Despair Help!

Some songs. Are joyful and happy and clappy and hopeful and exciting. Song song, some songs.

Express other emotions that people face. God gives us in the Psalms experiences and songs. Of all different emotions.

Reminds me of an article that I read recently by Carl trueman. What? The miserable Christians sing.

He argues there that we're not always going through good times.

And sometimes, there are songs that need to be sung in the minor key. And if you notice, even from our time of worship today, songs Like It Is Well with My Soul or Hallelujah. Love divine or come G. Sinners, poor and needy or even the special music that we just heard that pointed us to the grace of God, through difficult trials. Very fitting, very fitting for a series that were in here dealing with downcast experiences, even in the Christian Life.

This is Lady. One of the mysterious experiences a public preaching Ministry. Is that preachers. Never know what is going on in his listeners hearts and Minds when he's preaching.

That's right. I'm talking about all of you out there right now. I don't have a clue where you're at On Any Given Sunday. You have the advantage and don't I can get a glimpse into your lives as your pastor as you share with me what's going on. I don't know exactly where you're at today or any other day including right now.

And as I've been preaching the series titled downcast, I've been really just a cute Lee reminded about that reality. I've also been uniquely conscientious about each and every one of you could praying for you by name, thinking about you and your known and unknown, hardships and experiences in trials, in life. And each and every word I utter from this Pulpit, always, it's just so waiting to me but there's something about this sermon. Me in prayer in my heart going out to each of you submitted even desperately to the hands of our heavenly father for help and direction.

And to that end, I want us to go before our heavenly father in prayer for help together. Father. You are so good. And you know, each and every one of us, even if I don't, you know, us all, you know what, we've gone through this past week, this past year, even this morning, you know, how we're feeling. You know, us Lord. So, we can minister to each of us and unique ways that only you can do. Would you shut the light of your hope and Grace and ways that only you can do a lord? Would you do that? Lord? Would you help us in these things? You say this in Christ's name. and then,

Are there is no easy way to say this. What? Circumstances in life? Can lead some sadly to such deep and dark places that they even feel helpless. Hopeless downcast. Despairing. Unable to see the future because of the pain of the present.

Unable to take one more step or even one more breath. That is how serious this problem to be in some of our lives.

You might respond now. Why I've been sad before?

Even a little anxious at times. But never come. To those depths. Praise God for that if that's, you praise God. What other people have?

And other people do get to that place. I hope that the take-home from our first two sermons. And then even this one today is that we would have some understanding and awareness of the deep dark and hard problems the people's face. Maybe that's you. Spurgeon's accounts that it was once preaching. A sermon about the dark depths of the Soul. Remember, Spurgeon himself experienced deep and dark depression in his life. And a Gentleman came up to him after preaching the following week. And said to him. I never before in my life, heard any man speak. Who seem to know my heart. Mine is a terrible case, but on Sunday morning, you painted me to the life. and preached, as if you had been inside my soul,

Birds and recounted this in one of his books and he wrote by God's grace. I saved that man. From suicide, and let him into the Gospel, Light and Liberty but I know I could not have done it. If I had not myself been confined, confined in the dungeon in which he lay.

listen to church, even if you haven't been in that dungeon yourself, And I know that not all have please, would you do? All you can to learn from the downcast so that you might know how to care for and pray and love those who have or those who are in that dungeon. Could you imagine being in that dungeon as Spurgeon talks about? If you've never been there? Terribly sperian remember Spurgeon said this the mind can descend far lower than the body were in it. There are Bottomless Pits, the flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways and die over and over again. Each hour.

Even though I don't know where each and every one of you are at exactly. I do know some experience, deep dark sorrow and even Despair. Please know that. I see you and even plead to God on your behalf and prayer. For help and hope for you. To continue on through the hardships. That I know that you're facing. No, we have dealt with depression and anxiety already in the series, which of course, is related to the topic of Despair. I think that we need to further seek compassion awareness and understanding together this morning, which as I give you, the outline is our first point and then provide practical care for others, which will be our second point. And then lastly, even as we've been anticipating so far in the series, look to God's provision of lament in scripture, which is often times neglected and even unknown to Christians, you may have never even really thought about what that meant is we're going to look at that in our third point. So there's our outline for us as we move forward and so as we see on the screen, let's start with Point number one. The experience of despair. Turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm chapter 88 in verse 1.

Oh, Lord. God of my salvation. I cry out day and night before you let my prayer come before you incline your ear to My Cry for my soul is full of troubles and my life draws near to see ol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I'm a man who has no strength like one set loose, among the dead, like the slain that lion, the grave like those whom you remember, no more for they are cut off from your hand. You would put me in the depths of the pit in the regions of dark and deep, your wrath lies, heavy upon me and you overwhelm me with all your waves.

This song was written by Hammond. The Ezra height. and the entire song, If we went on and Reddit, Through to the end and Psalm 88. Get this. It continues on in that note of sadness. When she darktones throughout the whole entire song, but never brightens up.

As the chancellor or president of Reformed Theological. Seminary Ligon Duncan put it so tenderly in his book is book titled when pain is real and God seems silent. He said this, have you ever assume that mature Believers always have their prayers answered. Have you ever thought that Godly men and women don't endure suffering? Well, the Bible teaches just the opposite sometimes even mature Godly, Believers, Believers like human the Ezra height, feel as if they're crying for help, go unheard by our board.

We can add Great Men of God, like Joe or Joseph is well who cried out to God. Last week I quickly mentioned them as examples of mature, Christians who learned the secret of contentment through good times and bad times. Like the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4 By that quick statement, they could almost come off, like the whole process of trusting, God, through trials is easy.

Please hear me now. It's not. Easy. Whether it's excruciating. Jobe lost children. They were here one day and gone, the next due to a tragedy. You think a bowl His wife basically told him, he she told him to curse God and die because of his many trials, physical health trial suffering, tragedy, upon tragedy, and Joe was not always doing well at times in his life, he was even despairing to be sure. Joe chapter 7 verses 13 through 15 says this when I say my bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint. Then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, verse 15. So that I would choose strangling and death. Rather than my bones, Biblical characters, went through terrible things, and then consider Joseph, even as an example, sold into slavery, initially, being left in a pit to die by his own family. Betrayed by people who helped in prison falsely accused of impropriety by Potiphar's wife.

Now, these things the job for Joseph, went through with light and easy.

Harvey it to even think that. Life, in a fallen world is hard life after the fall is hard Believers experience, immense trials, and suffering, even bringing them to the pits of Despair itself.

Or consider Elijah. If you remember after the battle between God and the prophets of Baal Veer there's a test given who's going to pass the test? Who can who can do this. And remember that the false prophets failed end of the true, God won the day and that the fake idol. God, Baal was exposed. And Elijah was Vindicated. And his God was put on display as the one true God. What a miraculous day in Biblical history, But did you know, even after that great Victory and then after running for his life, Elijah then was found under a tree despairing. His own, very life itself. Let's read the story together from 1st Kings chapter 19, and verse is 125 for us to get a glimpse of what was going on here. The First Night chapter 19, verse 1 says, Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the profits with the sword, then Jessabelle sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more. Also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. I have put a hit on Elijah versus 3. Then he was afraid. Elijah was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah and left his servant there. But he himself went a Day's Journey Into the Wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree, and he asked that he might die saying it is enough now. Oh Lord, take away my life for I am no better than my father's. How do you lay down and slept under a broom tree and behold an angel touched him and said to him arise and eat

Elijah was so bad off that he wanted God to take his life.

Despairing, isn't it?

He had to have an angel, bring them a meal, for crying out loud to help him in his time of need. Life is not easy. Struggles happen. Christians even struggle in deep and dark ways. Did you see it? Just now from the scriptures? We can add to this list of biblical characters, even people in this room right now, members of our church who have gone through or are right now, going through very hard and dark seasons in trials. Believer struggle with these experiences of DePere Despair, and it's not easy. So don't take my encouragement towards contentment that we saw last week as a trite Band-Aid to put on your excruciating wound.

and if you struggle in these ways, Oh, my heart goes out to you. And even if you haven't struggled in these ways, remember that others have These are all really hard and serious problems. I hope you can see that. Oh, I hope you can see how difficult this can be for some. And even if you're here and you never gone through anything like this, you're just during the series and you're like, wow. This is really heavy. Take it down a notch pastor. I want you to remember. The please have some humility that you are not the only person. In this world or in this church are on this Earth.

And even. As we saw here in a few biblical examples in there more.

But other Christians can even face these dark times of Despair, The Dark Night of the Soul. I want you also to be honest and humble but honest about the reality that you don't know the future.

Just yesterday, my kids were running down the street. To get me my older kids. because, My youngest Noah almost a year old was choking and Stacy was trying to get ahold of me. Just had two left to come to the church to finalize and work on the finishing up the sermon and I missed her calls. The kids are running down to get me because it was that serious? I missed the call in and no, it wasn't doing well. You probably think that we are the worst parents because I've mentioned choking people recently, kids choking a few times from the pulpit but bear with me, for those of you who can think back to this time, almost 1 year old as the little ones start crawling around and they wanted to put everything into their mouths. Hopefully, you can remember this potential danger even in your contacts, but this time it was really, really serious and I rushed back home. Praise God, the Lord spared his life. Praise God. The choking ceased but we were All Shook Up. It was scary. and I cannot imagine what would have happened if we lost that little guy choking to death,

People lose babies like that.

People lose family in. Car accidents are the cancer her, even if a tragic problem of Despair and its consequences, do you have a heart that's aware of those real possibilities in life outside the Garden in life of sin and consequences of sand and no results in the effects of the Fall? How do we know what will happen?

And how we will handle the untold trials ahead for us. We have some, you know what he How do you know how things will change as you age and you grow older? You don't know what the future holds for you. So that should give you a kind of humility. If we were in the garden, everything is perfect. We wouldn't have to worry about any problems and we can just go around happy-go-lucky. No issues, no discouragement, no frustrations, no trials, no suffering. But we're not in that state or we were not.

I've heard and learned from others who have had at one point in their lives have been completely unknown to these suffering trials. There are peachy keen. If you ever heard that saying, everything was fine for them. Everything's okay. They never struggled with serious depression or anxiety, but things change. Wife happens and one surgery to another and then there's chronic suffering and pain or unexpected trials, and tragedies happen or careers fall apart or the experience of Unthinkable, trauma of abuse occurs, or back-breaking, anxiety, and panic attacks happen for the first time for summer, and the fear of another one, just Round the Corner for someone who's ever experience something. So difficult, like that, as an example which by the way I heard this past week and testimony of a lady sharing that Panic at panic attacks for her and she would know she's had children. She says the experience of that. Is worse than labor, pains.

Who wants to be worrying about? Something like that. Potentially overtaking them at any given moment. It is just terrible things that people can face in this Fallen World.

And whatever may lead someone to this place of Despair. I just want us to see. It's really serious, and it's very sad and we need to have hearts to break for people in this place. And to be humble that we don't know our future and realize like Zach esswein helpfully shows compassionately in his book Spurgeon Sorrows, what he calls the sanity of Despair. Meaning, if you only walked in their shoes,

You did it to get see the trials and difficulty, you really realize all the reasons for these feelings of sadness that other people like human or Joe, or Joseph or Elijah or maybe even friends and family that, you know, have an experience themselves.

We don't struggle in these ways. I want us to be a lifeline and a help for those who do And who knows church? We may need them in the future. In this, unpredictable, Fallen world that we live in. And on that note, this leads us to our next point and number to caring for the Hopeless, look with me and your Bibles to Psalm 34 vs 17 through 18. When the righteous Cry for Help the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles, the Lord is near to the Brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

The encouraging truth of Psalm 34. And the rest of the Bible is that the Lord is near to the Brokenhearted and the Down cast But sadly. Oftentimes, even some people in churches. Or not.

One of the greatest helps that you can give the Hopeless and despairing is compassionate understanding and willingness to be there as a true friend for them.

Too many or harsh. Too many are ignorant to the experiences people have going on around them in a fallen world. Too many Christians even make matters. Worse But having understanding in humility and compassion can go a long way. I want to encourage you all put yourself in their shoes. Jesus did. Consider Hebrews 4:15. It says this for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are jet without sin. 4/16, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. That we may receive mercy and find Grace to help in time of need.

Is he God the son took on flesh and dwelt amongst us. He lived in a fallen world and experiences challenges in this phone world and he knows. He sympathizes with us because he's been there, he's been betrayed, he's felt alone. And he's experienced excruciating inner and outer ear pain.

So we're going to be like Jesus, we should also be seeking to provide help and hope and care for others in their time of need as well.

Do you sympathize with others? Do you have eyes filled with tears and compassion over other people's sorrows and trials?

Are you kind of just checked out?

I think our culture and our sin has made it almost impossible for us to be there for one another.

I mean we don't know what it is to mourn, do we? Go to be sad for others or to cry with suffering, people, or to try and be sad when we are suffering. Even because we're so uncomfortable with negative and sad feelings. If we're honest, So would you be honest with yourself? How do you deal with hard emotions and feelings? Whether they're your own or that of someone else?

Realizing your weakness in this area. Which I believe a lot of us have. If we're honest, it's a good thing. So we can work on being there for hurting people. Even if it doesn't really come naturally to us, even if it makes us feel awkward. even if it makes us want to run away and avoid the situation,

If you're aware of that. So, where are you at?

Because God doesn't give us an out on this. It doesn't say well, if it's not your personality is simply uncomfortable with sadness and pain and suffering, then you can just disregard the need to Bear burdens is Galatians 6, has no. Doesn't say that. Not at all. Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.

And we do a great job at rejoicing and having fun with happy feelings and those who have joyful experiences themselves, we do okay with that. For the most part, of course, there's always situations when some get jealous and some can't even be happy for people. But you know what I mean by that. It's easier to be happy with happy people. but what about the second half of that command to weep with those who weep

I think we can use some help in this area. Can't we? I know I can work on it. Can you? We need to be there for hurting people because God commands us to be like him and helping hurting people to have his heart as Christians. I'm talkin and they have the heart of Christ words, hurting people, if you're a Believer, you should have the heart of Christ towards hurting people not to gossip about them for not having their act together. Not this Sunday, mid avoid them when they come by because you think they're just a little high maintenance for you. What does seek to do? Good to them, to love them, to know them, to mourn with them. To not only be happy with happy people but to be sad with sad people.

How are you with that? If you're just terrible headache, that doesn't just say, okay, you're off the hook, you said, weep with those who weep

For all of us. So we need to work on biblical morning and sadness, with people who are going through hard times, we need to enter into that minor key with them. Weather because of their external circumstances or internal deep and dark, hardships of depression, and anxiety. And if that's you, please let us let a trusted person. So we can be there for you and how bear your burdens because we might not know if that's where you're at. Somebody know you trust. And if y'all take away one thing from the sermon series, please take away a softer heart for hurting people.

An act by what you've heard by actually loving and caring and understanding and weeping. With those dear Saints who are in a place of weeping at any given time in their lives. If you struggle with that, with leads us to our third and final point and number three, learning to Lament. Psalm 42:5 Aces this? Why? Are you cast down? Oh my soul. And why are you in turmoil within me? Now it's fitting that this series theme song, 42, Psalm 42. Just so happens to be a little mint song. No, I've anticipated this topic earlier in the series but like I mentioned before you may have never even heard of this idea of lament from scripture ever in your entire life. And if you look now at the image of the screen,

You'll see there multiple categories of the 150, Psalms broken out into different areas on the screen. And noticed that the largest group of Psalms are lament, Psalms Psalm 42 in this category. And that's the blue category on the screen. If you can't see the words, they're a little small. But the blue categories, there are lament Psalms, and it shows all the different songs. If you look up close, Then you have other types of songs, like, praise songs or trois for Thanksgiving, or wisdom or hymns, and then Royal songs all broken out there for you to see. I don't want you to see over one-third of the songs fall into this category of Lament. Including Psalm 88 that we saw on our first point and even including Psalm 139 that we recently saw on our sanctity of Life series last month because imprecatory Psalms as we saw then it falls into this category of lament as well.

But what is Lament? Well, I will discuss and Define it a bit with help from an excellent book. I read this past week on the topic by Mark berghoff, titled dark clouds deep Mercy. Do you remember a few years ago, Pastor would spend an entire sermon on this topic from Psalm 77 that he just read in the call to worship and he was able to share much more that I'm going to be able to share with you in this final point. So I commend to you again would sermon as a real helpful explanation of the things we're going to quickly look at today. Mark wrote this book, out of tremendous pain. He and his wife experience themselves of losing their child in the womb, just days before she was due. Mark said about 24 hours after hearing the crushing news, I held a 9 lb baby of my life was daughter Sylvia as I cradled her swaddled in the hospital blanket. I long for her to wake up her fully developed body, looks so normal but there was no breathing. She was beautiful but not alive.

And through this terrible sorrow. You see, mark question himself asking how would my boys respond to this level of sadness? Or would my wife ever be happy again? What if we never concede another child and how can I live with this pain while feeling the need to have it all together? As I passed her to the church. She said marriage

Do this tragic suffering, Mark experienced, and he recounts in this book. I know is in the genre of suffering that many here at our church have experienced themselves to even greater or lesser degrees and no matter the severity of your trials. I want you to learn today quickly what he learned. As Mark found in the Psalms and in lamenting scripture help through his helplessness and suffering. He wrote the Bible. Gave Voice to my pain. and said, the men help us navigate the Wilderness of our grief but Mark soon found out what many sufferers find and what we just discussed in our last point that not everybody knows how to weep with those who weep He said, finding an explanation or quick solution for grief, while an admirable goal can circumvent the opportunity afforded in lament. That is to give a person permission to wrestle with sorrow instead of rushing to end it. Walking through sorrow without understanding and embracing the god-given song of lament cam stunt the grieving process.

So what is the mint? Mark forgot. Put it like this. Lament can be defined as a loud cry. A howl or a passionate expression of grief. Put simply the mint is prayer. In pain that leads to trust.

I do know these from the song. Don't you how long? Oh Lord we see over and over again or why do you stand far away? Or where are you? Do you know these from the songs?

And all of these songs that we saw in the screen under that blue category, our prayers are songs of crying out, to God and lament. It's all over the scriptures. Is Mark, put it the mint is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting in God's sovereignty. It also, lament is how Christians grieve. And he also said all people cry, But only Christians lament the Christian thing. We need to grab a hold of it. And as we admitted before, we are terrible at grieving our self and caring for hurting people and morning and hurting. Dear loved ones in front of us. Why? Because I think we've ignored this theme of lament from scripture. If we only leaned more induced structure for a Biblical World in life, you and experience, we would know what it is to lament because it's all over the Bible.

Since time is limited, I'm just going to give you the big picture that I gleaned from further diving into the study of the topic of Lament. This past few weeks, I think Mark walks through the stages of lament. Well, so I will give you the four steps or stages of lament, and then we're going to see it from Psalm 42 as a whole. So first, you'll see on the screen. We need to continue to go to God In Prayer. Even when times are terrible, especially when times are terrible second, we need to make our complaints even known to God.

This is biblical Church. This may seem crazy to you with scripture shows us even approvingly that the process. Takes place and those who are grieving and lamenting in part of this terrible struggle. Going, through suffering includes bringing our struggles and complains to God because he knows peace God. And if we're struggling telling God, even in Complaint Form, where we are at is actually biblical, we're going to do that in a reverent way. We're not going to, you know, Be rude and angry and say simple things to God per se, but we could let God know the suffering in our life that he knows. And we will see even in Psalm 42, a picture of what that looks like it. We've already seen it so far, so go to God in prayer and then to bring your complaints to him. And then third ask boldly, we see this in the lament Psalms or make a request to God, confidently known to him in prayer, or maybe even doing that for somebody else who's in the process of suffering, act boldly for that. Their suffering. Saint ask for help from God. And then for shoes to Trust God, that's how Mark helpfully sums it up and I think it's pretty straightforward more to be said, but helpful for us to have a grid when we look at the lament Psalms and I want you to notice if there's a progression here and that all aspects, here are important in biblical. You don't want to just skip any of them. Some people want to skip the hard terrible times and just jumped right to the trust times. But the lament song gives us a whole picture here that important for us and our suffering. You never fell down, but I know that many of you have. Or if you're right now, feeling hopeless, for a variety of reasons, I hope you can learn from the blessing of lament, through, trials, and hardships and frustrations. In our next prayer service, even coming up on the evening of September 11th, we will have an opportunity to lament together as a church. We will lament using scripture as our guide. And as our example, we will lament those who are downcast and life and we can add other request. Even as we recently went through our sanctity life series, we could Lament The Reality the sad reality of the loss of Pre-born babies. Lives are other things that are ailing Us in struggles that we have, we can bring our suffering before the Lord and we could lament together. So I encourage all of us to make that a priority to come to the evening prayer service. So we can be there, pray for each other and put these things into practice. Make it a priority because we need it. Realize this, it's not only helpful for those who are struggling personally with women, but it's a blessing for others to pray and lament on behalf of other people suffering as well. That's a gracious thing in our evening prayer service can facilitate that look forward to. That together seems weird that we would look forward to mourn and laments but we just need it in there. Something special that God does to do when they go to him in these times of lament, he helps us he meets us. He cares for us. He lifts us up. We feel empowered in Bolton and help in our time of need. So backed up Psalm 42 quickly as our example, from our Series, in our tax. I want us to see really quick with this looks like in the passage and theme of our series. Psalm 42 1 through 6 of this as a deer pants for flowing streams. So pants my soul for you. Oh God, my soul thirsts. Forgot for the When God, When shall I come and appear before God my tears have been my food day and night. While they say to me all the day long, where is your god? These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad she found some songs of praise a multitude, keeping Festival. Why are you cast down? Oh my soul. And why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God. For I shall again praise him. My salvation. In my God, my soul is cast down Within Me. Therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Herman from Mount Bazaar. Do you see the struggle? The psalmist, expresses, their instructor.

You see the English in the tears? Certainly here we see both going to God in prayer and also making his complaints known before Gone. He's like. I'm just stressed and I'm even crying so much that my tears become a meal. It's so bad, and I'm so sad. And then other people are even mocking me asking about where in the world you were at God. Where is he at? They're asking me. Benny asks, as we've been seeing through the series, why are you cast down on myself and why are you in turmoil within me more complaints in his prayer? Not just about the confusion with God, but frustrations within his own heart and struggle with deep depressions. He says, why he screams that even

So, we see clearly hear in this lament, Psalm both coming to God, and bringing the trials, and struggles and complaints, even to God In Prayer. Do you see it now, right in the Bible? This is a Biblical practice and many, many other places in Scripture. Big Show the same different situation.

Do you like mint?

Do you bring your problems and worries and anxieties and sadness isn't suffering and complaints and trials and even despair before God? If not, why not and if not, why not? Now try to follow scripture and lament in these troubled times that you go through its biblical Look at me really quickly at the rest of Psalm 42. Now starting in verse 7, going through the end of the Psalm 42 in verse 7, says this deep calls to deep at the Roar of your waterfalls. All your Breakers in your waves have gone over me by day the Lord commands, his steadfast love. And at Night, the song is with me a prayer to the god of my life. I say to God my rock. Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go morning? Because of the oppression of the enemy. As with a deadly wound. In my bones, my adversaries, taunt me. Well they say to me all the day long. Where is your god? Why are you cast down? Oh my soul. And why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God. For I shall again, praise him. My salvation, and my guy. Zoe Seymour here in Psalm 42. For instance, the song is missing both complained and even hoping his regret request for help these desperate requests.

And also he is in here, his trust in God. I want you to see, you're the very fact that the psalmist comes to God and prayers shows that he trusts God. but then him making his complaints known over and over throughout the Psalms means that he believes that God is Sovereign and going to control and can help him, which is why he's complaining to him, his complaints then turn to trust as we saw God wants you to come to him in prayer with your suffering and sadness and struggles. Dear Saints. He knows them. So he wants you to tell him in prayer your complaints and struggle, he's gone. He can hear those things. He knows those things. He wants you to pour your heart out to him. He's our heavenly father, literally what he's calling you to do. Do your suffering Christian friend. He's your good father. Tell him how sad you are, if that's you or how distressed you are, or how downcast you are, even how despairing of life itself, you are. If that's you, he's calling you to him in these laments as exemplified. All over scripture. And also notice that the psalmist is asking the question because he wants answers in his turmoil, doesn't he? He wants gone to help him in his downcast, soul experience in fear that he's going through. He trusts the steadfast love of God and knows that God is with him and Trust even to such a degree that he tells himself in the midst of a two different time in the midst of all this sadness in difficulty and struggle, he tells himself to Heaven, God.

Praise him for his salvation. Amber, Martin Lloyd Jones. We saw exhorting us to speak to ourselves. Not let ourselves, get us all down, only and confused and I hope you can see hear the song. How much does just that and shows his trust in God? The process of a man includes complaints, but if we stay stuck in complaints alone, the Samus would have a huge problem. And, and so, would we, if we just stay there sometimes we need to be there for a long time. Sometimes we need others to come alongside Us in that time for a long time. I want to put a time limit on it, but at some point, the Christian is going to turn from his suffering and sadness discouragement and complain season and turn to God in trust, you see, he moves to trust Listen, I know that this is not a silver bullet, just like the help. So, we looked at last week and anxiety of the ones we looked at in depression, sermons, they're not the final word. It's not going to just take everything to go away from us, but I want you to see that this language is put in the Bible by God for you. For those of you who struggle with suffering and difficulties, I want you to turn to these realities in those times, as a help in your need. I want you to be free to go to God in these ways and learn the blessing of lament because I know that life can be so hard. I know you can feel like you're at the end of your rope at times, but just noticed that God knows that as well and he provides biblical examples throughout scripture of people who suffered as well, who feared and you were sad and he went to God lamenting before him. I want you to be encouraged by that biblical reality. And I mentioned moments ago, marks story in the sadness of a stillborn baby. I want to see as he found, Hope and Grace and lament. It wasn't overnight, but it was a Lifeline for him. Maybe it might prove to be a Lifeline for you and your Sorrows as well. And we can work through this process of lament and really deal with what has happened to us or what is happening inside of us use. Lamont. God is trustworthy, but life is hard lament. Helps us to bridge that Gap and create an intersection of those realities. God is Sovereign but life can be ugly and tragedies abound let lament help you at that intersection. Dear Saints. Lament your fears and anxieties The Goth. Lament your depression, lament, your feelings of hopelessness and despair. Lament your trials, lament your concerns, even for your marriage. If you have the more worries about your children or your wayward children, with Mentor, Lament The Terrible boss that you have a persistent Health trial to play just for the nagging thoughts, that keep you up late into the night where the terrible ways people have sinned against you, or the ways that your sin has gotten you into trouble yourselves. Remember King David lamented in the midst of a sin and experience of guilt. You can to, there is so much in a fallen world that we can learn to love meant to be helped by God as we go to him in this desperate form of Prayer of lament. So go to God in these ways. Dear suffering, saint, Let's go to him now in prayer. Father father, our hearts cry out for those who are hurting and despairing here. If there are any that feel at the end of the Rope. Oh Lord. Would you help them with men's and would you encourage them? Would you bring the Leed to the terrible experiences o'lord? How long will you leave them in that position enough play, Soul, or just bring them from it, your their heavenly father and you love them. You adopted them, you sent your son for them. So we pray for their relief. We pray for their care. We pray for your compassion to be poured over them. Use astapor the compassion that you give us to be poured over them as well. Save dear, loved ones here in this room and in our town, and our families, we just save them from the clutches and difficulties of Despair and discouragement. Oh, God, would you do that? We trusted, you can do it. We pray that you would do it. We lean to you. We make our requests known to you. Oh, and we trust in you above everything else. You are the God who loves and cares and can do all things. Nothing is beyond your power. Nothing is beyond your strength. So we trusted you can act and live and move and mend Hearts today, tomorrow, and into the future, we pray all these things. Lord, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, and then