7 October 2012
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Psalm 22:1-2
Psalm 22:1-2 (NIV)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
-- when we first moved back to Valdosta, one of the things that we immediately missed was a radio station that played contemporary Christian music -- we had started listening to a Christian station when we lived in Tennessee, but when we got down here, the only Christian station that was in the area was WAFT -- and, at the time, all it played was older hymns and older music -- nothing contemporary
-- so, when they finally started a contemporary Christian radio station in the area, we were pretty excited and started listening to it exclusively -- as they say, our radios were locked on that dial and that was our station
-- one morning I got in the car and headed to work and I was met with deafening silence -- nothing -- nothing at all -- I checked the volume -- I checked the station -- it was still set to 95.3 -- but there was nothing -- no sound
-- so, I switched over to the country station and immediately music began playing -- I went to a third station -- same thing -- music came through the speakers -- so, I went back to 95.3 -- nothing but silent air
-- turns out that something was wrong with the station's signal -- someone had accidentally hit a switch and muted their broadcast -- they were still playing songs -- they were still broadcasting the contemporary Christian message -- they were still doing their morning routines -- but no one could hear them -- for all intents and purposes, they were silent
-- sometimes we experience the same thing in our Christian lives -- we wake up in the morning and we say our prayers and have our devotions and wait to hear from God -- but instead of being met with the voice of our Creator, all we hear is silence -- no response -- no awareness of His presence -- nothing but dead air -- God is silent
-- Floyd McClung described it like this: “You wake up one morning and all your spiritual feelings are gone -- You pray, but nothing happens -- You rebuke the devil, but it doesn’t change anything.
-- "You go through spiritual exercises… you have your friends pray for you… you confess every sin you can imagine, then go around asking forgiveness of everyone you know. You fast… still nothing.
-- "You begin to wonder how long this spiritual gloom might last. Days? Weeks? Months? Will it ever end? In utter desperation, you cry out, ‘What’s the matter with me?’”
-- has this ever happened to you? -- have you ever experienced a time in your life when it felt like you were walking through the desert? -- when God refused to speak?
-- it happened to King David -- that's why he wrote this Psalm -- it happened to Jesus, when He was on the cross -- and it happens to most of us from time to time
-- so, this morning, I want to spend a few moments talking about what is going on when it seems like God is silent -- when it seems like we can't hear the voice of God in our lives -- by looking at Psalm 22
II. Scripture Lesson: Psalm 22
-- we are told in the introduction that this Psalm was written by King David -- but we don't know the actual occasion that caused David to pen these words
-- like the nation of Israel, David experienced many times of trials and tribulations in his life -- after coming to know God in a real and personal way in his early life and being anointed by Samuel as the next king of Israel, David went through many ups and downs in his life
-- Saul, the first king of Israel and David's father-in-law, was jealous of David -- he exiled David from Israel and chased him throughout the Judean countryside -- trying to take his life because he knew that David had been appointed by God to take over the throne of Israel
-- David also had enemies from outside Israel -- as he fought against the Philistines and others who oppressed and harassed his people and threatened their lives time and time again
-- and, later in life, as David is King of Israel living in the palace in Jerusalem, he is forced to flee for his life from his son Absalom, who tried to take over the kingdom by winning the hearts of the people and killing his father
-- so, this Psalm could have been written on many occasions -- either when David was fleeing from Saul or surrounded by the Philistines or fleeing his son Absalom -- the actual setting doesn't really matter
-- but what's important to know is that a man that God describes as "a man after My own heart" found himself distant from God -- walking in a desert place where he sought after the word of God like a thirsty man seeks water, he found nothing but silence
-- look back at verse 1 and let's see how David described this experience
1a My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
-- this first part of verse 1 should be very familiar to all of us -- these are the same words that Christ proclaimed from the cross at the ninth hour -- just before He died
-- as all the sins of the world fell upon Jesus and as He suffered and died in our place, Jesus cried out to His Father, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" -- why have you abandoned me? -- why are you not here?
-- of all the people who ever lived, no one ever had as close a relationship with the Father as Jesus -- before time began -- before this world was ever conceived -- Jesus lived in relationship with the Father and the Spirit -- the Trinity -- three-in-one -- never had they been apart -- never had they been separated from each other -- even when Jesus came to earth as a man and lived among us, He was not separated from God -- God the Father was His constant companion
-- He had said in John 16:32 "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." -- but at that moment on the cross -- for the first time in all eternity -- Jesus was alone -- God was silent -- and Jesus cried out in agony
-- that's the way it is for Christians when God is absent -- when God doesn't speak
-- David needed God -- whatever crisis he was going through -- he needed to hear from God -- he needed to know that God was there -- that God hadn't left him -- that God was going to see him through -- but as he called out in anguish to the God that he knew so well, God didn't answer
-- look back at verse 1
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
-- when God is silent, the first thing we should do is ask the question, "Why?"
-- David cries out to God here in these verses with that very question -- "Why? -- Why have you forsaken me? -- Why are you so far away from me? -- Why can't I hear You?"
-- there are several answers to that question, but the first answer may be that we don't know God
-- in John 10:27, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to My voice -- I know them and they follow Me"
-- and over in John 8:47, we read, "He who belongs to God hears what God says -- the reason you do not hear is because you do not belong to God"
-- if we're not hearing from God, it may be because we don't truly know Him and have a relationship with Him
-- this was really brought home to me a few years ago when I met up with a friend of mine at a conference -- my friend Jay is an agnostic Jew -- he's Jewish by race, but he doesn't believe in a personal God -- so, every time we get together, we end up discussing spiritual issues
-- one of the last times I saw Jay happened to be during Holy Week -- the week in between Palm Sunday and Easter -- and we started talking about the Passion of Christ -- His death on the cross and what it meant
-- no matter what I said -- no matter what Scriptures I quoted -- Jay would respond with a rebuttal that he heard on the Discovery Channel or on the History Channel -- he refused to hear the truth from God's own Word -- he would only listen to the voices of others
-- and I got a little frustrated with him until I realized that he wasn't just being difficult -- he couldn't hear God because his radio was on the wrong station -- God was speaking -- God was broadcasting -- but Jay couldn't hear because he had tuned his ears to the world's station -- for Jay, God was silent
-- so, the first thing we need to do when we don't hear God is to make sure that we are not in the same place as Jay -- to make sure that we truly know God -- that we have heard His voice in the past -- that we have experienced His saving grace in our lives -- that we have a personal relationship with Him
-- but, let's say that you do know God -- that you're like David -- you have a relationship with God -- you have heard His voice in the past -- but, now, all of a sudden, God is silent -- does that mean that something is wrong with you?
-- no, we need to realize that Christians sometimes experience times of silence, too
-- Philip Yancey wrote, “Any relationship involves times of closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other.”
-- so, why do Christians experience times of silence in our lives?
-- one reason may be unconfessed sin
-- as we all know, sin separates us from God -- as Christians, this doesn't mean that we lose our salvation -- but it does mean that our fellowship with God -- our relationship with Him -- is damaged
-- normally, when a Christian sins, the Holy Spirit immediately pricks our conscience and lets us know that we've done something wrong so that we will confess our sin and restore the relationship with God
-- but, if we're honest, there are times in our lives when we go on a spiritual bender -- for whatever reason, we decide to sin -- we make that choice -- and once we make that choice, we choose to live in our sin for a while
-- either we try to hide it or we ignore it or we just enjoy it -- but, the end result is that we refuse to come to God in confession and repentance -- and that keeps us from hearing God's voice
-- when you are living in sin, you're basically taking your radio off God's station -- you don't really want to hear what He has to say, so you block Him out and ignore Him
-- God is silent -- not because He is not speaking, but because you are refusing to listen
-- trust has been broken -- and until we admit that we've done something wrong -- until we put our radio back on God's station -- we're not going to hear from Him
-- our prayers won't seem to go anywhere -- our Bible readings and devotions will be devoid of God's presence -- we will cry out and cry out for God like nothing's wrong, but we won't hear His voice
-- look what David says here in these verses -- he cried out in groaning -- he cried out by day and night and God didn't speak
-- when that happens in your life and you are sure that you know God and have a relationship with Him, the first thing you need to do is make sure that you are not living with unconfessed sin
-- if you have already rejected the Spirit's promptings to get right with the Father through confession and repentance and have quenched His presence in your life, God's not going to speak again until you get right with Him
-- but, unconfessed sin is not the only reason God is silent in the lives of His people -- sometimes God is silent because He is waiting on us to respond to what He has told us to do
-- when we are in a relationship with God, He directs our paths and leads us to do great things for Him -- as we read in Ephesians 2:10, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
-- when God tells us to do something, He expects us to do it -- and He will sit patiently until you do what He has told you to do
-- think about the story of Jesus with the crippled man at the pool of Bethsaida -- this man laid on his mat by that pool everyday, hoping to get healed -- and one day, when Jesus came by, Jesus asked him what he wanted -- and when the man said he wanted to be healed, Jesus said, "Get up, take your mat, and walk" and didn't say another word -- He just stood there and looked at the crippled man
-- Jesus wasn't going to do anything or say anything else until the man responded to Jesus' command
-- it's the same way with us -- when God tells us to do something, He expects us to respond immediately -- and He is going to wait on us until we do it -- He's not going to give us another assignment -- He's not going to speak another word to us -- He's not going to do anything until we respond to His last command
-- if you're not hearing from God -- if you've been crying out to Him like David and asking God for help or direction or guidance and you're not getting an answer, it could be He's already given you the answer -- it could be He's just waiting on you to respond
-- the third reason why God is sometimes silent in the life of a Christian is what the famed theologian Henri Nouwen called, "The Ministry of Absence"
-- we have to remember that our relationship with Christ is built on faith -- not on sight
-- faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
-- look at verse 3-5
Psalm 22:3-5 (NIV)
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
-- when the nation of Israel was rescued by God from captivity in Egypt, God did so through a series of miracles -- God showed His presence to the Egyptians and the Israelites through the various plagues that afflicted them -- from the swarms of flies and frogs -- in the darkness that covered the land -- and with the Passover, as the angel of death killed the firstborn of the Egyptians and their livestock
-- and even after that, God demonstrated His presence by parting the Red Sea and allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land and then led them in the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night
-- each of these were visible signs of God's very presence -- did it take faith for the Israelites to know that God was with them? -- no -- it didn't take faith -- it just took sight -- they could look up and see the pillar of cloud -- they could look out their tents at night and see the fire burning in the heavens
-- when God first called the nation to walk with Him, they walked by sight and not by faith
-- but, later, after they had finally crossed into the Promised Land -- after they had lived there for a while -- God withdrew His physical presence -- the Israelites had to learn to trust in God's name and in His word -- to live on faith in God's promises rather than depending on what they could see with their own eyes
-- that's why David says here in verse 3, "yet" -- even though I cry out for you and don't hear you -- even though I groan for your presence day and night and don't see you -- I know that you are still here -- I know that you still sit on your throne -- I know that you still watch over me
-- even though I can't hear you or see you, yet will I trust in your name
-- as we mature as Christians, God wants us to move from trusting Him because we see Him to trusting Him because we believe Him
-- if you think back to when you were first saved -- when you first came to know God as your Lord and Savior -- you'll probably remember that as a time of closeness with God -- when you read your Bible, it was like God was right there talking to you -- when you prayed, you could hear God speak -- it was almost like God was taking you by the hand and leading you where He wanted you to go
-- but, as you mature, God wants us to start living on faith and not on sight -- He wants us to know that He is there even if we can't see Him -- even if we can't hear Him
-- so, God will often seem to withdraw in the life of a mature Christian -- God will often lead a mature Christian into a desert place for a period of testing -- these desert times -- this silent moments -- what some call "the winter of the heart" -- are vital for the development of our faith
-- as God weans us off our dependency on visual signs of His presence through the ministry of absence, we develop true faith -- being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
-- when I think about God leading us to faith through these times of silence, I think about the movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" -- if you remember that movie, Indiana Jones joins his father in the quest for the Holy Grail -- for the chalice that Jesus used at the last supper
-- towards the end of the movie, Jones sees a priest with the chalice on the far side of a chasm -- there's no way across -- it's too far to jump -- it's even too far for him to use his whip and swing across as he's done in other movies
-- the priest tells Jones he must step out in faith -- and that if he truly believes, that he will walk across the chasm and not fall
-- so Jones girds his loins and takes that first step out into the unknown, and finds solid ground under his feet -- an invisible bridge that is only there for those who believe in faith
-- that's what it means to be a mature Christian -- it means that we don't have to see the bridge in order to step across -- we don't have to see a flashing neon sign before we do what God is calling us to do -- we act on faith -- being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
-- God leads us to this point through the ministry of absence -- through His silence, God forces us to come to grips with what we truly believe -- He grows our faith and makes us trust in Him, even when we can't see Him or hear Him
-- the ministry of absence forces us to get real with what we believe about God -- and it reminds us that He is sovereign and we are not -- God speaks when He chooses and not when we choose -- and sometimes when God is silent, it is at that point that He is closer than ever before
III. Closing
-- Emily Dickinson understood the silence of God -- she shared these thoughts in a poem:
"I know that He exists
somewhere in Silence.
He has hid His rare life
from our gross eyes"
-- when God is silent, we need to realize it is a time for reflection and response -- God's silence is not always negative -- in fact, if you recognize that God is silent, it is an affirmation that you know Him -- because silence only comes after sound -- which means you have been listening to Him or aware of Him in the past
-- my friend Jay didn't know that God was not speaking because he had never enjoyed the experience of God's presence before -- if you know that God is not speaking, then it proves that you are in a relationship with Him
-- when God is silent, we need to learn to stand on His promises -- we need to believe that He is not truly absent from our lives -- as Jesus said, "I will never leave you or forsake you"
-- if God is silent, it's because He is waiting on a response from you
-- it could be a response because of unconfessed sin -- it could be a warning that you have a need for confession and repentance
-- it could be a response of obedience as God is waiting for you to respond to something He told you to do
-- or it could be a response of faith as God is moving you from dependency on sight to living on the promises -- to being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see or what you do not hear
-- if this morning finds you in a desert of solitude -- if you are experiencing a time of silence in your life and feel distant from the God you love -- then I want to invite you to spend some time this week seeking God's voice -- seeking His face -- seeking His presence -- and responding in faith to what He tells you
-- let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment