when darkness is my only friend - psalm 88
DESCRIPTION
Lament is not a denial of true faith, but a dogged expression of it. The message was given on Sept 8, 2013 at New City Church in Calgary by Pastor John Ferguson. For more info, go to www.NewCityChurch.ca.TRANSCRIPT
WHEN
DARKNESS
IS MY
ONLY
FRIEND
~ PSALM 88
image: Nathanael Boehm
Today’s Scripture
Page 494 in our guest Bibles.
Psalm 88
image: Nathanael Boehm
WHEN
DARKNESS
IS MY
ONLY
FRIEND
~ PSALM 88
image: Nathanael Boehm
1 The Honestyof True Lament
2 The Doggednessof True Faith
Be on the lookout for...
O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry
PSALM 88:1-2
out day and night before you. Letmy prayer come before you; inclineyour ear to my cry...!
For my soul is full of troubles,
PSALM 88:3-5
and my life draws near to Sheol.I am counted among those who godown to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one set looseamong the dead, like the slain that
...lie in the grave, like those whom
PSALM 88:3-5
you remember no more, for they arecut off from your hand....
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff
they comfort me.~ Psalm 23:4
You have put me in the depths of
PSALM 88:6-9
the pit, in the regions dark and deep.Your wrath lies heavy upon me, andyou overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah.You have caused my companions
...to shun me; you have made me a
PSALM 88:6-9
horror to them. I am shut in so that Icannot escape; my eye grows dimthrough sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out myhands to you....
Do you work wonders for the dead?
PSALM 88:10-12
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah. Is your steadfast lovedeclared in the grave, or your faith-fulness in Abaddon? Are your won-ders known in darkness, or your
...righteousness in the land of
PSALM 88:10-12
forgetfulness...?
But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the
PSALM 88:13-14
morning my prayer comes beforeyou. O Lord, why do you cast mysoul away? Why do you hide yourface from me...?
You hid your face, and I was dismayed.
~ Psalm 30:7
“True believers may have the ASSURANCE of their
salvation shaken, diminished, or temporarily
lost in various ways …
“True believers may have the ASSURANCE of their
salvation shaken, diminished, or temporarily
lost in various ways … by God’s withdrawing the LIGHT of his countenance and allowing even those
who reverence him to walk in DARKNESS and have no light.”
~ 18.4
Afflicted and close to death from my
PSALM 88:15-18
youth up, I suffer your terrors; I amhopeless. Your wrath has sweptover me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me likea flood all day long; they close in on
You have caused my beloved
PSALM 88:15-18
and my friend to shun me; my com-panions have become darkness.
Lament is not a denial of true faith but a
dogged expression of it.
Lament is not a denial of true faith but a
dogged expression of it.
/ˈdôgid/dog·ged
marked by stubborn determination;persistent, tenacious, obstinate
LEARN THE
LANGUAGE
OF LAMENT
1
image: Josh Kenzer
“It seems to me that we do not need to be taught HOW to lament. What we
need is simply the assurance that we
CAN lament.”
DON T FORGETTHE GOSPEL
2
image: Flood G.
“And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a
loud voice…, ‘My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?’”
~ Mark 15:33-34
image: Christopher Brown
“I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.’
~ Hebrews 13:5
“Is everything sad going to
come untrue?”
Nathanael Boehm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73978954@N00/455160673/
Josh Kenzer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36908075@N03/4329432316/
FLood G.: http://www.flickr.com/photos/97223988@N00/6732863457/
Christopher Brown: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7853490@N07/3531948937/
flickr images courtesy of: