Hear Me When I Cry ...

March 5, 2016

Worship:  Hear Me When I Cry by me

Hear Me When I Cry

Hear me when I cry

Hear me when I pray

Hear me when I speak

Hear me when I say

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

And as I cry

and as I pray

And as I long for

You every day

And as I walk

And as I live

And as I seek for

You, my life to give

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

All I want is You, Lord

All I want is You

Witness:

These are unsettling times. War and famine abound. Politics are taking a front seat by many, though often with an eye focused on celebrity, coarseness and a stick it to the establishment mentality, but all this at the expense of truth and ethics. In my own life, there is the sense of absence because my wife is not present. I am going to visit her this coming Monday and that is very unsettling to me. I don’t know what to expect after a year of absence and actual interaction in person with her. I am tired continually, which adds to the disturbance in my soul. I could easily slip into despair and depression if it were not for the Lord whom I seek daily, desire continually, and in whom I constantly delight.

Lord may my simple song above

lead me continually to Your Love.

May I be filled with Your strength and peace

and may my praise for you never cease. Amen!

As I typed this prayer a song was playing and as the words began to filter through I realized that it complimented what I was saying. Here are the lyrics to the song:

Praise Him in the morning, praise Him in the evening
Praise Him when you're smiling, praise Him when you're breaking
Praise Him in the sun and praise Him in the starlight
Praise Him every season, praise Him through the dark times

[Chorus]

Celebrate, celebrate
Shout it from the mountaintops
Celebrate, celebrate
Even with a broken heart
Till dawn awakes, we'll sing Your praise, dancing in the dark
For all our days our song will say, "Lord how great You are!"

Praise Him with your hands and praise Him with your face down
Praise Him with the trumpet, praise Him with a loud sound
Heaven is a party, join the celebration
Come on everybody, time to start dancing!
(Lyrics abridged)
Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/rend-collective-lyrics-celebrate-ghgbpz8#ixzz426K6YXxb
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WORD:

Ps 25:1-3 25 Toa you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. NIV

Ps 25:1-3 25 To you, O LORD, Io lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in you Ip trust; q let me not be put to shame; r let not my enemies exult over me. 3 Indeed,s none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who aret wantonlyu treacherous. ESV

Ps 25:1-3 25 1 O LORD, I give my life to you. 2 I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. 3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Ps 25:1-3 25 To You, O LORD, I alift up my soul. 2 O my God, in You aI trust, Do not let me bbe ashamed; Do not let my cenemies exult over me. 3 Indeed, anone of those who wait for You will be ashamed; 1Those who bdeal treacherously without cause will be ashamed NASU

We have seen from the previous day that this is a psalm of lament.  Specifically, it is called a psalm of individual lament. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “This is an individual lament with strong similarities to a prayer of confidence, especially vv. 1-3, 8-15.”

(The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 5, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Copyright 1991, p. 226)

While many do not consider it as part of those psalms listed as penitential psalms, there are some similarities which make some include it as one.

List of Penitential Psalms (7): Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. To these, I would also add Psalm 25 and 39. The Penitential Psalms, also called the Psalms of Confession, is a name designation given by Cassiodorus in the 6^th c. A.D. in his Exposition of the Psalms for these seven psalms. They refer to those psalms that are especially expressive of sorrow for sin. Four of these psalms were known as “penitential psalms” by St. Augustine in the early 400s. The name belonged originally to the fifty-first Psalm (Miserere), which was recited at the close of daily morning service in the primitive Church.
dailyqt.org/docs/Psalms_Lesson6.doc

The Naves Topical Bible includes this Psalm in its list:

Ps 6

Ps 25

Ps 32

Ps 38

Ps 51

Ps 102

Ps 130

Ps 143

David is looking at his present situation as well his past and it depresses him, so he turns to the Lord in confidence, confession, and contrition. This is where I must begin when depression seeks to control me and confine me to useless anxiety and the empty feeling of hopelessness. As a side note, this is where I must start when I am full of self-confidence and conceit.

The problem too often with the believer, struggling with anxiety and depression over circumstances and personal sin, is a focus on the problem and not on the One Who is the solution. Notice I said, “One Who is the solution” and not “One Who has the solution”. Certainly, the latter is true, but it is only true because of the former. It is true because it is tied up in the very nature and being of the Omnipotent (all powerful), Omniscient (all knowing), Omnipresent (everywhere present), Omnisapient (all wise), and Omnicaritative (all loving) God. When we place the latter before the former it is nothing more than idolatry and self-centeredness. This is also true if we look at the solution without relying on the source of the solution.

When I refuse to consider the source of my deliverance from anxiety and hopelessness and doubt and depression; I become nothing more than an “unbelieving believer” and practice, albeit subtle, a form of idolatry as well. David’s response to his anxiety and depression and hopelessness is a confidence in the source of his deliverance from such things. It comes in the form of worship:

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;

in you I trust, O my God.

Ps 25:1-2 NIV

We will be delivered when we worship the Lord. When we give ourselves to Him; when we lift our souls in dependence, devotion, and delight to the Lord our Savior. When we focus on Him and not our problems. However, there is another subtle danger, which I alluded previously, of seeing the Lord and the worship of the Lord as the means to an end – i.e. our deliverance from anxiety, hopelessness, doubt, despair and depression. That is idolatry and self-serving. We must rather see that our present circumstances are the Lord’s means to His end, that is to the praise of the glory of His name (Isa. 48:10-11; Psalm 43:5)

There then are two dangers we face in our circumstances:

In our afflictions, there are two especial dangers -- that of despising them, as if they came fortuitously; and the danger of being encumbered and weighed down by them, looking at the circumstances, and not at the God of the circumstances.

(from The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc. and Biblesoft, Inc.)

There is one solution:

The believer has but one remedy. The world talks of its many remedies, but all are ineffective. A general view of God, in the power of faith and by the power of the Holy Ghost, lifts up the soul. Nothing so lifts us up against soul trouble as when we are enabled to say, "O my God, I trust in Thee." Is there anything above God's promises? Yes, God Himself is above His promises, and the very substance of them. Our trust is in Him.

(from The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc. and Biblesoft, Inc.

When we lift our soul, we will be lifted up. James says something like this in his epistle: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:8 ESV)

When we lift our souls to God,

the shackles of our

anxiety and despair

fall away.

I would be remiss if I didn’t include the ultimate means to the Glory of God if you have not done so yet, and that is to repent and believe the good news of the salvation and eternal life in Jesus Christ (John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)

You take what is
And you make it beautiful
When love floods in
We're restored forever more

With breath that brings the dead to life
With words that pierce the dark with light
Only by the blood are we set free.
With mercy strong to carry shame
And nail it to a tree You alone
Hold the power to redeem.

No guilt competes
With innocence crucified
No grave can hold what your grace has justified
With breath that brings the dead to life
With words that pierce the dark with light
Only by the blood are we set free.
With mercy strong to carry shame
And nail it to a tree you alone
Hold the power to redeem

Rejoice oh child of God
Lift your eyes to see
With every morning light
Again we are redeemed

Rejoice oh child of God
Lift your eyes to see
With every morning light
Again we are redeemed

With breath it brings the dead to life
With words that pierce the dark with light
Only by the blood are we set free.
With mercy strong to carry shame
And nail it to a tree you alone
Hold the power to redeem.

Oh you alone, hold the power to redeem
Oh you alone, hold the power to redeem

Songwriters
PAUL MABURY, JUSTIN EBACH, LAUREN DAIGLE

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
Read more: Lauren Daigle - Power To Redeem Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Video:  https://youtu.be/r47ux0RhLMQ?list=RDr47ux0RhLMQ