Hear My Prayer

Tonight in our series on the Psalms we have come to one of the great prayers of the bible - Psalm 102. This Psalm immediately brings before us the problem of suffering. We know very little about the Psalmist. But he tells us he was "in distress" (v 2). He was facing huge problems. He was, indeed, suffering. And the problem of suffering is all about the question "why?" Yesterday was the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Millions are asking the question "why?" "Why was her relatively young life cut down in such bizarre circumstances in a car crash leaving two boys orphaned?" Some people say this is the reason they cannot believe in God. They say they cannot believe in a God who allows suffering. Any one here tonight like that? Perhaps you have gone through some terrible experience and it is making you doubt the love or the reality of God. Sometimes it is difficult to understand how God can allow something to happen. But you have to be careful. The bible suggests your assumptions may be wrong. Yes, there is a problem of suffering. But, no, the real problem of suffering is not "why does God allow suffering if he is a God of love." Rather the problem is this: "why is there not more suffering if God is a God of justice?" There is so much sin around and many, if not all of us, get off more lightly than we deserve. Paul's argument on this in the epistle to the Romans is important. He is arguing that there is sin in the world in massive doses. In fact everyone is a sinner - all have sinned; all reject God in some measure; all go their own way to some degree:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23).

So why aren't we all suffering now the consequences of our sin? Clearly many people have a good life while they are quite immoral and God denying. And we all do some things wrong without suffering immediately for what we do. How can that be if God is a God of justice? Paul says this: it is because our God is a God of forbearance. Romans 2.4 speaks of "the riches of [God's] kindness, tolerance and patience" in the face of human sin. Tragically, says Paul, people show contempt for that forbearance. They are "not realising that God's kindness leads you towards repentance." Yes, God is a God of judgment. One day at Christ's return it will no longer be possible to escape that judgment. There will then be no forbearance or patience. But now is a day of grace.

I tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6.2).

So the problem is not, "why is there suffering?". But "why do we not experience even now the wrath and judgment we deserve? Why is there not more suffering? Why isn't this world flying apart?" And the answer is that our God is a God of love and forbearance. And he demonstrated that at the cross, where (Rom 3.25-26) ...

... God presented [Christ] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- {26} he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

But you say, "that may help with the theoretical problem. But it doesn't solve the practical problem of suffering. It doesn't tell me what to do when I, personally, am suffering and my world seems to be collapsing around me." Well, this Psalm will help. Look at the title of this Psalm:

A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.

This Psalm can teach you so much. And you can use it at any time or in any situation. One of the Psalmist's great problems was the spiritual state of Zion, the people of God (or the Church of his day). The problems of God's people deeply affected him. But this Psalm applies to every sort of problem. So what does this Psalm teach you to do when you find you have massive problems and when all seems hopeless? The Psalmist suggests three strategies and they are my headings tonight. First, PRAY FOR RELIEF; secondly, REMEMBER THE WORK OF GOD IN TIME, and, thirdly, KEEP ETERNITY IN MIND. First, PRAY FOR RELIEF Look more closely at the condition of this man. Verse 2, "I am in distress," and verse 3:

my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. {4} My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. {5} Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones. {6} I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. {7} I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.

And he is taunted and railed against by his enemies (verse 8). He is, or he feels as though he is, under God's judgment and rejected (verse 10). And so he concludes, verse 11:

My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.

Who feels like that tonight? Who is going through testing, persecution, failure, emotional trauma, a breakdown of health, a breakdown of relationships or some other form of suffering? You can learn from this man and what he did. So what did he do? First he prayed. Verse 1:

Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. {2} Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.

Is that the first thing you do when problems come? How silly not to? Presumably when you've got a problem you try to talk to someone about it? Well, you can have the greatest listener who knows all about your situation - almighty God, the creator and redeemer of the world. And who is it who actually listens? Hebrews chapter 1 shows us that it is Jesus, the Son, the second person of the Trinity. He is the Lord referred to in this Psalm. Verse 8 of Hebrews 1 says: "But about the Son he says ..." and then in verse 10 this Psalm is quoted. So the epistle to the Hebrews teaches us to apply this psalm to Jesus Christ. And that same epistle then goes on to describe Jesus Christ like this (Heb 4.15-16):

we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. {16} Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all linked in helping you pray and in listening and in answering prayer. Perhaps you say: "But nothing seems to happen when I pray." I don't necessarily believe it. Look at verse 17:

He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.

Jesus himself said, quite unambiguously (Matthew 7.7):

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

True, when people are totally disobedient to God as they were in Isaiah's day, God says (Is 1.15):

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;

But if there is a genuine, selfless and open asking, God will hear. It was Archbishop William Temple who said, "when I pray coincidences happen; when I cease to pray coincidences cease." You may not get what you want, when you want it; but God will listen and act as he knows best. And what is prayer? Just speaking to God. Prayer is simply believing in God and speaking to him. Remember the tax collector in the parable - "God, have mercy on me a sinner." That was a prayer that was answered. And that is the first prayer to pray - the humble honest prayer of someone seeking God's forgiveness. And that forgiveness is only available through Christ's death for sins on the cross. Who needs to pray that prayer tonight and receive God's forgiveness and new life by God's Holy Spirit? Once you've prayed that prayer you can then speak freely to God about anything. And you can pray for quick answers. The Psalmist did - verse 2: "when I call, answer me quickly." You can ask for a quick answer if you think you need one. But don't complain if God thinks it wiser to delay. Spurgeon said, "we have permission to request ... but no right to dictate." So the first of the three strategies on how to deal with suffering is to take your problem to God. You need to do that; I need to do that; we as a church need to do that. This year, I believe it is vital that as a church we pray - in services, in larger groups, in smaller groups, wherever. We need to pray as individuals and as married couples. There are so many needs. James 4.2-3 says:

You do not have, because you do not ask God. {3} When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Non-selfish, genuine asking of God for things and about people and for your own responsibilities sees results. It is amazing how things happen when God's people pray. That's what the Psalmist did. Prayer was his first strategy. The second strategy was to REMEMBER THE WORK OF GOD IN TIME - in history. The problem for the Psalmist was the state of Zion. He was depressed by the condition of the holy city. Zion (another name for Jerusalem) was the focus for God's people at that time. But like much of the church today in the West, the religion of Zion and its people had become multi-faith and sexually immoral. And God had eventually judged Zion by destruction and its people by exile. This is the probable background. Verse 14 shows Zion was in ruins - it was "stones" and "dust"; and verse 16 makes it clear it needs rebuilding. So what does the Psalmist do? He focuses on four facts. First, he focuses on the fact that God is in control. He reminds himself that he is the sovereign Lord of all and therefore of this particular set of problems. Verse 12:

But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.

How important it is to remember when you suffer that our God is ruler of all and that Jesus Christ is the king of kings and Lord of Lords. Secondly, the Psalmist focuses on the fact that God is a God of compassion. Verse 13:

You will arise and have compassion on Zion.

God does want the best for you. He is compassionate. He knows all about your situation. Trust him. Thirdly, the Psalmist focuses on the fact that God does, indeed, work in time - in human history. Verse 13 says: "the appointed time has come" for God to restore the fortunes of his people. In God's plan there was a time for blessing his people and releasing them from captivity and exile in Babylon in the 7th and 6th centuries. And the Psalmist knows that when the time comes, nothing can frustrate God's purposes. We now know that God did free his people. The Jews were able to return home and rebuild their city and the temple. And no Tobiah or Sanballat could stop Ezra and Nehemiah and the rest of them. God doesn't always intervene dramatically on behalf of his people, but sometimes he does. He did it at the Exodus from Egypt. He did it at the return from exile in Babylon. He did it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was his supreme intervention. But he has worked at other times in remarkable, if lesser ways, since then. There was the Reformation in the 16th century when fundamental truths from the bible about salvation, the church and many other things were re-discovered. There was the Evangelical revival in the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. And it is encouraging to read of what God did in the past. Take that period of the 18th century. If you read Bishop J.C.Ryle's Christian Leaders of the 18th Century you see that there is nothing new under the sun. The problems facing Wesley and Whitefield were not so different from those of today. But God worked mightily through those two men. You know he can therefore do it again. And this Psalm suggests that you should be reading about such interventions of God. Look at verse 18-19:

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: {19} "The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, {20} to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.

It is so encouraging for today to read about what God has done in the past. Fourthly, the Psalmist focused on the fact that when God does work to restore his people, it has a pulling power; it is evangelistic; pagans take note and see the glory of God. Verses 15-16:

The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. {16} For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.

That is true today. When you get a church that is effective for God - that grows, that is, in God's terms, successful as people are converted to Jesus Christ, there the world does notice. God is glorified as the church is built up. People outside begin to "revere" his "glory". So the Psalmist second strategy was to remember the work of God in time or in human history. He knows God is in control; he is compassionate; he has appointed times for revival and renewal - and it encourages faith and prayer to read about those times when life is hard; and such a work of God in itself is converting. His third strategy is to KEEP ETERNITY IN MIND. Look at verses 24 ff:

your years go on through all generations. {25} In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. {26} They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. {27} But you remain the same, and your years will never end. {28} The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.

The Psalmist renews his vision of God from the perspective of eternity. He reminds himself that God is eternal - "your years go on through all generations" (v 24); that he is the creator: "in the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands" (v 25); and that he is unchanging - this world is finite and will end, but not God:

they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end (vv 26-27).

And remember this is God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. And finally the Psalmist reminds himself of heaven:

the children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you (v 28).

It is not just the servants that God will keep and protect, but their children and their descendants. This prophecy will be fulfilled in heaven. However hazy a view of heaven he might have, the Psalmist is keeping eternity in mind. Do you keep eternity and heaven in mind when you are going through a difficult time? Since Jesus things are so much clearer. Never forget 1 Corinthians (2.9):

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".

You see, as you keep the eternal world and heaven in mind, problems are not always solved but they get into perspective. 2 Corinthians 4.17:

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

I must conclude very simply. Are you going through a difficult time? If so this Psalm 102 teaches to pray for relief; to remember the work of God in time and in history; and to keep eternity in mind.