When The Fight’s Within

• Even the strongest human will has a limit.  It seems like the person who wrote Psalm 13 has hit his limit. He doesn’t start  the beginning of the psalm with praise, thanks, “Glory be,” or “Hallowed.”  He says, “How long?” Not “Hallelujah” but “How-long-elujah.” It’s  a different kind of prayer. I’m choosing these psalms throughout our series  to show you that you can come to God honestly and sincerely with your problems but not focus on  your problems and not remain in the same place that you came when you brought your problems to  God. By the way, Elijah is doing so well. He’s
• doing so incredibly well. He’s actually working  for me now, clipping my sermons for TikTok. That’s right. He’s on the front  row today. They gave him today off, but he said, “If you get preaching  too good, I might have to run to the back and clip you real quick.
• ” Now, the  interesting thing about the psalmist’s complaint that ends in praise but  starts with complaint is he says, “How long will you forget me, Lord? How long are  you going to hide from me? I can’t find you.” “Man, it’s like you keep telling me, God, to  do something, but then I do what I thought you told me to do, and I’m not sure if that’s what you  told me to do, because I don’t feel you.
• I moved because I thought I was moving in obedience to the  will of God for my life.” But even when you’re in the will of God, the strongest human will can only  hold on so long. When you get in that place of “How long? How long?…” I think I should say it  like this. You can only be strong for so long. You can only feel forgotten for so long. You can  only feel taken for granted for so long.
• You can only do for others so long and say, “Well,  I’m doing it for the Lord. I’m doing it for the Lord. I’m doing it for the Lord. I’m doing  it for the Lord. A ‘thank you’ would be nice, but I’m not doing it for a ‘thank  you’; I’m doing it for the Lord.” And then you explode on us, because  even the nicest, most polite, most servant-hearted person can only serve  strong for so long before you start wondering, “How long till they reciprocate for  me?” Don’t say, “Amen.
• ” They’ll know you’re agitated with them and you’re about  to explode any minute and they need to duck. “How long will you forget me? How long will  you hide from me?” He actually says something that I know we’ve all felt in here: “How long  will my enemy triumph over me?” In other words, “How long till I get a win? I don’t feel like  I’m winning anywhere.
• ” Maybe you felt that way as a husband this week. “If I’m winning  as a provider, I’m not winning as a parent. I’m paying for stuff, but I don’t have time to  play with my kids, because if I play with my kids, I can’t pay for the stuff, and they don’t want to  play with nothing. But if I’m going to pay for it, I’ve got to work for it, and if I’m working for  it, I can’t be with them. I can’t win anywhere.