Lamenting Pain: Turning to God

It's good to be with you, to worship with you.

We look forward to this every Sunday.

And we are in a new series in the Lament Psalms for the next few weeks.

So if you have a Bible, please turn to Psalm 77.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to bring a copy over to you that you can have, you can use.

Psalms are pretty much right in the middle of the book.

If you're not familiar with your Bibles, just open it up.

Right around to the middle and it should be there in Psalm 77.

You might be wondering why we're doing this series.

There are many kinds of Psalms.

There's 150 of them.

There's different kinds like Royal Psalms and Wisdom Psalms and Thanksgiving Songs and Psalms.

And you might wonder, why are we focusing on the Lament Psalms?

Because I think someone asked me that question.

One of you guys, I forget who it was.

And the Lament Psalms, surprisingly, constitute the largest section of the Psalter.

There are more Lament Psalms in the Psalms than any other kind of Psalms.

And they're there for a reason.

They help us in the midst of our suffering and struggles to turn to God rather than to turn away from Him, withdraw from Him.

And over the years in our church, we have had people suffer many things.

We have had a woman who grieved the loss of her mother.

Another woman who was grieving the loss of her father.

We have had people, couples, who are just mourning the fact that they couldn't have kids, infertility, or suffered miscarriages.

We have had a mom who was mourning just the choices, life choices of a wayward son.

We have had couples just dealing with the pain of a rapidly disintegrating marriage.

We've had people who have felt rejected and perhaps even disowned by their parents.

And all of these are really difficult things to go through in life.

And when you're facing suffering, I think what helps you to deal with it well is whether you know how to turn to God in the midst of it

and cry out to God in the midst of that pain or whether you kind of shell up, hold up, and withdraw from that.

And the Lament Psalms are supposed to help us to do that.

I think one reason why we have a hard time with the idea of lament as Christians is because we have been taught, and rightly so,

but in many places that we should be rejoicing.

And we are taught that we should rejoice in our suffering.

And that's biblical.

It says in Romans 5, 3,

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

So we are supposed to rejoice even in our suffering.

So doesn't that mean we shouldn't lament?

We shouldn't cry out to God about our pain and suffering?

Well, the answer is yes and no, because we are supposed to cry out to God.

In 2 Corinthians 6, 10, after describing all the travails that he and his ministry partners have gone through,

Paul tells the Corinthian church that he was sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

So those two things are not mutually exclusive.

We are sorrowful on the one hand because we experience real pain,

because we live in a broken and sinful world, and we are hurting inside,

and so we are sorrowful.

And yet, because we believe in the sovereign God,

who does work things, all things, for his glory and good,

we can rejoice, we can have hope.

We often talk about the fact that Jesus brought the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God has been inaugurated.

It's begun already.

It's coming.

And yet, it's not fully here yet.

It's already, but not yet.

And lament psalms help us to bridge that gap between the already and the not yet,

where you have the pain of the present,

but the promises of God for the future.

And lament helps us to bridge that gap.

I want to recommend to you, before we get started with this new series,

a book by Mark Rogop called, you know, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy.

If you're in the middle of going through some difficult times in your life,

that's a book that I highly recommend to you,

and I'll be pulling some quotes from there as well as we go through this sermon.

Let me pray now for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Father, you alone know everything that these dear brothers and sisters and visitors are feeling and going through.

And you do see.

You see their pain and you see their tears.

As we open up your word in Psalm 77 this morning,

please draw near to us.

Comfort your precious saints with the truths of your word.

Lift up their gaze from themselves and from their pain unto you, Lord God.

And fill them with hope,

with faith,

with love.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are willing and able,

please stand for the reading of God's word.

Psalm 77.

Psalm 77.

To the choir master,

according to Jeduthin,

a psalm of Asaph.

I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God,

and he will hear me.

In the day of my trouble,

I seek the Lord.

In the night,

my hand is stretched out without wearying.

My soul refuses to be comforted.

When I remember God,

I moan.

When I meditate,

my spirit faints.

Selah.

You hold my eyelids open.

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I consider the days of old,

the years long ago.

I said,

let me remember my song in the night.

Let me meditate in my heart.

Then my spirit made a diligent search.

Will the Lord spurn forever

and never again be favorable?

Has His steadfast love forever ceased?

Are His promises at an end for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has He in anger shut up His compassion?

Selah.

Then I said,

I will appeal to this.

To the years of the right hand of the Most High.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord.

Yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

I will ponder all your work

and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy.

What God is great like our God?

You are the God who works wonders.

You have made known your might among the peoples.

You, with your arm, redeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah.

When the waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you,

they were afraid.

Indeed, the deep trembled.

The clouds poured out water.

The skies gave forth thunder.

Your arrows flashed on every side.

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind.

Your lightnings lighted up the world.

The earth trembled and shook.

Your way was through the sea.

Your path through the great waters.

Yet your footprints were unseen.

You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

The main point of this psalm,

as I think I have to display here for you,

is that in the times of trouble,

in the day of trouble,

we should remember God.

And we should turn to him

and remember the redemption of the days of old.

And I have two main points I want to emphasize.

One is to seek the Lord in the day of trouble.

And then secondly,

to remember the Lord in the days of old.

This psalm, like many psalms in the Psalter,

begins with the subtitle.

Those are just the small print words

at the top of the psalm.

It says,

To the choir master,

according to Jeduthun,

a psalm of Asaph.

People debate the meaning of this subtitle,

and it's difficult to be certain.

But here are a few things that we do know.

Jeduthun was a Levite,

and one of the three masters of music

appointed by David in 1 Chronicles 16.

His specific God-given task

was to lead in giving thanks to the Lord with music.

1 Chronicles 16.42 tells us

that Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals

for the music and instruments for sacred song.

So the phrase, a psalm of,

and then the phrase, a psalm of Asaph,

most likely means that this was a psalm written by Asaph.

Psalm 50 and Psalm 73 to 80,

inclusively, are all attributed to Asaph in this manner.

The most frequent attribution in the Psalter

is a psalm of David,

and we know for a fact that David wrote a number of psalms.

He's described as the sweet psalmist of Israel

in 2 Samuel 23.1.

And so, likely, if that means psalms written by David,

a psalm of Asaph probably means a psalm written by Asaph.

We do have confirmation in 2 Chronicles 29.30

that Asaph did write some psalms,

since it says that Hezekiah the king

and the officials commanded the Levites

to sing praises to the Lord

with the words of David and of Asaph the seer.

So Asaph had a prophetic gift,

and he had a musical gift,

and he composed songs.

He was also a Levite

and was appointed by King David

in 1 Chronicles 6.39

to serve as one of the choir leaders.

So a possible interpretation of the subtitle

is that this is a technical musical note

intended for the choir master,

who is to play this psalm written by Asaph

according to the arrangement or tune by Jeduthin.

So it's fascinating.

It's a fascinating kind of detail,

insight into the history of Israel

and their corporate worship,

but it also reveals God's will for us

because He wants us to sing to Him.

As the psalm of lament teaches us,

He wants us to sing

even in the midst of our pain,

even in the midst of our suffering,

even if that means singing through tears.

The longest book of the Bible is the psalms,

and the psalms is literally

a collection of psalms.

God put music,

complete with musical notations,

into the written Word of God

because that's how important it is

for in the life of God's people

to sing, to sing to God.

So I want to thank our music ministry team

who did an excellent job leading us today.

Thanks Wes for leading that team.

And as we start to move

to the main body of the psalm,

the first thing that pops out immediately

is the frequent use

of the first person singular pronoun,

I.

Look through, scan the psalm,

and you'll see,

I cry aloud to God.

I seek the Lord.

I remember God.

I moan.

I meditate.

I am so troubled.

There are, of course,

times of corporate

or communal lament, mourning.

But this psalm,

even though it was used

in corporate worship,

is a deeply personal psalm.

It invites you and me

to bring your own trouble

and my own trouble

to God personally in lament.

Pain and suffering

can have an isolating effect.

When you're experiencing

deep sorrow and grief,

and some of you guys I know

have experienced this,

normal social interactions

are very difficult.

Hey, how are you doing?

I'm fine.

How about you?

The smiles

and the small talk

can all have

an alienating effect.

And it can feel like

no one else in the world

really understands

what you're going through.

In such times,

you can be surrounded by people

and yet be lonely.

And for that reason,

it can be easy to withdraw

from community

and become insular.

But when you feel like an island,

when you feel that

there's a vast chasm

between your pain

and others' ability

to empathize,

there is something you can do

and this is the first step

of lament,

to turn to God.

It says in verse 2,

In the day of my trouble,

I seek the Lord.

People turn to various things

when they are in trouble.

How would you complete

that sentence?

Not how you think

you should complete that sentence.

How would you complete

that sentence?

Just looking at your life

and how you have lived.

In the day of my trouble,

I seek fill in the blank.

What's your first impulse

when you're in trouble?

When you're hurting?

What or whom do you turn to

to rescue you?

Do you seek to escape

into a fantasy world

through TV shows

or YouTube

or ESPN

or social media?

Do you try to numb

your pain

with substances

like nicotine

or marijuana

or alcohol?

Do you try to

turn to your husband

or your wife,

your mom

or your best friend?

Maybe you don't turn

to anyone else.

Maybe you just turn inward

and isolate

and shut down.

Maybe you become

despairing

and suicidal.

The first step

of lament

is not to turn inward

onto ourselves

or to turn to

other people

or things

but to turn

to God.

That's the first step

of lament.

To seek the Lord

in the days of trouble.

In the days of my trouble,

I seek the Lord.

After turning

to the Lord,

the second step

of lament

is to groan

to God.

To cry out.

And we're going to

talk in more detail

about these specific steps

over the coming

four or five weeks.

And so the second step

is to groan to God

and cry out to Him.

Verse 1 says,

I cry aloud to God.

Aloud to God

and He will hear me.

A more literal translation

of that would be

my voice cries out to God.

My voice to God

and He will hear me.

Asaph is not silent

in the midst of his pain.

He gives voice

to his pain

and he cries aloud to God.

And the repetition

of that phrase,

aloud to God,

aloud to God,

conveys Asaph's

deep feeling

and just this outpouring

of his heart

and his desperate desire

to be heard by God.

He's so desperate

to be heard by God,

he says here

that he cries out

day and night.

He says in verse 2,

In the day of my trouble,

I seek the Lord.

In the night,

my hand is stretched out

without wearying.

Stretching out

one's hands to God

is a common posture

of prayer like this

or like this

that we see throughout Scripture.

It is a physical expression

of neediness and longing,

that desperation.

Similar to how some of us

raise our hands

when we are singing

worship songs,

day and night,

the psalmist is reaching out

for God,

seeking the Lord in prayer.

And yet,

he says at the end

of verse 2,

my soul refuses

to be comforted.

I would be lying to you

if I told you

that the moment

you turn to God

in prayer,

all your sorrows

and hurts

will just melt away.

The Bible is too real

to give us

that kind of pat answers

and sanitized formulas.

The psalmist is honest.

He is crying aloud to God

and seeking the Lord

day and night.

He is stretching out

his hand in prayer

and yet he says,

my soul refuses

to be comforted.

His soul is dejected

and he is inconsolable.

I hope this is a comfort

to those of you

who have experienced this.

In the midst of deep pain,

sometimes your soul

refuses to be comforted.

That doesn't mean

that you are less

of a Christian.

That doesn't mean

that you didn't pray correctly.

And that doesn't mean

that God has abandoned you.

It just means

that you are in

a lot of pain.

But,

and this is very important,

you must not,

for that reason,

stop praying.

Telling yourself

that it is no use.

Look at what Asaph does

in verses 3-4.

He continues

to turn to God

even when his soul

refuses to be comforted.

When I remember God,

I moan.

When I meditate,

my spirit faints.

Selah.

You hold my eyelids open.

I am so troubled

that I cannot speak.

Remembering God

should be a delight

and meditating

on God's work

should be strengthening

for us.

But because the psalmist

is so enmeshed

in his present trouble,

thinking about God

makes him moan.

It makes his spirit faint.

No matter how hard he tries,

he cannot make sense

of his present circumstances.

He does not see

how God can be acting

for his good

in his present situation.

So he is losing sleep.

And he says,

his eyelids are held open.

He is at a loss for words.

He says,

I cannot speak.

His words become

this inarticulate moan.

He is too weary

even to speak.

Like that feeling

when you feel something

stuck inside your heart

and when you just have

that lump coming up

in your throat

and sometimes words

can't quite express

your pain.

So you just cry

and you groan.

But that's better

than silent despair.

Again, this is,

I mentioned to you,

Mark Vrogop,

his book,

Dark Claws and Deep Mercy,

he says this,

giving God

the silent treatment

is the ultimate

manifestation

of unbelief.

Despair lives

under the hopeless

resignation

that God doesn't care,

that he doesn't hear

and nothing is ever

going to change.

People who believe this

stop praying.

They give up.

So even when you feel

like you're not praying well,

even when you feel like

all you can do

is just stretch out

your hand to God

and groan

and moan

and cry in the presence

of God.

That's better

than despair

because it takes faith

to groan to God.

Because in your pain

you're coming to God

and saying,

God, this is really hard.

God, this is really painful

and I don't know

if I can handle it anymore.

But you're still

coming to God

and bringing that to Him.

You're talking to Him.

That's better.

So groan.

And look at how boldly

the psalmist voices

his complaint

in verses 7 and 9.

This is the third step

of lament.

Appealing to God

on the basis

of His character

and His promises

or calling God

to account.

He says,

Will the Lord

spurn forever?

Never again be favorable?

Has His steadfast love

forever ceased?

Are His promises

at an end

for all time?

Has God forgotten

to be gracious?

Has He in anger

shut up His compassion?

Asaph is here

just getting messy

with God.

He's asking hard questions

and expressing

his doubts openly.

He's calling God

to account.

He's trying to

arouse God

into action.

Sometimes I think

Christians don't pray

when they are suffering,

when they are struggling

with their faith

because they feel

that it is wrong

to express

these kinds of sentiments.

But these are not

false,

intrusive thoughts

that we're supposed

to suppress.

Of course,

it's not objectively true

that God's steadfast love

has forever ceased.

It has not.

However,

it truly describes

our subjective feeling

in the midst

of intense

personal struggle.

So it's honest.

And it's better

to voice

that doubt,

that complaint,

that groaning to God

than to remain silent.

Our healing process

will be stunted

if we don't express

honestly our doubts

and questions to God.

19th century

Scottish pastor

Alexander McLaren

comments on this psalm

this way,

quote,

he faces with trembling

the terrible possibilities.

And his doubts

are better put

into plain speech

than lying

diffused

and darkening

like poisonous

mists

in his heart.

A thought,

a thought,

be it good or bad,

can be dealt with

when it is made

articulate.

So the end

of the despondent

half of the psalm

is marked

by the bringing

to distinct speech

of the suspicions

which floated

in the singer's mind

and made him miserable.

when the thoughts

are made articulate

it can be dealt with.

If we never express

our questions

and doubts

to God

those doubts

will lie

diffused

and darkening

like poisonous

mists in our hearts.

But once we air out

those doubts

in open prayer

when we turn

to God with them

they can be dealt with.

The voicing

of these doubts

mark the end

of the dejected

half of this psalm

and it transitions us

to the more hopeful

half of the psalm.

Why?

Because God

answers us

when we speak

to him honestly

with earnest questions.

Notice that

verses 7 and 9

are alluding

to the revelation

of God's character

in Exodus 34,

6 to 7.

The Lord,

the Lord,

a God merciful

and gracious

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness

keeping steadfast love

for thousands

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

and sin.

So he's appealing

to these characteristics

that God himself

has revealed himself

as.

Will the Lord

spurn forever

and never again

be favorable?

Asaph is appealing

to God,

God,

you said,

you said,

God,

you forgive

iniquity

and transgression

and sin

but will you

not spurn me

forever?

You said

that you will

regard me

with favor.

Will you never

again be favorable?

God,

you said

you keep

steadfast love

for thousands

but has your

steadfast love

forever ceased?

The word

steadfast love

translates that

Hebrew word

that combines

the idea

of love

and loyalty.

But God,

have you ceased

to be loyal?

Is your

steadfast love

no longer

steadfast

but fickle

and fleeting?

Are you breaking

your promises,

God?

God,

God,

you said

you are a

God merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger

but have you

forgotten

to be gracious?

God,

will you

never again

be favorable?

Have you

forgotten?

God,

you said

you are

slow to anger

but has your

anger flared up

suddenly to me?

Have you

shut up

your compassion?

That word

compassion,

if you remember

from Exodus 34,

is the word,

same word

that's translated

in Exodus 34,

6 as merciful.

It's a word

that comes

from the Hebrew

word for womb.

It captures

the tender

and embracing

womb-like love

of a mother

toward her children.

God,

instead of

opening up

your womb-like

compassion to me

as your child,

have you

shut up

that compassion

within you?

These are

some hard-hitting

questions.

heart-wrenching

questions.

You need

to voice

these questions

to God

because when

you do that,

you're inviting

God to address

your doubts.

We're appealing

to God

to answer

on the basis

of His character.

This is not

who you said

you are,

God.

It's only then

that we do that

that the dark

clouds start

to break.

And that brings

me to my

second point.

Remember the

Lord of the

days of old.

There's a

contrast in this

psalm between

the day of

my trouble,

remember that

from verse 2,

and the days

of old

in verse 5,

and the wonders

of old

in verse 11.

Instead of

wallowing in

self-pity

and fixating

only on the

day of my

trouble,

Asaph chooses

to remember

God's redemptive

acts from

the days of

old.

This is the

trouble with

us humans

sometimes.

We have

recency bias,

which is a

cognitive bias

that favors

recent events

over historic

events.

We tend to

give the

greatest weight

to our

most recent

experience,

and forget

all about

the past

experiences.

So when

trouble hits

us,

we can let

it warp

our view

of God

and make

us forget

all about

how faithful

God has

been,

and how

he has

proved

his

goodness

and

faithfulness

over

and over

again

to us.

But we

need to

resist

that

tendency.

Asaph

says in

verses 10

to 12,

then I said,

I will

appeal to

this,

to the

ears of

the right

hand of

the Most

High.

I will

remember

the deeds

of the

Lord.

Yes,

I will

remember

your wonders

of old.

I will

ponder all

your work

and meditate

on your

mighty deeds.

The word

meditate

in verse

12 was

already used

twice before

in verses

3 and 6.

And the word

remember

repeated twice

here in

verse 11

already occurred

two more

times in

verses 3

and 6

as well.

So these

are key words

that tell us

the main

point,

the main

teaching of

this psalm.

How can

we maintain

hope when

our life

seems hopeless?

Scripture's

simple yet

profound answer

to that

question

is to

remember

God

and meditate

on his

works.

Remember

from verse

3 that

this didn't

seem to

be working

for Asaph

at first.

He said,

when I

remember

God,

I moan.

When I

meditate,

my spirit

faints.

At first,

remembering

God only

made him

moan in

pain and

struggle.

Meditating

on God's

word only

made him

faint.

But Asaph

didn't stop

there and

that's the

key.

He continued.

He kept

on groaning

and he

kept on

appealing to

God.

And with

time and

perseverance,

he could

finally see

the silver

lining in

the clouds,

the sunlight

creeping in

and the

clouds starting

to break.

And this

brings us

to the

fourth step

of lament.

Remembering.

Remembering

God's goodness

and faithfulness.

And it's

important to

note that you

can't short

circuit this

process and

just go

straight to

remembering.

especially in

deep suffering

and pain.

When you

try to give

people counsel,

give grieving

people some

counsel and

comfort,

if you go

straight to

remembering,

without encouraging

to turn to

God, without

encouraging to

groan to God

in the midst

of their pain,

and without

appealing to

God honestly

from that

place of

pain and

suffering and

doubt and

questions,

that's when

you come

across as

you're giving

pat answers.

like Job's

friends that

Job described

as miserable

comforters,

miserable

physicians.

So you

can't

short circuit

lament,

but you

also cannot

skip this

step of

remembering.

The lament

psalms in

scripture always

have a

turning point.

They provide

time and

space for the

expression of

grief and

sorrow,

doubts and

questions,

but they

don't let

you wallow

there permanently.

There's always

a turning point

in the psalm,

usually with

transitional words

like but or

yet, where

doubt starts to

give way to

hope and

faith.

And here in

Psalm 77,

it's the word

then in

verse 10.

As Christians,

we must situate

the day of my

trouble in the

days of old

and the wonders

of old.

We must not

let the present

day of trouble

make us forget

the faithfulness

of God,

demonstrated in

its redemptive

deeds of the

past.

It is no

surprise then

that verse

11 is the

first time in

this psalm where

Asaph uses the

personal name for

God.

Notice that the

word Lord in

verse 11 is in

all caps.

That's a reverent

way that the

Bible translators

translate the

name of God

that's revealed

in Exodus 3,

Yehovah or

Yahweh.

Up to this

point, the

psalmist has

referred to

God more

generically as

God or as

Lord, which

in lowercase

just means

Master.

Even the

term most

high in

verse 10 is

not a specific

name for God

but uses a

generic word

for God in

Hebrew.

But it's

precisely at

the moment when

the psalmist

remembers that

God is not

just some

God, some

abstract reality

or some

impersonal

force but

that he is

his God.

The God

whom he knows

personally and

by whom he is

known personally.

Yahweh who

revealed himself

to God's people

throughout history

and specifically

intervened and

saved his people

time and time

again.

It's precisely

at that moment

of the psalm

that he turns

from despair

to hope

and faith

filled remembrance.

And when

the psalmist

starts to do

this,

something

remarkable

happens.

Up to this

point, remember

the psalmist

has been

predominantly

using the

first person

singular

pronouns.

I did

this and

I did

that and

I feel

this.

But as

soon as

he starts

remembering

God

personally

and his

mighty deeds

of old,

his focus

shifts from

looking at

and pitting

himself to

beholding and

exalting God.

His language

shifts from

the first

person to

the second

person.

Look at

verses 13

to 15.

Your way,

O God,

is holy.

What God

is great

like our

God?

You are

the God

who works

wonders.

You have

made known

your might

among the

peoples.

You with

your arm

redeemed

your people,

the children

of Jacob

and Joseph.

Selah.

note the

powerful

repetition

in verse

13.

You with

your arm

redeemed

your

people.

You

belong

to God

and he

redeems

you because

you are

his

with his

mighty arm.

Notice

the first

instance of

the first

person plural

pronoun in

verse 13.

What God

is great

like our

God?

Prior to

this it

was all

I's and

my's and

me's but

as soon as

the psalmist

shifts that

focus from

the trouble

he is in

to who

God is

and what

he has

done,

he remembers

that this

God is so

much bigger

than just

his God.

He is

our God.

When you

in your

pain have

a hard

time remembering

the goodness

and faithfulness

of God,

let the

other saints

remind you.

the times

of struggle

are the

times when

you need

the community

of God's

people the

most.

Just like

when you're

sick and

you least

want to

eat is

when you

most need

to eat

healthy

foods.

When you

feel like

you want

to withdraw

and isolate

and hunker

down,

that's

precisely when

you need

to draw

near to

the saints

of God,

come together

with God's

people and

let them

remind you

so that

you can

say along

with them

what God

is great

like our

God.

What God

created the

cosmos

with the

word of

his mouth

like our

God.

What God

chose us

before the

foundation of

the world

to belong

to him

and to

be like

him.

What God

justifies

sinners

like our

God.

What God

adopts his

people as

his own

children

like our

God.

what God

is gracious

and generous

and merciful

and compassionate

like our

God.

There is

no one

like our

God.

There is

no God

but him.

Then in

verses 16

to 20,

the psalmist

remembers the

climactic

instance of

God's

redemption

in Israel's

history up

to that

point.

In the

Exodus,

he writes,

when the

water saw

you,

O God,

when the

water saw

you,

they were

afraid.

Indeed,

the deep

trembled.

The clouds

poured out

water.

The skies

gave forth

thunder.

Your arrows

flashed on

every side.

The crash

of your

thunder was

in the

whirlwind.

Your

lightnings

lighted up

the world.

The earth

trembled

and shook.

Your way

was through

the sea.

Your path

through the

great waters.

Yet your

footprints

were unseen.

You led

your people

like a flock

by the hand

of Moses

and Aaron.

This is a

beautifully

poetic way

to conclude

this psalm.

Remember how

I mentioned

to you

that verse

one where

he says,

I cry

aloud to

God,

aloud to

God.

In Hebrew

it's literally

my voice

cries out to

God.

My voice

to God.

Well,

if you

translate

verses 17

to 18

more literally,

it would

read,

the clouds

poured out

water,

the skies

gave forth

voice.

Your arrow

flashed on

every side.

The voice

of your

thunder

was in

the whirlwind.

Your

lightnings

lighted up

the world.

The earth

trembled

and shook.

Because the

Hebrew word

for thunder

and crash

is the same

word that

means voice

in verse

one.

Similarly,

in verse

two,

the psalmist

mentioned that

he stretched

out his

hand to

God.

And here

in verse

20,

we are told

that God

led his

people like

a flock

by the

hand of

Moses and

Aaron.

the same

word,

hand.

And in

addition to

that,

we saw

in verse

10,

how God

delivered

with his

right hand.

And in

verse 15,

that he

redeemed

his people

with his

arm.

So these

closing

verses of

the psalm

are a

rejoinder,

an answer

from God

to the

psalmist's

desperate cry

in the

opening

verses.

As Asaph

raises his

voice to

God in

the day

of his

trouble,

he remembers

God's

voice speaking

from those

days of

old.

As the

psalmist

stretches

forth his

hand in

desperate

longing for

God,

he remembers

how God

stretched out

his hand

to redeem

his people

and rescue

them from

their day

of trouble

in those

days of

old.

So,

brothers and

sisters,

in our

remembrance

of God,

in our

remembrance

of his

redemptive

deeds of

old,

God is

stretching

out his

hand to

grab hold

of you

in the

mire of

your

suffering

and pain.

God

answers

your cries

of lament

with his

voice when

you remember

his faithfulness

in his

word.

And I

love the

perspective of

verse 16.

When the

waters saw

you,

oh God,

when the

waters saw

you,

they were

afraid.

Indeed,

the deep

trembled.

It's a

very effective

use of

personification,

which is a

poetic device

where you give

human attributes

to non-human

objects or

non-human

things like

water.

Waters cannot

see anything.

Waters cannot

be afraid or

tremble.

And yet,

that's how the

psalmist describes

the splitting and

crossing of the

Red Sea in

Exodus 14.

And this is a

remarkably faith-filled

perspective,

filled with faith,

looking back

retroactively from

what happened in

Exodus 14.

Because if you

go back and

actually look at

the original

narrative in

Exodus 14,

and you read

what happened

there,

it doesn't

say the

waters were

afraid.

With the

impassable

Red Sea

ahead of

them,

and then

the rampaging

elite

Egyptian

army

right on

their heels

behind them,

it says

in Exodus

14.

The people

of Israel

feared

greatly.

But Asaph

is here

helping us

to see

that situation

in history

and by

extension,

our current

troubles,

not with our

eyes,

but with

faith.

The waters

saw God

and then the

waters were

afraid and it

trembled.

Whatever it is

that makes you

tremble with

fear,

insert that

thing

into verse

16,

in the

place of

the word

waters.

Instead of

staring at

the trouble

from your

perspective,

try seeing

it from

God's

perspective

because it's

not God

who is

trembling,

it's your

waters that

are trembling.

Your job

trouble

sees God

and is

afraid

and it

trembles.

Your relational

trouble

sees God

and it's

afraid

and it

trembles

in your

mental health

issues.

See God

and is

afraid

and it

trembles

your besetting

sins.

See God

and it

afraid

and it

trembles

so don't

let your

pain

and sorrow

blind you

to the

presence of

God.

He is

in your

life.

Bring him

back into

the picture

and lift

up your

gaze

onto

him.

Looking

back on

the crossing

of the

Red Sea,

Paul says

in 1 Corinthians

10,

1-2,

that the

Israelites

all passed

through the

sea and

all were

baptized

into

Moses

in the

cloud

and in

the sea.

Paul is

making a

biblical

theological

connection

here between

Israel's

crossing of

the Red

Sea and

the

Christian

going under

the water

and coming

out in

baptism.

The

nation of

Israel

escaped

their

slave

masters

and were

reborn

in a

way

through

the

crossing

of

the

Red

Sea.

Similarly,

Christian

baptism

represents

the

breaking