Sermon – Psalm 5 - Prayers of Lament

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Psalm 5- Prayers of Lament

June 16, 2013

We have been looking at the Psalms to learn how to worship. We have found that worship prepares us for the storms of life. We have seen that worship is not limited to us in church but is something all of creation does. And we have seen that the object of our worship is a God of justice who feeds the hungry, releases the captives and heals the sick. For us to worship mean that we do what we were created to do and that means to participate in God's work in this world. Today we will see how to worship with injustice falls on us. How can we worship a God of justice when we experience just the opposite? Worshiping at times like these is called lamentation. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Psalm 5:1-12 ^NIV Psalm 5:1 For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. ² Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. ³ In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. ⁴ You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. ⁵ The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. ⁶ You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors. ⁷ But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. ⁸ Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies-- make straight your way before me. ⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. ¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you. ¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. ¹² For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

In California, this time of year, there is a weather phenomena called, “June Gloom”. Usually Southern California is blessed with blue skies and bright sunshine, but in the morning hours of June clouds blow in from the Pacific Ocean to cover the land like a blanket. Brightness is replaced by gloom.

Haven't we all experienced gloom in our own lives? There are times when we just don't feel like singing God's praises. The world seems to be a gloomy place. Things happen to us in the world we live in that make it difficult to praise God. I don't have to tell you what these things are. We have all experienced them. And when they happen the last thing we want to do is to praise God. So if worship is just about singing praises to God, what do we do when we just don't want to? Thankfully worship is not just about praising God. There is another aspect of worship. It is what we do when praises just can't come from our lips. And it is called a lamentation.

Psalm 5 is an example of a lamentation. The psalmist is in distress. He is sighing, crying and pleading with God. Possibly he has been up all night and is about to enter the temple for morning worship. And so he prays a prayer of lament.

A lamentation is always addressed to our creator. The psalmist spoke this prayer to Yahweh, the Lord, my King and my God. When we experience injustice and unfairness in our world we have privilege of taking our complaints directly to God. We can do this in worship. Worship prepares us for the times when awful things happen. And it is in worship that we can bring our complaints to God when they do.

The psalmist complaint to God is that he was a victim of gossip. People have been telling lies about him. He is oppressed by hurtful and slanderous words. His oppressors are wicked, evil, boastful and speakers of lies. And, of course, this goes against everything that God stands for. So why does God allow this situation to go on? Worship is a safe place where we can bring our complaints to God. Whatever it is that bothers us, our grief, our pain, our suffering, we can bring in to God in prayer. Worship is not just some happy place where we joyfully sing God's praises. Is is also the place where we bring our concerns that the world is not the way God wants it to be. And so in worship we demand that God do something about it.

The psalmist wants God to do something about his problems. He asks God to listen to his prayers. He wants God to heed what he has to say. And he wants God to listen, really listen, to his cries. This is our promise that when we come to worship and bring our problems with us, in Jesus Christ, God does listen to us. God does hear our prayers. God does heed us and will respond to us.

The psalmist also wants God to lead him in the straight paths. Too often when we experience evil we want to do evil in return. We mistakenly think that this is the meaning of an “eye for and eye” and a “tooth for a tooth”. God does not want us to retaliate against those who harm us. God does not want us to judge. God will take care of all of that. What God wants is for us to continue to be a loving and generous people participating in God's work of redeeming a sinful world.

Here is a example of someone who knows something about prayers of lament. Angelina Atyam lives in northern Uganda. In 1996 138 students from her daughter's school were abducted. Eventually 109 students returned but Angelina's daughter remained in captivity for seven years. During this time Angelina experienced anger and bitterness. She had difficulty worshiping especially the prayer that talks about forgiving our debtors. But she continued to worship and eventually God allowed her to forgive and joy replaced her anger. After her daughter returned she continued to worship and pray for the other children who are victims of violence. http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/themedarticles.php/1185?pg=all

Even though the psalmist is experiencing great hardship he still puts his trust in the Lord. This is an acknowledgment that God has been faithful in the past. And God will be faithful in the future. And so we can be confident that God will not tolerate evil doers, and that we will experience a better day. Trusting God gives us great hope that our futures will be bright. And so when we experience gloom we can come to worship filled with hope and singing God's praises. This is exactly what the psalmist did. As the sun came up after a long night of prayer he entered the temple to sing God's praises in worship filled with the hope that God blesses the righteous, and surrounds them with his favor as with a shield. (from v. 12)

The people of Southern California see the “June Gloom” as a blessing. The relentless summer sun will soon heat their days to over 100 degrees, their lawns will soon turn brown and die. But these days in June are wonderful. The clouds from the Pacific keep the temperatures at a comfortable 70 degrees, natural air conditioning. But as June gives way to July the marine layer burns off earlier and earlier each day until it is no more. Everyone enjoys “June Gloom” and hopes that it will last.

Would that we experience our gloom as a blessing from God. Protecting us from further trouble and preparing us for a brighter future. We will experience this if we bring our lament to God in worship, offering up our complaints and trusting that God will act. Then our gloom will turn to joy as we sing praises to our creator. Let us pray.

Lord in heaven, our God and our King, we bring to you this day our prayers of lament. There are many things wrong in this world, and we don't understand why you allow evil to continue. But we trust in your faithfulness that one day your justice will prevail on earth. We are filled with hope that you will restore us and fill us with joy. This we pray in the one with ears to hear us, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.