Psalmist Cries, 3of5

 Psalmist Cries, 3of5

~ Lament of Concern ~

Introduction  ~  Throughout the Book of Psalms we find a Psalmist crying out to God – lamenting the circumstances surrounding him.  In this series we look at five types of laments found in the Psalms – it is by no means an exhaustive list of the types of laments or the number of psalms in each of the types we look at.  Also, a particular psalm can be labeled in more than one way. 

Example Psalm  ~  “You have given us up like sheep intended for food, and have scattered us among the nations.  You sell Your people for next to nothing, and are not enriched by selling them.  You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those all around us.  …  All this has come upon us; but we have not forgotten You, nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from Your way; but You have severely broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.

“If we had forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.  Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

“Awake!  Why do You sleep, O Lord?  Arise!  Do not cast us off forever.  Why do You hide Your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?  For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body clings to the ground.  Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies' sake” (Psalm 44:11-13, 17-26).

Comment  ~  Have you ever cried out to God with a cry of concern?

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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