Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19970720.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm Seventy-Seven - Finding A Basis To Trust God When We Are Over Our "Faith Limit"
(Psalm 77:1-20)
  1. Introduction
    1. Many times, for regular needs and events that arise, demanding faith in God's Word, the believer finds the faith to trust God to meet those "regular" needs.
    2. However, some crises are so overwhelming that our faith dwindles to where prayer seems futile and we cannot even sleep at night! When we are thus over our "faith limit", what THEN?!
    3. Psalm 77:1-20 teaches the believer where to find hope when he is over his "faith-limit" in distress in life:
  2. Finding A Basis To Trust God When We Are Over Our "Faith-Limit", Psalm 77:1-20.
    1. The Psalmist described a time when he experienced such distress of soul that he was over his "faith-limit."
      1. The psalmist purposed to call out to the Lord in confidence that God would hear him, Ps. 77:1.
      2. However, in doing so, though under great duress (77:2a,b), he did not find comfort, v. 2c-3.
      3. When he compared this experience with former times of crying out to God, he noticed that, unlike those "regular" past times of need, this time there was no comfort , but only sleepless turmoil, 77:4-6.
      4. Accordingly, he concluded that perhaps God was no longer going to help him, Ps. 77:7-9. He had come to the point where he had no more faith for the level of his distress!
    2. At this point in time, the psalmist decided to focus on a time when God's great power was displayed, when His "right hand", the Ancient Near Eastern figure for one's ability and might, was displayed, Ps. 77:10-14.
    3. In particular, he recalled the might of God displayed in Israel's crossing the Red Sea to flee the Egyptians:
      1. The Lord was recalled having mightily redeemed Israel, the nation that had descended from Jacob and Joseph centuries before, and that from the hand of Egypt, Ps. 77:15.
      2. The psalmist pictured the great waters of the Red Sea as writhing and convulsing in unrest at the presence of Israel's overpowering Creator-God, Elohim, Ps. 77:16.
      3. The clouds were resplendent with fireworks and the earth quaked at the presence of God, Ps. 77:17-18. These events probably pictured works besides the crossing of the Red Sea but associated with Israel's trip full of miracles from Egypt to Canaan.
      4. In the crossing of the Red Sea, or perhaps the Jordan, God led His people as a flock at the hands of Moses and Aaron through mighty waters, Ps. 77:19-20.
    4. Now, what is so particularly poignant about this event was its occurrence when Moses and the people were BEYOND their respective "faith-limits" as follows:
      1. As for Moses, when God had called him to lead Israel, Moses had already failed to be accepted as Israel's leader through his own self-help of murdering the Egyptian taskmaster; Moses was so low in his self-esteem that when God called him to lead, God had to use Moses' brother Aaron as a human encouragement for Moses even to serve God this way, Ex. 2:13-15; 3:11; 4:10-14.
      2. When backed up against the Red Sea, both the people of Israel and Moses together called out in faithless fear in their plight, Ex. 14:10-12, 15.
      3. Yet, when God delivered the people in this event, and they saw the bodies of the feared Egyptians on the Red Sea's beach, they feared God, and believed God and His servant, Moses, Ex. 14:30-31.
    5. Thus, the psalmist drew solace from an event in Israel's Scriptures where the nation's leadership and the nation itself were together, like the psalmist, way beyond their respective "faith-limit" levels! In so doing, he drew hope that God would yet help him now even though he lacked the faith! In so doing, he was yet trusting the Lord through exposure and hope in God's Word!
Lesson: Each of us has a limit to how much we can trust God, for we are sinners with a long history of unbelief. In such times, we can take advantage of this memorable, wonderful event of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus as hope that God will AGAIN help US though OUR faith fails to trust Him!

Application: There are times when God simply has to "carry" us, for we no longer have the capacity in our weakness to TRUST Him due to what we face, and due to our own sinful, faithless origins. During such experiences, we can look to the e vent of the crossing of the Red Sea as hope for the impossible to occur to help the overwhelmed once again, an act which itself is FAITH!