by Tim Iocoangli
MONROE, MI – At the end of 2019, our pastoral staff could have never imagined what lied ahead in 2020. We all got together in a little room to discuss what our preaching calendar would look like for the upcoming year. We prayed together and discussed what direction we felt we needed to go based on where our church currently is, and the state of our society. In doing that we decided we would spend June and July in the book of Psalms. If I am being honest, we thought it would be some good uplifting sermons in between a couple of, let us say tougher sermon series. Little did we know that we would be in Psalms after a long layoff of church services. We did the online stuff and stumbled along with technology, but as we all know that is not really the church assembling for worship. So, when it came time for us to finally meet back together, we found ourselves entering the Psalms.
At first, I thought maybe we should go in some other direction. Maybe we should find some passages that deal with our current situation and address some of the fears people are having. Thankfully in the end, I trusted that God had us in the Psalms for a reason. Over the past two months we have been reminded of God’s transcendence. We have seen the promises of the Only Begotten Son, and we have been held fast by the fact that God cares for His own. The Psalms have also given us the opportunity to repent of sin, and lament with the things that are happening all around us.
This week we will be in Psalm 139. In it we see God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. In a time when it seems like we are given so much information that is contradictory, it is good to know we serve a God who knows all things and is never confused by anything. Too often we feel left alone with no one who cares. We can find ourselves surrounded by voices, but no one to really talk to. Yet in verses 7-12 we find comfort in knowing that God is always present, everywhere, all the time. On top of that we see God all throughout scripture communicating with His people and comforting them in the darkest moments. If that is not enough, we then see in verses 13-18 God’s omnipotence. If God were all knowing and always present, but lacked the power to really do anything about our current situation, what good would He be? The answer is He would be no good! He would be a know-it-all who was always around. But we know God is all powerful as well. He not only knows all things and is present everywhere, He also has the power to make all His plans happen. He doesn’t make empty promises like politicians or the kid running for the 6th grade presidency. His Word is firm because He has the power to make it firm.
The Psalms really have been a gift to us at Monroe Missionary Baptist Church, during these difficult times. I am glad that God knows the past, present, and future. I am thankful that God directed us back in 2019 to the book Psalms for the summer of 2020. It is as if He knew we would need it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Iocoangeli is Lead Pastor at Monroe Missionary Baptist Church which is in the Southeastern Association. He is married to Amanda and together they have 4 children.