Habits of a Healthy Heart, Pt4, Lament

 

March 17, 2024             NOTES NOT EDITED
Habits of a Healthy Heart: Lament
Psalm 13

SIS: The Healthy Habit of “Lament” puts the ball of our sorrow in God’s court.

All but the youngest in our society have at least heard of the trumeter and vocalist, Louis Armstrong. Most know of him by his nickname, Satchmo. Poor and black at the turn of the Twentieth Century was a tough start in life. But, Satchmo would rise above his sorrows and write such memorable tunes as, "Hello Dolly," and "It's a Wonderful World." His tough start in life did not prevent his rise to stardom in both music and movies. Satchmo was a deeply religious man having started working for a Jewish family as a "rag collector" when he was a pre-teen. He wrote many inspirational and spiritual tunes. One of those sprituals has the familiar lines:

"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows my sorrow."

The truth of those lyrics is deep. Nothing is more personal or individualized in the human experience as "sorrow." It can only truly be experienced alone.  As a person called to the sides of individuals and families to offer solace and support in times of sorrow, I learned to never say, "I know how you feel." No matter how deeply acquainted with grief of any particular stripe, we can never really "know" how another person feels sorrow.

There's plenty of "sorrow" in our world. It has led me to the next offering in my series "Habits of a Healthy Heart." Now, I'm not suggesting that we seek out "sorrow," but I am going to show you from the Word of God the godly discipline of "Lamenting."

Sorrow is a universal experience of humanity. Lamenting is a strategy to wrest hope from the grip of pain and misery. Lamenting is a "spiritual discipline," as much a confession, simplicity, and grit that we have already examined.

A lament is a form of prayer that specifically targets sorrow and develops the "grit" to deal with it in a godly way that ends in unbridled hope.

The Bible actually teaches us a “healthy habit” of lamenting that will lighten the load of our sorrow and turns as scars into stars, our pain into gain, and our difficulties into God’s design for blessing.”

Lament is an outdated word in our modern vocabulary but holds a very prominent place in the Bible, especially in the Psalms. There is even an entire—mostly underread—book in the Bible titled, “Lamentations.”

The dictionary has a pretty good definition of lament: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. In a Biblical sense lament is also associated with “deep regret.”

The word, lament and its forms, only appears a few times in the Bible, but the idea of “mourning because of hardship or lamenting because of the consequences of sin,” is prominent throughout the Bible.

As Jesus was suffering on the cross He actually practiced the Biblical discipline of regret. Just before he died at about 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus lamented saying, ““Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mat. 27:46.

As an orthodox Jew, Jesus knew the Old Testament. In His time of deep sorrow and pain he quoted from one of the Psalms of Lament, Psalm 22. About 50 of the Psalms, one-third, are Psalms of Lament.

Lamenting is an act of faith in the face of great failure or sorrow. Lamenting is more than feeling sad or sorrowful. Sorrow is an experience; lamenting is a strategy. It is through practicing the habit of lament that we put ourselves completely in the care of God with full trust in His power and love.

Suffering makes us feel like we have lost control of our lives. Pain has a way of deafening our ears to where we cannot discern the voice of God. Lament allows us to throw ourselves into the lap of Almighty God and feel His strong arms and hear is tender whisper in our ear.

Exodus 3:7 reminds us that God’s ear is tuned to our laments.   The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

Lamenting is a roadmap through the “valley of the shadow of death” to get us from a place of deep travail to an abiding trust in God. That’s why I call lament, “A strategy for hope.”

A prayer of lament moves through four important stages. Psalm 13 is a prayer of lament and demonstrates the practice of lamenting. Let’s read it together:

(NIV84) For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

1. A CRY TO GOD (V1)

How long, O LORD? That is, YHWH. God’s covenant Name.

The most fundamental aspect of lamenting, or any prayer for that matter, is sending it to the RIGHT ADDRESS. All the wailing and whining and gesticulating and gyrating will not solve your problem if you don’t direct it to the Only True God Who has both the desire and the power to do something about your problem.

For those of you who may not be aware, billions of Muslims began a month long fast last Sunday in a celebration called, Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It has a special significance in Islam. It is during this month that Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran - Islam's holy book - were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (copied).

This is a holy month of deep prayer and devotion to Allah, the god of Islam. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Prayer is another. Charity, Reciting the “Shahada,” There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God," and making a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca round out the list.

Many of the nearly 2 billion Muslims are extremely devout and sincere in regard to their belief and practices of Islam. However, all the sincerity in the world is as powerless as a feather against a tornado. The effectiveness of faith, including prayer, is not measured by how “sincere” they might be but whether they actually connect with the One True God—Yahweh of the Old Testament revealed as Jesus in the New.

I’ve often told people, “Even a bad prayer can get you to a good place if You cry out to God!”

God is big enough and loving enough to take our complaints. His shoulders are broader the expanse of the heavens. Laments begin by sending one’s problems, pain, suffering and sorrow to the right person. 

Jesus followed this same pattern in teaching His disciples to begin their prayers, “Our Father Who Is In Heaven.” Unless and until you direct your lament to the Right Address, your cries will go unheard.

2. A COMPLAINT (1-2)

1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

David just doesn’t double-down on his complaint. He double-double-downs. Four times he almost utters a painful grunt with those two words, “How long!” These words always have feeling of desperation and note of contempt. They are common in Laments, almost universal. But it isn’t just in the Psalms we see this type of complaining to—and about—God by His children.  Habakkuk also complained saying,

1:2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?

Complaining to God about His actions, or lack thereof, is so common it is a primary aspect of the relationship God has with us. We seem to always be complaining. There is a type of complaining or grumbling that God considers sin. The Israelites grumbling in the Wilderness for example.

But, there is another type of complaining that, for lack of a better description, I call, being human. Lamenting is not JUST COMPLAINING. The Key to successful lamenting is not our complaining, but our compliance as we will see in a moment. Expressing our deepest emotions to God in times of great travail is accepted by God with mercy and grace. As long as our complaints are the natural explosion of our emotional state, God will have more than enough grace to listen patiently. We must, however, never cross the line from complaining to CONDEMNING God.

The complaint in a Lament is more a description of what is troubling us deeply. Remember, even Jesus bumped into despair while on the cross asking, “Why have you forsaken me.” So, complaining to God about a sorrow, suffering, or situation in our life is perfectly within the bounds of Lament . . . as long as we complain with an attitude of full surrender to the Sovereignty and Majesty of God.

3. CONSIDERATION (PETITION) V3-4

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

The NASB and others use the words, “consider me.” This is the language of negotiation. In a two-party contract there must be something called, “consideration,” for each party. Each party must receive some benefit from the relationship. David’s consideration is clear:  GOD SOLVES HIS PROBLEM! But, what does David offer to God for consideration. The short answer is: NOTHING! We have nothing God needs. We have nothing to bargain with.

[When Amanda lie dying].

However, David does not come to God empty-handed, at least not as David saw it. He was asking for consideration and in part that would demonstrate the “God is indeed good and powerful.”  David was pointing out to God that God’s Good Name might be disgraced if the “evil triumphed over good” as in the faithful being overrun by the ungodly.

Often in Laments you will see this kind of bargaining for consideration. I think we would be wise to be careful not to overplay the “And It Will Look Good for You God” card. But, I think we should outline to God, if not for His clarification but our own, exactly why our petition fits withing the will and providence of God.

4. AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (v5)

5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

We should always pray with this end in view.  We should always “enter into the valley of the shadow of death” with absolute assurance that somehow in some way, God is going to get us to the other side.

Trust is simply an affirmation that you believe God is Who He says He is and will do What He said He’d do.

We trust in some-thing, actually many things, all the time. For example, when you came in today and sat in the chair, did you do scientific testing on it to see if it could hold your weight BEFORE you sat down?

Have you ever flown in an airplane? That requires a high level of trust. In fact, the airlines don’t even try to impress you to gain your trust.  Think about it: what do they call the place your plane departs from? The terminal. That’s not an inspiring word as you climb into a tube of thin metal held together by nuts and bolts. And, for most people they look for tickets on the cheapest flight available. You put yourself in the hands of the “lowest bidder.” Then as you near your destination the attendant announces, “Please prepare the cabin for the final approach!” Final approach at the terminal! Doesn’t instill trust if you think about it.

When we get into an airplane we are putting ourselves in the complete care and control of someone else. That’s trust. So the degree of trust comes from, “Who is it we are putting our trust in.”

It all comes down to this: either we can trust Almighty God, Yahweh, to hear our laments and care for us, or we can . . . well, really, if we can’t trust God—what’s left?

Your Lament will be Lame if you don’t get to the STAGE OF AFFIRMING YOUR TRUST IN GOD. You will simply be left to stew in your sorrow until you are but a feast for the cannibal of despair.

Learning to Lament is a strategy to get from soaking in sorrow to singing with joy. The final stage of a Lament is what anchors a believer’s life in hope:

5. RESOLUTION: A VOW OF PRAISE (6)

I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Prayers of Lament always end on a positive note, no matter how negative your feelings may continue to be. As believers our faith is driven by the locomotive of facts, not the caboose of feelings. Feelings have their place, but not at the front of the faith train.

“I will sing” is the counter-weight to the cry, “How long.” All Psalms of Lament have these two book-ends that demonstrate that God always gets us “to the other side.”

Remember I told you the story of Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong who rose from horrible poverty to unmatched celebrity. Remember the words of his song:

Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows my sorrow.

Well, that’s not all the lyrics to that song of course. It goes like this:

Sometimes I'm up
Sometimes I'm down
Oh, yes, Lord
Sometimes I'm almost to the ground
Oh, yes, Lord

Oh, nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Glory, Hallelujah

Oh, every day to you I pray
Oh, yes Lord
For you to drive my sins away
Oh, yes Lord

Oh, nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows but Jesus