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SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT

Prayers from the Heart

The Psalms

            Last week, I ended with a psalm – Psalm 51 – that King David – the king with a heart for God – prayed in remorse over his behavior.  Today, I would like to look more closely at the Psalms, because there is no better book in the Bible to help us in our prayer life. 

The Psalms have often been called the prayer book of the Bible or the hymnbook of the Bible.  And the Psalms have been used that way, in the worship of Israel , in our own worship, and in Christian monasteries down through the ages.  Because it is such good training in prayer, most monasteries will read and sing through the entire book of psalms once every few weeks.

            But let me give you a word of caution: the psalms are not a catalogue of inspirational thoughts.  There are many uplifting messages to be found in the Psalms.  About half the Psalms have those kinds of thoughts, but about half the Psalms have other kinds.  And when you open the book of Psalms, you never know what you are going to get.

            John Ortberg says that reading the Psalms is like reading someone’s spiritual journal.  There are ecstatic highs and there are depressing lows.  Things are not flattened out or white-washed in the Psalms.  It is uncensored.  But that’s so that we know that God is part of our whole life – both the good and the bad.  And God wants to hear about it all from us – both the good and the bad.

            When we meet God at every turn in our life, when we feel God’s presence with every step, the Psalms give us words for that.  When we feel as though God doesn’t care, when we feel as though God isn’t listening, when we feel as though God has abandoned us in our time of greatest need, the Psalms give us words for that.

             Scholars who study the psalms have identified about half a dozen different kinds of psalms, with a dozen more subcategories.  Since I only have fifteen minutes, I’ll simply it for you: There are basically two kinds of psalms – happy psalms and sad psalms.  Primarily, the happy psalms are psalms of praise and the sad psalms are psalms of lament.

            We’ll start with a happy psalm, a psalm of praise.  Turn with me to Psalm 103.  Let’s read the first two verses together:

            Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

            Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.

            First of all – a word about poetry.  In English, we know something is poetry by rhyme and meter.  “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.”  Hebrew, however, does not use rhyme and meter.  Hebrew uses parallelism – parallel thoughts expressed either in a similar way or in a contrasting way.  In the first verse, “O my soul,” parallels with, “all that is within me.”  In the second verse, “bless the Lord” parallels, “do not forget,” except in a contrasting way.  So, if you’ve ever wondered why the Psalms are sometimes called the hymn book of the Bible, but there are no rhyming verses – that’s the reason.

            Second, a word about praise.  Why do we praise God?  Does God have a deep ego-need to be praised?  If we forget to tell God how great he is every couple of days, does he go off in a funk?  No.

            We praise, first of all, for our own sake.  When we praise, it heightens our experience.  Have you ever looked over the Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon ?  Do you say, “Ho hum?”  Do you say, “You know, it looks better in pictures I’ve seen.”  No, you say, “Wow, this is gorgeous.  I am astounded.”  And saying it heightens our participation.

            This is true for God as well.  When we praise God, it heightens our experience of God.  “Awesome sunset tonight, God!  Way to go!”

            So, men – when you see a beautiful woman (for you married men – this means your wife!), what do you do?  Do you think to yourself, “When we were first married, I told her she looked good.  She doesn’t need to hear it again?”  No.  (This is another hint!)  You say, “Wow!  You look great!”  It heightens your experience and it heightens her experience as well.  She delights in it, not because she has an ego need, but because it is a sharing of joy.

            So, secondly, we praise God, not because God has an ego need, but because God delights in our praise.  It gives God joy – and God is all about joy!

            Finally, what happens when our experience is heightened and the other’s experience is heightened through praise?  It brings us closer together.  It connects us in joy and that’s good for our relationship. 

            So, when we praise God, it strengthens our relationship with God.  “God, you care for everyone – rich and poor, high and low – I love that about you.”  Or, “You have filled the world with such beauty.  You are awesome!” Or, “You are so patient.  You never give up.  I love that about you.”

            Praise heightens the joy in our relationship with God.  God has made us out of joy to be joyful for the joy of God.

            There are psalms of praise.  Then there are psalms of lament.  If you have ever complained, you have lamented.  Turn to Psalm 42.  Let’s read verses 1-3 and 9-11:

            As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 

When I shall come and behold the face of God?  My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”

            I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?  Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?”  As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”

            Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

            What is the psalmist saying?  “My life is falling apart.  I’m crying day and night.  My health is failing.  People who don’t like me are after me.  And, God, you don’t even seem like you’re around.  You don’t seem to care at all.”

            There are not a lot of specifics about the situation.  That is so we can plug in our own specifics, our own troubles.  And there are various ways that the Psalms identify troubles:

            When a psalm talks about our “enemies,” it often simply means what we think the source of our trouble is.  Most often this is other people – boss, co-worker, neighbor, spouse, other drivers on the Beltline.  But it could also be depression, loneliness, or sin.

            When we’re in trouble, it affects us physically.  We can feel it in our bodies.  When you’re driving down Cottage Grove Road , and all of a sudden you see flashing blue lights in your rear view mirror, what happens in your body?  You get a physical reaction, maybe a strong one, in your head, in your stomach, in your chest, in your shoulders, in your back.  We carry our problems around with us in our bodies.  We’re worried about a test.  We are stressed about our work.  We are mad about a blowup at home.  If we feel it in our bodies, it’s a reminder that this is more than we can handle.  We need to pray.

            Then there are traps – drowning or in a pit.  “I’m struggling.  I can’t get out.  I am powerless.”  And death is the ultimate trap.  This could mean actual, physical death.  Or it simply could mean, “I’ve run out of options.  I don’t see anyway out of this.  I am sunk.” 

Laments even question God himself.  “You know what my friends are saying about you, God?  They wonder where you are.  I’m beginning to wonder myself.  Where are you, God?”

We may be afraid to question God.  It sounds sinful.  But we also don’t want to make God mad.  They may make our situation even worse.  But that is not God’s attitude.  God wants to hear our cries, even critical ones, because that keeps us connected with God.

A word now about a special group of psalms of lament, called “Imprecatory psalms.”  These are psalms that ask God to wreak God’s justice on our enemies in very graphic terms.  Smash their teeth…

            These are unfiltered expressions from the heart of those who have felt great hurt.  But what do they mean for us?  When Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, it is hard to know what to do with this kind of sentiment.

            The best thing I have heard comes from Miraslov Wolf.  He teaches at Yale Divinity School . He is from Croatia and he has seen his share of oppression and genocide.  He says, “Rage belongs before God.”  There is no other safe place for it. 

            And that is true of our whole life.  It belongs before God.  And God wants to hear our problems and our pains, our complaints and our confusion, just as much as God wants to hear our praise.  Maybe even more, because there are more psalms of lament than any other kind.  Lament psalms give us words we are reluctant to say to God

            So, what is your lament?  Do you have deep hurt or anger?  Is there someone you can’t forgive?  Are you stuck?  Do you see no way out?  Are you carrying your suffering around in your body?  Have you run out of hope?

Lament psalms speak with ruthless candor.  They speak what we are afraid to say.  But even in the midst of complaint, there is hope.  “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”

After lament comes delivery and, after delivery, comes thanksgiving.  So, to end, let’s turn to a psalm of thanksgiving – Psalm 32.  This one also happens to be a psalm of confession.  (A few psalms feature multiple genres.)  And since this is Lent, I thought it would be a good one to finish on.  Let’s read verses 3-5:

While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.  Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Whenever we hold things in – whether confession, lament, or even praise – it affects us, often negatively.  Better to let it out, even with God.  Prayer and praise is good for the soul and the body.  Psalms give us words to say what we need to say, what we are struggling to say, in joy or in sorrow, in suffering or in confession.  Psalms strengthen our relationship with God.  And they help us grow hearts for God.