Day #10 (Psalm 12 & 13) – “Lamenting, Pleading, Trusting”

GATHERING
RESPONSIVE CALL | Matthew 6:19–24
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
 
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,  

but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. 

If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 

You cannot serve God and money.


ASSURANCE | Psalm 121:1-2 [ESV]
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
    who made heaven and earth.


SING: Gloria Patri [sheet music] [demo recording]
Glory be to the Father
And to the Son and to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning
Is now and ever shall be world without end
Amen Amen

WORD
Read Psalms 12 & 13
 
“Save, O, Lord, for the godly one is gone, for the faithful have vanished from the face of the earth.”  (Ps 12:1)
​
Psalms 12 and 13 continue the theme from recent days in which there is a lament over the wickedness.  Psalm 12 narrates a situation in which David seems to be surrounded by people who are bogged down by sin.  “The Godly one is gone… everyone utters lies… the poor are plundered (vs. 2-5)"  Against this backdrop, there are words of hope, “You oh LORD… will guard us from this generation forever (v.8.)”  Psalm 13 is different in that it is full of questions addressed to God.  The first two verses start with a barrage of five questions in which the David addressed God and asks why he is not taking action to help his situation.  After a desperate plea for help (v.3-4), David turns his attention to God’s faithful character.  “But I have trusted in your steadfast love… I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me (v.5-6.)” 
 
What do we learn from these psalms?  They are practical words for life in a painful world.  Psalm 12 invites us to express our sorrow to God for the broken world around us.  Psalm 13 invites us to come to God with questions and petitions and pleas for him to act.  Notice how these psalms are not passively accepting the world as it is.  They teach us to wrestle against the darkness.  They teach us to plead with God for help to bring his transformative power to bear on our problems.  But, Psalm 13 ends on a different note.  It ends on the note of confidence and praise
 
We see in these psalms an example of how the perspective of the psalmist often changes throughout the course of the psalm.  The mood changes from frustration to desperation to contentment.  Often this is how things go in our prayer life.  We start out frustrated and express ourselves honestly to God.  Then, we begin to see our situation through the eyes of faith.  Spiritual health does not look like stoic acceptance of the world as it is.  Rather, it is spiritually healthy to cry out against the fallen world.  It is also spiritually healthy to cry out to God for mercy.  But, spiritual health does not end there.  Having poured out his concerns before God, David is able to rest in a position of trust and even sing to God with thanks for what he has already received. 
 

ABIDING
SING | Psalm 121

• Metrical Psalter 121 [MUSIC] [demo recording]
• Psalm 121 | I Lift My Eyes [MUSIC] [recording]

[Lectio Divina]
MEMORIZE| Psalm 121
- Spend time memorizing the words of the Psalm as best you can -
SENDING
LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your Name, 
your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread. 
And forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. 
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, 
Amen.

COMMISSION | Psalm 121:7–8 [ESV]
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
​