is our temple, our strength, our stronghold.

Jesus is coming back.

Whether in this life or the next life, the waters will recede, justice will be restored, and we will stand fully and eternally in the presence of God.

Amen