Psalm 13

Today's scripture is taken from Psalm 13. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord, my God. Light up my eyes. Let's I sleep the sleep of death. Let's my enemies say I have prevailed over him. Let's my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 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. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his words. The preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter three and verse four says that there is a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

Or the sisters, there is no denying the fact that you and I are emotional beings. We were created to express feelings. Emotions in that sense are a good thing. But like all good things in this fallen world, our emotions are tainted by sin. And therefore our emotions cannot be trusted. We can't trust them. We are people too often who laugh when we should be crying and who cry when we should be laughing. And that's the dilemma, isn't it? We have these emotions, but we just because of sin don't know how to express them rightly. Brothers and sisters, this is why I'm so thankful and glad that we have the Psalms. For the Psalms, they give for us, they give us a blueprint for how we ought to express our emotions. They teach us how to rejoice and how to express righteous indignation and how to show gratitude, but most importantly, the Psalms teach us how to lament. The songs of poetry that we find in the book of Psalms, the brothers and sisters teach God's people how to deal with difficulty and suffering and pain in this world. They meet us, the Psalms meet us and minister to us in our time of need. I remember a couple of years ago, we were with some family and some friends. And a woman in the group wanted to encourage another woman and tell her a story about a time that she had been encouraged by her. The woman was telling about a time when she was low, when she was down and she needed some encouragement. And she said that she called up this other woman and the woman encouraged her to read Psalm 13. And right there in that group, as she was recalling that story, she began to recite from memory Psalm 13. And as she recited that song, it was evident that that song had met her in her time of need. She had never, she had never forgotten how God had spoken to her through that song. And it was clear as she recited it. Brothers and sisters, that's what the Psalms do. They meet us in our time of need. And Psalm 13 is one of those Psalms. Psalm 13 is an individual Psalm of lament. We know that it was written by David because it says so. We see that in the first, in the opening stands it, it says a Psalm of David. But in many respects, that is all we know about this song. We can make speculations and scholars have regarding when the Psalm was written, but we don't know for sure. There is the mention of an enemy in verse four, but since David doesn't tell us, we can't determine who that enemy is. We of course know that David had had plenty of enemies. And so, like I said, we know very little about the context of this song. However, I think the ambiguity of the details of the Psalm are intentional. This, this Psalm is for God's people. It teaches God's people how to lament. That is a word that is not familiar to us, although it should be. In fact, of all people that should be familiar with the term lament, it should be Christians. Lament is the emotional response to difficulty or to suffering or to pain. Some refer to it as grief and some refer to it as mourning or even sorrow. Wisdom, literature in the Bible, particularly the Psalms are littered with lament, said that maybe one third of the Psalms are lament Psalms, which ought to be the appropriate response, appropriate response to sin and to evil and to the brokenness that you and I experience in this world. But it is important to remember, as I said before, we can't trust our emotions. And therefore, we need a blueprint. A blueprint for how we are to lament so that our emotions do not destroy us and believe you, me, brothers and sisters, if left unchecked without direction, without a blueprint, our emotions would destroy us.

But thank God we have Psalm 13 and others like it. Like Psalm, we read this morning during the invocation, Psalm 31, for these Psalms, particularly Psalm 13, show us how to respond to difficulty and it takes us through three stages of Christian lament. Stage one, stage one, the stage one of Christian lament is the pain of the predicament. You don't have to live long to realize that this life is full of predicaments. And I'm sure you have enough proof to agree that Christians are not spared from these predicaments. Brothers and sisters, Christians, they do get depressed. You and I get depressed, believers get sick. You and I experience pain and we get discouraged and we get ravaged with fear. And you and I even encounter enemies in this world. In this world, we are told there will be trouble and brothers and sisters there is trouble around every corner it seems. So if that's the case, why are you hiding your pain? Why are you masking your trouble? Listen brothers and sisters, know that there are stigmas, that there are stigmas around depression. I know that fear and anxiety are sins and so we are less likely to confess these sins to one another and let others know that we are dealing with these things. Too often, particularly in the church, people feel the need to hide their struggles and to mask their pain. They feel the pressure to not share because they're fearful that they will be considered unspiritual or that they don't have enough faith.

Listen brothers and sisters, David here found himself in a low place. He was in a predicament that brought him down and there was no hiding his pain. There was no hiding his struggle. There was no sugar coating. He was upfront and honest with his doubts and with his struggles. His words are intense and you can actually hear the desperation in his words. How long, O Lord, how long will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? David's world appears to be crushing in on him and he has hit rock bottom and it has caused him to question the goodness and the presence of God in many respects. David has lost sight of the character of God. He assumes that the reason he is dealing with this situation, the reason why he is in this predicament is because God has forgotten him and his purposefully he is doing it on purpose that he is hiding his face from David. So David is crying out an agony. Oh Lord, how long must this go on? How long will you treat me like this and allow me to deal with this agony? Have you forgotten me, O Lord? Can you relate to David here? We have all. You've all been dealing with a predicament, haven't we? Huh, this COVID-19 and coronavirus has taken us off guard, caught in us off guard. I'm almost, I can almost guarantee you have asked during this time the same question that David has asked. How long, O Lord? How long? How long before I get to gather and worship with the saints again? How long before I can worship again with the saints? How long must I deal with the loneliness and the boredom that filled my days? How long must I deal with the fear and the sickness and worry about putting on a mask every time I go out the house? How long will I have to deal with these children driving me crazy day after day after day? Come on, come on, brothers and sisters, tell the truth. I know you have asked at some point during this ordeal how long, O Lord?

Perhaps some of you have even thought God has forgotten me. He's forgotten me, he's forgotten me. Maybe some of you have gone so far even as if to say, well, perhaps God is more concerned about those frontline health workers than he is with my small little predicament.

Too quick but important points about this stage before we move on to the next. God, brothers and sisters, has not forgotten you. He is not forgotten you. Here's the interesting thing to note. David uses the covenant name of Yahweh when he asks how long? The nature of the covenant keeping God is that he doesn't forget you. He didn't forget them in Egypt. God didn't forget his people in Babylon. He is always attentive to their cries. Listen, brothers and sisters, God does not forget you. I remember it was 2010 and it was, we were having, we were praying in a prayer meeting because Haiti had just been struck by an earthquake. And as we were praying for the saints there, as we were praying for those who had been afflicted there, which struck me like it had never struck me before, that God was just as present with us there in that room praying, as he was with those who were dealing with the affliction in Haiti. That's the omnipresence of the Lord, brothers and sisters. He is everywhere present all the time. He does not forget his people, point two. God is okay with your questions and complaints in the midst of your sorrow and despair. The Psalms again are littered with questions of how long, oh Lord, or why is this happening to me? For the thorn to be removed from his side, brothers and sisters in the garden, our Lord Jesus asked a question to see as he was agonizing, could this cup be taken from me? Is there another way? Listen, brothers and sisters, your questions don't scare. They don't stump or they don't offend God. He knows questions even before you ask them. So listen, take your complaints to him. Don't come to Facebook. Don't take him to Instagram. Don't take him to your spouse. Don't take him to your friends. Take your complaints and your questions to Yahweh. He's there to listen. He's there to meet you in your pain and in your agony. He is there to wipe away your ugly cry tears. It's there. Take him and ask how long, oh Lord, brothers and sisters, this is what makes lament distinctly Christian. In our predicaments, we don't cry out to the world. We cry out to God. That's what we do. That's what lament is. It is a crying out to God. I heard a preacher say this week that it is okay to freak out. That in the midst of a trying difficult situation, it's okay to freak out. You just can't stay there. He says you can't stay on that street or move into that house. Brothers and sisters, that is so, so true. That is why we need a blueprint or a roadmap because left to ourselves we would stay right in the midst of our predicament. That is why the next stage of this, of lament is so important. Stage two, prayer and petition. If you can't stay in your despair, and the only place to turn is to prayer. David realizes that his only hope in this predicament is to besiege the Lord. So he cries out and presents his request. Consider, consider and answer me, oh Lord, he says in verses three and four. Light up my eyes. I sleep the sleep of death. Less my enemies say I have prevailed over him. Less my phones rejoice because I am shaken. Your prayer, prayer demonstrates your trust in the Lord. You are in a difficult situation when you have hit rock bottom and there seems like there's no way that you can get up. You need help. You want to go to someone who can do something about your predicament. They have the resources, the connections, the answers, whatever it is, you need, you believe that they can help you. That's why you go to them. Well, brothers and sisters, Psalm 46 declares that our God is a very present help in a time of need. Isn't that what Martin Luther penned up in the line from his song, A mighty fortress is our God, our helper. He amidst the flood of mortal hills prevailing. David knows that God is his only hope. God does not intervene. That's it. He's done. He's done. And so he desperately cries out to him. Light up my eyes, O Lord. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see you rescue me, rescue me from this predicament. What has been your response in the midst of this COVID-19 predicament? I hope it has been to pray. I hope it's been to pray. When those children are working your last nerve, I hope you cry out to the Lord. When that math problem you are trying to help your teen with is causing you to question if education is even necessary. Pray. When that phone call comes from a loved one saying they are not feeling well and fear begins to well up in your heart, brothers and sisters pray. When the job that once provided for you and your family is now gone, brothers and sisters pray. When the empty house screams at you that you still haven't met the one of your dreams. Pray. Brothers and sisters prayer is always the right response. It's always the right response to your predicament. You can't stay in the house of despair. But the door to pray is always open. Philippians 4, 6 and 7 says, do not be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanks given, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, it's not magic. But it's how it works. Prayer leads to peace and praise. Some things just can't be explained. It's not magic. And what I mean by that is not magic is that you might not just pray one time for like two minutes and think God is going to work everything out and you're going to have peace right away. It might require you going and besieging the Lord and asking, seeking and knocking at the Lord's door for him to answer you. It's not magic. The next stage of lament. Mirror is what Paul tells the Philippians. Prayer turns to praise. But you say Paul said that the peace of God will encourage your heart. Yes, yes. But experiencing the peace of God in the midst of a predicament leads to praise. That's stage three. Peace and praise. Peace and praise. Listen to David and Psalm 13, 5 and 6. 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. But as a sister to transition in verse 5 is striking. The suddenness of David's transition has baffled some scholars. They struggle to make sense of the fact that David was just on the floor crying his eyes out with no hope and discourage and in the full of despair. And now he is all of a sudden rejoicing and praising the Lord. They just can't make sense of it and it's caused some critical scholars to make some boneheading conclusions about this. Like David was manipulating God in some way by his actions. But the only reason they are baffled is because they have not walked with the covenant of keeping God like David had walked. Like I said, it's not magic. It's just how it works. Prayer leads to praise. While David was praying for the sisters, he was reminded who he was praying to. And he was struck by how faithful God had been to him and had promised to be. He was struck with peace and praise as he trusted in the steadfast love of God. I remember David had been in a myriad of precarious situations and the Lord had delivered him out of them all. Why? Why should he stop now? So he began to trust and rejoice in the salvation was his not just past salvation, not just current salvation, but future, the future salvation that would be guaranteed. Prayings, praying puts your situation into perspective. Salvation you realize is always the outcome for the people of God. You are saved, you are being saved and you will be saved. It may not look like it now, but listen. You can trust and rejoice in your salvation. Why? Because Jesus has secured it. Oh, your victory and your salvation is in him. Oh, no enemy, no predicament is greater than your sin. And Jesus secured salvation from it through his death on the cross. You can rejoice. You can rejoice with joy as Peter says in first Peter 8. That is inexpressible how rejoice in the salvation. And then listen to what David says. He says I will sing to the Lord. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt down to flee with me. David sings. He sings because he realizes that God had already been more than good to him. He says the Lord has dealt. He has dealt bountifully with him. His blessings have been abundant. His favor has been overwhelming. Yahweh has been good to him. Oh, brothers and sisters, when you pray, your perspective on your predicament changes. You come to the realization that God has dealt bountifully with you. We have. Oh, he has dealt bountifully with you. I want to challenge you this morning. I want to challenge you this morning to take time to think about how good the Lord has been to you. Think about it. Think about it. Think about it. Think about all that he has done. I want you to forget about the coronavirus. I want you to forget about your current situation and your predicament. Being stuck in the house, being cooped up, whatever your situation is, feeling like you don't have any finances or any resources, whatever it may be. I want you to forget about that. I want you to think upon the goodness of the Lord and how good he has been to you. Perhaps you'll sing like the songwriter who said, when I think about the goodness of Jesus and all that he has done for me, my soul shouts hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. Oh, brothers and sisters, it is okay. I want to give you license this morning that lament means it's okay to be down. It's okay to struggle. It's okay to be ravaged with fear and anxiety to mourn these troubling events that we see going on in our world. I think I can even make the point that you should be lamenting, that you should be mourning. This issue, this COVID-19, shows that we live in a sin-sick world, that sin has wreaked havoc on this world. But brothers and sisters, yes, despair. Yes, be fearful. Yes, be full of anxiety. Yes, be full of depression and doubt. But don't stay there. Don't set up shop there. Christians, we lament with hope in the sovereign's covenant keeping God. And we know, and we know that weeping and sadness and trouble and pain and doubt may endure for a night. But brothers and sisters, joy, joy is coming in the morning because Jesus has defeated all of our enemies. He is still on the throne. Yes, we lament, but the sisters, yes, we mourn. Yes, we are troubled, but our hope is in the sovereign God who turns our mourning into joy and into dancing. Oh, I'm trusted in the salvation of the Lord. Let's pray together.