#7 The “Names of God”
Series
“JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH!”
(“The Lord is There”)
TEXT: Ezekiel
48:35; Psalm 22:1-31; Rev.
21:3
INTRO: Have you
ever gone through a great difficulty and felt like you were alone, that even God
didn't care or hear you, that He had even abandoned
you?
Have you cried out to God, feeling like
He wasn't interested and there never seems to be an answer to your cry, your
struggle, you pray, you beg God ... but nothing!?
If you have ever felt this way you are
in good company … men like David experienced this … Moses knew the feeling, Job
knew it, Peter and the other disciples went through this after Jesus’
crucifixion, Paul said everyone had abandoned him at one point (2 Tim. 4:16), Elijah felt that he was alone ... he
hid because he was afraid that he too would die just like he thought all
the other prophets had (Romans. 11:2-5). Even Jesus felt the emotion of
abandonment, first by His disciples, and then by God the father when He was
alone on the cross; He cried, “My God, My God why has thou forsaken me” ...
you see you are in good company when you experience this pain, yes the pain of
feeling alone ... but do not forget this one fact: GOD IS
THERE ... no matter how you feel!
ILLUS: Never fear
shadows. That just means a light's
shining somewhere nearby. -- James
S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc,
1988) p. 21.
PROP.
SENT: The Bible teaches us
that God's presence is more that just a feeling, it is a reality of fact, THE “LORD IS
THERE” NO MATTER WHAT WE THINK OR SENSE OR
FEEL!
I. IN TIMES OF TEARS Psalm
22:1-5
A. Feelings
of Being Forsaken Psalm 22:1
1. David felt alone! “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. He wondered if God really cared.
(sound familiar?)
a. His faith was low when his feelings were
high!
b. Cannot understand how or why God
allowed bad stuff to happen to him!
ILLUS: Fear is
the darkroom where the devil takes you to develop your negatives. -- Vern McLellan, The Complete Book of Practical Proverbs
and Wacky Wit (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
1996).
c. Why doesn't God hear me and be
there?
3. This is a rather common experience
among believers at some point in their walk with God. Even Jesus experienced this on the cross
… He quoted from this verse when hanging on the cross.
B. Frustration and Fear Psalm
22:2
1. Left at this stage, despair and
bitterness will set in and continue to develop. “O my God, I cry
out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not
silent.”
2. We might lose a proper perspective
of God at this point, we might forget that though we don't feel His presence, He
is still there.
a. This is the natural result of
letting one's feelings take over!
b. Fear drives us away from God ...
(“God has not
given us the spirit of fear…” 2 Tim.
1:7); (“Perfect Love
cast out all fear” ... 1 John
4:18)
ILLUS: Fear
doesn't want you to make the journey to the mountain. If he can rattle you enough, fear will
persuade you to take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in
the flatlands. -- Max Lucado, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no.
3.
c. Frustration left to develop leads
to fear!
d. And fear developed leaves us
feeling alone and abandoned by God.
3. Most of us do the dumb stuff at
this stage, it is here that we often make the wrong
choices.
C. Focusing
on Facts Psalm
22:3-5
1. God is on the throne -
always!
2. People in the past trusted in God
and were saved!
a. Israel cried out for 430 years in
Egypt for deliverance.
b. God did deliver
them.
c. God didn't disappoint them; He was
there, even in their captivity!
ILLUS: In her
book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells about an incident that taught her
the principle of giving thanks in all things. It was during World War II. Corrie and
her sister, Betsy, had been harboring Jewish people in their home, so they were
arrested and imprisoned at Ravensbruck Camp.
The barracks was extremely crowded
and infested with fleas. One
morning they read in their tattered Bible from 1 Thessalonians the reminder to
rejoice in all things.
Betsy said, "Corrie, we've got to
give thanks for this barracks and even for these
fleas."
Corrie replied, "No way am I going
to thank God for fleas." But Betsy
was persuasive, and they did thank God even for the
fleas.
During the months that followed,
they found that their barracks was left relatively free, and they could do Bible
study, talk openly, and even pray in the barracks. It was their only place of refuge. Several months later they learned that
the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted
fleas. -- John Yates, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Preaching Today,
Tape No. 110.
3. God is the same yesterday, today
and forever! (Heb. 13:8)
II. IN TIMES OF TROUBLE Psalm
22:6-21
A. Faith in
the Father
Psalm 22:6-11
1. Despised by others and
forsakened.
2. Made fun of ... "Where is this
great God now that you need Him?"
3. David hangs onto his faith in God
in this time of trouble. Psalm 22:9-10
a. God was there
before.
b. Never forsakened him
before.
ILLUS: While
traveling in Ghana, I learned that in the dominant language of Ghana the only
way to ask the question, "What is your religion?" is to ask, "Whom do you
serve?" I like that. Regardless of
denominational loyalties and official creeds, your true god is the one you
serve. -- Don
McCullough, "Whom Do You Serve?" Preaching Today, Tape No. 110.
4. When no one else can help, God will
be there! Psalm 22:11
B. Fretful
& Fainthearted Psalm
22:12-21
1. Nothing seems to be going
right! Psalm
22:12-14
a. Everything is falling
apart.
b. Nobody
understands.
c. No one
cares.
d. Everyone has abandoned me or they
are against me.
2. I have no more strength left! Psalm 22:15 “My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of
death.”
3. I am at my wits end!
4. Ask God to be near. Psalm
22:19-21
a. He is near and will stay
near!
b. God never leaves us or forsakes us;
God is there in the time of trouble!
c. Give Him the time to work it out,
in His time, not yours!
d. Keep
trusting in Him; don't fret unless you plan to
faint!
ILLUS: A young
soldier who was fighting in Italy during World War II jumped into a foxhole just
ahead of some bullets. He
immediately tried to deepen the hole for more protection and was frantically
scraping away the dirt with his hands. He unearthed something metal and brought
up a silver crucifix, left by a former resident of the foxhole. A moment later another leaping figure
landed beside him as the shells screamed overhead. When the soldier got a chance to look, he
saw that his new companion was an army chaplain. Holding out the crucifix, the soldier
gasped, "Am I glad to see you! How
do you work this thing?" -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 254.
III. IN TIMES OF TESTING Psalm
22:22-31
A. Footsteps
of Faith Psalm
22:22-24
1. Declare His name anyways! Psalm
22:22 “I will declare your name to my
brothers; in the congregation I will praise
you.”
2. Keep going to church and being with
God's people!
3. Keep praising God in spite of your
feelings. Psalm
22:23 “You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of
Israel!”
ILLUS: The story
is told of Will Rogers who came to his friend Eddie Cantor for advice. Will wanted to make some important
changes in his act -- but was worried about the danger of such changes. He wasn't sure whether they would work.
Eddie Cantor's response was, "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is!" -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 130.
4. Faith gives a new focus -- He has
not left us, HE IS THERE! Psalm 22:24b “…he has not hidden his face from him but
has listened to his cry for help.”
B. Following
Faithfulness Psalm
22:25-26
1. Fulfilling vows to God in front of
all others: Psalm 22:25b “…before those who fear you will I fulfill
my vows.”
a. Doing for God what we said we would
do ... in spite of the circumstances and trials, don’t be
quitters!
b. This is also true of the vows we
make to God's people, follow through and be faithful!
ILLUS: In
marriage we don't quit when the going gets tough, we promised to be faithful in
sickness and health, riches or poor, etc.
We stay faithful! (Or at
least we should!) This is true with
God as well!
2. Our faithfulness in spite of how we
feel will result in God's blessing on others and their praise in God. Psalm
22:26
3. Instead of following how we feel we
act in faith, trusting in God instead of how we feel at the time. We do this in our relationships with
those we love all the time … or we wouldn’t have any relationships left on
earth!
a. If every time we acted out our
feelings we would have no friends left, instead we discipline our actions in
moments when our feelings are flowing strongly.
b. We realize that our actions must be
guided by more than our feelings.
c. This is how we build a healthy
marriage and friendships, and it is how we walk with God
also.
C. Faith for
the Future Psalm 22:27-31
1. God was there in the
past.
2. God is here in the
present.
3. God will be there in the
future!
ILLUS: Karl Barth
was invited to deliver one of the distinguished lectureships at a theological
seminary in the East, and while he was there a group of ministers and
theologians and dignitaries of one kind or another sat down with him in a kind
of question-and-answer period. Someone asked the question, "What is the most profound thought that you
know, Dr. Barth?" This is what
he said: "Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so." -- W. Frank Harrington, "The Love That Brought Him,"
Preaching Today, Tape No. 51.
a. The world will one day recognize
His presence!
b. Many will see the “LORD IS
THERE!”
4. Those yet to come will know God is
there for His people!
CONCLUSION: No matter how alone we feel,
or how frustrated we become with trials, how fearful or tearful, the fact
remains -- GOD IS THERE! He will
never leave us nor forsake us! Let
this fact rule your life, not your
feelings!