CrossLife Church

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you felt as if the fiery darts of the enemy were raining down? You are attacked on every side. Perhaps a close friend or family member has unjustly attacked your character. Maybe the stability of your finances or health has been shaken. Or, especially for parents and spouses, the ones you hold most dear are battered against the hard rock of this world. In situations like these, we are tempted to feel helpless.

Our helplessness is a reality meant to drive us to God, but the enemies of God's people are always seeking to leverage our helplessness against us. They would have us cower in the corner. They would have us doubt God's goodness, power, and wisdom. But the God who was in control in Psalms 1 and 2 is the same God who is sovereign through the trials Psalms 3–11. Though the enemies of God surround His people, though we are tempted to lose heart or abandon our faith, God is forever steadfast and faithful through all our trials and difficulties. We can, therefore, always come to Him for refuge—the One who vindicates the righteous and will crush the wicked under His foot.

There are times in every Christian's life when it seems that God is distant and hidden. It is like God went on vacation and turned his phone off for a break. If you have never sensed this tension, then you are either too self-sufficient to need God, or you feel don't think its appropriate to ask such a question.  The Psalmist is asking an honest and real question. Why does God sometimes delay His deliverance or even deny it?

When C.S. Lewis was facing a time of bitter grief, he reflected on the presence of questions about God in the midst of his suffering. “The real danger is coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not, "So there's no God after all," but, "So this is what God's really like. Deceive yourself no longer.”(A Grief Observed, 5).

Psalm 10 explores the believer's struggle to trust God in times of trouble. We need not worry that God will abandon us, but we need to think more deeply about the trustworthiness of God. Has God given us adequate reason to trust Him in times of trouble?

God Remembers, Man Forgets - Psalm 9

Today we have far too many "Forgetful Christians". These are people who forget God in the ordinary hours of their day. They live, breathe, and die as Functional Atheists. And the world, the flesh, and the devil incentivize them.

Functional Atheists operate their lives under the assumption that life is a mixture of pleasant and uncomfortable, lucky and unlucky, happy and sad coincidences. A rainy day is a bad day because it could’ve been a sunny day, except for a stroke of “bad luck.” A sudden relational conflict ruins our day simply because it’s “uncomfortable” and “meaningless.” Getting turned down by that job we really wanted throws us into a whirlwind of depression because we’re debilitated by an onrush of “what if”s. 

BUT could there be a deeper and more significant meaning behind all these occurrences? The man who remembers God knows: there most certainly is! David open's Psalm 9 with four resolutions: David will give thanks with his whole heart, recount all God's wonderful deeds, be glad and exult in Him, and sing praise to the name of the LORD.

Does your life matter? We are creatures with questions. Among the greatest questions are those that inform us of our origin and identity. Where did we come from, and what are we to do with our lives? The further man gets away from any understanding of God as creator and ultimate authority over His creation, the more depraved the man's life will be. 

That is the focus of David's great Psalm 8. David praises the majesty of God as creator and sustainer. David follows this great statement about the grandeur of God with a logical question about man. "Who is man that you are mindful of him?" Just who do you think you are? We will explore the answer in Psalms 8 this Sunday. 

Most people today have grown up being repeatedly told they are a victim, disadvantaged, and have probably experienced some kind of trauma. This narrative allows them to justify their bad attitude, actions, and harm towards others. This is toxic and unfortunate for many reasons. One of those reasons is that there are times when we are unjustly hurt by others and have been sinned against.

What do you do when you have been slandered, misrepresented, or harmed by another person without just cause?

In Psalms 7, David cries out to the Lord for justice concerning the hurtful and destructive words of Cush the Benjaminite. We have no record of what Cush said or did, but it must have caused some serious harm to David and his reputation.

If you have ever been unjustifiably attacked or misrepresented by someone, you will benefit from examining David's prayer to the LORD. David appeals to God, invites self-examination, waits on the Lord, and preemntively give thanks to the Lord. This Sunday, we will walk through David's prayer as we learn how to cry out for justice. 

Have you ever found yourself in desperate need and felt as though there is no way out? Imagine a scene: the protagonist finds himself backed into a corner—literally caught between a wall and all his enemies. They are closing in, and it looks as though there is no escape. But then, to your surprise, this trapped victim accomplishes some extraordinary feat or reveals hidden supernatural powers to defeat and evade the bad guys! However, we do not live in that movie. We live in the real world.

When you find yourself in the middle of a spiritual or physical struggle—a dark night of the soul—what can you do against the taunts of an enemy, the pitfalls of your own heart, or a terrible medical diagnosis? Even more, can you stand in the face of sin, death, and the devil and emerge triumphant? If we take an honest look, we must admit that we are helpless. 

Imagine another movie scene. The damsel is in distress. Her enemies are in hot pursuit, and she has no way of escape. Just when she reaches the point of overwhelming hopelessness, the true hero swoops in to save the day, rescuing her and delivering her to safety.

This is what Jesus does for His church. He steps down and puts Himself in our place. He bears the wrath of God for our sin, putting death to death on the cross. All who put their trust in Jesus as Savior, realizing they cannot find hope in themselves, must simply turn to Him, their everlasting hope.

At what point in your life did you find yourself at your lowest point? If someone was to ask you about when the greatest testing point of your faith was, does a particular time come to mind? Maybe it was a time where you cried earnestly to God to hear you but began to doubt if He was listening. Maybe it was a time you were eager for an answer from God but weren’t sure if He had given one yet. Perhaps it was a time when you felt lost in your direction in life, lonely due to betrayal and affliction, or maybe you had injustice being done to you and were longing for the Lord to rescue you.

The Fifth Psalm gives us a glimpse into King David’s thoughts in his prayer during a time when he calls for God to hear him. There are enemies in his life that are causing him to ask God for His leading and for Him to intervene and take action.

In this Psalm, we learn much about how to pray and draw near to God when we are lonely, afflicted, and needing direction. David’s example teaches us how to wait on God, how to trust His promises, and how to pray with faith, watching to seeing what the Lord does to answer our prayers.

One of the kindnesses the Lord gives us in this life is the pleasure of coming to the end of a day with a mind and heart that is at rest. So often, in our busy, attention demanding, and fallen world, the experience of such a pleasure can seem to be the rare exception instead of the norm. King David did not escape trials and hardships, but in Psalm 4, often called “An Evening Prayer”, he provides insight for maintaining a restful heart in the midst of difficult circumstances, so that, at the end of the day, our hearts and minds are indeed at rest.

It is in times of suffering or the greatest difficulty that we often experience the greatest doubts and ask the hardest questions. When everything has fallen apart, the question that often arises in a person's heart is, "Where is God?" Many spectators or adversaries may even assume "God has abandoned you."   

This was the context of David's prayer in Psalms 3. David's son Absalom had slowly stolen the hearts of the people of Israel over several years. In 2 Samuel 15-17, Absalom plots with leaders in David's government, and they launch a coup attempt to overthrow and even assassinate King David. There is no doubt that this was a dark hour for David.  

As Absalom's plot unfolded and the rebellion was rapidly growing, people began to say, "There is no salvation for [David] in God"(Psalm 2:2). The accusation was that if God's hand was still on David, he would not be experiencing these problems. David's troubles are a sign that God is not with Him. 

This raises the question for us. If the circumstances of your life are falling apart, does that mean God has abandoned you? Where is God in your darkest hour?

Over the last couple of years, there has been a growing movement of people promoting the statement "Christ is King." For most Christians, this seems like an obvious statement. However, there are many who bristle at this idea when attached to the public or national spheres of life. 

The idea is that Christ is King, generally speaking, at least in a spiritual and personal sense. Many are uncomfortable with "Christ being King" in our nation or over our communities. This raises a great question regarding what spheres of life are appropriate to acknowledge Christ as King? 

This is precisely what we find as the purpose of the Psalm for this Sunday. Psalm 2 is the single most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. Perhaps because it clearly answers the question as to where Christ has authority and what is the extent of His authority. Should Christians be posting, much less acting like "Christ is Lord" in the public square?