John K. Jenkins Sr - The Commanded Blessing

Alright, you can be seated. Grab your Bibles, your iPhone, your iPad, your Android, your Galaxy, your paper Bible-whatever you have, hold onto it and turn to Psalm 42. Psalm 42. I’m not going to keep you all here long; it’s 1:57, and I’ll have you out by the time I finish. [Applause] I don’t have to rush this service; praise the Lord!

The writer of this 42nd Psalm is facing a challenging moment in life. He is in a place of frustration, disappointment, anxiety, and anger. And I know none of you have ever been in that place with God. You 've never been at a moment when life just wasn’t going your way; you’ve never been in a moment where everything seemed to be going wrong. That 's what is happening to this writer of the 42nd Psalm; he is experiencing drama. As a matter of fact, he does something that most of you don’t do-he openly expresses his disappointment and frustration with God. Because you know, we try to fix it up and act like everything’s fine!

As a matter of fact, in several places he mentions his frustration. In the first verse, he says, «As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.» Whether you know it or not, this is a man who is, in essence, saying he is hungry for God. In verse two, he says, «My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?» He is frustrated because he feels like God is nowhere to be found. Has anyone ever been there before? You wonder, «Where is the Lord?»

By the time we get to verse three, he says, «My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, 'Where is your God? '» Now hear how frustrated this man is; he’s got tears running down his face, and he has lost his appetite for eating. He is so frustrated and angry at life that his tears have become his food. And even the tears are talking to him, saying, «Where 's your God?» You know you’re in bad shape when your tears start talking to you. This is a man of frustration. In verse five, he says to himself, «Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?»

That word " disquieted» means he can’t say anything; he has lost the ability to talk and communicate. This person has become so frustrated with how life is going that he can’t say anything. Has anyone ever been there, where you’ve lost the desire to even talk? [Applause] Verse six just comes right out and says, «I will say to God, my rock, 'Why have you forgotten me? '» Has anyone ever felt forgotten by God? You could be honest; if you do, say «Amen.» This 12:00 crowd has been bragged on at all the other services for being real and honest. I tell them at the 8 and 10 that you all come here straight from the club; you don’t try to dress it up. I tell them you all are the real deal, and here I’m asking you: Have you ever felt forgotten by God?

Y 'all are acting like you don’t want to be honest about it. I don’t need to know your circumstances, but I know there are some people in here who have been at a place in their lives where they felt like God had forgotten all about them. That 's what the writer says: " God, why have You forgotten me? Why have You abandoned me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?» I’m frustrated. In verse ten, he says, «My enemies reproach me as with the breaking of my bones. My enemies reproach me while they say to me all day long, 'Where is your God? '»

Here is a man who is frustrated, upset, and mad because he feels like God has abandoned him. And let’s be honest-I have to be honest with you and myself: I have been in places and seasons of my life when I thought God had forgotten about me. I saw other people around me getting blessed, others moving forward, some being called to churches, others getting their jobs, getting promoted, and having great things happen while it looked like everything was passing me by. I was frustrated, upset, and mad.

Yeah, I have confronted God! I’ve been at those places in life when I watched other people move forward who weren 't living half the life I was trying to live. Come on, single ladies! You 've seen other women with jacked-up lives, with multiple partners at the same time, now they’re married while you’re still single, looking around. You try not to let anybody stay over at your house; you kick them out at 10:00–okay, it was 11:00, but you kicked the guy out! Yet there 's still no one in the picture for you. You want to know, «Where is God?»

Oh, I got some «Amens» back here from somewhere. This man is frustrated; he doesn’t tell us what it’s about, but the bottom line is he feels as though God has forgotten about him. Now, this is an important thing to talk about for just a moment. I’m not going to keep you all long; I promise I’m going to preach for a short time. This will probably be the shortest sermon you hear me preach today. He’s expressing his frustration in his writing; he is speaking from his emotions. He is an emotional wreck. How many of you know that the worst thing you can do is make major life-altering decisions when you are hurting?