Faith in The Fog
“Faith In The Fog”
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Psalms. It’s a series about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life, and the specific Psalm we’re studying today is about having faith in the fog...It’s about having faith in the fog, meaning the foggy conditions of life. The truth for both skeptics and believers is that life rarely ever goes as you planned. You can make all the plans you want, but life rarely ever goes as you planned. Maybe your marriage or family isn’t going as you planned...Maybe your career, your business, your academics, or athletics isn’t going as you planned...Maybe things in your life were going exactly as you planned, but then something happened that changed everything, and now it feels like your life is falling apart...What used to be clear to you is now foggy, including your faith, because God appears to be sleeping while your life is falling apart. The psalm we’re studying today is about having faith in the fog. It’s about having faith in the foggy conditions of life, especially when it feels like God has fallen asleep. Let’s turn to Psalm 44 and get into it. You’ll find Psalms in the middle of the bible, and we’ll be in Psalm 44:1-26. The title of the message is Faith In The Fog, and the big idea of the message is to trust God’s heart, even when you can’t understand his ways...Trust God’s heart, even when you can’t understand his ways.
Here’s your context. Psalms is an Old Testament biblical hymnbook that contains 150 songs and prayers. The Hebrew word for Psalms means to praise or songs of praise, which is why our series theme is about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. It’s because each Psalm is written by Old Testament biblical leaders expressing real, raw, honest emotions we can all relate with. Psalm 44 was written by Levitical worship leaders called The Sons of Korah, and it’s a lament, meaning they’re crying out for God’s help in difficult times. It’s a psalm that does a great job displaying what it’s like to have faith in the foggy conditions of life, so let’s check it out.
Psalm 44:1-26 states, “God, we have heard with our ears—our ancestors have told us—the work you accomplished in their days, in days long ago: 2 In order to plant them, you displaced the nations by your hand; in order to settle them, you brought disaster on the peoples. 3 For they didn’t take the land by their sword—their arm didn’t bring them victory—but by your right hand, by your arm...because you were favorable toward them. 4 You are my King, my God, who ordains victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we drive back our foes; through your name we trample our enemies. 6 For I don’t trust in my bow, and my sword doesn’t bring me victory. 7 But you give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced. 8 We boast in God all day long; we will praise your name forever.” Notice the psalmist starts with praising before complaining. He starts with boasting in God and praising God, before he starts complaining to God. He’s praising God specifically for helping their ancestors settle in the Promised Land. He’s praising God for things like Moses overcoming the Egyptians when crossing the Red Sea, Joshua conquering Jericho, and David defeating Goliath. He’s praising God for all those things, and he acknowledges those victories didn’t come through their strength; it came through God’s strength. Vs. 3 says, “Their arm didn’t bring them victory—it was your right hand, your arm...” The psalmist is boasting in God and praising God for helping their ancestors in the past. But then in vs. 4-8 the pronouns shift from them to my and we. The psalmist says, “You are my King. You are my God...We will boast in God. We will praise God.” He isn’t just praising God for helping their ancestors; he’s also praising God for helping him and his generation of believers. What he’s ultimately doing is anchoring his faith to God’s faithfulness in the past, before he starts complaining about the foggy conditions in the present. It’s because God's faithfulness in the past can be a light in the fog. It’s a reminder that if God saw us through the fog in the past, then he’ll see us through the fog we’re dealing with in the present. It’s a reminder to have faith in the fog.
Vs. 9, “But you’ve rejected and humiliated us; you don’t march out with our armies. 10 You make us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have taken plunder for themselves. 11 You hand us over to be eaten like sheep and scatter us among the nations. 12 You sell your people for nothing; you make no profit from selling them. 13 You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule. 14 You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. 15 My disgrace is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face, 16 because of the taunts of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy and avenger. 17 All this has happened to us, but we haven’t forgotten you or betrayed your covenant. 18 Our hearts haven’t turned back; our steps haven’t strayed from your path. 19 But you’ve crushed us in a haunt of jackals and have covered us with deepest darkness. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21 wouldn’t God have found this out, since he knows the secrets of the heart? 22 Because of you we’re being put to death all day long; we’re counted as sheep to be slaughtered.” Notice the sudden shift from praising to complaining. When the fog starts settling in, the psalmist goes from praising to complaining and lamenting. It’s because nothing is going as they planned, and they’re having a hard time seeing God’s hand moving in their lives like they did in the past. Instead of seeing God’s hand moving, they’re seeing their armies retreating in defeat, and they’re feeling rejected by God. They’re feeling abandoned by God. In vs. 22 he says they’re being put to death, and it feels like they’re sheep being counted for slaughter. Several hundred years later, the Apostle Paul uses vs. 22 to remind believers that God’s people have always faced situations like this. But then he says in Romans 8:37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I’m persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that’s in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul’s saying that putting our faith in Jesus doesn’t mean bad things won’t ever happen to us. It means the bad things that happen won’t conquer us, because of the love that Jesus has for us.
But what the psalmist is expressing here in Psalm 44, is that it’s confusing when bad things happen to us. It’s confusing, especially when we’re doing everything right, but everything is still going wrong. The truth is sometimes bad things happen because of things we’ve done wrong, like sins we’ve committed and poor decisions we’ve made. But sometimes bad things happen even when we’re doing the right things. In this case, the psalmist is saying bad things are still happening even though they’ve been doing the right things. Even though they’ve been faithful to the Lord. He says in vs. 17, “We haven’t forgotten you or betrayed your covenant.” Vs. 18, “Our steps haven’t strayed from your path!” They’ve been faithfully following God, but they’re still suffering and they can’t understand why. Their faith is foggy and confused, because they can’t understand why God is allowing bad things to happen to faithful people like them. We sometimes have that same mentality. “I don’t get it Lord. I put my faith in you. I put my trust in you. I’ve been trying to follow you and do the right things, but bad things keep happening to me. Why? Why is the God I love so much, allowing me to suffer so much?” That’s the foggy, confusing feeling the psalmist is dealing with here in Psalm 44. He can’t understand why the God he loves so much, is allowing them to suffer so much. He can’t understand why the God who helped them in the past, isn’t helping them in the present. So he keeps bringing his complaints and confusion to God.
Vs. 23, “Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t reject us forever! 24 Why do you hide and forget our affliction and oppression? 25 For we have sunk down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. 26 Rise up! Help us! Redeem us because of your faithful love.” That’s a very real, raw, honest prayer, and a desperate cry for help. Almost every lament psalm ends with a resolution, but this one doesn’t. It ends with a believer desperately crying out for God’s help. He’s begging for God to wake up, because his life is falling apart. He says in vs. 23, “Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?” He thinks God is sleeping, while his life is falling apart. What’s interesting is in Mark 4 Jesus was in a boat with his disciples, and they cried a similar prayer. They were in a storm, Jesus was sleeping, and they cried out for his help. Let’s turn to Mark 4:35-41.
Mark 4:35-41 states, “When evening had come, Jesus told them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.’ 36 So they left the crowd and took him with them in the boat...37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so the boat was being swamped.” Jesus and the disciples are in a great windstorm, a powerful storm, which is common in the Sea of Galilee. But you know it’s a powerful storm when the experienced fishermen, when the Deadliest Catch guys are freaking out. The disciples were experienced fishermen who knew these waters, and they’re freaking out over this storm. They’re thinking they’re going to die, and what’s Jesus doing? He’s sleeping...He’s sleeping comfortably on a cushion, while they’re life is falling apart.
Again vs. 37, “A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so the boat was being swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?’” This is a similar cry to Psalm 44. Both the psalmist and the disciples are thinking God doesn’t care, because it appears he’s sleeping while their lives are falling apart. So the disciples wake up Jesus saying,“Don’t you care?... Don’t you care that we’re in a storm? Don’t you care that we’re sinking? Don’t you care that we’re about to die? We thought if we followed you life would be easier and there wouldn’t be any storms! But we’re in a storm, we’re sinking, and it feels like you don’t even care!” Sometimes this happens in life. Sometimes you’re sailing through life, everything’s going well, everything’s calm, but then a storm comes. The fog starts creeping in, a storm comes, a struggle that’s so big it feels like you’re sinking. Have you ever felt like that before?...Are you feeling like that now?...Are you in a storm where the waves keep crashing, the water keeps coming into your boat, into your home, into your career, into your life, and it feels like you’re drowning in a sea of struggles?...Are you crying out to God like the psalmist and the disciples saying, “Wake up Lord! Why are you sleeping? I’m in a storm, I’m drowning in a sea of struggles, and I need your help! Jesus do you even care?...” The disciples are in a storm, and that’s the exact same question they’re asking Jesus.
Again vs. 38, “They woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?’ 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ 41 And they were terrified, and asked one another, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!’” Jesus says, “Silence! Be still,” and the storm was calm. Jesus simply utters a few words, and the storm was calm, which displays his incredible power. He doesn’t have to debate the storm. He doesn’t have to wrestle with the storm. He doesn’t have to go Harry Potter expecto patronum on the storm. He simply speaks, and the storm is calm. The disciples see this happen; they see his incredible power, and they’re still scared even after he calms the storm. Why? It’s because they realize they’re in the presence of God, since only God can calm a storm like that. Only God has the power to say “Silence! Be still,” and the storms are calmed. City Awakening the reason Jesus can calm the storm with only a few words is because he’s Lord over the storm. He’s Lord over the storm, which means there’s no storm that’s greater than the power of Christ in your life!...There’s no storm you’ll ever face that’s greater than the power of Christ in your life!...
But it’s this wonderful truth that creates the foggy confusion. It’s knowing Jesus is greater and more powerful than the storm, but you’re confused over why he hasn’t used his power to calm your storm? You’re confused like the disciples asking does he care?...But the point of this story isn’t for Jesus to calm every storm in your life. It’s to reveal his incredible divine power and to expose any weak areas in your faith. It’s to reveal Jesus is still Lord and loving in the storm, so have faith even when you can’t understand what he’s doing in the storm. The disciples accused him of not caring because they couldn’t understand why he was sleeping in the storm. They thought his slumber in the storm meant he didn’t care about them. But his slumber in the storm was a reminder to them and us that we don’t have to freak out with Jesus in our boat...We don’t have to freak out with Jesus in our boat, because Jesus is Lord over the storm...All of this is a reminder for us to trust Jesus is still in control, even when it feels like our lives are spiraling out of control. It’s a reminder for us to trust Jesus is still Lord and loving in the storm, so have faith in the fog...
The big idea of the message is to trust God’s heart, even when you can’t understand his ways...Trust God’s heart, even when you can’t understand his ways...Psalm 44 doesn’t end with a resolution, meaning the fog doesn’t go away by the final verse. It’s because the psalmist isn’t teaching us how to get out of the fog; he’s teaching us to have faith while we’re still in the fog. He’s specifically teaching us to have faith in God’s faithful love. He says in vs. 26, “Help us! Redeem us, because of your faithful love.” Both Psalm 44 and Mark 4 are a reminder that even in the foggy, confusing, stormy conditions of life—Jesus still cares, he’s still in the boat, he’s still eternally committed to us, because of his faithful love for us. Jesus proved his faithful love for his disciples in the boat, but he also proved his faithful love for us on the cross. There’s no greater proof of his faithful loving care for us, than him dying for our sins on the cross. If he cared for you on the cross, then he’ll certainly care for you in the storms. In the words of John Newton:
His love in time past forbids me to think,
he’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink...
By prayer let me wrestle, and he will perform;
with Christ in my vessel, I’ll smile at the storm!
City Awakening put your faith in Jesus today. Trust in his faithful love for you, and in his incredible power over the storms in your life. Have faith in the fog, then smile at the storm...
Communion is a reminder of this. It’s a reminder of Christ’s faithful love for us. It’s a reminder that Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. If you don’t believe he died on the cross for your sins, then please refrain from participating in communion so you don’t go through the motions of this. Instead use this time to reflect on the message, and consider asking Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life...If you already put your faith in Jesus, we have three stations set up. In a few minutes I’ll invite you to go to the station closest to you, and the back left table has gluten free bread. When you come forward we’ll give you a piece of bread as a symbol of the body of Christ broken for your sins, and you’ll dip it in the cup of juice as a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for your sins. After that you can eat, drink, then head back to your seat to pray before we close in worship. Let’s take a few minutes to prep our hearts to remember and receive—the faithful love and grace of Jesus again.
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took the bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” When supper ended he took the cup, blessed it, gave thanks for it saying “This is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done.” Let’s respond to this good news by remembering and receiving. Let’s remember the faithful love of Jesus, what he did for us on the cross, and receive his grace again. Come as you feel led...