Sermon

Lament

October 9, 2021 St. Paul's Anglican Church Chatswood - Sermons

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Once, there was a moth. That's right, a moth. And he went to see a podiatrist.
The podiatrist said, moth, what seems to be the trouble? How can I help?
The moth said to the podiatrist, doc, I'm in a bad way. My life has fallen completely apart.
My friends have all deserted me. Even my family won't talk to me. I can't find work. My marriage
is falling apart. Nothing makes me happy. I just don't know what to do, doc. What do I do?
The podiatrist paused and then replied, moth, I can see you're in bad shape. But with everything
that you have going on in your life, you should be seeing a psychiatrist, not a podiatrist.
Why did you come to see me? And the moth replied, the light was on.
Where do we turn when our life gets out of control?
Where have you flown when overrun by anxiety or fear? Unlike that moth, we need to turn toward
the light that can help us with our troubles. In seasons of trouble and darkness, God is near to us.
And for those seasons, he has provided a pattern of prayer that is a path into his light called lament.
Lament is a uniquely Christian response to suffering and tragedy. When we lament, we take our emotions
and turn to God with them. We tell him what is happening. We ask him to intervene. We challenge his promises.
And there we can rediscover the hope we have in a relationship with him.
When we lament God, he is our weeping. He listens to our cries and he accepts our prayer.
So in your season of despair, come lament in the light of your hope in Jesus Christ.
Lament is a neglected response to tragedy and suffering in our churches.
Christians rarely lament together or privately.
But lament is worth rediscovering and practicing.
Because the Bible is filled with the language of lament.
In public and private prayers and songs.
We'll discover in the weeks to come the book of Lamentations,
which in its entirety is one lament.
There are also more than 40 psalms of lament that are written to be sung all together.
If this biblical pattern of lament is here for us, why aren't we lamenting?
Local Christian author Peter Davis says that Christians in Sydney, and churches generally in Sydney,
are afraid of lament.
Is that true?
In our multi-ethnic church, most of us only reveal negative emotions from grief and pain in private.
Could it be that there's some sort of unspoken rule amongst us that any overflow of emotion is wrong?
For many, it's just not done or improper.
But perhaps we would rather appear respectable than openly upset.
At an online funeral I attended recently, this was on full display.
It was on Zoom, and there might have been, you know, 80 to 100 faces on screens.
And every single person who had an opportunity to speak,
before or while they cried, apologized,
at a funeral,
the most appropriate place I can think of,
for shedding tears together.
In some families, emotions are seen as weakness.
They prove a person is out of control,
has lost their self-reliance,
or lost their capacity to contribute to the family.
But who of us has not felt out of control completely in our lives?
Too weak to fix a situation,
or just not knowing the answer of how to solve what's going on in our family.
Locally,
hiding our hurting is not working.
Mental health issues are a major concern
in our suburb of Chatswood
and at our local government area of Willoughby.
But we rarely talk about our struggles,
especially together.
In some families,
and in some churches, sadly too,
positive emotions are so obsessively sought
that any negative emotions are rejected
or stifled.
Look out for those
live your best life now messages.
Pain and grief cannot be kept
from our lives.
In our hiding of these emotions,
we need to take them somewhere
and we often go,
like the moth,
to the wrong light.
It might be
something on a screen.
It might be
a destructive relationship
or an unsafe relationship.
It might end up in an addiction.
Or if you turn completely inward,
you'll find yourself breaking inside.
We naturally react
to suffering and tragedy
as our culture
says that we should.
What would it take for us
to look at God's Word
as His followers?
To look at God's Word
as our guide
to reacting to all that is hard
and horrifying
in our lives?
It would take a deep,
a deep,
deep,
deep trust
that the God
who created us,
who knows us
and is in control,
understands
and can act.
A deeper faith
to react to hardship
God's way.
The Bible
provides us
a way
to not be okay
and to come
to God
safely,
never hiding
or hurting,
never hiding
our hurting
from our Father.
So that's why
lamenting
is crucial
for Christians
in Sydney
and across the world.
It's okay
to lament
and it's needed.
But James mentioned
before
that people
have been calling
tomorrow
Freedom Day.
Why are we
talking about
lament right now?
Why hope
in despair
now?
The worst
is over,
right?
Life
has been hard
for all
in lockdown
in our city
but life
is often hard
and for some people
it's always
hard.
Across the world
near and far
life is full
of griefs
and pains.
All of us
flick
on our devices
past articles
whether it be
in the news
or from other
organisations
of horrors
all across
the world
let alone
in your own
life.
It's so hard
to see
all of this
grief
and pain
and know
what to do
about it.
If we are
seeing tragedy
everywhere
and it is
such a heavy
burden
where do we
turn to hand
it over?
We're here
in this series
to learn
rather than
reject
lament
we need
to embrace
it
so that we
are ready.
Discovering
lament
starts when we
open our
Bibles
and read
along with
laments
like Psalm
6
as Flora
just read
to us.
Thank you
Flora.
As we
read and
preach along
with the
laments of
Scripture
they can
become
our prayers
to lament
or shape
our lament
prayers
for right
now
for some
of us
and certainly
soon
for the
rest of
us.
In lament
we approach
God
directly
and that
might feel
unusual
for some
of you.
It may be
that you
rarely
approach
God
one-to-one
in prayer.
But even
though it
is
uncomfortable
the good
news is
that you
won't be
learning it
alone.
As I
said before
Psalms
and lament
Psalms
specifically
are written
so that
God's
people can
sing them
all together.
Open
to Psalm
6.
Make sure
you've got
that in
front of
you.
Think
about
what it
felt like
to hear
those
words
of
David
in
that
Psalm
when
Flora
read
them
out.
Imagine
showing
up to
church
and
that's
Psalm
1.
We
stand
up
in
our
homes
or
gathering
soon
and
we
sing
Psalm
6.
That
would be
a cultural
rarity.
It
would be
incredibly
uncomfortable.
But that's
what this
Psalm
is for.
it's
not for
singing
to feel
ourselves
into some
kind of
depression
and follow
those emotions
down the
path to be
where David
is.
No.
We can't
even sing
ourselves
into understanding
where David
was at.
But we
learn to
lament
like David
when we
sing
psalms
like this
or songs
like this
together
to prepare
ourselves
for the
dark
seasons
of life
to come.
We
could
wait
to learn
lament
and pick
up lament
scripture
when our
lives have
completely
fallen apart.
life.
But if you've
been through a
really difficult
season of
life or a
time of high
anxiety where
your mind is
spinning out of
control, it's
hard to tell
where to
turn.
It's hard to
tell light from
light from
light from
the light.
So we
need
words
ready.
Words
ready to
bring to
God in
patterns of
lament
learnt
together
through
scripture
and through
song.
Because we
break.
And life
is not
easy.
There are
griefs
near to
us,
outside of
us,
and inside
of us.
In this
series, we'll
learn to
lament
a path
to the
light.
So that
when darkness
comes, we
know our
way back
to hope.
Psalm 6
is a
song of
David.
It's for
God's people
to sing, to
learn, to
turn to
God and to
find hope
in Him.
But turn
with me
there to
verse 8
of Psalm
6.
David
boldly
laments
because of
this.
Because of
these three
wonderful
truths.
We're going
to shape
the rest
of our
time around
these three.
The Lord
has heard
my weeping.
The Lord
has heard
my cry
for help.
The Lord
accepts
my prayer.
First,
the Lord
has heard
my weeping.
This
psalm is
very personal.
personal.
It doesn't
have the
personal
details you
might expect.
Say, if a
friend was
telling a
friend, hey,
this happened.
I felt like
this.
Then I ran
out of
tissues,
etc., etc.
No.
David, he was
horribly sick
in body and
soul and
somehow also
at the same
time in
imminent danger
from his
enemies.
enemies and
a situation
has arisen
that takes
a massive
toll on
him, inside
and out, and
he expects
to die by
sickness or
sword in
physical and
mental agony.
David's
sickness gave
him immense
physical pain,
down to his
bones, to the
point where he
was weak and
faint, as it
says in verse
2.
We don't know
what it is.
Till he was
worn out and
hoarse of
voice from
all his
groaning, as
it says in
verse 6.
His eyes went
blind and
failed him, as
it says in
verse 7, and
when he closes
them to rest, he
cannot sleep, as
it says in
verse 5.
He's also
hurting in
his soul.
Verse 3
says, my
soul is in
deep
anguish.
His
soul blurs
his
perception of
the world.
His
pain of
soul blurs
his perception
of the world,
as it says in
verse 7.
But the
most worrying
sign of
David's
situation, even
though we
don't know
what it is,
is how it
looks.
It's so
bad that
David's bed
is swimming
in his
tears.
Verse 6
describes
every place
where David
has sat
as soaked.
Every spot
is soaked
with weeping.
This is
long-term
depression
or anxiety.
It's at
least a
night, but
it's probably
more, and
it's weeping
and crying
and rehydrating
and weeping
and crying
more.
And only
after at
least one
night of
this dark
situation
does David
open his
mouth.
It takes
him breaking
physically and
emotionally.
This once
mighty warrior
now cries
out.
His fear
of death
from
sickness
or from
man
overtakes
his ability
to process
life in
an orderly
way.
And stricken
and panicked,
he decided
to cry
out, possibly
the most
common lament
in Scripture
in verse 3,
where he cries
out,
how long,
oh Lord,
how long?
we should be
ready to
lament before
we are
completely
broken, but
we can't
predict the
speed that
darkness will
rush upon
us.
While lament
is always a
right response,
let me say
that clinical
depression or
anxiety or
any other
valid and
treatable
mental health
issue,
they can
arise in
dark seasons
like David
is describing
now,
even before.
You could
argue that
Psalm 6
shows some
level of
treatable
clinical
depression,
for sure,
in David.
Lament
cannot replace
needed medical
and professional
help, which
for most of
us, we will
need to engage
with either
in our own
lives or in
the lives of
our family in
our lifetime.
lament is
always there
for every
dark day,
even before
we see the
cracks forming
in our soul
or in our
circumstance.
That is
when we
take up
our lament
to God.
The Lord
hears our
cry.
As David
cries out
to God,
we see
four
characteristics
of lament
that together
guide David
back to
his hope.
David has
been groaning
and weeping
aimlessly
as a
reflex to
his pain
and fear,
but now
his words
become lament
as he brings
them to
his Lord
who can do
something to
help him.
Verse 1,
turn there
with me.
It says,
Lord,
do not
rebuke me
in your
anger or
discipline me
in your
wrath.
Seems a
strange place
to start.
David seems
to be
confessing
something,
but unlike
many other
Psalms that
begin with
a confession
of a
specific sin,
David instead
pleads with
God and
confesses
his
sinfulness.
forgiveness.
He makes
a claim
of need
for God's
grace toward
him.
David doesn't
deserve his
relationship with
God,
but he claims
the relationship
anyway.
And he does
not claim a
right to his
change of
circumstances.
He instead
knows God's
character is to
save and to
heal as he is
gracious and
loving.
So he trusts
God by
grace.
He trusts
God's grace
that he would
hear him and
heal him as
he cries out
in prayer.
David then
tells God of
his situation,
even though he
knows God
already sees
it.
all the
tears and
groans.
God can
already see
all of it.
We just
went through
how David
describes his
situation to
God.
That's how we
know what
David was
going through.
David tells
God all of
it.
Think of
how a
little child
reacts to
falling down.
the parent
might be
there and
usually is
there.
If they're
not on
their phone,
they're probably
watching their
child and
their child
knows it.
And their
child is
running and
playing and
then their
child falls
down.
They might
skin their
knees, hurt
their hands
and they run
to their
parent or
their carer.
And they
say to
them, what
happened?
Even though
they just saw
it.
And the
child says,
I fell
down.
I got
an
owie.
You see,
part of
lamenting is
blurting out
in our own
words what
God already
sees.
Doing this
affirms our
close relationship
where we can
share our
hurting words
with our
loving Father.
It's safe
with Him
because He
hears what
we say
and we're
near to
His ear.
God.
Then David
asks God
to do
something.
He wants
God to
have mercy
and deliver
him out of
his situation,
verses 2 and
4.
He asks
specifically
for healing
in verse 2
and that it
would come
quickly as
he cries
out, how
long?
He trusts
in God
to deliver
him, even
in verse 10
to bring
justice
into his
situation.
In verse 4
it says,
save me
because of
your unfailing
love.
Because of
the love
that he sees
in God,
he trusts
that he's
going to be
saved, or
at least
he claims
that promise.
In a
relationship of
grace and
love with
God, David
can safely
plead for
help, but
that verse 4
save me
because of
your unfailing
love, could
also be
in part a
challenge to
God.
Does David
feel loved
by God
right now?
I suggest
he probably
doesn't feel
it.
It doesn't
mean it's
not true.
And then in
verse 5, David
continues to
challenge.
He says,
among the
dead no
one proclaims
your name.
Who praises
you from
the grave?
At death's
door, David
is challenging
God.
Surely God
would keep
his king
alive to
lead his
people to
follow him
as God
has promised.
Will God
save for
his own
name's sake?
How often
do you
challenge God
out loud
to his face?
Is that a
safe thing
to do?
Challenging
God in
lament
means
remembering
God's
promises
and seeing
if they
are contradicted
by our
negative
circumstances.
It's a
brave thing,
yet it's a
safe thing
for David
to do
because of
the close
relationship
that he has
with God.
and it's
a wise
thing
because when
we challenge
God's
promises,
they always
stand true
and sure,
no matter
the scrutiny
they are put
under.
And so
after David
cries out,
what happens?
we see
no evidence
of deliverance
or healing
from illness
or enemy.
But the
lament
changes tone
in verses
9 and
10.
David's
prayers
become
determined
and even
more certain.
In verse
9 it says
he turns
away from
evil toward
God.
There's a
purposefulness
about whatever
he will do
next.
As he
tells God,
asks God
and challenges
God,
David finds
his way
to truth
in God's
promises.
He finds
God listening
to his
weeping,
hearing his
cries and
accepting his
prayer.
This is what
gives David
hope.
These verses
here.
The Lord
has heard
my
weeping.
The Lord
has heard
my cry
for mercy.
The Lord
accepts
my prayer.
As if
from nowhere
David has
this sudden
strength,
he rejects
the allure
of all the
other bright
lights that
a king
of a
country
could run
towards
in a dark
time like
this.
Whether it
be a
treaty with
the evil
nations around
David,
or whether
it be
a lust
after some
other
distraction
to run
away from
his internal
problems and
struggles.
Instead,
David embraces
the ability
of God
to comfort
him in
the promise
of God's
acceptance
of his
prayer
before God
heals or
saves.
David finds
his trust
in a
relationship
with God
that cannot
be broken
by any
circumstances
but can
be relied
on in
every
circumstance,
even this
circumstance.
So here I
imagine David's
tear-stained
face
becoming
peaceful,
maybe a
deep breath.
death.
And the
backing
music
turns from
minor to
major.
Maybe there's
a key
change,
or maybe
a peaceful
ending.
And then we
have verse
10.
All my
enemies will
be overwhelmed
with shame
and anguish.
They will
turn back
and suddenly
be put to
shame.
This sounds
out of the
blue.
It sounds
a bit bold
for our
tongues.
Will David's
enemies be
turned back?
Will they
take on
David's
anguish of
soul that
we read about
in verse 3?
Will they
take that
on as
their own
somehow?
But no
matter the
outcome,
David is
confident in
God's ability
to do
verse 10.
He's
confident in
God's ability
to work
justice as
David sees
it.
and he's
comforted in
the acceptance
that God
has given
him in
relationship as
he is
lamenting in
prayer.
Lamenting
changed David
from verses
1 to verse
10.
But his
situation didn't
change, not
at all.
Lamenting led
David to hope,
to dismiss his
doubts, because
God heard him
weep.
He listened
to his
cry, and
he accepted
his prayer,
which confirmed
the relationship
that David
had by God's
grace and
unfailing love
for him.
For David,
that was
enough.
Today, you
might not be
in a place
like David
was, desperate
and despondent
or even
dying, but
if you
don't
lament
today, you
certainly will
soon.
We have
seen in
Psalm 6
that God
is the
light that
Scripture would
have us turn
to for help
in our darkest
hour.
So don't
wait until
your soul and
body have
recovered to
begin to
pray.
But come to
God in lament
while our
tears are
flowing.
We have
found here
that lamenting,
turning to
God, telling
God, asking
God, even
challenging
God, is a
pattern of
prayer and
lament that
God will hear
and accept.
And when we
come to him
to test our
relationship and
compare our
broken body,
soul, and
circumstances to
his promises
for now,
and for the
future, we
find him
trustworthy and
reliable.
In lament, we
can find hope,
and as we
hope, our
faith grows.
Faith does
not always
resolve life.
But with
faith, there
is forever,
forever hope
in Jesus.
God's
God's
love, and
he
was
loving, so
that he
would be a
saving God.
So he
came to him
and lamented.
He found
hope in
God's light,
the light of
his promises,
that one
day, justice
and peace
would be
done.
In his
life,
but in the
world, once
for all,
justice would
be done.
But David
didn't live
to see the
fullest display
of God's
grace, how
gracious God
would be,
but we get
to.
Today, we
have the
brightest view
of God's
guiding light
in the
darkness.
We have the
light of the
world, Jesus
Christ.
God's
grace is
on dazzling
display, and
it sears
our sight
when we
see Jesus
at the
cross.
It is
there where
Jesus took
the sin of
all who
believe in
him upon
himself,
dying in
agony in
our place,
so that we
could know
God's
grace, see
God's
grace, and
discover full
forgiveness.
How can
you know,
how can
you trust
right now,
2021, in
Sydney or
wherever you
are in the
world, how
can you
know that
lamenting,
you're turning
to God, you're
telling God, you're
asking God, you're
challenging God,
and hoping in
him, how can
you know that
is worth it?
How can we
know that
our tears and
our prayers are
not for
nothing?
We can
know because
Jesus became
God's enemy
and died
in our
sorrows.
Jesus bore
the pain and
wrath that
in verse 10
of this
psalm, David
imagined should
be poured out
on his worst
enemy.
That's what
David saw
justice to
be.
But instead,
God took
our pains
of death
upon
himself.
Jesus
is the
light of
our hope.
He did
all that so
that God
our Father
could promise
us so
assuredly
that when
we come to
him as
believers in
his son's
sacrifice,
forgiven
our
sinfulness,
that we
have a
father and
a family
to run
to with
our sorrows.
So find
comfort
somehow,
but surely
in lament,
in the
accepting
gaze of
your father
because you
have unlimited
grace from
God to
lament.
And we
can claim
that grace
like David
did in
verse 1
of this
psalm,
if we
trust in
Jesus.
Jesus.
If you
do not
know Jesus
yet, I
encourage you
to get in
contact with
us by
email or
phone in
the comments
right now
or hang
around on
Zoom and
ask,
how can I
know Jesus?
The light
of the
world is
your only
hope.
But if
you do
know Jesus
and you
can,
with him
you will
find by
grace that
you are
safe.
In him
you'll find
hope through
lament.
So church,
when you go
through hard
and horrifying
times, fly
to God.
Come to
his light.
Don't be
found at the
podiatrist
like the
moth.
Don't be
drawn towards
any other
light that
cannot
deliver you
from death.
Run by
the way
of lament
to the
light of
God's
promises that
shine so
brightly at
the cross
and lament
to the
God who
hears your
weeping,
who listens
to your
cries,
who accepts
your prayer,
who accepts
you.
Lament in
the light of
your hope.
Jesus Christ.