Title: God Who Always Cares
Contents
Bible: Psalm 13:1-6
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Looking at David's life, he had the courage at a young age to defeat Goliath, which none of the Israeli soldiers could face, in the name of God. However, when the incident gained popularity among the people, King Saul, jealous of this, suffered from living as a fugitive for nearly 20 years. David certainly did great things to Israel in the name of God, but we see that he will suffer for this.
Likewise, Jesus healed the sick, gave food to the hungry, and gave heavenly instructions to ignorant disciples and people. This Jesus suffered on the cross. You suffered when you had no reason to suffer.
First, the righteous suffer.
Today's text is a poem that David wrote in the midst of such hardships when he was being pursued by Saul. “God, how long will evil reign like this, and how long will you turn away from me? In verses 1 and 2, verses 1 and 2 are recorded in strong petitions, “Does God really love me and take care of me?”
Hungry David and his companions went to a place called Nob and got help from a priest named Ahimelech. As a result, Saul led his army to Nob and killed 85 priests, including Ahimelech. David could not comprehend these events.
So was Jesus. On the cross, Jesus said, “Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
When we face unforeseen hardships and hardships like this, many people ask, “Is there really a God when you say that God controls everything in the universe?” Suffering like this makes the distance between God and me.
Second, through suffering, true believers are distinguished from false believers.
Hosea 13:3 and Luke 3:17 say, “In times of distress, we can distinguish the wheat from the chaff.” In times of hardship, true believers draw closer to God, and false believers leave God.
Ten years ago there was a large missionary organization called Mission in Unity. Delegations from all over the world gather in Geneva for a meeting, and I was present as the denomination's representative. There, I met representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, and they said that countless Russian Orthodox priests died during Stalin's time. They didn't kill him with a gun, but in order to maximize the pain, he said that he was beaten to death. It is the Russian Orthodox Church that overcame such persecution and has kept its faith until now, but I heard Korean missionaries come and criticize the Eastern Orthodox Church for missionary work saying that there is no salvation and that it is going to hell. It is said that the wheat and the chaff are differentiated through the suffering you are experiencing, even if it is not suffering from such external persecution.
Third, for true believers, God has priority even in the midst of suffering.
Looking back at the text, David continues to plead with God. “Do you really love me? Are you really there?” He said, “God, just think about it and hear my prayer. God give me the light so that I can be spiritually awake. If I make a mistake, I am afraid that I will fall into the sleep of death.” He pleads, but you can see that the fence called God never escapes.
Our priority in life is to put God first in any situation. This is the important faith David had. For David, there was only God, who had the highest priority. But Saul prayed to God when the Philistine army was attacking the area called Shunem. But when there is no answer, he goes to a young woman in Tekoa and asks for the soul of Samuel. In this way, we can see that Saul's faith in God is shaken.
Fourth, God does not change.
He also committed the great sin of bringing in an idol called Baal to Israel, killing numerous prophets who believed in God, and accused Naboth the owner of the vineyard to death and forcibly took it from him because he wanted a vineyard. However, when King Ahab prayed for repentance before God, he saw that King Ahab was not forgiven in human terms, but God withheld His wrath. We are not here because we are all good and doing only good. No matter how much we sin, God forgives us when we sincerely repent, so we can worship before God. When we face hardships, the greater the trouble, the closer we are to God.
The entire psalm consists of 150 Psalms. Among them, 65 poems of supplication. But more importantly, it is said that the poem that always appears after a poem of petition is a poem of gratitude. Gratitude follows: “I prayed to the loving God, and God heard my prayer. I praised God, and God will be hospitable to me.” We believe that God's hospitality will come to us and God's miracles will happen when we depend on the unchanging Lord and pray and praise regardless of our circumstances.
2011-04-21 14:56:27