What good is Faith? Tim from CMS

Well, firstly, can I say thank you very much for having us here this morning.

It's a real privilege to be able to speak to you.

We've got lots of news that we want to tell you,

but as we mentioned earlier,

we're going to be coming back a bit later on in the year

to give you much more time and to be able to tell more news.

We're looking forward to telling you our news,

and I wonder what kind of news you're expecting.

I hope you're expecting great news of success

and of wisdom

and of walking with the Lord

and of the great things that result from that.

But what if we had failures to report?

How would that be received?

This psalm is a record of a godly man

who's speaking about a time of failure in his life.

We're not so good at talking about the bad stuff

when we talk about the Christian life

and the fear of the Lord

and the great things that result from wisdom.

It's generally all positive things.

It's true in other areas of our life too.

We prefer everything to be reported

from a positive point of view.

A difficult employee is not a problem,

he's a challenge.

At least that's what somebody told me recently.

Politicians always tell us of their successes

and conveniently omit any of their failures.

It's not just in the outside world,

in the church too.

It's difficult to speak of difficult times.

Whilst we were away,

my mum and dad sent me

issues of the Southern Cross magazine.

You know the one I mean.

And there are many stories in there

of church plants

and testimonies of people

who have been converted and so on.

But there were not many articles

on churches that shrink

or that disappear

or policies that have turned out

in retrospect not to have gone well

or so on.

On the whole,

we're not so good at dealing with failure.

Unless we can blame it on something.

But this psalm

is a testimony of regret.

Even in spite of a godly

and a wise life.

Now don't get me wrong.

Leading the Christian life

in the fear of the Lord

ought to be a cause

of great happiness

most of the time.

And it's right

that that theme

should be centre stage.

The fear of the Lord

is the beginning of wisdom

and of a blessed life.

But it shouldn't be

the only thing on stage.

It's right

that most of the psalms

should be full of praise

and of things

learned

and positive experiences.

But like this psalm,

there are sometimes occasions

when we need to admit

that despite living

in the fear of the Lord

and trying our best

to live a godly life,

things have not gone well.

Life is not always good

for Christians.

When we were overseas,

we met a number of families

who had to return

after a short time

back to their sending churches

through no fault of their own.

But I remember thinking

how hard it would be

for them

to report back

to their sending churches.

How could you

stand in front of a church

and say,

well, we accomplished

pretty much nothing

and we're sorry

to be back

three weeks

after you sent us?

Often,

we are addicted

to success.

I use the word addiction

because addiction

tends to crowd out

other things

and sometimes

our thirst for success

and growth

in godliness

and wanting

to hear positive news

of the results

of living a godly life

in the fear of the Lord.

Often,

that thirst

for success

can drive out

our willingness

to hear

the negative.

And it's

psalms like

Psalm 73

that enable us

to retrieve

our bearings

and get a grip

on reality.

Otherwise,

we simply

have no place

for understanding

doubt

or sin

in the Christian life.

There is a happy ending

to Psalm 73

but it comes

after

a very difficult

time.

You know,

I think

Christians today,

probably more than

say,

20 or 30 years ago,

are reasonably

comfortable

talking about

doubt

in the Christian life.

In some

Christian circles,

it's actually

fashionable

to talk about

your doubts

and your struggles

as a regular thing.

But one thing

that we're not

comfortable about

is speaking

of regret

in the Christian life.

Regret is saying

something like,

look,

I have been living

as a Christian,

living in the fear

of the Lord

and I regret

doing so.

what a waste

of my time.

But that's

exactly what

the psalmist

writes.

If you have a look

at verse 13

and 14,

he says,

surely in vain

I have kept

my heart

pure.

He's not

lamenting

some sin

he committed,

he's lamenting

living in the fear

of the Lord.

He's lamenting

and regretting

his life

of godliness.

In vain

I washed

my hands

in innocence.

And all

that he has

experienced

has been bad.

All day long

I've been plagued,

I have been punished

every morning.

He'd been living

the godly life.

Not cheating

on his taxes,

not stealing

his neighbour's

donkey

or nicking

his wheat

or whatever

he did

back then.

And you know

what?

It got him

nowhere.

Absolutely

nowhere.

He kept

on receiving

bad news.

Meanwhile,

the bad guys

were doing

very well

on Easy

Street

and he

envied

them.

In verse

4 he says,

those bad guys

they just have

no struggles.

Their bodies

are healthy

and strong,

free from

burdens.

they got

away with

all sorts

of violence.

Pride

was at the

centre of

their hearts.

They said

no to

God.

There was

no fear

of God

in their

lives

and the

result,

their lives

were great.

And the

psalmist

said,

I regret

being

a believer.

all day

long I've

been

afflicted.

Every

morning

brings

new

punishments.

This

isn't

just

a

passing

thought

on his

part.

The

psalm

does not

mention

any

scale

of time

explicitly,

but the

amount

of detail

and number

of examples

that he

gives,

lead me to

think that

it's at

least weeks

and probably

months that

he was

experiencing

this.

it's not

an isolated

thought,

but countless

examples that

he gives

in verses

4 and 5

and all the

way up to

11.

And he

concludes,

this is what

the wicked

are like,

always care

free,

they increase

in wealth.

And he

envies them

and more

than that,

he regrets

living a

life in

the fear

of the

Lord.

He

regrets

it.

In

vain I've

kept my

heart

pure.

We

know I'm

glad that

the psalmist

told me that

he felt like

that.

And I'm

glad that

God allowed

this psalm

to be

published.

God

didn't

censor

it as

an opinion

that might

disturb the

faith of

the

faithful.

The

psalms are

remarkable for

their lack

of censorship

of human

emotion.

Whilst we

were overseas,

I frequently

visited a

bookshop.

And on one

occasion I was

trying to find a

book on a

certain topic,

I won't tell

you what,

and I couldn't

find what I

wanted.

I asked the

manager,

and he said,

oh, we're not

allowed to sell

books on that

topic.

Now, if you

went to this

bookshop and

you just scanned

the shelves,

you'd not think

anything awry,

you'd not notice

anything missing.

But if you look

more carefully,

entire sections

were missing.

Accounts of

battles that the

country had lost,

for example,

recent political

history,

criticism of the

national religion,

no matter how

academic,

books on biology,

there was a lot

of censorship.

And most people

were not aware

of it.

They simply knew

subconsciously that

there were some

things that you do

not talk about.

I think that

regret in the

Christian life is

something that in

church we

subconsciously believe

ought not be

talked about.

But the psalm

here forces us

to because it

makes it public.

Successful

Christian living,

stories about

living in the

fear of the

Lord and the

great benefits

that arise from

this, ought to

take center stage.

But they ought

not to be the

only things on

the stage.

Because sometimes

these stories of

success can act

subconsciously as

senses.

We just don't

want to listen to

things like that.

People feel ashamed

of saying anything

negative.

But if doubts and

struggles, and not

just doubts and

struggles, but if

sheer regret and

pure envy, if that

becomes unspeakable

publicly in church, then

it's not long before

they become unspeakable

privately before God.

And after a while,

people simply don't

know what to expect of

the Christian life.

The Bible is very

different.

There are entire

books in the Bible,

like Job, like

Ecclesiastes, that

explore this darker

side to life.

And there are

psalms, which we

should probably

consider just to be

like church songs.

There are psalms that

speak of times of

regret and of

anger and of

sadness, despite

living a godly

life.

They're not the

majority, but they

are there.

The life of

Jesus is not

dissimilar.

Of the three

years, approximately,

that we believe he

engaged in public

ministry, teaching, and

so on, about so

much is written.

And about the

same is written about

the last week of his

life, which was a

terrible event.

But our God is

kind and

generous and

not insecure, and

he does not act

like a censor.

When Jesus

cried out on the

cross, my God, my

God, why have you

forsaken me?

God didn't

say to the

gospel writer, I

think you should

leave that bit

out.

A bit

uncomfortable, that

bit, especially

coming from the

Son of God.

God is not

insecure.

He's so

different to the

dictators of the

Middle East that we

read about.

Now, it's not just

that God wants us to

be honest with our

feelings, although

that's true.

In this psalm, it's

not honesty which

comes to the fore,

but it's that God

wants us to know

that there is a

way out.

God trains us to

acknowledge the

darkness and to

be assured that

there is a way

out of the

darkness.

This psalm is not

just a candid

admission of

regret.

It is also the

account of

thanksgiving, where

he says, I move

through that time of

regret, and I

see now how

good God is.

You know, the

writer of this

psalm speaks of

personal regret, but

it also speaks of a

time of a return to

confident and happy

faith in God.

And he concludes

by saying how good

God is.

I had this period of

regret, and then I

realized how great

God is, and how

the life of lying

and violence that I

envied won't end

well, and how one

day they will be

swept away in your

anger, oh Lord.

God.

The writer reminds us

of some wonderful

things.

In verse 22, when

I was a senseless and

ignorant beast, God

you still held on to

me.

You've always held my

right hand.

This psalm is a great

testimony to the

weakness of man and

the strength of God in

hanging on to us, even

in the middle of the

times when we regret

being a Christian.

And after that time of

regret, when we come

back to a time of

faith, as this

psalmist does, we

come back to God and

we say, whom have I

in heaven but you?

There is nothing in

heaven on earth or on

earth that can replace

you, oh God.

To live with you is all

I desire.

When Steve asked a

moment ago, everybody,

you know, what is it

that they would want

to have that somebody

else has that they

haven't got?

I said a new iPad.

You know, there are

times when you feel

like that.

If only I had this or

that.

But to know God, well

that is the best thing

of all.

It cannot be replaced.

Nothing in heaven or

on earth can replace

you.

To live in fellowship

with God is the most

wonderful thing of all.

You know, we cannot

depend on our own

strength or even the

steadfastness of our

own faith.

In this psalm, the

psalmist candidly admits

that he regretted being

a believer.

Now, we cannot depend

on our own steadfastness

of faith, but we can

depend on God, who

will hold our hand

even though we do not

know it, even in those

times.

God alone is our

refuge.

So this psalm is there

so that when you really

regret being a Christian,

you know that you are

not the first.

And you know that it's

okay to tell God

about it.

The psalm is there to

remind us that lives

in the church, even

godly lives, are not

simple success stories

all the time.

There are some people

who live the godly life

for a long time, who

find themselves saying

to themselves, you

know, I regret being

a Christian.

What a waste of my

efforts.

The psalm reminds us

that those thoughts

do occur to us.

We are not above

them.

Difficulties with faith

are real, and they

ought to be openly

expressed like they

are here in the psalm,

in a frame of coming

back to knowing God,

but there is still a

candid admission that

there was a time when

we felt like this.

In fact, can you

imagine singing a

song, and in the

chorus it said,

surely in vain I have

kept my heart pure.

What a waste.

You can imagine this

song being put to

music, and the music

writer thinking to

himself, I wonder what

sort of music I should

set this to.

How do you express

musically I regret being

a Christian?

Do the drums come in at

that point?

But as well as

acknowledging difficulty,

this psalm also shows

the way out.

It reminds us that the

fear of the Lord continues

to be the beginning of

all wisdom.

It points the way back

to God without being

trite.

It might be that you're

one of those people

not experiencing any

problems at the

moment, and that's

fantastic.

Rejoice in the

experiences of people

like this psalmist,

who have turnarounds

in faith.

These things happen all

the time in the

Christian life.

Do not have an

over-rosy expectation

of the Christian

life.

For even the most

godly person, like

the psalmist here,

will have times when

he regrets being a

believer.

It could be that

you're about halfway

through this psalm,

and currently you do

regret being a

Christian, and you

feel like that those

people on the outside

who have no regard for

God whatsoever, are

frankly doing better

than you, by a long

way.

Well, in verse 2, the

psalmist writes this,

but as for me, my

feet had almost

slipped.

I had nearly lost my

foothold.

Well, don't let that

almost and nearly

turn into a

completely.

Let this psalm from

God remind you that

God understands the

evil in this world,

and he calls you out

of it.

Be patient.

Keep on coming to

church, meeting with

other Christians.

It's during that time

the psalmist said that

he came to a fresh

understanding of God.

He says it was when he

came into the sanctuary

of God, where there

would be the reading of

God's word and the

reminders of the life

of wisdom in the fear

of the Lord.

God's word.

So be patient if that's

you.

Churches need to speak

about the real world,

not just success stories.

A healthy church can

cope with real life.

You know, even in an

unhealthy church, it's

possible for the believer

so to trust God that he's

not worried really by the

silly things that other

people sometimes think,

simplistic views of

success and so on.

God is bigger and

kinder than all that.

I don't know whether the

psalmist felt embarrassed

to write this psalm or

whether he felt that he

was breaking new ground in

the church by including a

song like this.

It must have taken a great

deal of confidence to

candidly tell everybody at

church or the temple at

that time that he had

regretted being a believer.

It must have been his great

confidence in God that in

the end it was God's

opinion of him that

mattered more than

anything else.

I think you can see that

in the memory verse that

we had earlier.

My flesh and my heart may

fail, but God is the

strength of my heart and

my portion forever.

Amen.