Summer in the Psalms: Learning to Lament

Big Idea

Tension: How does teach us to pray to God?

Resolution: through lament.

Exegetical idea: teaches us how to pray to God through lament.

Theological Idea: God wants his saints to pray with Christ in the language of lament.

Homiletical Idea: God wants us to pray with Christ through lament.

Introduction

Around 50 or 60 years ago, there was a movement in American Christianity called the Seeker Sensitive movement. In the seeker sensitive movement, some Christians came together and they said, “Hey, we have this problem, people are leaving the church in droves. We gotta fix this. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to get rid of the parts of church which people don’t like and we’re going to really emphasize those parts of church which appeal to unbelievers.” Now, the Seeker Sensitive movement didn’t get everything wrong. But one thing that they were wrong about is that they forgot that sometimes the things that we don’t want to hear are sometimes the things that we need to hear. And what started happening, is that these churches became places where only the cheerful and joyful were talked about. They downplayed sin and suffering. And they just tried to make everything super happy all the time. But of course, the problem is that is not what life is like. And what happened was church became a place that those who were feeling guilty, those who were feeling shame, those who were feeling pain did not feel welcome. And the church became the one place where the people who needed it most did not feel welcome.

This is to our great detriment, because as Tim Keller says in his excellent book on suffering, that Christianity offers more resources for suffering than any other religion. ANd in fact, only Christianity can bring life out of death, and joy out of pain, and singing out of suffering. The Christian faith has a great deal to say about those who are feeling the weight and pain of suffering. May our church always be a place where those who are feeling broken, those who are feeling hurt, those who are feeling pain feel welcome. And in particular, the book of Psalms has much to say about suffering. SO we said this last week, that most of the beginning of the book of Psalms is composed of what we call Psalms of lament. And Psalms of lament are Psalms that teach sufferers how to approach God. And as the book of Psalms continues, it slowly transitions into praise. So the Book of Psalms is really one big lament and praise Psalm, kind of like a Mosaic is built of all these small pictures that combine to make a big picture. And as we’re going to talk about today, the laments of God are a gift that he has given his people.

So today, I want you to understand that God wants us to lament with Christ. That Christ laments to God, so can we. God wants us to lament with Christ.

ANd I want to teach you how to lament.

So everybody put 4 fingers up in the air. And here’s how you lament, almost every lament in the Bible follows these 4 movements.

First, address

Second, Complain

Third, Request

Fourht Trust

Why don’t you repeat that after me?

And today I want to let this Psalm that we’ve read today teach us how to lament. So we’re going to follow and hopefully we’ll all be a little bit better at lamenting than we were when we started.

1. Address

How long Oh Lord

Will you forget me forever

Will you hide your face from me

Christ on the cross

Prayer Journal

Prayer to God: So when we say lament Psalms all start with an address, really, almost all of them start with some kind of address to God in the first couple of words. That says a lot. Because this is communication between the Psalmist and God. The Psalmist knows that he can pray to God and God will hear him. He knows he can pray to God, and God will want to hear him. You see, to pray to God means that you assume two things about God.

God is good

How would you address God?

Transcendence: God is great (): The first thing that we have to know about God is what we talked about last week. It is that God is “transcendent.” When we say that God is transcendent, it means that we believe he is other than us. He is higher than us. He is greater than us. He is bigger than us. We are semipotent, he is omnipotent. We know a few htings, he knows everything. We are in one place at one time, he is in all places at all times. ANd that’s important. Becuase if you odn’t beleive that God is transcendent, than what is the point in addressing him? What good is it to pray to God about a crisis if you don’t think he can do anythign about it? No when we pray to God, we are praying and saying, “God, fix this. Solve this. God I know you’re strong, I know you’re able, I know your powerful. So why don’t you show it.”

Immanence: God is good (): But the second thing that we have to bleieve about God when we are praying Psalms of lament is that we have to believe he is immanent. We have to believe that he loves us, that he cherishes us, that he has chosen us and called us his own. We are his chidlren. We have to believe as says… We have to believe that God wants the best for us and that he loves us and will not let go of us. God is great; he is transcendent. But God is also good; he is immanent. He loves us. This is important, because if you don’t believe God loves you, why would you pray to him? Because what good is a stoic god? Why would that kind of God like the deists believed rescue? But, if you believe that God is immanent You can say, “God, you say you are loving, but why have you let this happen to me?” You see, if you lament, you have to believe that God loves. Because what would be the point if he didn’t?

Christ is the convergence of God’s goodness and his greatness: Of course, as Christians, we know that Christ is where these two great attributes of God meet. We know that Christ was fully God and therefore, that he is transcendent. We see the limitless holiness of God when christ died on teh cross in tehp lace of our sins. There a cosmic display of the wrath of God showed itself for all the universe to see. But we also see God’s immanence; God shows his great love for sinners on the cross. Christ revealed his great love for those who are broken and beaten, because he took teh wrath they deserved, he took the punishment they deserved. In Christ, we see God’s transcdendence like we have never seen it before. Yet, we also see his immanence. Both his greatness and his goodness forever.

If you don’t believe this, then you will not be able to lament

The situation of lament: And if we understand these two things, we are free to call out to him when a crisis hits: when we lose our job, when we get into a car accident, when we get into a fight with our family. When we understand tehse two things, when we are struck by a bout of depression, or when our marriage hits the rocks, or when thigns seem like they’re flaling apart all around us, we are freed to reach out and pray to God, because we know that he is both strong enough and loving enough to help us.

NOw, that’s what it takes to address God. ANd this is how we address him...

2. Complain

Will you forget me forever: Look at the complaints of the Psalmist here. First he says, “Will you forget me forever?” He says “God, will you forget about me.” He says, “God, you are all powerful, you are all loving, why does it feel like you’ve forgotten about me. This does not make sense. This is strange. This is odd. This just, it doesn’t make sense. I mean we just learned when we were preaching through last week that hte “steadfast love of the lord endures forever.” It lasts forever, it doesn’t exhaust. But hte Psalmist says, “I know this is true God, but that’s not what it feels like right now. It feels like you’ve forgotten from me.”

Will you forget me forever

Will you hide your face from me: The Psalmist continues. He says, “Will you hide your face from me?” This is conspicuous because the great prayer of Moses in is may the Lord bless you and keep you, may he make his face to shine on you and give you peace. For the Hebrews, the greatest blessing that you can give is the blessing of relationship with God. And the Psalmist is saying here, “God it feels like you’ve removed your blessing from me. It feels like you’ve forgotten about me. it feels like you’re neglecting me. It feels like you don’t love me anymore. God where did you go? You used to look at me with joy, but now you don’t look at me at all.

Will you hide your face from me

Christ on the cross

Prayer Journal

How long must I take counsel in my soul....: The Psalmist is confounded, he says in vs. 2, “How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day” This is unnatural precisely because elsewhere this seems to mean that the “counsel” of the soul is the joy of friendship. THe idea here is that there is nobody beside him, he is alone. he has nobody to share his sorrow with. And there is nobody to help him bear his sorrow so his sorrow flwos to the depths of his heart. Like an anchor in the ocean, it has sunk deep into the sea.

and… have sorrow in my heart all day

How long will my enemy be exalted? Notice here that the Psalmist asks in contrast, “And how long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” Here is teh knub of the argument. Here is the cause of his complain. Here is what is really on the Psalmist’s mind. There is an enbemy of his that seems to have succeeded over him. It has progressed while he has sunk. It has grown while he has shrunk. The Psalmist takes counsel in his soul, he feels this sorrow, because he has lost face in society, he has shrunk, he has faded away while his adversary has increased. Later we learn that the enemies of the Psalmist rejoice that he has shaken.” Of course, elsewhere in the Psalms, it is said that hte presence of God keeps osxmeone from being shaken. So if the Psalmist has shaken, if his enemies have succeded over hi, it appears that God has withdrawn his presence over him.

Jesus Wept

Is your God big enough to hear your complaints?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This is how the Psalms teach us to complain. Let me ask you this, do you pray like this? Is this how you approach God? If you think you are too good to pray to God like this, you are syaing you are better than Jesus. Because you know what Jesus said on the cross? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. That is a quote from , a Psalm of lament. you know what Jesus was doing on teh cross while he was being crucified by men? He was praying a lament. Let’s look at some of this glorious Psalm....

Prayer Journal

Is your God big enough to complain to? So let me ask you this question, Is your God big enoiugh for you to complain to? Do you really believe that God loves you enough to talk to him this way? You see, I think the reason that many of us are afraid to pray this way, the reason that many of us are afraid to complain to God is because we’re afraid of what God will do. If we tell him what is on our hearts, we’re afraid he’ll walk away from us. You see, the reason that we’re afraid to complain to God so often is that we don’t believe , “The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.” So let me just ask you, what more do you want God to do to prove his love for you? He has already given you his Son. He has already given you his Spirit. He has already given you his Church. What more do you want? What better way do you think God could prove his love for you? Dear friend, your God loves you no more and no less than he did yesterday, and he loves you today no more and no less than he will tomorrow. God’s love will not perish, it will not extinguish, it will not give up on you. Does not say, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you”? Dear friend, God is big enough to take your complaints. He is loving enough to hear you out. He is strong enough that we won’t hurt his feelings by speaking to him. God already knows what is on our hearts, so why would we hold it back from him?

Prayer Journal: So what does it look like to pray to God this way. Well, this is my prayer journal. And sometimes, when I feel this melancholy that David is talking about, and I feel this brokenness that the Psalmist has, this is what I will pray....

Now, this is the low point of the Psalm. After making his complaint, the Psalmist turns to request...

3. Request

Consider and answer me, Oh Lord my God: First, the Psalmist says, “God answer me. God I need an answer.” God I need you to consider me and look at me.” Now, look how boldly the Psalmist is speaking. he’s saying, “Listen up God.” Now, I should be quick to say this here. This is not to say that the Psalmist tells us to talk to God irreverently. I think the Psalms always encourage us to speak to God with all the revererence, fear, and glory due his name. The B ible would never encourage us to talk to God with anything but reverence. Instead, the Psalmist is encouraging us to talk to God with boldness. We can and should be reverent. But we can ask God because God tells us to. So we aren’t asking God anything less than what he has promsied to do. And what is it that the Psalmist asks him?

Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Well, look here it says, “light up my eyes.” He says, “God, stop looking away from me. Stop hiding your face from me. Look me in the eyes.” This should sound familiar because Moses said in Numbers: May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.” Right? And what did the Psalmist complain about just a minute ago? That God was hiding his face from him. So what is the Psalmist asking for? He’s not asking for a new house, a new job, a new spouse, a new car, no he’s asking that God would restore his relationship. he is asking for a sense of relationship agian. He’s asking that God would be restored to him, that God would not forget about him anymore.

Lest my enemy say… lest my foes rejoice: After all, look at vs. 4… he says, “lest they say they have prevailed over me, lest they rejoice because I am shaken.” He says, God, my enemies are about to say that you don’t love me anymore, they’re about to say you’ve abandoned me. God restore this relationshiop, because otherwise, my enemies will feel that they have succeeded over your love. God don’t forget about me. DOn’t let go of me. Don’t turn away from me anymore. Stop hiding.

lest my foes rejoice

Why does God want us to lament? Have you wondered why God wants us to lament? Have you wondered why God lets us get into these troubles and then actually tells us to pray this way? I think one of the reasons that God wants us to lament is because lament brings us back to the thing that we really need to ask God for: a restored relationshiop with him. You see, sometimes God allows something to happen in our lives, or a dark season to come upon us, because he wants us to set aside those things in our lives which we are putting ahead of him. He wants us to get to the point where we say, “God if you don’t give me anything else in this sorrow, give me yourself. If you don’t give me anything else, give me more of you. God if you don’t save my life, please don’t forsake my soul.” You see, when we get to the end of our lament, when we go through suffering, when we make our complaint to God, when we complain enough, it brings us back to the foot of the cross. It forces us to cut down the idols that we have built to block our view of him.

Mark Vroegop: In his excellent book on Lament, Mark Vroegop says this:

Let this cup pass from me

“Think of your life as a beaker full of transparent liquid with sediment at the bottom. If the beaker remains stable and still, the solution looks clear-even pure. However, bump the beaker and the sediment is activated. The appearance of purity is gone. Suffering bumps the beaker of our lives. It stirs up the sediments we forgot about or tried to hide. Fear, pride, covetousness, and self-sufficiency lie dormant. But pain can reveal these covert enemies. Hardship reveals idols.” - Mark Vroegop

What would you ask God if you thought he really listened?

You see, when we go through hardship and our beakers get bumped, God reveals all the sediment swirling around in our souls and forces us to strain them out so we can see him clearly.

Of course, after we make our prayers of lament, and after we’ve addressed God, and complained to him, and made our request, then comes the time for trust.

4. Trust

I have trusted in your steadfast love: You will note that the note of this lament ends with this: I have trusted in your steadfast love. What a remarkable statement. The Psalmist ends by saying, “I have made my complaind and my request, and I have decided to trust your steadfast love.” Now, this word “steadfast love” probably sounds familiar. It is the Hebrew word, “hesed.” God’s hesed is his loyal love for his people. It is the love that God gives to undeserving sinners. It is the love that God give to his people even after they’ve abandoned him. It is the love that God has for his people that will rescue them from every obstacle. It will bring about salvation for them. It will save them from their sins. it will bring light to their darkness. It will bring safety to their darkness. The Psalmist says that he has trusted in God’s steadfast love, his hesed. He says, “God, despite my circusmtances, despite my sin, despite my brokenness, I am going to trust in your hesed.

My heart will rejoice in your salvation: He says “My heart will rejoice in your salvation.” Not only that, but the Psalmist says he will “rejoice” in his salvation. Now you will notice that above the psalmist says “lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.” But here he says, “I will rejoice in your salvation.” He says, they can rejoice at my downfall all they want, I will rejoice in what God has done. The Psalmist has this confident expectation that God will rescue him, that God has rescued him, that it is an established fact.

I will sing to the Lord: THe Psalmist says, “I will sin

The Psalmist says, “I will sing to the Lord, Because he has dealt bountifully with me” He says, you want to know why I am singing, because God has been good to me. says that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights. The Psalmist says, “I will sing because God has dealt more bountifully with me than not. THat though sometimes God seems like he is hiding his face, I know that he has not forsaken me. That though God seems like he has forgotten, I know he has remembered. THat though it sometimes seems like God is not here, I know that God is always with me.

Christ’s salvation: Now, how do you pray that with integrity? By believing the gospel. After all, in teh gospel, has God not proven his love for you? By sending his own son to die on the cross. By putting his righteousness on you. By setting you aside to serve him. By calling you his son or his daughter. By giving you a chance to live with him. What better gift could we have? says, “For you knwo the generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though you were rich, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” You see, when we reflect on everything that God has given us, then we cannot help but say wiht the Psalmist, “My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”

Lament leads to trust: Here is what I want us to realize today. Lament leads to trust. By starting with our complaints, by bringing them to God, we are trust that he wants to hear and that he is able to save. By making bold requests, we realize that the one thing we need is Jesus. And that leads us to trust him. Dear friends, lament is how God wants us to pray to him. Lament is how God wants us to talk to him. Lament is how God wants us to plead with him. Are you able to lament? Are you able to approach God with full honesty and sincerity? Let’s pray.

Conclusion