2) Arguing / questioning God (:7 – 10)

3) Meditations / focus on God (:11 – 15) 

Psalm 77 (New Living Translation) 

A psalm of Asaph.

Crying / pleading with God / searching (:1 – 6)

 ¹ I cry out to God; yes, I shout.
      Oh, that God would listen to me!
 ² When I was in deep trouble,
      I searched for the Lord.
   All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven,
      but my soul was not comforted
 ³ I think of God, and I moan,
      overwhelmed with longing for his help.
 ⁴ You don’t let me sleep.
      I am too distressed even to pray!
 ⁵ I think of the good old days,
      long since ended,
 ⁶ when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
      I search my soul and ponder the difference now. 

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Will the Lord ever reject anyone who comes to Him?
Will He forget His people/His children/His sheep?
Will He give His Son for us and then reject us?
Will He give us up? 

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:

James 4:8 Come near to God, and He will come near to you
Rom 11:1-2 I ask, then: Did God reject His own people? Certainly not!  God has not rejected his people whom He chose from the beginning
Joh 10:28 .. no one can snatch them away from Me
Hos 11:8 How can I give you up? How can I abandon you? My heart will not let me do it. My love for you is too strong 

QUESTION 2: Will He never again be kind to me? / will HE never be pleased with us again?

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Can God change His character?
Did He count my hair?
Did you forget that He crowned you with glory & honour?
Did He create you in His image
Did you forget that you are special to Him?
Did you know that He has written your name in the palm of his hand?

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:
2Chron 30:9 The LORD your God is kind and merciful, and if you return to Him, He will accept you.
Ps 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God, always patient, always kind and faithful.  

QUESTION 3: Is his unfailing love gone forever?

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Have you ever heard that:
God IS love?
Nothing can separate us from His love?
He loved the World so much that He gave His only Son?

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:

Is 54:10 “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep forever my promise of peace." So says the LORD who loves you.
Ps 103:11 His love goes beyond anything the human mind can think of. As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honour Him
1John 4:10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins.
Ps 100:5 The LORD is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.
Hos 14:4 I will bring my people back to Me, I will love them with all my heart; no longer am I angry with them

QUESTION 4: Have his promises permanently failed? / does His promise no longer stand?

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Is God a human being that He will lie and forget His promises?
Will He ever change His mind?

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:

Is 45:23 My promise is true, and it will not be changed. I solemnly promise by all that I am..... 
Num 23:19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever He promises, He does; He speaks, and it is done.
Joel 2:13 He is kind and full of mercy; He is patient and keeps his promise; He is always ready to forgive and not punish.  

QUESTION 5 : Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Can God forget anything?
Sid Jesus die on the cross?
Did God give us His Spirit to guide us into His light?
Can the inventor of grace forget to be gracious?
To be gracious is the essence of who He IS – can He forget who He is?
"I do not think God hath forgotten to be gracious except to me." Will God make any exceptions? If He excludes ONE, He would be a liar – is God a liar?

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:

Ps 145:8,9 God is all mercy and grace – not quick to anger, is rich in love. God is good to one and all; everything He does is suffused with grace.
John 1:16 Out of the fullness of His grace He has blessed us all
Rom 5:20 .... grace wins hands down.
Ps 116:5 GOD is gracious--it is He who makes things right, our most compassionate God.
Neh 9:17 But You are a God who forgives; You are gracious and loving, slow to be angry. Your mercy is great; You did not forsake them.

QUESTION 6: Has he slammed the door on his compassion? / has anger taken the place of His compassion?

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Is He not touched by our pain and sorrow?
Didn’t Jesus cried when his friend Lasarus died?
Is He not counting my tears? drying my tears?
Is He pushing away children and helpless people, widows & lost ones?
Did you forget that the Bible says that He was moved with compassion? 

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:

Ps 145:9 He is good to everyone and has compassion on all He made.
Ps 10:14: You take notice of trouble and suffering and are always ready to help.
1 Sam 2:8: He lifts the poor from the dust and raises the needy from their misery.
Ps 56:8: You have kept a record of my tears. Aren't they listed in your book?
Matt 9:36  As He saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  

QUESTION 7: Is God no longer powerful?

Let us ask the questioner some questions:

Who created everything?
Who is in control?
Who gave every star a name?
Who is in control of everything?
Can we live or breathe without Him?
Is there any place that God is NOT?
Is there anything that He doesn’t know?

Scripture gives us some obvious answers:

2Chron 20:6 O LORD God of our ancestors, You rule in heaven over all the nations of the world. You are powerful and mighty, and no one can oppose You.
Job 25:1 God is powerful; all must stand in awe of Him.
Dan 4:3 How great are the wonders God shows us! How powerful are the miracles He performs! God is King forever; He will rule for all time.  

AND THEN COMES THE “B U T”
 ... the BUT that gives the answer to all our questions: 

Ps 77:11 – 15 (Third part of the Psalm: Focus on God)
 ¹¹ But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
      I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
 ¹² They are constantly in my thoughts.
      I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

 ¹³ O God, your ways are holy.
      Is there any god as mighty as you?
 ¹⁴ You are the God of great wonders!
      You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
 ¹⁵ By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
      the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

 ¹⁶ When the Red Sea saw you, O God,
      its waters looked and trembled!
      The sea quaked to its very depths.
 ¹⁷ The clouds poured down rain;
      the thunder rumbled in the sky.
      Your arrows of lightning flashed.
 ¹⁸ Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
      the lightning lit up the world!
      The earth trembled and shook.
 ¹⁹ Your road led through the sea,
      your pathway through the mighty waters—
      a pathway no one knew was there!
 ²⁰ You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
      with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

THIS IS WHAT HELP ME IN TIMES OF QUESIONS:

1 Focus on WHO God is
2 Remember what He did in the past / my past or other’s past – what He did for other He will do for you 

AMENDMENT TO THE QUESTIONS:

Maybe we must change the questions to something like the following: