3 - the lament psalm

7/27/2019 3 - The Lament Psalm

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/3-the-lament-psalm 1/15

The Lament Psalm



Review

• Week 1: Introduction to Psalms

–

God expects a life of worship.

• Week 2: The Praise Psalm

–A life of worship is a life of praise.



Job 1:13-19

Job 1:20 (NIV)

At this, Job got up and tore his robeand shaved his head.

Then he fel l to the ground in worsh ip .



Life is tough.

Bad things happen.

We get sad and feel rejected by God.

How do we worsh ip in t imes l ike th is?



The Lament Psalm

Biblical authors, including Job, David,

and Jeremiah wrestled with thesame question.

The product of these struggles was theLament Psalm.

Their writings can guide us in worshipthrough our own times of hardship

and suffering.



The Lament Psalm

Parts of a Lament Psalm

• Lament Proper • Petition or Request

• Confession of Trust

• Vow of Praise

To understand how this works, we will

be studying Psalm 13 as an

example.



Psalm 13

1. Lament Proper

–

The psalmist protests against Godbecause of some problem.

• Sickness

• Sin

• Enemies

• Injustice

– Whatever the specific details might be,

the bottom line is always the same.

A feel ing of separat ion f rom God.



Psalm 13

1. Lament Proper

Psalm 13:1-2 (NIV)

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?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?



Psalm 13

2. Petition or Request

–

Based on what has been said in thelament section, the psalmist brings a

request to God.

• Healing

• Forgiveness

• Deliverance

• Justice

• Imprecations

Psalm 58:10 (NIV)

The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,

when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.



Psalm 13


–

Based on what has been said in thelament section, the psalmist brings a

request to God.

• Healing

• Forgiveness

• Deliverance

• Justice

• ImprecationsPsalm 137:8-9 (NIV)

happy is he who repays you

for what you have done to us—

he who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks.



Psalm 13


Psalm 13:3-4 (NIV)

Look on me and answer, O Lord my

God.Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in

death;

my enemy will say, “I have overcomehim,”

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.



Psalm 13

3. Confession of Trust

–

The “turning point” of the lament. – The lamenter’s focus changes from “I”

to “you.”

– The bridge that leads the lamenter into

worship.

– Focused on who God is known to be.

Psalm 13:5 (NIV)

But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.



Psalm 13

4. Vow of Praise

–

The lamenter looks ahead to God’sresponse.

– Praise is offered, not because God has

already responded, but because of

what He wi l l do!

Psalm 13:6 (NIV)

I will sing to the Lord,for he has been good to me.



Lament in the Life of Worship

• Again, life is tough.

•

Lament allows us to worship even inthose tough times.

• Phony worship is no worship at all.

• God created our emotions and todeny them is to deny Him part of whowe are.

• Lament helps us focus on God rather

than leaving us in our despair.• Lament keeps our worship

theocentric, even during pain.



The Bottom Line

A l i fe of worship is a l i fe that is real .

Unless lament is a part of our lives at

the appropriate times, we are not

living a complete lifestyle of worship.

3 - the lament psalm

Documents