Thesis
Rather than treating sadness as an enemy to avoid or a wave to fight head-on, Pastor Bill draws from Psalm 13 to show that sadness is a feeling to be surfed wisely. Like David crying out honestly to God from years of wilderness wandering, we are invited to do three things: clarify what is truly underneath our sadness, cry out to God with raw honesty about it, and cling — as an act of will, not just feeling — to God's never-ending, unfailing love, choosing worship even before the wave of relief arrives.
Key points
- 1
Feelings are guides, not goals — the mistake we make is treating good feelings as the destination and doing whatever it takes to escape bad ones.
- 2
Clarify your sadness before God — peel back the layers to find what is really causing the anguish, because stopping at the surface level leads to bad decisions.
- 3
It is safe and right to cry out to God with raw, honest emotion — Job, David, and even Jesus did exactly this.
- 4
Jesus quoted Psalm 22 from the cross, showing He personally knows every sadness and abandonment we feel.
- 5
Cling to God's unfailing love through sadness — 'trust' here is an action word meaning to hold on, obey, and keep following God rather than running away.
- 6
Worship is like paddling before the wave arrives — start praising God in the middle of sadness so you are ready to catch what He sends.
- 7
When we cling to fear and frustration instead of God's love, we grab onto anything that numbs the sadness — and create far more sadness in the process.
Outline
Surfing Illustration — Introduction
Pastor Bill recounts his disastrous first surfing attempt and the advice that turned it around, using it as a metaphor for how we either fight sadness head-on or deny it entirely — both leaving us exhausted and unchanged.
Series Context and Big Idea
Placing the message within the 'All the Feels' series, he states the big idea — 'Sad isn't bad' — and reminds the congregation that feelings are guides, not goals, and sadness must be navigated, not avoided.
Background to Psalm 13
Pastor Bill provides context on David's ten-year wilderness period — anointed king yet hunted, living in caves — as the setting in which Psalm 13 was written, framing the emotional weight behind its words.
Point 1 — Clarify Your Sadness (Psalm 13:1-2)
Drawing from the first two verses, he shows that David's deepest sadness was not his circumstances but his sense of disconnection from God's promise. He urges the congregation to keep digging past the surface issue — illustrated vividly through his wife's grief over their youngest daughter leaving for college in England.
Point 2 — Cry Out to God to Remove Your Sadness (Psalm 13:3-4)
Verses three and four show David crying out for restored relationship with God. Pastor Bill affirms that honest, raw prayer is safe and biblical, citing Job's complaints and Jesus crying out 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' — itself a quote of David's Psalm 22.
Point 3 — Cling to God's Love Through Sadness (Psalm 13:5-6)
The Psalm's turn on 'but I trust' mirrors Jesus' 'not my will, but Yours.' Pastor Bill explains that trust is an action — clinging to God's chesed (never-ending love) — and that corporate worship is a key tool for surfing through sadness.
Personal Confession and Application
Pastor Bill reveals that while coaching his wife through her sadness, he was in denial about his own — a fear of failing as a provider if his daughter cannot pursue her dream. He models the three-step process in real time, ending with a pastoral prayer of surrender.
Memorable moments
Sad isn't bad
feelings are guides not goals
The best safest place to let your most raw emotions out is before the Lord
Jesus knows how you feel
Don't run away from God when you're sad. You should run into God's purpose in your life no matter what
She was trying to fight through the waves, but at least she was wet. I was in denial. I was staying on the sand and I wouldn't even face it
Application
Pastor Bill closes with a three-part invitation drawn straight from Psalm 13: clarify your sadness by peeling back the layers until you find what is truly hurting; cry out to God with complete honesty, because He is the safest place for your rawest emotions; and cling — as an act of will — to His never-ending love by choosing to worship and follow Him even before anything changes. He makes this personal, admitting he had been sitting on the sand coaching others while refusing to feel his own grief. The takeaway is simple and demanding at once: don't let 'sad is bad' keep you numb or running. Instead, bring your sadness to God, trust that Jesus has walked every version of it, and start paddling in worship — because that is how you catch the wave of what He is already doing.
