The Confident Lamenter Sermon (David Lundberg) As humans we can find ways to pretty much argue about anything. But there do exist certain facts upon which everyone would unanimously agree. That uncontested fact is this: "Life is full of sorrows" - Jeff hit on this a bit last week from Psalm 3 that when everything seems to be falling apart and the feeling of panic sets in- we can run to God in prayer. - This week we are going to take a closer look at the emotional responses that come when our problems don't seem to go away or keep coming back- when we fall into a deep state of lament. - This topic of Christians expressing deep feelings like depression, grief and sorrow can be a little edgy at times. - As humans we've been designed by God to have emotions, and surely we see all sides of them expressed by the world - But as Christians these strong emotions can be confusing to us or cause a great deal of guilt b/c we hear things like "As a Christian we've been given the greatest gift anyone could ever have, so how could we ever be down- we should always be happy!" "How could a Christian ever be depressed?!" - But then we see in the scriptures that God Himself expresses a great deal of emotions including things like anger, grief and sorrow So how are we as Christians to respond when life gets hard and emotions like grief and sorrow sink in? A. I've reflected on this in my own life and realized I’ve had a variety of differing emotional responses- many that have changed as I experienced different circumstances or walked through different seasons of life. Here are a few that I've compiled to see if you perhaps can relate to any... B. The "FAKE IT 'TILL YOU MAKE IT" response: A response where you feel guilt to express any sort of negative emotion as a Christian. That you should always be happy, and these "negative emotions" are simply fruit of your flesh, caused by a lack of faith on your part. This usually leads to plastering a smile on your face no matter how you feel on the inside as you don't want others to see your weakness or judge your standing as a believer. C. The "SADNESS" response: A response where you are easily drowned by your emotions under a trial- that you can't see past yourself in them which leaves you to feel victimized by God and the world. Completely abandoned or that God is either: a. not there for you b. doesn't care about your problems c. is punishing you d. or is not able to help you (b/c it's out of His control). D. The "TIN-MAN" response: One of my faves. A response where there really is no response at all. You instantly accept the trials that come your way without expressing any sort of emotion about it whatsoever and just sort of wait for it to do whatever it's going to do. You can't change it, it's the hand you've been dealt- so what's the point of thinking deeper about it. E. The "FICKLE FAITH" response. This response is when you love and believe in God, but a trial reveals that you don't not fully TRUST Him. You feel closest to Him when life seems balanced, comfortable and steady, yet, begin to question His providence, control, and goodness when things take a turn. Your devotion, adoration and focus on Him seem to go hand-in-hand with your feelings of being properly cared for, protected and loved. When these expectations are no longer met, devotion turns into infidelity and worship takes a hiatus. F. I'm sure many of you can relate to some of these and maybe asking the same thing I did after thinking through this list. Is there a better option?! Do we have any biblical guidance that can teach us to lament well? Psalm 4 does just this... A. In it, David responds to his trials with what I call a "CONFIDENT LAMENTOR" response. It could be looked at as a "both/and" response as my wife likes to refer to it- Meaning that our response to a trial doesn't have 1 to be an “either/or” emotion- (ie choosing hope over sorrow, or sorrow over hope- but that both can be expressed and held on to at the same time. B. I love how one preacher describes it as an "AMBIDEXTROUS FAITH". He says... "True faith is always ambidextrous. It can receive blessings from God with one hand- and receive trouble from God with the other hand, yet, hold on to BOTH with confidence that God is still good and that God is still in control." So, this is our takeaway this morning Church- that we can Lament with hopeful confidence when life gets hard In our text this morning we will look at 4 points that describe a Confident Lamentor.. That when life gets hard a Confident Lamentor… 1) Looks to God as their righteousness 2) Reflects on past mercies for present hope 3) Knows what it means to be God's Child 4) Rests in God's Provision A. In Psalm 4 we know that David is under a great deal of pressure from his detractors. It is unclear whether or not Psalm 4 is a continuation of Psalm 3 (some have labeled psalm 3 as the morning prayer and 4 as the evening prayer)- but there isn't clear evidence of this so we can't be sure. B. So whether or not David is still fleeing from Absalom, or some other detractors- we do know that he is isolated, being slandered and shamed by those who were once closest to him- yet his overall posture seems to remain confident in the Lord. C. Now, I am going out on a ledge here in assuming that none of you were once an honored king, betrayed and slandered by those closest to you. Yet, grief is grief and sorrow is sorrow, isn't it?! D. Our outward circumstances will all look different, yet they all funnel right into the very same center of all our hearts and bring out the same feeling of hurt and sorrow. E. This Psalm was written with this in mind, so that it would connect with all of God's people in their individual seasons of grief and sorrow F. We see this in the intro… "To The Choirmaster with Stringed Instruments…" G. This Psalm was not a personal poem or song written for David, by David. It was addressed to a specific person= the Choirmaster. This was essentially an appointed Worship Leader in the temple. H. It was addressed to the worship leader so that all of God's people could learn and sing it- to find encouragement during hard times. These Psalms were the songbook of the church and meant to be relevant to every Child of God when they assembled for worship- even for us today! So let's jump in to our first point- a Confident Lamentor: MP1: Looks to God as their righteousness (look with me at vs 1) Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! A. This Psalm begins with a bold appeal to God. It's interesting that David doesn't run to others or feels unworthy to approach God at all. Instead, he goes directly to God. B. At first glance, "Answer me when I call" can sound like David is trying to be authoritative over God or demanding. But this is not the case. Rather, he says it in great faith and confidence b/c he knows he has direct access to God and that He is listens C. This confidence came from knowing that he could approach God not because he was worthy enough, but b/c God had chosen to clothe David in His righteousness. D. David is trusting in God's character- NOT HIS. David knew who David was. He knew the sins he constantly committed and his inability to be righteous on his own. 2 E. He could never trust his ability, but he could trust God's and knew that that was his new identity- Righteous in God. F. Reminds me of the great hymn "Before the Throne of God Above".. "When satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin. B/c the sinless savior died, my sinful soul is counted free- for God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. G. I think it's important to understand that a lot of the messes David got into weren't just a result of bad luck. While David is best known as the "man after God's own heart", he made a lot of terrible decisions which reaped a bitter harvest of suffering. H. Imagine the mental battle it would be if you were in his shoes. On one hand he knows that he's betrayed himself through the bad choices he made- on the other he is betrayed by others who were like family to him. I. You can't hope in yourself- you can't hope in others- where do you go?! J. He boldly approaches God with Hopeful confidence b/c he knows God has chosen to bestow His grace upon him and exchange his filthy rags with that of a perfectly righteous substitute who executes perfect justice: Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV) 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.