A Present Help in Trouble (Praise Night)

A reading from Psalm 22, verses 1-2 and 14-19, which is a promise that was fulfilled at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Psalms 22:1–2

These words were spoken from the mouth of Jesus.

And the text reads,

A reading from Psalm 130 for those who are crying out from the pit.

And the text says,

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy.

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared.

So I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. And in His word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord.

More than watchman for the morning. More than watchman for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is steadfast love.

And with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all His iniquities.

And we'll read the Bible one more time together.

From Psalm 46. And we'll read the first seven verses.

And the writer writes this.

God is our strength and God is our refuge, excuse me, and strength.

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved.

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage.

The kingdoms totter.

He utters His voice and the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us.

The God of Jacob is our fortress.

This is God's holy word.

Now, if I had any power around here at all, I would make the harmony group sing the psalms every single Sunday.

But I don't have that power.

So we'll pray for it.

And we'll ask them, plead with them to come back next Sunday.

Let me just point out four things about the psalm.

This is a psalm about facing trouble.

So let me just point out four things very briefly about it.

First, what's the trouble that's being talked about here in this psalm?

So at the very beginning, verse 1, there's a mention of trouble.

And then in verse 2, the text does not open gently at all.

It says that though the earth gives way,

though the mountains fall and be moved into the heart of the sea,

though the waters of the sea roar and foam.

So there's this image here of a reversal of creation.

The idea is almost that everything God established in Genesis 1,

the order is being turned upside down.

And the mountains, instead of being established, they're falling into the sea.

So it has this picture of a great tsunami and earthquake and things literally falling apart.

What is this event that the psalm writer is talking about

that makes the world feel like the mountains are falling into the sea?

And if you look down at verse 4, you'll see that right after that,

the city is mentioned, the city of God there.

And if you were to just cast your eyes across the rest of the psalm,

the nations are raging, the kingdoms are tottering,

the Lord of hosts is defending His people.

It says in verse 9, we didn't read that far, but God makes wars to cease.

And so it's very, very probable here that the trouble,

the trouble that's mentioned in verse 1,

is that the city of Jerusalem is being besieged.

So this idea of the mountains falling into the sea and the earth trembling

is metaphorical language for somebody's world being flipped upside down.

The writer, whatever they're going through,

it literally feels like decreation is happening.

So if you are an ancient person living in the ancient Near East,

and you live in a city,

you probably live in a city that has walls all the way around it.

And when an invading army comes to besiege you,

they typically surround you,

and they might cut off your food supply,

they cut off your water supply,

they starve you out,

they attack you.

And I can't even imagine what it must be like

to be an ancient person living in a city

that is under siege.

And, you know, you had a peaceful existence,

and all of a sudden your world is absolutely being torn apart.

And so if you are a victim of that in the ancient world,

you are undoubtedly going to die,

or you're going to see part of your family be killed,

or you're going to be taken into slavery,

and all sorts of unspeakable horrors

are probably going to happen to you.

And that's the trouble

that's being talked about metaphorically probably,

very probably, in the psalm.

Two applications, two lessons,

let me mention here.

The Bible does not run past

the hardest realities of human life.

So sometimes people come and say

about Christianity or about religion in general,

I can't believe in God

because of how hard life is

and how much suffering there is,

how much evil,

and how much pain and trouble there is in this world.

But I just want you to notice

that the Bible never glosses over

the depth of trouble that this life brings.

Instead, the Bible talks about it very openly

and very honestly,

and even provides language to name it

and to experience it,

provides a way of experiencing it,

songs to sing while you're experiencing it.

And in fact, in the midst of that,

that language that the Bible provides,

Christianity gives a real gift,

and that's explanatory power

to why we suffer so much.

And so every religion,

every philosophy,

every worldview has to face this question,

what is the source of suffering

and evil in this world?

And all the different religions

give different answers to that,

and secular humanism or naturalism

gives a different answer to that.

But Christianity comes and says

that the troubles you are experiencing

really are troubles.

They're not a mirage of neurons

firing in your head.

It's not an illusion.

Evil is not an illusion like Buddhism says.

And evil is not an illusion

like secular naturalism says.

And instead, trouble really is trouble.

And you see, the problem with trouble,

if you don't believe in God,

is that for trouble to be trouble,

you have to call it evil.

And to be evil,

you have to believe

that there is such a thing as the good.

You see, evil is parasitic upon the good.

And without the good,

without a transcendent good,

you cannot even talk about evil, you see.

And so Christianity provides

this real explanatory power

to be able to actually say,

trouble really is trouble.

It never glosses over it.

It names it.

It calls it out.

Suffering is a human problem

that every single one of us face.

The second application,

and I'll move on,

is that not only does the Bible

not gloss over real trouble,

but I think this psalm exists

to simply point out the fact

that most of us know something

of what's being talked about here.

So the writer says,

the mountains are literally

falling into the sea.

Metaphorically falling into the sea

because their world

is being turned upside down.

And I would imagine

that there are many of you here tonight

that have had an event like this

where you can say something like this,

where you have had the earth

move beneath your feet,

a tectonic shift,

the mountains feel to be falling into the sea

because of something that's happened to you,

because of that 2 a.m. phone call

that you never expected in your life,

because of that person that you lost,

that you never thought

you'd have to say goodbye to this early,

because even of the simple reality

of losing that job

or that thing that you had so pursued

that you thought,

this is going to make sense of my life,

this is going to give me my identity,

but then it was taken from you.

And it was like the mountains

falling into the sea.

It was like your city,

the city you have built,

has been besieged.

And so I just want to say first

that the Bible never glosses over this reality,

trouble.

Secondly, what does the God of the Bible say

to us in the midst of trouble,

in the midst of suffering?

And the text is really clear.

It says God is our refuge.

So God is our refuge.

God is our strength.

And then thirdly,

God is our very present help in trouble.

Notice that as this writer

is under siege,

his life changing before his eyes,

he doesn't say God will fortify the refuge.

God will keep these walls intact.

He doesn't say God will make me strong enough

to be able to defeat my enemies.

Instead, he says God is my refuge.

I hide in him.

God is my strength,

even when I have none.

And so what the Bible does,

it says that God,

the God of the Bible,

who made the world,

who is present at all times in this world

by the Holy Spirit,

that God is very near,

very close to those

who are walking through deep pain

and deep trouble and deep suffering.

And so the Bible doesn't say

that God will prevent every disaster.

He has a rescue plan

and it will come one day.

But what the Bible says is

God will give you company

in every disaster.

He will be with you.

He will be a very present help to you,

very near to you in trouble.

There's so much mystery

about suffering and evil

and the pain that we all experience.

And the Bible does not answer every question

about the mystery of death

and the mystery of suffering

and the mystery of evil.

But the riddles of God,

the riddles of God

are far more satisfying

than the solutions of men.

And here we're being told

that God will be near you

when you suffer.

It's very simple and very true.

Imagine, I've got five children,

so I don't have to imagine this,

but many of you know

what I'm talking about

where it's the middle of the night.

We keep two monitors running

in our house,

baby monitors at all times

because we live downstairs

and our kids live upstairs.

And so we have to put monitors

in different places

to figure out

who is crying where

in the house

in the middle of the night.

And they both feed

into our bedroom

on different sides

while we sleep.

When a child cries out

in the middle of the night

and they say,

I'm afraid,

I'm so afraid.

When a child cries out

and says,

I'm hurt,

I'm hurt,

something's wrong with me.

They do not want a lecture

on the nature of darkness.

They don't want to be told,

you know,

if you really understood

what darkness is,

you wouldn't be afraid of it.

It's simply an absence of light

and you don't have to be afraid.

They don't want to be told,

hey, this pain is temporary,

it's going to go away.

What do they want?

What do they want

when they cry out?

What does the sufferer,

the little child want

in the darkness?

They want their dad

to come and be with them.

They want their mom

to stay and give them a hug.

They want presence.

And we want the same thing.

We want presence.

God the Father says

that He will be near to you

in the midst of your trouble.

That's what Christianity offers.

Thirdly,

that's vague.

You say,

maybe.

That's vague.

That needs to be more specific

and I think so too.

And so,

there's a more specific answer

in this passage

and it's in verse 4.

It says,

there is a river

whose streams

make glad

the city of God.

So,

in siege warfare

in the ancient Near East,

if you were going to besiege a city

like Jerusalem,

you would surround it

and you would cut off

the food supply

and you would cut off

the water supply

and it would not take very long,

especially if there was

no water supply

to make the inhabitants surrender.

If there is a river

running through the city

that is being besieged,

it is almost impossible

to make that work.

If there is a water supply

running through the heart

of the city,

a great army can surround it

but it's very hard

to get the people to surrender

because they have a source of life.

It can sustain them.

It can keep them.

And so,

in the midst of trouble,

we're being told here,

how is God very near to you?

And then we read about

this great city.

There is a city.

See,

if you're living in Jerusalem

as this psalmist probably was

and your city is being besieged,

there is no river

running through the middle

of Jerusalem.

There wasn't

in the ancient Near East.

There was a Hezekiah's tunnel

eventually that did have water

underneath it

but in general,

there's no river

and there's no river

running through the city

of Jerusalem today

and that means

that what's happening here

is a great sufferer

is writing a song

saying,

I imagine a city

where there is a river

running through it.

And that city

is the city of God

and God is there

and that river

will give me what I need

for all my days.

So,

what this psalm does

is says,

the Christian has the ability

to use your imagination

in the midst of suffering

and plead the promises

of God

and say,

my city is being besieged

and there is no river

giving me a water supply

at the moment

but I know

that God says

there is a city

that is to come

that has an eternal river

that will quench the thirst

of all who suffer.

And when we come

to the New Testament,

we read about

two different kinds of cities.

There's an earthly city

like Edinburgh,

like Jerusalem,

like any of the earthly cities

and every single one

of the earthly cities

is eventually going to rot.

Every one of the earthly cities

is temporary,

it's earthly

but there's citizenship

in another city

and that's the city of God

and that's the city

that's being talked about

right here

and there's a river

in the heart of that city

that can satisfy you

for all of your days

and the New Testament says

this is how God

is very present,

very near to you

that Jesus Christ

is that river.

Jesus Christ is the river.

He says to us

in John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

if anybody thirst,

come to me

and drink.

Even now,

even now,

the text John 7 says

in the midst of trouble

whoever believes in me

out of his heart

will flow a river

of living water

that you even now

in the midst of trouble

can have a river

flowing from your heart,

a Christ,

the Christ

who will never leave you

or forsake you.

He didn't,

Jesus Christ,

he didn't stay away

from trouble.

Every worldview,

every religion,

every philosophy

needs to say something

about the nature

of suffering,

the nature of evil

and a solution

to this great dilemma

and while the Bible

does not answer

every single question

there is of the great mystery

of suffering and death,

what it tells us

is that God himself

did not stay away

from trouble.

He entered into it.

The Son of God came

and he faced trouble

head on.

He experienced trouble

beyond our imagination

at the cross

so that we might drink

from the river

of the city of God.

That's the promise.

That's how God says

he will be very near to you.

Revelation 22

is this great vision

of the new heavens

and the new earth

where heaven has come down.

Christ has brought heaven

down to earth

and there's a river

running through the middle of it

and it says

that river makes the people

of the city glad.

It gives life to everything

and that river

is Jesus Christ himself.

He promises

that when you believe in him

he really will be present

with you even in this life

by the Holy Spirit

and especially

in the times

of your greatest trouble.

So lastly,

what do you do

with your suffering

even tonight?

Let me ask you,

are you a citizen

of the eternal city?

By faith,

you can be a citizen

of the eternal city

and have a hope

in the midst

of your suffering.

Jonathan Edwards

was a pretty well-known

famous theologian

and president

of Princeton

in the United States

in the 18th century

and he wrote

a famous sermon

that has been used

many, many times.

There's a good chance

many of you in here

if you're around church much

have heard this before

but he talked about

in this sermon

the practical benefits

of following Jesus

when facing suffering

and so they are very practical.

Let me just list them

for you as we finish.

Jonathan Edwards said

and this is more modern language

than he gave,

your bad things

will be turned to good,

your bad things

will be turned to good

and your best things

are still ahead of you.

So when you have Jesus

in your life

in the midst of suffering

your bad things

will be turned into good

and your best

is still ahead of you

and he's thinking there

of Romans 8, 28

all things work together

for the good

of those who love God

and are called

according to his purpose

and this is not cheap comfort,

it's not dismissal

of injustice,

it's not dismissal

of all the grievances

that have occurred

and the suffering

that has taken place.

The Bible names it

and says it's great evil,

it's corruption,

sin has brought so much pain

in this world

but in the mystery of God,

God tells us

that somehow,

some way,

all things will work together

for the good

of those who love him

and so we can look

and say something like

just because I can't think

of a good reason

that God would allow pain

and suffering

and evil in this life

doesn't mean there isn't one.

Somehow,

some way,

all things will work together

for the good

of those who love him.

In Dostoyevsky's great novel,

The Brothers Karamazov,

there's two characters,

Ivan and Alyosha

and Ivan is regularly

the chorus line

throughout the book

of talking about human cruelty

and suffering and pain

and it's really a book,

it's a wonderful novel

focused on the problem of evil

and there's one moment

where Alyosha responds to Ivan

and Ivan had been talking

about all the misery

of this human life

and this is what Alyosha writes

through Dostoyevsky's hand,

I believe like a child

that suffering will be healed

and made up for,

that in the world's finale,

something so precious

will come to pass

that it will suffice

for all hearts,

for the comforting

of all resentments,

for the atonement

of all the crimes

of humanity,

of all the blood

they've shed,

that it will make it

not only possible

to forgive,

but somehow to justify

all that has happened.

I believe like a child,

somehow,

some way that suffering

will be healed

and made up for

in the last day.

Death is not the end.

The last thing

Edwards says is

your good things,

if you believe in Jesus today,

your good things

cannot be taken away

from you in this life,

even in the midst

of suffering.

So if you have

God as a father,

Jesus Christ

as your savior,

redeemer,

and elder brother,

and the Holy Spirit

as your daily companion,

your good things

cannot be taken away

from you.

You have reconciliation

with God,

the thing you were made for,

God himself,

that will never be

taken away from you.

You have an identity

in him

that will never leave you

no matter what you suffer.

No matter how much

your city,

your personal city,

is besieged in this life.

When you are with God,

you have something

that you can never lose,

and it's the very best thing,

and that's relationship

with him,

the very thing

you were made for.

There's a story,

I don't know if it's true,

but by tradition at least,

about Martin Luther.

He was a great reformer

in Germany

in the 1500s,

and the story says

that on the threat

of execution,

he was walking into a room

where he thought

he was going to be executed,

and Martin Luther

reportedly turned

to his sidekick,

Philip Melanchthon,

and he said,

come Philip,

let us sing the 46th.

That's Psalm 46.

Luther knew,

I might be executed

in this room,

I'm not sure,

but he said,

let's sing the 46th.

I know I'm a citizen

of a better city,

one where the sufferings

of this present life

cannot finally touch me,

one where the river

of the living God

will flow forever.

Are you a citizen

of the eternal city?

Let me pray for us.

Father, we ask

that tonight

we would consider that.

Lord, help us

in our hearts

to consider

whether or not

we have faith

in the Christ

who can give us citizenship

in the eternal city,

one whose river

will never cease

to flow.

Lord, we feel

the weight of suffering

in this life,

the wounds,

there are wounds

represented here

in these seats,

there is pain

represented here,

there's great evil

that has been done

against many,

and of course,

we all have committed

great sins as well,

and so we come tonight

as people in need

of a better city.

And so we thank you,

oh Lord,

that you have established

a better city,

a city whose foundations

stretch to the heavens

and go into eternity,

a city where Jesus Christ

is king.

So I do ask now,

Lord,

as we sing this final hymn,

that you would help us

to consider that question,

are we citizens

of the heavenly city?

And we pray that

in Christ's name.

Amen.