Sermon: "What To Do When You Have Been Shanghaied"
Have you ever been shanghaied? Your answer may depend on which of the two definitions for shanghai you would use. Here is the first definition:
SHANGHAI – To kidnap and force to serve on a ship sailing to China.
NOTE: Many of these ships sailed to Shanghai, which is a seaport in China. Those who were kidnapped and forced to serve were said to have been “shanghaied.”
Do you know that there is a city in the United States that from 1850 until 1941 was the most dangerous city in the world for being shanghaied?
The shanghaiing trade began in this city in 1850 and steadily grew to the point where in 1870 it was the most dangerous port in the world for being shanghaied.
Men were kidnapped, taken through secret tunnels that ran beneath the city, and then sold to sea captains where they were forced to work for free until the ship returned to the states, which could be two or three years. Shanghaiing was practiced in this city up until 1941.
When you were shanghaied you were often either drugged or knocked unconscious. The under ground tunnel system included small holding cells where those who had been kidnapped could be held until they were sold to a sea captain.
Today, you can actually pay to tour the underground tunnel used in shanghaiing people in this city.
The city is – PORTLAND, OREGON.
I doubt whether any of you here this morning has been shanghaied in that manner, so let’s look at the second definition.
SHANGHAI – To be induced or forced to do something you don’t want to do.
One minute men in Portland were strolling down a street late at night or sitting on a stool in a tavern, and suddenly they would wake up on a rusty ship rolling on the Pacific waves with their head splitting and their stomach churning.
Has something similar ever happened to you? One minute your life was fine and the next minute you find yourself in a situation you never thought would be a part of your life.
You are sitting in your car in the parking lot of the medical clinic staring into space. The doctor’s words are still ringing in your ears. You are in a place that you didn’t choose. Your world is going to change. Or …
You suddenly realize that you have been playing with fire and now you are considering betraying and leaving your spouse. How in the world did you get tricked into this situation? Or …
You have just left the cemetery where you have not only buried a loved one, but have also buried part of yourself. You feel numb and dead on the inside. Or …
You have just come from a meeting with a budget counselor where you were finally forced to come face to face with both your debts and your spending habits. You wonder why you allowed credit cards to become your master.
The list could go on and on. You are standing on the edge of a sinkhole that has opened before you. Things which you once held dear, your health, your family, your job, your reputation, or your security are slowly sliding into the hole. Your old life is slipping away. You know you can’t go back to the way things used to be. Suddenly your realize …
I. I HAVE BEEN SHANGHAIED
Let’s just take a few moments and look at some possible causes for the fact that we sometimes find ourselves shanghaied. We are forced to deal with things that we don’t like or want. Sometimes we get shanghaied …
A. BY SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS
The Bible makes it very clear that Satan tires to get us to sin against God. He makes things look so good, but what looks so good, ends up putting us into a situation that is filled with misery.
The Apostle Paul was well aware of Satan’s ability to tempt and deceive. Listen to what he wrote.
I THESSALONIANS 3:5 – For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
Another time he wrote …
II CORINTHIANS 2:11 – In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
The book of Proverbs has a very interesting way of describing Satan and his temptations. Proverbs uses a woman by the name of “folly” or “foolish” to show us both the temptation and results.
PROVERBS 9:13-18 – 13The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. 14She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. 16“Let all who are simple come in hear!” she says to those who lack judgment. 17Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious! 18But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
You can get shanghaied when you yield to Satan’s temptations, but sometimes you get shanghaied …
B. BY THE EVENTS OF LIFE
We live in bodies that are mortal. Last fall Tom Harmon told us that mortal means “able to die.” That quite often means we must deal with aches, pains and diseases. It also means we must deal with the death of loved ones.
We live in a world that is not perfect. That means there will be accidents, people will treat us unfairly, there will be natural disasters and there will be wars.
All of these natural events of life have the capacity to shanghai us. Finally we can be shanghaied …
C. BY GOD
This is a hard one. Sometimes God allows us to go through, or even puts us into, difficult or painful circumstances for reasons we don’t understand.
Those of you familiar with the life of Joseph know he is a good example of being shanghaied by God. Joseph was imprisoned unfairly for many years, but God had a purpose for shanghaiing Joseph. He would use Joseph to save and develop the Jewish Nation from which the Messiah would come.
Well, we have looked at different ways we can be shanghaied … different reasons why we are sometimes forced to deal with or do things that we don’t like. That brings us to the question …
II. WHAT CAN I DO WHEN I HAVE BEEN SHANGHAIED?
Our scripture lesson has some answers for us. It was written by David at a time in his life when he had been shanghaied.
Let’s take a moment and look at what David’s life had been like before he was shanghaied.
He had killed the giant Goliath and became a national hero. He was best friends with King Saul’s son, Jonathan, and was married to King Saul’s daughter. Life was good for this young man who was once a shepherd boy … but suddenly he was shanghaied and he finds himself crouching in the dark depths of a wet cave hiding from King Saul’s army.
For fifteen years David would live as a wanted man and a fugitive. It was some time during this period that David wrote a psalm that can help us to know what to do when we are shanghaied … Psalm 142.
PSALM 142:1-7 – 1I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 2I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.
3When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 4Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
5I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
7Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
The first thing I see in this psalm is encouragement to …
A. CRY OUT TO GOD
Listen again to some of David’s words.
PSALM 142:1, 5a, 6a – 1I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 5aI cry to you, O Lord; 6aListen to my cry, for I am in desperate need.
David was no doubt hungry, thirsty, cold and fearful. He may have also been dealing with some anger and frustration. I suspect he was tired of being forced to live a life on the run. He no doubt yearned for life to be like it once was, but there can be no going back.
David gets to the point where he can’t take much more and he cries out to God.
This was not some nice little prayer that was prayed as he knelt on a bed of pine needles with soft shafts of morning light filtering through the trees. This was a desperate cry for help.
In David’s desperate cry for help I see two important things for us to remember when we get shanghaied and cry out desperately to God.
1. Be honest – with God and yourself
It appears as if David may have yelled or shouted at God. He said, “I cry aloud,” and “I lift up my voice.”
David’s prayer was a cry of anguish. He was dealing with various thoughts and emotions and he didn’t try to hide them from God. David said …
PSALM 142:2 – I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.
David wasn’t happy with what was happening to him and since he knew God was in control of all creation he poured out his complaints. Listen to some of them …
PSALM 142:3b – In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.
There were many loyal to King Saul who would have gladly captured David and turned him over to the king.
PSALM 142:4a – Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me.
David felt that he was all alone. This may have been one of those times he was separated from the small group of men who supported him.
PSALM 142:4b – I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
David felt like he had no safe place to go, that no one cared whether he lived or died.
PSALM 142:6b – Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
David was at the end of his rope. He was tired of running and hiding. He yearned for a normal life.
In the Bible translation called “The Message,” verse six is rendered like this – “Oh listen, please listen; I’ve never been this low.”
Finally David cries …
PSALM 142:7a – Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name.
David felt every bit like those men who were a type of prisoner on the ship on which they were forced to serve after they were shanghaied. He was free to move about, yet he was a prisoner of his situation.
Some of you here this morning may be feeling exactly like David was feeling. You have been shanghaied.
Follow David’s example and cry out to God from the bottom of your soul. Be honest with God and yourself as you pour yourself out before God … but then also do as David did and …
2. Keep the Line to God Open
David may have yelled at God and he may have poured out his complaints, but at least he did not turn away from God.
When you are shanghaied keep your heart open to God. Like David you may not understand why you are in your situation, and like David you may not like it and feel like you can’t survive another day, but also be like David and talk to God.
Then when you’re done crying out to God …
B. MOVE BACK TOWARD GOD … even an inch at a time.
When you are shanghaied your faith in God often takes a mighty blow. Once your faith in God was strong, but now you are like a boxer who was just hit with a mighty upper cut and is stretched out on the canvas trying to get back on his feet.
Start in your mistrust, and yes, even disbelief. Start in your anger and despair. Make one small movement back toward trusting God. Try to remember when he blessed you. Look for one small thing for which you can be thankful.
Like a boxer who struggles to get up on one knee, struggle to regain your faith. Don’t wait until you are in a better mood, don’t wait until you have overcome all your anger, don’t wait until you understand everything, don’t wait until you feel you are good enough. Just go ahead and make one small step back toward God.
Maybe that step is saying a Bible verse you memorized, or reading your Bible, or going to the church or maybe even coming to the altar and confessing that you need God’s help and strength.
The main thing is … draw near to God. Don’t’ worry about formalities. Although your movement may be small, God’s mercy is mighty.
CONCLUSION
I know most of you do not read poetry and particularly poetry written hundreds of years ago, but I want to close with several verses of poetry written in 1789 by William Blake that shows how God is by your side and caring for you even when you are shanghaied.
Can God, who smiles on all,
Hear the wren, with sorrows small.
Hear the small bird’s grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear.
And not sit beside the nest,
Pouring pity in its breast.
And not sit the cradle near
Weeping tear on infant’s tear.
And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh, no! Never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
He does give his joy to all;
He becomes an infant small;
He becomes a man of woe;
He does feel the sorrow too.
Think not you can sigh a sigh,
And your Creator is not by;
Think not you can weep a tear,
And your Maker is not near.
Oh! He gives to us his joy,
That our grief he may destroy;
Until our grief is fled and gone,
He does sit by us and moan.
Remember, when you are shanghaied … CRY OUT TO GOD … and then … MOVE BACK TOWARD GOD.Have you ever been shanghaied? Your answer may depend on which of the two definitions for shanghai you would use. Here is the first definition:
SHANGHAI – To kidnap and force to serve on a ship sailing to China.
NOTE: Many of these ships sailed to Shanghai, which is a seaport in China. Those who were kidnapped and forced to serve were said to have been “shanghaied.”
Do you know that there is a city in the United States that from 1850 until 1941 was the most dangerous city in the world for being shanghaied?
The shanghaiing trade began in this city in 1850 and steadily grew to the point where in 1870 it was the most dangerous port in the world for being shanghaied.
Men were kidnapped, taken through secret tunnels that ran beneath the city, and then sold to sea captains where they were forced to work for free until the ship returned to the states, which could be two or three years. Shanghaiing was practiced in this city up until 1941.
When you were shanghaied you were often either drugged or knocked unconscious. The under ground tunnel system included small holding cells where those who had been kidnapped could be held until they were sold to a sea captain.
Today, you can actually pay to tour the underground tunnel used in shanghaiing people in this city.
The city is – PORTLAND, OREGON.
I doubt whether any of you here this morning has been shanghaied in that manner, so let’s look at the second definition.
SHANGHAI – To be induced or forced to do something you don’t want to do.
One minute men in Portland were strolling down a street late at night or sitting on a stool in a tavern, and suddenly they would wake up on a rusty ship rolling on the Pacific waves with their head splitting and their stomach churning.
Has something similar ever happened to you? One minute your life was fine and the next minute you find yourself in a situation you never thought would be a part of your life.
You are sitting in your car in the parking lot of the medical clinic staring into space. The doctor’s words are still ringing in your ears. You are in a place that you didn’t choose. Your world is going to change. Or …
You suddenly realize that you have been playing with fire and now you are considering betraying and leaving your spouse. How in the world did you get tricked into this situation? Or …
You have just left the cemetery where you have not only buried a loved one, but have also buried part of yourself. You feel numb and dead on the inside. Or …
You have just come from a meeting with a budget counselor where you were finally forced to come face to face with both your debts and your spending habits. You wonder why you allowed credit cards to become your master.
The list could go on and on. You are standing on the edge of a sinkhole that has opened before you. Things which you once held dear, your health, your family, your job, your reputation, or your security are slowly sliding into the hole. Your old life is slipping away. You know you can’t go back to the way things used to be. Suddenly your realize …
I. I HAVE BEEN SHANGHAIED
Let’s just take a few moments and look at some possible causes for the fact that we sometimes find ourselves shanghaied. We are forced to deal with things that we don’t like or want. Sometimes we get shanghaied …
A. BY SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS
The Bible makes it very clear that Satan tires to get us to sin against God. He makes things look so good, but what looks so good, ends up putting us into a situation that is filled with misery.
The Apostle Paul was well aware of Satan’s ability to tempt and deceive. Listen to what he wrote.
I THESSALONIANS 3:5 – For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
Another time he wrote …
II CORINTHIANS 2:11 – In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
The book of Proverbs has a very interesting way of describing Satan and his temptations. Proverbs uses a woman by the name of “folly” or “foolish” to show us both the temptation and results.
PROVERBS 9:13-18 – 13The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. 14She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. 16“Let all who are simple come in hear!” she says to those who lack judgment. 17Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious! 18But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
You can get shanghaied when you yield to Satan’s temptations, but sometimes you get shanghaied …
B. BY THE EVENTS OF LIFE
We live in bodies that are mortal. Last fall Tom Harmon told us that mortal means “able to die.” That quite often means we must deal with aches, pains and diseases. It also means we must deal with the death of loved ones.
We live in a world that is not perfect. That means there will be accidents, people will treat us unfairly, there will be natural disasters and there will be wars.
All of these natural events of life have the capacity to shanghai us. Finally we can be shanghaied …
C. BY GOD
This is a hard one. Sometimes God allows us to go through, or even puts us into, difficult or painful circumstances for reasons we don’t understand.
Those of you familiar with the life of Joseph know he is a good example of being shanghaied by God. Joseph was imprisoned unfairly for many years, but God had a purpose for shanghaiing Joseph. He would use Joseph to save and develop the Jewish Nation from which the Messiah would come.
Well, we have looked at different ways we can be shanghaied … different reasons why we are sometimes forced to deal with or do things that we don’t like. That brings us to the question …
II. WHAT CAN I DO WHEN I HAVE BEEN SHANGHAIED?
Our scripture lesson has some answers for us. It was written by David at a time in his life when he had been shanghaied.
Let’s take a moment and look at what David’s life had been like before he was shanghaied.
He had killed the giant Goliath and became a national hero. He was best friends with King Saul’s son, Jonathan, and was married to King Saul’s daughter. Life was good for this young man who was once a shepherd boy … but suddenly he was shanghaied and he finds himself crouching in the dark depths of a wet cave hiding from King Saul’s army.
For fifteen years David would live as a wanted man and a fugitive. It was some time during this period that David wrote a psalm that can help us to know what to do when we are shanghaied … Psalm 142.
PSALM 142:1-7 – 1I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 2I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.
3When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 4Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
5I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
7Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
The first thing I see in this psalm is encouragement to …
A. CRY OUT TO GOD
Listen again to some of David’s words.
PSALM 142:1, 5a, 6a – 1I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 5aI cry to you, O Lord; 6aListen to my cry, for I am in desperate need.
David was no doubt hungry, thirsty, cold and fearful. He may have also been dealing with some anger and frustration. I suspect he was tired of being forced to live a life on the run. He no doubt yearned for life to be like it once was, but there can be no going back.
David gets to the point where he can’t take much more and he cries out to God.
This was not some nice little prayer that was prayed as he knelt on a bed of pine needles with soft shafts of morning light filtering through the trees. This was a desperate cry for help.
In David’s desperate cry for help I see two important things for us to remember when we get shanghaied and cry out desperately to God.
1. Be honest – with God and yourself
It appears as if David may have yelled or shouted at God. He said, “I cry aloud,” and “I lift up my voice.”
David’s prayer was a cry of anguish. He was dealing with various thoughts and emotions and he didn’t try to hide them from God. David said …
PSALM 142:2 – I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.
David wasn’t happy with what was happening to him and since he knew God was in control of all creation he poured out his complaints. Listen to some of them …
PSALM 142:3b – In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.
There were many loyal to King Saul who would have gladly captured David and turned him over to the king.
PSALM 142:4a – Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me.
David felt that he was all alone. This may have been one of those times he was separated from the small group of men who supported him.
PSALM 142:4b – I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
David felt like he had no safe place to go, that no one cared whether he lived or died.
PSALM 142:6b – Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
David was at the end of his rope. He was tired of running and hiding. He yearned for a normal life.
In the Bible translation called “The Message,” verse six is rendered like this – “Oh listen, please listen; I’ve never been this low.”
Finally David cries …
PSALM 142:7a – Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name.
David felt every bit like those men who were a type of prisoner on the ship on which they were forced to serve after they were shanghaied. He was free to move about, yet he was a prisoner of his situation.
Some of you here this morning may be feeling exactly like David was feeling. You have been shanghaied.
Follow David’s example and cry out to God from the bottom of your soul. Be honest with God and yourself as you pour yourself out before God … but then also do as David did and …
2. Keep the Line to God Open
David may have yelled at God and he may have poured out his complaints, but at least he did not turn away from God.
When you are shanghaied keep your heart open to God. Like David you may not understand why you are in your situation, and like David you may not like it and feel like you can’t survive another day, but also be like David and talk to God.
Then when you’re done crying out to God …
B. MOVE BACK TOWARD GOD … even an inch at a time.
When you are shanghaied your faith in God often takes a mighty blow. Once your faith in God was strong, but now you are like a boxer who was just hit with a mighty upper cut and is stretched out on the canvas trying to get back on his feet.
Start in your mistrust, and yes, even disbelief. Start in your anger and despair. Make one small movement back toward trusting God. Try to remember when he blessed you. Look for one small thing for which you can be thankful.
Like a boxer who struggles to get up on one knee, struggle to regain your faith. Don’t wait until you are in a better mood, don’t wait until you have overcome all your anger, don’t wait until you understand everything, don’t wait until you feel you are good enough. Just go ahead and make one small step back toward God.
Maybe that step is saying a Bible verse you memorized, or reading your Bible, or going to the church or maybe even coming to the altar and confessing that you need God’s help and strength.
The main thing is … draw near to God. Don’t’ worry about formalities. Although your movement may be small, God’s mercy is mighty.
CONCLUSION
I know most of you do not read poetry and particularly poetry written hundreds of years ago, but I want to close with several verses of poetry written in 1789 by William Blake that shows how God is by your side and caring for you even when you are shanghaied.
Can God, who smiles on all,
Hear the wren, with sorrows small.
Hear the small bird’s grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear.
And not sit beside the nest,
Pouring pity in its breast.
And not sit the cradle near
Weeping tear on infant’s tear.
And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh, no! Never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
He does give his joy to all;
He becomes an infant small;
He becomes a man of woe;
He does feel the sorrow too.
Think not you can sigh a sigh,
And your Creator is not by;
Think not you can weep a tear,
And your Maker is not near.
Oh! He gives to us his joy,
That our grief he may destroy;
Until our grief is fled and gone,
He does sit by us and moan.
Remember, when you are shanghaied … CRY OUT TO GOD … and then … MOVE BACK TOWARD GOD.Have you ever been shanghaied? Your answer may depend on which of the two definitions for shanghai you would use. Here is the first definition:
SHANGHAI – To kidnap and force to serve on a ship sailing to China.
NOTE: Many of these ships sailed to Shanghai, which is a seaport in China. Those who were kidnapped and forced to serve were said to have been “shanghaied.”
Do you know that there is a city in the United States that from 1850 until 1941 was the most dangerous city in the world for being shanghaied?
The shanghaiing trade began in this city in 1850 and steadily grew to the point where in 1870 it was the most dangerous port in the world for being shanghaied.
Men were kidnapped, taken through secret tunnels that ran beneath the city, and then sold to sea captains where they were forced to work for free until the ship returned to the states, which could be two or three years. Shanghaiing was practiced in this city up until 1941.
When you were shanghaied you were often either drugged or knocked unconscious. The under ground tunnel system included small holding cells where those who had been kidnapped could be held until they were sold to a sea captain.
Today, you can actually pay to tour the underground tunnel used in shanghaiing people in this city.
The city is – PORTLAND, OREGON.
I doubt whether any of you here this morning has been shanghaied in that manner, so let’s look at the second definition.
SHANGHAI – To be induced or forced to do something you don’t want to do.
One minute men in Portland were strolling down a street late at night or sitting on a stool in a tavern, and suddenly they would wake up on a rusty ship rolling on the Pacific waves with their head splitting and their stomach churning.
Has something similar ever happened to you? One minute your life was fine and the next minute you find yourself in a situation you never thought would be a part of your life.
You are sitting in your car in the parking lot of the medical clinic staring into space. The doctor’s words are still ringing in your ears. You are in a place that you didn’t choose. Your world is going to change. Or …
You suddenly realize that you have been playing with fire and now you are considering betraying and leaving your spouse. How in the world did you get tricked into this situation? Or …
You have just left the cemetery where you have not only buried a loved one, but have also buried part of yourself. You feel numb and dead on the inside. Or …
You have just come from a meeting with a budget counselor where you were finally forced to come face to face with both your debts and your spending habits. You wonder why you allowed credit cards to become your master.
The list could go on and on. You are standing on the edge of a sinkhole that has opened before you. Things which you once held dear, your health, your family, your job, your reputation, or your security are slowly sliding into the hole. Your old life is slipping away. You know you can’t go back to the way things used to be. Suddenly your realize …
I. I HAVE BEEN SHANGHAIED
Let’s just take a few moments and look at some possible causes for the fact that we sometimes find ourselves shanghaied. We are forced to deal with things that we don’t like or want. Sometimes we get shanghaied …
A. BY SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS
The Bible makes it very clear that Satan tires to get us to sin against God. He makes things look so good, but what looks so good, ends up putting us into a situation that is filled with misery.
The Apostle Paul was well aware of Satan’s ability to tempt and deceive. Listen to what he wrote.
I THESSALONIANS 3:5 – For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
Another time he wrote …
II CORINTHIANS 2:11 – In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
The book of Proverbs has a very interesting way of describing Satan and his temptations. Proverbs uses a woman by the name of “folly” or “foolish” to show us both the temptation and results.
PROVERBS 9:13-18 – 13The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. 14She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. 16“Let all who are simple come in hear!” she says to those who lack judgment. 17Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious! 18But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
You can get shanghaied when you yield to Satan’s temptations, but sometimes you get shanghaied …
B. BY THE EVENTS OF LIFE
We live in bodies that are mortal. Last fall Tom Harmon told us that mortal means “able to die.” That quite often means we must deal with aches, pains and diseases. It also means we must deal with the death of loved ones.
We live in a world that is not perfect. That means there will be accidents, people will treat us unfairly, there will be natural disasters and there will be wars.
All of these natural events of life have the capacity to shanghai us. Finally we can be shanghaied …
C. BY GOD
This is a hard one. Sometimes God allows us to go through, or even puts us into, difficult or painful circumstances for reasons we don’t understand.
Those of you familiar with the life of Joseph know he is a good example of being shanghaied by God. Joseph was imprisoned unfairly for many years, but God had a purpose for shanghaiing Joseph. He would use Joseph to save and develop the Jewish Nation from which the Messiah would come.
Well, we have looked at different ways we can be shanghaied … different reasons why we are sometimes forced to deal with or do things that we don’t like. That brings us to the question …
II. WHAT CAN I DO WHEN I HAVE BEEN SHANGHAIED?
Our scripture lesson has some answers for us. It was written by David at a time in his life when he had been shanghaied.
Let’s take a moment and look at what David’s life had been like before he was shanghaied.
He had killed the giant Goliath and became a national hero. He was best friends with King Saul’s son, Jonathan, and was married to King Saul’s daughter. Life was good for this young man who was once a shepherd boy … but suddenly he was shanghaied and he finds himself crouching in the dark depths of a wet cave hiding from King Saul’s army.
For fifteen years David would live as a wanted man and a fugitive. It was some time during this period that David wrote a psalm that can help us to know what to do when we are shanghaied … Psalm 142.
PSALM 142:1-7 – 1I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 2I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.
3When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 4Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
5I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
7Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
The first thing I see in this psalm is encouragement to …
A. CRY OUT TO GOD
Listen again to some of David’s words.
PSALM 142:1, 5a, 6a – 1I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 5aI cry to you, O Lord; 6aListen to my cry, for I am in desperate need.
David was no doubt hungry, thirsty, cold and fearful. He may have also been dealing with some anger and frustration. I suspect he was tired of being forced to live a life on the run. He no doubt yearned for life to be like it once was, but there can be no going back.
David gets to the point where he can’t take much more and he cries out to God.
This was not some nice little prayer that was prayed as he knelt on a bed of pine needles with soft shafts of morning light filtering through the trees. This was a desperate cry for help.
In David’s desperate cry for help I see two important things for us to remember when we get shanghaied and cry out desperately to God.
1. Be honest – with God and yourself
It appears as if David may have yelled or shouted at God. He said, “I cry aloud,” and “I lift up my voice.”
David’s prayer was a cry of anguish. He was dealing with various thoughts and emotions and he didn’t try to hide them from God. David said …
PSALM 142:2 – I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.
David wasn’t happy with what was happening to him and since he knew God was in control of all creation he poured out his complaints. Listen to some of them …
PSALM 142:3b – In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.
There were many loyal to King Saul who would have gladly captured David and turned him over to the king.
PSALM 142:4a – Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me.
David felt that he was all alone. This may have been one of those times he was separated from the small group of men who supported him.
PSALM 142:4b – I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.
David felt like he had no safe place to go, that no one cared whether he lived or died.
PSALM 142:6b – Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
David was at the end of his rope. He was tired of running and hiding. He yearned for a normal life.
In the Bible translation called “The Message,” verse six is rendered like this – “Oh listen, please listen; I’ve never been this low.”
Finally David cries …
PSALM 142:7a – Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name.
David felt every bit like those men who were a type of prisoner on the ship on which they were forced to serve after they were shanghaied. He was free to move about, yet he was a prisoner of his situation.
Some of you here this morning may be feeling exactly like David was feeling. You have been shanghaied.
Follow David’s example and cry out to God from the bottom of your soul. Be honest with God and yourself as you pour yourself out before God … but then also do as David did and …
2. Keep the Line to God Open
David may have yelled at God and he may have poured out his complaints, but at least he did not turn away from God.
When you are shanghaied keep your heart open to God. Like David you may not understand why you are in your situation, and like David you may not like it and feel like you can’t survive another day, but also be like David and talk to God.
Then when you’re done crying out to God …
B. MOVE BACK TOWARD GOD … even an inch at a time.
When you are shanghaied your faith in God often takes a mighty blow. Once your faith in God was strong, but now you are like a boxer who was just hit with a mighty upper cut and is stretched out on the canvas trying to get back on his feet.
Start in your mistrust, and yes, even disbelief. Start in your anger and despair. Make one small movement back toward trusting God. Try to remember when he blessed you. Look for one small thing for which you can be thankful.
Like a boxer who struggles to get up on one knee, struggle to regain your faith. Don’t wait until you are in a better mood, don’t wait until you have overcome all your anger, don’t wait until you understand everything, don’t wait until you feel you are good enough. Just go ahead and make one small step back toward God.
Maybe that step is saying a Bible verse you memorized, or reading your Bible, or going to the church or maybe even coming to the altar and confessing that you need God’s help and strength.
The main thing is … draw near to God. Don’t’ worry about formalities. Although your movement may be small, God’s mercy is mighty.
CONCLUSION
I know most of you do not read poetry and particularly poetry written hundreds of years ago, but I want to close with several verses of poetry written in 1789 by William Blake that shows how God is by your side and caring for you even when you are shanghaied.
Can God, who smiles on all,
Hear the wren, with sorrows small.
Hear the small bird’s grief and care,
Hear the woes that infants bear.
And not sit beside the nest,
Pouring pity in its breast.
And not sit the cradle near
Weeping tear on infant’s tear.
And not sit both night and day,
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh, no! Never can it be!
Never, never can it be!
He does give his joy to all;
He becomes an infant small;
He becomes a man of woe;
He does feel the sorrow too.
Think not you can sigh a sigh,
And your Creator is not by;
Think not you can weep a tear,
And your Maker is not near.
Oh! He gives to us his joy,
That our grief he may destroy;
Until our grief is fled and gone,
He does sit by us and moan.
Remember, when you are shanghaied … CRY OUT TO GOD … and then … MOVE BACK TOWARD GOD.