Category: Lament

Posted on

A Distant God: A Psalm of Lament for the Church

Why, O Lord, are you so distant?

            Why do you stay so far away when trouble rises?

Do you not see your people suffering?

            Can you not hear the prayers of the pained?

We are scared,

            As every step taken feels like a walk in a land mine.

We don’t know where to go and no longer know what to say,

            Will our next step only ignite a fuse? 

Scared of the present,

            Scared of the future.

Fearful of the unknown,

            And we even fear what is known.

The gulf between each other is widening,

            As competing ideologies fuel the division.

We cannot find common ground,

            While distrust, suspicion, cynicism and jealousy prevail.

Socio-Economic division widens like the Grand Canyon.

            Racial tensions feel like they will soon snap.  

Social and Religious Ideologies collide like a train wreck.

            Political Parties refuse to cross the isle.

Stereotypes are over used and have become our default mode.

            Too many in the news media outlet are biased, unethical and bent.

We point the finger,

            And we play the blame game;

With heels dug in and lines drawn,

            The feeling is that the standoff will escalate into a fight.  

We see the speck of dust in the eye of our opponent,

            While ignoring that plank that blocks perspective in our proponent.

We look for a reason to hate and attack,

            We stop learning to listen and to understand.

Tensions are rising,

            Anxiety is increasing.

Anger simmers under the surface,

Because steam needs to be released.

We’re turning on each other,

            Where we should be turning to each other.

Hear our prayer, O Lord,

            Listen! As we cry out to you.

Intercede on our behalf,

            And do not forget us.

Turn your Church into a haven of peace,

            Teach your children to lay down their arms.

Calm our fears,

            So that we may be a calming presence

Let us listen to your still voice,

            Amidst the white noise.

Lead us to the unity and diversity of your Godhead,

            So that we may celebrate our own unity and diversity.

Draw near,

            So that we may draw near to you.

Until the storm passes

We admire and adore you,

            We turn to you in prayer and praise,

            We are shielded and sheltered in the cleft of your Rock.

For you are our hope,

            Our help,

            Our honor, and

            Our Holy One.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)

Posted on

FAITH IN CRISIS: A Psalm of Lament for the Church

How long, O Lord? Must we cry out to your Name?
How long, O Lord? Will our pleas echo in the chamber of your throne-room?
How long, O Lord? Will you turn your face away from
We feel the social distance from you.
Every day the isolation suffers like a prison sentence.
How long will we be forced into solitude?

Every day the news is dar
As we seek to find the light.
The number sickened by COVID-19 climbs,
While the number of available PPE’s diminishes.
Unemployment rates are rising,
As businesses struggle to stay afloat.
With high school seniors, born about the time of 9-11,
Graduating in the midst of a Pandemic.
And churches no longer able to assemble;
The online experience only fills a temporary void,
Like empty calories inside empty church buildings.
How long, O Lord? Till the tide turns?

We look to you for an answer,
But what we hear is white noise.
They say, “God is punishing the Land for its sins:
By closing athletic venues for worshiping athletes;
By shutting down theaters for propping up entertainers;
By collapsing the stock market for embracing greed;
By locking down the parks for focusing on the creation instead of the Creator.”
And when they speak we fall into despair.

Hear our petitions and respond to our cries,
Like a parent who wakes in the night at their child’s cry;
Like a parent who wakes in the night at their child’s cry.
Send us your comfort for we are shaken and fearful,
For we feel abandoned;
For we feel forsaken.
We wait for you in the night,
Knowing the night is always darkest before the dawn.

What shall we do until you speak?
How shall we proceed until you act?
We shall remember your great deeds of the past,
We shall hope and live in your promises.
We shall pray diligently and passionately,
For our own confession and repentance,
And to intercede on behalf of the wounded and afflicted.
We shall sing your praises 
And we shall sing them to the top of our lungs.
We shall be your Comfort to those needing comforting,
And bring the Light to those in the darkness.

For our hope and trust is rooted in you,
And in your salvation through your Son.
As we long for a day when your people will assemble again,
We long for that Day when we assemble in your very presence.
For it is your love that sustains us,
And your grace which holds us together.
And your promise that give us hope.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)
Inspired by Psalm 13 ● Lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow

Posted on

Trying to Psalm 148 When You’re Stuck in Psalm 130

The day is burned into my memory, and was the first marker of hope in four months of darkness. My dad had passed away before Christmas in 2003. He was a recipient of a liver transplant in 1997, but nearly seven years later he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We had a family reunion to say “goodbye” to him at Thanksgiving, and after the first of the year we held a memorial service for him. While each of my brothers spoke, I gave the eulogy. 

What I never expected was how deep and dark the hole I was sinking into was going to be. For three months I never saw the Son’s ray break through the darkness, and there were times when I thought I’d never see the Son’s rays again. What made this journey more difficult was that I was preaching at the time. Every week I was standing before my congregation with a message of hope, given by someone who had all but lost hope. I distinctly remember one Sunday morning when my lips and tongue told the congregation of God’s love and mercy, but my mind was telling me, “I don’t believe it.” I was worshiping from Psalm 148, but emotionally and spiritually, I was living in Psalm 130. 

Psalm 148 is filled with hope, praise and adoration to God. God receives the glory and recognition for his creation. Everyone and everything bursts forth in praise. At the end of Psalm 148 everyone feels good, for God is in control. However, Psalm 130 is filled with despondency. The Psalmist is in the depths of despair and keeps crying out to God, a God who is not responding to the prayers of the Psalmist. It’s hard to strengthen your faith when hope is all but lost. 

So when the Psalmist stands before us and calls out Psalm 148 but you’re stuck in Psalm 130, what can you do? As someone who has been in that situation before, allow me to share with you some thoughts. 

● If you’re looking for a reason for the darkness, you may not find it. Ultimately, does knowing a reason change your response to your situation?  The story of Job places the audience in the “know” but keeps Job in the “unknown.” We know why Job was enduring suffering, but God never explains the reason to him. Maybe God knew Job wouldn’t understand, or maybe God needed Job to act in faith and to praise God in the midst of his pain, not in the absence of it. Never underestimate the power of praising the Light in the midst of darkness. 

● Draw from what you know is true, and your feelings will catch up. That morning I was preaching, I spoke the truth, though emotionally and in the moment I had a hard time believing. Given time, my feelings caught up to truthful faith and I whole heartedly believed what I said was the truth. Even if you’re stuck in Psalm 130, go ahead and sing your heart out in Psalm 148 because at some point, you’ll believe the words in Psalm 148.

● Remember that God’s final answer to suffering is the cross. When your life situation forces you to quote Psalm 22:1, remember that Jesus quoted that same verse as well. Take comfort and knowing that Jesus sits with you, not only through the darkness, but when the Psalmist is calling the assembly to Psalm 148 and you’re stuck in Psalm 130, he is praising God with you and the congregation (see Psalm 22:22;  Heb. 2:12).   

So if you’re stuck in Psalm 130, above anything else, keep reading Psalm 130. Even when the Psalmist cries out to God, his faith is fully entrenched in God, “I wait for the Lord . . . and in his word, I put my hope” (Ps. 130:5). Your faith needs that same entrenchment.

So the day that is burned into my memory is not the day my words and my mind held a crisis of faith. The day burned into my memory is that Sunday morning I turned to Cile and said, “The Son broke through this morning. Today, I worshiped.” What he did for me, he’ll do for you. 

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. Only God is Glorified!)