1 Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
My thoughts -
We don't worship God because we're just that awesome and we want God to know it. We don't worship God because we're perfect, well adjusted, happy plastic people and we want God and everyone else to see how perfect and joyful we are. We worship God because we need God, we need God right now, and we need God to know it. We need God to know that we know that we can't do this on our own. We need God to know that we know that our ways, time and again, have failed us and we need that which is greater to save us.
This has been, on the whole, a tough week. I'm broken. I'm tired of fighting. I need to just give everything up and fall into the arms of my Creator/Sustainer/Redeemer and surrender everything that I have and everything that I am.
That's why I love Psalms of lament like this one. They allow you to acknowledge that not everything is super-perky-shiny-plastic-happy-joyful-good-times-praise. If my life is any indication the bulk of our lives, if set to music, would be in a minor key. And that's okay! That's why we need God! If everything were perfect what would we need God for?
So, come Lord Jesus and save me from myself. Let me just give up the ghost this morning and fall down and worship you. I've got nothing left.
The good thing about this Psalm of lament, at least, is that there's hope. We know there's hope but sometimes it's great to affirm that, too. Check out verses 25-28:
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
God is still in control. And long after all of us are gone God will still be in control.
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