Anger At God III - Part 2 of 3

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, The worries of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is Lecair Bradley Jr. welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. Oh, once I had a glorious view of my redeeming Lord, He said, I'll be a God to you, and I believed his word. But now I have a deeper stroke than all my groanings are. My God has me a plate, for Sookie's gone, I know not where. Oh, what immortal joys I felt on that celestial day, When my hard heart began to melt, my love dissolved away.

But my complaint is bitter now, for all my joys are gone. I stray back left, I know not how the lines from me withdraw. I forward go in duty's way, but can't perceive him there. Then backward on the road, I stray but cannot find him there.

On the left hand, where he doth work, among the wicked crew, And on the right, I find him not among the favored few. What shall I do? Shall I lie down and sink in deep despair? Will he forever wear a frown, or hear my feeble prayer? No, he will put his strength in me, he knows the way I've strove. And when I try sufficiently, I shall come forth as gold.

I'm glad you're with us today. We desire your prayers that the Lord will use the messages to his glory in the edification of his people, and that you would pray our needs would be supplied. If you'd like to participate in the support of this work, you can make a donation by going to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved, shall I be saved from my enemies. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. Who is God except the Lord? Who is God except the Lord? All rock beside our God.

All higher praise he can ever be. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.

So shall I be saved, shall I be saved from my enemies. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. So will I give thanks to thee, and sing praises to thy name. Be exalted, Lord, in thy mighty power. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

In the moment of deepest emotion, of greatest distress, where should we go? To the Lord to pray. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then will I give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now, Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken.

Now get the picture. Here's a woman that's already stressed out. She's already in deep anguish, and she's doing the right thing now. She's taking this burden to the Lord. She's praying, and here comes the priest, and he observes her in prayer, and her lips are moving, but she's making no sound. And Eli said unto her, how long wilt thou be drunken, put away thy wine from thee? The priest said, well, she must be stoned.

There she is, coming up here to the temple of all the audacity, drunk as a hoodile, and coming up here going through the formality of prayer. How long are you going to keep on this way? You say, you know, how much can one person take? It wouldn't have surprised me for this woman had jumped up and told that old prophet a few things. You know, how lacking in compassion can anybody be?

Don't you understand? I'm already deeply troubled. And Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. What was her approach? She poured out her soul before the Lord. And the Lord heard her prayer, and God gave her a son, and she called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. And you know what a noble character Samuel was.

And look what this whole experience did in her life. You'll never read a more beautiful prayer than the prayer that Hannah prayed as recorded in chapter 2, beginning with the first verse. And Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord, there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly, let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are way. On she goes, giving wonderful expression to the sovereignty of God.

Now somebody may respond to that and say, well, that sounds good. And if I could be sure that God would grant my request and give me a child, I'd be glad to humble myself before him and pray continually. But God doesn't always grant every request. Some woman may have the strongest desire for a child and she prays earnestly. And she's humble before God, she's living a godly life. And from all human reasoning there's just no explanation.

Why is this woman not able to have a child? What then must be her response? She still must bow before the God of heaven saying, even so father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. I have no grounds for being angry, my times are in thy hands, I commit it to thee. You may never understand why, but Lord, thou dost know best, thou dost know best. You see it's appropriate to pour out our heart before the Lord.

In the fifteenth verse the expression was, Hannah says, I have poured out my soul before the Lord. It's all right not to be angry, not to challenge the sovereignty of God, but to express to the Lord the anguish of your spirit over circumstances that you do not understand and cannot explain. You may have a time where you say, as far as I can observe things, I know what the scriptures say concerning God's character, concerning His attributes, and right now His providence doesn't seem to be in harmony with it. But the problem is not God's, it's mine. God sees everything and I don't. I may have the correct perception about a lot of things at the present, but I don't have clear understanding of everything at the present like God does, because He knows all that's going on on the inside of me. My heart is desperately wicked, deceitful above all things, who can know it? But God knows it.

I certainly don't know the future, but God does. And He's orchestrating these events to work about that which will ultimately be to His glory, and if you're one of His, to His goods. So how can I know I'm one of His? Well, the identifying mark given in that promise of Romans chapter 8 is that you love God. Do you love Him? All things work together for good to them that love God, and are called according to His purpose. If you love God, it's because you are called according to His purpose. We love Him because He first loved us.

But the evidence is that we love Him. Do you love God? I think there are some people who believe in God that don't love God. They really wish God would go away because it's a great interference in their life.

They have a certain amount of dread of the consequences of sin, but they'd be much better satisfied if God would go away and just let them do what they want to do, and there'd be no consequence. But if you've been made a subject of God's grace, you love Him. You rejoice to know that God is on the throne, God is sovereign, God's in control, and the direction of this world is not left to chance or fate, and that you're not out here adrift on the sea of time with no one watching over you, and that in spite of the fact there have been times in your life when you have been very belligerent, very independent, charted your own course, made your own decision, you can see what a mess you've made of it, and you're delighted today to surrender yourself to God and recognize Jesus Christ as Lord, and I want to follow and honor and obey Him.

That's an evidence that you love Him. If you love me, said Jesus, keep my commandments. Now let's look at Psalm 77. Here we find the words of Asaph as he pours out his heart before the Lord. I cried unto God with my voice.

See, this doesn't depict the idea of just speaking in a conversational tone. This comes from a heart that's troubled. I cried, I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and He gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. What did he do? Did he say, I'm going to have to have somebody analyze what's going on inside of me, look into the deep recesses of my inner being, help me to find the hidden child within, help me to recover repressed memories?

No. He says, I cried unto the Lord, even God, He gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My sore ran in the night and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted.

My sore ran in the night. Ever had one of those times where it just looked like things didn't get better? You say, surely tomorrow has got to be better than today was, and tomorrow gets here and it's worse. You say, these burdens are so heavy, I just don't know how I can bear them. Why is there no sunshine in the sky?

Why are the birds not singing on the path that I travel? Why is my heart not lifted up? Why is it I feel depressed and discouraged? Why is it that my plan seems so often frustrated? Why is it when I try to do my best and serve God that I'm criticized and misunderstood?

Why? My sore ran in the night and my soul refused to be comforted. We sometimes get in that plight. The apostle said that he was thankful to the God of all comfort for the coming of Titus. He recognized God as the source of our comfort and Titus as being the channel of it.

As soon as we get our eyes on the channel and forget the source, the Lord will take the channel away, because he's going to have us always mindful of the fact that comfort must come from him. But it is possible for the Lord to send the channel of comfort and the child of God refused to receive it. God sends you a loving brother or sister in Christ. They try to admonish you. They try to share with you their experiences from a biblical standpoint. You're so stressed you don't even want to hear it. Your reaction is, you just don't understand my case.

They say to the biblical counselor, you're just not qualified. You can't possibly know how deep my hurts are. I don't want your comfort. I refuse to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled.

My, that's a strange expression. Asaph, one of the writers of the Psalms, a man of God, one who certainly believed in his sovereignty, said I remembered God and was troubled. And there have been times in your own experience when you remembered God and rather than being comforted, you were troubled. In many instances you were troubled because you realized your faults, your failings, you saw your sins. And you were troubled. Sometimes you were troubled because you could not understand the strange providence that was unfolding in your life.

And then what does he say? I complained. That's the sense in which we're using the word in this part of our message. I complained, not murmured, but I expressed myself to the Lord. I uttered the things that I struggled with. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed, selah. And selah means going to stop and meditate on that a little bit. And after all that it's time to stop and meditate a little bit, see. Because at that point, Asaph is saying, I'm troubled at thoughts of God and I'm refusing to be comforted. Thou holdest mine eyes waking, I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Have you been there? There's times I just, I can't even express myself.

I'd like to talk to somebody but I don't know what to say. I have considered the days of all the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night.

I commune with mine own heart, my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever? Will he be favorable no more? Now in reality, does the Lord ever cast his people off? Has the Lord ever done it? No, he's promised I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so that we may boldly say the Lord is our helper. He said the mother may forget her sucking child but I'll not forget thee because thy names are engraven on the palm of my hands. The names of his people are ever before him, he does not forget them but there are seasons when we feel to be forgotten.

There is a barrier between us and the Lord either because of our sin or because of our response or our attitude or the Lord sovereignly has withdrawn his comforts for a moment that we may humble ourselves and turn to him, recognize our weakness and acknowledge our need to depend upon him. Will the Lord cast off forever? Will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does his promise fail forevermore? Have God forgotten to be gracious?

Now what a question. God is the God of all grace. He's constantly gracious.

Somebody says, but I can't put that together. If God is so gracious and kind, why doesn't he heal this person who's so sick and suffered so long and I've prayed for them so diligently? Why doesn't the Lord change this situation in my life? The Lord knows my back's against the wall. Why doesn't he come to my rescue?

Can't figure all that out. But God is gracious and by faith we must believe it even when we can't see it. God is gracious to us when the rain falls just as much as when the sun shines. God is gracious to us when we're in the fiery furnace and he's consuming the dross as much as he is the day he brings us out and we can praise his name for deliverance. God is gracious to us when we're passing through the deep waters and he says, they shall not overflow thee as he is the day we stand on the banks of deliverance and sing his praise triumphantly. The Lord is gracious to us in the midst of all of our struggles and all of our heartaches and all of our reverses and all of our setbacks just as much as he will be that day when he transports us safely to the other shore. And we land secure in heaven itself. Now we'll know then that he's the God of all grace and there'll be no complaints.

There'll be no replies against his sovereignty. There'll be no soul in heaven to say, Lord why, why, why? Why did I have to travel such a twisted path? Why was my life so difficult?

Why were my burdens so heavy? For then we'll understand of a truth, the words of the apostle when he says, our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal way to glory. See if all of your view is on the present, then every trouble is going to be a major trouble.

Every setback is going to be unbearable. Every injustice that's dealt you is going to seem that you just can't tolerate it. But when you understand you're just a stranger and a pilgrim here, your inheritance is on the other side. You're traveling to a city. You're looking for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God, then your whole view of the present is changed. Say, isn't the present important?

Oh, absolutely. Every moment, every day is important. We're to redeem the time. We're to live to the glory and praise of our Savior Jesus Christ.

But we're looking for that which is to come. He's gracious. Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? No, God's always merciful.

And I said, this is my infirmity. Did Asa say, Lord I don't see any evidence of your grace and therefore I'm angry? I just don't feel like you've dealt fairly with me. You know one thing, when we talk about being dealt with unfairly, it's clear that we don't have a proper view of ourselves. Suppose God had dealt with you on the basis of every sin you've ever committed. All you've got to do is look at the rigid law that was given to Moses and see how many sins required the death penalty. Murderers were put to death. Adulters were put to death.

Rebellious children were put to death. Where would any of us be today? The list goes on and on. And if we've offended in one point, we're guilty of it all. Say, my life's full of trouble.

Isn't it amazing that you're as well off as you are? If God was dealing with you on the basis of your own life, your own conduct and what you deserve, where would you be? I tell you, all of us this very day would be under the burning wrath of God if He dealt with us according to our sin. The fact that you're not in hell today is an amazing evidence of His mercy. You know, when you come to see that, it gives you a different outlook about everything.

So Asaph comes to this conclusion. I said this in my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of thy work and talk of thy doings. What was his conclusion?

That all of these things, these questions that he raised, as the mercy of the Lord cleaned on forever. I said this in my infirmity. It was in my weakness. I didn't perceive things as they really are. I didn't have the right point of view. I was in the wrong frame of mind.

I said it in my infirmity. Now let's turn to the book of Lamentations. You probably already anticipated that. You can't talk on this theme without looking at something that the weeping prophet Jeremiah had to say. And like so many Bible subjects, this just gets to be such a tremendous theme.

We could go on and on with this. Just going through this one book, you can see so much of what we're trying to get across clearly exemplified here. In the second chapter, the book of Lamentations, verse 15, he says, All that pass by... now he's talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. And he's talking about those that pass by and view this terrible scene. All that pass by clap their hands at thee. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth? Jeremiah is saying, Lord, look at us.

Your people, your city, we're in ruin. And our enemies pass by. They clap their hands. They hiss. They wag their head. They say, look at this.

Is this the city that the men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth? Look at us. Lord, we're in misery. Your judgments have been meted out on us.

We're in a terrible plight. We certainly look forward to hearing from our listeners and appreciate feedback about what the messages may mean to you. Our mailing address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Now, till we greet you next time, this is LaSara Bradley, Jr. Bending a goodbye and may God bless you. Praising my Savior.