Lament Psalms

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Psalm 51

Today is the third sermon in our six week sermon series in the book of Psalms

And the series name is On Repeat

You see, we want to repeat and know the Psalms in our minds and in our hearts

The Psalms are not a collection of outdated, meaningless, poems

Rather, they are a blueprint, a model for how we are to live, how our attitudes should be, and how our actions should reflect them

And depending on who you talk to and who you read - The Psalms are usually divided between 5-8 different kinds of Psalms

So for us, we will be looking at 6 different categories

We have already gone over Wisdom Psalms and reviewed Psalm 1

Last week we went over Royal Psalms and reviewed Psalm 110

This week we will be going over Psalms of Lament and will be review Psalm 51

The definition of Lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow

And while this may not be the topic men/dads want to cover today,

It is important to remember that lamenting is biblical, its needed, and its manly

Lets start by just noting that there are more Psalms of lament than any other kind

If you are taking notes here are some other Lament Psalms you can read (On Screen)

see Pss. 3; 5; 7; 13; 17; 22; 25; 26; 27; 28; 38; 39; 42; 43; 51; 54; 55; 56; 57; 59; 61; 63; 64; 69; 70; 71; 74; 79; 80; 83; 86; 89; 102; 109; 120; 130; 140; 141; 142; 143.

My Study Bible says this, “Laments were composed for when all is not well, and thus express emotions experienced in times of great sorrow or loss. In a lament, the psalmist opens his heart honestly to God, a heart filled with sadness, loneliness, perplexity, grief, abandonment, fear, or anger.

Men, Husbands, Dads, - Are responsible leading and taking care of their family

They have the responsibility to care for their families physical and spiritual needs

And this is a weighty responsiblity

When times get hard, and trust me there will be hard times

The biblical blueprint we will show us that the answer is not just bottle everything up

When we fail as men, as husbnads, and as fathers, - the answer is not to just fix things on our own

And so we will look at Psalm 51 today and exposite some truths from this lament

Psalm 51 is a Lament Psalm that was written by King David

And if you can remember - King David failed greatly and it was a moral failure

He took another mans wife Bathsheba and slept with her

And then he had her husband sent to the front lines so that he would die in battle

And in the aftermath of this, the prophet Nathan confronted King David

And through this confrontation, King David was convicted of the evil things he had done

And in his failure, knowing how he had sinned against God, he lamented and he wrote this Psalm.

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along -

Psalm 51

51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Turning to God

What we find immediately from David is a crying out to God

David Knows who God is

God, Yahweh - The creator of heaven and earth - the giver and sustainer of life

God full of mercy, love, forgiveness,

God of righteousness, holiness, and justice,

God was the onw who anointed him King

It was God who saved David from Saul

God is the one who has delivered Davids enemies into his hands

It is God who continues to bless David and his household

And so it is to God who David turns too

Knowing who God is, King David knows that as he cries out to God, God will hear him

And knowing that he failed, knowing that he deserves punishment, King David asks for mercy

He is asking for Gods mercy and love for him to abound

To wash him clean and forgive him of his transgression

David understands that he is “unlcean” there is a “stain”

And he also understands that God can make him clean and pure again

And for us, I wonder how many of us (male and female) know and understand who God is - and knowing who he is - turn to him and ask for his mercy and forgiveness

We need to know that our God always wants to hear from us and wants us to turn to him

But if we do not know who he is - if we have an impromper view of who he is

When the enemy attacks us with shame and guilt - when we realize that we have failed or seriously messed up

Instead of running towards God, you will be tempted to turn away

But if we learn from King David and we seek to know God

Whith the discernment of the Holy Spirit - we will see gods past calling, mercies, grace, blessings in our life

And knowing who he is, what he has already done for us, we can be sure that he wants us to cry out to him, to turn to him, even when we have failed

And what King David recognizes and confesses is that God is the final authority

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Because God is Holy and Righteouss it is God who dictates what is Holy and Righteouss

It is God who defines what is right and wrong

What is moral and immoral

And anytime anyone sins, yes they may sin against another person, but ultimately their sin is against God

And David recognizes that from the time we are born, we are born in iniquity

We are born in a spiritually fallen state

And this was not God’s intent or origianal design

He had made and Eve spiritually alive and spiritually unified with him

But to have relationship - to have their will be aligned with God

He gave them a command that they had to obey

Obedience to the command magnifies that God is greater than anything else

That relationship with him is more precious than anything else

And we know that Adam and Eve violated this command

They sinned and brought spiritual darkness into the world

And so any person born after Adam and Eve - are born in iniquity

We do not have to teach kids how to do wrong, they are naturally prone to it

It is in our nature

But King David knows that God doesnt leave us in that state

That because God is love, merciful, and full of grace

That God pursues us and brings us out of spiritual darkness and into the light

And God doesnt do this out of duty - God doesn’t owe us anything

But King David says that God delights in truth, in the inward being

God teaches wisdom in the heart - God is the one who changes hearts

God, as the final authority, is the one who makes us right with him

God says that you have failed me but I will make it so that you can be right with me

And so we find King David then asking for God’s continued wisdom, cleansing and restoration

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

King David knows, understands, and he believes that God will continuously uplift, teach, and restore him

I want you to understand that King David Laments he laments with HOPE

David is on his knees, weeping, writing, and singing because God does not cast his people out of his presence

God doesn’t take away the Holy Spirit, rather he uses the Spirit to restore us and gives us hope to move forward

God saves, and once he saves he upholds us

And so King David finishes this Psalm with praises to God and a declaration that what God wants most is our heart

King David believes who God is

He has seen and witnessed his faithfulness

He knows that God will not depart from him but will uphold him

And this causes him to praise God and share God’s goodness with others

To teach transgressors the ways of the Lord is to point out that God is the final authority

That they have failed the final authority and that they need to repent and turn from their sin

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

As King David decares the praises of God shares with others who God is

King David believes that as trasngressors repent

And their hearts are broken because of their sin

God honors that and will not despise them

God changes the heart of man and he loves them as he makes them right with him

Application

Do you know God with your heart?

Not that you know of him with your head, but with your heart

King David did

King David was promised that through his lineage that his throne will last forever

And it was through Davids lineage that Jesus was born, fully God and fully man

And he lived the perfect that we cannot

Jesus was unjustly but willingly died on a cross

He dies and was buried for three days but then he arose on the third day

Jesus conquered sin and death

Jesus died physically so that we could be free spiritually

Although our actions, our money, and our morals are not enough to make us right with God

Faith alone in Jesus Christ is

Faith alone in Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven

To know God is to know Jesus

He will never leave us or forsake us

We believe that he is faithful to us, that he loves us, that his grace abounds for us

His mercies are new for us every morning

And as we walk with him we are to always be submitted to him

Do you know God as the final authority?

Everyone wants a Savior but it’s hard to make Him Lord

But Jesus is both Lord and Savior

He is the final authority, one who is Righteous and Holy

ANd he is the only one who makes us that way

And even though our hearts are changed, even though we are citizens in heaven

We are still here on earth, living in imperfect bodies

But we are striving to live like a Holy and Perfect God

He is one who demands perfection because he is perfection

And we are to try to be imitators of him

And we joyfully and gladly submit ourselves to Him

Do you to lament?

Do you lament over your sin?

Do you lament when you recognize that you have been pushing God away?

Do you lament over the lost people in the world?

Do you lament over your family members?

The lament we have primarily talked about today is a lament over sin

But there are other kinds of lamenting

King David recognized God as the final authority and I hope and pray that you do too

But there are people who reject God, they reject Jesus, and they are relying on themself

They believe in horoscopes, in science, mythology

Remember that everyone born after Adam and Eve are born in iniquity -

And those who have Jesus have hope of an everylasting life but for those who do not

There is a place called hell, to which they will be sent to if they are to die right now without Jesus

Do you lament over the lost souls?

Does your hope in Christ cause you to declare his praises and move you to share with others?

King David clinged to the promise that God would forgive Him

He knew that God would make him righteous again

David Laments over his sin but he doesnt stay in lament

He moves out of lamenting into action

He doesnt have to stay in lament because he has the hope of Jesus

And David declares that he is going to tell the transgressors about Gods love mercy and forgiveness

The transgressors here are those who do not believe in God -

Our hope in Christ should move us to continue to meet and shout his praises

It shoulcause us to share Jesus with others

INTRODUCE MIKE DAVIS TO CHURCH

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