Psalm 13

"How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?" These words by the psalmist are haunting. Whoever wrote these words felt separated from God. "How long will you hide your face from me?" Here is a person of faith who is going through one of those dark valleys in their life.

Their pain is very real. "How long must I bear pain in my soul?" Their very being hurts from the separation they feel from their Creator. Have you ever been separated from the ones you love? The pain in your heart and soul can be very real.

But there is also a very real situation that has caused this separation. "How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" Apparently the psalmist has been conquered and has lost. Perhaps an invader has stolen his land and carried him off into captivity. Perhaps a bandit has robbed him of valuables or a murder has robbed him of the life of a loved one. Whatever it was God has allowed some force to create this pain and separation in his life. But the separation is deeper than separation with other people. The psalmist feels separated from God!

The interesting thing is that the psalmist does not give up on God. Even with a heart aching from a perceived separation from God the psalmist still turns to God. The psalmist says, "Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!" "O Lord my God." This psalm writer still claims God as "My God!" So many would have given up on God when their world fell apart but not this psalmist.

"Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death." In the book of John there is a point where many of the people who were following Jesus turn away. So Jesus turns to the remaining disciples and says, "Do you also wish to go away?" To this Peter answers, "To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life."(John 6:67-68) Peter recognized that only Jesus could give them what they needed: the Truth, the Word of God.

In the same way the psalmist recognizes that only God is the source of life. Not only can God give light to the eyes, but without God he or she might as well be dead. God is the only hope. This is a truth not just for some psalmist thousands of years ago but for all time. God is our only hope for life and light!

In the end the psalmist with the aching soul praises God. Notice that the psalmist prayers are not answered yet. He says "I trusted in your steadfast love" past tense. And because in the past he had trusted he says, "My heart shall rejoice." Because he has trusted he says, "I will sing." He will sing "because God has dealt with me bountifully" - past tense.

He looks to the past - at the ways that God has lifted him out of the pit in the past. He remembers how God has been faithful to His people through the ages. He remembers how God has blessed him and seen him through times of difficulty.

He looks to the past but that gives him help in the present. In a present where separation and spiritual and physical pain are the reality. The psalmist trusted the God who has helped in the past to help in the present.

And this gives him hope for the future. Just as God has helped in the past God will help in the future. Just as God lifted up in the past God will enable him to sing to the Lord.

When has God helped you through times of alienation and trouble? I think about this congregation and I can think of many of you who have gone through periods of pain that God has seen you through. you may even sympathize with the writer of Psalm 13 because you have experienced similar pain. Some of you have been through times of separation and alienation from family. Death, mental illness, divorces, family troubles have caused many of you to feel alienated. You have been separated from husbands and wives and children and parents and friends. And in the process you have felt separated, even abandoned, by God.

But yet you are here. Perhaps you felt that God had forsaken you. Maybe you even blamed God for letting it happen. Maybe you asked God "Why did you let my loved one die, or get sick, or abandon me." But you are still here.

I think that like the psalmist you have trusted in the Lord in the past. He has seen you through so many troubles. And you trust that he will see you through whatever you may face. You have help in the present and hope for the future. No matter how much your heart aches you hope that you will sing for joy.

When you cry out in your heart, "How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?" Look to the past. In the past the human race was alienated from God. Our sin had separated us from our heavenly father. And the result of that separation was a pain in our souls. The enemy the Devil was exalting over us because we had fallen in sin.

But God heard our cries. God felt the pain of our separation with us. So he sent his Son Jesus Christ to reconcile us with God. Without God we were all bound to sleep the sleep of eternal death. But because Jesus came he gave us new life and lifted us up.

Jesus died of the Cross to pay for our sins and rose to eternal life to blaze a trail to eternity. And so through Jesus we have hope for the future. We have the hope of eternal life. We have the hope of new life in the world and everlasting life in the next.

When your heart aches and you cry out to God "How Long," remember the past. Remember God's son giving himself for your sins. Let that give you strength to see you through the present. And let it give you hope for the future.

Genesis 22:1-14

"After these things God tested Abraham." When I was in school I hated tests. I'm sure we all did. First of all it was hard work to study and take a test. And there was always the fear of failing the test.

But when I got to college I learned a different view of tests. I learned that tests were a good way of seeing if I had learned what I was studying. This would help me in my learning by giving my teachers an idea of where to concentrate assignments. It also gave me an understanding and confidence in what I knew. And tests themselves could make me think and learn by pushing me. Well Abraham had been walking with God for a long time. All that time he was learning what it meant to be a believer in God. Abraham had made some mistakes but he had learned from them. So God decided it was time for a mid term.

But why did God test Abraham? Some people think that God wanted to see if Abraham was really faithful. But God knows everything, so God already knew if Abraham was faithful. God didn't need to see what Abraham had or hadn't learned like some earthly teacher. God may have known these things, but Abraham didn't. Abraham couldn't see his heart as clearly as God could. Abraham didn't understand what he was capable of through the faith God had taught him. God tested Abraham, not to cause trouble for him or to see if he would pass of fail. God must have known Abraham would pass. God tested Abraham to help strengthen him. God wanted to show Abraham and the world that he had faith in God. This would prepare Abraham for the future. And in the process Abraham would learn something new, not just about himself, but about God.

So what was the test? God said to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and sacrifice him to me." The difficulty of this test is obvious from the request. Not just "Take your son," but "your only son Isaac," whose very name meant laughter, "whom you love." God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child when they were very old. And they had waited a long time for Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac dearly. He was a gift from God. And now God was saying, "Sacrifice him" or "give him back to me." It seemed and impossible thing to ask of Abraham. It would be an impossible thing to ask of any parent. Could he have another son to replace him and give him descendants?

But Abraham trusted God, so he took Isaac and some wood and fire and set out for the mountain. When they got to the mountain Abraham and Isaac when up alone. On the way up the mountain Isaac realized something wasn't right. They had forgotten the lamb for the sacrifice. So he asked his father where it was. I imagine Abraham choked back the tears as he said, "God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice." Abraham wasn't lying to the boy. After all Isaac was the lamb for the sacrifice, and God had provided him.

At the top of the mountain Abraham bound Isaac. Then he placed him on the wood and prepared to sacrifice him in obedience to God. Just as he was about to plunge the knife into the boy's chest an angel called, "Abraham, Abraham, Stop! You have proven your obedience to God and your faith. Don't lay a hand on the boy!" Just then Abraham saw a goat caught in a thicket. God had provided the lamb for the sacrifice. So he took that goat and sacrificed it.

"God will provide." That was the lesson Abraham and Isaac learned from all of this. God had provided a son even though Abraham and Sarah were old. Yet when God asked for Abraham to give that son back, Abraham trusted and obeyed. God could provide another son if that was God's will. And Abraham believed that God could provide a way out of a seemingly helpless situation.

I am sure this test strengthened Abraham and Isaac for the trials ahead, and it strengthened their faith. They now knew in a greater way that God would provide for them. And they knew that God would redeem them. And their example has strengthened people down through the ages. God's people need that kind of strength and faith and willingness to sacrifice.

If only people today could learn that God will provide. People are too concerned with providing for themselves. They think that they are the ones that provide for their on needs. When in reality it is God who provides. And if we would realize that, then we will have no trouble trusting God.

The ultimate example of God providing for our needs is Christ. The parallels between Abraham's test and Jesus' crucifixion are unmistakable. Like Isaac, we were all sentenced to die. We were all marked for sacrifice for our sins. One Jewish commentator noticed that Abraham placed the wood on Isaac's back and said, "It is like one who carries his own cross upon his shoulder." Like Isaac we all carried the instrument of our death, our sins, on our backs as a great burden.

We had all been laid on the altar of our sins to be sacrifice in atonement for what we had done. And the knife of judgment had been raised to plunge itself into our hearts. But God cried, "Stop!" And God provided a lamb to take our place. And the lamb was offered for our sins instead.

But this was no ordinary lamb. It is significant that the Abraham's goat was caught in a thorn bush. After all it was a crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus' head. This lamb was the son of God. God, the all righteous One who provides, gave his son, his only son, whom he loved, as a sacrifice. On Mt. Moriah God provided a lamb to replace Abraham's only son, and on Mt. Calvary God provided his own son to replace us.

God provides on His holy mountain. God gives us all that we need to see us through the trials of this world. All through Abraham's life God provided for him. Even when it seemed impossible, God provided. And God has provided for us. Even though it meant giving his only begotten Son.

God provides, but we have to accept God's provision. We have to obey God's will. Like Abraham we have to be willing to give it all up because we know that all good things come from God. If Abraham had never obeyed God's command to sacrifice Isaac he would have never received the blessing of God's provision. In the same way we have to be willing to give it all up if that is what God requires of us.

God provides. Accept that and believe it. Trust and obey. When you face trials and hardships, know that God is providing for you. Simply trust that truth. When you were born again you simply trusted that Christ had died for your sins. That simple faith was reckoned to you as righteousness. You didn't provide the salvation; God gave it to you as a gift. You merely accepted it by faith. Know ye that God provides for all your needs in the same way. Not by your striving. But by God's grace received through faith.

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