Lament: Suffering faithfully

Read: Psalm 13

Pray: That God Help us, by His Word of Truth to see the grace offered to us, and the blessing and help that comes as we lament to Him. That the Comforter, the Helper manifest Himself in coming alongside His people for the Help and Comfort we so desperately need, and that He enable us to Hope in the Christ who suffered and died for our sins, and who rose again to eternal life.

Introduction:

To some this Psalm is uncomfortable, un-Godly and unacceptable. After all, isn’t it sinful to complain to God? Isn’t it borderline blasphemous to bring to His attention what He has permitted in our lives that seems wrong, unjust, or cruel? Far from it.

This psalm is a song of Lament. Holy Spirit inspired song that takes the singers heart-felt pain straight to the Lord. It at once, gives permission for the Believer to give honest expression and complaint to God, while also directing the heart to seek it’s help and hope in Him.

“Lament is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promises of God’s goodness.”

(Dark Clouds Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop)

It is the language of faithful suffering.

Consider it’s human author: King David

Man of renown and great glory

Man who received the promises of God

Man who knew the heights of blessing, and the horrors of deep sorrow and suffering

He knew the hardships of life as a shepherd, as a soldier who’d seen many battles

He knew the rejection by His king, and spent years on the run, hiding for his life as the king sought to find and kill him

He knew what it was like to lose a best friend, to fall into sexual sin, to commit murder, to blow it as a king, a man, and a father

He to lose a baby, to suffer the rape of a daughter by a son, and to have him murdered by another

He knew what it was like to be rejected by his son, to be at odds, although he loved him and wanted more than anything to live together in peace

He knew what it was like to lose everything, his palace, his people, his entire kingdom

He was a man who knew God - a man of faith. He was also a man who knew what it was to suffer. He was a man who knew how to faithfully suffer.

Consider it’s Divine author: God, the author of life and the One who numbers our days. The God who has not removed suffering from this world, for in doing so, he would have to remove everything sinful, including us. He is a God whose ways are beyond our understanding. The God who, out of a love for mankind entered into this sinful world of pain in His Son Jesus Christ. Who Himself endured intense physical, emotional, and even spiritual suffering on the cross, has redeemed it for your sake and mine. God knows suffering, and He gave us the language to speak by faith when we are hurting.

From Dark Clouds Deep Mercy - Vroegop

Turn

Complain

Ask

Trust

Faithful suffering starts with turning to God

David is turning to the Lord in His distress

Warning: Silent despair is not spiritual. It takes more faith to cry out to God in your pain! Jesus did!

It is how Christians grieve - and as God gives space to suffer and wrestle with Him, we had better do so as well!

When we are grieving, we often just want it to end. However, our grief is tied to our loss and that loss does not go away. It remains. The only way forward is through it. We need to give ourselves and others the freedom to express their pain - no matter how uncomfortable it is.

Don’t try too hard to bring comfort - that is not your job right now. God, in His time and by His means will do so. We are simply called to pray, to love, and to encourage one another.

(oftentimes our attempts to ease the pain of others are actually veiled attempts to ease our own pain and discomfort, and cause unnecessary hurt to those we care about). Encourage each other to take it all to God, then do it together.

God wants you to come to Him - even when you cannot feel He is there. He has given us the gift of these songs, the stories of suffering and a whole book of lamentations that you might find His holy Words to express your own pain, to know that He understands, that He cares, and has provided a way for you to come to Him from just where you are.

Faith isn’t pretending everything is okay - everything is not okay. Faith isn’t putting on a face or waiting until you feel a certain way about God to come to Him. Faith takes all of your pain, your suffering, your frustration and confusion and takes it directly to Him. David was a man of faith, and yet He took his pain, and his complaints to God.

Faithful suffering involves complaint. We have them. God knows.

David is taking his complaint to God as he feels: (v.1-2)

Neglected and forsaken by God

That God has hid His face from him (Isaiah 53:3)

That God isn’t giving him the counsel he needs, leaving nothing but the sorrow he feels

In deep sorrow, it is hard to grab hold of the truths that we hold dear. It is hard to feel God’s love, His care, His mercy and forgiveness and grace. You want to, but it’s as if God stopped communicating these things to you. You feel like David, left only to know the pain you feel.

That ____________________, (his enemy is exalted in his suffering - here is where we fill in the blanks of our own heartache!)

Faith complains to God in suffering because of a belief in God’s Goodness, Love and Faithfulness - even when we don’t feel it. Faith brings the experience and confusion of pain to Him with all it’s questions and complaints.

Faithful suffering pleads with God to act.

David is desperately, honestly and boldly asking God to: (v.3-4)

Hear his cries, and answer (recognizing His need and God’s authority as His Lord and His God)

To remove his sorrow (To enlighten his eyes, remove their sorrow and give them brightness of life)

He is honest about how he feels, his desperation and frustration (“lest I sleep the death”)

Jesus Christ has paid for your sins with His own life, and has secured for you access to the Father (Hebrews 4:16)

Maybe you cannot articulate your desires. The Spirit knows. The Spirit will help you. (Romans 8:26)

Maybe all you can utter is the request - God! Help! It is a powerful prayer indeed.

Turn to God, complain to Him, and boldly plead with Him to act.

Faithful suffering resolves to trust God

David is choosing to trust in the Lord

Remembering what He had done

Remember the faithfulness of the past. Remember what He did for you on that cross so long ago. No, it doesn’t remove the pain of today, but He has secured for you an eternal home, life that never ends and perfect forgiveness and righteousness forever. This was done at the cross and is secured the moment you turn from your own way, and embrace Jesus’s work on the cross. He still did that. It still matters. You may not be able to feel the joy of it now, but it doesn’t take away the reality of it.

Affirming the salvation to come and the joy it will bring

In the deep of suffering, joy is scarce. There are the comforts of friends, the temporary distractions and amusements that we may find, but true joy can be clouded by our pain. Faith chooses to trust that joy will yet come. It remembers that our salvation is not yet complete. That while the penalty of sin has been paid for on the cross, we are still in this world of sorrow. We are still feeling the effects of a cursed and fractured creation. But it will not always be that way. God will deliver. God will make good His promise. (Revelation 21:3-5a)

Believing that God’s faithfulness will once again fill Him with songs of praise

Faith dares to believe that there will again be praise. That God will hear, and though life will never be the same - that God will one day fill your heart with His praise. That you will, in time be able to sing again of His goodness and faithfulness. That he will heal and restore. That suffering, all suffering - can be redeemed.

Note:

He isn’t necessarily feeling the truth of these things, but is instructing his heart in what he knows.

Conclusion:

Lament is the language of faithful suffering. This psalm is just one useful example of God’s people crying out for help. There are others. In your pain, start there. Read Psalms. Read Lamentations.

It gives space for full expression of what you’re going through to God who knows and cares, without any fear of condemnation. It provides an avenue of healing and hope.

You may not feel every portion. You may be doing all you can just to turn to Him now. I understand. So does He. Yet turn to Him all the same. He is here. He has never left.

You may be angry, frustrated and confused. He knows. Tell Him. You have complaints. You struggle to see how He is fulfilling His promises. Remind Him of them, bring those complaints to your heavenly Father.

As you can, ask Him for exactly what you need. Don’t stop.

Finally, trust Him. Trust in His display of Love on that cross over 2000 years ago for you. Remember what He has done, and remind your heart of what is true - that our hope is not in this life, but in our future hope of glory. That great reunion when we will be with Christ, and with all those who have placed their faith in Him.

Daniel 9:18-19