Trusting God when things look bleak (2 Chr 28; 2 Kings 17; Ps 66; 1 Cor 7)

What do you do when you have lost everything? How about when it’s your fault that you have lost everything? The Northern kingdom (Israel) had become just like the nations around them, God warned them time and again but they refused to change and so God handed them over to the Assyrians (2 Kings 17). If they wanted to be like the nations, they would become like them, they would lose their special place as God’s people. It’s a warning to the church today, if we want to be like the world, God will hand us over to the world, as Jesus warns in Revelation, He will remove the lampstand from its place (Revelation 2:5).

What do you do when you have lost everything? Psalm 66 tells us, the best thing you can do is praise God! He is still the sovereign Lord, He still invites us to rejoice in Him and still promises the possibility of a great future.

The Psalm begins with a summons to all the earth to praise God. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, whatever your background, come and “shout with joy to God”. Why? Well because of His great power. He’s in control over all the nations. He’s in control even when you lose everything.

The psalmist looks back to one of the greatest events in history, when the Lord rescued His people out of Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea (v6). There is a note of warning, don’t rebel (v7), it is so foolish to rebel against the Lord! Don’t do it. Then He gives hope, even to people who have lost everything. Hope because losing everything may be the very thing that brings you back to the One who is everything.

Psalm 66:10-12 are in the first place about their time in Egypt, where they were oppressed but God brought them out to a place of abundance. Yet, the words would also have been encouraging when in exile, far from their land once more, God had rescued them before, He could do it again.

And the hope boils down to one man who offers the right sacrifice. The Psalmist speaks in the first person “I” in v13, He will offer the right sacrifice, keep his vows and God will hear him (v19). We don’t know who the first man to speak these words was, but he was speaking by the Spirit of Christ, for Jesus is the one who offered the perfect sacrifice, He is the one who lived a life of perfect integrity, never cherishing sin in his heart (v18), and He was heard, the Lord raised him from the dead! He invites all of us to come and rejoice in him.

Here is hope for those who have lost everything, even if it was your fault. Our Lord Jesus refines us, if you will turn to Him, He will lead you to a place of abundance.