Live Free with Josh Howerton - Stuck in Quicksand | Ep. 390 | Friday, August 2, 2024

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

Today's podcast reminds you that you have permission to be brutally honest and completely open with God in every circumstance. God can handle your vulnerability and all of your emotions. In Psalms, the writers follow a particular pattern of verbally vomiting out all their feelings, pain, frustrations, and deep sorrow. Then, the writers land on the truth about God, his character, and his goodness. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what is up, everybody? Hope your summer is going great as we enter into what they call the dog days of August. Now, there's all kinds of explanations about why they call it that, but all I know is my dog wants to stay inside in the air conditioning. And so do I. It is hot and humid where we live, and I'm going to find a pool to jump in right after we're done here today.

Hey, we've been downloading some music in recent days, not from Spotify or iTunes, but from a book in the Old Testament of the Bible. called the book of Psalms. And I've been praying that these lyrics would give you hope and comfort and inspiration and courage, but also give you permission to say anything to God. The writers, primarily David, have this pattern of honestly and vulnerably almost vomiting out their emotions.

They pour out the truth about their situation. They pour out the truth about their feelings, their pain, their hurts, their rawness, and then, and this is key, then they land on the truth about God. You see, it's one thing to rant and rant and rant and gripe and complain. It's quite another to rant with a purpose and a place to land. And that's what they do.

And I would encourage you to do the same. I want to wrap this up today by looking at a few verses in Psalm 40. These verses, I think, tell many of our stories. In fact, I got choked up when I read it earlier. Let me just read it to you. And then I'll make just a few comments today. i waited patiently for the lord to help me and he turned to me and heard my cry he lifted me out of the pit of despair out of the mud and the mire he set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as i walked along he has given me a new song to sing a hymn of praise to our god many will see what he has done and be amazed and they will put their trust in the lord

Does that journey describe anybody else? Where you said, Finally, I just cried out to God. And he lifted me up out of the pit of despair, out of my stuckness. I got a lot of friends in recovery who would say that's exactly what happened to them, that God reached down, and he picked them up out of that pit, out of the mud, out of the muck, out of the mire, and set their feet on solid ground.

Anybody else grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons? I would watch Bugs Bunny. I'd watch Roadrunner. And one of the things that surprised me later in life is that I thought that Quicksand was going to be a bigger deal than it actually is. They were always sinking in Quicksand, right? And although I've never seen Quicksand ever in my life,

I have been stuck, and I'm guessing you have been too. And it took the Lord to pull me out. And not only did he pull me out, he set my feet on solid ground, a firm truth source to build my life upon. And as I walk this new walk, he steadied me along. Like a good parent helps a baby walk, he held out his index fingers, and I reached up and I gripped them. I fell when I let go.

But he always picked me back up, and now it seems like I'm running with him. Verse three, he writes, He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. I'm guessing this song of rescue and deliverance was the new song that he was referring to that God has given him. Now, I'm not a songwriter. I have written a couple, one simple worship tune and a super silly blues song. I ask a buddy of mine who is a songwriter and a recording artist. How many songs do you write when you set out to record an album?

He said, about 70. I went, what? Seventy. You see, I would choose about 12 from those 70. I couldn't crank out 70 songs in an entire lifetime. I'm amazed by songwriters. But every now and then, I will wake up in the middle of the night and write down a spoken word piece.

I mean, the words just sometimes just come flowing out of me. It's like God gave me a new song. My daughter Jody is really gifted at this. She wrote one of hers down. It goes like this. It's under my skin, on the tip of my tongue and bursting within. The beat of my heart pounds like a symbol. It races and paces, keeping your chest.

just the right tempo, like I was made to worship, made to sing a new song, made in his image for his glory all along. That every strand of DNA, every strand of hair gone gray, every breath that breaks away, every ounce my body weighs, will not let the music stay. The melody can't be kept at bay, my lungs swell up and rush to say, my God, you are worthy at your feet I lay. All of me. Mind, strength, and soul.

offer my praise, surrender, control. My vocal cords tremble, my hands stretched to the sky. I dance, shout, clap, skip, applaud, and amplify your name, your fame, your splendor, your renown, your brightness, your rightness, I humbly fall down before the rocks cry out, I will make a sound as your prize creation, my worship abounds. There is a song in me. And there's a song in you, too. And you know what? When we let the song out, it's true what the songwriter writes. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. He rescues. He lifts us up. He sets our feet on solid ground. He puts a new song in our heart. And then he puts you and me on display to show a watching world what he wants to do with them too.

He is so good. And I am so grateful. And I hope you are as well. And I hope you show up at a church this weekend and sing your song and worship of the one who lifted you out of your stuckness. I'll see you back here on Monday. Hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lake point.church slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review,

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