Hope in Despair
Notes
Transcript
Open your bibles and turn with me to the book of Psalm 13
We are beginning, maybe continuing a little mini sermon series in the book of Psalms.
Called Psalms of the Joy!
I wanted to embark on this at the turn of the year for a couple of reasons.
First, because Lord willing, we are about to embark on a sermon series through the gospel of Luke
Luke is 24 chapters long….and journeying through that book will take a while.
It would be easy to spend several years working through a book that size,
But my prayer is to spend a little over two years going through that book
Which will be a high clip of speed! All things considered
So, I partially say that to prepare you but also to say that, given
that we are headed into a longer sermon series,
I want to provide easy on/off ramps throughout that series.
The Book of Psalms will be that on/off ramp for us!
But I also wanted to jump into the book of Psalms at the turn of the year
because I recognize that the holidays can be very difficult!
It can be difficult because, well, life is messy!
Holidays, with friends and family, is often messy.
Sometimes, life in the Local Church is messy
because we are sinners and all in need of grace!
And I recognize the need for joy –
We need joy in our sorrow!
We need joy in this life…
We need hope….
Really, what we need is,…. ultimately, the Lord!
And it is the Lord Jesus Christ that the scripture continually points us to.
And specifically, the Psalter is slopped in such a way
that we might hope in Christ!
Sermon Summary: Our Pain is not only the window into the heart but an invitation to hope in the Lord.
One of the beauties of the Book of Psalms is the raw and real language.
The Psalmists are people, just like you and I….
writing, reflecting, hurting, clinging and trusting!
And the Psalter is a window, not only into the glory of Heaven, and the majesty of God!
Of worship, through singing and song, and expression!
But also a pathway into the human heart!
Of its pain, of its struggle, of its longing…and need to be satisfied!
And the Psalter - understood this way, gives us a framework, handrails, if you will
On how to speak with God – across the spectrum of our emotion and thought!
It’s like a permission slip and instruction on how to come to God rightly and speak to HIM!
To petition, voice complaint, frustration, ask for help
explain how it feels to live in a fallen world!
And express our desperate need and longing to rest in him
As a biblical counselor, this is the front-row seat that I often get – a glimpse into the human heart
it is a look into the longing, hurt, and disappointments,
HEART IDOLS….but also, sometimes JOYS!
And I’ve learned at the most basic level –
Biblical counseling is seeking to apply the truth of the word
and substance of Christ to the struggles of life in a fallen world.
That’s the cry that’s most often heard in the counsel room – it’s the cry of the human heart!
It’s the cry of an image bearer in pain, sorrow, and affliction, or EVEN SIN!
And it’s attempting to see their own brokenness
and point them to the balm who is Jesus!
Is that not often the struggle of life?
What do we do with our pain and in our pain!
And how do we relate with the Lord, in moments of hardship!
And that’s really what you have in this Psalm– Psalm 13,
a Psalm of Lament….of David doing just that!
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
The Psalmist is not only writing words of His soul.
But recognizing these words were given to David through the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit….
They provide us with a world of help in our fight for joy!
And a practical rubric in how to navigate our human experience
How can we rest and find hope in Christ when our heart is broken?
It’s a Psalm, the Psalm of life in a fallen world!
It’s real, it’s raw, it’s finding hope and finding JOY in the midst of pain!
I. Silence feels like agony when we are hurting (v.1-2)
I. Silence feels like agony when we are hurting (v.1-2)
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
David begins with rapid-fire staccato-like questions!
Four questions comprise these opening verses!
But all contain the same basic question……HOW LONG!!
And even here – there is an anticipation that the Lord WILL deliver David,
The question, even in faith….is not a question of ability but timing!
DURATION!
HOW LONG!!
How LONG, OH LORD, – the duration – will you forget me forever?
I’ve been forgotten by God, unattentive to HIM
How Long will you hide your face from me? - His way hidden from the Lord!
How Long must I take counsel in my soul – and have sorrow (AGONY) in my heart!
– all the day?
Wrestle with the Psalmist’s deep affliction and sorrow!
Is this forever, is it ever ending?
Will the fog ever lift?
David writes as a man – who still believes and hopes in God!
But in agony – he feels rejected by God!
Hidden from God!
Given no counsel from God
No relief from God!
And no help from him!!
David’s trouble – was spiritual, he feels isolated….mentally, he’s at a loss
emotionally, he was distressed and physically, he was in danger! (ENCAMPED!)
Even when he feels surrounded by enemies
How long – shall my enemies be exalted over me?
And we understand the difference when David writes these words!
He means them!
When David says I have enemies– he means people are coming for my head!
They are seeking to destroy my life!!
contextually, there are two instances
potentially surrounding David when he pens the words–
Most commentators believe that David is writing these words – EITHER
while fleeing from King Saul, who was seeking to kill David,
because he was envious of David, who was soon to become king! (1 Sam 19-21)
And the other instance that many commentators believe
that David writes is during the Absolom conspiracy! (2 Sam 15)
When David’s son, Absolom, turned the hearts of Israel away from David,
David had to flee from Jerusalem to spare his own life!
And in both instances – David’s desire was certainly to be spared!
But in neither instance– did David wish death upon His enemy! –
Nor does he wish death on his enemies in this Psalm,
only that he would be delivered from them!
David held King Saul in high esteem and would not touch the Lord’s Anointed!
And would not desire death upon His son, even though Absolom was seeking to kill him!!
Nonetheless – David desires the Lord to intervene!
He’s been afflicted!
He’s experiencing hardship, trial….agony!!
ONLY to CRY out to the Lord – and hear the sound of DEAFENING SILENCE!!
SILENCE – very seldom feels like our friend.
It’s very seldom sought after…. though a spiritual discipline
Even in moments – when we desire to “unplug’….
we usually fill the space with noise of some kind.
And on the one hand – SILENCE is DEAFENING …
But on the other – Silence speaks volumes!!
And in David’s Pain he CRIES– HOW LONG O LONG!!
Will you forget me forever?
Will you always hide your face?
How often – have we lived in v. 2 –
Not knowing what to do – but toss and turn, taking counsel in our own soul!
How it often only increases sorrow?
My enemies – are surrounding me and winning!
Darkness is enclosing, and it seems like it will consume me!
The agony of CRYING out to the LORD – HELP!!!!!!!
And in great mystery….we sit in silence. …..WAITING…..
and that waiting in silence feels intensely long and difficult!!
Some of you know – this feeling…. Some are more familiar than others!
But we’ve all been there!!
It’s a lonely place, a difficult place,
a scary place, a place of sorrow and pain!
And the ultimate answer to David’s question – HOW LONG of LORD!!
Is simply and mysteriously difficult to rest in …the answer is….
– THE LORD KNOWS….and only the Lord knows!
Will the tide turn, the darkness lift, and the circumstances change?
Will my mourning turn to dancing sooner than later….
And there is really – the subtle question that isn’t asked explicitly in this Psalm,
but implied....and is very practical this question!
How then do we live in these moments?
As Ligon Duncan writes – when Pain is real, and God is silent!
There can be nothing more frustrating and difficult….
and more faith-shaking and agonizing than this
Is this really what God intends?
Surely not…..
So buried in this cry for help is a glimmer of faith – HOW LONG?
Implies a frustration of the Lord’s timing, NOT His ability!!
And so, David draws near, not away from God as He continues.
--------------------------------------------------- SILENCE is agony when we are hurting (v.1-2)
II. When We Are Tempted To Turn Away From God in Pain, we must run toward Him in Faith (v.3-4)
II. When We Are Tempted To Turn Away From God in Pain, we must run toward Him in Faith (v.3-4)
Within the last decade, there was a popularChristian singer-songwriter….
Who, within the last few years, has sadly renounced her faith in God!
In listening to an interview,
I heard her describe a similar instance in which David found himself,
and we, too can find ourselves - overwhelmed by sorrow, agony, and silence.
For her, her sorrow began after she was sexually abused as a child by her childhood priest.
It continued in an overwhelming sense of distrust of those with religious authority.
She struggled with shame because of the sin against her.
She felt worthless, ugly, and rejected….
Even after she became a believer –
she was always suspicious of religion.
She continued carrying a sense of inadequacy…
and constantly looking to prove herself to God and others.
In moments that she realized her own sin, it was almost overwhelming to her!
How could God truly love me, she wondered?
And this was exacerbated by the practice of confession and penance,
that she was all too familiar as a practicing Roman Catholic ….
She experienced joy in life and was later married….
but the joy of life with children soon turned sour when they experienced pregnancy loss.
And though they would experience the joy of two other children….
losing a child was a deep, deep wound in her heart.
Several years later – she and her husband separated and eventually divorced
in what she described as a long, tiring, difficult, and painful process…..
And this is what she said –
several years later as she reflected back on the moment of renouncing her faith….
It’s the tension that we feel in this Psalm –
She said – I had carried so much pain for so long!
And I longed for God to come to my rescue, to save me, and be my deliverer,
and take away my pain…..
in fact, she said, so many of the songs I wrote were me pleading with God to save me,
but I just felt he never did. And I guess I just got tired of waiting….!
And she ended by saying, maybe one day,
the Lord will give me a new song and renewed hope. I pray he does.
And I just sat there and wept, my heart just broke!!
Because I, too, have been there….I think we have all been there!
When the pain is almost overwhelming….
And we are so tempted to walk away from God in doubt!!
But the invitation in that moment –…is in the opposite direction!
It’s to run toward Him in faith!
And that’s what the Psalmist teaches us here in this text!!
HOW LONG, OH LORD?…..
And in the waiting, and in the SILENCE->
David doesn’t turn away from the Lord, but to him, instead!
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
David turns toward the Lord in request and response!
Commands – in Hebrew!
CONSIDER ME!
ANSWER ME!
LIGHT UP my eyes!!
I’m not leaving without hope from you!!
David’s requests are matched by three reasons or rationales!
LEST I sleep the sleep of death!
Least my enemies say, “I have prevailed over him”
“Let’s my foes rejoice because I am shaken”
All these petitions before the Lord and in response to David’s pain!
Think about it –
Where David once cried – HOW LONG – will you forget me of forever!
How long Will you HIDE YOUR FACE?
David says – CONSIDER ME!
Where David sat in silence, taking counsel in his own soul!
David now says - ANSWER ME!!
And where David sat alone in silence and darkness!
David says – LIGHT up my eyes!! –
Lord help me to see!!
And if the Lord forgetsDavid forever – if he leaves him in silence!
If he never comes to His aid, - DAVID will perish!
He will sleep the sleep of death!
His enemies will prevail over him
His foes will rejoice because he is shaken!! (to stagger or totter)
And David says, Lord – Don’t allow that to happen!
CONSIDER ME
Preserve me!
ANSWER me!
KEEP me!
DELIVER ME!!
LIGHT UP MY EYES!
In a moment when we’ve all been tempted to turn away from God!
David recognizes Him as a friend to run to for refuge….
even when it’s difficult and when the pain seems too much!
David knows the Lord to be a friend!
And help….not a foe or adversary!!
God is a God who welcomes our cries for help!
He invites us to come to him!
He bids that we draw near to him, with our pain!
Not hide it from him!!
God doesn’t cast off the weary, he invites them to draw near!
And so even in the darkness, and pain, and silence!
David draws near!!
And this is the invitation of our Lord -Jesus Christ!
When He says in Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What a beautiful picture and reality – to know that God is a God
who doesn’t reject the hurting or the broken!!
He doesn’t despise or reject us,
though He may seem silent! ….HE bids us to come!!
He doesn’t ask that we mend our own wounds,
but come to him for rest and refuge!!
Yet….How often slow and resistant we are to come!
How deceived we are of our own strength!
How deceitful and gullible are we to the lies of the enemy!
That calls us to reject God and run away from Him!
May we never forget the invitation from God, EVEN in our pain!
To run to Him!!
And David is running not only to the Lord, but also the TRUTHS He knows about Him!
Even, when it’s difficult for him to see it!
It’s almost like David is beginning to remind his heart of truth
TRUTH, that’s been forgotten because of the difficulty!
As much as David would desire deliverance,
he would be contented first,
knowing that God sees Him and knows!
The same is mentioned in Exodus 2 and 3….
that the Lord God looked down and saw the affliction of Israel….
The Lord sees and the Lord knows!!
David knows this is true!! ….He knows it is….
even when it feels like it’s not!
That’s part of what David is doing.
He’s pushing passed the way that he may feel in the moment of agony and pain
He may feel as though God has forgotten him.
He may sense that God is silent.
He may think that God has abandoned him,
but David pushes past all of those things
and he begins to proclaim THE TRUTH that he knows
that the Lord desires NOT for David to sleep the sleep of death
he knows that the Lord desires that David’s enemies NOT be exalted over him.
He knows that the Lord desires that he NOT stumble and totter,
so David pushes past what he feels and he begins to petition God
based on what he knows
the truth that he professes and that he knows about the Lord,
not how he may feel in the moment of his pain, difficulty, and adversity,
but because of what he knows,
David says, consider me, answer me, lift up my eyes.
Beloved, this is what we must do in those moments
when we’re tempted to live based upon emotion,
and upon how we feel and
justify our thoughts in our actions and our motives,
we too, must be willing to push past that which we feel
and begin to proclaim what we know
the truth that we know
until our hearts begin to catch up with the truth that we profess
because that’s what’s happening here in this text
David is slowly moving from agony to triumph.
He slowly moving from despair to hope
And in so doing – this is key….
David is shifting away from his circumstance – and towards the character of God!!
-------------------------------------
III. True and Lasting Hope is Centered In God’s Character (v.5-6)
III. True and Lasting Hope is Centered In God’s Character (v.5-6)
As I mentioned – David begins to move away from his feelings…to truth in the Lord!
He’s turning away from focusing on self…
And turning to focus on the Lord!!
He’s already begun to do that in verses 3-4….by virtue of his petitions before God!
And now David’s former agony turns to worship!
His pain turns to praise in the Lord!!
And it’s centered on – the Lord’s character!
Namely, who god is….rather than what is happening in David’s life!!
In short – David has shifted the foundation on which he stands!
From his ever-changing circumstances!
To the assurance and constant of the character of God who never changes!
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Dealt bountifully…..
What is bountifully about David’s circumstance in v.1-2?......Nothing!!
BUT His eyes are now elsewhere!!
And rather than sitting in sorrow!
David, says I will sing to the Lord…..
Because he has dealt bountifully with me!!
Where does this come from?
From sorrow to singing!
From pain to praise?
David says – it comes by way of focusing on the Lord!
David portrays himself by way of contrast!
v. 5 BUT I….
And he speaks of three specific actions ….in what I call DAVID’s HOPEFUL TENSION!
1. I have trusted in your steadfast love!
My enemies haven’t done that!
2. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation!
My enemies can’t do that, they know nothing of it!
3. And I will sing to the Lord –
My enemies know nothing of praise for God! (v.6)
BUT I – have trusted in your steadfast love!....
The emphatic disposition of the former man of sorrow!
BUT I HAVE TRUSTED!!
Oh, that we might learn to trust!
WITH our heads and our hearts!!
He doesn’t give up, He doesn’t give in!
But instead – I HAVE TRUSTED!
That is now and will continue to do so!!
I’ve trusted in your - STEADFAST LOVE….
The word here is CHESED –
If you remember in our study in the book of Ruth
we went spent an entire sermon unpacking that term – CHESED!
It’s a word that means LOYAL LOVE!
Unwavering commitment to continue and remain –
stay…never changing love that is based in the character of GOD!
AND IN HIS COVENANT!
CHESEDis the covenanting love of GOD!!
That David knows deeply and personally!!
That God’s love is not like the decision of the flower-
he loves me, he loves me not!
No, this love – is everlasting!
This love remains and continues!!
David continues – v.5 MY HEART will rejoice in your salvation!
Here, David speaks in the imperfect tense – a future coming rejoicing and hope!
MAY MY HEART REJOICE in your salvation!
If David rested in the assuring covenant love of God above!
Now, he is expressing confident faith of God’s deliverance!
I know it’s coming!
I know my salvation is coming!
I may not know when, but I’m confident that my deliverer is the Lord!!
v.6 – I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me!
Once again – I will sing… indicating
David’s commitment to begin singing, and will keep on singing!
Because HE’s dealt bountifully with me!
Literally – BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN GOOD TO ME!!
Here is a man who’s committed and knowing
the goodness and character of GOD!
Of His covenant and His grace, and His goodness!!
And even though he’s in the moment of darkness.
And in the moment of pain, affliction!
And in silence that was once deafening!
The silence is broken by David’s own voice,
WHO now erupts in song!
Singing – is an action reserved for victory!
And yet, David says, even while I’m still waiting on the Lord!
I will lift my voice because I have a sure reason to sing!!
GOD HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO ME!!
And hasn’t he been good to you as well?
Can you tell of his faithfulness!
Can you speak of His grace?
Of His countless blessing!
Of God’s kindness and mercy toward you!
It’s the shift away from self and unto the Lord, and His character!!
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
You may be reading this and wondering!
What is happening here!!
How does someone go from depressed to rejoicing
From Despair to Hope in just six verses!
Maybe David is MANIC!
But really, his response is not as disjointed as we think!
It’s connected and held together – by one simple, profound concept!
FAITH
Faith – doesn’t wait til answers some or the darkness lifts!
It doesn’t wait for a final resolve to rejoice!
Instead – faith sings in the middle of affliction!
Faith clings to what cannot be seen
in the hope of a coming deliverance!!
And it’s by faith!
That we, too, like David, can turn from our circumstances!
And look to Christ!!
It’s the shift from us toward Christ!
It’s moving from the circumstances of what is happening or what has happened…
to trusting in what God has done!!
To see the Lord’s STEADFAST love….through Jesus Christ!
And to rejoice in salvation found in Christ!!
CONCLUSION: --------
Because really, that’s who we see in the shadows, even within this Psalm!
And in this Psalm of Lament – from Despair to hope!
David writes of His hope in the Lord’s deliverance!
But through the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit!
We see Christ as the anticipation and hope even of this PSALM!
When you consider Jesus Himself cried out in a similar way during His crucifixion,
when He experienced the depths of God's silence and forsakenness:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
In His suffering, Jesus was fully human, experiencing
the alienation and abandonment that we often feel in times of distress.
His cry echoes the psalmist’s despair here in Psalm 13
and helps us relate to His sense of abandonment.
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death (v. 3): Lest my enemy say, 'I have prevailed over him.'
Jesus, as the Light of the world (John 8:12), answers this cry.
Jesus, who faced His enemies, was ultimately victorious.
Though His enemies thought they had prevailed by crucifying Him,
the resurrection proved their defeat and
God’s ultimate victory over sin, death, and Satan.
In the life of Jesus, the ultimate enemy—death—
was swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
AND….David’s hope is grounded in God’s steadfast love (Hebrew: hesed),
But I have trusted in your steadfast love (v. 5):
and for us, this love is most clearly displayed
In the NEW COVENANT in Jesus Christ.
Jesus' death on the cross is the supreme demonstration
of God's unwavering love for His people
Romans 5:8
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In Christ, we have the assurance that God’s love will never fail,
even in times of suffering and apparent abandonment.
My heart shall rejoice in your salvation (v. 5):
David’s salvation points forward to the ultimate salvation we have in Christ.
In Him, we experience the fullest expression of God’s saving power—
both in the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life
Christ and salvation found in him
is the ultimate reason for our joy and trust,
as it secures our future and relationship with God.
And Like David, we can SING to the Lord
because of His abundant grace and mercy revealed in Jesus.
His bountiful dealings with us are seen most clearly in the gospel—
the abundant life He offers through Christ.
And when we do that, beloved!
We realize that regardless of the circumstance!
Regardless of the hardship!
Regardless of the pain and what feels like silence!
That we might look up and see God's character and mercy at the cross of Christ!
Beloved – when the Pain seems too real, and God is silent –
we must remember that the Cross of Jesus is Not QUITE!
And the invitation for me and you,
and I pray for the Christian artist I mentioned earlier...
who claimed God never came to rescue her….
And the invitation for all of you....is that in your deepest, darkest pain,
I pray that you see that the Lord has come to save us on the cross.
Of which, David says here...."but I have trusted in your steadfast love..."
Oh, that we might see the steadfast love of the Lord through Jesus Christ!
To know that God is not silent – He has spoken through HIS gospel!
He has spoken through His son, and He has spoken through His word!!
And oh, that we might cling to him!
And that our sorrow would turn to song….and we would sing for joy!
Not in our circumstances but because of the Character of God!
And because of the hope we have in the Lord, through Jesus Christ!!
Oh, that you might do as we sang this morning –
know that we can always run to Jesus, who is STRONG AND KIND!!
And for the person here, that is not a Christian!
That you might look up and see Christ on the cross!
To recognize, he shed his own blood and died in the place of sinners!
And was put to death – by sinful and wicked men!
And was raised to life by the power of God!
Accomplishing God’s plan of salvation
for all who would repent and trust in Christ for salvation!
Oh, that you, too, would look to him in the despair of your sin,
and find your hope through faith in Christ today!!
Sermon Summary: Our Pain is not only the window into the heart but an invitation to hope in the Lord.
