“A Big God For Hard Times” (Part One)

The times in which we are living feel overwhelming—almost suffocating. The problems facing our country/state/economy/churches are so huge, that despair has become our default position. In fact, it seems that the anthem of our time could be:

“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen”

         The fact is that these are tough times. Nothing can deny that. But, when our tendency is to look at the massive size of the challenges we face, there is a danger. A danger of not looking at the greatness of our God. In difficult times, we can be distracted, falling into the trap J. B. Philips warned of in his book title, Your God Is Too Small. Notice from his introduction:

No one is ever really at ease in facing what we call “life” and “death” without a religious faith. The trouble with many people today is that they have not found a God big enough for modern needs. While their experience of life has grown in a score of directions, and their mental horizons have been expanded to the point of bewilderment by world events and by scientific discoveries, their ideas of God have remained largely static. It is obviously impossible for an adult to worship the conception of God that exists in the mind of a child of Sunday-school age, unless he is prepared to deny his own experience of life. If, by a great effort of will, he does do this he will always be secretly afraid lest some new truth may expose the juvenility of his faith. And it will always be by such an effort that he either worships or serves a God who is really too small to command his adult loyalty and co-operation.

Our disappointments aside, the bigger the problems we face, the bigger the God we need—and it was that kind of God the psalmist pointed us to in Psalm 71:19.

Context: Psalm 71 is an expression of trust based on the psalmist’s long walk of fellowship with God. Although it may seem that God is far away, he has promised never to abandon or forsake his own (71:12; cf. Heb. 13:5). The psalmist, who viewed himself as good as dead, expressed confidence in God’s power to restore him (Ps. 71:20). (Tyndale Concise Commentary)

         In the midst of the trials and challenges of life, the psalmist (many think David) sees the faithfulness of the God who is greater in Psalm 71:19. Notice this great verse, and then we will consider some important elements contained in it.

“For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?” (Psalm 71:19)

The Righteous One

“For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens…”

• Righteousness: the quality of being just. For God, it defines His flawless character; for us it speaks of God’s work of giving us right standing in His presence. To make the unjust just. To make the broken whole. To make the wrong right. This is, in fact, the great work of redemption—not merely the forgiveness of sins but in fact the giving to us of right standing with God so that we can have a true and meaningful relationship with Him, both now and forever! (Jude 24- “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.”)
• Reaches to the heavens: meaning, in a sense, that God’s righteousness exceeds all else. When we turn to Him we turn to the One who is altogether right—and cannot do wrong. As Abraham said, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Of course He will. We can trust that.

When we consider our great God, we must begin with the essence of His character—and that is rooted in His extraordinary righteousness. Wednesday we’ll continue our consideration of this great verse of encouragement and help.