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For today, would you please turn to Psalm chapter 13. Psalm chapter 13. We're going to postpone our regular Bible study through Second Corinthians. And I'm going to take you to Psalm 13 today because sometimes current events are either so tragic or so heavy that it warrants a departure from our regular Bible study in order to address what's going on in the hearts and minds of people. And I can tell you personally that this story has weighed on my heart and mind since I heard about it now, what, 10 days ago, nine days ago? And I'm talking about the. The flooding in Central Texas that has claimed the lives of now. The number keeps rising as they discover bodies. The death toll is now 129 as of this morning. And of the 129, 36 were little girls from Mystic Camp. And there are still another 170 people who are missing. This has been called the deadliest flash flooding in 50 years. It is also being referred to as the worst disaster involving children in decades. And it has left a lot of people wondering, where was God in all of this? And how are we to make sense of tragedies like this and tragedies in your own lives? As we deal with the impact of what happens in the course of a life, things can be very challenging and we can be left with a lot of questions. And so I want to talk about this subject today, not just from the standpoint of, of what happened in Texas, but from the standpoint of how do we all deal with tragedies and difficulties if and when those things come along? Let's pray, Father. Our hearts are heavy when we think about this tragic news. And our hearts are heavy for anyone who goes through something painful, grievous, difficult. And so, Lord, we want to lift up the people of Central Texas, those families that have lost loved ones. We particularly think of the littlest of them and, Lord, how they are hurting and how they will continue to hurt. So we ask you to bind up the brokenhearted, to save those who are crushed in spirit for you to do a work in them, Lord, that only you can. And I think about people in our own congregation and those who are later watching this or listening to this, who have gone through things or are going through things of their own that are so painful. And many people have questions, Lord, where are you and why? And I pray that today it would be a day where you can minister to those hearts of those who really need you most today in the midst of their pain and tragedy, that you would visit them in ways God, that only you can to comfort and minister to them in their grief, in their sorrow and their suffering. And we just commit this to you, Lord, we look to you, Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In Jesus name we pray. Everyone said Amen. According to a national survey conducted by George Barna on a scientifically selected cross section of adults, people were asked this question. If you could ask God only one question and you knew he would give you an answer, what would you ask? The number one response to that question, people would ask, why is there pain and suffering in the world? That's what is most on people's minds when it comes to asking God a question. Why is there pain and suffering in the world? It shouldn't surprise us that this is the number one question that plagued people, because a lot of people have been through a lot of painful things, and people who go through painful things want to obviously ask where God was. How could God allow this? Why didn't he prevent this? Here in Psalm 13, David has a lot of questions for God too, about things that he doesn't understand. It's only six verses long, so if you have your Bibles there to Psalm 13, I'm going to read all six verses. The subtitle says, to the chief musician a Psalm of David. This is verse one. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God, Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death Lest my enemies say I have prevailed against him. Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But verse 5 I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. Here in this 13th Psalm, David asks basically four questions in the first two verses. I'll read them again. This time I'm going to read in the New Living Translation. It just kind of makes the language a little plainer. Listen to Psalm 13:1 2 in the NLT, David writes, O Lord, how long will you forget me forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? David feels forgotten as he writes this psalm here. He feels like God doesn't care. He feels overwhelmed with sorrow because of his circumstances. And he feels Pretty defeated. I'm sure there are plenty of people here who have felt similar things. These four questions that David asks here in Psalm 13 can really all be boiled down to a single question of 2. Why God? Why God? A lot of people ask why God? And I want to just make a few points to try to help us to process this kind of stuff when it happens in our lives and when we think about what happened in Central Texas. And the first thing is to reassure those of you who have had questions that it's not wrong to question God when life doesn't make sense, it's not wrong. David asks plenty of questions here. When life doesn't make sense, we see other people throughout the Bible. Moses asked a slew of questions that didn't make sense to him. Jeremiah, the prophet. Habakkuk the prophet Many people in the Bible questioned God not with disbelief, but just with complete frustration. Complete like angst and wonder and being perplexed. It doesn't make sense. We see various people throughout the Bible asking God why. In fact, even our Lord, hanging on the cross, quoted from Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So asking questions is not offensive to God. God's a big God. He can take us asking, why Lord? There are many examples in the Psalms. I'll read just a few of them. Psalm 10:1, the Psalmist writes, why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? In Psalm 42, 9, I will say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? In Psalm 44, verse 24, why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression and. And on and on? It's not wrong to ask questions, but please know that God is not obligated to answer either. That's the hard part. God's a big God. He can take our big questions. He can take our wondering, why this, why that. But he's not obligated to always answer, at least not in the way we think he should or when we think he should. And that's what makes it sometimes most painful. We become then haunted by all the questions, the why things that God doesn't seem to answer. And when we say, why God, we don't mean just, why did this happen? We also mean, why God? Did you not intervene? Couldn't you have prevented this kind of thing? These are the types of questions that people regularly wrestle with whenever they encounter tragedies and difficulties of their own. And the only way to rest our minds from the unanswered questions that torment us is relying on the fact. Here's number two. Some things just will not be understood this side of heaven. And we have to just accept that fact. Some things in this life will not be understood this side of heaven. Now, Paul writes about this in First Corinthians, chapter 13. In the middle of that love chapter, he says this. In verse 12, he says, now we see but a poor reflection, as in a mirror. Some translations say in a glass darkly, like think about a smudged mirror and you can't see clearly your reflection. You can see something, but it doesn't totally make sense to you. And in the same way Paul writes, he says, now we see, but in a glass darkly we see but in a mirror, a poor reflection. He says, now I know in part, like in this world, during this lifetime, I only know in part. But he says, but then I shall know fully, even as I'm fully known. And he's talking about that when I get to heaven, when I'm with the Lord, then I will understand things I can't understand. Now. Some things will make sense in heaven. And guess what, friends? Some things we won't think about any longer because God in his mercy will wipe it from our memories. Sometimes it is God's grace for us not to remember things. And because heaven is a place where no sorrow, no pain, no suffering, no more tears, no more death, either God will enlighten us to the mysteries that we encountered on earth, or he will remove from our minds any concerns, questions, worries, doubts, because He's a merciful Father. But we have to accept that sometimes, this side of heaven, while we're here on earth, not everything will make sense. And so these kind of tragedies, like what happened in Texas, cannot be easily explained. And I don't like it when people give a pat answer either, especially when they try to be hyper spiritual and say things like, well, those little girls who died, I guess God needed another angel in heaven. I mean, when people say that kind of thing, it's like, do you realize how painful that kind of thing is to those especially who have lost those little ones to kind of just pare it down to a little cliche spiritual answer. I don't have a simple, clear answer for the why. The only answer is a broader answer that really doesn't address the personal pain of the families. But the broad answer for why tragedy happens, why difficulties, pain, death, sorrow, disease, all those things is because we do live in a fallen world that is sin stained. And because of that, God sent Jesus to rescue us from this world. Jesus even himself said, in this world you will have tribulation. He says, but take heart, I've overcome the world like there is an answer beyond this world. This world does not have the answer to these kinds of things. And our hope is in what is to come. Because while we navigate everything in this lifetime, we may not have satisfactory answers to our liking. Not everything will be understood. This tragedy in Texas doesn't have a simple one sentence explanation. And these families that are going through their own personal pain have to deal with the reality that there's an empty bedroom in their house now, and the hallway is quieter and there's an absent member of the family at the dinner table, and the little girl's laughter and hugs are only a memory. Now, theologically, we can have a broad answer, but when it comes down to the personal pain of the individual, it's hard. I've met with countless families over the years here at Cornerstone. So have our other pastors and our counselors, and all we can sometimes do is say, I feel your sadness and I mourn with you and I pray for you. But trying to navigate these things is not very easy. These families here in central Texas are going to have to learn to navigate a quote, a new normal. The pain never goes away. You just learn to manage it better. Their lives will never be the same. Those of you who have been through tragedy, you know, it's not the same as it was before, that tragedy. But God helps you to navigate a new normal. And he ministers to you in your grief and in your sorrow. At the same time, this world is filled with sorrows. There are a lot of unanswered why questions that you and I will encounter in the course of our lifetimes. And in those times when life doesn't make sense, we have to lean into the fundamental nature of God. And it's number three. Number three is that we can trust God as our father. We can trust God as our Father. Isn't that what we want as parents of our children? When our children are constantly asking why this, why that? And they don't understand. And we know as parents when kids are little, they don't really have the capacity to understand why mom or dad is deciding this or why this thing has happened in their lives. And so what do we do? We sometimes lean in, we bend down, we say to the little ones, you're just going to have to trust mom or you're just going to have to trust dad, because Sometimes they won't be able to understand it. And in the same way, there are things in this life we don't understand. But in a similar way, our heavenly dad is saying, just trust me, just trust me. Even in your sorrow, even in your pain. In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet Habakkuk struggled with a lot of questions, questions that many people have still today. Questions about injustice and questions about suffering. And Habakkuk was launching all these questions to God. Why God? Why God? Why God? And God was taking it. He didn't rebuke Habakkuk for his questions. But what I find interesting, when you study that little book in the section of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, God never really directly answers Habakkuk's questions. Instead, what God does is he says to Habakkuk, this is how you shall live. He doesn't answer the questions that Habakkuk says, but what he says to Habakkuk is, this, then, is how you shall live. And in Habakkuk 2. 4, God says to him, behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him like those who are proud. They're not righteous people. But then God adds, but the just shall live by faith. But the just shall live by faith. Habakkuk. Now what's interesting is that sentence the just shall live by faith is quoted Habakkuk2.4 is quoted three times in the New Testament in Galatians, Romans, and Hebrews. And each time that phrase is written in the New testament quoting Habakkuk2. 4. The just shall live by faith. In. In the New Testament, it's in the context of salvation. It's like you want to get right with the Lord and then accept Jesus by faith. The just shall live by faith. Trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. But in its original context in Habakkuk 2. Four, it wasn't about salvation per se. It was applied to salvation in the New Testament. What it was about in Habakkuk 2. 4 is how to deal with everyday life when everyday life doesn't always make sense. God says to him, and he says to us, the just shall live by faith. We have to walk this out by faith. We have to live every day trusting our Heavenly Father that he's a good God who loves us, and that even though things don't make sense this side of heaven, always we can lean into him and trust him as our Father. The just shall live by faith. This is important for us to understand. And then number four, when we are troubled about what we don't know, we fall back on what we do know. In whatever given situation you're in, wherever you have questions, you have to go back as far as you can to what you do know that you can rely on. Let me tell you a few things that we do know, and the first one has to do with this tragedy in Texas. Those little children are with Jesus now. Those little children are with Jesus now. And this is good for any of you who have lost children. God welcomes children into heaven when they die. How do we know this? Jesus himself said in Mark 10, verse 14, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Before a child reaches an age of accountability where they can, for himself or herself, make a personal decision to trust Jesus as Lord and Savior, God makes gracious provision for children. Those of you who have had miscarriages, those of you who have experienced the tragedy of sudden infant death syndrome, those of you who have lost a child, please know that the angels came and ushered that little one into the presence of Jesus. And God welcomes little ones who are not yet at a place where they can make a personal decision for Christ. This is illustrated in the Old Testament too, by the way. In the book of Deuteronomy, when the Hebrew people were moving from slavery in Egypt to the promised land, an entire generation rebelled against God in the wilderness. They were disobedient to him, with the exception of two in that generation, Joshua and Caleb. And you know what God said to the generation that disobeyed him. But because of your disobedience, you shall not go into the promised land with the exception of Joshua and Caleb and your children. Your children I will take into the promised land as Deuteronomy 1:39. Your children I will make gracious provision for. Now, it's an inadequate parallel, but it is a picture for us, promised land ultimately being heaven, that the little ones were allowed to go in because they were not in an age of accountability. And God makes gracious provision for the little ones to take them into his arms. I was praying through this teaching the other day and thinking about what to say, and it just. I started weeping at this place where I started to. And this isn't a good place to go, but I'm just being real with you. When I started to imagine the last few seconds of those children and the only thing that brought me comfort was the reminder that God has assigned angels. The Bible says to us and that we are never alone and that God swept up these little children in the arms of an angel and escorted them safely to heaven, where they were never alone. They were never alone, and we are never alone in death. The Lord will take us to heaven in a gracious way, escorted by angels. And so we rely on these other things. B God loves us. We have to remember this Romans 8:35 who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or or nakedness or peril or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. See, we rely on the fact that God will comfort us. It's all through the Bible. In Psalm 34:18 the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed Spirit. Psalm 51:12 I even I am he who comforts you. Isaiah 66:13 as one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you, says the lord. And finally D we have to remember that God is good even when times are bad. Psalm 106:1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good and his mercy endures forever. And I will say this. May God be merciful to you in your pain and sorrow and suffering. And may God be merciful to those families in Texas who have lost or are missing loved ones. And I'm going to pray for you and for them. And then when I'm done praying, Steph is actually going to come out and close our service with a song. And you don't need to sing it. I just want, as she sings it, to minister to you and to remember your of the hope we have in the Lord. And then I'll come back up and dismiss us. But let's go to prayer first. Father in Heaven, I just want to begin by appealing to your mercy. We just read this Psalm 106:1 give thanks to the Lord, for you are good and your mercy endures forever. Would you please extend your mercy to people here in our own church watching online, people who will hear this Bible study study later who have gone through something tragic and difficult and painful. Lord, would you please be merciful to them. Your word says that you bind up the brokenhearted. You are close to those who are crushed in spirit. So would you minister your presence and your peace and your grace and your comfort to all those Lord who need you most today. And we think of these families in Texas. And if we haven't experienced that kind of pain, we can't even imagine what they're going through. But you know, Lord, you are acquainted with our sufferings. You know our infirmities. And yet Paul would tell us in Second Corinthians, chapter one, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. Comfort your people, Lord, for those who are perplexed by the why questions, Lord, would you please help them to just trust you even with all their questions, Lord, that you're our Father in heaven. And sometimes as your children, we don't understand things, but we need to trust you as our father, that you love us, that you comfort us, that you are good even when times are bad. We lean into you, Lord, and we just pray over these families you administer your grace and your peace to their hearts. May you bring beauty out of ashes, Lord, as only you can in Jesus name. And everybody said amen and amen.