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