Every other Wednesday from 11:00 to 12:30 I meet with six other ministers in what we call our accountability group. One of the first things we do each time is a soul check, which is simply sharing how things are going at the deepest part of who we are.

What’s happening at the core of who we are — in our souls — is very important. That’s why we’re taking six weeks to discuss the “Anatomy of a Soul.”

If we were to do a soul check here at this worship service at Mayfair-Plymouth, we’d discover that many of our souls are troubled, because we all deal with troubles a lot of the time. When considering the anatomy of a soul we certainly must deal with the defeated soul: those frequent times when we’re troubled by our troubles.

THE TROUBLE WITH LIFE
The trouble with life is that it’s so filled with troubles. Troubles come in all kinds and sizes.

Several times each week when I’m visiting our people in the hospital I’m reminded of the troubles that come with poor health and medical issues. I have some of those concerns in my own family, with my sister and mother.

Then there are financial troubles. I get calls for help with those all the time, especially from people who aren’t part of this church and are just calling various churches. There are troubles on the job, or trouble finding a job.

There are relationship troubles. Even in the church we have to deal with those, and there’s probably nothing that grieves a pastor’s heart more than hearing about them.

We struggle with inner troubles. One minister got the following letter: “I’m pleased to write to you about what a responsible and disciplined Christian I’ve become. I stay away from alcohol so I no longer get drunk. I don’t gamble. I’m faithful to my wife and never even look at other women. I work hard every day. I don’t ‘party’ like I used to. I don’t even go to movies. I’m in bed early every night and am up at the crack of dawn. Moreover, I’ve now been living like this for more than four years. But just wait until next spring when I get out of prison!”

We all have troubles; we’re all troubled souls. Unfortunately, it’s part of living in a fallen world.

In each of the messages in this series on “Anatomy of a Soul” we’re looking at a psalm, because the psalmists wrote about the deep soul-felt issues that we all face. As we think about our souls being troubled, we’ll look at Psalm 77.

IDENTIFYING WITH THE TROUBLED PSALMIST
Listen to the words the psalmist wrote and see if you identify with them: “I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.” (vs. 1-2) Have you ever called out to God, especially in the middle of the night, but you didn’t feel better afterwards? I suspect so.

Then the psalmist wrote, “I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.” (vs. 3-4) Have your mid-night musings ever kept you awake? Have you ever gotten to the point where you were at a loss for words and you didn’t know what to pray? I suspect so.

The psalmist continued, “I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night.” (vs. 5-6a) Have you ever dreamed about the good old days when things weren’t as bad as they are now? We often remember the past as being better than it was, but still we yearn to have some things the way they used to be. Sometimes we wonder how we’ve gotten to where we are now or how we’ve gotten ourselves into the fix we’re in. If only we could go back!

Now the psalmist showed his frustration with God: “My heart mused and my spirit inquired: ‘Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?’” (vs. 6-9) Have you ever wondered whether God really cares about you or loves you? The psalmist was so discouraged that he posed an illogical question: “Has his [God’s] unfailing love vanished forever?” Unfailing love can’t vanish; it’s unfailing. Last week, in the first message of this series, we talked about the amazed soul. We examined Psalm 33; that psalmist talked about God’s unfailing love. However, there are times when we’re tempted to doubt that His love is really unfailing.

There’s a certain comfort in knowing that we’re not the only ones who feel this way. A great man of God — one of the psalmists, whose poem (Psalm 77) is in the Bible — felt this way in the midst of his troubles. A more modern example of someone who felt this way is the late Mother Teresa. A recent book published about her titled Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light describes this spiritual giant of a woman as having real struggles with feeling that God was near. In a letter to the Rev. Michael van der Peet she wrote, “Jesus has a very special love for you. But as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, — Listen and do not hear — the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak . . .” She referred to her experience as “my darkness” and to Jesus as “the Absent One.” This is all reminiscent of the 16th-century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross, who coined the term “dark night of the soul” in referring to the sense of God’s absence.

All of this should offer a kind of strange comfort to anyone who might be resisting the decision to turn his life completely over to God because he fears that he won’t ever be spiritual enough. I think that some people resist becoming God’s people, accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, because they feel they can never — even with the help of God — be truly good Christians. The psalmist who wrote Psalm 77, Mother Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and people like me should put such people at ease!

You don’t need a lot of faith to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The only faith you need is the faith that He’ll accept your little faith! One of my favorite stories about Jesus’ healing someone is the time He healed the son of a man who asked Him to do it. Jesus told the father before He healed his son, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Then, the historical account states, “Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24) All we need is the little faith that Jesus will accept our little faith!

What can we do with our ever-so-small faith when we’re deeply troubled by our troubles? The psalmist who wrote Psalm 33 served as an example for us.

APPEAL TO THE PAST AND REMEMBER GOD’S WORKING
After confessing all his doubts and his feeling distant from God, the psalmist wrote, “Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” (vs. 10-14)

He remembered the past: times when God helped him and helped God’s other people. We can do the same. We can focus on how God has helped in the past. “Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: . . .’”

When we’re in the thick of our troubles we often forget about how God has been there for us in the past. We need to force ourselves to remember that God has done mighty things in the past for His people — including you and me.

How has God been there for you in the past? It’s good to remember that. The psalmist referred to God’s “mighty arm” in verse 15 when he reflected on God’s help in the past. God is the God of the past, present, and future! His arm is as mighty now as it was in the past!

In verses 16-20 the psalmist remembered how God led His people through the miraculously-divided Red Sea under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. That was an amazing event — and though he didn’t experience it personally, the psalmist was encouraged by it.

It’s not just the mighty acts in our own pasts that we should remember. God has recorded so many of His mighty acts in the Bible so that we can read about them and gain a renewed sense of God’s mighty arm that can help us today. That’s why it’s so important for us to open up this Book of books regularly and become familiar with God’s workings through the ages. When we add this information to our own memories, we have a lot to draw on in times of trouble.

By looking back on the ways that God has been there for us in the past, we can have a renewed faith and confidence in the Lord’s help here and now. Then we can say in the midst of our troubles, as did the psalmist in verse 14, “You are the God who performs miracles.”