WHEN YOU LOSE TOUCH
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime; and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me; why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul; and why
art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him,
who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Judge me, 0 God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
0 deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For thou art the God of my strength, why dost thou cast me off;
why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
0 send out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me;
let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy;
yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, 0 God my God.
Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?
hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him,
who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42 and 43
As long as our relationship with God seems to be thriving – our prayers are getting answered, we feel His nearness, we even see God's timing in our circumstances – it's hard to imagine that anything could ever happen to dampen this marvelous communion. But our relationship with God has two sides: God's side, and our side.
God's grip is solid, His heart is steadfast, and nothing changes with Him. But our side of the relationship is fragile. It just takes a little too much success, in our own mind, a couple sloppy days of ease, some prayerless time, or some bad turn of events, and right away we've lost track of God, we don't even know where He is.
God wants us to not only understand how He can grip us, but He also wants to teach us how to hang on to Him, with our will. What kind of relationship is this if I just stand here and God holds me like a stick. There has to be something in my heart and will which responds to His heart toward me.
When I wake up one day and God doesn't seem to be there anymore this is part of my learning how to stay with God. What I do about this will either put me into a slump that will go for months, perhaps for a lifetime, or will bring me right back up on the road with God stronger than ever.
We are tempted to think that we're the only one that ever went through this. Nobody understands our desolation. And what a comfort it is to find in Psalm 42, 43 that a saint of God centuries ago went through this and put it into words. Three thousand years ago some man or woman of God who loved God, trusted God, woke up one day and found themselves out of touch and described what it's like.
The first thing that you experience, that you feel, is cast down, estranged, cut off from God Himself.
0 God, why hast thou forgotten me? Why hast thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
"You were so close to me and now that inner-feeling, that wonderful sense of your communion with me is gone and I'm desolate."
Not only do we feel cut off from God, but we also feel cut off from man. There's an alienation from other human beings.
My tears have been my meat day and night while they continually say to me, Where is your God?
As a sword in my bones, my enemies reproach me, while daily they say to me, Where is your God?
And we begin to experience a wall coming up that seems to cut us off from everybody. Nobody understands me, and I don't seem to have any power to get through to them either.
The next thing we experience is a disquietude. We're unsettled, uneasy, nervous, upset. I had something and now it's gone. And where did it go? When a mother loses her child in the shopping center, she forgets about the credit cards and her purse and everything else and has no peace until she finds her little one. If a father is separated from his family in a war or an earthquake, he has no peace until he finds his way back to them. Likewise, when that room in our lives which was once inhabited by God is empty, there is no peace until somehow we find our way back to the place where the Spirit of God dwells there once again.
The next thing we feel when we find ourselves cut off from God is overwhelmed.
All thy waves and thy billows have rolled over me. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts.
When a giant wave rolls in from the sea it knocks you down. You're helpless. As long as God was at my side and in my heart, no wave was that big. I could take anything that came. But isn't it strange that as soon as that sense of God's presence is gone, even the little waves become giant. I can't cope with any of it anymore. If our child is sick, or if we have a setback at work, or something goes wrong with the car, your brother-in-law doesn't talk to you anymore, we can't seem to handle it. Everything's too much.
When we find ourselves out of touch with God we have a choice. We can either lie down and wallow in it or we can get up and do something. There may be those reading this who have been cast down and disquieted and overwhelmed for years and years. There may be those who just tasted that experience for the first time last week. But in this Psalm there's help if we want it.
The first thing we need to do if we want to find our way back into touch with God is ask our soul how did it get that way? Did God really withdraw from me or did I withdraw my hope from God? If you're up on top of the City National Building and start to fall, God is not helpless, watching you plunge to the street. He comes down after you, and all the way down His hand is always there. All you have to do is grab it, and He holds you.
Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
It is not God who let go of me, I let go of Him.
The second thing I need to do if I want to come back into touch with God is remember that though I change, God remains the same. Always the same. Always mercy.
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime; and in the night his song shall be with me.
When you take hold of somebody's hand, sometimes you feel their heart is in it, sometimes you grab it and you think you got hold of a dead fish. Sometimes when you kiss your wife she's there and sometimes she isn't. Sometimes when she kisses you you're there and sometimes you're not. But God is always there, always!
He commands his lovingkindness in the daytime....
He's there all through the day, and in the nighttime His song is there. And it's important for me to apprehend that with my mind, until finally it sinks down into my heart.
The third thing that we do if we really want to come back in touch with God is start telling God how we really feel. "Oh, but God knows how I feel already. Why should I have to tell Him?" But He wants us to tell Him. It's important for us to tell Him.
I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me; why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
For thou art the God of my strength, why hast thou cast me off; why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
"Lord, you're my rock, but I sure don't feel anything right now. You've forgotten about me. My enemies are making fun of me. People are coming up to me and saying, 'Where is your God?' and I have nothing to say."
"Lord, you're my strength, but I sure don't feel any presence now. I don't see any evidence of this at all."
Somebody says, "Wait a minute, you're not supposed to talk to God like that!" It's far more pleasing to God for you to tell Him what's on your heart than to pretend that everything is fine when you're griping underneath. Far better for you to tell Him what's really there. Better than to moan and groan inside your heart.
Then, ask for light. "Show me the way, Lord." "Lord God, I need your help."
0 send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles.
Isn't it amazing, we can be depressed for months and months, and some of us for years and years and all we ever do is whimper once in a while, bleat occasionally, complain a great deal and mumble under our breath.
And yet through all this depression we never come around to the place where aggressively
and relentlessly we begin asking God for light. "Lord, show me!"
If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give light, the Holy Spirit, to those who ask him.
If you ask Him for bread you're not going to get a stone. If you ask Him for a fish you're not going to get a scorpion. You'll get light. "But God walked out that door, I haven't seen Him for years."
When have you gone to the door and called?
"0, but the door's closed."
Well then, knock on it, and ask, and you shall receive.
Finally, when the light comes, and it always does, the final step is to go to God's altar.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, 0 God, my God.
Go to the altar. And where's the altar? The altar is the place where the sacrifice has been made, where the blood has been shed, where the Lamb of God hangs, as a sign of God's mercy for you. Don't go to Capernaum looking for signs and wonders, don't go to Gadara for exorcism. The place we need to go, first and last, is the altar of God.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29
Look unto him and be saved all the ends of the earth.
There you will behold what God has done for you. And it will be utterly impossible for you to any more feel alienated, cut off, from God. Not when you behold the extreme mercy which God has shown you. How can you feel cut off?
And at the altar it will no longer be possible for you to feel cut off from your fellow man because as the mercy of God begins to fill your heart, that mercy begins to then govern your heart and your attitude toward people. And, my friend, when you have mercy in your heart toward your fellow man, you can't possible feel alienated from him.
At Calvary you will also find it impossible for you anymore to feel disquieted within, because you will discover and receive once again that thing which you had lost, God's peace.
Peace with God,
peace with brothers and sisters,
peace with all men,
peace with your past as it is covered with the blood, and peace with your future, which is in God's hand. You will have God's peace, and you will begin to praise Him with your joy and your strength, your God.
Finally, at the altar, you will find that you will no longer be overwhelmed. The burden that made you feel overwhelmed by every little wave that came along is now lifted off your shoulders and placed on the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and you stand free.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, 0 God, my God.
One of the most important lessons we need to learn is what to do when we find ourselves feeling that we are cut off from God. Too many of us have spent far too many days, and some of us far too many years, walking around cast down,
disquieted,
and overwhelmed, when in a matter of minutes, or at the very most, a matter of hours, we could have turned and begun to find our way to the place where we are able to praise God in the midst of all our troubles.
May God help us, through His Spirit, even this day to realize that there's no excuse any more for us to be cast down, and disquieted and overwhelmed.
- Not while God's lovingkindness is with us in the daytime and His song is with us all night long.
- Not while God sends down His light and His truth to lead us to His holy hill.
- Not while that altar which is on the holy hill has the Son of God, the Lamb, hanging there beckoning us to come and receive peace.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, 0 God, my God.