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August 25, 2019 7:00 pm
I pray often that the Lord would give me a tentative and attentive heart to learn what our hymnody is communicating to us in the hymnody that we've sung together this evening.
Have you noticed how honest it is with about life.
It doesn't gloss over doesn't paint a rosy picture. It faces heartache and difficulty straight in the face and in the midst of it calls us to believing faith and trust and confidence in God.
The last one would just sign why porous thou for thine anxious plaint despairing of relief as if the Lord overlooked provide cause and did not heed thy grief and then the exhortation has thou not known has thou not heard that firm remains on high. The everlasting throne of him who formed the earth and sky, and it has that theme in Woburn and each of the. The four stances I don't think the root ever since I learned the story behind Horatio Spafford's is well with my soul. I I can sing that without thinking about the backdrop of that he lost his wife and children. It see when you understand that makes these words very powerful when peace, peace like a river, attended my way all you must wrote that before know I wrote this after when peace like a river attentive my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll that man knew about sorrows that man knew about sorrows like the sea billows roll and yet he could say what air my lot where whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say it is will it is well with my soul. So is you as you read those words you you realize there is a man who had to wrestle through difficulty and sorrow and pain and disappointment and questions to a place of trust and confidence in God and that's what I believe God has been teaching us in the series of lament be. I'll be honest with you. This is uncharted territory for me. I knew of the lament Psalms. I knew of the book of Lamentations, but I never really considered this collection of teaching and what might teach us about making our way in our Pilgrim Way and wrestling with difficulties and unanswered questions. There's often attention, but between what we know about God and what our emotions and feelings are telling us, often attention Fearon anxiety and discouragement and disappointment are part and parcel of our earthly wrestling's as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and it's in the midst of those feelings and emotions that we have to remind ourselves of what we know to be true about God and his word and his ways and to anchor our soul. There, and as we do our faith grows our faith develops becomes more vibrant and confidence grows as well. I know you're aware as well as I do that complaining is rampant everywhere around us.
But what separates complaining with biblical lament is that lament is the honest crying out of a heart to God in prayer we understand lament and that way it moves complaining out of the realm of the flesh and moves it into the realm of the spirit we said we begin to see it as part of our sanctification is part of God's dealings with this is how we wrestle through consequences and difficulties and problems to a deeper faith. You know, we just need to be honest with life we we encounter pain and sorrow and and with it comes raw emotion perplexing circumstances that provoke heart searching faith struggling faith, stretching experiences that are expressed on the pages of Scripture. We've been considering this series of biblical lament and we've really looked at a sampling of the lament Psalms. There are, depending on who you're talking to some count more than others, but there are 30 that are very conspicuous lament Psalms. Tonight is the ninth messed method ninth message in the series and were not going to go beyond that will be the last message I just want us wanted us to take a look at these see what's common.
What are the themes what are the elements that are there to see the benefit here to be instructed in righteousness along these lines, Lord willing. Next week will move to the book of Lamentations. I'm excited about leading you in. In a study of that that book some fascinating things there that are very helpful, very instructive and I'm encouraged to think about how God is going to use that but encouraged about the reports I've heard of how God is using the series lives of you pray and seek the Lord in his mind about what where what direction you should go in your preaching its it's something you do in dependence upon the Lord, but until you've engaged and preached. You really don't know how fruitful that ministry.
The word is going to be so I'm in I'm in a been encouraged by what I've heard so again let's just again the this is, this message is more of a review, it's more of that than it is additional information. We will look at Psalm three and will look at Psalm three looking for those four elements that I pointed out to that are present in in most of these lament Psalms, at least in all the lament Psalms. I've brought to you from this pulpit. So again lament. It is an honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the realities of pain in the promises of God's goodness, we fed drawn to your attention that these are part of the songbook of the Jewish community, they were given to be some not just instructions for the mind, but to be used in corporate worship. They are means to enhance our worship of God and we can worship God in the midst of dark days and dark providences and perplexing questions. So it's been encouraging to me to think about how lament is a is a means of grace is just not a prayer language. Although it is that it it helps us in our our our prayer language but it's a means of grace. It it shows us how to simultaneously grieve and trust.
Again, we saw that in the two hymns I drew your attention to how to simultaneously grieve express sorrow and yet trust and believe God how to struggle and believe. So lament is how we bring our sorrow to God and his shows us how we can process these things in life and get ourselves to a better place in our relationship with the Lord again.
We've concentrated our study and just about 1/3 of the 30 lament Psalms, we could expand our study to many places going to go to Lamentations as of already mentioned, but as you think about and I thought about the book of Joe that the entire book of Job can legitimately be viewed as a a lament use. I will have so now when I say this qualifying statement about Job suffering you. You know what I mean. I'm not implying that Job was innocent, but Job's innocent suffering and his unhelpful friends led him to a series of complaints. He had many questions that he voiced on the pages of sacred Scripture worries wrestling trying to make sense of life.
He's asking God why house come in is you work your way through the book you see that spirit of lament constantly resurfacing and God comes in the 38th chapter any answers. Job out of the whirlwind. Remember, and how did Joe. How did God answer Job, God answered Job with a series of questions.
What was the point of those questions will Psalms.
I will put Job in his place. Well yes, but more than that, I believe that use questions are designed to show Job, God's breathtaking majesty and power Job were you when I laid the foundations of the earth will and just question like that after one after another, designed to show Job, God's breathtaking majesty and power in what was Job's response to these questions got asked him is in Job 42 verses two and five. Listen to what Job says I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I have heard of you by the hearing of the year, but now my eye has seen you so again the entire book of Job is designed not only to highlight innocent suffering, but also to demonstrate that human questions and complaints eventually and in humble worship. That's we don't want to lose sight of what's the whole purpose of this as I mentioned to you in one of the messages complaint is not to be a cul-de-sac where we just keep complaining you never go anywhere is designed to take us somewhere and is designed to take us to humble dependence upon God where we are praising him and our confidence in him has been increased.
That's what happened in the life of Joe if you read the Psalms of lament, you'll discover a lot of what I'm referring to is creative complaining, creative complaining, you'll find expressions of sorrow and fear and frustration and even vision. The Bible is full of complaints and the question we have to ask is why is God preserved this as part of his inspired text. Obviously, to teach us that not all complaining is sinful.
There is such a thing is biblical complaint, it's honoring to God. That's part of our human nature and are away were constituted and how we make our way in this life to a deeper relationship with him. I've said that before, but I think it needs repeating because I think people still say when I'm still not sure about this complaining thing.
Not sure if it's okay to complain well. Yes, there is some complaining that is not God honoring that it's dishonoring to God, but obviously there's complaining that is right and blessed of God, and God meets men in their lamenting in grows them and deepens them in their relationship with him.
So to give you a couple of ideas here in terms of how how to complain the right way how how to how to put guardrails and safeguards in place to ensure that when we are wrestling with questions and doubts and fears and giving expression to that we are not going out of bounds not doing that in a way that's dishonoring to the Lord. The first thing I would say to you is maintain a humble attitude maintain a humble attitude. I'm convinced that there is never a place for any of God's creatures to be angry with him. We have no right to be angry with God that is out of bounds out of bounds.
However, I do think it's permissible to ask pain filled questions as long as were coming in humility. Pride, on the other hand that's asking demanding questions from a heart that believes that God owes us an answer and an explanation for what's going on in her life is problematic.
We can come with our pain and come with our questions and come with our bewilderment, but check our pride to door. There's no place for pride, no place for arrogance, no place for demanding of God. I've often thought if there was anybody who will listen. From my vantage point it had had a legitimate right for an explanation. It was Job, but God never explained himself got Nevers didn't explain himself on the front end and didn't explain himself on the backend.
He didn't say Job brace yourself. I want to tell you what's gonna get ready to go down in your life. I feel I owe that to you got to do that with Job, and he didn't come to later Encino Job I want you to know I sustained you. If I had that you would've fallen, you would've done the very thing the evil one was determined and declared you would do, but I sustained you, but you need to know what was going on.
There was a spiritual battle going on of epic proportion didn't tell any of that. No explanation which tells me that faith does not demand nor need an explanation. We can continue to believe God without an explanation. I've had people say to me.
Well, if I can if I just knew why. If I just couldn't understand what purpose I can get on with life.
DA Carson wrote a book entitled how long the Lord that's the title of the book and in that book he says makes a statement that if we tie our comfort to explanations we very well may die Comfort Plus.
That's because God doesn't owe us an explanation. He's got Celeste, the first thing come with a humble attitude and number two. Don't just complain for the sake of complaining someone said you know I've got this propensity to complain and I'm glad there is biblical justification for know you miss and it you miss and it were not just to be complainers for the sake of complaining God. God hates complaining talking about biblical lament were not talking about fleshly carnal complaining complaint was never to be an end in itself. So this does not give us an excuse to wallow in our pain and frustrations because lament is designed to lead us toward decisive faith filled warship that's God's intent.
That's the journey that we have followed through the Psalms.
None of these Psalms have ended with somebody just wallowing in complaints.
There's element of complaint but it's only a part of the journey and God meets us in that journey and moves us to a place of increased dependence upon him. Praise and expressions of renewed trust in him. That's what we've seen in the Psalms. We've looked at so again these laments of followed a pattern.
There's a turning in the midst of whatever's going on in our life, regardless of what degree and how long it's been going on a turning to God in prayer, followed by the expressions of complaint lament and often with those words of why and how long in. How can this be going on.
I took the time I could point you to about 3040 verses of Scripture that just use those words, why, how, just to reinforce how how pervasive this theme is in the Scriptures is not just we find a proof text, and we jumped off on a theme here know this is this is part of the sacred texts and it's not just in 1 Isolated Pl. it's in many places.
So lament is meant to lead us to trust now admittedly, the path is not always clear and seldom is it straightforward, but by turning to God in prayer and laying out our complaints and boldly asking God asking him making requests of him consistent with his character and in line with our particular situation, the design and the purposes that we come to a place of deep in faith and confidence in God. That's what were after. So lament biblical lament encourages us invites us to ask boldly of God were given permission to lay out our pain and to call upon God to intervene, what we want to avoid are asked the extremes. One is that were so controlled by our emotions are so raw that we just we find ourselves in the flesh, and just rule by carnality in our emotions have have taken control of our lives. We want to avoid that.
But on the other side.
We don't want to just be a stoic shut down our emotions well God sovereign that's just the way it is nowhere were emotional creatures. God's constituted us this way we can engage our emotions without fear. That's what were talking about here. We need to keep seeking God in prayer. So tonight let's us take a look at some three Psalm three there's a heading here that says a Psalm of David. When he fled from Absalom's son. This is a personal lament as opposed to a corporate lament, and again it's on the occasion of the attempted political coup of David son Absalom that forced David to flee the palace and is thrown for a season. The record of that is in second Samuel chapters 15, 16, 17 and 18. So I want you to see tonight is remember these this movement that we have showed you over and over and over again.
The four elements in these laments Psalms a turning to God.
A complaint confidently asking of God boldly and then evidence were looking for evidences of renewed trust in praise and confidence in God in all four elements are here again in the song. Let's begin with David's problem in verses one and two. David says Lord, how they have increased who troubled me.
Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me. There is no help for him in God. This is one of the great trials of David's life. Think about this, his own son, has organized a revolt against his father to take over the throne. And he's been very persuasive. He has convinced many people to follow him. In this coup.
Notice what David says Manny Manny. Are they who rise up against me Manny.
Are they who say of me. There is no help for him and God, there was growing opposition and the opposition grew to the place where David had to flee the palace flee Jerusalem and it wasn't just the fear but there was this arrogant belittling of David, that was not only an insult to David, but an insult to David's God.
Many are they who say of me. There is no help for him in God there is no help for him and God. David was troubled by that on two fronts. It was a personal attack but it was also an attack upon his God, and you notice in the Psalm.
Three times you see the word Selah at the end of verse two.
At the end of verse four and at the end of verse eight. It's unique feature of this particular Psalm. I'm told that this is sometimes a musical term that apparently indicates a pause and interlude, but for these purposes, it's there to encourage us to stop and consider carefully the weight of what is being said, not just a rush past this were to stop and think about this contemplate this what's going on in David's life can identify with him. So it's it's sobering.
It it's arresting that's the point. David's problems, but then I want you to see not just David's problems here.
He's voiced those to God he's turned to God and you see that it's of this is a prayer he's addressing Lord, how they have increased to trouble me, that's the turning part. That's the seeking of God in prayer, bringing his needs before God and pleading his case before God and then he's bringing he brings his complaints to God and what are his complaints.
There are two number one. Many are rising up against me. That's his first complaint in a second complaint is many are saying there is no salvation for him and God. There's no help for him and God. So those are the two complaints that he is expressing to God seeking God in prayer and he's expressing his complaints to God.
Now I want us to look at verses seven and eight. Before we look at verses three through six and you'll see the reason for that in a moment. So number one David's problem verses one and two. David's petition in verses seven and eight, I wanted you to see these four elements, a turning to God. A complaining and then the petitions the beseeching of God. The asking of God. The boldly making requests of God, and that's what he does in verses seven and eight. Listen in response to this situation.
He says in verse seven. Here's his request. Arise, O Lord, save me. Oh my God, think about this. This is the gifted, eloquent songwriter David not a lot eloquence here. The situation is desperate and he is crying out to God, he is asking God and he simply says arise, O Lord, save me.
Oh my God I think most of us have been in a place like that. There wasn't time for weighing our words and our thoughts were just so overwhelmed and all we can all we can get out his Lord help me Lord, save me Lord rescue make Lord come to my aid and that's what David is expressing save me, help me, for you have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone you've broken the teeth of the ungodly. Then he makes this declaration salvation belongs to the Lord, you say will why why is he saying that how does that fit in the context of the song will think back of the belittling statement that they may.
Many are they who say of me. There is no help for him and God's response to that is, salvation belongs to the Lord may weather be no help for me. If salvation did belong to the Lord. But my hope is in him salvation is going to come from the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord and then he makes this statement was it's it's it's basically a request. May your blessing be upon your people. Selah.
Verse eight salvation belongs to the Lord and then literally, may your blessing be upon your people. This is his petition God's rescue of David in this dark place that he finds himself is going to result in divine blessing upon not just him, but upon the people of the nation because God's not going to bless this insurrection that's going on with Absalom so David's problem David's petition now want you to see David's praise David's praise because this is this is where this is where he gets to this is the place of the confessing of his confidence in God. The evidence of his trust in the Lord when he read the verses to use three verses three through six, he says, but you will Lord our shield for me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept. I woke for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who've set themselves against me all around. What is David doing here, David is affirming God's worthiness to be trusted, and he's committing himself to praising the Lord in the midst of his circumstances.
Notice what he says but you will, Lord, are a shield for me or shield around me, your translation may say or think about the context here. David is employing the use of the battlefield and he's asserting that God was his impenetrable defense many times on the battlefield, David Eddie shield to protect them from arrows and spears and swords. But now he is saying in this spiritual battle, O Lord, you are a shield for me.
You are a shield around me, God was to David and unsalable protection in the midst of the danger that he was in you say will help how how pervasive was his trust. How how deep was his confidence will notice what he says my glory and the one who lifts up my head was being conveyed their he's not a coward. He's not EE's head isn't hanging down. He's got courage, he's got his head up his trust in God. That's the imagery that's being conveyed here.
He says in verse four, I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill.
I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill and then there's that Selah Potts and it's good for us to hit the pause button here because were so accustomed to walking with God and praying to him and and having the confidence that he hears us is going to respond to us, that we sometimes don't fully feel the impact of that we need to stop and think about that that in the midst of my difficulty in trouble.
I have the privilege of crying out to the Lord and he is me is me is not silent he's not deaf he's not distracted. He hears me. That's powerful to me. He hears me and if he hears me. He's concerned about me. If he hears me and is concerned about may he's able to intervene in my situation and turn things for my good and for his own glory sake than what is he say I lay down and slept really. Your son is leading an insurrection, a revolt, there are, you are grossly outnumbered. Many have joined Absalom's bandwagon and you have the audacity to lay down and sleep. Let's what he says. I lay down and slept. How could he do that.
Why is he saying that it's a way of conveying his daughter confidence and trust in the larger my life is in the Lord's hands. When he demonstrated for you. I lay down and went to sleep circumstances were out of his control. There would be on him.
He was outnumbered. If his hope was in himself. He was a he was. He was a goner, but his conference was in the Lord. I lay down and slept.
I awoke for the Lord sustained me. The Lord sustained me and then he says I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people.
How's that possible offered someone safe you fear the Lord, you have no one else to fear. What can man do to me.
I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who have set themselves against me all around. That's what that's David's confidence. That's his renewed trust in the Lord is a quotation from Martin Luther that I found very very helpful. He says quote faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times and of quote faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times. David called upon the Lord with absolute trust, believing that God would rescue him, and God did rescue him.
So again, here is a Psalm meant to be sung that point, that paints a picture of what believing faith looks like when it is tested in the fires of adversity, David's life is being tested. This is a trial of enormous proportions and he is trusting the Lord. He's confident in the Lord's faith is renewed.
He's demonstrating his trust in the Lord again. Let me read those verses.
But you will Lord note. Note the contrast people are saying people are rising up against them.
There saying there is no help for him and God.
But you will Lord. In other words, I don't care what they do. I don't care what they say but you will Lord our shield for me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept. I awoke for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people who've set themselves against me all around. That's what he said. God help us to have a growing faith a deepening faith, a robust faith in his God exercises us through the trials and difficulties of life. May they provoke us to greater trust, greater confidence in him. Let us pray. Father, we thank you again for your word. We thank you for its specific instructions in righteousness, Lord, life is hard.
Trials come in various sizes and in various degrees, we thank you that you're a God who orders all things we pray as we confess sometimes weak faith evil faith, trembling faith, Lord, that you would strengthen our faith, deepen our faith increase our confidence, our dependence upon you know, we believe that you do that by being with us in difficult circumstances and as you do as a refiner, removing the draw's from our lives that the pure gold might boil to the surface or that's our desire that's our prayer that you will use these studies to help us to know how to be honest with our emotions and yet not be derailed by them know how to channel them in a way that is sanctifying, and God honoring and productive in our Christian life.
We pray in Christ name Lynn