Video Transcript: Individual Laments

We took a look at the whole of this book of Psalms last time and saw the variety of  expressions in it as well as a variety of tools by which the psalmist convey meaning. One of  the things that I suggested that time is that there are a variety of different kinds of Psalms or  at least, there are groupings of Psalms which seem to be alike one another. Now, various  scholars have suggested different ways in connecting those psalms to one another. They talk  about different groupings. My own preference is to talk about eight groupings. And the eight  groupings are as I looked at before with you, individual lament, cries of the individual in times  of distress, communal lament, cries of the community, in times of distress, hymns of praise  which celebrate God's goodness and character, songs of confidence, which are really  declarations of trust in God, particularly during difficult times, Royal Psalms, which sing in  praise of Yahweh, and also the true King, He is the true king, but also the other kings the  monarchs the those in the line of David who sit on the throne, and rule in Yahweh's stead  psalms of Zion, which are kind of like national anthems praising the earthly residence of  Yahweh that would be the, the temple where the Ark of the Covenant is as the throne of God  the mercy seat before which the people would be called to appear. Thank Psalms which are  expressions and appreciation of Yahweh's earthly deliverance, and then wisdom or priestly  instruction, which are poems containing condensed wisdom or teachings to be passed along  by memorization from one generation to the next. Now for today, we're going to take a look at individual laments, we're going to look at several of the psalms in this type of Psalm  collection, and see how these individual laments give expression to that larger theme the  cries of individuals in times of distress notice, in this list of these psalms, as I have read the  Psalms, and tried to assess what kind they are, or what collections they might fit into. And  these things are somewhat arbitrary, because we don't have these directly in the Psalms  themselves. But in this list, notice how many of the psalms are individual laments, I think, that expresses something which is resonant to our life experiences, we find ourselves saying, oh,  woe is me, we find ourselves saying, why did that happen to me, we find ourselves saying,  How am I going to get out of this, we find ourselves in situations of difficulty, and we seek  help from others, but also we cry out to God during those times. Let's take a look at several of those. For instance, Psalm 6. Notice that this Psalm has a title for the Director of Music with  stringed instruments. So there are some of those things that relate to how this song was  originally sung or performed. We have it according to the sheminith, which we really don't  know what it means, but it may well be a particular popular tune, or it could be a kind of beat  or tempo or style like reggae or something like that. This one is declared to be a Psalm of  David. And notice that psalm six occurs early in the book of Psalms, which makes sense  because most of the songs of David occur early in the Psalter. Now, notice that this psalm is  directly related to David's relationship with God, Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or  discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint, Heal me, Lord, for my  bones are in agony. You begin to get a picture of a person who's not gotten much sleep. A  person who is experiencing great difficulty, a person who feels that he is out of touch with  God for some reason that there's some animosity that's built up between them and he's not  entirely certain why. David goes on to express his anguish. My soul is in deep anguish, how  long Lord, how long term Lord, and deliver me Save me because of your unfailing love. The  psalm continues to express these kinds of ideas, the idea of torture, torment, pain, frustration, lack of sleep, oppression from the outside, but also intermixed with all of this, you see that  David is aware that for some reason, he himself is not in good terms with God, that he  probably has done something wrong, or that the world may itself be out of balance. And that's why he can ask God to make it right because he believes that in spite of whatever is gone  wrong, God is still in control. And God can do something about this. And God promises to do  something about this. Notice in verse nine, the Lord has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord  accepts my prayer. David is aware after his time of wrestling with faith, and in the depths of  his difficulty, God is in fact, his greatest ally, and God will come to his rescue, even goes on to say my enemy, all my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish, they will turn  back and suddenly be put to shame. These are the ideas of someone who recognizes that God will indeed follow through on promises made, and that these promises of God are the source  of our confidence in life. A few things to think about with regard to the Psalm, the dedication 

and instructions, as I mentioned, notice also and become increasingly aware of this the  synonymous parallelism that's used throughout most of the expressions of poetry in the book  of Psalms are in fact, synonymous parallelism, where the two lines by cola are reflective of  one another in terms of meaning, using different words. Notice also the interspersing of  declarations about suffering and questions to God, why this is happening, or why God is  silent, or why God is not acting quickly, to remedy the situation, so that in the frustrations of  life, we can challenge God because we know that God wishes for things to be good and right  and intends to bring them all out into that direction. But at the same time, understanding that this is not a perfect world, and we live in the tension between the already and the not yet.  The already of knowing God's promises to us knowing what salvation is for David and for  ancient Israel, it were those it was those times of deliverance for us more specifically,  understanding what Jesus has done as God's agent become among us as God incarnate. And  then also note that the Psalms almost invariably end up with a confidence God has heard God will help. Most of the psalms of lament very clearly indicate that there's a confidence that God is going to resolve things, even if I can't see it right now. A second example of individual  laments is one of my favorites, a very dark, two thirds of a psalm plus a very bright third of a  psalm, Psalm 22. Notice again, that this is a Psalm of David. But when we begin to read it, our first thoughts tend to be Jesus. You know the words, My God, My God, why have you forsaken  me? We'll talk more about that in a little bit. But we need for the moment to suspend our  understanding that Jesus used these words when he was on the cross and return to ancient  Israel in the time of David, trying to imagine what kinds of circumstances might have  produced this response from David's own life. David goes on to say, Why are you so far from  saving me so far from my cries of anguish, notice his sense of being alone and helpless, and  also spiritually dead or spiritually bereft of any close contact with God, Oh, my God, I cry out  by day, but you do not answer by night, but I have, I find no rest. But even now with two  hugely dark statements of David's existence, notice that he immediately jumps to a sense of  confidence that God, even though God is silent, is there and will hear Yet you are enthroned  as the Holy One. You can almost see the glory of God in tabernacle. David live during the days of the tabernacle, where the glory of God would appear in the holy place, the most holy place  above the Ark of the Covenant as God's portable throne on earth. You are enthroned as the  holy one you are the one Israel praises that people would stand around and they would sing  praises to God. In you, our ancestors put their trust Moses and others during the days of the  wilderness, the time of the judges, others David's own family, his background, a line of faith,  they trust it and you delivered them and he can mark those statements are those times in  history where God was their salvation to you they cried out and were saved and you they  trusted and we're not put to shame. He's speaking about the possibility that this God who has not given up the rule of the universe will come to his aid. But look at the next words. I am a  worm and not a man scorned by everyone and despised by the people All who see me mock  me, they hurl insults, shaking their heads, he trusts in the Lord, they say, Let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him. So David is well aware that even though  God can and probably will rescue him, right now, he doesn't feel like it's happening or going  to happen anytime soon. But he does back off again and talk about the trust that he can  have. Yet you brought me out of the womb, you made me trust you even at my mother's  breast. From birth, I was cast on you from my mother's womb, you have been my God. And  notice those wonderful lines of synonymous parallelism. Do not be far from me, he prays for  trouble is near and there's no one to help notice some of the images that come next. Again,  this is why this psalm became so powerful in Jesus's own reciting of it and thinking about it as  he was on the cross. Roaring lions tear their prey, open their mouths wide against me, I am  poured out like water, all of my bones are out of joint My heart has turned to wax and it is  melted within me my mouth is dried up like a potsherd. And my tongue sticks to the roof of  my mouth, you lay me in the dust of death. Those are words, something horrible happened to  David something beyond what we mostly will ever have to endure. And yet we resonate with  his feelings. And certainly Jesus resonated with those on the cross. Look at these things, dogs  surrounding the pack of villains encircle me they pierced my hands and my feet. That sounds  like Jesus doesn't. But remember, originally, this was David's expressions of the things that 

happened to him. All my bones are on display the people stare at and gloat over me. They  divide my clothes among them, they cast lots of My garment. This could have been when  David was with the Philistines, and the people were trying to rip him apart. And they they had  no use for him anymore. We don't know when this happened. But certainly these kinds of  things happen to David. And then David continues his his requests for deliverance. And notice how suddenly it turns at verse 22, where David all of a sudden says, I will declare your name  to my people in the assembly, I will praise you you who fear the Lord praise Him. All you  descendants of Jacob, honor him, revere him, all you descendents of Israel, for he has not  despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him,  but has listened to his cry for help. And then the praise just continues to multiply and build  and it is a powerful psalm of praise. Now, here's some reflections on Psalm 22, which I  encourage you to read and reread. Jesus obviously knew this Psalm and found in it a strong  comparison between his circumstances, and those of David. David's tormentors use a variety  of demeaning words and actions to accomplish their persecutions. What I find particularly  interesting though, is that the first two thirds of the psalm are very negative, describing in  horrible detail the awful things that are happening to David, but the last third suddenly breaks out into song of deliverance to be shared with God's people at worship. It's almost like David  already has deliverance before he writes the psalm, but he wants to reiterate what he went  through in order to come to that point where he can share the Good News of deliverance. It's  an individual lament, but the result needs to be shared with the people. One more example of an individual lament this is probably the darkest Psalm in the entire collection, Psalm 88 a  Song of Heman the Ezrahite or Ethan the Ezrahite. Notice the words to Psalm 88, where the  person who is writing this is extremely feeling alone and forsaken. But what's particularly  striking about it is that the psalm ends by talking to God as the one who has above all  rejected him. Notice in verse 13, but I cry to you for help Lord in the morning, my prayer  comes before me, Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? The last verse of  the Psalm You have taken from me, friend and neighbor and darkness is my closest friend.  There's a sense a sense in this psalm that I'm not even Sure you're around, there are hints of  confidence. But at the same time, it's very difficult. Couple of notes about this Psalm. It's a  song as a seer, rather than a song sheer according to the title. And that means that this  would have been an unaccompanied song, you can almost hear someone singing it as a solo  by himself, or maybe before a crowd in a darkened auditorium. It signals that horrible nature  of the song, I am left alone, no one shares my pain with me. It is in fact, the darkest Psalm in  the entire collection. And even according to Heman God seems to be the enemy. At least from his limited perspective, there's almost no concluding note of confidence in rescue or  salvation. But we've all been there with him, haven't we? Times when we wondered, where's  God in all of this? Yet, there are notes of hope and praise throughout, and a sense of  confidence that even when I can't feel confident, somehow God will remain with me. We have  more of that in the New Testament. But there's some of that here already. A few reflections on the individual laments, we live in a world that often thinks of worship and its songs are mostly praised worship, delight all of that. But these laments help us remember that we are needy  people too the give voice to the cries of our hearts, and especially to those that are too often  left in the shadows of the lonely laments reminds us of our dependence upon God no matter  what the circumstances of our lives and we ought not to ignore these great and powerful and  needed Psalms as part of the worship of our lives and our understanding of our faith.