Facing Our Doubts Through Prayer 5.10.20 SERIES: Praying The Psalms

SERIES: “Praying the Psalms”

TEXT: Psalm 73:1-3; 12-26

MESSAGE: “Facing Our Doubts Through Prayer”

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QUESTION: How do you deal with your emotions?

“This great psalm is the story of a bitter and despairing search, which has now been rewarded beyond all expectation. It recalls the questions that distracted Job & Jeremiah; but at the end they no longer seem unanswerable…” –  Derek Kidner

By…(1. Speaking Honestly 2. Staying Committed 3. Seeing Clearly)

      1. Speaking Honestly (v. 1-3; 12-15)

“Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.”

“Doubt always masquerades as more intellectual than it is, but doubt is a condition of the soul & the heart.” – Timothy Keller

      2. Staying Committed (v. 16-18)

“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.”

      3. Seeing Clearly (v. 21-26)

“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

 

TAKEAWAYS: What do we do with our doubts?

1. Expect them

God is his own best apologist.”  Os Guinness

2. Pray your grumbles

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” James 5:9

3. Ask God to search you

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” — Psalm 139:23

4. Discern the end

Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16)

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