Psalm 68 Loneliness

Psalm 68: 4-6

Sing to God, sing praises to His Name……..

A Father to the fatherless………. is God in His Holy Dwelling.

God sets the lonely in families………

Have you been lonely?

Misery, I say misery……….

That’s the nature of loneliness.

“It is not good that man should be alone”

Genesis 2:18

In all the creation-

Everything-

That’s right everything…………

Had been good to this point.

But here was man- Alone.

In some ways I think maybe-

Just maybe-

The greatest pain of the curse of sin-

Just may be…………

Separation-

Isolation-

That wall that goes up-

Between me……….

And men-

Between me……………

And Father.

Ah, but God……….

The King of Kings-

The Lord of Lords-

The Creator of all that is-

He is more than even all of these things-

He is……………

The Father to the fatherless-

He is………….

The One who truly knows me and still……..

Loves me.

He is……………

The One who brings me into His own………

Family.

Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit,

Thank You-

Thank You not only for the gift of salvation-

But thank You as well for bringing me into Your very family.

We pray together now that the family of God-

The very Body You have established as Your Church-

This body………

Would be good and true and all that You mean it to be…….

So that no Child of the King ever need feel the sting of loneliness again.

Father us today Lord-

Father us into this and all the Life Jesus has won for us.

Amen

1 John 3:1 How great is the Love the Father has lavished upon us,

That we should be called children of God.

What you see is what you get-Really!

2003- Family Picture Day at Church- You know- the time when everyone comes in to have pictures taken for the church directory. I look back at that picture now- the smiles- our Sunday best clothes- Our closeness as we huddled together to capture the memory of............... I was running late and driving like a fool. The woman in front of me began to inch forward as the light turned green, but came to a sudden stop when she saw an ambulance out of the corner of her eye. Me- I was in such a hurry- I had jumped right up on her as she pulled away- when she stopped- I couldn't................ Crunch........... I can't believe this I thought to myself- what idiot starts and then stops suddenly as they pull away at a Green light? Julie (my wife) was spitting mad. By the time I got to the church with news of my wreck, we had missed our appointment and had to go to the end of the line. On top of that, she and my then 13 year old Rebecca were at war over how to dress for the Family Church picture. Matthew didn't help matters- As a typical 9 year old he wasn't exactly a paragon of patience as he relentlessly asked over and over and over, "How much longer Mom- how much longer?"

So what was Real?

The idyllic posed family portrait of beautiful people who have it all together

or

The boiling cauldron of anger and frustration underneath the smiles?

I suppose there is a bit of reality- of Truth- in both.

I look back now, I do see 4 broken people and I do know the back story, but even in that brokenness we were-we are- a family.

If nothing else- at least the pose shows a Love for each other.

It is a Love that binds our hearts together even in the boiling cauldron.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all else, Love each other deeply, for Love covers a multitude of sin

In truth, the whole episode pushes me to think about what Love really is.

We certainly had to find our way past the notion of love being a feeling.

None of us felt particularly loving about each other at that point.

Some might say we were just posing for the camera-

Propogating a lie- trying to cover up our ugliness.

Maybe there was a bit of that for the outside world.

Maybe there was a bit of posing going on-

But with each other- No Way!

None of us tried to hide our frustration with each other.

None of us lived in the illusion that we had it all together.

So what about this deep Love that covers a multitude of sin?

In a way I think the picture is a real expression of it.

At it's core, this smiling, happy looking picture is the reality of us-

Our Family- choosing to set aside our brokeness-

Our anger and ill tempers with each other-

Setting all that aside- for just a moment- to say,

"Hey, I know you're screwed up-

I know you're apt to make my life a little difficult-

I know all that- but I am not going anywhere."

"I'm in this picture and I choose to Love you all."

Lord Jesus, Thank You for our family- Our messed up broken family. Thank You that You have empowered us with Love that covers a multitude of sin. Father work out Your Great Heart for us- through us- in all our days together and apart.

Amen