A voice for the darkness

I want to ask you a question. See if you can remember. When was the first time you picked up

a Bible? Just think back. I praise God that was a long time ago, but I've seen it in movies and

I've seen other people do it. How do you approach this? Where do you start? Do you start at the

title page? Do you start somewhere in the middle? Do you flick through and pick?

Maybe you started the New Testament. The first Bible I remember receiving from someone

was a little New Testament. So it started in Matthew. But because I wanted to do a little

experiment this week, I got one of our church Bibles and I opened it up and I did the old

flick, flick, flick, flick point. And this is the verse where I landed.

How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? Psalm 13 verse 1.

Psalms 13:1

Imagine those being the first words you ever read in the Bible. These questions that you

might have of God at that point would be fair. What kind of God is he? Does he even care about

people? Why is his special book seemingly complaining to him? Is being forgotten by God what I should

expect if he's real? There are some parts of the Bible that just don't seem to belong.

I described this psalm to one of our fellow staff members this week, Veronica, just over a coffee in

the morning. And she said, oh, that's a bit strange. Is that what you thought when Psalm 88 was being read out?

There are more parts of the Bible like it. There are more weird parts. There are more parts of the

Bible like Psalm 88 and they're called laments. They're difficult. They're outpourings of pain and grief,

loss and fear. They can seem really strange. They don't pull punches. They often contain questions

in complaints and complaints against God himself. So how do we read those without skipping past

or just shutting our Bibles? How do you sit here right now in church,

hear Psalm 88 and not walk out the door again? Is there anything to be gained by reading and praying

with or joining in with a lament like this? I don't know about you, but when I first read this psalm,

I didn't expect to see it in the Bible. Before we dive into it right now though, let me say something

with confidence. All of the Bible beginning to end is there on purpose, even if it looks like it's

warts and all. Each week at St. Paul's we preach a small part of all of it on purpose and without

leaving any of it out as we go. And we value what the Bible says as it says it. And to leave any of it

out would be a big mistake. It may be that Psalm 88 is exactly what you need right now.

It will push you to think differently, maybe challenge the way you think about God and perhaps

expose a shallowed or sheltered idea about him that you might have or about his path for you as a follower

of Jesus. Or this could be exactly how you're praying in your life right now.

But I believe that we all need lament in our lives, as difficult as they may seem in your season of life

right now. So as we tackle this, don't be afraid. Don't expect some sort of scandal. Oh, Steve's away.

Nick's doing whatever he wants. Rather, God's Word is a beautiful tapestry.

It's woven together with a skill unmatched by any human mind. It's planned and laid out with grace.

It's stitched together with the history of our world as we know it and painted on purpose with

all the colours of the spectrum, even the dark colours.

If you were an artist and you had to pick a book in the Bible to study, you would pick Psalms.

Psalms is a book of poems and songs and prayers gathered up over hundreds of years of Israel's

history, crafted together and bound as a prayer book for God's people and for us too.

There is wisdom to be found in there as Israel's history is taught through its pages.

Every expression you'd expect from an artist is in there. Exuberant praise, love and devotion,

darkest lament, they're all in there.

As the Psalms express joy in God's deliverance in Israel's history and excitement for his coming

salvation, they don't leave out anything true about God or about their situation.

They don't leave out authentic thoughts and feelings, all while they waited for God's promised

king to come.

So prayer for Israel was always a balance of remembering God's victories and hopefully praising

matched with this authentic outpouring out of where they were truly at.

And if you've ever read some of the Old Testament, heard about what Israel went through, they were

a country who were well acquainted with pain and struggle and suffering.

And many would say that that has never stopped for them.

As you peel back the pages of Psalms, you see pain and joy.

You see their lament and you see their praise.

As a young Christian, a very long time ago, I was taught that laments in the Bible always go

up at the end.

Most do, like Psalm 42.

Psalm 42 has this kind of up and down.

It's reflected in the song that we sing, Bless the Lord are my soul.

It sounds like this.

Things are going very wrong for the person singing this Psalm or praying.

But they decide to yet praise God and look forward with hope.

Verse 3 and verse 5, you can see it.

Day and night, my tears are my food.

That is a desperate lament.

In verse 5, it's followed by,

Why are you a downcast soul within me?

No, no, no, no, no, soul.

Hope in God.

For I will yet praise him.

That movement from pain to praise is a decision.

A decision that the prayer makes because of who God is.

For all he has done for them and his people in the past,

and because of his great promises to come.

And the book of Psalms itself kind of has this trajectory

where there are a lot of laments at the beginning

and lots of praise Psalms at the end.

It actually ends with this repeated Hallelujah Psalm theme.

It's like by the end it's just one genre

just dominating the mixtape.

Hallelujah Psalm.

Hallelujah Psalm.

It ends, the book ends on a huge up.

And that is the pattern that I expect when I read a Psalm.

Then how does a lament like Psalm 88 fit that pattern?

When it ends, as you would have heard before,

darkness is my only friend.

Does Psalm 88 belong?

Does Psalm 88 belong?

What is it trying to say?

Let's take a dive right in and step through it.

We're going to do three things.

We're going to discover what the Psalm is saying

so that we can answer the question,

does it fit?

And that will help us discover what Psalm 88

and laments like it mean for us right now

as God's people.

For me, Psalm 88 is a huge challenge.

I always saw myself as quite in touch with my emotions,

but through seasons of depression

and crippling anxiety and fear,

I can say that I have never been able to pray like this.

Psalm 88 eats my understanding

and expressions of grief for breakfast.

And I want to say that's good news for me

and it's good news for you.

The Psalm reaches people who understand pain,

like Israel did and maybe like you do.

It gives us these words as a gift.

For when it is true that darkness is your closest friend,

because life really does suck sometimes.

And if it didn't,

we'd only have praise Psalms.

But laments are for the darkness.

So let's discover what this prayer is saying

and how it says it.

For those of you taking notes,

there are five parts to this Psalm.

That's not like the Psalmist goes through them in order.

Let me just give you the quick picture.

Praying to God,

sharing the situation with Him,

calling Him to do something about it,

ascribing the blame of what is happening

and questioning God Himself.

First, Psalm 88 is a prayer to God.

Verse 1, verse 9 and verse 13, all together.

Lord, You are the God who saves me.

Day and night I cry to You.

I call to You, Lord, every day.

I spread out my hands to You.

I cry to You for help, Lord.

In the morning, my prayer comes before You.

This is very significant

because you bring your complaint

to the person who can do something about it.

Here at St. Paul's at the moment,

we're not receiving any parcels.

I have no idea why.

It doesn't make any sense.

But I didn't go to the police with that problem.

I didn't go to the Ghostbusters.

I didn't even go to my mom.

I know there's only one source to go to

for that problem to be fixed.

Wisdom says go to the one

who can do something about it.

And that's what praying right looks like

when we're hurting and when we're in need.

We come to the God who saves.

Have a look at verse 1 there.

The psalmist summarizes God's previous faithfulness.

He doesn't say,

God, I know you can save.

Rather, he says,

God saves.

He has shown himself as capable of the past

and he'll be faithful with our future.

This prayer even reminds God of his own character.

Remember, do you say,

hey God, you're the God who saves?

It's pretty bold.

And this prayer is not doing what

I have found myself doing.

I'm not...

This psalm is not calling God to do the right thing

like a whinging entitled teenager does to a parent.

It's not like that.

Rather, the psalmist says,

Lord, you are the God who saves me.

I'm coming to you and you save me.

I believe you will because you have and you can.

Faith in God expressed in the middle

of the hardest of times

is what God wants to hear when we pray.

God doesn't need your recovery from an accident

or your healing after grief already done

to be ready for your motions of words.

No, he actually wants them in the middle

of your tears and your pain.

Take note, there's no line in this psalm that says,

now God, fix this.

Even though it's a desperate prayer,

it's not a list of things that God must take away.

It's a statement of faith first,

dressed up as an authentic expression

of emotions and fears and questions.

So is this permission to say what we really think to God?

Yes, I think this psalm is that permission.

Go to God and tell him how you feel

when you feel it.

Let's see how this prayer is told to God.

Go to verse 3, 4, 5 and 15

and this is the summary of how the psalmist prays.

They are overwhelmed with trouble.

Their life draws near to death.

They're weakened in a ditch.

They're set apart for slaughter.

They're bleeding out and buried alive.

Their youth means nothing because their sickness remains.

They're near enough to touch death

and darkness is their closest friend.

This prayer has few real strong details

and it kind of is as vague as it is extreme.

But remember, this book is songs and poetry

for a nation of people,

all living unique yet connected lives.

And I think this extreme yet general set of situations

are invitations for the one who laments

to insert their pain into those lines

and have those verses echo with their own experiences.

When Adrian read Psalm 88 out,

did any line grab you?

Did it give life to a memory long buried?

Have you ever felt close to death in some way

or trapped and unjustly excluded?

I can look out on this room and know

that that's true for some of you right now

and has been in the past.

This psalm is for praying word for word

while the images in it spark remembering an emotion within us,

helping us express our situations,

the things in our hearts that really hurt,

so that we can lift them up to God.

And we want God to fix these situations, right?

We want his action and justice, yeah?

Look and see what the psalmist does in verse 2.

As they call God to action, they say,

may my prayer come before you.

Turn your ear to hear my cry.

And that's it.

That's all they ask God to do.

Just look and listen.

When we first started parenting,

our little then three-nager, Judson,

he wasn't very good at listening sometimes

after he did something wrong,

especially when he'd done it wrong on purpose.

And I learnt for him that

listening required looking.

I remember gently touching his cheek

and saying, look in my eyes,

and if I didn't do that,

there would be no listening.

But if he turned his face to mine,

he would take in what I needed to say.

And I, or Sam,

could start resolving the problem

that he or we had created.

But that's what it took to get action.

I think that's what's being asked here.

The prayer knows that God hears,

but is so desperate that they're saying,

God, look in my eyes while I say this.

I need you to listen for real

and take action.

In the original language,

the word cry

is actually a stronger word

than cry in English.

It's more like a wail

and a scream together

directed at one person.

The expectation of the prayer

is that God saves.

So then if he truly hears a prayer

like God save me,

it follows that he would act to do so.

The prayer believed this

and I believe this,

but is God doing anything at all?

Is he taking action?

In fact, the psalm answers

by saying that God is taking action,

just not in the way

that we might expect.

In fact, the prayer reckons

that God is doing this to them.

Here's where we take the step together,

right into the confusion

about this psalm,

feeling out of place.

Psalm 88 doesn't lead us around

the discomfort around this.

It says it out loud

and pushes us right in.

I'm going to read some verses now

and these for me

are the hardest bits to hear.

Verse 6,

You have put me in the lowest pit

in the darkest depths.

Verse 7,

Your wrath lies heavily upon me.

You have overwhelmed me

with all of your waves.

Verse 8,

You have taken me

from my closest friends

and have made me repulsive to them.

Verse 15,

From my youth I have suffered

and been close to death.

I have borne your terrors

and am in despair.

6, 10, 7, 8, 10.

Your wrath has swept over me.

Your terrors have destroyed me.

All day long they surround me

like a flood

and they've completely engulfed me.

You have taken from me

friend and neighbour.

God,

you are doing this to me.

It's a big step

to say God

does the bad things

in our lives

to us.

But in the way

this psalm expresses

prayer,

can you step around that?

While God may not be

the one deciding

to pull the trigger,

very often

he's the only one

who could stop the bullet.

Is God really

a control at that level?

Or is it safer

to think that God

is only in charge

over all things

when

over all things

means just the good things

that are happening

in our lives?

He does promise

that he will work

for the good

of those who love him.

It says that in Romans 8, 28.

But his good

for our lives

is woven through

a sometimes horrific mess

of selfish human

horridness

and circumstances.

And it can feel like

those things

are the only thing

in our lives

that is real.

But God

but God's good

for you

for me

and for all believers

through that mess

is real

and true.

Even if it's unseen

for now

for a while

or even if you

don't get to know

what is going on

until you can ask him

face to face.

I mentioned my boy

Judson

he is named

after a famous

missionary

who in the days

of the quill

and sailing ships

and unknown lands

decided to give up

a life of riches

and go to one of those

unknown lands

and tell them about

the gospel.

The gospel

had never been

to Burma

so he just went there.

he spent his life

translating

the Bible

into their language.

He preached

and he taught

and through his ministry

that country

as a whole

heard about Jesus.

There are 10,000

churches

and up

who can trace

their existence

back to his ministry.

but it came

at a cost.

Incredible persecution

torture

and sickness

mourning

and

lamenting

the loss

of his

wife

and then

his second

as well

the lives

of many

of his children

more than

I have fingers

on my hand

and eventually

his own life

as he got sick

he wrote

to his friends

back in America

and they sent a ship

when it arrived

he was so unwell

and in such pain

that he could barely speak

they put him on the boat

to send him home

to get well

and he died

somewhere

as they

circled around

the bottom of Africa

and they didn't have

anywhere to bury him

so they chucked him

in the sea

he did see

some of his children

live

and grow

he saw a flicker

of light

in his ministry

but it was not

the good

that he expected

no

but

we saw

the good

once he was gone

I can say

that God

was good

to Adoniram Judson

because I see

from my place

in time

how the good

Judson desired

was multiplied

with eternal good

and life saved

but I'm sure

that Psalm 88

was on the lips

of that dear man

more readily

than it is mine

as he battled

with the truth

in the midst

of horrific pain

that God

was being good

to him

do you

know

a shade

of Judson's

darkness

surely

it would be easier

if God just

fixed everything

let me say

God has

fixed two

of the only

important things

and he will

soon fix

everything

once and for all

but while those

things are true

and worthy of

your full acceptance

and confidence

we still battle

reality

mess and pain

and unknown

every single day

and sometimes

there is no

apparent good

of God

in our lives

at all

so if God

has the control

then how should

we proceed

with questioning

him

what can we say

to God

in our mess

that he is

in charge

of in our

lives

how do we

question him

well here's how

it sounds

in the psalm

verse 10

11 12

and 14

do you show

your wonders

to the dead

do their spirits

rise up

and praise you

is your love

declared in the

grave

is your faithfulness

in destruction

are your wonders

known

in the place

of the darkness

or your righteous

deeds

in the land

of oblivion

why Lord

do you reject

me

and hide

your face

from me

there are two

parts

to this

questioning

first

it has

God's fame

and reputation

in mind

in the midst

of your pain

are you

saying to

God

hey God

this looks

bad for you

in verses

10 to 12

the unknown

benefit

of God's

sovereign

ravaging

in their

life

brings

first

questions

about

God's

care

for his

power

and the

world's

perception

of him

how is

the good

and the

greatness

of who you

are going to

be received

it's a

first

call

on God

to stand

up for

himself

stand

by his

promises

and purposes

in full

view

of everyone

around

is that

what you

pray first

when life

falls apart

God

act

to preserve

your

reputation

for the

sake

of your

name

and your

fame

I care

more

about

that

I'm

not

reflexively

going to

care

about

God's

kingdom

if I'm

bleeding

out in

a

ditch

but

personal

grief

here

is

articulated

alongside

a

fully

Christ

centred

world

view

where

the

life

we

live

is

lived

for

God

with

his

priorities

always

in

view

namely

that

the

people

who

see

God

working

in

my

life

at

every

stage

of

my

life

would

respond

in

repentance

and

faith

and

know

God

too

this

is

something

that I

believe

that's

in

this

psalm

to be

learned

it's

written

in on

purpose

as

God's

word

builds

our

reflexive

care

for

the

people

around

us

that

they

would

know

this

great

God

who

we

come

and

worship

even

in

the

midst

of

incredible

personal

pain

but

it's

still

personal

pain

the

understated

simple

line in

verse 14

is

I feel

rejected

God

and you

aren't

seeing

what I'm

going

through

and this

is where

I think

we need

to be

encouraged

into

lamenting

how often

have you

felt hard

done by

or cheated

or defeated

or overwhelmed

with debt

overwhelmed

with what

we often

flippantly

call our

own

misfortune

how God

in this

psalm

undoes

that

word

this

psalm

is your

permission

to ask

those

questions

of God

without

polished

words

or manners

or formality

for he

is willing

to hear

you speak

them

he knows

that we're

sinful

and emotional

and brittle

Jesus himself

felt the

same

he knows

and understands

exactly how

a human

feels

rejection

he knows

the pain

of injustice

in our

hearts

and in our

fragile bodies

and while

those around

us suffer

those who

we love

our father

identifies

with us

he knows

the pain

of losing

those who

we love

or seeing

them suffer

as he

watched

his son

die on a

cross

he can

be trusted

and relied

upon

as gracious

with the

worst

you have

to share

with him

in the

middle of

the mess

from every

day

from now

to the

end of

your life

here on

earth

even if

it seems

he isn't

hearing you

or that

he's turned

away

every day

that is

dark

and there

might be

many

he wants

your lament

until

the dark

comes to

light

is that

what you

expected to

read in

the bible

a tool

for processing

pain and

expressing

yourself

to an

apparently

absent

god

that's not

what i

expected

let me

take this

a step

further

everyone

grab your

bible

that's got

psalm 88

open

if you

don't

do it

right

now

because

this

for us

right now

is the

hardest

part

to hear

because it

means that

we have

to do

something

have a

look at

the title

of this

psalm

psalm 88

a song

this was

written

to be

sung

in the

temple

by

everyone

gathered

in

worship

not just

an item

to be

processed

and prayed

through

by the

listeners

but as

something

to sing

to pray

and to

learn

together

can you

imagine

standing up

in church

and singing

and darkness

is my

best friend

no

certainly

a weird

choice

for a

Sunday

worship

song

or is

it

is it

counterproductive

to find

this in

the Bible

is it

counterproductive

to sing

this in

church

what is

this

let's

just

quickly go

back over

our five

steps that

we've been

through so

far looking

at this

psalm

remember

questioning

God is

a step

of faith

and

authenticity

we go

to our

God

who we

know

has saved

us

and say

that he

can

save

secondly

we share

what is

going on

because we

trust that

he sees

third

we call

on him

to hear

our

prayer

because

we trust

he wants

to

and will

for

we acknowledge

his sovereignty

over all

things

not just

the easy

to explain

happy bits

of our

lives

and five

we bring

exactly

where we

are to

him

even

if

it

seems

like

he

isn't

there

or

doesn't

care

humbly

with the

truth

of our

life

our love

for others

and his

grace

in full

view

that

sounds

like a

prayer

for the

Christian

to use

in a

season

of trial

and trouble

our God

knows

how hard

life is

and how

it works

and has

shown us

a path

toward

recovery

namely

that we

go to

him

wherever

we are

with all

that we

feel

to be

heard

and heal

I believe

that lamenting

rightly

before God

like this

should be

in the

Bible

as it's

a treatment

for the

silence

of pain

that our

culture

says is

normal

and permits

and equips

words to

fill our

mouths

to get

out

as we

grieve

and process

the

horrors

of our

lives

so how

do we

know

what to

say

after

hearing

Adrian

read it

do you

now

remember

this

psalm

certainly

not one

we've

taught

with a

snappy

memory

verse

in

kids

church

yet

let me

say a few

things about

lamenting

your life

and our

life as

a church

we need

to practice

in our

seasons

of joy

and blessing

for the

lamenting

in our

seasons

of horror

and hardship

I believe

that's why

this prayer

is a song

look back

at the title

it's written

by the sons

of Korah

the hit makers

of the time

written for the

music pastor

to the tune

of

Mahalalaleth

I'm sure

it sounds

better

in Hebrew

but it's

taken from

the main

praise and

lament

charts

of the

time

I deliberately

made that a bit

silly because

we like to

downplay art

in our

churches

as a

sideshow

as something

to use

in the rest

of our life

but not in the

important bits

yet God

really cares

that we

use art

he's created

for us

strategically

and not

leaving anyone

out

the activity

of singing

praise and

prayers and

proclamations

to and about

God

are worthwhile

they're never

the afterthought

of the corporate

worship pastor

because he's

worried that

Steve won't

have the time

in his sermon

to fill the

quota of a

service

no God

has given us

time together

each week

to train us

and teach us

and let him

speak to us

through these

songs

all together

in song

every week

at St. Paul's

unity of song

disarms

spoken

and unspoken

but unhelpful

rules

about emotional

honesty

in our

community

all culturally

driven

misguided

theological

expectations

about

how happiness

should work

for those

who do

the right

thing

they help

undo hopes

that God

does not

promise

in his

gospel

and together

we declare

as we sing

that if God

is for us

as the gospel

shows as we

sung before

that none

can stand

against us

but

we do stand

with enemies

against us

as Christians

there is nothing

that can take

our salvation

away

but we can

lose it

life

and it can

be unfair

as Australians

we can't

abide by

that

a fair go

is part

of our

values

but that's

not what

God promises

in fact

we get

something

better

than a

fair go

from God

we get

the reality

check

of the gospel

that unifies

man under

the banner

of sinful

and in need

and divides

us only

by those

who believe

in Jesus

and receive

his salvation

immeasurable

blessings

and riches

now

and forevermore

in Jesus

or not

that is the

promise

when we sing

a lament

like

blessed be

your name

on the road

marked with

suffering

though there's

pain in the

offering

blessed be

your name

we start

to turn

the corner

of grief

together

encouraging

movement

through the

process

of pain

taking

with us

who we

don't even

know yet

are hurting

amongst us

giving endurance

a chance

to continue

and remind

us of the

need to

support one

another

emotionally

this psalm

is meant

to be sung

together

so what's

the benefit

is this

how to do

lament

well it's

the start

to sing

psalm 88

together

is practicing

this type

of lament

prayer

and for

some

while we

practice it

and learn

it

it's going

to be

their real

time

cry

to god

this psalm

is here

for you

any time

of the day

every day

we're devoted

to pursuing

prayer as a

daily life

goal here

at St Paul's

and so

bring laments

like this

into the way

that you speak

to god

every day

in your

prayer

and practice

and pray

for real

psalm 88

pray

laments

with a

struggling

friend

when you

don't know

what to

say

give them

the gift

of words

that are

full of

pain

but directed

rightly

pray

them

in your

marriage

when things

are going

badly

own it

together

and bring

it to god

in lament

demonstrate

their value

with your

children

lament

together

and share

your heart

and turn

together

to our

saviour

it's only

then

that we

begin to

normalise

what is

counter-cultural

in this

that humble

authenticity

in the

area of

declaring

need for

help

in the

hardest

of

times

are you

ready

to start

practicing

today we're

going to

sing psalm 88

together

and that

might be a

curveball

for you

it was a

curveball

for me

today we're

going to

first

before we

do that

be reminded

of why

we can

say

you are

the god

who saves

me

as we

pray

and sing

we can

say that

because god

has already

delivered us

from the

worst thing

that has

happened

it's already

happened to

all women

and men

the world

over from

birth namely

that we've

cut ourselves

off from

the living

god through

our sin

sentencing

ourselves to

a spiritual

death in

this life

and for

eternity

but god so

loved all

peoples that

he sent his

only son to

die that

spiritual death

for us and

to be forsaken

by his

father

as he

put on

our sins

while he

felt and

endured our

punishment for

sin and died

upon the

cross while

he cried

out why

have you

forsaken

me to

his father

so that we

would never

be forsaken

no matter

what you

face as

you process

your grief

and loss

you know

that you

have a

god who

saves

who's

rescued you

from sin

and done

the impossible

to redeem

your life

from hell

he is

worthy

listening

and even

if he is

silent for

now he

will not

stay silent

he has

not always

been silent

and he

will always

be working

for your

god for

your good

this hymn

a recording

of it is

available on

our website

today and

on our

facebook

take it

into your

life and

learn it so

it's ready on

your lips to

pray in the

worst seasons

of your life

as you turn

to the god

who saves

let this be

your voice

for the

darkness

and if you

need to go

further today

with your

grief

and pray with

a brother and

sister i'm

here after the

service and

many more

here would

love to pray

with you and

speak with

you we are

all here to

share whatever

has happened

and whatever

will happen in

this life

together why

don't you stand

and join me in

this

all day and night

i cry for you

allow my prayer

before you

incline your ear to

hear my plight

lord turn your gaze

to me

see my weary hands

like shadows

touching death itself

where is your voice in

this darkness lord are you faithful to me where is your love that you promise

you are the god who saves me

you send me out abandon me to deep despair forgotten you drown my screams with ceaseless waves and pinned me to me to despair

you send me out abandon me to deep despair forgotten you drown my screams with ceaseless waves and pin me down with wrath blind and chains with ceaseless waves and pin me down with wrath

blind and chained with grief and sorrow near my grave from you

oblivion i call my home

with shame to sooth my fears where is your voice in this darkness lord are you faithful to me where is your love that you promise you are the god who saves me

will your assaults and horrors heal your praise swell while you slay me shall i proclaim your righteousness if all i love are love

nh drier

owa

Your prayers heal your praise well while you slay me.

Shall I proclaim your righteousness if all I love are lost?

Lord, why turn your back and shun me? Where are you, my God?

Your terrors strike and flood with doubt and darkness is my friend.

Where is your voice in this darkness? Lord, are you faithful to me?

Where is your love that you promised? You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.

You are the God who saves me.