God in the Storm
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction - Horatio Spafford
Introduction - Horatio Spafford
Story
Peace is not something that’s natural
Look at our world and how we react—across the globe—to the issues we face
What we see in the Psalm is David bringing both his pain and peace to the table
Having It Out
Having It Out
Extreme Emotion - What do we do with our pain?
To say that David is upset is akin to saying that the Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground
We don’t know the specific circumstances, but we can tell that David has been wrestling with an issue or thought or anxiety for some time now
Begins with a fragment - so upset he can’t finish his sentence
Four times of “how long”?
It feels as though God has been ignoring him, and this isn’t an uncommon experience
David senses it here
numerous psalms
I’m going to guess that you have had moments, days, even seasons when you’ve felt like God has just turned away
David doesn’t blame God; he assumes this as part of the world
The Big-Shouldered God
What he does is bring his complaint—with its full-bored emotion—to God
The issues aren’t superficial, either; there’s some real sense of mortal danger and permanent injustice
We can bring our complaints, full-bored, raw, persistent to God
But he doesn’t leave it there.
Peace
Peace
The second part addresses the thorny question of what we do in hardship, especially if it persists
This is the part where we might expect David to walk away
Too often this is our response to things in life; take it or leave it
If I don’t like my cable provider and there are other options, what am I going to do?
If I don’t like my mechanic, I’ll find another
If we don’t think our diet is working, we’ll try another or give it up altogether
And when God doesn’t act the way we want him to, either we walk away or we change who we think he is
But David doesn’t walk away; he places his trust solely in God
he doesn’t find fault in God’s love; on the contrary, he calls that unfailing
his hope is unshakeable in God’s deliverance
Like Dwight Moody telling Spafford not to believe a word of his death
Like Spafford writing It is well when approaching the place his daughters died
David wants us to recognize with him that the problem isn’t in God’s love but in our world
Our world is broken and afflicted; we made it this way
David knew not as a story but as reality, and if we don’t know that deep in our souls, then we will never get to verse 5 in our complaining
Do we
When we know God and understand our world, peace can be found in pain
This is a value of the citizens of God’s kingdom
We see Jesus talk about peace in John’s gospel
We heard Paul exhorting the Philippians to bring their anxieties and concerns to God, trusting in God’s unfailing love
What are the anxieties and fears you need to bring to God today? What are the nagging doubts and concerns that are ever present? What troubles do you need to exchange for trust?
When we exhibit peace, we demonstrate to the world that our citizenship is somewhere else, and we’re able to testify to the hope we have in Jesus Christ