Difference between revisions of "Alt Sermon for August 4th, 2019"

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Psalm 77:1-20

To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan;
    I meditate, and my spirit faints.  Selah

4 You keep my eyelids from closing;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
    and remember the years of long ago.
6 I commune with my heart in the night;
    I meditate and search my spirit:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”  Selah
10 And I say, “It is my grief
    that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
    I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all your work,
    and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.  Selah

16 When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    the very deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies thundered;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path, through the mighty waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psummer of Psalms II - 77

Psalm 77 begins with three attributions: The first is, as we've seen many times before, "to the leader." The last is "a psalm of Asaph." Asaph is the author of 12 psalms, second only to David. But the middle inscription, According to Jeduthun" is truly interesting. Jeduthun is a name, but we already have a name on this Psalm, Asaph. Juduthun can also mean, literally, "one who praises." According to one who praises. That's interesting because of all the Psalms that begin and end praising God, this isn't one of them.

Psalm 77 begins with a lament, a cry to God--not even asking for help, just asking to be heard. The Psalmist describes days and nights full of trouble, then ends the first section by saying "I think of God and I moan; I meditate and my spirit faints."

My spirit faints--that could be a relief, but no. In verse four, the Psalmist cannot even sleep (You keep my eyelids from closing) or give voice to his sorrow. I can't count the number times yesterdaay when someone said, or wrote in social media, "I have no words." Which, by definition is not true, but the sentiment, I think, is that in times of unspeakable tragedy, we all have this feeling that no words we might possibly say could matter, could make a difference, could change what has happened, or give adequate comfort going forward. No words.

Sometimes, that sentiment even extends to prayers--which are, essentially, words spoken to God. For every person who wrote that they were sending "thoughts and prayers" to our community, there were just as many who, in anger, wrote "no more thoughts and prayers; we need actions and policies." This, of course, is ironic--because those are words also, they are prayers for action, hopes those who read or hear them might be somehow influenced to intervene in the situation... in much the same way we hope our prayers will motivate God to intervene in the situation.

The author of Psalm 77 has also begun to lose hope prayer. He asks a series of questions beginning in Verse 7, and some of them may seem familiar to us this weekend.

• Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
• Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
• Are his promises at an end for all time?
• Has God forgotten to be gracious?
• Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”

And then in verse 10, the lowest point in the psalm, he seems to answer his own question, and not in a positive way:

• And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed."

The right hand of the Most High symbolizes God's favor. And to the Psalmist's grief, that favor has changed, has been removed, perhaps forever.