Resolutions to Very Bad Days

Resolutions to Very Bad Days Psalm 88 and stories from 2 Kings 4:8 – 8:6

Psalm 88

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” A Contemplation of Heman the Ezrahite.

The Psalms have always been a place where people love to go to read when they are feeling down. I have often picked passages from the Psalms to read to those who were suffering in an extended illness. In reading Ken Gire's “The North Face of God,” I became aware of another reason the Psalms are very popular to some people. These people are those who find it hard to justify what God is or is not doing in their lives. When the days drag on with little or no resolution to the problems we face.

What do I say as a spiritual counselor to someone who is going through Job like experiences. I have sometimes resorted to quoting various verses in the Scriptures that might restore hope and peace or assurance. More often I have simply listened and grieved with them. There are times when answers will not come in this life. There are times when our experience with God only leads us to questions of why, how, and when.

The biblical accounts that I am going to recall today could have seemed like these type of situations to the people who were going through them at that time. Some resigned themselves to live as best they could in their circumstances and to continue to serve and love God and trust in Him. Others used every possible means to resolve their calamities. The last one was doomed to live the rest of his life in the shadow of a curse. There is also a surprise ending, so pay close attention.

1 O LORD, God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.

3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near to the grave.
4 I am counted with those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man who has no strength,
5 Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.

6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
8 You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
9 My eye wastes away because of affliction.

LORD, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah
11 Shall Your loving kindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But to You I have cried out, O LORD,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 LORD, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors;
I am distraught.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have cut me off.
17 They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
18 Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.

1. A Shunmite's Plight

What do you give the woman who has everything?

She didn't have a son to care for her in her old age.

Elisha asked God to give her a son.

The son died.

Elisha, through the grace of God restored the boy to life.

They had to leave their home because of a famine.

2. A Servant with a Heart to Serve

She had witnessed the cruelty of being separated from her family.

She chose not to remain bitter.

She loved her captors closer to God.

3. A Warrior's Worse Nightmare

   The curse of leprosy and it's repercussions

   Hope in a strange land from a strange man

   It doesn't sound severe enough to work.

   The coaxing of a servant

   The cleansing through an act of faithfulness

   The refusal of finances

   The joy of a grateful man worshiping the ground that the prophet walked on.

4. The Greed of Gahazi

   A plot to pilfer the praiser

   A pile of loot for the plotter

   A plan gone bad

   A pill hard to swallow

   A pain passed on to the family

5. Four men between a rock and a hard place

   Resolve to take a chance

   Re con reveals retreated enemy's

   Relishing in the spoils of victory

   Recognizing the wrong doing

   Reporting to the city

   Retort from the king's right hand man

   Riot of rejoicing in the city

   Right hand man run over by rejoicers

   Wrongful death leaves king with a void

   Re emergents of a remorseful man

In each of these situations there seemed to be no hope, yet hope and deliverance emerged in irregular ways.

Perhaps what you have been going through has seemed to be unending and discouraging?

Perhaps you can see no end to the trial?

Perhaps your resolution is just around the corner?

Perhaps the answer to your prayer will only be revealed when God calls you home?

Remember, it is not just your present that God has in His hand, but also your eternal future.

It is where you spend eternity that matters to Him most.