Will Life Ever Get Better?

Today on Senate life poster Jeannie Greer talks about having difficulty if your faith depends on seeing the resolution of your faith in this life never to make it your faith depends on see the resolution of your fitness like never to make it. You are a crisis of faith walking around waiting to happen and sometimes it terrifies me to think how many believers are not life here. I'm your host Molly, but that's hearing news of hurricanes, wildfires, shooting racial injustice senseless tragedy and on a more personal level struggle with chronic pain, miscarriage, broken marriages and unfulfilled dreams. When DO you ever just wonder ever and ever getting any better. Pastor Jeannie Greer deals with that question today on Senate life as he continues our study in Psalms called question everything.

So let's get to it. Pastor JD looking at the question of life ever get better any of you have had the experience of getting into a new show TV show recommended to you by a friend, but a few episodes into it. You were bored to tears and you find yourself asking Emma missing something. Mme., I think that sometimes I think maybe everyone else is a more sophisticated entertainment pallet that I have and I'm just too dumb to actually figure out the deeper meaning of the show, but your few shows into it and you find yourself asking the question, does this show ever get any better or you wonder how the storyline of the movie that you're in a truly depressing or show the urine is really depressing. I do like how can this possibly unwell, but you digital party your heart that holds out hope you like things are a mess. Now but you know I got confidence of the writers there to pull it back together at the end it's all good. It makes sense that your that your confidence, I think the show lost permanently scarred me from confidence. A good image because I kept thinking one day one day to pull all this together and it's all makes sense, and I watched and I watched and I watched faithfully for six years I watched the last episode in that I was like what were they dead the whole time I feel lost. Maybe that was the writers intent crimes will be permissible to be lost in relation to the plot of the show I show that was how I ended my relationship with loss. I'm sure that because there are number of songs in the Bible where if you just read them straight through it like you find yourself right in the middle of a bad story and you have no idea of how it's going to turn out.

How could it possibly turn out well.

You find yourself asking could life get any better will life get any better about her question for this week.

If you're new here or you have been last few weeks were in the right week three of a series called question everything were looking at questions that we ask today that were answered by a book of songs written nearly 3000 years ago how we look at three different question so far. Can I ever be happy is something wrong with me was the second question, and here's the third one is his will. Life ever get better I will ever get better. Maybe for like that this weekend in your life. Maybe you're wondering how is this dark chapter, every, and maybe you're just bored and you like him to save his life ever to get better for me is ever to be different.

Or maybe you're on the other end of the spectrum.

Maybe life is really good for you now but there's this fear in your heart that this can't last. And I know that things are going to fall apart to get the phone call something bad happen.

Psalm 88 verse one, Psalm 88 is our solemn Lord you are the God who saves me day and night I cry out to you now that sounds like a statement of faith right now the God who saves me that is the last overt statement of faith, you're going to hear in this entire song verse three. I am overwhelmed the troubles in my life draws near to death. I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I am like one without strength time set apart with the dead. Like the slain who lie in the grave. You remember no more who are cut off from your care. You have put me in the lowest pit God in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have overwhelmed me with all your ways you have taken me from my closest friends and it made me repulsive to them. I am confined it cannot escape my eyes are dim with grief.

I call you Lord every day.

Every day I spread out my hands to you why, Lord, why do you reject me and hide your face from me from my youth I have suffered and been close to death.

I have borne your terror and I am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me your terrors have destroyed me all day long.

They surround me like a flood. They have completely engulfed me. You've taken me from friend and neighbor.

Darkness is my closest friend.

The end and all God's people said what the heck right the last verse is their part missing there at the end you have to know what missing the emerald of the Psalms is about God. You made everything all better and now I am happy all the day you happy and you know I got it in their supposed to be up about. Thank you for it. Isn't there supposed to be a part of the Psalm like that is not how church is supposed to be. How can one of the Psalms chosen to be in God's holy perfect inspired word. How could it end like that by look at it will make sure that I did not leave out a section like there's no section at the end of that Psalm or the snow will start assessing some manuscripts there's another image there's none of that just ends right there. God chose to include the Psalm in his Bible. Why what because sometimes our lives feel like that in Iraq somehow though I still like that.

We don't know the specific condition. The psalmist is in. We can tell that it involves personal betrayal. Verse 18. Friend and neighbor bizarre to me have become repulsive. My close friends have you ever experienced that kind of thing so very close to turns her back on you maybe to spouse who rejected you a father or mother a best friend stabs you in the back somebody work turns on you maybe is from your in-laws.

Maybe it's not so much betrayal as it is this neglect, your kids never call your spouse is cold and indifferent toward you sexually unresponsive when no disguising chronic pain from my youth I suffered most of the pain in my life is had an ending point insight but you wonder what's it like to be in a situation where there is no any point that you can never see happening.

I'm in the darkest depths December 6.

Have you ever had the experience of being in total darkness for any amount of time couple years ago I read the account of getting Sir Ernest Shackleton who was the leader of the doomed expedition to try to be the first human to cross the South Pole thing went terribly wrong and he and his team were stranded at the South Pole for over a year you suggest subzero temperatures. We barely had enough food to survive exhibit the worst thing was not, the colder the longer the worst thing was the darkness. The sun goes down the South Pole in mid-May and doesn't come back up again until August and he said there's a darkness that eventually just put the shadow into your soul that you cannot shake. That's how some people feel about their problems. I'm confined and I cannot escape the read one time that if you get buried alive in an avalanche view survived that that that there trapped underneath the snow.

A lot of people that have no idea which way is up.

They don't know how to dig out. There's too much pressure them and turned around too much to know which way to begin to escape. That's how the psalmist feels got I don't even know where to start.

I've given up praying for the situation to be changed because I'm not even sure you can change it anymore. God the marriage is too far gone now. Maybe she's remarried or they're dead or my body has permanent damage my career. My reputation had been hopelessly destroyed. There's no coming back from this will not even for you. God and then there's the loneliness as I taught the people have gone through intense sustained times of pain for some of the worst things as the loneliness because even people that love you just can't understand what you're going through, if they'd not gone through it themselves. The psalmist feels like God even cannot understand if I could, if anything, it seems like God is against him. He keeps saying draw the Psalm fortune did this to me. I remember one struggle that I was there more I prayed and prayed and prayed and folic acid. Lord, I'm not praying about this anymore. Seems like everything I do, you do the opposite. Verse 15 summarizes the psalmist feeling I'm in despair. Despair means not only am I am paying now despair means I have no hope it will ever get any better this guy's way past the questionable life ever get better is resolved that it will not admit he ends the song he puts it. And we all sit here looking at it say what in the world but then look at how Psalm 89 opens written by different guy. By the way, Psalm 89 verse one.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever with my mouth. I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. Verse eight.

You are entirely faithful. Lord, you will the oceans you subdue their storm tossed ways for Jewish people. At the time the ocean was the great unknown in a hurricane at the ocean was like the uncontrolled power you God control the uncontrollable verse 10 you crushed the great sea monster scholar say this was a reference to Egypt, Israel's great enemy from across the sea, you scatter your enemies with your mighty arm. Everything in the world is yours. You created all you created north and south mount to bore, which mark the western boundary of Israel, and Mount Herman on which mark the eastern boundary of Israel ignore South East and West Fraser named verse 21 the Lord says I will study him talking about David and his descendents of faith, which would include us.

I will study him with my hand with my powerful arm.

I will make him strong.

The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble them. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him, I will extend his rule over the sea's dominion over the rivers.

We will call out to me you are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. No I will not break my covenant with you, I will not take back a single word that I have said how are bees to songs placed side-by-side in the editing room.

Somebody said oh but put these two together missing bipolar. If anything right. The book of Psalms is written in part this is very important book of Psalms is written in part to present you with the enigma of the Christian life because you go through chapters of your life, sometimes long wins that feel like Psalm 88, and the fact that Psalms like this one are in here shows you that you can be honest with God during those chapters that they do not invalidate the steadfast love and the faithfulness of God been celebrated in Psalm 89 years of Psalm 89 assures you encourage you to jot these things down Psalm 89 assures you number one.

The God steadfast love rules over everything in your life. Rules the raging sea verse nine, which represent life's most chaotic elements this for you would be the cancer cell. The unexpected job loss. The sudden departure of your spouse. The random accidents. He controls the sea monster verse 10, which would be your most sinister enemy, whether that's an enemy terrorist are just a boss who has it in for you are up in ex-spouse is try to take everything that you got.

He stands guard at the North and the South.

It makes whatever come from mount to bore in the West or Mount Vermont of the East will make those work to praise his name, meaning there is no power coming from any direction that he cannot and will not turn into his plan for your life that will lead to your good and the praise of his name. Nothing falls outside of God's control for you, through which his steadfast love and faithfulness are not working for the good purposes he has for his people.

He will not break his covenant with you, not a single word of all that he is said will not come to pass all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus for you.

Number two God steadfast love is not always immediately apparent to us is the psalmist of Psalm 88. Cannot see any evidence of God, steadfast love, even Psalm 89. He would say this for 40 60 Lord, how long will this go on, you hide yourself forever. You see we have a tendency to judge God's love for us by the situation that ran in the present. So things are good.

All we must be walking in God's love and favor sometimes were willing to put up with pain in the present.

If we can see clear evidence of how God is making it all good in our lives we were Christians talk like this lost the job over here unfairly but that led to this job which make more money in that she broke up with me, but that led to this new relationship and I like her better anyway. Job a Gyro praise God. God is good all the time ever Christmas day that way sometimes that happens sometimes that happens is not a legitimate student logic and start to work against us because sometimes back.

A lot of times we can't see the evidence of the good plan.

God is working through us and we cry out in bewilderment with the psalmist. How long God. You do this forever so you can always see it. Sometimes you may never see it in this life and if your faith depends on seeing the resolution of your faith in this life never to make it. If your faith depends on seeing the resolution of your faith in this life, you're never going to make it. You are a crisis of faith walking around waiting to happen and sometimes it terrifies me to think only believers are in a category number three God steadfast love shapes the glorious conclusion of his plan. God steadfast love shapes the glorious conclusion of his wife, Eugene Peterson wrote a book on the Psalms in which he points out that laments like Psalm 88 laments of the predominant category in the songs for the psalmist cries out how long the Lord yet them all up and putting categories. You can find laments is the predominant category of all the songs. Peterson says in the last five Psalms Psalms 1 4040 6050 are all praise medicine, Lord lamentation, not a single word of complaint five Psalms of nothing but praise.

Psalm 150 is an example.

Praise God in the sanctuary praise him in his mighty heavens praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to his excellent greatness, praise him with tambourine the dance, praise him with strings and pipe praise and was sounding symbols let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord nothing to praise Peterson's conclusion was that even less than the shape of the book of Psalms has a meaning and that meaning is that all prayer.

Pray long enough eventually turns into praise.

So why you ask why put Psalm 88 in there without putting some at praise mix, then it because sometimes your life on earth feels like and ends in Psalm 88, but the story of what God is doing with you and in you and in his people ends Psalms assures you an unfiltered total praise. All Psalm 88. Pray long enough, eventually turn into praise. It may not be until eternity when God wipes away every tear from your eyes. And when God takes away all sickness and all crime and all pain until that glorious day when, in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer of Lord of the rings went on that day when every sad thing becomes untrue. It might not be until that day that you finally understand it, but the book of Psalms assures you that it will happen. Not a single word of all that he is promised will not come into truth into your life. Paul would compare to the experience of a mother after giving birth to a baby all that pain that we call the labor process immediately wiped away because of the joy of what she now holds in her hands. There is coming a time.

Paul says when the pain of this earth is going to seem strangely insignificant in light of the glory that God about but God brought about in us and through us in and through that pain. Think about it you could already most of you if you been a believer for the amount of time you could already look at some of the chapters in your life that were the most painful, in which you could not understand what was going on. You could already look at those and see how God was working something good in your life get you the divorce taught you to depend on God, the struggle of the addiction taught you how much you were in need of grace. The death refocus your faith, the lost job woke you up out of a life of materialism. Here's the question if now with only a very limited perspective and limited wisdom. If already you can see a reason for some of the pain in your life. Don't you think that given enough perspective and God's wisdom, you will see a reason for all of it all. Psalm 88. Pray long enough eventually turn into someone 50s in order for you to experience the joy of Psalm 150. Sometimes you gotta go through a Psalm 88 is assigned a leadership guru this week nine assignment somatic result about the millennial generation, which technically on the action item.

Technically I miss about 15 years. Okay so not in the millennial generation but Simon selects said. He said this generation suffers from a complete inability to appreciate delayed gratification is a part of the reason is because everything alive is instant right. It is like if you want to argue or talk to a friend of his testament Pam your guys or in connection you want answered a question to type it in a Google Pam.

There's your answer.

You want to buy something you just go on Amazon order it and Bama trunk lies at your house that afternoon. You want to watch a TV show. Write me back and you know the old days you had to wait till Thursday night when the 18 came on going to see the next episode now is go to the DVR you pull it up and you can watch previous episodes is extra everything in their life is instant, he said, listen, but some things in life don't work like that. The best things in life.

The work like that immaturity is one of those maturity is a long process. It's never instant he said is our generation.

They can see the top of the mountain.

What I can see is the mountain they'll say that to get to the top of that mountain you gotta go up that mountain, God's work in our life takes time. The praise of Psalm 150 requires some Psalm 88's and requires walking through the Psalms number four. We behold God steadfast love for us in the rejection of his anointed one.

Psalm 89 shows you that your to behold God steadfast love for us in the rejection of his anointed one in the middle. Psalm 89 is a very strange little Segway that the psalmist suddenly goes and what what you doing but now verse 38. Now you have cast off and rejected your anointed your full of wrath against him. You have announced the covenant with him. You have defiled his crown in the dust.

You have breached all his walls all passed by plunder him has become the scorn of his neighbors have cut short the days of his youth.

You have covered them with shame. See a lot with me think about this. What's he talking about the Hebrew word for your anointed is the word machine rock Messiah Christ. This is a prophecy about Jesus to hear that in the description you have rejected him. Verse 38 master covenant with him and poured out your wrath on him because God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so it was the perfect beloved son of God and across who would heard your my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That's the son who heard her who said my God my God why you forsaken me for 40 you breached his walls. A sphere was driven to the walls of his heart and blood and water flowed out verse 41, all who pass by plunder him soldiers divided up his garment so that nothing was left but a young verse 45. He was covered with shame. They spit on him. They defiled his crown on the dust when they put a crown of thorns on them and bow down before him, mocking him safe.

Hail, King of the Jews. He was cut short in the days of his youth he died in his prime.

He's talking about Jesus who would go through Psalm 88. But why, why I say explain.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. See around here we say that you can summarize the gospel in four words Jesus in my place. It's not just that Jesus died for the sins of the world he died for my sins.

I was on his mind and he died on the cross. It was my transgressions.

My rebellion my pride my impurity to put the nails in his hands at his feet that gladly. He went to the cross for we could suffer the penalty in my place. He was rejected in my place.

He went through Psalm 88 in my place that I would never have to be rejected and go through that Martin Luther regarded Jesus as cry from the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, behold those the greatest words in all Scripture. Why is it because I quote in them we see that God-based abandonment in our place so that we would never not in any circumstance or any situation have to fear that abandonment or rejection. So when I feel like God has forsaken me. I wrong. I have to be Christians think they just need to start more faith to just keep smiling and saying that God is good, even if on inside they feel completely abandoned the putting on a happy face can be a way to hide the truth if you really want to experience true faith and true peace. You have to dig out the line that's at the root of your fear you're listening to Senate life with JD Greer. If you happen to join us late today don't want to hear this message in its entirety.

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