Lament

Introduce myself…

Explain why I am taking /43 as one.

Read /43

Pray

FCF: One of the struggles we have as a church and as a society at large is that we often do not know how to handle our emotions. As soon as someone shows an expression we are quick to shut it down… a reoccurring phrase in my house growing up was… it’s ok… It’s just a flesh wound… We all want to feel happy and joyful and we aren’t quite sure what to do when life takes an unexpected turn for the worst. And sometimes, we even feel guilty for feeling despair. So when sadness and despair come many of us try to:

Intro: There are a handful of human experiences that are universal. Birth, death, joy, laughter, and… despair. We all experience it at some point. Despair is the absence of hope that creeps in when trouble comes. This trouble comes in many forms but all of us have experienced some form of it. It could be broken relationships with friends, spouses or children that have no hope of repair. It could be a physical ailment or disease that is destroying your ability to function in life. Or perhaps a besetting sin that no matter how hard you try you can’t

No matter what it is that has caused you despair, the challenge is what do we do with it? When we feel that fear creeping in, when we feel the gloom of sadness taking over what do we do? Well if you are anything like me, you aren’t quite sure what to do and you suppress it… you tell yourself “it is going to be OK” and you believe it and move on.

· Numb the pain… substances and distractions… whatever we do we avoid silence… whatever it takes to get feeling good again. Ignore it and move on…

Yet, what we will find in this passage that joy does not come apart from our despair, but through it. This process is call lament. Joy, comes through lament. In this process, we find that there is not shortcut on the path to lasting, and exceeding joy.

We do this to other people too. We say… “there is a silver lining in every cloud.” Something well intentioned but misguided because it minimizes someone pain. And it often shows our own discomfort with dealing with someone else’s pain so we brush it aside quickly so we can move one.

So what is lament? WE are going to answer these questions in three simple points. The way of lament, Barriers to lament, and Aim in Lament.

And the unintended consequence of suppressing our pain and despair is that what we are actually missing out on… is a deep and exceeding joy. The irony is that we think we can hold on to joy by ignoring our pain… but it is only through pain that lasting joy comes.

1 / The Way of Lament.

This process of moving from despair to joy is called Lament.

When we consider the way of lament, we learn that lament does not ignore pain, but gives us the space to bring it to God. Not to sugar coat it as if God doesn’t know, or try to cover it up as if the pains in our life are too big for God to handle. But lament calls us out to bring our pain before God with expectation that he hears and acts.

So what is lament? WE are going to answer these questions in three simple points. The way of lament, Barriers to lament, and Aim in Lament.

1 / The Way of Lament.

We see this happen in two ways in this psalm the first is through honesty,

Honesty – When it comes to honesty, the Psalmist does not hold back on his situation and how he is feeling.

When we consider the way of lament, we learn that lament does not ignore pain, but gives us the space to bring it to God. Not to sugar coat it as if God doesn’t know, or try to cover it up as if the pains in our life are too big for God to handle. But lament calls us out to bring our pain before God with expectation that he hears and acts.

We see this happen in two ways in this psalm the first is through honesty,

Vs 3 – tears vs 7 drowning (the helpless feeling like you are dying and you can’t stop it…

The psalmist longs for God and yet it appears that God is absent. His tears are his food. To cry so much that your tears are in your mouth… to tast the bitterness A profound sadness. . In vs 7 this metaphor of water hints that he is now being drowned now. From tears to drowning. Drowning is a special sense of helplessness. Dying, knowing you are dying and being unable to save yourself…

Honesty – When it comes to honesty, the Psalmist does not hold back on his situation and how he is feeling.

Vs 9 He is forgotten… he is being oppressed by an enemy and God is nowhere to be found.

Vs 3 – tears vs 7 drowning (the helpless feeling like you are dying and you can’t stop it…

The psalmist longs for God and yet it appears that God is absent. His tears are his food. To cry so much that your tears are in your mouth… to tast the bitterness A profound sadness. . In vs 7 this metaphor of water hints that he is now being drowned now. From tears to drowning. Drowning is a special sense of helplessness. Dying, knowing you are dying and being unable to save yourself…

Vs and perhaps the most pointed complaint comes in 43:2 where he doesn’t just feel a passive dismissal but an intentional rejection.

Vs 9 He is forgotten… he is being oppressed by an enemy and God is nowhere to be found.

If you are anything like me, it almost sounds disrespectful to speak to God this way. It sounds like grumbling a bit. Grumbling being complaining that drive a wedge in a relationship. Grumbling being something that is filled with self-pity and filled with contempt for the other party.

But that is not what is happening. Because in the midst of these honest laments before God… we find the second key thing in the way of Lament… we find relationship.

Vs and perhaps the most pointed complaint comes in 43:2 where he doesn’t just feel a passive dismissal but an intentional rejection.

Relationship - All of these complaints are couched in relationship.

If you are anything like me, it almost sounds disrespectful to speak to God this way. It sounds like grumbling a bit. Grumbling being complaining that drive a wedge in a relationship. Grumbling being something that is filled with self-pity and filled with contempt for the other party.

Vs 1 - As a deer pants for waters so my soul for you… water is life for a deer. For all of us… He longs to be with God because God is the source of his life. And in this desperate estate… he asks God to act and then turns his mind to the memory of what it was like to be in the presence of God. As his tears were his food so now is the memory of his relationship with God his food.

But that is not what is happening. Because in the midst of these honest laments before God… we find the second key thing in the way of Lament… we find relationship.

Vs 8 - The song of the Lord is on his heart… He calls him his Rock… You are my rock, now be a rock. Don’t be sand. The complaint is couched in his relationship.

Relationship - All of these complaints are couched in relationship.

Each series of complaints ends with this refrain of hope.

Vs 1 - As a deer pants for waters so my soul for you… water is life for a deer. For all of us… He longs to be with God because God is the source of his life. And in this desperate estate… he asks God to act and then turns his mind to the memory of what it was like to be in the presence of God. As his tears were his food so now is the memory of his relationship with God his food.

Vs 8 - The song of the Lord is on his heart… He calls him his Rock… You are my rock, now be a rock. Don’t be sand. The complaint is couched in his relationship.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

It takes a strong relationship to be able to hold fast. To trust that in the midst of the silence, God is tere. It is in the context of relationship with God that he remembers the works of God.

Each series of complaints ends with this refrain of hope.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

We do the same thing don’t we? In our baptism, and in the Lord’s supper, in our anniversaries and birthdays. We remember what has happened in our lives and when things are hard, that imagination to remember helps to sustain us.

Dan Allendar says this about this kind of honesty within relationship, “A Lament is the battle cry against God that paradoxically voices a heart of desire and ironic faith in his goodness.”

It takes a strong relationship to be able to hold fast. To trust that in the midst of the silence, God is tere. It is in the context of relationship with God that he remembers the works of God.

We do the same thing don’t we? In our baptism, and in the Lord’s supper, in our anniversaries and birthdays. We remember what has happened in our lives and when things are hard, that imagination to remember helps to sustain us.

It is in the midst of relationship, that the Psalmist can say… you are my Rock, now act like it. Or You are my life and my very substance for being… now be that. Do not forget me.

Dan Allendar says this about this kind of honesty within relationship, “A Lament is the battle cry against God that paradoxically voices a heart of desire and ironic faith in his goodness.”

This is the way of lament, which gives us space to bring our troubles to God, knowing and trusting that he hears us and handles them. And in lament there is a progression from despair to exceeding Joy.

It is in the midst of relationship, that the Psalmist can say… you are my Rock, now act like it. Or You are my life and my very substance for being… now be that. Do not forget me.

So if this is so good, and leads us to where we all ultimately want to be… filled with joy and love… then what keeps us from this? What keeps us from Lament?

This is the way of lament, which gives us space to bring our troubles to God, knowing and trusting that he hears us and handles them. And in lament there is a progression from despair to exceeding Joy. It doesn’t happen all at once or even quickly… but the process works.

2 / Barriers to Lament

So if this is so good, and leads us to where we all ultimately want to be… filled with joy and love… then what keeps us from this? What keeps us from Lament?

In the midst of a situation that has caused this Psalmist to cry out, we find the barrier in his enemies.

2 / Barriers to Lament

Where is your God? Vs 3 and 10… the enemies of the Psalmist challenge his situation by saying where is your God… If your God was real, he wouldn’t abandon you like this. You say he is so strong and yet here you are… he can’t even help you!

This turns to the internal dialogue… “why are you downcast O my soul”… where the psalmist is having a long discussion with himself… almost trying to convince himself that God is good and he is there.

In the midst of a situation that has caused this Psalmist to cry out, we find the barrier in his enemies.

Where is your God? Vs 3 and 10… the enemies of the Psalmist challenge his situation by saying where is your God… If your God was real, he wouldn’t abandon you like this. You say he is so strong and yet here you are… he can’t even help you!

And in this there is an internal enemy. For us that enemy is very real, and often times more likely than someone yelling at us and mocking us… although that does happen too. But they all lead us to this internal dialogue where we can start to doubt. Where we wonder… what if the answer to that question is that he isn’t there.

This leads us to fear and we don’t enter into the way of lament because what’s the point if God isn’t really there? And do I want to enter this process and lose my faith?

We also have an unseen enemy. Satan. The one who lies and who seeks to devour us. His lies are subtle, just like in the garden. You can see the Psalmist wrestle with this inner voice through the refrain… “Why are you downcast, O my soul…” When trouble finds us… when we get the phone call, when you can’t reconcile with a spouse or friend, or when you don’t get that raise or that job… that lying voice comes to your mind and says… “Where is your God now? If he were real wouldn’t he act”?

If God isn’t real, if he is not acting in my life because he Can’t, then what is the point of all this. If the way of lament comes out of a relationship of honesty with God… but he isn’t there… then what is there to lament about? I am on my own…

And in this dialogue we start to doubt. We start to wonder if the lie is true. And so we become afraid of the question… where is your God…

We are afraid of the answer because we don’t fully trust that he is there. Because what happens when God doesn’t answer us right away or how we want to be answered? If your God truly is the living God… then where is he? Does he not have a mouth that he might speak and a mighty arm that he might act?- And so instead of bringing that question to God we shrink and distract ourselves form entering lament. We do this because we don’t trust that God actually is there… so when despair comes, instead of entering into the lament with God, like the Psalmist does… we try to find a shortcut to joy.

This is a very real challenge for us. It often keeps me from entering my own pain… because I want to be safe… The way of lament is not safe. You are transformed and transformation is always painful…. How do we overcome these barriers?

And the shortcuts actually work… for a little bit. But never forever.

Ultimately we battle the lies of the enemy, with truth from our ally.

3 / The Aim of Lament

This is a very real challenge for us. It often keeps me from entering my own pain… because I want to be safe… The way of lament is not safe. You are transformed and transformation is always painful…. How do we overcome these barriers?

This is our final point… the Aim of lament… we have seen the way of lament and the things that keep us from it…

Ultimately we battle the lies of the enemy, with truth from our ally.

The Aim of lament leads us to the truth of the gospel. We see this in the refrain that is repeated here three times. Closing out each section of complaint is a refrain of Hope. Hope not in our own ability to escape the pain… but hope in the midst of the pain that God will indeed come and deliver.

3 / The Hope of Lament

The interesting thing about this… is that this hope comes before deliverance does. Indeed the very nature of hope is that of waiting. Like hoping to go to Disney land… you are Trusting that your waiting will not be in vain. And this hope leads us to exceeding joy.

This is our final point… the Hope of lament… we have seen the way of lament and the things that keep us from it…

The Hope of lament leads us to the truth of the gospel. We see this in the refrain that is repeated here three times. Closing out each section of complaint is a refrain of Hope. Hope not in our own ability to escape the pain… but hope in the midst of the pain that God will indeed come and deliver.

Vs 43:3-4 – let your light and truth lead me…. Not darkness and lies being whispered to me…. Not my fears… but you alone… you are truth and light so lead me. He leads us to his presence… and in his presence there is exceeding and abundant joy.

There is no pit so deep that he is not deeper still – Betsie ten Boom

And it is at this point… at the end of the lament… that we learn that they way to exceeding joy, comes through the doorway of despair. Through our lament we pour ourselves out to God. And he hears us and answers us and leads us to his presence, and in his presence there is exceeding joy.

This is hope. This is a profound trust that in the darkest of places… God’s presence is there.

This is a shocking truth isn’t it?

But this is true. We see this perhaps most clearly in Jesus. Jesus who, as says, sympathizes with our weakness in becoming human, he knows our pain. He knows our plight. He has lived it. There is no resurrection without the crucifixion. His death… his pain and suffering, is the doorway to salvation.

The interesting thing about this… is that this hope comes before deliverance does. The Psalmist trusts in his deliverance before it happens. Indeed the very nature of hope is that of waiting. And this hope leads us to exceeding joy.

This is the beauty of the gospel that we don’t need to hide our pain. We don’t need to pretend to be all good….We don’t need to bear our pain… because he has already done it on the cross! we can come before God, we can lay our lives down at his feet, knowing that the one who leads us suffered and died and conquered death so that we might in him have life.

Vs 43:3-4 – let your light and truth lead me…. Not darkness and lies being whispered to me…. Not my fears… but you alone… you are truth and light so lead me. He leads us to his presence… and in his presence there is exceeding and abundant joy.

And it is at this point… at the end of the lament… that we learn that the way to exceeding joy, comes through the doorway of despair. Through our lament we pour ourselves out to God. And he hears us and answers us and leads us to his presence, and in his presence there is exceeding joy.

This is the aim of lament. To bring us to lay our doings down at the feet of Christ. WE aren’t meant to carry our pain alone. Or hide it in the closet… but to bring it into the light and truth and experience the healing power of Christ.

In our lament we are trusting the God is who he says he is. And we are leaning on the everlasting arms of Christ, that hold us in the midst of our pain, and offer us hope and joy in the midst of our despair.

This is a shocking truth isn’t it?

But this is true. We see this perhaps most clearly in Jesus. Jesus who, as says, sympathizes with our weakness in becoming human, he knows our pain. He knows our plight. He has lived it. There is no resurrection without the crucifixion. His death… his pain and suffering, is the doorway to salvation.

May we boldy come and lay our burdens at the feet of the one who already bore them on the cross. And live in the light of that freedom that he offers, exceeding joy in his presence. Amen.

Lord’s Supper

This is the beauty of the gospel that we don’t need to hide our pain. We don’t need to pretend to be all good….We don’t need to bear our pain… because he has already done it on the cross! we can come before God, we can lay our lives down at his feet, knowing that the one who leads us suffered and died and conquered death so that we might in him have life.

1. Prayer

This is the aim of lament. To bring us to lay our doings down at the feet of Christ. WE aren’t meant to carry our pain alone. Or hide it in the closet… but to bring it into the light and truth and experience the healing power of Christ. And where this process seems really foreign to you… use the words of the Psalms… They are there for you to use! For you to pray.

a. Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself; and when we had sinned against you and become subject to evil and the sting of death, you, in your mercy, sent your only Son Jesus Christ into the world to take that stink upon himself. And By his resurrection he broke the bonds of death, trampling Hell and Satan under his feet. With Christ leading us, may we now come boldly before you… to this table, to receive your mercy and grace.

There was a 64 year old woman who was processing the recent grief of her grandson who was murdered. She used to pray through… day by day and line by line she used this Psalm to fight with God… she tried to turn her back on him but day by day her anger rose higher until she got to the last verse which says, “Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!” She said this about this, “How can I rail against God for that long and still come back and say: ‘because of your steadfast love’’? When the Psalmist called God good, I had to do the same.”

In our lament we are trusting the God is who he says he is. And we are leaning on the everlasting arms of Christ, that hold us in the midst of our pain, and offer us hope and joy in the midst of our despair.

2. Reflection

a. As we consider the way to joy… it is at this table that we find it. At this table we find both a remembrance on what Christ has done for us… and we also find him feeding us… sustaining us… reminding us of his goodness and sustatining us. As we deal with the daily struggles of life… it is at this table that we find comfort and sustenance for the way forward. So come eat and let your faith/hope be strengthened by the power of the risen Christ who nourishes you in this meal.

May we boldy come and lay our burdens at the feet of the one who already bore them on the cross. And live in the light of that freedom that he offers, exceeding joy in his presence. Amen.

Lord’s Supper

3. Fencing

a. If you are visiting here with us today, the only thing we ask in order to take the Lord’s supper is that you have been baptized and you have put your trust in Christ. If you are here, and that isn’t you, we would invite you to pray and ask God to give you the gift of faith. We would love to answer your questions and to baptize you. We know that coming to faith is a journey.

1. Prayer

b. But For those of you who belong to the Lord Jesus, this meal is for you.

a. Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself; and when we had sinned against you and become subject to evil and the sting of death, you, in your mercy, sent your only Son Jesus Christ into the world to take that sting upon himself. And By his resurrection he broke the bonds of death, trampling Hell and Satan under his feet. With Christ leading us, may we now come boldly before you… to this table, to receive your mercy and grace.

4. Institution.

2. Reflection

a. I now pass on to you that which the church has received, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

a. As we consider the way to joy… it is at this table that we find it. A table that was born out of sorrow - the death of Christ - is now here to offer us hope and joy and love… At this table we find both a remembrance of what Christ has done for us… and we also find him feeding us… sustaining us… reminding us of his goodness and grace. As we deal with the daily struggles of life… it is at this table that we find comfort and sustenance for the way forward. So come eat and let your faith/hope be strengthened by the power of the risen Christ who nourishes you in this meal.

b. In the same way he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the lord’s death until he comes.”

3. Fencing

Instructions

a. For those of you who belong to the Lord Jesus, this meal is for you.

b. But For those of you who belong to the Lord Jesus, this meal is for you.

Invite helpers up...

4. Institution.

“When you are ready, come and eat.”

a. I now pass on to you that which the church has received, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

b. In the same way he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the lord’s death until he comes.”

Instructions

Come and eat when you are ready.