The Bondage of Fear and the Courage Jesus gives

The Bondage of Fear and the Courage Jesus gives

        A sudden realization of potential danger or a plan to avoid danger is one of the ways God warns us to be prudent and avoid dangerous situations. “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Proverbs 22:3 ESV Many times in scripture we see people of God avoiding danger when they could do so and still continue the ministry or mission God had given them. Paul, for example, escaped those who sought to kill him by being let down from the city walls in a large basket. Acts 9:23-25

          Jesus Himself knew that He was perfectly safe in the protection of God until “His hour was come” that God had before ordained should occur, but He, too, avoided danger and didn’t deliberately incite unnecessary hostility. Early in His ministry in Judea “the Jews sought the more to kill him,” John 5:18 so Jesus went to Galilee to minister for the next year and a half. He returned to Jerusalem during the three festivals where His attendance was required by the Mosaic Law. But notice how He even avoided undue attention. John 7:1-2 “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.” So Jesus needed to go to Jerusalem but read the opening verses of John 7: He told His brethren to go without Him and later in the week He went up alone or with a few of His disciples.

        But He had important lessons to teach the people so He quietly went to the Temple area and taught. Jesus never avoided danger when the Father had a mission for Him to accomplish (including the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of His ministry and again towards the end). It was not fear that motivated Him, but prudence and wisdom. Towards the end of His ministry, Jesus told His disciples that “the hour has come” and went to Jerusalem knowing full well that the Jewish leaders intended to kill Him. So He never shrank back from the mission He had come to do, offering Himself as the atonement for sin by His death on the cross.

        Fear and self-control: Courage in the midst of danger. So we prudently seek to avoid danger, but when we must face it, we look to the Lord for courage to meet the test. Sometimes in life danger cannot be avoided. And then God gives the courage to face that danger. A sudden emotion of fear when you realize you are in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation awakens an alertness and is a gift from God to help
protect us. But you immediately control that fear and it subsides as you look to the Lord for courage–and He gives it to you. In fact He has given us a promise to do just that in Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” So you look to the Lord for protection, wisdom, and strength, and use the courage He has already given you. Then He promises to “strengthen your heart” as you continue to wait or depend on Him.

       “Be not afraid of sudden fear. . . . For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” Proverbs 3:25-26 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 This is a wonderful verse, but an important part of it is often missed in translation. The Greek word translated “a sound mind” is sophronismos (Strong’s 4995) which means “discipline or self- control” in English. ESV translates it “self-control.” NAS, “discipline,” and NIV, “self-discipline.” The contrast is to “the spirit of fear.” Instead of being fearful, we can control ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit and not panic, even when the danger is considerable. Courage instead of panic or fear. You control yourself and your emotions even though you might have a sudden urge to panic. Self-control or selfdiscipline is one of the most important parts of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

         Self-control “signifies entire command of the passions and desires; a self-control which holds the rein over these.” Vincent   The New Testament takes a common Greek virtue, that of self-control, and “transformed it into a condition yet higher still, in which a man does not command himself, which is well, but, which is better still, is commanded by God.” Trench So it is God who is strengthening your heart and gave you the promise that He would “not allow” you to be tested beyond your ability in His strength to endure.
1 Cor. 10:13

       And Jesus gave you the authority to tell your heart, “Let not your heart be . . . afraid.” John 14:27
Fear is bondage and there are all sorts of fears. Are you afraid of sickness and pain? Are you afraid that you will lose your job or that God will not provide? Are you afraid of bodily harm? Are you afraid of failure or persecution or tribulation? Are you afraid of what the future might bring? Jesus can deliver us from all those fears. He can “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews
2:15 ”If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:36,31-32

        Sin deceives and enslaves. “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” 2 Peter 2:19 NIV So submit to God and be free from slavery to sin, self, Satan–and fear.

          Anxiety and Fear.  Worry or anxiety takes away your joy and your peace. So God has given us
abundant reason to choose His joy and His peace instead of our fears and worries and anxieties. Worry accomplishes absolutely nothing except to destroy your joy and peace. Scripture is so clear on this: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NAS

       Jesus put both worry and fear together and contrasted it with His peace when He told the disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 And in the Sermon on the Mount He talked about the futility of worry. Instead we should concentrate on today and see how the Lord provides each day. Look at the
birds of the air and the flowers of the field, how God cares for them. So “fear not, Little Flock,” He said in another place; you are of more value than many birds and flowers.

         What are we then to do with our fears and worries if we don’t want to be burdened with them? Give them to the Lord for safekeeping and He will handle them. “Roll your burdens on the Lord.” “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” Psalm 55:22 “Cast all your care (or worry) on Him for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

      Freedom from Fear does not mean Freedom from Suffering and Sorrow “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me . . ., they stumbled and fell.” Psalm 27:1-2 So we have no reason to fear. But as fallen, sinful people we share in the sufferings of this present sin-cursed world. And that’s a very large subject in itself, but “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. . . . The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but
by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope [or, expectation] that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Romans 8:18-25 NIV

      So let’s take the eternal perspective and anticipate with joy the future. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
                                                                                     –Pastor Burnside

God Fulfills His Purposes for You

God Fulfills His Purposes for You

        God gave the same promise twice in the Psalms:

^“ I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” Psalm 57:2 ESV

^“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” Psalm 138:8

           God never forsakes what He has begun and He will bring it to completion or fulfillment.

“. . . He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. . . .” Phil. 1:6

         And what are those purposes for your life? Scripture tells us several purposes, maybe the most important of which is to make us more like Christ. We are “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. . . .” Romans 8:29 And the same passage speaks of our ultimate “glorification” when we shall see Him as He is: “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2

          There are, no doubt, other purposes and plans for us individually which are unique for each of us. That's why the NLT interprets Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will work out His plans for my life.” And those plans gradually unfold so that we follow God's leading step-by-step and day-by-day. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” Psalm 37:23

       This passage is about the exile of God's people in ancient times but there is an application to us today since “all scripture is . . . profitable.” 2 Tim. 3:16

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (ESV) “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. . . .”

         While we are waiting expectantly on God, God is at work and we can observe His hand in the providential care of our lives. “Whatsoever the Lord takes in hand, He will accomplish.”

Providence is the “performance of God's gracious purposes and promises to His people. Grace makes the promise, and providence the payment.” (John Flavel, 1628-91)

      In the meantime we have “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:14

Renewed every morning

           One of our daily privileges is to look to the Lord for respite, rest, renewal and rejuvenation each day. And the result is rejoicing in Him because “although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 2 Cor. 4:16 ESV It is fascinating how so often in the midst of a dilemma, a problem, or a trial, God gives us rest and renews. We can take a deep breath before going on.

Sometimes A Light surprises the Christian while he sings;

It is the Lord who rises with healing in His wings:

When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again

A season of clear shining, To cheer it after rain.

         God does this daily. I notice it often and remember so well how Minnie and I were refreshed on those last steep hills on her journey home. We often had to “come apart and rest awhile,” but God renewed us daily—and He still does. Where does that “Light” that “surprises” you come from? God meets with us in His Word! How often we read our Bible and see how glorious the old truths are and how they grip our hearts. It’s the Light of the illumination of the Holy Spirit exalting Jesus the Light of the world.

         But this wonderful hymn says the “surprise” reminder comes “while he sings.” Aye, and that’s so true as we sing to one another and to the Lord in “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” That’s because we are singing scriptural truths and God has put a new song in our hearts, even praise unto the Lord our God. Why is it “new”? It’s always new because it’s fresh and illumined by the Presence of God Himself who is always “there” (or shall we say “here.”)

Think of the rain and how the “season of clear shining” follows that long rain. Or how the spring follows the winter. Or how the morning light follows the dark midnight. Or how joy comes in the morning after a long night.

In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue The theme of God's salvation, And find it ever new;

Set free from present sorrow, We cheerfully can say, Let the unknown tomorrow Bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing But He will bear us through: Who gives the lilies clothing Will clothe His people too:

Beneath the spreading heavens No creature but is fed; And He who feeds the ravens Will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither Their wanted fruit should bear, Though all the fields should wither, Nor flocks nor herds be there:

Yet, God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice: For, while in Him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.

                                           --William Cowper, alt. From “A Quiet Heart,” Soundforth Singers

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7

Learning to Let Christ Carry your Burdens

         Do you ever wonder how you're going to “carry” all those burdens the Lord has allowed you to experience or sent your way? All those troubles and problems that the people you love face and you do what you can but you can't handle it all. It's impossible. There's just too much. And the world seems to fall apart around you sometimes. How do you handle all that? Well, you can't and you know it.

        Besides, you realize how weak you are. And you're not really courageous and you have no desire to be either a hero or a martyr. “When I am weak, then He is strong.” Weakness? Oh, I meet that criteria very well. Inadequate? My problem is not that I feel inadequate My problem is that in reality I am inadequate! More than inadequate. Totally helpless sometimes, unable to affect the outcome of so many problems.

         It helps a lot that God teaches us to be content regardless of our outward circumstances, but that doesn't mean being content with the status quo. Sometimes there are changes and modifications available to you. Contentment is not an easy achievement! But though we've learned to be content in whatever situation, how do we learn to avail ourselves of one of the most sweeping, helpful promises of scripture: Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” And the one we all love: 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” We all know how to do that, don’t we? Well, maybe not “all your care”—but some of it anyway and after all, “every little bit helps!” Partial is not sufficient, is it?! “All” is all just like “all things” in Romans 8:28 it’s certainly not “partial.”! But what a reassurance to know He “cares” for us—in a double meaning! He cares in the sense that He loves us. And He takes care of us as well. The meaning of the Greek word is “the watchful care of interest and affection.” (Vincent, I, 669)

         “Casting” means throwing something on something or someone else—like throwing a blanket over a horse's back to get him ready to carry your load. What we can “cast” on the Lord for Him to carry for us is “all discontentment, discouragement, despair, questioning, pain suffering, and whatever other trials we encounter [because we] can trust His love, faithfulness, power, and wisdom.” (John MacArthur)

         How do we prepare for the future, for what is yet to come—when we don't even know what it is? By casting our burdens on the Lord and waiting on Him and His good time. In answer to a very important question, HOW do we cast our burdens on the Lord? I wrote this e-mail on November 4, 2008.

        “Here are some of the things I've learned in struggling with the same question. And they are important answers because I know the Lord has pulled me along and taught me a few things in my 75 years. [now 78]. . . . My heart is heavy when I see people in my family suffering or struggling or especially not walking with the Lord or not bringing their children up in the nurture of the Lord. And since I'm pastor of our little church I share in their problems, too--and rejoice when we see spiritual growth--which we certainly do. One of the ladies had tears as she came from the Morning Worship service yesterday overwhelmed with the reverence of communion and thinking of the passage I had read aloud from the Garden of Gethsemane. She wrote an e-mail today that "God's glory and the gift of salvation is so real that it is truly overwhelming."

So these are burdens I seek to roll off on the Lord. . . .

          What God is teaching us is to learn to walk with Him and trust Him when things are going well and when it seems like we're walking in the dark and uncertain what's next. "Walk in the Spirit" is something we have to learn and never learn perfectly this side of heaven. So it's certainly not a mechanical answer or a 4-step program or something. It's learning to know and walk with a Person, with our Lord, just as the disciples on the Emmaus Road did after the Resurrection.

       A basic presupposition is God's adequacy for whatever problem He sends (or allows) our way. The sufficiency of the Lord our Refuge. The longer you walk with Him, the more you realize how true that is.

      Part of this is patience and endurance because we are in an endurance race. They told the apostle Paul that he was going to be imprisoned and he replied, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus. . . ." "Finish my course" is an endurance race and "with joy" is vital because "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Joy in the Lord is one of the most important parts of our life and we can have joy (and peace) even in the midst of affliction.

        So that's part of it. But listen to this: a major part is where and how you focus your attention. And I think of that in two ways: on what you are presently concentrating, that which is in front of you. And what is kinda back behind what you're doing--sort of in the back of your mind. It's easy to have those problems loom large in the back of your mind even while you're concentrating on taking care of the children. That's where you need to cast or throw them to the Lord. It's not that you can't focus on them and ask the Lord for guidance and run through the possibilities again. But not in an anxious way.

          To do this you must take your focus off what's causing anxiety and worry and put your focus on the One who will either 1) bring a solution or 2) give you the grace to endure and go through the trial. This is exactly what Scripture says in Hebrews chapter 12:1-3

          1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the [endurance] race that is set before us,

         2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

        3. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

        This is vital. Instead of focusing on the problems, focus on the Lord and His word. You read the Word every day or several times in the day not only for food and knowledge and direction, but also to cleanse your mind.

        Those words about looking and considering are very strong. 12:2 is better translated "Fixing" our eyes on Jesus--instead of being preoccupied with the problems. The Holy Spirit focuses on Jesus to glorify Him; when we walk in the Spirit, we do the same. When we're focused on Jesus, then we can see our problems in the proper perspective. He is our example and when we don't know what to do, we search the scriptures to see if we can find out.

The joy that was at the end of the race was what Jesus focused on and that's part of our focus, too. Verse 3 "Consider Him" who endured so much.

          Here's a key quotation for you: "We do not live in our own power but in His." That includes physical strength that He gives us as a gift as well as spiritual. Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." "Christ in you, the hope of glory." So focus on Him, not on yourself because it all depends on Him and He will give you the strength to do your part. 2 Cor. 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

        The answer to your "how" is the same answer that the angel gave to Mary's "how": "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. . . ." The Holy Spirit indwells us and Christ lives within. So our response should be the same as Mary's, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

         There are other parts to the answer. Surely the one Jesus gave in talking about anxiety is also vital. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matt. 6:34 NKJ In other words focus your attention on today; tomorrow is not here yet. Living one day at a time helps a lot in an endurance race.

But never let go of the joy because that's what God uses to get you through a trial. "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. " John 15:11 How do you roll your burden on the Lord? Focus on Him and His work and His joy and what He will bring to pass in the future, not on your problems.

         “Let not your heart be troubled,” but let Him carry your burdens instead.

                                                                                   Love, Pastor

Psalm for Discouragement--42

Psalm for Discouragement

This is a wonderful Psalm for these difficult days in which we live–especially for those going through a hard trial of affliction. We don’t know who wrote this Psalm so we can think of it as a universal Psalm for all who know the Lord in the very difficult and low times of life. These things of trouble, trial, affliction are in everyone’s experiences. If you really understand what scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” And you see all the terrible things that human beings do to each other, the wonder is that in spite of all that there is so much good and beauty in the world. And we know why–because God restrains and prevents a lot of the evil that men would do to each other. In His Providence He preserves us–until His time for us–“the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” Psalm 139:16 NIV--but allows us to suffer. That’s what this Psalm is about: how do we go through suffering and hardship victoriously and joyfully? “As sorrowful and yet always rejoicing?” The answer is here.

Psalm 42

“As the deer pants after streams of water, so pants my soul after thee, O God.

Picture the terrible thirst of the wild deer in a dry and thirsty land where no water is!

The Hebrew word translated “pants” here is the “distressing cry of the doe making a mournful sound and eagerly seeking the cooling water. It seeks the streams of water with intense desire and plunges into the cooling streams probably seeking to escape from a lion seeking to kill it.

“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? Or “when shall I see the face of God”?! 43:4 The Psalmist wants to go into the very Presence of God Himself, “unto God my exceeding joy.”

Fellowship with God was far more important to him that anything in this life–all earthly enjoyments, riches, pleasures, honors. Do you have that intense desire for fellowship with God? Jesus said, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” Mt. 5:6 If you hunger and thirst after righteousness, you are thirsting after Christ for He alone is our righteousness.

Be glad with exceeding joy if you have intense desire for God–for that’s why God created us in the first place. Nothing in this world will satisfy the deep longings of your heart. Nothing. “Our souls are restless until they rest in Thee, O God,” St. Augustine wrote so many years ago. And C.S. Lewis put it this way, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

And so we were. 2 Cor. 5:5 “God created us for this very purpose”–and you read the context the purpose was to share the glories of heaven and eternal life with us–in fellowship with Himself.

The Psalmist had this same intense desire for God–probably especially since he was being persecuted with the taunts of the wicked, in the midst of trouble, “Where is your God?!” surely said with a sneering tone. Satan’s goals have always been the same from the garden of Eden onward: first he wants you to doubt God’s sovereignty or God’s wisdom and then he wants you to doubt God’s goodness. He did so with Eve and he does so with all of us. He is a liar and the father of lies. But we have the demonstration of God’s power and goodness throughout history and throughout our lives in His daily providence, “God daily loadeth us with benefits” we’re told in another Psalm.

But he is discouraged in the midst of his troubles. And he doesn’t feel joyful or even thankful (and that may be a hint of his problems because those are the two things we need–spiritual joy given by God and a thankful heart so that we can say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Or with the writer to the Hebrews,

“be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Heb. 13:5-6

But in Psalm 42 the Psalmist is discouraged and THREE times he asks himself the same question, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” WHY indeed?! There’s no reason to be! The future is still as bright as the promises of God.

“Why are you cast down” literally means “Why do you bow down” to temptation and taunts?! In the Hebrew it’s in the active voice–it’s something you do; it doesn’t just happen passively. (That’s why Jesus said, LET NOT your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.”)

But the Psalmist wisely starts talking to himself, “Hey, man! Cut it out!” God didn’t “cast you down” you did it to yourself increasing your own troubles unnecessarily. Quit feeling sorry for yourself. God is still on His throne. He’s still the same sovereign Lord who said not a sparrow could fall without the Father–and “be of good cheer, Little Flock, you are of more value than many sparrows.”

An important truth is not clear in the KJV which says “hope thou in God.” The Hebrew word yachal means to wait; by implication, to be patient, to hope. And hope is a perfectly good word, of course, but in scripture it always means to hope or wait or look forward expectantly–look to God for He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Actually there are three different Hebrew words for wait that mean about the same thing but they all have expectation as part of the meaning. Two NT words mean “to expect” or “to expect fully.”

Ponder these other verses in the Old Testament about waiting on the Lord:

Psalm 37:7. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Jesus gives you the power to control those dismal feelings when he said, “LET not your heart be troubled, neither LET it be afraid.” He said that twice in John chapter 14:1. "Let not your heart be troubled;” and again in verse 27: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

The Psalmist realizes that God is “my exceeding joy” and He knows from experience God’s goodness and kindness to him. So he complains once again in verses 6-7 NKJ “O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me. “

He’s talking about the marvelous waterfalls falling from snow-covered Mount Hermon, water roaring down the mountainside until it reaches the source of the Jordan River and eventually winds its way to Lake Galilee that marvelous source of fresh water for all of Israel even today.

He feels like the waterfall is crashing down on his head and pulling him under the rapids. But Isaiah 43:1-2 “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. . . .”

And the Psalmist knows that because the very next verse 8: “Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. [There you have it! Praise God in spite of your troubles.]

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” [He knows God has NOT forgotten Him, but it does seem like it sometimes, so he will quit “mourning because of the oppression of the enemy.”

“I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

Three times: v. 5, 11 & 43:5– God is the health of my countenance–He can put joy back into my face. The expression on our face–our countenance often reveals the thoughts and emotions of our heart. And He is “my God.” Well, if God is your God, then that means He has taken responsibility for you! So don’t worry about it. He is the Living God, the faithful God who does all things after the counsel of His own will. Trust God’s timing and God’s way.

“God my exceeding joy.” 43:4

Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22) Jesus said that He wants His disciples to have “His joy”–“fulness of joy.” Joy is a gift from God and rejoicing is something we can do! It’s an ATTITUDE of thanksgiving and trust in God.

You rejoice in the midst of trials. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, [you’re being tested] being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:” 1 Peter 1.6-8

There it is! That’s what we want: joy unspeakable and full of glory.

What blocks our joy that God gives? Sometimes it’s the sin of unbelief. Or the sin of bitterness! Or complaining! How can you complain against our God of grace? “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” Phil. 2:14 NIV.

Bitterness or an unforgiving spirit destroys joy and your whole relationships not only with God but with others. Heb. 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God [fail to accept and use the grace and strength God is giving you; reach out and take it–with your empty hands of faith just as you did when you received Jesus as Savior–] lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby MANY be defiled. . . .”

It’s is a serious sin to become resentful towards God or His providence in your life. Confess that sin to God. Don’t have an unaccepting attitude towards God’s Providence in your life. Be willing to accept whatever comes to you from the good hand of your God! For He has promised never to leave you nor forsake you and promised also that NO TESTING would come your way but that which He gives strength to endure. 1 Cor. 10:13

You say you don’t know WHY God allows certain things to happen to you? Well, Job had a LOT more trouble than you or I have ever had and he asked God the “why” and God answered him! Read Job chs. 38-42 and you’ll see God’s answer. “Then God answered Job out of the whirlwind. . . .”

And what did God say? (Paraphrase) Job, where were you when I created the world? Tell me about the depths of the sea and the heights of the stars and the way the planets stay in orbit. If you can’t explain the most basic of questions, how are you going to understand all my good and gracious purposes.

Actually God has given a precise reason for what He allows in our lives. It’s in Romans 8:29 He tells us we have been “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” so He is in the process of making us more like Jesus and 2 Cor. 3:18 “we are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory”–by the Holy Spirit who is gradually changing us to be more and more like Christ.

And the Psalmist Asaph put it in a beautifully poetic way in Psalm 77:19 “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.”

You cannot see God’s footprints but you can see the results of His actions in your life. Like a tapestry when you only look at the back side and see a helter-skelter of loose threads, but on the right side, on God’s side, His work in your life is beautiful, just like a magnificent tapestry.

And in that same Psalm 77 he changes the figure of speech and shows you the point of verse 19 by verse 20. “ Thou leddest thy people like a flock. . . .” “God leads His dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood; Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, In the night season and all the day long.”

Come back to our passage: why did the Psalmist appear to have lost his joy?! The answer is clear: because he became discouraged. How do you avoid that? Very simple: do exactly what Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled or afraid. “Be anxious for nothing but in everything let your requests be made known unto God–and then you’ll have not only joy–but the peace of Christ which passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

Where is your ‘MIND’? Is every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? Col. 3 tells us where our minds should be: “Set your affections and set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth.” For you died with Christ and you live in the heavenlies with Him right now. Eph.

Don’t forget how Psalm 43 fits with Psalm 42. 43:2 “Thou art the God of my strength”–it’s to His strength we must look and not our own. Remember in 2 Cor.1 Paul said these troubles happened” “that we might not trust in ourselves but in God.”

Where do you find joy? In the Presence of God Himself. And where do you find God? In His Word (and He indwells your heart also if you know Him)–but look in His word and find joy. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” Jer. 15:16 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Psalm 119:103

Remember: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

“Be of good cheer,” Jesus said, “it is I. Be not afraid.” Mt. 14:27

                                                                          --Pastor Burnside