Rev. David Holwick ZH Series on Psalms
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 22, 2000
Psalm 10:1-14
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"FROM A DISTANCE"
(Written by Julie Gold, performed by Bette Midler)
From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.
From a distant there is harmony, and it echoes through the land.
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace,
It's the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
No hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance we are instruments, marching in a common path.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace,
They're songs of every man.
God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance.
From a distance you look like my friend even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend what all this fighting
is for.
From a distance there is harmony, and it echoes through the land.
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves,
It's the heart of every man.
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves,
This is the song of every man.
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance.
Oh, God is watching us, God is watching,
God is watching us from a distance.
I. Ten years and what has changed?
A. Unusual hobby for a pastor - I like to read books on warfare.
1) Right now working my way through 500 pages on Gulf War.
2) Hard to believe it has been 10 years since Saddam
Hussein invaded Kuwait.
3) For months allied troops were poured into Saudi Arabia,
and "From A Distance" became theme-song of the war.
B. Compare the lyrics with the current situation in Israel:
[alluding to breakdown of peace talks]
"From a distance you look like my friend
Even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
What all this fighting is for.
From a distance there is harmony,
And it echos through the land."
1) In spite of our hopes, humans are still distant.
2) Ten years later, and every funeral in Israel provides
fuel for a dozen more.
C. We are distant from humans, and God seems distant, too.
II. Why does God seem distant from us?
A. God seems distant because He is utterly holy and different.
1) The Jews at Mt. Sinai stayed away from God out of fear.
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the
trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled
with fear.
They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us
yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak
to us or we will die."
The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached
the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:18-21
2) More often we stay away because we want to go our own way.
Psalm 10:4 says, "In his pride the wicked does not seek
him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."
verse 11: "He says to himself, "God has forgotten;
he covers his face and never sees."
a) God cannot be close if we push him away.
b) In our pride we don't want the competition.
David Henderson writes:
"Many of us are guilty of this practical atheism.
While we profess faith, we live unbelief.
We shift ultimate confidence from God to ourselves.
In the process, our lives become monuments of
self-reliance,
universes from which God has been squeezed.
Sure, we believe in Him.
But actively rely on Him? Naah." #[1]
B. Sometimes God seems distant because we are distressed.
1) We don't sense his presence in our lives.
2) The writers of the Psalms felt God was not only distant,
but ignoring their cries for help.
(Psalm 10:1, and also this:)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far
from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer...
Psalm 22:1-2 (quoted by Jesus on cross)
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is
no one to help. Psalm 22:11
(see also Psalm 22:19; 35:22; 38:21; 71:12)
C. Other times God seems distant because he really is.
1) He must separate himself from us due to our unrepented sin.
"The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the
prayer of the righteous." Proverbs 15:29
2) God can even be far from "religious" people, whether they
sense it or not.
"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules
taught by men." Matthew 15:8-9 (Jesus)
3) It can help to humbly recognize this before God:
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself:
'God, I thank you that I am not like other men
-- robbers, evildoers, adulterers -- or even like
this tax collector.'
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
But the tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his
breast and said, _
'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' Luke 18:11-13
D. God the Father was even distant from his Son, Jesus.
1) When Jesus hung on the cross, he felt completely forsaken
and cut off from his loving Father.
2) He was genuinely cut off, but it was because the sins of
the world - our sins - were being placed on him.
III. Distance can give us a different perspective on things.
A. The God who seems distant may suddenly come close.
1) He may decide to deliver us from intractable problems.
Psalm 10:14 - "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of
the fatherless."
B. Other problems we have will never be solved in this life.
1) We can dream about them, and hope for them, but never
attain them.
"Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;
you will not enter the land I am giving to the
people of Israel." Deut. 32:52
2) The "Heroes of Faith" in Hebrews 11 had this "far-sighted"
perspective.
It was so far-sighted they did not even overcome their
problems in this lifetime.
"All these people were still living by faith when they died.
They did not receive the things promised; they only saw
them and welcomed them from a distance." Hebrews 11:3
IV. "God is watching from a distance."
A. Is God always distant, or can he come close?
1) The song implies God doesn't, and can't, do anything more
than "watch."
2) This would reflect a philosophy called "Deism."
a) Deism teaches that God exists, he created the world,
but he no longer gets involved in it.
b) Humanity is on their own.
B. The Bible clearly teaches that God can be close to us.
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from
a guilty conscience. Hebrews 10:22
"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying
that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him
with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all
your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more
important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God." Mark 12:32-34
C. Sometimes he even draws near when we don't seek him, because
he loves us so much.
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out
for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of
us. Acts 17:27
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been
brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13
V. How close does God seem to you?
A. Have you had an experience with God, at any time, that seemed
real and personal?
B. Looking at your whole spiritual life, how close are you
right now?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "Here Comes The Pride: How to recognize and defeat the stealth
sin," by David W. Henderson; Discipleship Journal, #105,
May-June 1998.
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