Timeless Truths: An Absent God? Part 1

#20. Timeless Truths: An Absent God? Part 1

May 26, 2016

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42: 5, 11

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 43: 5

15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel. Isaiah 45:15

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV.

Opening Truth: God is NOT absent in our life, even if we FEEL that way.

WHEN GOD SEEMS HIDDEN, REMEMBER

1. What I tune in to determines what I turn out like.

• The psalmist writes in 42:2 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 
• If we’re not thirsty for God, we’re probably tuned into the wrong thing.

What are some possible responses to God’s absence?

1. Ignore Him. This is not a good option. It is the response typical of a petulant child.
2. Suppress your feelings. This is not a good option. The feeling suppressed can lead to seeking God.
3. Get angry. This may not be a bad option. Expressing anger to God can be a good thing. It provides a time to get rid of your anger by allowing God to absorb it.

Jesus said: 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matt 5:6. 

What are you thirsty for?

2. Where I put my hope determines where I get my help. 

• The answer to all the following HOPE BUSTERS is to “put your hope in God.” Ps 42:5, 11 
• The writer of this psalm was most like in exile when the psalm was written. 
• Hope was the author's anchor to God.

HOPE BUSTERS

1. People. people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Ps 42:3
2. Circumstances. I remember… how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Ps 42:4
3. Me. Why so disturbed within me? Ps 42:5, 11
4. Life. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? Romans 8:24

When we have nothing to give God, He always has something for us.

Thanks to Rev. Tom Gobel for the central teachings used in this blog.

Next Thursday's Timeless Truths Series: An Absent God? Part 2

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