Responsible Faith

Intro into Series

I think there is an issue with the way people relate to God in the modern evangelical church.

I asked Rick if there was room on his sermon “schedule” for me to spend a few weeks in the book of Psalms because I think that that is the location within scripture where we sort out the true way of what it looks like to be connected with God.

So, what I want to establish, starting tonight and for the next four Wednesdays, is the understanding that the Psalms are available to you to use as your own heart cry in any of life’s situations.

Before I start in on what is the root of the goal for this four weeks, I do want to teach you some basic things on the title of this book of the Bible.

If I refer to the entire book, then it is the book of Psalms. The “s” is important because there I am in fact referring to more than one psalm.

If I am referring to a singular psalm, then I drop the “s” as you would in nearly any other scenario where an “s” signifies plurality.

In other words, I would not say “Psalms 23”. I would say “Psalm 23” because it is one singular psalm, it is actually the 23rd psalm.

Also, when referring to entire book, you might also hear people refer to it as the “psalter”

Psalter comes from the Latin word “psalterium” which comes from the Greek word "psaltērion" which is referring to a string instrument like a harp.

The psalter is merely the english word used to refer to the collection of psalms.

In fact “psalm” also comes from a Greek word that means “to pluck” in the same sense as a harp or stringed instrument.

The psalms are songs or more accurately they are largely poems. They don’t make as much sense to us because Hebrew poetry has different mechanics than our modern English poetry.

I do not plan on getting into the details of that, but if there is a large desire for that information, we can discuss that in the coming weeks.

Here’s my whole dilemma and the reason I’m up here talking to you all tonight.

I believe that we incorrectly use the Psalms (or psalter).

They are cherry picked for cute devotional one liners far too often, and it’s time to restore them to their former glory.

I’m going to pose a question to you as we open up the first of our four psalms we will examine in this series:

When you perceive an issue in a relationship you have with someone you deeply care for, do you allow it to fester and become potentially worse or do you confront the issue and seek resolution?

I believe the modern understanding that God is somehow out of reach and we shouldn’t talk to him about anything negative in our lives because he is too holy to hear our concerns is not one that the people of Biblical times would’ve connected with.

I did something to help me intro this that some might think is heretical in some way. I asked Chat GPT to tell me why the Psalms were chosen for the Biblical canon. Here’s what it said: “The Bible includes the Psalms because they serve a unique and essential purpose within Scripture: they teach God’s people how to relate to Him personally, emotionally, and communally.”

Transition to Sermon

How many in here, and you don’t have to raise your hand if you don’t want, but how many in here have been in a difficult place in their life SINCE following Jesus?

If you haven't, God bless you for that, right? If you have, it is not wrong of you to have suffered on behalf of Christ. If you don’t believe me, go read Philippians where Paul writes about joy from a first century prison cell. But I don’t want to go into that specifically.

Here’s another question: Have you ever cried out to God and heard…nothing?

No answer. No sign. No relief. Just silence.

It’s in these moments we might wonder, “Is God even listening?” “Does He care?”

If you’ve felt that way, you’re not alone. David did too.

Now, as I open up this conversation take note of what I’m not saying.

I am not saying to lose faith.

Never, at any point does David give room for doubting God in the midst of his difficult season.

The point of this is not to say “My life sucks, so God must not be real.” Rather, the point is to say “God it feels like my life is falling down around me, and I KNOW that you can do something about it…why won’t you?

And Psalm 13 gives us a model, not only permission but a pattern, for honest lament before a holy God.

So, are we ready to go?

The Language of Lament

Psalm 13:1 “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?”

David begins with accusation of sorts. He doesn’t sugarcoat it. He asks:

Have You forgotten me?

Are You hiding from me?

How long will I wrestle with this sorrow?

This is raw. This is real. And this is prayer.

We often think faith means always being polite with God, but true faith brings our REAL issues about what is happening in our life to the REAL God.

Some of you will take longer than others to get this, but lament is a form of worship because it is still directed toward God, even when we are angry, confused, or we feel completely broken.

The most amazing thing is that you never have to pretend to be something you’re not with God.

You don’t need to “get yourself together” before you pray.

Bring your grief. Bring your doubt.

This might be controversial, but even bring your accusations.

The problems we are reading in this poem that the psalmist has with himself and his enemies are also God’s problems.

The Cry for Help

Psalm 13:3 “Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,”

After lamenting, David pleads for help. He doesn’t walk away from God—he presses in.

He makes a request:

Consider me.

Look at me.

Answer me.

Restore me.

David doesn’t turn to idols. He doesn’t turn to distractions. He doesn’t attempt to self-medicate. He doesn’t complain to his friends.

He turns to God. Even in pain, faith clings to God, it doesn’t put up some false front and a facade hiding the truth from God as if that were even possible, but faith CLINGS to the promises of God as the only hope.

See, this moment in life called lament is not the end of faith, but actually it is often where faith begins anew.

Praying in pain is not a lack of faith, but it is a deep act of sincere trust.

The Turn to Trust

Psalm 13:5 “But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.”

What changed?

Not his circumstances, but his posture.

He chose to remember:

God’s steadfast love (ḥesed)

God’s past faithfulness

A future hope of singing again

David laments honestly, pleads urgently, and trusts deeply—even before anything changes.

When you don’t feel like worshiping—lament.

When you don’t see the way forward—pray anyway.

When God seems silent, remember who He has been and trust who He still is.

CALL UP KEYBOARD

This is one of those things that frustrates me so much. When people say “Well that’s the Old Testament.”

Is He the same God then as He is now or not?

My Bible says he is no respecter of persons, meaning what he does for one he will do for another. So, if David can have a relationship like this with Him, if David can feel like he’s down in a dark place and cry out saying “God, Saul is literally hunting me down and trying to kill me. I don’t feel you in this moment of my life, please talk to me.”...then I believe I can too.

Let’s stand together.

Conclusion

Psalm 13, while it doesn’t use the same words as Psalm 22, ultimately points us to Jesus.

On the cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

He took on our ultimate abandonment, so we would never truly be forsaken.

In Christ, we are invited to bring our laments, our accusations, and our broken hearts to a God who understands suffering from the inside.

What I don’t mean is you have an invitation to complain about the troubles of your life to everyone you know.

Do all things without grumbling or complaining, right?

QUOTE: “Where the capacity to initiate lament is absent…the outcome is a ‘False Self’, bad faith that is based in fear and guilt and lived out as resentful or self-deceptive works of righteousness. The absence of lament makes a religion of coercive obedience the only possibility.”

When people aren’t able to express sorrow or grief or lament, they end up creating a false version of themselves. This false self is driven by fear and guilt, and it shows up as fake goodness—actions that look righteous but come from resentment or self-deception. Without lament, religion becomes all about forced obedience rather than genuine faith.