Experiencing Godly Emotions: Lament
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Do you ever have outrage fatigue?
Do you ever have outrage fatigue?
Every day I am passed along something that should rightly outraged me.
A Psalm of Asaph.
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name!
For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake!
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Abortion- the killing, dismembering of innocent children, and then the selling of their body parts for profit or research.
Racial Tensions- police shootings, unfair systems that keep people in poverty
Prosperity Preachers- distorting the gospel by turning Jesus into an idol-giver that simply gives us what we want.
Our President- doing something unbelievable…or getting into a silly twitter spat that we would expect our teenage children to walk away from.
Politics revealing that very few people actually are working hard to solve problems, they are just trying to block the other sides flawed solution.
Continually flawed gender experiments being forced down our throats at the great cost of our children’s innocence.
ISIS committing untold atrocities as they go from village to village killing, plundering, raping, targeting both Christians and Muslims.
How am I supposed to live with the joy of the Lord if I constantly have reason to be outraged?
How am I supposed to live with the joy of the Lord if I constantly have reason to be outraged?
I haven’t even mentioned personal tragedies that hit even closer to home.
2nd Grade Girls aren’t supposed to get brain tumors.
Your parents shouldn’t fight all the time and get divorced.
Heart attacks shouldn’t rob your dad or mom from you way too early in your life.
No one should be abused or assaulted physically, sexually, emotionally. Tormented by another.
How do we emotionally cope with these things in a godly way? How do we know when to act, when to wait patiently, or even how to pray?
How do we emotionally cope with these things in a godly way? How do we know when to act, when to wait patiently, or even how to pray?
Transition- The Psalms give us a type of prayer or crying out to God called Lament. A Lament is often called a “Complaint Psalm”
Lament is coming to God with what is bothering us. It is a complaint, but brought to the one who can actually do something about it.
Lament is coming to God with what is bothering us. It is a complaint, but brought to the one who can actually do something about it.
A Lament is a Psalm or prayer of Complaint.
There is generally 3 parts to any Laments.
A Complaint
A Request
A Declaration of Faith/Trust in God followed by Praise.
A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us. How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name! For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes! Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die! Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
In this time of outrage fatigue, we would be well served as God’s people to learn how to lament in a godly way.
In this time of outrage fatigue, we would be well served as God’s people to learn how to lament in a godly way.
We ought to learn to cast our cares on God, because he cares for us.
Verses 1-5 : The Complaint to God.
Verses 1-5 : The Complaint to God.
Lord we have been destroyed by our enemies
Lord we have been destroyed by our enemies
The nations have invaded our land.
They have destroyed Jerusalem, they have defiled the Temple. They have killed and murdered your people God…
Your people have not even been given a decent funeral, but the beasts of the earth pick at their remains. This is dark. If we would have experienced this, it would have bothered us too.
To die and not be buried was the final insult or humiliation you could do to your enemies.
We have become a taunt to our neighbors, we are mocked and constantly made fun of by everyone around us.
How long, O Lord? - This is often our prayer.
How long, O Lord? - This is often our prayer.
How long are you going to let this go on God?
How long are you going to allow evil men and women to run unchecked? How long will you allow ISIS to go unchecked?
How long are you going to allow us to be slandered, mocked, taunted, tormented at the hands of our enemies?
How long Lord are you going to allow young children to be ripped from the wombs of their mothers, never given a shot at life?
How long Lord are you going going to let young black men die in simple traffic stops? How long are you going to allow innocent law enforcement officers to be targeted in retaliation events?
How long O
How long O Lord will we have bury children who contract childhood diseases?
How Long O Lord will we have to see our loved Parents and Grandparents waste away mentally with Alzheimer’s disease. Where their body endures, but they are not even a shell of themselves anymore?
These first 5 verses are raw…they are graphic. Do you know what we learn from them?
God can handle all of our emotions. He is not sc
God can handle all of our emotions. He is not sc
Application Point #1- God is not scared of your emotions. He wants you to be honest with him.
Application Point #1- God is not scared of your emotions. He wants you to be honest with him.
In fact, he wants us to bring our concerns to him…because that in itself is an act of faith.
It is an acknowledgement that he can actually do something about it.
2. Verses 6-12: The Request
2. Verses 6-12: The Request
God Make it End, Deliver us and Get our Enemies.
a. God will you be angry with us forever?
a. God will you be angry with us forever?
How long are you going to let this go on God?
How
The thing about Lament Psalms is that they translate to so many different times and places. The original context, whether it was the Asaph who led worship during the reign of King David, or whether he was a Temple musician during the time of the exile, matters actually very little. Because when we experience hard things, we immediately wonder if this is the judgment of God on us? We know that God is sovereign over all things…he isn’t taken by surprise…he isn’t caught napping…and so we think, “is this your judgment?”
How long are you going to allow evil men and women to run unchecked?
How long are you going to
And for the people Israel, living under the Covenant of Moses, it could certainly be implied. They covenanted before God that they would obey his law, and with that would come God’s blessing. But if they disobeyed his law, thus not living by faith in God, and in so doing, didn’t make him look good in front of the nations, they new that judgment would inevitably fall.
We know on this side of Jesus Christ, that God isn’t angry with us. That in Christ Jesus, all of the anger toward our sin has been dealt with fully and completely…so that God sees us through the lens of his son. We may be experiencing the consequences of our stupid decisions, but God’s anger has been dealt with.
In light of this, he confesses the sin of his people. He owns it. He names it.
Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
READ 8-9
God Make it End and Deliver us!
God Make it End and Deliver us!
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes! Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
God for the sake of your name, deliver us.
God, hear the groaning of your people and act, deliver.
Hear us God!
God Bring Judgement on our Enemies and Evildoers
God Bring Judgement on our Enemies and Evildoers
Verse 6, 12
Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!
Yes! The opposite of Love is not hate or anger but indifference. When you hurt his people God is angry about it.
This is what makes
Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
Is it okay for us to ask God to pour out his anger?
Psalm 7
Application #2: A longing for Justice is not wrong, but right.
Application #2: A longing for Justice is not wrong, but right.
Yes! The opposite of Love is not hate or anger but indifference. When you hurt his people God is angry about it.
This is what makes the cross so incredible…God grants justice, while also making mercy available…through Christ. He bore the justice of God in our place…so that we can never say that sin isn’t a big deal, but we can also say definitively that God loves us!
But for those who do not love him…who oppress and destroy God’s people...”return sevenfold” (number of completeness) return completely and fully on their heads all their taunts.
3. Verse 13: The Declaration of Faith and Praise.
3. Verse 13: The Declaration of Faith and Praise.
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Psalm
Verse 13 is what brings this lament all together. He ends with faith in God and praise for his name.
There is an Identification with God. (we are your people)
There is a thankfulness to God. Even in the midst of their turmoil...
Application Points
In fact, he wants us to bring our concerns to him…because that in itself is an act of faith.
It is an acknowledgement that he can actually do something about it.
Evil produces some really strong emotions in us.
God is worthy of our trust and praise…even when the darkness doesn’t immediately lift.
God is worthy of our trust and praise…even when the darkness doesn’t immediately lift.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.