How Long O Lord

Q: What does the Bible say about feeling forsaken by God?

The Bible acknowledges feelings of abandonment, like in Psalm 13, emphasizing that God does not forget His people. The Psalms often reflect the deep struggles of God's people, including feelings of abandonment by God. For instance, in Psalm 13, David cries out, 'How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?' This resonates with many who feel that their prayers go unanswered and that God is distant. However, Scripture reassures us that God does not forget us; rather, we often lose sight of Him due to our circumstances and sin. Isaiah 49:15 reminds us, 'Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.' Despite our feelings, God's promise is that He is always with His people, and His mercy endures forever.

Q: How do we know God cares about our struggles?

Scripture assures us of God's compassion during our struggles, as seen in David's cries in the Psalms. Throughout the Psalms, we see a vivid portrayal of human emotion and the struggles believers face, which indicates that God is intimately aware of our trials. David's cries in Psalm 13 reveal his deep sense of distress and isolation, 'How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?' Yet, the overarching narrative of the Scripture, from creation to redemption, illustrates that God cares for us profoundly. He demonstrates this through His promises of presence and provision, ensuring that even during our darkest times, we are not alone. 1 Peter 5:7 encourages us to cast our anxieties on Him, for He cares for us. This assurance reminds us that God's mercy is actively at work in our lives, despite our feelings of despair.

Q: Why is prayer important in times of distress?

Prayer is vital as it refocuses our hearts on God, helping us navigate feelings of despair and confusion. In times of distress, prayer serves as a lifeline that connects us back to God. David transitions from lamenting his troubles in Psalm 13 to earnestly seeking God in prayer: 'Consider and hear me, O Lord.' This movement from pining to praying highlights the necessity of turning our focus away from our overwhelming circumstances towards God, who holds all power and mercy. Prayer is not just about asking for help; it is also about acknowledging our dependency on God’s grace and seeking His guidance. Through prayer, we can find clarity and strength, reminding ourselves of His promises and past faithfulness, which in turn fosters trust and peace during our trials. God's mercy becomes evident as we talk with Him, receive comfort, and ultimately gain spiritual clarity.

Q: How does God's mercy relate to our struggles?

God's mercy is central to overcoming our struggles, as He promises to be with us and help us endure. God's mercy is a foundational truth for believers, especially in times of struggle. The psalmist, though feeling forsaken, ultimately places his trust in God's mercy: 'But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.' This reflects a profound assurance that despite the challenging circumstances, God's redemptive mercy is what sustains our hope and joy. In essence, God does not abandon His people; rather, He uses our struggles to draw us nearer to Him. God's mercy is abundant and will not fail, as affirmed in Lamentations 3:22-23, which states that His mercies are new every morning. This consistent outpouring of mercy encourages us to persevere, reminding us that salvation is ultimately found in Him, and His kindness endures throughout our trials.

Q: How can we find peace during times of trouble?

Finding peace in times of trouble comes from trusting God's promises and turning to prayer. The quest for peace during troubled times often leads us to places of despair and hopelessness. However, Scripture provides assurance that peace is found in a relationship with God and in the act of trusting Him. The Psalmist exemplifies this in Psalm 13 when David turns his focus from his struggles to God's mercy: 'I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.' This transition illustrates a powerful truth—while troubles may be overwhelming, resting in God's promises allows for a profound sense of peace. Additionally, prayer serves as a powerful means of re-centering our thoughts and focusing on God’s faithfulness. Philippians 4:6-7 encourages believers not to be anxious but to present their requests to God, assuring us that His peace will guard our hearts and minds. Thus, in seeking God through prayer, we cultivate a deeper sense of peace amidst life's storms.

I'm going to deviate from the
parables this evening because I feel led to bring this message.
Turn with me to Psalm 13. Psalm 13. Have you ever felt like no one cared about you?
Do you ever remember as a child laying in bed and just crying,
thinking nobody cares? I remember as a child going out
when I got mad at mom and dad or whatever. I felt forsaken. I remember going out in the backyard
and Sitting with my dog, put my arm around him, and he seemed
to be the only one that cared about me, old dog. But even now, some of you perhaps,
like a little child, lay in bed and cry and wonder if anybody
really cares about you. Have you ever really felt totally
forgotten, forsaken? or friendless. I know you have.
I know everybody here has at one point or at one time. Have you ever felt like even
God himself has finally done with you, forsaken you? Have
you ever felt like your troubles were going to finally do you
in? That they were more than you could bear and there seemed
to be no answer in sight, no peace, No, no end to your troubles. Finally, it was going to just
do you in. You ever felt that way? I know you have. Have you
ever felt like your sins were dragging you down and down and
down and further and further, dragging you down into the pit
from which there'd be no return? You ever felt like that? I know
you have. Have you ever cried with David?
Lord, I'm going down into the pit. I'm a goner. Or with Peter,
Lord, when he with Peter was sinking under those waves of
trouble, Lord, I'm going under. I'm going under. Lord, save me
or I'm going to perish. You ever felt that way? I know
you have. If you're God's people, the Scripture
says they that do business in boats and ships, they do business
in deep waters. In other words, trials. Have
you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like you would
be the only apostate in the whole bunch? That everybody else was
going to make it but you? Have you ever felt that way?
I have. Even the preacher, I've felt
that way. Everybody here is going to make it but me. I'm going
to turn out to be the biggest hypocrite in the bunch. Well, you're not alone. I want
to read you. I just browsed through the scriptures.
And in the Psalms alone, the man after God's own heart, I
found more than two dozen scriptures where he spoke in this fashion. Let me just read a few to you.
You don't have to turn. The Psalmist David said this. He said, Oh, Lord, rebuke me
not in thine anger. Neither chasten me in thy hot
displeasure." He's got reason to be mad at us, doesn't he? Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am weak. O Lord, heal me. My bones are
vexed. That is my inward person. My
soul is also sore, vexed. How long? O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord. Deliver my soul. Save me for thy mercy's sake.
And listen to this. Have you ever cried this? Why
standest thou far off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in my
time of trouble? Anybody ever prayed that? How
long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will you hide
your face from me? Listen to this one, Psalm 31. He says, Psalm 31, verse 9, I
believe it is. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, I
am in trouble. My eye is consumed with grief."
Have you ever cried that you can't cry anymore? My soul and my belly are full
of grief. My life is spent with grief, it seems like. My years
with sigh and my strength faileth because of my iniquity. My bones
are consumed. Now listen, this is a familiar
psalm to you, Psalm 51. He says, Psalm 51, verse 10,
created me a clean heart, O God, renew a right spirit within.
Don't cast me away. Don't be done with me yet. Don't
take your Holy Spirit from me. And another place, in Psalm 69,
he says this, save me, O God. The waters are coming in, into
my soul. The boat's going down. I sink
in deep mire where there's no standing. I'm down in deep waters
where the floods overflow me." Psalm 77, he says, verse 1, I
cried unto God with my voice. Even unto God with my voice,
he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought
the Lord. My sore ran in the night. Cease not. My soul refused
to be comforted. Do you ever refuse to be comforted?
I remembered God and was troubled. I complained. My spirit was overwhelmed. My eyes were held waking. Now
I'm so troubled I can't speak. I have considered the days of
old, years of ancient time. I called remembrance. I saw Him
in the night. But I communed with my heart. My spirit made
diligent search, trying to find some peace, some comfort, some
help. Will the Lord cast me off forever? Will he be favorable
no more? Is his mercy clean? Gone. Does
his promise fail forevermore? Those are just a few scriptures.
It's throughout the Psalms like that by the psalmist David. Isaiah,
another man, one of God's men, said this in chapter 63. He said,
Oh, Lord, why have you allowed us to err from our ways? from thy ways." Jeremiah said this, "'I weep,
mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should
relieve my soul is far from me.'" Paul said this, "'What I would,
that I do not. What I hate, that's what I do.
O wretched man that I am, who's going to get me out of this mess
that I'm in?' Job said this, Oh, that I were as in months
past. Ever felt that way? Oh, I used
to have some peace and some comfort. I can't seem to find it anymore. Oh, that I were as I was in months
past. That I were as I was when I was
just a young believer, trusting in Him, looking to Him, peace
and comfort. Listen to this poem. How long,
O Lord, shall I complain, like one that seeks his God in vain?
Canst thou thy face forever hide, and I still pray and be denied?
Shall I forever be forgot as one whom thou regardest not,
and shall my soul thy absence mourn, and ever despair of thy
return? How long shall my poor troubled
breast be with these anxious thoughts oppressed, and Satan,
my malicious foe, rejoice to see me sunk so low? So far from
God I seem to be, which makes me often weep and cry. I fear
at last that I shall fall, for if a saint I am the least of
all I find myself out of the way. My thoughts so often go
astray. Like one alone I seem to be. Oh, tell me, is there anyone
like me?" Those times when God is nowhere
to be found, when you have no pleasure in the things of God,
when you can't read, you can't pray, you can't sing, you can't
worship, you can't listen. No communion with Christ in any
way. The heavens are brass. You feel
more wicked than ever. Terrible times. Anybody ever
been in them? Anybody in them now? Be in a good chair. The Scripture says, There hath
no temptation, no temptation taken you, but such as is common
to me. And I read it from the psalmist
David there. He had these common temptations. He had these common
troubles. But God will not suffer you to
be tempted above that you're able. But will with the temptation
also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. But
sometimes you think, I'm not going to be able to. I'm not
going to make it. I'm not going to be able to bear
it. And you say, you cry like this, how long is this going
to go on? And that's what the psalmist
is crying here in Psalm 13. He says it four times. Spurgeon
called it the howling psalm. How long? How long? How long? How long? Four times he says
that. Four times he asks that. Look
at it with me. Psalm 13. He says, how long wilt
thou forget me? Oh, Lord, forever, forever. You know, great trials are usually
long ones. Noah built that ark. It took
him 120 years. Don't you know, don't you know,
Henry, that he thought, I'm never going to be through with this
thing. go in at night with blisters on his hands and aching sore
muscles and aching back, and he'd lay in the bed. How long
is this going to go on? 120 years. Twice as long as we
live, most of them. How long? Lord, when's this rain
going to come? How long is this going to go?
I can't take it anymore. I quit. Don't you know he said
that at the time? He's a man. He proved it after
he got off that boat, didn't he? Abraham and Sarah, they went
childless for a hundred years. Those that are childless or have
gone childless for a length of time and not thinking they're
going to have a child, you know what a child is. You know, they lived over a hundred
years and midlife to them was about 60 years old. When they
got 30, they didn't have any children. They thought, well,
well, maybe, maybe next year, 40 rolled around, 50. It's getting too late. How long,
Lord? Sixty. Oh, Lord. Seventy-eight. It's gone. No hope. That's a
trial. A terrible trial. And then when
old Abraham went to offer Isaac up on that mountain, it was only
three days, but it's three long days, wasn't it? Sometimes a
day can seem like eternity. Sometimes a night. It can seem
like it's never going to end. Old Job, when they kept bringing,
you know, he was pretty brave under successive bad tidings. They come to him, Job, some marauders
have come down and they've stolen the oxen. He said, well, you
know, we'll get some more. They come down and say they've
stolen the sheep. Well, you know, we'll get some more. They've
got the camels now. And they come again. They've
got the horses. They've got everything. His sons
are dead. Finally, he got in sackcloth
and ashes, and you know he was weeping in trouble, but he said,
through tearful eyes, he said, well, the Lord gave. The Lord
take it away, but blessed be the name of the Lord. And then
they came to him, or Satan came to him and struck him down with
boils, struck And then he broke, didn't he?
See, he cursed his day. Oh, he should have never been
born. And he almost cursed his mama for giving birth to him.
Oh, she'd never been birthed to me. Long trials. Trials are generally long, and
they're painful. How long? David asked, how long
will you forget me? When we're sick or under severe
trials, we often speak rashly, don't we? And that's what David's
doing here. Zion said this. The church says
this. The Lord hath forsaken me. My
Lord hath forgotten me. But God said this. Can a woman
forget her second child? Can she? Can a woman forget her
nursing child that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? Can she? Yes. They do it all the time, don't
they? You see it in our world. He said, yes, they do. But I
will not forsake thee, God said. They may, but I will not forsake
thee. Why? Because I've graven you
on the palm of my hand. I got a lot at stake in you,
he says. I sacrificed my son for your
safekeeping. I've got the mark to show it.
But like Jonah, We lose our gourd, and we start crying. We lose
our gourd, but we won't lose our God. The problem is, God does not
forget. We do. That's the problem. There's the whole trouble. God
doesn't forget us. We forget him. That's the whole
problem, for many reasons. For family, we're taken up with
our families. For this world, ambition, worldly
riches. David prayed this, keep me from
riches lest I forget thee, didn't he? And we lose sight of God for
looking at ourselves, looking at our desires, our ambitions,
looking at our troubles. We lose sight of Him by dwelling
on our problems and trouble. And when we finally realize we've
forgotten God, when we finally realize that we're dwelling on
the problem, instead of looking to the answer, we look up, and
He seems to be gone right now. And He'd be right in doing so.
Why should he wait around on us to remember him every now
and then? Forget him six days a week, and then up Sunday, it's
time to go. Time to worship. Why should he
wait on us? But he does. Well, look at this. He says,
how long will you forgive me, O Lord? He says, how long, verse
1, will you hide your face from me? There's the problem. God is not forgotten, but He's
hidden. We can't hide from God nor escape
from His presence, but He can hide from us. He sure can hide
His face from us. Now, there's several reasons
why God hides from us—sin, self, unbelief, sin. We get into sin,
and let's face it, most of our sin is willful. We enjoy the pleasures of sin.
Self, we're taken up with ourselves because we really love ourselves
the most. Right? We love ourselves. Unbelief, there's no true peace
and joy without believing. The scriptures are full of Admonishing words like this,
our Lord said in Matthew 17, you can turn if you want, but
I'll read it to you. Matthew 17. This man came to the Lord and
said, Lord, have mercy on my son, he's a lunatic and sore
of X. He often falls into the fire
and into the water. I brought him to you disciples,
they couldn't cure him. And then Jesus answered and said.
Oh, faithless and perverse generation. And he says, how long? How long
shall I suffer you? How long am I to put up with
you? Forever. Forever. How long, he says it twice, shall
I suffer you? Help and bring him to me, he
says. And Jesus rebuked the devil,
and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that
very hour. And the disciples came to Jesus, took him to the
side, and said, Lord, why couldn't we cast him out? Jesus said,
Because you're unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if
ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, Remove yonder to hence to yonder place, and it shall
remove. Nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth
out. doth not out but by prayer and
fasting." How long? He said in another place over
in Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. Listen to this. These disciples were down in
a ship traveling. The Lord was with them. And it
said, there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into
the ship so that it was now full. There was water in the boat.
They had reason to be troubled, didn't they? Water in the boat.
And Christ was in the hindered part of the ship. They forgot
all about him. But he was in the hindered part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him, went to him
and woke him up and said, Master, don't you care? How long are
you going to forget about us? Don't you care that we perish?
What a foolish statement. He left his throne of glory to
come down here and save them. They said, Don't you care? And
don't we say that all the time? Lord, how long? Are you going
to forget me forever? And he arose calmly, walked out
there, rebuked the wind and the sea. He said, Peace, be still. The wind ceased. There was a
great calm, and he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
They had just witnessed miracle after miracle after miracle.
He'd healed lunatics. He'd healed a man with a withered
hand. He'd healed lepers. He'd cast out devils. He did many wonderful works.
They saw his power. He'd revealed himself to them
time and time again and said, Lord, don't you care? Why is
it that you have no faith? And you know, we often, back
to the psalm here, we often resort to other people in times of trouble
or even ourselves. This is what the psalmist did
here in Psalm 13, verse 2. He said, how long, he says it
again, how long shall I take counsel in my soul? How often have you been like
David when you've prayed and moaned and groaned day after
day? Couldn't find a way out of your
distress and your troubles. And you look, and you just got
worse and worse. You know, like a little child.
There have been, you know, little children. Like my daughter every
now and then, she'll be upset and all, and she'll look in the
mirror and see herself crying. It'll make it that much worse.
Oh, it's almost like she loves to see herself cry. And she'll
make herself, oh, until the point of no return it seems. Oh, and
that's us. We dwell in our troubles. We
look within, you know. We take counsel in our own soul. Like, how long am I going to
take counsel in my soul? This is part of the trouble.
We're looking within. We're looking within, and all
we see is trouble. And it seems no end in sight. The pit looks bottomless, doesn't
it? The sand looks like it can't
be overcome. It looks too black, too dark.
Too big. The more we look in, the more
sinful we seem to become. Think about this. If you look
to your sins, Christ will be gone. If you look to Christ,
your sins will be gone. Somebody said this, though, said
trouble comes on horseback in a hurry and leaves on foot. And
pleasure comes on foot and leaves on horseback. But you know, trying
to resolve our own problems by looking within is like trying
to empty a glass of water and pour it by pouring it into another
one. I got rid of that. You know what I mean? You can't
get rid of it. The thing to do is have it done away with, the
whole glass and all, in Christ. So he says this again, how long,
verse 2, Shall my enemy be exalted over me?" Do you ever feel this way? Do
you ever feel like God has, like Job, finally turned you over
to your father the devil? And you feel like his child so
often anyway. Oh, I'm a rotten son of the devil. Don't you feel like that so often
anyway? And sometimes, do you ever feel like he's finally turned
you over to him? If that's who you want to serve,
go ahead then. and turns you over to him. You
ever feel like that? Like Satan's got the upper hand on you now?
He's got you. You know, our two greatest enemies
are Satan and self. I don't know which is the greatest.
Bunyan said that every now and then Satan would whisper blasphemies
in his ear. He'd whisper cursings against
God. You ever curse God in your mind? Huh? Really? Bunyan said he did. And he thought, is that maze
doing that? Or is it the devil? Maybe one
and the same. Who's to blame? But when the enemy seems to prevail,
it's because of this. Like Christ said over there in
Mark chapter 4, this kind goeth not out to put by prayer and
fasting. God has given us weapons. We
studied it one night in Ephesians 6. He's given us weapons to fight
this warfare with, but we lay them aside, don't we, for other
things, for toys. We lay our weapons aside for
toys, and they were easy pickings. We lay aside prayer and study
and worship and fellowship. The psalm says, oh, what peace
we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Why? Oh, because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer. All because we do not look to
the source book. They're our only source of peace,
lying there gathering dust. We are eternally safe and secure
in the Lord Jesus Christ because of what he has done. We're eternally
safe and secure in his arms, underneath the shadow of his
wings. The Lord, He's our rock. In Him we stand. In Him we hide. We're safe in Him. He paid all
our sins, Terry. They're gone. We need not pay
for them ourselves. He's paid for them. They're gone.
Sins are gone. But we will experience great
trials and struggles and difficulties when we lay down these weapons
that God has ordained for this warfare, for our peace and our
comfort. Well, listen to this. Look back
at the psalm. You ever heard the old term of pining? Oh, you're
just pining away the hours. Well, old David goes from pining
to praying. He's pining. In verse 1 and 2,
oh, how long? Feeling, looking in the mirror,
feeling sorry for himself, taking counsel, and he's, oh, how long? How long? How long? How long
is this going to go on? And verse 3, he goes to praying.
It's almost like he all of a sudden, I better stop calling on God
and quit dwelling on my problems. He said, Lord, consider and hear
me. Lord, would you? Oh, you don't
have to. You know, I don't deserve for
you to. Lord, just think about me. That's what he said. Just
think about me for a minute. Just for a minute. You know, Christ said, You have
not, because you ask not. And David finally gets around
to asking, Lord, consider me, consider me. Remember that I'm
just dust and ashes. I'm weak, frail flesh. I'm unworthy of consideration.
But Lord, what do you think about me? Just a little bit. Just a little bit. And that will
suffice. Like a little child, you know,
crying out in the night, Daddy, Fatty, and you go, and you soothe,
and I'm right here. I'm right here. Just to know
He's there. Consider and hear me, O Lord.
Look at this, verse 3. Lighten mine eyes. Would you lighten my heavy eyelids,
lest I sleep the sleep of death? He's saying here, let the eye
of my faith be clear. so that I may see the hand of
God moving in my life? Would you let me see clearly
so I can see you at work?" He's at work, goodness, every day. His mercies are new every morning.
We forget them, don't we? Would you let me just consider
again just a little bit your mercy? Would you open my blind
eyes? He's saying, let the eye of my
watchfulness be wide open lest I fall into snares and temptations. Lord, keep me watching, keep
me watching. He says, let the eye of my understanding
be illuminated that I may see Christ more clearly and not stumble
along and fall into some other wrong way. Let me see the way. Would you open my eyes so I can
see the way? Would you lighten my path so I can see Christ and
not fall along the wayside? That's what he's saying there.
Lighten my eyes. You know, continual gazing on
this old world is like that enchanted ground. You fall asleep. It'll allow you to sleep. This
old world will. Old Vanity Fair, you know, you
get caught up in it. You become dead to God, but alive
to the world and the pleasures of it. When we're to be dead
to the world and alive unto our God. Scripture says, listen to
this, my soul lies sometimes in the dust. Lord, give me life
in thine. From vain desires and every lust,
would you turn off these desires of mine. Is that your prayer? Let us not sleep as do others,
but let us watch and be sober. We studied the other night. He's
coming. He's coming. Now look at verse 4. He continues
to pray here. Lord, lighten mine eyes, lest
I sleep the sleep of death. And my enemy is going to say,
if I fall asleep, I have prevailed against him. We're easy pickings when we're
asleep, when we're drowsy. You know, a lot of wars and a
lot of battles and a lot of sneak attacks come in the night when
we're sleepy. When we become drowsy concerning
the hearing of God's Word and prayer and these things that
God has ordained, we become drowsy, we're easy pickings. He's put
his sword down, got him now. He says, those that trouble me
are going to rejoice. Look at it, verse four. Those
that trouble me will rejoice when I'm moved. The world's watching
you, aren't they? They're watching you. People rejoice over the fall
of a believer. They're looking, they're waiting. I thought she was a Christian. Men love to acknowledge the faults
of so-called church folk. We need to pray that God will
keep us from every appearance of evil, that his name be not
blasphemed. Don't we? But David, listen to
this. Here's the good part. It gets
good now. He goes from pining praying to praising, from pining
to praying to praising, from spying to suing to suing, from
trouble to entreating to trusting. Look at it, verse five. He says,
but, but, does that remind you of
any other scripture? But God, who is rich in mercy. But, I have trusted in your mercy. I have not forgotten entirely. Oh, I thought I had. And that
comes after prayer, after seeking Him. He speaks peace to your
heart. But, I forgot, but now I remember, He's merciful. He
delights to show mercy. He says, I've trusted in your
mercy. Everybody turn over to Isaiah 54 with me. This is great. Oh, I love this passage of Scripture.
Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54. Look at verse 7. Isaiah 54, verse 7. God is speaking
here. He says, For a small moment have
I forsaken thee. That is, that word is not totally
forsaken, but let you go. You know, he leaves it to ourselves
every now and then. That's what he's saying. For
a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies
will I gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment." Oh, you ought to have a lot of wrath
against us, shouldn't you? You ought to cast us down into
hell, shouldn't you? We deserve the wrath of God,
don't we, Terry? Well, he says, just a little bit. We couldn't
stand much of it. So we're chasing him. I've hid my face from you. Just
for a moment, but, but, with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. You see, look at
this promise. Look at it, everybody, verse
9. See, this is as the waters of Noah unto me. Just as I swore
that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, I
have sworn that I would never be eternally angry with you. His anger is appeased. His wrath
has been spent in his Son. He doesn't spend it any more
in us. Nor rebuke thee. He chastens us, but he doesn't
get angry with us any more. You think about that. The mountains, listen to this
verse, "'Til the mountains shall depart, the hills will be removed,'
and they will someday, for there's a great fire, "'but my kindness
shall not depart from thee.'" Neither shall the covenant of
my peace, that is, God is made peace by the blood of Jesus Christ,
cross. The covenant of my peace will
never be removed, saith the Lord that has mercy on me." He's plenteous
in mercy, the Scripture says, unto all them that call on him.
David starts calling, the Lord shows mercy. Great is his mercy
toward them that fear him. His mercy, the Scripture says,
endures How long? Forever. Forever. How many times? How many times
have you sinned and you thought, that's it? That's it. Boy, I've
gone too far now. And He shows mercy. He speaks
peace to you through the Gospel one more time. And then you go
right back and do something again. You think, that's it. Surely
He's done with me now. And He speaks peace and mercy
to you again. And then you go back again and
do it again. He speaks mercy to you. How long
is He going to put up with us, Terry? How long? Forever. One more time. And one more time. And one more time. And one more
time. Until the end of time. Thank
God. Thank God. I look back at the
text, Psalm 13. Oh, aren't you glad His mercy
is new? Every morning, every morning.
You know our dreams are enough to send us to hell, aren't they? He said, but I've trusted in
your mercy. And look at what he says here. My heart shall
rejoice in thy salvation. If a person ever reaches the
point of despair and of helplessness, of being lost, unable to help
themselves, they're going to cry out just like Jonah. I've
got nowhere else to turn. Salvation is truly of the Lord. And when he picks you up, you
cry it that much louder, oh, salvation's of the Lord. And
somebody that's working, trying to work their way there, man,
you're a fool! Salvation's of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation's with God. It's His
to decide who He'll save and who He'll pass by. God's mercy is in the person
and the work of his Son. It's in the shed blood and imputed
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where salvation
is. Salvation is of the Lord. That's what he says here. My
heart's going to rejoice in your salvation. I try and try and
fail and try and fail and try and fail. Salvation is of the
Lord. I try and put peace is of the Lord. I try and put comfort
is of the Lord. Assurance is of the Lord. Faith
is of the Lord. It's all of the Lord, isn't it? And all guilty, lost sinners
find mercy from God in the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise is
this, that whosoever put up their trust in the Lord shall be safe. Shall be safe. Finding mercy. Finding salvation. Well, when you finally realize that God indeed has shown mercy
to your hearts, and you rejoice in that salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ, when you finally see that your sins are all taken
away, when you finally realize that Daddy's in the next room,
I need not fear. He's right with me. When you
finally realize, instead of saying, God is nowhere, like that simple
little statement, God is nowhere, God is, when you realize God
is now here, then you start singing. That's
the only conclusion you can come to. And that's what he says in
verse 6, I sing, I sing unto the Lord, because he's dealt
about to flow with me. Is the Lord dealt bountifully
with you? I look at some, I'm looking at some fat and sassy
people. I'm looking at some people that
have everything that your hearts could desire. Jobs, homes, families, everything. Don't we? Folks,
don't we? We're rich, increased with goods.
We have the gospel. Think of that. There's people
out there without this gospel. We get it Wednesday, after Sunday,
after Wednesday, after Sunday. He's dealt bountifully with us,
isn't he? Isn't there a reason for rejoicing? Cause to be singing? Huh? Instead of pining? He'd
go from pining to praying to praising, don't he? We've gone
from death and passed unto life. We've gone from hell, we get
heaven. We've gone from judgment, to
sit on the throne judging. We've gone from poverty to the
unsearchable riches of Christ. We've left—God has removed us
from our father, the devil, and made us sons of the eternal God. And we need to quit dwelling
on our problems. We need to quit dwelling on our sin and our problems
and start dwelling on Him and on His blessings. God help us to keep looking back
to him. Remember his mercies.

How Long O Lord

What does the Bible say about feeling forsaken by God?

How do we know God cares about our struggles?

Why is prayer important in times of distress?

How does God's mercy relate to our struggles?

How can we find peace during times of trouble?

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How Long O Lord

What does the Bible say about feeling forsaken by God?

How do we know God cares about our struggles?

Why is prayer important in times of distress?

How does God's mercy relate to our struggles?

How can we find peace during times of trouble?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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