February 9, 2022

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY

“Psalms of Lament”

​Our last Bible study covered the first books contained in the Psalms which was the Psalms of praise. It is the largest block of Psalms comprised of 74 praise psalms. The second largest body of psalms is the psalms which express sorrow, grief and regret form individuals as well as communities over suffering, pain and stress from problems and anguish which has taken place. This category of sad psalms covers 56 psalms. It is interesting to see that 130 of the 150 total psalms are within these two categories. God wants to hear about the joy and gladness of our hearts. He also wants to hear about the pain and disappointments we encounter. He wants us to share our thanksgiving and praise, but He also wants us to tell Him about the tears we shed and the shattered dreams that break our hearts.
 
On the one hand, God rejoices with us and celebrates our victories:
​

My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing and made music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.  I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, o God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.

(Psalm 108:1-5)

 
Everybody enjoys worship services like that. We all want church to be positive and happy. We love celebrating the goodness of God and glory that comes by His abundant love. It’s great when people are happy at church.
 
But what happens when people are sad.
 
Are we as excited when we face problems and hardship?
Are people as eager to weep together as they are when we shout for joy?
What happens to people when they fail, or meet up with some great hardship?
Is church attendance as great when the Spirit of God leads us to confession and repentance?
 
The altars at church are not as crowded sometimes as they need to be:
 

Have mercy on me, O God,
According to your unfailing love;
According to your great compassion
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
 
For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
And done what is evil in your sight,
So that you are proved right when you speak
And justified when your judge.

(Psalm 51:1-4)

 
We simply do not welcome sorrow and regret in worship and readily as we welcome gladness and praise. We seem to be more comfortable putting on a pageant than we are comfortable with honest reflection and repentance these days. The Psalms teach us that God is eager for us to “Tell Him all about our Sorrows,” as He is to hear our shouts of joy and praise. These psalms of lament teach us that we can be honest and broken before God about the things that trouble us and need to be changed in our hearts.
 
Psalms of Individual Lament
 
There are 46 individual or personal laments throughout the Psalms. This is more that any single form of psalm. The personal lament is written by someone who has experienced some form of spiritual, mental, physical, material suffering. These are cries from someone who needs God to hear their plea. Most times they are certain that God is listening and will hear. There is a tone of certainty that God cares about them and has faith that God will do something about what they are calling on Him to do. These psalms end in praise and thanksgiving for God’s action on their behalf.
 
These Psalms include:
3                      31                    56                    94
5                      35                    59                    102
6                      38                    61                    109
7                      39                    63                    120
13                    40                    64                    130
17                    42/43               69                    140
22                    51                    70                    141
25                    52                    71                    142
26                    54                    86                    143
28                    55                    88
 
Psalm 51 is one of the most popular of the individual or personal lament psalms. It is a humble prayer of forgiveness and personal cleansing from sin. Many believe that it is the prayer of David following his encounter with the prophet Nathan who confronted the king for His sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11:1 – 12:25). David is clearly broken over the fact of his sin,


“For I know my transgression, and my sin is always before me.  Against You and You alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:3-4). David recognized that his sin had violated God’s law (Exodus 20:13-17) and that God had the right to judge him through sending Nathan to make the Lord’s pronouncement. David felt dirty because of what he had done, “…Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin…” (Psalm 51:2-3). David’s sin had clearly separated him from God’s presence which he could not bear to continue, “Let me hear the joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity” (Psalm 51:8-9).
 
David’s sin and God’s absence from him because of it caused the king to ache inside. He was in spiritual pain. He could not rest until he made it right with God. Think of a time in your life when your sins caused you to feel heartache inside and unrest in your spirit.
 
Look at these:

• Psalm 34:18
• Psalm 73:26
• Psalm 147:3

 
God promises to hear the prayers of the broken hearted to give strength and hope. Forgiveness is just a prayer away. Like David in his prayer for forgiveness, we need to acknowledge our need and ask God to cleanse and forgive.
 
Listen to Psalm 51:10-13:
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and renew a right spirit to sustain me. Then will I teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you.”
 
It may be that the only hope we have today for revival in our land is the willingness of God’s people to cry out to God to be forgiveness of our neglect and cold hearts in order that we may teach others the ways of repentance and faith. The Bible talks about the dangers of cold and unrepentant hearts (Jeremiah 18:12; Psalm 95:8-9). Jesus continually confronted people had ears to hear, but would not hear and eyes to see, but would not see (Mark 8:18; Matthew 13:15, Psalm 115:6). We live in the middle of a world of people who need to read the psalms of lament to find out how ready God is to listen, hear and forgive. If only God’s people would cry out in sorrow and shame for our sins and the terrible consequences, they bring. Listen once more to God’s promise: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn for their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Instead of blaming folks, try crying for them. Instead of pointing fingers at others, try lamenting and confessing. Instead of passing the buck, ask God to “Create and clean Heart” in you—then you will be read to teach, lead people back to God.