Christmas Psalms: Singing in Sorrow

Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the assistant pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian

Church, and it's my joy to bring God's word to you.

A special welcome to you if you are visiting with us or new with us.

We're glad you're here, and we're glad you're here not because you are filling a seat, but

because we are following Jesus together as one community.

And as we're following Jesus, we've become convinced that there is no one so good that

they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.

And so everyone needs to hear what God has to say.

As has been mentioned several times this morning, we are beginning the season of Advent.

And Advent is a word that comes from a Latin word, and that Latin word simply means to

come or to arrive.

To come or to arrive.

And so we do two things at Advent.

As I think of it.

First, we celebrate the fact that Jesus did come.

So we look back to his first coming, and we celebrate the fact that he came and he arrived.

But it's also a time when we look forward to his second coming, when he's going to come

and arrive again.

And so we're doing two things at once.

We're celebrating, and we're also looking.

We're looking back, and we're looking forward, and we have songs that sort of fit each of

these.

So Joy to the World would be a celebration song.

Right?

Joy to the Lord.

The Lord has come.

We're looking back that he's here.

But then we've sung a more of a looking forward song today as well.

We sang, O come, O come, Emmanuel.

To ransom captive Israel.

And so there's this two-way.

I often think of Christians as people who are crossing the street, because we have to

look both ways.

We're looking back to what God has done in the past, and then we're looking forward to

what he's done, he's going to do in the future.

And if you're honest with yourself, this creates a tension.

It creates a tension because while we celebrate Jesus having come, he hasn't come a second time

yet.

And so we live with all the struggles and sorrows that we still face in this life.

And so we have a tension between those two.

On the one hand, we have sorrow as we don't yet see everything that God has done to right

every wrong.

But we don't want to let our sorrow get rid of our hope.

And so we're always balancing sorrow and hope.

And so as we are in the season of Advent, we're going to take a look at the book of Psalms.

The book of Psalms is essentially 150 different prayers that God has given us as models for

how we should talk to him.

And so these are, you can think of these as the standard operating procedure that God has

given us for different situations in life.

If you are feeling betrayed by a friend, God's given us Psalm 55.

If you are tempted to envy someone who is wicked but seems to be flourishing, God's given us Psalm 73.

But this morning, we're going to take a look at Psalm 13.

Psalm 13 is what we would refer to as a psalm of lament.

Now, lament's not a word that we use very often, especially as Americans.

We might think about maybe grieving.

Lament's a little bit different than that.

It involves grieving, but a lament is something that mixes both sorrow and hope.

And so it's not giving in completely to sorrow on the one hand, but it's not giving up hope on the other.

It's holding both of those in tension.

And so that is part of what we do in the Advent season, is we hold both our sorrow for the fact that we still experience sin in this world,

but also our hope that Jesus came and is coming.

And so God gives us these psalms in his word.

And Psalm 13 is one of the shortest, one of the clearest psalms of lament that we have in the Bible.

And so it helps us answer the question, what do we do as we live in the tension of Advent?

What do we do as we try to hold both hope and sorrow together?

And so I'd ask you that you turn with me now in your Bible.

The psalms is pretty close to the center of your Bible, not quite at the center.

It's also in your worship guide.

And we're going to be reading from Psalm 13.

And so read now with me.

Remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.

And that it is sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so please read with me now from Psalm 13.

Verse 5.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love.

My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Lord, dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you speak to us.

We thank you that you know that we struggle with sorrow and hope, that you're not unaware of that.

We thank you that you meet us at that very place, that spot.

We ask that you would meet us there today, this morning, by your Holy Spirit,

that you'd send the Spirit now to help us.

We ask this in the name of your Son.

Amen.

The psalmist here starts out with an important question.

How long?

And then he goes on to use language that maybe you wouldn't expect to find in the Bible.

Because he tells God that he believes that God has forgotten him.

And even more than that, he tells God that he believes that God has hidden from him.

And what we have to understand here is that the psalmist is not using theological precise language here.

He's not writing a systematic theology.

Instead, he is using experiential language.

And so he's saying, God, it feels like all I see right now is the presence of sin.

But your absence.

It feels like sin is winning in this world over and over again.

And so from where I stand, it sounds like, it feels like you've forgotten me.

In the Old Testament, when the language of forgetting is used and remembering, it's language of action.

If God remembers his people, what the Old Testament is telling us is that he acted.

He did something.

If he has forgotten his people, it's a way of talking about this feeling that God is not acting.

He's not intervening.

And so the writer of this psalm, as he experiences life, as he lives day by day,

all he can see again and again is the presence of sin.

Breaking him down.

Breaking down the world around him.

And he doesn't see God anywhere doing anything.

This language of hiding of the face, the second thing that he tells us,

is language that talks about blessing.

So if you've been here with us at Cheyenne Mountain for a while,

you know sometimes we end our service with a benediction from Numbers chapter 6.

Numbers 6 · chapter mention

And that benediction says, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you.

In other words, will you experience God's blessing?

So the psalmist here is in a point in life where his experience of sin day after day after day

has made him wonder how much longer he can take it.

How much longer he's able to hold on.

And so he has this important question.

If you have read the Bible, if you're familiar with it,

you know that repetition is very important.

And here in just two verses, the psalmist asks the question,

how long?

Four times.

And so in other words, he's at a breaking point.

The reality of sin day after day after day has broken him down.

He's not sure how much longer he can take it.

And so the words of the psalmist, the question here of how long

is the question of God's people.

It was the question of God's people in the Old Testament,

and it's also the question of God's people now.

It's the same question that we have to ask in Advent

as we celebrate the past but also live in the present.

And so we can ask this how long question as well.

The psalms are, by the way, often intentionally vague,

and they're intentionally vague because they're meant to be used

by all sorts of people in all sorts of situations.

And so it actually would not be helpful for us

if we knew exactly why the author of Psalm 13 felt this way.

Because this is a tool, this is a tool for all of God's people

to use when they feel this presence of evil

is breaking them down day by day.

And so it's permitted, it's good, it's right for us

to fill in the blanks here, to fill in the blank of how long.

We could say, how long will my children stand far away from me

and far away from God?

We could ask, how long will I check the group text on my family

to make sure everyone's okay?

because I know that many of them live in another country

filled with violence.

We could ask, how long will my spouse and I feel like roommates

rather than lovers?

How long will domestic abuse and suicide run rampant on Fort Carson,

which is right next to us?

How long will my spouse lose her memory day by day

and little by little?

How long will there be people in Colorado Springs

who don't have a place to live

because they don't have the resources that they need?

How long will the culture around us call good, evil, and evil good?

And how long will cancer and sickness take the people in our church?

So the psalmist's question of how long is our question as well.

And to add on to that, we find out that this has caused him to,

what he tells us in verse 2, take counsel in his soul.

His thoughts are running wild, perhaps with the type of anxiety

that we talked about in Philippians,

perhaps with worry, perhaps with fear.

But seeing sin win over and over again

has made him turn inward.

Now, I know some of you have experienced

being separated, perhaps for a time,

from someone you love.

It might be because of a deployment.

It might just be a general job trip

or it might be for other reasons

that someone has to leave for a time.

And if you're in a long-distance relationship like that,

you know that there are many tools

that people will use to keep their relationship alive

to try to continue to grow intimacy

and build intimacy.

And one of them that's most common

is the open win letter.

If you're familiar with the open win letter,

you know it's something that one person

puts together for another

and it'll have a title on it.

For example, it might say,

open when you feel stressed.

Or, open when you are missing me.

Open when you've had a bad day.

Open when you've had a good day.

And the reminder, the important thing

is that the person who makes them for you

knows that there's going to come a time

when you feel like that.

There's going to come a time

when you have a good day

and they're not going to be there.

And there's going to come a time

when you have a bad day.

There's going to come a time

when you feel stressed.

And so what do we do

when we feel the question of how long?

We feel the tension of Advent.

Well, the first is a reminder

from this psalm

that it is in the Bible.

And so this is God's open win letter.

He is saying,

I know

that there will come a time

when you are living in this world

when you will encounter

so much brokenness

that you will wonder

if I'm still there.

I know that.

I know what life in this world is like.

And so I put this here

to remind you

that I'm not ignorant.

I'm not unaware

of the struggle that you face.

And so the first things

that the psalm of lament tells us

is that God knows

that we have sorrow.

He knows that we have sorrow

and he doesn't expect us

to ignore it.

He doesn't expect us

to push it away.

He doesn't expect us

to plaster on smiling faces.

One of the most upsetting things

I hear from Christians sometimes

is this idea that

because we're a Christian,

we're not allowed to have sorrow.

We're not allowed to grieve.

Somehow we have to always

plaster on a good face

and pretend that we're happy

because of what

Jesus has done for us.

And we do find joy

in what Jesus has done for us.

That's what we talked about

in Philippians.

But we also live with sorrow

in this world.

And so God knows that.

He's given us this psalm

in his word

to remind us

that he's not unaware

of the struggles that we face.

Remember last year

during Advent

we went through the book of Isaiah

and we learned that

Jesus was a man of sorrows

and acquainted with grief.

And so we live in the tension

and the first reminder here

is we ask how long

is that God knows.

He knows that we struggle.

He knows that sometimes

we don't know

how much longer

we can take it.

He knows that sometimes

we want to ask

how long

four times in two verses.

And the second thing

is that God wants us

to bring that to him.

The psalmist here is

he's not cursing God.

He's not blaming God.

He's just simply being honest.

And so God calls us

to the same honesty.

When we find ourselves

in a how long situation

God wants to hear from us.

He doesn't want us

to ignore or pretend

like something isn't there.

He doesn't want us

to numb ourselves

with the distractions around us.

But he wants us to come

and bring our whole selves

all our sorrow before him

and ask that question.

And so it's good

and right for us to say

God I know that you're

in control and you're sovereign

but right now

it doesn't feel like that.

And I'm not sure

how much longer

I can take it.

God wants us to come

before him

and tell him that.

Another piece of advice

another application

I can give you

I don't talk about

scripture memory

very often.

This is an excellent psalm

to memorize.

And it's an excellent

psalm to memorize

first of all

because it's very short

so you can feel

like you've memorized

the whole chapter

of the Bible

just with six verses.

But it's also

an excellent psalm

to memorize

for the same reason

that as a teacher

if you work in a school

one thing you get used to

over and over again

is going through fire drills.

I cannot tell you

how many fire drills

I've been a part of

but part of what happens

at a school

is every X number of weeks

you have to make sure

you have a fire drill

and so that everyone

is familiar

with the procedures

that are in place

everyone knows

exactly what to do

so in case there is

an emergency

there's no chaos

everyone's practiced

this over and over again.

The psalms of lament

are sort of a fire drill

for the Christian.

As we talked about

in Ruth

not all of us

are going through

suffering right now

but if we live

in this world

all of us will.

And so the psalms

are our way

of knowing

when it happens

what we do.

And so I'd encourage

you to memorize

Psalm 13

that when you get

to a place in your life

if you're not there now

where you want to ask

how long

you have the map

right in front of you.

You don't have to wonder

what you do

or how you respond to God

but everything is there.

And so first

the first thing you do

with this drill

is that you cry out to God

and you tell him

that you are wondering

how long.

The psalmist doesn't

leave us there though

we see the next step

in verses 3 and 4

after he's told God

that he feels like

things are not sustainable

he then asks God

verse 3

consider and answer me

so I feel like

you're absent.

It feels like

you're not here

right now.

But he doesn't stay there

he doesn't stay

just in his sorrow

but he cries out to God

and asks him

to rescue him.

He says

consider and answer me

light up my eyes

lest I sleep

the sleep of death

lest my enemies

say I have prevailed

over him

lest my foes rejoice

because I am shaken.

Now just like

the first two verses

were very vague

and broad

here are the enemies

we can take to be

very vague and broad

this psalmist

seems to be encountering

someone who's opposing him

not all the situations

we are going to face

that this psalm

is appropriate for

not all our situations

of lament

are going to have

a specific enemy

some of them will

but we can see

this enemy

we can see it

as someone

a person maybe

someone who's

spreading evil

someone who's

promoting evil

could also be

the greatest enemy

it could be

Satan himself

the presence of evil

it's not inappropriate

to take this

and see that

there is an enemy

that we have

who seeks to prevail

over us

and so the psalmist

pours out his heart

to God

tells him he's asking

how long

but then he also

asks him

and so

the point here

is simple

but complex

God wants us

to ask him

God doesn't

just want us

to tell him

about the ways

that we feel

like we don't

see him in this

world

but he wants us

to ask him

to intervene

another tempting

thing for Christians

to believe

is that since

God is in control

it's not worth

asking him

and yet God

has sovereignly

in control

set up the world

in such a way

that our prayers

matter

and so he wants

us to ask him

he wants us

to cry out to him

and he promises

that our prayers

make a difference

but there's a catch

here

the psalmist

is only willing

to pray

he's brought

to the point

of prayer

in verse 3

why

because he believes

he has no other hope

he says

he's crying out

lest I sleep

the sleep of death

in other words

what's driven

the psalmist

to prayer

is the realization

that God

is his only hope

in life

and in death

and so while

verses 1 and 2

are a comfort

God knows

that we experience

sorrow in this world

he wants us

to tell him that

verses 3 and 4

are a challenge

because it's difficult

and challenging

for us to come

to a point

where we actually

believe that we

are desperate

enough

that only prayer

is going to help us

true prayer

prayer that lasts

day after day

over and over

is desperate prayer

because to pray

we have to believe

that that is

more important

more effective

and more powerful

than our money

than our resources

than our ability

to work hard

than our problem

solving skills

than our experience

in other words

the psalmist

has come to a place

where he understands

that the problem

he's facing

is something

only God

can solve

and so the first

challenge of verses

3 and 4

is that we have

to actually believe

that God has the power

and realize

that we don't

but the second

challenge is

we have to bring

it to him

rather than going

anywhere else

so on the one

hand a temptation

might be to get busy

we're going to fix

the problem

we're going to

solve the problem

the other temptation

might become

to become simply

cynical

talk about that

in verses 5 and 6

it's not even worth

thinking about

doing anything

about

there's no hope

in this world

but then the other

temptation is to run

away and numb

now there are

more respectable ways

and less respectable

ways of numbing

to avoid sorrow

here that the psalmist

is heading straight

into his sorrow

he's not just telling

God he has it

but then he's asking

God

and so he's choosing

that over every other

option that he has

on the one hand

he's choosing it over

trying to fix the

problem himself

but then on the other

hand he's choosing it

over trying to pretend

like there's no problem

and so there's a lot

of us

all of us

at some level

who have ways

of living life

without Jesus

and all of them

involve ways

of pretending

that there's no problem

and so I use

the term numbing

it's a way

that we

look for places

where we don't

have to feel

the sorrow

that the psalmist

feels so intensely

in verses 1 and 2

for some people

it's something

respectable

like pouring

themselves

into their work

their career

if we can just

stay distracted

enough

and busy enough

we don't have

to acknowledge

the sorrow

and the pain

for other people

it's real

substances

that help us

not to feel

anymore

I have two

very very close

friends of mine

consider them

some of my best

friends in the world

who before I met

them both of them

at various points

in their lives

spent I think

at least a year

each of them

using drugs

as a way

for them

to not have

to feel

anymore

one of my

friends would

tell me this

story

he would

work at a

restaurant

and he

would keep

his bag

of weed

behind the

soap dispenser

in the bathroom

and so when he

had a break

he could go

and pull it out

and go behind

the restaurant

and no one

would know

what he was

doing

no one

would ever

be able

to find it

now it's

tempting for us

to

some of us

to just

judge people

like that

as I got

to know

my friends

more and more

I learned

about the

things that

they were

facing in

their lives

as this

was going

on

my friend

who would

hide in

the soap

dispenser

in the

bathroom

he said

this would

spike in

his life

as he

and his

wife were

separated

as their

marriage was

on the rocks

that was

how he knew

to deal

with it

he knew

how to

numb

he didn't

know

anything

else

my other

friend

told me

that he

spent

I think

at least

a year

of his

life

he was

basically

high

all day

every day

and it

just happened

to be

the time

in his

life

when his

parents

marriage

was

disintegrating

just as

he was

turning 17

and 18

trying to

become

an adult

and I

tell you

these stories

not to be

dramatic

but to

name the

reality

here

of the

difficulty

of verses

3 and 4

it's easy

to say

pray

and take

our

request

to God

but it's

hard to

actually do

it

because the

temptation

to numb

and do

away with

our sorrow

is so

great

and yet

the psalmist

has decided

to do

something

else

he's

decided

to take

it

straight

to God

knowing

that he

is powerful

enough

and good

enough

and so

he names

his sorrow

he asks

the question

how long

in verses

1 and 2

but then

he actually

moves the

next step

he takes

it before

God

in verses

3 and 4

by the way

those friends

of mine

that's not

part of their

lives anymore

they've

various points

they came

to know

the Lord

and to

realize

that they

could take

their sorrows

their

how long

questions

to him

it's been

a lot

of years

since

those things

happened

and yet

they still

have some

how long

questions

they still

have places

in their

lives

where they

are not

sure

how much

longer

they can

keep

walking

and yet

now they

know

that they

can

take

these

things

not to

numb

them

or suppress

them

they can

take

them

to God

and believe

that he's

their only

hope

and so

that's

where we

end up

in verses

five and

six

we have

kind of

a three

step path

that the

psalmist

presents

for us

here

first he

brings his

sorrow

to God

then he

asks God

for his

intervention

but then in

verses five

and six

he trusts

God

and he uses

that very

word in

verse five

but I have

trusted

in your

steadfast

love

this word

steadfast

love is

the same

word that we

saw in the

book of

Ruth

it was the

never stopping

never giving up

unbreaking

always and

forever

love

and so as

the psalmist

is trying

to have

hope

and sorrow

at the same

time he has

to root his

hope in

something

and so while

he doesn't

see God

acting in

the world

right now

well it

feels like

evil is

winning

he remembers

the steadfast

love of

God rooted

in what

he has

done

and so for

the psalmist

this would

be God's

great acts

of redemption

of Israel

out of

Exodus

but for us

as the

believer

our hope

in God's

steadfast

love is

what we

look back

to at

Advent

it's the

reminder

that we

saw in

verses 1

and 2

that God

knows

he's not

unaware

and he

has come

to be

with us

and so as

we look

back and

celebrate

Jesus'

first

birth

excuse me

his birth

his first

coming

we see

that as

God's

steadfast

love to

us

and as

we focus

on that

at Christmas

we cannot

also forget

Jesus'

death on

the cross

that he

paid the

penalty for

our sins

that he

lived the

life we

could not

for us

and he

died the

death we

should have

for us

so that

we can

live

with God

and so

the psalmist

takes hope

here not

because all

the ends

are tied

up not

because all

the T's

are crossed

or I's

are dotted

but he

takes hope

here because

he knows

that even

though at

the moment

he does

not feel

God's

presence

or see

God

his steadfast

love is

still real

and his

steadfast

love is

real and

so he

asks himself

he urges

himself

this language

he uses

here my

heart shall

rejoice

or I

will sing

it's more

like let

me rejoice

let me

sing

he's

encouraging

himself

he's

working

himself

up

knowing

I'm

in the

middle

of sorrow

right now

but I'm

not going

to stick

there

I can't

just have

sorrow

God

wants to

hear it

from me

he invites

me to

come and

speak to

him

he is

willing to

hear me

cry out

to him

and ask

him to

change

things as

they are

and as

I do

that I

also have

to hope

I have

to hope

that God

is powerful

enough

and as

we see

all throughout

the Psalms

he knows

that God

is going

to solve

the problems

that the

psalmist

faces

he's going

to solve

the problem

of sin

he's going

to do it

sometimes

in the world

that we live

here right

now

and he's going

to do it

always in the

future

and so that

is the

psalmist's

hope

that is how

he mixes

hope

and sorrow

he names

his sorrow

he asks

God to

intervene

in what

is causing

his sorrow

and then

he takes

confidence

and hope

in the fact

that he

knows

that God's

steadfast

love is

there

even in

the midst

of sorrow

but God

has not

abandoned him

or left

him

and then

finally

in verse

six

and let's

not

overlook

this

he sings

the psalmist's

final act

of hope

in God

is to

sing

and this

is not

poetic

language

this is

not

metaphorical

language

the psalms

were the

hymn book

of Israel

and so

what the

psalmist

does

in the

midst

of his

sorrow

the way

that he

ends

is by

singing

to God

that's

how he

does

what he

talks

about

in

verse

five

that's

how he

trusts

in

God's

steadfast

love

because

he knows

that music

is so

powerful

so connected

to his

emotions

that he

is going

to be

able

to sing

and in

that

remind

his

heart

of what

is

true

remind

himself

of God's

promises

of his

steadfast

love

to him

and remind

himself

that there

is hope

for him

in the

midst

of sorrow

if you

are someone

who has

questions

or doubts

or objections

to

Christianity

this hope

that the

psalmist

has

is a

great

and real

hope

it's a

real hope

that's rooted

in the

real events

of Jesus

coming to

earth

as a

baby

of him

being born

and living

life on

this earth

as a man

perfectly

and then

dying

and paying

the penalty

for all

of our

sins

and so

this is

not a

general

hope

this is

not a

I'm going

to be

more

positive

during the

day

to affect

my

emotions

and hopefully

have a

better

outlook

hope

but this

is a

real

in time

and space

and history

hope

that the

psalmist

has

and so

the only

way that

he is able

to find

hope in the

midst of

sorrow

the only

way that

he's able

to devoid

distracting

and numbing

but instead

to name

his grief

and come

to God

is because

his great

belief

in God's

actual

real

real life

real time

real space

redemption

and so

first of all

he names

his sorrows

rather than

ignoring them

he comes

to God

and asks

him to

intervene

rather than

believing

he can

solve it

himself

or he

has to

numb

the pain

that he

faces

and finally

he takes

hope in

what God

has done

both in

the past

and in

the future

as he

lives in

the present

and so

he ends

with a

song

a song

to God

reminding

himself

and others

of God's

faithfulness

in his

love

in his

book

the

Tech Wise

family

Andy Crouch

tells the

story of

the people

of Haiti

in January

of 2010

as we

know

they

experienced

a devastating

earthquake

which killed

over 200,000

people

and put

over a

million people

without a

place to

live

NPR

ran a

story on

it and

they said

for the

western

hemisphere's

poorest

country

the

earthquake

that hit

Haiti

in January

was an

especially

cruel

blow

despite

this

it's

hard

to

find

a

Haitian

who

does

not

profess

a

belief

in a

loving

God

and Crouch

says this

when you've

lost

everything

in fact

you still

have

song

all over

the hills

of Haiti

those first

terrible

nights

under the

starlit sky

the voices

of the people

of Haiti

rose up

in grief

and lament

in prayer

and hope

and so

that's

what we

do

as

Christians

when we

find

ourselves

in

sorrow

we

take

confidence

and hope

in God's

steadfast

love

knowing

that

sometimes

we will

see

things

set

right

now

but

ultimately

we will

see

everything

set

right

and so

in the

meantime

we keep

hoping

and trusting

telling

God

our sorrows

and trusting

him enough

to hope

and so

we sing

that

and so

we're going

to do

that now

I'm going

to pray

for us

and then

we're going

to sing

a song

just as

the psalmist

encourages

us to

dear father

in heaven

we thank

you

that you

know

that there

will come

times in

our lives

where we

feel like

you're not

there

thank you

that you

know this

enough

and care

about it

enough

that you've

given us

this psalm

you've given

us a song

to sing

when we're

sad

we thank you

that you don't

leave us there

you listen

to our prayers

you hear us

most of all

you redeem

us

so we ask

that you

would build

us up

and strengthen

us now

even as we

sing to you

we ask all

of this in

the name

of your

son

amen