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Bygone Years at God’s Right Hand
By
Rev. Todd W. Allen
Midway
2005 Commemoration Service 07/10/2005 PM
Psalm
77:1-15
Psalm 77 is a psalm
for all of us at some time or another. It is a psalm written during
a time of perplexity, doubt and soul distress.
Asaph
in his prayer argues with himself.
He lays open his inmost thoughts during a time of deep distress and
discouragement.
His prayer has been unceasing and
continuous. He has prayed during the day and during the night. But
although he prayed ever so fervently he was getting no relief. He
was so overwhelmed by his sorrow and misery that he can’t focus on
anything else. This problem occupied all of his waking moments and
he wasn't getting much sleep either.
In his prayer he openly admits that he
has begun to wonder why God seems to be ignoring his prayers. He
wonders if God has abandoned him. He is fearful that he has offended
God in some way that cannot be remedied. He has prayed so long and
hard that he really wonders if his unresolved problem is a sign that
God has cast him off and he wonders, is this permanent? Will I never
get straightened out in this matter? He asks,
Will the Lord cast
off forever? And will He be favorable no more?
This is how you can feel when you face a
problem that you have earnestly sought the Lord about for a long
time and there is still no answer. The problem persists. Will God
never be favorable again? Isn't this thing ever going to be lifted
off my back?
Should we be going through similar
trials the Word of God supplies answers. In Psalm 94:14 we are
assured that God will not cast off forever or be favorable no more,
For the LORD will not reject his people;
he will never
forsake his inheritance. And
in Lamentations 3:32 it says --
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his
unfailing love. Lam. 3:32 (NIV)
In verse 8
he asks,
has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed
forevermore?
In Hebrews 6:13-15 we are told:
13When
God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for
him to swear by, he swore by himself,
14saying,
“I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”
15And
so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Heb.
6:13-15 (NIV)
There is just no way that the promises
of God can fail. God is certainly not a liar and when he doubly
confirms His promise with an oath we can know that it is impossible
for God to fail to keep His promise. So if you are in the faith of
Abraham and have accepted the promised seed in the person of Jesus
Christ you can be assured that he will never break his oath and not
keep his promise.
Finally, in verse 9 he asks,
Has God forgotten to
be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?
Selah
We can quickly put this question
to rest. When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law …
5Then
the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and
proclaimed his name, the LORD.
6And
he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the
compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness,
7maintaining
love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet
he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children
and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and
fourth generation.”
Ex. 34:5-7 (NIV)
By the time Asaph
finishes verse 9 it is as though he stops and thinks about what he
has been saying. He comes to the conclusion that he has been toying
with unbelief, with the sin of questioning God's goodness, mercy and
love. So he says Selah. He pauses and reconsiders his
attitude and admits that his grief and faintheartedness is due to
his own lack of faith.
He has been wallowing around in
a slough of despond. He has had no answer because he has been full
of doubt and mistrust of God. It is a grief that has remained with
him because he has imagined that God is such a one as you and I --
fickle, changeable, and untrustworthy. So now he changes his
approach. Now he reverts to a faith way of thinking about his
problem. He says in Verses 11-15:
10
Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the
right hand of the Most High.”11
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all
your mighty deeds.
13
Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so
great as our God? 13
You are the God who performs
14
miracles;
you display your
power among the peoples.
15
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of
Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Instead of asking foolish questions that
put God on trial he begins to think of the truth about God, about
his dealings with his people in former years.
We have as our source book the Bible,
which gives us many instances of the wonder working power of the
Lord on behalf of his people, both of individuals and of the
congregation of the Lord. So the psalmist now stops moaning and
groaning and begins to meditate and see all of God's tender and
loving care for His people in those historical events that we can
know from the Bible, and yes from the faith of those who have gone
before us, such as those who founded this church and then went on to
build this sanctuary with their own hands to the glory of God 100
years ago. It stands as a monument to their faith and also to God’s
faithfulness. They went through their trials and sufferings, just
like Asaph. But nothing could take away their faith in the God of
the Bible who is ever and always faithful to his promise to save to
the uttermost all who trust in Him.
My first
contact with Midway occurred when I received a telephone call in
1957 at Columbia Seminary from Herbert Scott asking if I would come
and preach one Sunday. I told him I would and that began a
relationship that has lasted to this day. His telephone call led to
the opportunity of preaching here throughout my seminary middler and
senior years.
When I first
came to Midway there were pot-bellied stoves for heating but no air
conditioning. There was a plain floor and a metal ceiling, which
incidentally provided excellent acoustics. Due to termite damage
there was a somewhat rickety pulpit. But this sanctuary was truly a
sacred and hallowed place for the worship of God.
Because in
those years the church membership was not large enough to support a
preacher Midway had yoked up with the Mars Hill Presbyterian Church
in order to have regular preaching. So I began serving both
churches. Both churches would hold a service every Lord’s day either
in the am or pm, alternating every week between the morning and
evening service.
When I became
a seminary graduate both the Midway and Mars Hill churches extended
to me my first call to serve as a pastor. Joe Nichols is the only
surviving member of the Midway pulpit nominating committee that
recommended my call. I was ordained right here in this sanctuary in
1959.
Like so
many others I have fond memories and great appreciation for these
hallowed walls. I have spent many hours privately on my knees on
that front pew. I did my first wedding here, marrying Eddie and Jean
Lawson. Eddie later became an elder in this church.
In 1961
the sanctuary was renovated. We held services at Due West Elementary
School while this was being done. Ed Mayes and Clint Paris did the
beautiful wainscoating. The light fixtures were selected and donated
by Herbert Scott.
Our first
child Deborah was born at Kennestone Hospital when Judy and I were
living in the Midway manse. I served both congregations until I
took a call to the Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church in Savannah,
Georgia in 1962.
Twenty-one years later in August of
1983 I was extended a call a second time to serve the Midway
congregation. This second call lasted for 13 years. It was in this
sanctuary that the congregation voted to embark on a building
program that saw the erection of the new sanctuary that was formally
dedicated in May of 1987.
It took a lot of faith for the Midway
congregation to commit to build a new worship facility that would
cost well over a million dollars. I believe our membership then was
only about 140. But God richly blessed that faith decision.
I remember that it was hard for some to
finally move from this sanctuary to the new one. We still held
services in this historic sanctuary on occasion and some people
insisted on conducting funeral services for departed loved ones in
this sanctuary rather than the new one. Some members wanted to be
married in this sanctuary rather than the new one. I am sure it
still holds precious memories for many families.
God in his wonderful and mysterious
providence builds his church. Congregations like individuals face
difficulties and even heartache along the way. Like the psalmist we
can go through periods when we may wonder if God has forgotten us or
has stopped being favorable to us. But like Asaph we should go back
and remember the years at the right hand God most high. True saving
faith does not give up; it presses on.
A building such as this one stands as a
lighthouse. It is a substantial reminder that God does not forsake
us. It was built by loving hands of faith that intended that it
should weather the storms that blow against it. You can see that it
was solidly built.
We may not always know why God lets
things come in life that hurt and why some prayers seem to go so
long unanswered, but we know that God is good and that he will never
leave us or forsake us.
Studying the providence of God
can be like studying the path of a ship on the high seas. You
cannot know from the parting of the waves as it moves through the
water the course it is on. You do not go back and look at the sea
when the ship has passed by and determine the ship's course. It is
impossible. Even so, we cannot know the ways of Providence. It is
beyond our knowledge. But we know that He directs all things. Only
the captain of the ship knows the course of the ship and why he
chooses to maneuver as he does. The psalmist says,
Thy way was in the
sea, and Thy paths in the mighty waters. And Thy footprints may not
be known. Psalm 77:19
We
can see the footprints of man but not the footprints of God. Still,
we know that He does make tracks everywhere. Nothing that happens
can happen without Him. And our trials and troubles are not hid from
Him. He in His infinite goodness and love is directing us in a way
that is for our good. We must reflect on this when we pass through
the deep waters and have travail of soul, as did Asaph.
And so in verse 20 Asaph abruptly ends
the psalm. He closes saying:
Thou didst lead Thy
people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
We know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
He is guiding us today using those means He has appointed. He is the
author and finisher of our faith. He gives his people under
shepherds like Pastor David Hall, Gene Hunt and Greg Doty, along
with ruling elders and deacons. At Midway we are blessed to have
officers with many years of loyal and faithful service.
Your part
and my part is to go on trusting in the captain of our salvation,
the Lord Jesus in all of our trials as well as in our times of joy.
Like those who have gone before us who built this sanctuary, he saw
them though to the end and he will see us through too.
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