Psalm 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. I. THE STRANGENESS OF SUCH AN EXPERIENCE — that a man should remember God and yet be troubled. 1. Such an experience is against all that is made known to us of the nature of God. Many think the Bible hard because it speaks so of sin and the sinner's doom. But let it be borne in mind that the Gospel finds the disease in our world; it does not make it. "I am come not to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Is it not, then, strange that there should be men who, with this Word before them, can remember God and be troubled? 2. It becomes strange when we reflect on His promises. They are so universal, so free, so full, that they seem fitted to meet every want and satisfy every yearning of the human soul. 3. Trouble at the thought of God is declared to be against the experience of all sincere seekers. God's own declaration is, "I never said to any of the seed of Jacob" — to any of those who wrestled as he did ill the dark with God — "Seek ye My face in vain." 4. Such an experience is against all that we can reasonably believe of the nature of the soul of man. Out of God no full satisfying end can be found for it. II. SOME OF THE REASONS THAT MAY BE GIVEN FOR SUCH AN EXPERIENCE. 1. Many men do not make God the object of sufficient thought, and so they hang in wretched suspense, remembering God only to be troubled. 2. Another reason why many are troubled at the thought of God is that they are seeking Him with a wrong view of the way of access. The most frequent mistake of all is that men think they cannot look God in the face without trouble, unless they have some good works or good thoughts, some outward reformation or inward repentance. They do not perceive, or at least they do not feel, the all-sufficiency of Christ as a Saviour. 3. A third reason why some are troubled at the thought of God is, that they are seeking Him with some reserved thought of sin. 4. Some have a mistaken view of God's manner of dealing with us in this world. There are so many things in the world most dark which He permits — so much of difficulty in the Bible which they feel He could have made more clear — such troubles in our life, in what we may call our true life, our spiritual life, which we long to have ended, and which still go on. These questions of God's ways are still for our study, for nothing that belongs to Him can be indifferent to us, and earnest souls will thirst for light on all that concerns Him. But we shall not wait for the answer before we embrace Him; we embrace Him first that we may find rest, and from that centre pursue our search, or calmly wait till God disclose it. (John Ker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.WEB: I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah. |
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