At their wits end

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER 2026 am – MR T ANDERSON

PSALM 107 VS 21 - 31 

The portion that we read tells of men who were in a desperate desperate situation and they cried onto God for help. Experienced sailors on the sea many times, merchant men taking goods from one port to another port. It was never a problem to them to go from port to port and deliver the goods. But on this particular occasion, things changed because these men found themselves in a situation that they had never experienced before. They were sailing across the ocean to the next port, the next haven to unload their cargo. And while they're out at sea, there's a mighty storm comes up. The storm is allowed by God. It says he lifts the winds. He causes the storm. And you know, sometimes God does those type of things to get our attention, doesn't he? He lifts the winds and the storms and they begin to hit us. And we weren't expecting it. And God says, "I'm trying to get your attention." And it's at those points that God definitely gets our attention. And we begin to think the situation these poor men were in was one of drowning, death. They were thinking, "We'll never make it home again. We'll never get back home. We'll never see our wives. We'll never see our children. We'll never see our parents if they're still alive." All these men could see was a watery grave. Because this storm is beyond their imagination. This storm is beyond their control. They can't control it. It's outside their comfort zone. You ever been there? It says in the scriptures here in verse 20 verse 27, they're at their wits end. They're at their wits end. You know, when you look around there's a lot of people at their wits end. It seems to be a lot of nations are at their wits end not knowing where to turn or who to turn to because it's just one thing after another that seems to happen. I've been thinking recently and again yesterday it became very obvious on our news about the people of Ukraine. The war has been going for four years and they've been showing this last couple of days that there was this ceasefire that is supposed to have taken place but what has happened. They're still being bombed. Lives are still being taken. Can you imagine what it would be like if you were living in the Ukraine today in a village or a city or a town and not knowing whether you are going to get hit? Is this the last day for us? Is this it? We live in our ceiled houses as the Bible talks about and we're comfortable. We went to bed last night and we put our head down and I'll be honest, when I put my head down last night on the pillow I went to sleep. I had a good night's sleep. Don't know about you, but I had a good night's sleep. I began to think of these people around our world at their wits end. These men are at their wits end. Don't know what to do. Everything's against them. The conditions are desperate. They're reeling to and fro like a drunken man. They're intoxicated by their circumstances. They can't think straight. They can't think right. They can't think logic. It's more than they can take. The situation's awful. The conditions are desperate. They begin to think, "What are we going to do? The motions of the ship is making us stagger around like drunken men." But the Bible says after these men began to realize that it appeared this was it, it's over. It says then they cried to the Lord. It's as if it was only when they came to the end of all their resources they began to realize that God could possibly help. And so the situation became the most sensible thing to do. It says in verse 28, "Then they cried unto the Lord." It wasn't until the point that they could go nowhere else and do nothing else that they realized we do have one last resort here. It's God. Maybe just if we cry to God that the God of heaven will hear and answer our prayers because no one else can help us. No one else can help us. When you get that phone call or that letter or from the doctor and it's not what you're expecting, everything changes. It's amazing what a day brings forth. It amazing. These men turned and they cried to the Lord. I looked up the dictionary definition for what it means to be at wit's end. To be at your wit's end means to feel so worried, confused, stressed, or annoyed that you no longer know what to do. You no longer know what to do next because every solution, every solution that you tried has failed. The core meaning of being at your wit's end is mental exhaustion. It describes a state where you have completely exhausted your ideas, your patience or your mental resources and you have nothing left to give. The common examples that can bring it about - one is a parent who has tried everything to soothe a constantly crying baby and the mother says ‘I'm at my wits end I don't know what to do.’ Secondly it is someone struggling for hours to fix a broken computer or an appliance to find the hours have been spent in vain and you're at your wits end with that particular piece of equipment. Three, a person dealing with ongoing financial work or family pressures can drive us to wits end. Now, those are not my sayings. Those are what I wrote down this morning when I looked it up. So, if you look it up on Google, you probably will get the very thing that I have just read out. You ever been there? You ever been into that place where you you've run out of resources? Well, if you have or will be, these men are the great example. They turned to God and prayed. The most sensible thing to do was to pray and said, "Then they cried unto the Lord." When all resources has failed, there's still one. Not all is the end. There's one that we often forget, and it's the one thing called prayer. Turn to God. As these men turned to the Lord, it says they cried unto the Lord. You know where there were those in the Bible who were at their wits end and they cried unto the Lord? Moses was at his wits end - Numbers chapter 20 verse 35. The Israelites were struggling. They had nothing to drink. They were out in the wilderness. And you know the story yourself, I'm sure. And God speaks to Moses and he says to Moses, "Moses, this is what you're going to do. You're going to speak to the rock. And when you speak to the rock, water will come from water will come forth. Then it says in verse 10, "And Aaron and Moses gathered the congregation together before the rock, where God said, speak to the rock. And he said unto them, "Now hear now, ye rebels." Moses can't take anymore. They're crying to the man. They're complaining to the man. “Must we fetch you water from this rock.” What did God say? Speak to it. What did Moses do? Moses lifts up his hand and with the rod he smote the rock. He did the very opposite to what God had told them. The man has so far gone against the people that were surrounding him. He just turned around and did the opposite and he struck the rock. Water came out of it, but it wasn't God's way of doing it. Man's at his wit's end. Hannah was at her wit's end. Hannah was a young woman who was married to a great a man of God. And Hannah didn't have any family. She desperately wanted a child. And it says in chapter one of 1 Samuel, “so Hannah rose up early. So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh. And after they had drank, and Eli the priest sat at the on the seat of the post of the temple of the Lord. And Hannah was in bitterness of soul, and she cried. She prayed unto the Lord, and she wept sore.” You see, it appears that this dear woman can't become pregnant, and she's struggling because she wants a child. And she prays. She is at the end of her tether, at witts end corner. She cried to the Lord and she made a vow. She said, "Lord, give me a  manchild and I'll give him back to you." And what happened? God answers her prayer. God answers her prayer because she probably had tried and tried and tried and tried to have a family, but it wasn't happening. And then she goes to the temple to the house of God and she goes into that house of God and she gets down on her knees. In fact, Eli the priest thought that she was drinking and she'd been drunk because it appeared she was talking to herself. She was talking to God. She was in brokenness. She was at her wits end and she just said, "Lord, give me a boy child." And God answered her prayers. The end of her tether. I don't know what it is this morning, but maybe God is driving you to that place and driving me to that place where he gets our attention. He says, "You've tried all your resources, but you haven't prayed to me about this." The most sensible thing to do was to pray.

Lastly, God answers prayer. What a wonderful salvation these men experienced. Can you imagine being out on a ship being tossed to and fro? Overtaken by the very circumstances you no longer can control. Yes, these men knew what it was to control the ship. It never was like this before. But now they're on a situation where these men are experienced and should know what to do. But whatever they try, it doesn't work. And suddenly they realize, "We're goners. We're not going to make this. We're not going to get to the next port. We're not going to get there." And they came and they cried to God. And in verse 28, it says, "They cried to the Lord, and he brings them out of their distresses." They're at wits end. They don't know what to do. They're distressed. Then they cry to God and suddenly the sea becomes like a sheet of glass. And that old ship that they thought was going to break up and take them to a watery grave suddenly just glides along to their desired haven, to the next port that they were planning to go to. And they went sailing into that port and God brought them to the place that they wanted to go. You know, when we get sincere with God, when we get sincere about things and we get sincere in our asking, in our praying, what does God do? He answers our prayer. And he says, "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. I know what you're going through. I know the circumstances you're in. I know you've tried every resource but just talk to me about this. Just let me deal with this.” And suddenly the turmoil and the strife ceases and the boat goes gliding home. You know, one day for you and I who are saved by grace and all that we go through in this old world is as if, you know, let's just put it, we're on the gospel ship. It's not a cruise ship because it goes through turmoils, goes up and down and tosses around, but we're safe because Jesus is in it. He's the captain. And one day when we come to the end of life's journey here on earth, he's going to calm it all down and you and I are going to arrive at our heavenly port. We're going to arrive where God has planned us to go in the first place. To that place called heaven. And that's going to be a great day, isn't it, for us as believers when Jesus says, "All your struggles and fightings are over." And you're now safe on that heavenly shore. And so, let's keep our eyes on Jesus. Whether we look up or look down, whatever way you want to look at it this morning, from your heavenly position, and then look up to your heavenly goings, he will he will bring us home. He brought these men to their safe place of safety and he'll bring you and I to that place of safety. He'll calm everything down. He brought gladness to their hearts. Isn't it good to be happy in Jesus? He brought them safely home.