Praise in the Dark

Psalm 102

Introduction

How does one recognize a person as a Christian? I’m not referring to following certain rules, wearing Christian t-shirts or speaking in Christianese. Is there a way to recognize that someone is in relationship with God? For some, the answer is clear: look for God’s blessings. Is the person obviously blessed by God? Are they living a prosperous life? Are they enjoying good health? Does everything work out for them? Basically, is God doing everything that is needed to make them happy? I don’t think it is wrong to look for God’s blessing but we may have to widen our definition. The Beatitudes say:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” (Matthew 5:3-11)

These blessings may not be what we expect. The truth is that the Bible paints a different picture of what the life of a believer looks like.

When I am going through rough times, I turn to the Psalms. There are some specific Psalms that are exactly what I need to hear in the moment. There is a consistent pattern of: 1) life is hard, 2) God is good and 3) we respond with faithfulness. We are going to take a look at Psalm 102 which follows this pattern closely.

Life is Hard

I have met Christians who believe that it is important to pretend that everything if fine, no matter what. We need to paint on a smile even if our lives are completely fall apart. They fear that showing that we struggle is a bad witness and might make a person considering Christ to stumble.

There are two problems with this idea of fake happiness. One is that is not what seekers are looking for and the other is that it is not biblical.

Psalm 102 begins with a graphic description of suffering. The Psalmist feels as if God has turned his face away. He compares his heart to the grass that withers in the sun. Days vanishing like smoke. Not able to eat and not able to sleep. Can you identify with this? Perhaps from physical, emotional or spiritual suffering?

This passage hits a little too close to home for me. It was seven years ago that I got sick with what seemed to be a mysterious disease. I prayed and prayed and nothing happened. I couldn’t eat and I became skin and bones. I remember being in the hospital and taking off my hospital gown and seeing all of my ribs sticking out. I would lay awake at night, my mind going back and forth from the physical pain to my fear of the future. It was terrible.

While I didn’t openly weep, I could identify with the image of tears mingling with drink.

This type of description is not unique in the Bible. It is found throughout the Bible, including the New Testament. There is no excuse for putting pressure on Christians to pretend that everything is okay when the people of the Bible were honest about their suffering.

How would you respond if someone asked how you were doing and you couldn’t defect it by saying “fine”? What would you say if you were honest?

God is Good

One of the most important words in the Bible is “but.” This little conjunction is like the act of putting on eye glasses for the first time. I remember when I did that. I knew I had some trouble reading things far away but I had no idea how clear reality was until I put those glasses on. That’s what “but” does in the Bible. 

Life is hard but God is good. “But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever.” This is a moment of pivot when we adjust our gaze from our circumstances to our God. That doesn’t mean that we ignore our circumstances but it is now only one part of the picture. The Psalmist focuses here on the attributes of strength and compassion. Both are needed if we are to feel any comfort. If God was only strong or only compassionate, that would not help us. But those two combined make all the difference in the world. What is the basic theme of the Bible? God intervenes in a world that is a mess. Just a world but the lives of individuals. And that story hasn’t ended with the writing of the Bible. God is still strong and compassionate and he still intervenes in our lives. Not every prayer is answered the way we ask it, but God has not abandoned us. We, just like the Psalmist, can rely on the big “but.” Our current circumstances do not define us or our future.

Our Response

So life is hard and God is good, what do we do with that? We praise God. We worship. And we saw last week that the worship can take a variety of forms.

Not only do we worship, we train up the next generation to worship God as well. Can I give you a peek at what spiritual conversations look like in the Bedard household? Perhaps you will disagree with this, but we don’t continually quote Bible passages at our children. Most of the conversations we have are about difficult times we have gone through and how God has helped us in the darkest times. I know some parents want to protect their children from even the knowledge of the struggles of parents. we have chosen to be transparent with our children by sharing our struggles. But we also include the big “but” of how God intervened.

The fact that God is both strong and compassionate demands some sort of response from us. That includes worshiping and sharing those stories with the next generation. Whether or not you have children or grandchildren, we have an obligation to share our stories with the next generation. Not just of how great things were but of how great God was in the midst of difficult times.

Conclusion

Do you remember the question I asked at the beginning? How do we recognize that a Christian has a relationship with God? The answer is not because everything is easy for them and they live a life of comfort. The answer is how they respond when life gets difficult.

I will tell you that younger generations are not looking for people who are pretending that they are perfect. They are looking for people who are real and authentic. That includes allowing God’s glory to shine through the cracks in our strength. This is the example that Jesus gave us. His strength was made known not in what the world considers strength but what looked to be weakness. It is at the cross that we find the intersection of life is hard, God is good and we respond in worship. Let your praise emerge from where you are really at and not what you think other people expect.