Last week, we read from several “BUT YOU” scriptures that call out the contrast between unbeliever and believer; between who we were and who we now are. These scriptures serve to challenge and encourage us as God calls us up and out into who He declares that we are.
One of them keeps resonating in my spirit, so I’m going to share it again:
1 Peter 2:8-12
8 …They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, but you are a royal priesthood, but you are a holy nation, but you are God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but you are now the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but you now have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
This morning, the message has the same title and we’re looking at the same phrase found throughout the Bible. However, the focus shifts from us to God. Instead of contrasting who we were to who God now declares us to be, we contrast ourselves to who God is.
We start from Nehemiah. The wall around Jerusalem has been finally been rebuilt and the exiled Jews are being called back home. They gathered together and spent the day seeking after God. A quarter of it, they spent reading the law. Then for a quarter of it, they repented and called out their sins and the sins of their ancestors. Then for another quarter of the day, they worshipped. A day well spent and an awesome pattern for a service!
In a loud voice, they all cried out to God and said:
Nehemiah 9:16-21
16 “Our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
This is such a familiar historical account to so many of us that we sometimes miss the absurd reality of it and the contrast between God and man that we find.
God worked many undeniable, nation-wide miracles that impacted hundreds of thousands of people on behalf of the Israelites and delivered them in powerful ways from their Egyptian bondage.
In the midst of this, God caused the Egyptians to still look favorably on the Israelites when they left so that the Egyptians willingly gave the Israelites anything that they asked for. The Israelites didn’t leave empty-handed running for their lives, they plundered Egypt on their way out and carried off their riches along with them.
Even after all of these miraculous expressions of God’s goodness shown to the Israelites, they still took matters into their own hands. They literally turned the gold of Egypt into a calf and called it the god that saved them. They worshipped it and did all kind of nasty things before it.
After all that God had done for them and after the way that the people rejected Him and dishonored Him, He still loved them and provided for them and guided them and continued to work miracles for them…
19 “But you, because of your great compassion, did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 But you gave your good Spirit to instruct them. But you did not withhold your manna from their mouths. But you gave them water for their thirst. 21 But you, for forty years, sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.
How great is our God? He certainly does not treat us as our sins deserve! How often are we just like the Israelites and how often is God still just God?
We’re rebellious sinners, BUT YOU, Lord, are compassionate. BUT YOU, Lord, still faithfully lead us, instruct us, forgive us, give us food, give us water, sustain us, and so much more! We reject you, BUT YOU, Lord, never leave or forsake us!
Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. However, we often face opposition from others as well.
Psalm 3:1-3
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
What an awesome reality to picture and imagine! God becoming a shield all around us. Like a force field or Iron Man suit shielding and protecting us from all of those who wish us harm. The Lord, Himself, personally shielding us and allowing His glory to become our glory.
When we are down and discouraged and feeling overwhelmed or torn apart, the Lord, Himself, lifts our heads high; giving us strength, courage, and honor.
Let’s continue this Psalm in The Passion Translation:
3 But in the depths of my heart I truly know
that you have become my Shield;
You take me and surround me with yourself.
Your glory covers me continually.
You lift high my head.
4 I have cried out to you, Yahweh, from your holy presence.
5 So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby –
then I’ll awake in safety, for you surround me with your glory.
6 Even though ten thousand dark powers prowl around me,
I won’t be afraid.
By the way, we quote this hypothetically and symbolically. However, the author, David, literally knew what it was like to sleep at peace and without fear when armies of tens of thousands physically surrounded him determined to take his life.
7 Rise up and help me, Yahweh! Come and save me, God!
For you will slap them in the face,
breaking the power of their words to harm me.
8 For the Lord alone is my Savior.
What a feast of favor and bliss he gives his people!
We may be in trouble, BUT YOU, Lord, are our shield! God sets up a feast of favor and bliss set FOR US in the very presence of our enemies! We can sleep without fear and in peace and safety – not because there are no troubles around us, but because the Lord is our Protector despite them all!
Psalm 10:13-14
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
but you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
God, Himself, will take on our troubles and grief if we just surrender ourselves to Him! The Lord is our Helper!
Psalm 44:4-8
4 You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
6 I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
7 but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
8 In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.
We can’t do it on our own. Our resources aren’t enough and our strength and skill is insufficient. BUT YOU, Lord, give us victory!
Psalm 86:11-15
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead.
14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
ruthless people are trying to kill me –
they have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
God never treats us the way that people do. Though He has every right and reason to act against us in response to our sins against Him, He instead is for us.
What if we learned to live in an audience of One? What if our hearts were undivided and our full faith and dependence was on the Lord and His faithfulness alone? What if we praised God with all our heart? Regardless of what our circumstances are, God has not changed and He’s still worthy of it all!
People just don’t know; they just don’t understand how great God is! It’s good to know the Lord and to give Him praise!
Psalm 92:1-8
1 It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
5 How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!
6 Senseless people do not know,
fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Lord, are forever exalted.
It’s important for us to maintain an eternal mindset. We know the truth that our lives are about far more than the here-and-now. Though people who do wrong may seem to do just fine now, we know that God will ultimately judge us all. Our commitment to live in obedience and trust in Him and His ways will ultimately be richly and eternally rewarded!
Praise is a tool that God has given us that helps us to shift our focus away from the here-and-now and onto eternity. Praise is a tool that God has given us to humble ourselves and exalt Him. Praise is a powerful tool that God has given us to remember and proclaim who He is, what He has done, and to bring His Presence into our lives and current circumstances.
In light of eternity, our earthly lives are momentary. However, by pointing people to Jesus, our lives’ eternal impact is tremendous!
Psalm 102:11-12;25-27
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
As quickly and often as things in this world change, it’s reassuring to have a constant in our lives. Jesus is a firm, rock-solid foundation that we can build our lives upon. He remains the same throughout all of the ages; the same yesterday, today, and forever! Unshakable, all-powerful, and eternal is our great God!
I believe that God is challenging us to allow this simple phrase to transform our perspectives and prayers.
I can’t make ends meet, BUT YOU own everything and all provision comes from Your hands!
I am sick, BUT YOU are the Great Physician and the God who heals!
My relationship is broken, BUT YOU are the God who restores and reconciles!
I feel so alone, BUT YOU are the God who will never leave nor forsake me!
I don’t know what to do, BUT YOU are the God who freely gives wisdom without finding fault!
I can’t break free from this, BUT YOU are the God who delivers and sets the captives free!
I’ve got problems, BUT YOU ARE the solution!
…BUT YOU!