Why Cry Out to God?

[On August 14 I plan to preach from Psalm 119:73-96 under the title, “Deep Cries and Solid Hope.” This devotion on a similar topic is edited and shortened considerably from a sermon preached March 27, 2011. You can listen to that sermon via this link. This was the first of eight sermons in the series, Cry Out to God!]

When you are in severe pain – how do you pray?

Imagine you’ve just learned of an unexpected sorrow:

  • The death of loved one
  • A cancer diagnosis of a friend
  • Someone you looked up to walking away from the faith
  • Or you’ve just walked away from an angry argument with your spouse.

Do you pray in such circumstances? How?

Sometimes in such cases we are tempted to think, “I can’t possibly pray to God right now! I’m so angry, so hurt, so distracted.” Perhaps you’ve been taught that prayer should begin with praise, and think, “I’m angry with God for letting this happen – so there’s no way I can praise Him!”

Or perhaps you convince yourself you really should pray, so you spit out, “You God are holy, righteous, good, loving, merciful, and gracious, so help this situation, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Many psalms include raw, painful cries to God. Psalm 13:1-2 is an example:

“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”

Would you dare to speak to God like that? Should you speak to God like that?

God gives us the psalms – and other prayers from the heart throughout Scripture – in part to teach us to pray. In prayer, we cry out to our heavenly Father as His beloved children. And the God who knows the number of hairs on our head, the God who knows and controls when a sparrow falls to the ground, cares about the pains and hurts and sorrows of His little children. He wants us to come in dependence on Him, to look to Him as our hope, to cry out to Him honestly, truly, from the heart.

Biblical prayer will always be honest. And the biblical pray-er eventually must surrender his will to that of the sovereign, loving God. During our deepest sorrows, that surrender may take considerable time – and we may surrender in the moment, but then need to do so repeatedly in the future.

Psalm 86 is a clear example of both painful crying out and glad surrender to God. Let’s learn from this psalm how to pray in the midst of deep sorrow. We’ll see seven answers to the question: Why cry out? The first three answers are about you, the last four answers are about God.

This psalm has three sections: In Psalm 86:1-7, David cries out in pain and states why God should answer him. Psalm 86:8-13 describe who God is, and detail how David responds to God. In Psalm 86:14-17, David finally describes his specific problem and asks God to answer.

1) Why Cry Out? You are Needy

In Psalm 86:1-4, David calls upon God with six requests: “Incline Your ear,” “answer me,” “preserve my life,” “save Your servant,” “be gracious to me,” “gladden Your servant’s soul.”

Note the reason David says God should answer him: “I am poor and needy,” “I trust in You,” “to You do I cry all the day,” “to You do I lift up my soul.”

The idea behind this last phrase is: “Bring joy to my whole being, for my whole being depends on and desires You!”

Do you acknowledge that you are needy? That you have no assets to depend on? Are you humbled before God? Or do you approach Him thinking, if God doesn’t come through, you’ll still be ok – you have savings, you have friends, you have skills, experience, and education.

We need to cry out like David: From a position of need.

2) Why Cry Out? You Deserve Nothing

Does David ever say, “Answer me, be good to me, because I deserve it”? No. The statements, “I need You” and “I trust in You” are expressions of dependence, not of desert.

But what about verse 2: “Preserve my life, for I am godly”? Is David saying, “Because I’m a good guy, save me”?

The NIV reads: “Guard my life, for I am devoted to You.” That sounds quite different from “I am godly” – and thus is a clue that it might be worthwhile to learn about the Hebrew word. As it turns out, this word – related to the word translated “steadfast love” in verses 5, 13, and 15 – is difficult to translate with a single English word. The Hebrew word refers to a person who receives and loyally returns steadfast, covenant love. So we might paraphrase verse 2, “Guard me, for I am in covenant relation with You, loved by You and returning loyal love to You.”

So David is not at all saying he deserves God’s answer to his cries.

Just so with us. We are in Christ through absolutely no merit of ours. He died for us while we were sinners. We deserve His punishment, not His love and favor. We can only approach God as those who deserve nothing – as those who are recipients of His gracious, steadfast, covenant love.

3) Why Cry Out? You are in Danger

After speaking generally about his danger, David finally states his specific problem in Psalm 86:14: “Insolent (or ‘arrogant’) men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless (or ‘terrifying’) men seeks my life.”

Realize: David was God’s chosen servant – indeed, His chosen king. David was loved by Him. And yet: David was in mortal danger. His enemies were powerful and terrifying.

What does David do?

He doesn’t say blithely, “Oh, it will all work out ok; God is in control!”

Nor does he close his eyes and hope that his enemies will go away.

He cries out! He expresses His dependence! He vocalizes His need!

God does not promise us easy lives; He instead promises us Himself. He promises that He will hear us when we call upon Him. Therefore David, in danger, cries out. So must we.

4) Why Cry Out? He is Gracious

That is, God extends undeserved favor to the needy.

Psalm 86:5: “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love.“ To whom? What is the requirement? “To all who call upon You.” Thus, there is no requirement, except to cry out in need. He is gracious to the undeserving.

Then Psalm 86:6: “Listen to my plea for grace.” Again, David asks for undeserved favor.

Then in Psalm 86:15, David quotes from Exodus 34:6, God’s revelation of His character to Moses on Mt Sinai, as He showed him His glory: “You are a god merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” He then calls upon God to show that grace to him.

Our hope is the same as David’s. Because He is gracious, we, the undeserving, can cry out to Him. We honor Him when we approach Him as supplicants. He loves to show His bounty to the undeserving, to display what He is like. And He displays this most clearly at the cross of Jesus.

5) Why Cry Out? He is God of All

If God were gracious but not mighty, there would be little reason for David to call upon Him. Perhaps He could provide some emotional support, but He couldn’t counter the power of those attacking him.

But as David says in Psalm 86:8, no other power can even approach the Lord God; no creature has ever done anything like Him. Indeed, as verse 9 reminds us, He made all the nations, every people group. Thus, He is the Creator even of those who are attacking David. Indeed, these attackers were created to glorify God’s Name.

Furthermore, as Psalm 86:10 says, He does “wondrous things” – amazing works, miracles for His covenant people.

So David’s logic is this: “You alone are almighty God. There is no power equal to Yours. You created and control and can easily overpower all the forces arrayed against me. You exert your mighty power on behalf of your covenant people. So act now in accord with Your character!”

Then note what David says in Psalm 86:12: “I will give thanks to You with my whole heart, I will glorify You Name forever.” Since God created all nations to glorify His Name, David says he himself is fulfilling the purpose of his creation by calling out to God and thus glorifying His Name.

The question for us: Do we believe what David believed about God?

We all most likely would make the orthodox statement, “God is almighty, there is no power equal to His, He created all mankind.” But in the midst of trial, temptation, and difficulty: Do we really believe that God controls all the forces arrayed against us?

Listen:

  • He is the God of your parent who is overbearing and of your child who is rebellious
  • He is the God of your frustrating boss and the God of your noisy neighbor
  • He is the God of every president and every governor
  • He is the God of every dictator and every megalomaniac
  • He is the God who controls tsunamis and the God who controls nuclear reactions
  • He is the God of ALL.

There is no power that can stand against Him.

He is at work in the lives of all eight billion people on this planet. He is weaving together individual stories that will redound to His glory – lacing together sorrow and joy, stress and relief, failure and success, to teach us that Jesus is King, to teach us that He reigns, to teach us that He is worthy of all worship and honor and love – to teach us that He is our only hope, but what a hope!

Do you believe that?

  • Do you believe that God can take your unbelieving friend or relative and in an instant open his eyes, so that he falls down and worships Jesus?
  • Do you believe that with a flick of His little finger, God could stop a tsunami in its tracks?
  • Do you believe that God can give you the power to resist any temptation to sin, and thus do you believe you are without excuse for any decision you make to indulge in anger, or lust, or greed, or laziness, or selfishness?

This is our God: The God of all, the God in control.

6) Why Cry Out? He is Your Lord and God

David says, “You are my God” (Psalm 86:2, emphasis added).

Do you see why this is so important?

The Lord God has all this power, all this grace – and He is your God! He is your heavenly Father! He has made promises to you, which He is fully able to keep. He loves you with an everlasting love.

And so, since the almighty One is your Lord and God, our final point:

7) Why Cry Out? He Will Answer

Psalm 86:7: “In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me.”

We see this confidence in God’s answer also in verses 13 and 17:

  • “You will extend your great loyal love to me, and will deliver my life from the depths of Sheol” (Psalm 86:13 NET).
  • “You, O LORD, will help me and comfort me” (Psalm 86:17 NET).

David recalls God’s past answers, remembers God’s character, and knows that at all points in the future God will show the same love, whatever the dangers might be. God answers His people when they call.

Conclusion:

So where are you?

  • You too face dangers
  • You too face trials
  • You too face sorrows
  • You too need a God who is gracious and merciful
  • You too need a God who is almighty, all powerful
  • You too need a God who answers.

How does this Almighty One, the One who answers, become your God?

By your doing what David does in this psalm:

  • Admit your need for Him – that you are lost in sin apart from Him, that you cannot overcome sin on your own
  • Acknowledge that you deserve nothing from Him – on the contrary, you deserve His punishment for rejecting Him
  • Confessing that you were made for His glory, and you desire to fulfill that purpose
  • Accept the gift He offers by His grace – the gift of salvation through faith in the Son of David, Jesus Himself

For Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty deserved by all who trust in Him. And God commands all people everywhere to repent, to turn to Him, to believe in the Lord Jesus and so be saved.

So cry out to Him!

If you already have cried out for salvation: Keep crying out! You are still needy! You still deserve nothing from Him! You still are in danger – most of all from the sin that still fights within you.

So cry out as David cries out in Psalm 86:11: “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth. Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

David says, “I need you to guide me, Lord. Unless you lead me, I will make a wrong turn. Lead me on Your road, so I won’t deviate from Your truth. My heart is divided, still seeking after comfort, after status, after recognition. Unite my heart so that I fear only You, I desire only You. Make me wholeheartedly committed to You so that I might fulfill the purpose of my creation: To glorify Your name forever.”

So cry out in need, in sorrow, in tragedy. Cry out in surrender. And know: He offers you His power, His love – Himself. At no cost to you He says: Come to me: You will be my people. I will be your God.

 

Cry Out for Justice

Alton Sterling. And Brent Thompson. Philando Castile. And four as yet unnamed Dallas police officers.

We could go on: Thousands trafficked for sexual exploitation. About 2700 unborn babies killed yesterday in the US. In the absence of any effective government, warlords rape and pillage, leading millions to flee their homes in Syria, in Libya, in Congo. Meanwhile, even in this country, the powerful and well-connected get off scot free while the weak are punished to the full extent of the law.

We cry out with the prophet:

How long, LORD, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene!  Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife.  For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4 NET)

Or, as a contemporary songwriter puts it:

“I believe you will come, Your justice be done – but how long? . . . How long? How long until this burden is lifted?”

We are right to cry out. We are right to weep. We are right to long for justice, indeed to work for justice.

But Scripture both challenges us and enables us to look at the horrors of this world from God’s perspective.

  • As we ask, “How long must we look at evil?” God asks, “How long will this people despise me?” (Numbers 14:11)
  • As we cry out, “Justice is perverted!” God asks, “How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22)
  • As we long for God to act, He asks, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (Exodus 10:3)

God challenges us to look within – to look at our own hearts, and to examine the hearts of our fellow countrymen. And when we look within, what do we see? Individually and as a nation: We have despised Him. We have mocked Him. We have rejected His revelation. We have arrogantly refused to humble ourselves before Him.

Scripture tells us that all the evil we see around us is the result of this human rebellion against God – a rebellion which we must admit, when we’re honest, is deeply ingrained within us. Indeed, all such evil is the logical consequence of that rebellion.

We can and should take palliative measures as a society that will lessen some of the suffering: Checks and balances in government; proper training for the police; equitable and efficient prosecution of criminals – both of the weak and the powerful; wise voting; holding up examples of honorable men and women. Furthermore, as individuals and as churches we can and must love and care for and assist the broken and hurting around us.

But suffering will continue. Injustice will endure. Violence will rear its head. The poor we will always have with us. Sin will thrive.

Until the Right Government takes over. That is, until the government is on Immanuel’s shoulders. Until God’s Kingdom comes, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Then His government and His peace will increase forever (Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 6:10).

After Habakkuk’s cry, God tells His prophet:

If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. . . . The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. . . . The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. (Habakkuk 2:3, 12, 20)

And the Apostle Paul assures us:

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow– in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11 NET)

So cry out. Weep with those who weep. Help the hurting. Work for justice.

And know: The Lord is indeed in His temple. He offers reconciliation to all rebels through the wiling sacrifice of His Son. He will bring about His Kingdom at exactly the right time. He is King.