SermonStudio

This poignant prayer of lament and community grief gives expression to what it feels like to suffer as a person of faith. If we believe we are truly part of God's community, then the destruction of that community -- as was the case with Israel in 587 B.C. -- becomes a time for doubt, anger, and confusion. Furthermore, if we believe we are individual members of that community, our personal suffering also creates an opportunity for a crisis of faith: "Why didn't God protect me?" Of course, it does not take a national catastrophe to raise those sorts of questions. The cancer wards and surgical suites of hospitals are often settings for prayers of lament.

Once we start asking the question, it's hard to stop. What exactly is going on when we suffer, either as a nation or a community or as individuals? The psalmist assumes, as does the prophetic tradition associated with the exile, that the suffering of Israel was punishment. Israel sinned against God and God's covenant. Israel became unfaithful. Israel forgot the widow and the orphan. For these sins, God sent them into exile.

But for how long? Is the sin so great that the relationship is ended forever? Is it exile or is it abandonment? The people of Israel surely had moments when they wondered whether God had forgotten them.

The psalmist gives eloquent voice to all this, and more, but there is in this psalm an allusion to another fear, a fear that is perhaps greater than fear of divine abandonment. The psalmist hints that there are some who might wonder if God is really up to the task of protecting God's people.

The psalmist writes, "We have become a taunt to our neighbors" (v. 4). What is the content of these taunts? Are these tormentors suggesting that the God of Israel is a weak God, an inept God?

As the taunts ring out, those who are suffering might become aware of their own concerns. Maybe this started out as punishment, but what if God can't call it off? God allowed the "nations" to swoop down upon the holy city, but is God capable of turning them back? Does the pain of an extended exile, coupled with the pain of Jerusalem's defeat, really suggest that God can be defeated?

In defiance of this fear, the psalmist directs his prayer to the very heart of God's character. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name" (v. 9). The psalmist challenges God to honor the covenant, even though God's people did not. The psalmist calls on God to vindicate God's reputation in the world by restoring the people of Israel to their place of privilege -- even though it was through their own carelessness it was lost.

There is therapeutic value in giving voice to our pain and our fears. It's pretty easy to confess, "I am suffering because I deserve it." It's a bit harder to say, "I'm suffering and I don't know why God is allowing it; why God won't stop it; why it goes on and on."

By calling on God to vindicate God's own reputation, the psalmist offers a profound way to reintroduce hope to a community that may well have been on the brink of losing hope, and may be losing faith. Even if we don't deserve to be saved, God will save us anyway: because that's who God is.

-- J. E.