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Stepping into the Psalms
Part I: Feeling Forsaken
Psalm 13
February 17, 2013
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 13
FEELING FORGOTTEN?
Q When was the last time YOU FELT like God had forgotten you?
One of my favorite books on the Psalms was one C. S. LEWIS wrote.
But interestingly enough, he doesn’t talk about psalms like this one, ones we call “laments.”
~* Yet three or four years later, when his WIFE DIED, he really seemed to understand.
“But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find?
A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.
After that, silence.”
CS Lewis, A Grief Observed
Q Do you feel like that NOW?
Even if you AREN’T now, you likely WILL some day.
EXPERIENCED THEOLOGY
The reason I love the Psalms so much is that they don’t simply TEACH us about God (NT) or tell us HOW to LIVE (Torah)
~* The PSALMS INVITE us to EXPERIENCE God.
When I did my grad work, I got to study with Dr. CRAIG BROYLES, who wrote a commentary on the Psalms.
He taught us that, of all the Bible, the Psalms were the MOST FAMILIAR to the Jews.
Psalms is most PARTICIPATORY part of the Bible.
Rather than being TAUGHT by someone above us, we are WORSHIPING, FEELING, and EXPERIENCING ALONGSIDE them.
Psalms is a book of HUMAN EMOTIONS.
I’d bet that any and EVERY MOOD you have experienced is found in the Psalms: JOY, SORROW, DRYNESS, FEAR, DOUBTS, THANKFULNESS, GUILT, COMFORT, and ANGER.
~* The power of the Psalms is they allow us to EXPERIENCE these ALONGSIDE the saints and find DIRECTION to our feelings.
STEPPING INTO THE PSALMS
~* They were specifically written in 1ST PERSON so that the listener could easily BECOME the SPEAKER.
When you read the Psalms, especially ones that meet you where you are at, READ them OUT LOUD so that they become YOUR WORDS.
Q Isn’t it ARTIFICIAL and CONTRIVED to use another’s prayers?
They are like WEDDING VOWS; we are using TRIED and TRUE, age old promises that are better than what we would craft in our youth.
~* We are not PARROTING another person’s words; they become our DEEPLY FELT EXPRESSIONS of...
...prayers for GUIDANCE:
Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
...words of PRAISE:
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
...expressions of JOY:
Psalm 16:2 I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
..and words of pain and confusion:
Psalm 13:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
ON THE JOB TRAINING
Yet they are MORE just ways to EXPRESS ourselves.
“VENTING” may make us feel better and have some value, but at the end you are not any different after venting.
~* They are INSTRUCTIVE, “if you want to experience the result of the psalm, you had better adopt the attitude of the psalm.”
By not just reading the Psalms, but STEPPING INTO THEM, we not only give voice to our emotions and thoughts, but we also learn HOW to RELATE to God.
~* Psalm 13 is the CLEAREST EXAMPLE of the “LAMENT,” crying out to God, not holding back, yet trusting in him.
So if you feel deserted by God, have ever or will ever feel that way, you need to step into this Psalm and not only LEARN HOW to VENT your frustration but how to MOVE ON.
FIGHTING WITH GOD
Psalm 13:1-2 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
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