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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the Bibleignmenistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Well, I wanted to give you a copy of my notes for tonight. This is to be an inspiring message tonight called, Woe Is Me. Isn’t that a good encouraging title? Woe Is Me. One guy says, if I didn’t have any bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. your Bible and turn to Psalms 143. Psalms 143. We’re going to read the first 12 verses because that’s all the verses that are in this Psalm. So we’re not going to read 13, we’re just going to read 12.

But as we read it, I want you to see that when you study the scriptures, you’ll find that many, many people in the Old Testament, New Testament, everybody grieved about something. Everyone suffered. Everyone was overwhelmed at times. So if you feel like that sometimes, you’re in a good group. So did they. And we don’t serve the the Lord when He removes all of the problems away from us so that we can have a good attitude. You know, we’ve got to have a good attitude.

Well, there’s some time you just don’t always have a good attitude. You just can’t always walk around with a smiley face. It would be wonderful. That’d be the ideal, but most of us haven’t got to that level yet. We’re still struggling. And there’s things that happen that cause us to have a lot of grief sorrow. So the 143rd song, just look at this. In verse one, here, my prayer, oh Lord, give ear to my supplication, and thy faithfulness answer me and in thy righteousness, and enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He had smitten my life down to the ground. Now you can’t get any lower than that, I guess. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Look at verse 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee, my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land.

Hear me speedily, oh Lord, my spirit faileth. You gotta underline that. So sometimes see, when we get down physically, we can get down spiritually. It’s so easy to happen. And so when you’re feeling good, sometimes you can be a little bit more uplifted and you’re more encouraged and your attitude changes. But say, high not by face from me, lest I be likened to them, they go down into the pit. Now look in verse eight, now twice this is mentioned, cause me to hear, cause me to hear.

You’re gonna unline that little phrase. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning. For in thee do I trust, and here it is again, cause me to know thy way, The way wherein I should walk caused me to know this, for I lift up my soul unto them. Verse nine, deliver me, O Lord. From mine enemies, I flee under thee to hide me. Verse 10, very important, teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.

Thy spirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake, for thy righteousness’s sake, bring my soul and those three of them are out of trouble. and of thy mercy cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for I am thy servant.” Now you can see that’s why you’re just reading it. David had a lot of afflicions. He had a lot of problems. He went to a lot of grief.

Of course we can say, well a lot of it was unnecessary. Saul didn’t have to do what he did. He tried to kill him over and over again. and all the things that he went through, even went through it with his family, even with his brothers mocking and making fun of him. But you see, as you go through the scriptures, you’ll find out there’s many times when people are just filled with a lot of heartache and sorrow. My whole life so far at this point has not been one of total bliss, just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

Every area of my life, There’s been a lot of downtime. A lot of times it doesn’t seem like there’s much pleasure in some of the things you go through. There’s sorrow and you pity yourself. You’ll have a pity party even though you’re the only one there and most time that’s the way it is. Look in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, very quickly, 2nd Corinthians and chapter 6. We covered this the other day with the kids in the college class, went through some of these verses here in 2 Corinthians and chapter 6, where he talks about in verse 1, we then as workers together with him, we’re workers together with him.

Well then why don’t he just make it easier on me by eliminating my grief, my heartache, eliminating my sorrows or my sicknesses or this problem. It would be so much easier, But I’ve lived long enough to find out that some kind of God doesn’t always want it easy on you. Because there’s things that it’s like we read in the hundred and forty-third Psalm, Lord, cause me to know, cause me to hear. And it’s sometimes these things that happens to us that we don’t like is what causes us to listen.

It causes us to learn, teach me thy way, the way that we ought to go and the Lord sometime, that’s what He’s doing. And so we have grief in this life. We’re going to have a lot of grief, a lot of sorrow. We can’t get it all removed from us. But now notice what He says here in verse three, giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed. Now God is concerned, yes, about the ministry that we have, but also we should live in such a way that God is not blamed.

Did you know that people will blame God for us giving Him the credit for something He didn’t do? We do the wrong, well I’m just suffering for Jesus’ sake and it may be because you’re reaping what you sowed. But we give people the impression this is, well this is the Christian life and you know, see God’s punishes us while down here. And it could be just the opposite, but you don’t want the ministry to be blamed. You don’t want the God that we serve to be blamed.

And you ought not do things that would cause people to blame you for not doing right or handling certain things. So he said, now this is the attitude he had to have and the things that happened to him. So look in verse 4, but in all things approving ourselves ourselves as the ministers of God and you reveal that by much patience. Yes, even in affliction. You’re serving the Lord in afflictions just as much when there is no affliction. Serving God is not contingent upon whether you have problems or not.

Whether you have them or you don’t have them, serve the Lord and be patient and don’t do things that we cause God to get a bad name. You’re a Christian, live like an act like it, but then notice what he says. In afflictions and necessities, there’s times you’re going to have need and you didn’t get your needs met. I know the verse says, you know, he saw supply all of your needs, of course, but he talked about those who gave emissions, believe it or not.

And we like to apply that to just everything. You may need to learn a lesson. You may need to do without. One of these days, you may need to die. Well, how do you like that? And distresses, instructs, I mean, prisoners in two mouths and labors and fasting to what? All these things that happens to him. So he makes this statement down here. This is some very good verses, but look in verse 10 now. Verse 10, you ought to underline, as sorrow for.

Yet always rejoicing. You don’t rejoice just because there’s no sorrow. You can have sorrow and still rejoice. You sorrow because we’re still in the flesh and our physical bodies and there’s things that happens to us and we grieve because we can’t always make everything happen the way we want. But spiritually the new man is strengthened day by day. So you can have rejoicing at the same time you’re having sorrow because we are limited into this physical body we have but we concentrate upon the things of the Lord we can also rejoice in times of our grief and yet making many rich and this is what God wants to do.

Take your Bible looking to Psalms 34, Psalms 34 all the way back there, the book of Psalms 34. Psalms 34, look at verse 17, 17, 18, and 19, these three verses. Verse 17, the righteous cry and the Lord hearth and deliver them out of almost all their troubles. Did I read it right? Oh dude, it makes a big difference so dumb and deliver with us from all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.

Now when you have a broken heart and sometimes there’s a lot of things that happen in that really can break our heart. The Lord is nigh unto them. But notice, and save of such as be of a contrite spirit, of a contrite spirit. Now in your notes there, I just kind of wrote a little statement in there. If you look how it’s worded, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save of such as we have a contrite, a truly broken and yet humble heart before God.

So can God see the humbleness of your heart, whether or not you are at the end of yourself? And sometimes we say faith is born into spare and you don’t have anything else and you turn to the Lord. And you’re humbled before the Lord and you are still grieving because not all the sorrow is removed immediately because there’s things that don’t get solved immediately. There’s some things in life that you go through. I know that right now and I hope you don’t mind me mention this.

Mary’s got a dad that’s 90 something years old and probably could pass away at any time but there’s been there’s grief there. there, there’s sorrow there, but the problem doesn’t go away by the snapping of your finger. Well, I turned it all over the Lord. I know, but there’s still responsibilities. And some people are going to get cancer, and you can have cancer that can lean on for months and months in some cases years. You can have to put up with diabetes and have all kinds of problems.

buddy old Sonny Blueeye. He was a diabetic and he came to time when he had vision problems and they asked me to come up there and I was up there in Tonawana Indian reservation up in Buffalo, New York and I preached there on the reservation and had a great time and speaking in the church he was just like walking into our church here and they had a firehouse five singing the whole rant songs and all that. But then he got a bad foot.

He got a sore something. And then even though he had it, and they had to take off his foot, took off most of his leg. And then it wasn’t long after that. I did his funeral. But there’s people who hurt and they suffer and they go through it. And it’s not, well, he must done something wrong. No, I had nothing to do with him doing wrong. You serve the Lord in times of affliction. And And the affliction doesn’t mean you did something wrong.

Is it we’re living in a sinful world. We have bodies that are going to die. We have all kinds of things that causes us grief. You’ve got to know that and understand that. And it says that have a contrite spirit. Looking verse 19, many are the afflections of the what? They’re righteous but afflicted. So if you see somebody and they’re having a rough time and a lot of affliction, it doesn’t mean they got sin in their life. They could be a very righteous man.

Have you ever heard of the story of Job? I wish you had about four hours to read to you the story of Job. Job was a righteous man. It wasn’t that God wasn’t satisfied with how far he’s gone. God just wanted him to see how much further he needed to go. He thought he had arrived, but man, there’s so much more God had to teach him and God did teach him. So look there in Psalm 116, 116 Psalm, 116 Psalm, and look in verse 2 and 3, 116 Psalm verse 2 and 3.

He says this, in verse 2, because he had inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him how long? as long as I live.” And looking in verse three, the sorrows of death compass me and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. And here we are. Well, if I’m going to serve the Lord, I don’t want nothing to go wrong. I want peace and joy and happiness all the days of my life.

Well, you can have that and certain joy of the Lord, but that’s in your spirit. But your soul can grieve and you’re going to have some. Not everything is going to work out cool for you. Some of you may suffer for long periods of time. And so you just know that and understand that. But while we’re right there, look in verse 9. Verse 9, he says, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. As long as we’re in this world, in the land of the living, I’m going to walk before the Lord.

And then in verse 10, I believe, therefore have I spoken and look at the last part of that verse. I was what? Greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, all men are liars. Verse 12, what shall I render unto the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? All of these afflictions, and what can I give to God for all that he’s given to me? And he may allow you to have many afflictions. We want to thank the Lord and praise the Lord when everything is going great, and we have pleasure, but what when pleasure turns to just be miserable?

And there’s things in light that can just be nothing but misery and you’re going to lament. There’s a whole book in the Bible call the book of lamentation. You ever heard of it? Lamentation. Lamenting because of the things that are happening. And so he says in verse 13, I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all of his people. And look in verse 15, this is one of the things that makes going to heaven such a precious thing because of all the afflictions that God’s people are going through in this life.

But God can use you wherever He puts you, wherever He places you. So understand that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. So it’s not a bad thing to die, but it’s a wonderful thing to know the Lord in the days of your living when He says, I will walk before the Lord and the land of the living.” Now, I want you to look there at your notes. A person wrote this, Esther Fleist, she wrote.

And I got a couple of good thoughts from what I was reading. And then I was looking through the book of Lamentation. And then I read what an expositor, Bible commentary, had to say on certain little parts, so I thought I would throw this in for you. Because I think all this stuff goes together. Now, you don’t think about some of these things like it’s until you go through something. Am I remember where I was last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday?

I haven’t forgotten it so far. And some of y’all asked me how I’m doing, but I got to play. I got to stop saying fine. It’s a fake fine. You know, like there’s fake news, there’s a fake fine. How you doing fine? find is not telling the truth, if it’s not the truth. True? Well, isn’t it true that as you study the Old Testament scriptures that many of God’s people things were not fine? They suffered. Would you like to just sit down and talk to a man like Joseph and see how he was doing a little?

Joseph, how are you doing fine? How’s things going? Everything’s going wonderful. But he went from the pit to prison to the palace. But now notice, wrote, what would happen if we remove laments from the Bible? We would lose powerful testimonies. We would lose an entire book, limitation. Much of the Psalms, and we would lose a powerful way of communicating with God when life does not go our way. Lamenting is an essential spiritual discipline that we cannot forsake on this side of the fall, because it offers us a way to keep the conversation going with the only one who can save us when life gets hard.

Sometimes there’s things in life nobody can solve. And you’ve got to go through it, and there’s nobody but just you and the Lord. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. Jesus led us in to His laments on several occasions. And Scripture teaches us of a God who experienced emotions and lets us know about it. Ephesians 4.30 says, “‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you’re sealed unto the day of redemption.'” Now the next statement is in bold, but think about this.

No one laments or grieves more than God. So why do we put pressure on ourselves to keep a happy face? We want to be happy. We want to be filled with joy, but sometimes it’s not there and it’s not real. And sometime we can put on a false front, a false face. But as you study the scriptures and you study the Psalms especially, David was a very open man. He really tells you how he thinks, how he felt. He told you about his hurts and the griefs, the rejection, the people that were against it, all the things that happened.

He didn’t hide it under, well, fine. But we do most time because we don’t really believe that people really care about how we’re really doing. Do you think that? Because that’s just something we always add. Well, how are you doing? Terrible. Well, good. Pray for you. And never even listen or heard what they said. And if a person said, well, you got an hour? Well, I can’t right now. Do you really want to know? Do you really care? And so it’s something to think about.

Look at the next day, man. We traded in our sorrow and for God we will be sorrowful while we are rejoicing. We have sung the happy songs in church, prayed the happy prayers, told ourselves to always be thankful at the expense of silencing the grief left unresolved in our hearts. Is there times when some things have never been resolved? Can you have conflict with somebody and never get it resolved and it hurts you to this day. Can there be things that have been said or done between husband and wife or mother and dad and the children or grandchildren or people under job a boss or anything like that, things you’ve gone through and the hurt’s still there and it’s been years and you carry grief all those years and even though you’re maturing the Lord you can forgive but you can’t sometimes forget and the hurt

will be there for years and years and years and you just got to have to go through that. That’s part of living life in this world because you’re not going to forget everything. You can’t just wipe everything away. You’re going to have grief. We live in a sinful world. We have old bodies of ours that’s fallen apart and things that happen to us that causes us a lot of grief. Get the next statement. Lament is a passionate expression of grief.

It’s the cry of our heart that is usually full of anguish, sadness, or heartache. We know God is close to the brokenhearted, yet we have forgotten how to be broken ourselves. We know that God inclines to hear our cry, but have we let our disappointments be heard. Do you talk to the Lord and share with the Lord and you’ll notice how David talked to the Lord. He cast all of his cares upon the Lord, yes, and he talked to the Lord about all of his troubles and Lord helped me speedily and he prayed about Lord, how about all those enemies out there to try to do me harm and he prayed about that too.

He asked the Lord to take care of them. Now this is what I Also, I read this in the expositors Bible commentary. And I thought it was so good, but it was almost so deep that I almost didn’t understand it. I wanna read it to you. It’s just a little brief paragraph, but I wanna read this to you. The attitude, so simple and natural and easy under ordinary circumstances. Here suggest a subtle continuance of wretchedness. It is helpless and hopeless.

The first while agony of the severance of the closest natural ties has passed. And with it, the stimulus of conflict. Now there has supervened the dull monotony of despair. The dull monotony of despair. You don’t mind a little despair if it’s over in two or three minutes. But when it goes on for days and weeks and months, a dull monotony of despair. And we have no clue how many people come to church Sunday after Sunday and their hearts is full, nigh under breaking and got pressures and feelings and remorse and grief.

things going on and yet we see them and they put on a happy face and that’s not really how they are, not where they really are. Look over there, I just want to read this here one bold statement down at the bottom. At the bottom of the page, on the second page, this statement was made and I really like this statement because God meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be.

And sometimes we want people not to know really where we are or how we’re really doing. We want them to think of us as better than that or more spiritual than that. And so we don’t really tell the truth. So that’s why it could be, you know, fake, we’re thinking. way of thinking. Fake, fine. Go back here to this statement here. This is the lowest depth of misery because it allows leisure when leisure is least welcome because it gives the rain to the imagination to roam over regions of heart-rending memory or sombre apprehension.

Above all because there is nothing to be done. One of the things that really helps when you have a lot of heartache and grief and sorrow is something that you can do to stay busy because it can take your mind off of that grief. But when there is nothing to do and all you’ve got is leisure time to contemplate upon that misery how much more miserable you will be. This is why sometimes you’ve ever heard that statement, an idle mind is a devil’s workshop.

So that’s why sometimes it’s such a wonderful blessing to be able to stay busy doing something that gets your mind off of some of your grief. But it doesn’t remove all the grief. It’ll be waiting for you when you get back. Look at the next statement. Because it gives the range to the imagination to roam over regions of heart-rendering memory or sombre apprehensions, above all because there is nothing to be done, so that the whole range of consciousness is abandoned to pain.

Many A-suffers has been saved by the the healing ministry of active duties. Sometimes resented as an intrusion. It is a fearful thing simply to sit in sorrow. I’ve been here. If you haven’t been, you will be. Are you ready to learn how to live your life as a strong Christian, lead others to Christ, or excel as a church worker or ministry leader? Then look no further, then Florida Bible College of Tampa, with traditional and online classes taught by instructors with years of experience.

Florida Bible College of Tampa can help you grow in your Christian life. Whether taking individual classes or working toward a one-year degree, Florida Bible College of Tampa is here for you. To learn more, visit online at floridabiblecollege.us or call the Registrar Bob Gilbert at 850227-5325. That’s 850227-5325. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.