Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the assistant pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian
Church, and it's my joy to bring God's word to you.
A special welcome to you if you are visiting with us or new with us.
We're glad you're here, and we're glad you're here not because you are filling a seat, but
because we are following Jesus together as one community.
And as we're following Jesus, we've become convinced that there is no one so good that
they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.
And so everyone needs to hear what God has to say.
As has been mentioned several times this morning, we are beginning the season of Advent.
And Advent is a word that comes from a Latin word, and that Latin word simply means to
come or to arrive.
To come or to arrive.
And so we do two things at Advent.
As I think of it.
First, we celebrate the fact that Jesus did come.
So we look back to his first coming, and we celebrate the fact that he came and he arrived.
But it's also a time when we look forward to his second coming, when he's going to come
and arrive again.
And so we're doing two things at once.
We're celebrating, and we're also looking.
We're looking back, and we're looking forward, and we have songs that sort of fit each of
these.
So Joy to the World would be a celebration song.
Right?
Joy to the Lord.
The Lord has come.
We're looking back that he's here.
But then we've sung a more of a looking forward song today as well.
We sang, O come, O come, Emmanuel.
To ransom captive Israel.
And so there's this two-way.
I often think of Christians as people who are crossing the street, because we have to
look both ways.
We're looking back to what God has done in the past, and then we're looking forward to
what he's done, he's going to do in the future.
And if you're honest with yourself, this creates a tension.
It creates a tension because while we celebrate Jesus having come, he hasn't come a second time
yet.
And so we live with all the struggles and sorrows that we still face in this life.
And so we have a tension between those two.
On the one hand, we have sorrow as we don't yet see everything that God has done to right
every wrong.
But we don't want to let our sorrow get rid of our hope.
And so we're always balancing sorrow and hope.
And so as we are in the season of Advent, we're going to take a look at the book of Psalms.
The book of Psalms is essentially 150 different prayers that God has given us as models for
how we should talk to him.
And so these are, you can think of these as the standard operating procedure that God has
given us for different situations in life.
If you are feeling betrayed by a friend, God's given us Psalm 55.
If you are tempted to envy someone who is wicked but seems to be flourishing, God's given us Psalm 73.
But this morning, we're going to take a look at Psalm 13.
Psalm 13 is what we would refer to as a psalm of lament.
Now, lament's not a word that we use very often, especially as Americans.
We might think about maybe grieving.
Lament's a little bit different than that.
It involves grieving, but a lament is something that mixes both sorrow and hope.
And so it's not giving in completely to sorrow on the one hand, but it's not giving up hope on the other.
It's holding both of those in tension.
And so that is part of what we do in the Advent season, is we hold both our sorrow for the fact that we still experience sin in this world,
but also our hope that Jesus came and is coming.
And so God gives us these psalms in his word.
And Psalm 13 is one of the shortest, one of the clearest psalms of lament that we have in the Bible.
And so it helps us answer the question, what do we do as we live in the tension of Advent?
What do we do as we try to hold both hope and sorrow together?
And so I'd ask you that you turn with me now in your Bible.
The psalms is pretty close to the center of your Bible, not quite at the center.
It's also in your worship guide.
And we're going to be reading from Psalm 13.
And so read now with me.
Remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.
And that it is sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so please read with me now from Psalm 13.
Verse 5.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love.
My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Lord, dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you speak to us.
We thank you that you know that we struggle with sorrow and hope, that you're not unaware of that.
We thank you that you meet us at that very place, that spot.
We ask that you would meet us there today, this morning, by your Holy Spirit,
that you'd send the Spirit now to help us.
We ask this in the name of your Son.
Amen.
The psalmist here starts out with an important question.
How long?
And then he goes on to use language that maybe you wouldn't expect to find in the Bible.
Because he tells God that he believes that God has forgotten him.
And even more than that, he tells God that he believes that God has hidden from him.
And what we have to understand here is that the psalmist is not using theological precise language here.
He's not writing a systematic theology.
Instead, he is using experiential language.
And so he's saying, God, it feels like all I see right now is the presence of sin.
But your absence.
It feels like sin is winning in this world over and over again.
And so from where I stand, it sounds like, it feels like you've forgotten me.
In the Old Testament, when the language of forgetting is used and remembering, it's language of action.
If God remembers his people, what the Old Testament is telling us is that he acted.
He did something.
If he has forgotten his people, it's a way of talking about this feeling that God is not acting.
He's not intervening.
And so the writer of this psalm, as he experiences life, as he lives day by day,
all he can see again and again is the presence of sin.
Breaking him down.
Breaking down the world around him.
And he doesn't see God anywhere doing anything.
This language of hiding of the face, the second thing that he tells us,
is language that talks about blessing.
So if you've been here with us at Cheyenne Mountain for a while,
you know sometimes we end our service with a benediction from Numbers chapter 6.
And that benediction says, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you.
In other words, will you experience God's blessing?
So the psalmist here is in a point in life where his experience of sin day after day after day
has made him wonder how much longer he can take it.
How much longer he's able to hold on.
And so he has this important question.
If you have read the Bible, if you're familiar with it,
you know that repetition is very important.
And here in just two verses, the psalmist asks the question,
how long?
Four times.
And so in other words, he's at a breaking point.
The reality of sin day after day after day has broken him down.
He's not sure how much longer he can take it.
And so the words of the psalmist, the question here of how long
is the question of God's people.
It was the question of God's people in the Old Testament,
and it's also the question of God's people now.
It's the same question that we have to ask in Advent
as we celebrate the past but also live in the present.
And so we can ask this how long question as well.
The psalms are, by the way, often intentionally vague,
and they're intentionally vague because they're meant to be used
by all sorts of people in all sorts of situations.
And so it actually would not be helpful for us
if we knew exactly why the author of Psalm 13 felt this way.
Because this is a tool, this is a tool for all of God's people
to use when they feel this presence of evil
is breaking them down day by day.
And so it's permitted, it's good, it's right for us
to fill in the blanks here, to fill in the blank of how long.
We could say, how long will my children stand far away from me
and far away from God?
We could ask, how long will I check the group text on my family
to make sure everyone's okay?
because I know that many of them live in another country
filled with violence.
We could ask, how long will my spouse and I feel like roommates
rather than lovers?
How long will domestic abuse and suicide run rampant on Fort Carson,
which is right next to us?
How long will my spouse lose her memory day by day
and little by little?
How long will there be people in Colorado Springs
who don't have a place to live
because they don't have the resources that they need?
How long will the culture around us call good, evil, and evil good?
And how long will cancer and sickness take the people in our church?
So the psalmist's question of how long is our question as well.
And to add on to that, we find out that this has caused him to,
what he tells us in verse 2, take counsel in his soul.
His thoughts are running wild, perhaps with the type of anxiety
that we talked about in Philippians,
perhaps with worry, perhaps with fear.
But seeing sin win over and over again
has made him turn inward.
Now, I know some of you have experienced
being separated, perhaps for a time,
from someone you love.
It might be because of a deployment.
It might just be a general job trip
or it might be for other reasons
that someone has to leave for a time.
And if you're in a long-distance relationship like that,
you know that there are many tools
that people will use to keep their relationship alive
to try to continue to grow intimacy
and build intimacy.
And one of them that's most common
is the open win letter.
If you're familiar with the open win letter,
you know it's something that one person
puts together for another
and it'll have a title on it.
For example, it might say,
open when you feel stressed.
Or, open when you are missing me.
Open when you've had a bad day.
Open when you've had a good day.
And the reminder, the important thing
is that the person who makes them for you
knows that there's going to come a time
when you feel like that.
There's going to come a time
when you have a good day
and they're not going to be there.
And there's going to come a time
when you have a bad day.
There's going to come a time
when you feel stressed.
And so what do we do
when we feel the question of how long?
We feel the tension of Advent.
Well, the first is a reminder
from this psalm
that it is in the Bible.
And so this is God's open win letter.
He is saying,
I know
that there will come a time
when you are living in this world
when you will encounter
so much brokenness
that you will wonder
if I'm still there.
I know that.
I know what life in this world is like.
And so I put this here
to remind you
that I'm not ignorant.
I'm not unaware
of the struggle that you face.
And so the first things
that the psalm of lament tells us
is that God knows
that we have sorrow.
He knows that we have sorrow
and he doesn't expect us
to ignore it.
He doesn't expect us
to push it away.
He doesn't expect us
to plaster on smiling faces.
One of the most upsetting things
I hear from Christians sometimes
is this idea that
because we're a Christian,
we're not allowed to have sorrow.
We're not allowed to grieve.
Somehow we have to always
plaster on a good face
and pretend that we're happy
because of what
Jesus has done for us.
And we do find joy
in what Jesus has done for us.
That's what we talked about
in Philippians.
But we also live with sorrow
in this world.
And so God knows that.
He's given us this psalm
in his word
to remind us
that he's not unaware
of the struggles that we face.
Remember last year
during Advent
we went through the book of Isaiah
and we learned that
Jesus was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief.
And so we live in the tension
and the first reminder here
is we ask how long
is that God knows.
He knows that we struggle.
He knows that sometimes
we don't know
how much longer
we can take it.
He knows that sometimes
we want to ask
how long
four times in two verses.
And the second thing
is that God wants us
to bring that to him.
The psalmist here is
he's not cursing God.
He's not blaming God.
He's just simply being honest.
And so God calls us
to the same honesty.
When we find ourselves
in a how long situation
God wants to hear from us.
He doesn't want us
to ignore or pretend
like something isn't there.
He doesn't want us
to numb ourselves
with the distractions around us.
But he wants us to come
and bring our whole selves
all our sorrow before him
and ask that question.
And so it's good
and right for us to say
God I know that you're
in control and you're sovereign
but right now
it doesn't feel like that.
And I'm not sure
how much longer
I can take it.
God wants us to come
before him
and tell him that.
Another piece of advice
another application
I can give you
I don't talk about
scripture memory
very often.
This is an excellent psalm
to memorize.
And it's an excellent
psalm to memorize
first of all
because it's very short
so you can feel
like you've memorized
the whole chapter
of the Bible
just with six verses.
But it's also
an excellent psalm
to memorize
for the same reason
that as a teacher
if you work in a school
one thing you get used to
over and over again
is going through fire drills.
I cannot tell you
how many fire drills
I've been a part of
but part of what happens
at a school
is every X number of weeks
you have to make sure
you have a fire drill
and so that everyone
is familiar
with the procedures
that are in place
everyone knows
exactly what to do
so in case there is
an emergency
there's no chaos
everyone's practiced
this over and over again.
The psalms of lament
are sort of a fire drill
for the Christian.
As we talked about
in Ruth
not all of us
are going through
suffering right now
but if we live
in this world
all of us will.
And so the psalms
are our way
of knowing
when it happens
what we do.
And so I'd encourage
you to memorize
Psalm 13
that when you get
to a place in your life
if you're not there now
where you want to ask
how long
you have the map
right in front of you.
You don't have to wonder
what you do
or how you respond to God
but everything is there.
And so first
the first thing you do
with this drill
is that you cry out to God
and you tell him
that you are wondering
how long.
The psalmist doesn't
leave us there though
we see the next step
in verses 3 and 4
after he's told God
that he feels like
things are not sustainable
he then asks God
verse 3
consider and answer me
so I feel like
you're absent.
It feels like
you're not here
right now.
But he doesn't stay there
he doesn't stay
just in his sorrow
but he cries out to God
and asks him
to rescue him.
He says
consider and answer me
light up my eyes
lest I sleep
the sleep of death
lest my enemies
say I have prevailed
over him
lest my foes rejoice
because I am shaken.
Now just like
the first two verses
were very vague
and broad
here are the enemies
we can take to be
very vague and broad
this psalmist
seems to be encountering
someone who's opposing him
not all the situations
we are going to face
that this psalm
is appropriate for
not all our situations
of lament
are going to have
a specific enemy
some of them will
but we can see
this enemy
we can see it
as someone
a person maybe
someone who's
spreading evil
someone who's
promoting evil
could also be
the greatest enemy
it could be
Satan himself
the presence of evil
it's not inappropriate
to take this
and see that
there is an enemy
that we have
who seeks to prevail
over us
and so the psalmist
pours out his heart
to God
tells him he's asking
how long
but then he also
asks him
and so
the point here
is simple
but complex
God wants us
to ask him
God doesn't
just want us
to tell him
about the ways
that we feel
like we don't
see him in this
world
but he wants us
to ask him
to intervene
another tempting
thing for Christians
to believe
is that since
God is in control
it's not worth
asking him
and yet God
has sovereignly
in control
set up the world
in such a way
that our prayers
matter
and so he wants
us to ask him
he wants us
to cry out to him
and he promises
that our prayers
make a difference
but there's a catch
here
the psalmist
is only willing
to pray
he's brought
to the point
of prayer
in verse 3
why
because he believes
he has no other hope
he says
he's crying out
lest I sleep
the sleep of death
in other words
what's driven
the psalmist
to prayer
is the realization
that God
is his only hope
in life
and in death
and so while
verses 1 and 2
are a comfort
God knows
that we experience
sorrow in this world
he wants us
to tell him that
verses 3 and 4
are a challenge
because it's difficult
and challenging
for us to come
to a point
where we actually
believe that we
are desperate
enough
that only prayer
is going to help us
true prayer
prayer that lasts
day after day
over and over
is desperate prayer
because to pray
we have to believe
that that is
more important
more effective
and more powerful
than our money
than our resources
than our ability
to work hard
than our problem
solving skills
than our experience
in other words
the psalmist
has come to a place
where he understands
that the problem
he's facing
is something
only God
can solve
and so the first
challenge of verses
3 and 4
is that we have
to actually believe
that God has the power
and realize
that we don't
but the second
challenge is
we have to bring
it to him
rather than going
anywhere else
so on the one
hand a temptation
might be to get busy
we're going to fix
the problem
we're going to
solve the problem
the other temptation
might become
to become simply
cynical
talk about that
in verses 5 and 6
it's not even worth
thinking about
doing anything
about
there's no hope
in this world
but then the other
temptation is to run
away and numb
now there are
more respectable ways
and less respectable
ways of numbing
to avoid sorrow
here that the psalmist
is heading straight
into his sorrow
he's not just telling
God he has it
but then he's asking
God
and so he's choosing
that over every other
option that he has
on the one hand
he's choosing it over
trying to fix the
problem himself
but then on the other
hand he's choosing it
over trying to pretend
like there's no problem
and so there's a lot
of us
all of us
at some level
who have ways
of living life
without Jesus
and all of them
involve ways
of pretending
that there's no problem
and so I use
the term numbing
it's a way
that we
look for places
where we don't
have to feel
the sorrow
that the psalmist
feels so intensely
in verses 1 and 2
for some people
it's something
respectable
like pouring
themselves
into their work
their career
if we can just
stay distracted
enough
and busy enough
we don't have
to acknowledge
the sorrow
and the pain
for other people
it's real
substances
that help us
not to feel
anymore
I have two
very very close
friends of mine
consider them
some of my best
friends in the world
who before I met
them both of them
at various points
in their lives
spent I think
at least a year
each of them
using drugs
as a way
for them
to not have
to feel
anymore
one of my
friends would
tell me this
story
he would
work at a
restaurant
and he
would keep
his bag
of weed
behind the
soap dispenser
in the bathroom
and so when he
had a break
he could go
and pull it out
and go behind
the restaurant
and no one
would know
what he was
doing
no one
would ever
be able
to find it
now it's
tempting for us
to
some of us
to just
judge people
like that
as I got
to know
my friends
more and more
I learned
about the
things that
they were
facing in
their lives
as this
was going
on
my friend
who would
hide in
the soap
dispenser
in the
bathroom
he said
this would
spike in
his life
as he
and his
wife were
separated
as their
marriage was
on the rocks
that was
how he knew
to deal
with it
he knew
how to
numb
he didn't
know
anything
else
my other
friend
told me
that he
spent
I think
at least
a year
of his
life
he was
basically
high
all day
every day
and it
just happened
to be
the time
in his
life
when his
parents
marriage
was
disintegrating
just as
he was
turning 17
and 18
trying to
become
an adult
and I
tell you
these stories
not to be
dramatic
but to
name the
reality
here
of the
difficulty
of verses
3 and 4
it's easy
to say
pray
and take
our
request
to God
but it's
hard to
actually do
it
because the
temptation
to numb
and do
away with
our sorrow
is so
great
and yet
the psalmist
has decided
to do
something
else
he's
decided
to take
it
straight
to God
knowing
that he
is powerful
enough
and good
enough
and so
he names
his sorrow
he asks
the question
how long
in verses
1 and 2
but then
he actually
moves the
next step
he takes
it before
God
in verses
3 and 4
by the way
those friends
of mine
that's not
part of their
lives anymore
they've
various points
they came
to know
the Lord
and to
realize
that they
could take
their sorrows
their
how long
questions
to him
it's been
a lot
of years
since
those things
happened
and yet
they still
have some
how long
questions
they still
have places
in their
lives
where they
are not
sure
how much
longer
they can
keep
walking
and yet
now they
know
that they
can
take
these
things
not to
numb
them
or suppress
them
they can
take
them
to God
and believe
that he's
their only
hope
and so
that's
where we
end up
in verses
five and
six
we have
kind of
a three
step path
that the
psalmist
presents
for us
here
first he
brings his
sorrow
to God
then he
asks God
for his
intervention
but then in
verses five
and six
he trusts
God
and he uses
that very
word in
verse five
but I have
trusted
in your
steadfast
love
this word
steadfast
love is
the same
word that we
saw in the
book of
Ruth
it was the
never stopping
never giving up
unbreaking
always and
forever
love
and so as
the psalmist
is trying
to have
hope
and sorrow
at the same
time he has
to root his
hope in
something
and so while
he doesn't
see God
acting in
the world
right now
well it
feels like
evil is
winning
he remembers
the steadfast
love of
God rooted
in what
he has
done
and so for
the psalmist
this would
be God's
great acts
of redemption
of Israel
out of
Exodus
but for us
as the
believer
our hope
in God's
steadfast
love is
what we
look back
to at
Advent
it's the
reminder
that we
saw in
verses 1
and 2
that God
knows
he's not
unaware
and he
has come
to be
with us
and so as
we look
back and
celebrate
Jesus'
first
birth
excuse me
his birth
his first
coming
we see
that as
God's
steadfast
love to
us
and as
we focus
on that
at Christmas
we cannot
also forget
Jesus'
death on
the cross
that he
paid the
penalty for
our sins
that he
lived the
life we
could not
for us
and he
died the
death we
should have
for us
so that
we can
live
with God
and so
the psalmist
takes hope
here not
because all
the ends
are tied
up not
because all
the T's
are crossed
or I's
are dotted
but he
takes hope
here because
he knows
that even
though at
the moment
he does
not feel
God's
presence
or see
God
his steadfast
love is
still real
and his
steadfast
love is
real and
so he
asks himself
he urges
himself
this language
he uses
here my
heart shall
rejoice
or I
will sing
it's more
like let
me rejoice
let me
sing
he's
encouraging
himself
he's
working
himself
up
knowing
I'm
in the
middle
of sorrow
right now
but I'm
not going
to stick
there
I can't
just have
sorrow
God
wants to
hear it
from me
he invites
me to
come and
speak to
him
he is
willing to
hear me
cry out
to him
and ask
him to
change
things as
they are
and as
I do
that I
also have
to hope
I have
to hope
that God
is powerful
enough
and as
we see
all throughout
the Psalms
he knows
that God
is going
to solve
the problems
that the
psalmist
faces
he's going
to solve
the problem
of sin
he's going
to do it
sometimes
in the world
that we live
here right
now
and he's going
to do it
always in the
future
and so that
is the
psalmist's
hope
that is how
he mixes
hope
and sorrow
he names
his sorrow
he asks
God to
intervene
in what
is causing
his sorrow
and then
he takes
confidence
and hope
in the fact
that he
knows
that God's
steadfast
love is
there
even in
the midst
of sorrow
but God
has not
abandoned him
or left
him
and then
finally
in verse
six
and let's
not
overlook
this
he sings
the psalmist's
final act
of hope
in God
is to
sing
and this
is not
poetic
language
this is
not
metaphorical
language
the psalms
were the
hymn book
of Israel
and so
what the
psalmist
does
in the
midst
of his
sorrow
the way
that he
ends
is by
singing
to God
that's
how he
does
what he
talks
about
in
verse
five
that's
how he
trusts
in
God's
steadfast
love
because
he knows
that music
is so
powerful
so connected
to his
emotions
that he
is going
to be
able
to sing
and in
that
remind
his
heart
of what
is
true
remind
himself
of God's
promises
of his
steadfast
love
to him
and remind
himself
that there
is hope
for him
in the
midst
of sorrow
if you
are someone
who has
questions
or doubts
or objections
to
Christianity
this hope
that the
psalmist
has
is a
great
and real
hope
it's a
real hope
that's rooted
in the
real events
of Jesus
coming to
earth
as a
baby
of him
being born
and living
life on
this earth
as a man
perfectly
and then
dying
and paying
the penalty
for all
of our
sins
and so
this is
not a
general
hope
this is
not a
I'm going
to be
more
positive
during the
day
to affect
my
emotions
and hopefully
have a
better
outlook
hope
but this
is a
real
in time
and space
and history
hope
that the
psalmist
has
and so
the only
way that
he is able
to find
hope in the
midst of
sorrow
the only
way that
he's able
to devoid
distracting
and numbing
but instead
to name
his grief
and come
to God
is because
his great
belief
in God's
actual
real
real life
real time
real space
redemption
and so
first of all
he names
his sorrows
rather than
ignoring them
he comes
to God
and asks
him to
intervene
rather than
believing
he can
solve it
himself
or he
has to
numb
the pain
that he
faces
and finally
he takes
hope in
what God
has done
both in
the past
and in
the future
as he
lives in
the present
and so
he ends
with a
song
a song
to God
reminding
himself
and others
of God's
faithfulness
in his
love
in his
book
the
Tech Wise
family
Andy Crouch
tells the
story of
the people
of Haiti
in January
of 2010
as we
know
they
experienced
a devastating
earthquake
which killed
over 200,000
people
and put
over a
million people
without a
place to
live
NPR
ran a
story on
it and
they said
for the
western
hemisphere's
poorest
country
the
earthquake
that hit
Haiti
in January
was an
especially
cruel
blow
despite
this
it's
hard
to
find
a
Haitian
who
does
not
profess
a
belief
in a
loving
God
and Crouch
says this
when you've
lost
everything
in fact
you still
have
song
all over
the hills
of Haiti
those first
terrible
nights
under the
starlit sky
the voices
of the people
of Haiti
rose up
in grief
and lament
in prayer
and hope
and so
that's
what we
do
as
Christians
when we
find
ourselves
in
sorrow
we
take
confidence
and hope
in God's
steadfast
love
knowing
that
sometimes
we will
see
things
set
right
now
but
ultimately
we will
see
everything
set
right
and so
in the
meantime
we keep
hoping
and trusting
telling
God
our sorrows
and trusting
him enough
to hope
and so
we sing
that
and so
we're going
to do
that now
I'm going
to pray
for us
and then
we're going
to sing
a song
just as
the psalmist
encourages
us to
dear father
in heaven
we thank
you
that you
know
that there
will come
times in
our lives
where we
feel like
you're not
there
thank you
that you
know this
enough
and care
about it
enough
that you've
given us
this psalm
you've given
us a song
to sing
when we're
sad
we thank you
that you don't
leave us there
you listen
to our prayers
you hear us
most of all
you redeem
us
so we ask
that you
would build
us up
and strengthen
us now
even as we
sing to you
we ask all
of this in
the name
of your
son
amen