October 13, 2019

Prayer in the Day of Trouble

Ron Lutz ~ Psalm 77

Sermon Quotes

Psalm 77
I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. 4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I consider the days of old, the years long ago. 6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.”  Then my spirit made a diligent search: 7 “Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable?  8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” 10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” 11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? 14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. 15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. 16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. 17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side.18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. 20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

  1. Will the Lord spurn forever?
  2. Will he never again be favorable?
  3. Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
  4. Are his promises at an end for all time?
  5. Has God forgotten to be gracious?
  6. Has he in anger shut up his compassion?

“Doubts are better put into plain speech than lying diffused and darkening, like poisonous mist, in the heart.  A thought, be it good or bad, can be dealt with when it is made articulate.”
-Alexander Maclaren

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.

“If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped.”
-Evelyn Underhill

“God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”
-Elizabeth Elliot

Romans 8:16-20 
16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled  17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. 18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. 20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

  1. Don’t stop talking with God.
  2. Pray your struggles, questions and doubts
  3. Pray with honesty and humility
  4. Pray the gospel – pray yourself back into faith and trust.