"GO ON WHEN YOU WANT TO GIVE
UP!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte
PSALM 46:1-11
We all have days when we'd like to dig a hole, climb in, and pull in
the dirt. There are times when it seems that all we can do is fall out
of bed and lie on the floor until we recuperate. Sometimes our hurt is
so bad our spirit throbs inside us; our dreams fall apart; our hopes fade;
our lives become wearisome drudgery. Marital problems, broken friendships,
personal failures, health problems, finances, violence, fear, and loneliness
all contribute to our discouragement. Though problems will still be a given,
though difficulties will still touch us, though hardships will be a part
of our experience, there is health, hope, help, and harmony for our lives.
We can press on; we can hang in there; we can go on when we want to give
up. The Sons of Korah, men of the Levitical order, wrote a Psalm in which
they reveal the secret of doing that. I want to read it for you now. Consider
the factors that can help you go on.
THERE IS A DIVINE PRESENCE:
VV1, 5, 7:
Note the operative words in these verses:
Refuge: the word means "a shelter or hiding place."
Strength: the word means "our security, boldness, might."
Present: this word has meanings that range from "sufficient" to "be with
you in order to deliver." He is always by, and on, our side to assist.
He is with us.
Help: this word means "aid or assist." He doesn't leave us to our own resources
or faculties alone.
Trouble: the word means "adversity, affliction, anguish, distress, tribulation."
In: this preposition means "not before or after but during, in the midst
of" all these problems God is our refuge, strength, and a present help.
The living God is nearer to you than your most intimate friend, closer
to you than your dearest beloved, more imminent to you than your most trusted
ally. No wonder the Psalmist cried out, "Where can I go from Thy Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art
there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the
wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there
Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me." Psalm
139:7-10.
The words of Jesus have not ceased to be true:
"I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew
28:20.
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him." John
14:23.
Yet so often we are like Israel of old which said: "The Lord has forsaken
me, And the Lord has forgotten me." But even to doubting Israel, God spoke,
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son
of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you." Isaiah
49:14, 15. There
is a Divine Presence so we can go on when we want to give up.
I want to tell a story to illustrate the factors as they work in life.
Jewish sympathizers during WWII were treated like the Jews the Nazis wanted
to exterminate. We have heard about the extreme cruelties heaped upon Christians
who dared intervene and provide shelter and sustenance for the despised
people. A certain man, Hans, and his family were incarcerated in a work
camp for doing just that. Things were difficult. His own parents had been
put to death for their collaboration. Those who became too weak or infirm
to work were systematically put to death. But one thing kept Hans, his
wife and two children going when they felt so much like giving up: They
knew that they were not alone; they knew that God was with them even in
that odious camp. Our situation is not that extreme, but may our confidence
be that strong. Knowing that God is with us provides another factor in
going on.
THERE IS A DIVINE PROMISE:
V5b:
"God will help her when morning dawns." Who is the "her?" The city of God,
identified in the Book of Revelation as the New Jerusalem, the Bride, the
church! Maybe we, even as His church, have to go through the long night
of sorrow and suffering, but the dawn brings help.
It puts me in mind of the promise: "Weeping may last for the night, But
a shout of joy comes in the morning." Psalm
30:5.
It reminds me of that great song: "In His time, In His time, He makes all
things beautiful in His time."
It affirms for me that God comes not too
early nor too late.
What do we do in the face of troubles and in light of God's promise to
help us?
Some forget God's promise and launch out as though it all depends on them
alone.
They face temptation alone and fall into sin, compelled then to live with
guilt and a sense of failure.
They get into a tight place alone and find themselves outmatched, outnumbered
and outwitted by the difficulties of life.
They try to handle the problems of life alone and grow afraid.
Some doubt God's promise and act as if there is no real, credible hope.
They worry and fret and fuss.
Others take the Abrahamic Position regarding God's promise: His old age
rendered parenthood an extreme unlikelihood. "In hope against hope he believed,
in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that
which had been spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' And without becoming
weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he
was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with
respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong
in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had
promised, He was able also to perform." Romans
4:18-21.
The surety of a promise depends on the integrity and ability of the guarantor.
Many make promises they don't intend to keep.
Many make promises they are unable to keep.
Many make promises they forget to keep.
Many make promises and change their minds about keeping them.
But God makes only promises he intends, is able, and won't forget to keep.
"For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one
greater, He swore by Himself, saying, 'I will surely bless you, and I will
surely multiply you.' And thus, having patiently waited, he obtained the
promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an
oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way
God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness
of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable
things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement,
we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us." Hebrews
6:13-18.
Let me make some general observations about the promises of God:
They are based on His initiative. We didn't obligate or coerce Him into
making them.
They are for His children, those who have faith in Jesus Christ. "And we
desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the
full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but
imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Hebrews
6:11-12.
They are fulfilled in Christ. "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was
preached among you by us --by me and Silvanus and Timothy --was not yes
and no, but is yes in Him. For as many as may be the promises of God, in
Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the glory of God
through us." 2 Corinthians
1:19-20.
They are fulfilled in His time and way. The "dawn" may not be in 12 hours;
it may come in weeks. But it will come and with it His help.
They ought to motivate us to faithful living! "Therefore, having these
promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2
Corinthians 7:1.
Paul said, "Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar." Romans
3:4. That is,
whoever else you may not believe, believe God; whoever else may tell you
an untruth, yet God will be true. God promised to help when morning dawns.
Believe His promise and go on when you want to give up!
Hans and his family believed in God's promises. They lived in only one
dread: their son, Fritz, was a weak child. He was somewhat crippled and
they knew that given the Nazi penchant for eliminating those who could
not work he would likely be high on their list. But this they knew: that
live or die, they belonged to Jesus Christ and were possessors of eternal
hope and life. They were fully persuaded of God's promise and could say
with Paul, "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed;
for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard
what I have entrusted to Him until that day." 2
Timothy 1:12. They believed Jesus when He said, "I am the resurrection
and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies," John
11:25. That
unshakable confidence provided yet a third factor in going on.
THERE IS A DIVINE PEACE: VV2, 10:
"Cease striving" may equally well be translated, "Relax" or "Be still."
It implies to slacken your hard toiling; to forsake your frantic efforts;
to let go of your struggles.
The basis for this is contained in the words, "know that I am God."
When we know, not just academically, but with our hearts and with faith,
experientially that God is God, that God reigns, that God is still on his
Throne, we can say "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;" Psalm
46:2.
This means believing what the Bible says about God. He is all powerful,
all knowing, and all present.
This means bringing our stresses and fears to Him and seeking His grace
and assistance.
This means trusting God with all our circumstances, our problems, and our
whole lives.
This means resting in Him as our refuge and hiding place.
Jesus knew the propensity of the human heart to fear and be restless; He
spoke these powerful words:
John 14:1 "Let not
your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." He implies
that we have control here: "Let not" and "believe."
John 14:27 "Peace
I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I
give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." His
peace is not the uncertain world peace; not just the absence of external
strife, but the reality of internal calm.
With His peace we can go on when we want to give up!
One day Hans returned from work detail and didn't find his wife or Fritz
his son; but he did see Franz, his eldest, weeping. "Oh, no; not Fritz!
Did they take Fritz today?" His son said, "Yes, papa, they did. They said
he could no longer do his share of the work." Hans went on, "But what about
Mama, where is Mama? She was strong, they didn't take her too, did they?"
Franz said through his tears, "Papa, when they came to take Fritz he was
afraid; Mama told him not to be afraid because she would go with him and
would hold him in her arms. Mama went with Fritz to the chamber so he wouldn't
be afraid." The Nazis didn't win that day; Fritz and Mama won because they
knew of the Divine Presence, the Divine Promise and the Divine Peace. Well,
though I don't minimize your struggles, they don't quite parallel those
of Hans and his family. You can face what life deals out; you can handle
what comes your way; you can do all things through Christ who strengthens
you. You can press on the upward way when what you most want to do is run
away. Would you claim that assurance today? Then claim Christ Who calls
you to go on when you most want to do is just to give up.