“Longing for Transformation”
Psalm 86:11-17
Our Psalm for this morning is a “Psalm of Lament.”
Now, what do I mean by that?
To lament is to express deep sorrow, grief or regret.
And lament is a major theme in the Bible.
The Psalms of Lament are beautiful poems or hymns expressing human struggles.
The men and women of the Bible were as real as we are today.
They danced and sang, rejoiced and laughed, argued and confessed, lamented and mourned.
They expressed emotions to God in prayer just as we do.
And so, when we encounter difficult struggles and need God’s rescue, salvation, and help, the Psalms of Lament are a good place to turn.
I want to ask you this morning, in all honesty: “How are you doing?”
I mean, “How are you really doing?”
“How is it with your soul?”
Are you struggling?
Are you sad, depressed, anxious?
It’s the peak of summer.
Temperatures have been in the mid-nineties, and COVID-19 infections are spiking.
A lot of folks feel uncomfortable going to the neighborhood pool.
Many don’t want to go to a restaurant nor movie theaters—those dark, cool places of normal respite from the sun and stress of summer are shuttered.
We are also in a heated political season.
People are taking sides and arguing.
This is also a time of racial unrest.
It’s kind of like we have hit a boiling point in this country, is it not?
And so, we have the makings for, well, for frustration, stress, anxiety and, perhaps, depression.
Oh, and did I mention that we haven’t met for in-person worship since the first Sunday in March.
Is anyone getting a bit stir crazy?
I know I am.
I have to admit, it was difficult and sad to have to take down the signs last week for the beginning of what would have been our first Sunday of Community Worship in the Park.
I was excited about that.
We had put a lot of planning and work into it.
That doesn’t mean it won’t happen some-day, but it was disappointing to have to call it off—although I do think the Conference made the right decision.
Still, this Virus rages on.
And tempers and temperatures are rising.
A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of mine called and told me his wife wanted a divorce.
This, for him, came right out of the blue.
We talked on the phone a lot during that time.
He admitted that he has been under a lot of stress, and has been allowing that stress to get in the way of his marriage.
For example, he told me that he has a hard time not replying, on Social Media, to political things people post that he strongly disagrees with.
This, tends to end up in angry words with a “friend” over the internet.
He told me that every time he does this, it ruins his entire day.
He also told me he is one who reads the remarks people post at the bottom of controversial new stories.
And when he does this, it does nothing but make him angry, frustrated and depressed.
I must admit, we adults sure do make some pretty juvenile and angry posts on Facebook and such having to do with politics and other controversial issues.
We say things on the internet that we would probably never say to someone’s face.
It’s kind of like road-rage.
When we sit down in front of a computer and get onto Facebook or something, it’s like we become a different animal sometimes.
Have you ever come across a post someone you know has put up—something mean about some political figure they don’t like and think: “Gosh, that person is a good person.
Why would they want to get mixed up in all that mess?”
But we all do get mixed up in the “mess” to some extent, do we not?
And getting mixed up in the mess, the controversy, the anger, the hate-filled words only leaves us frustrated, angry and depressed.
After-all, we are Christians.
And Christians aren’t supposed to get caught up in the hatred and anger of the world.
We are called to be different.
We are called to love.
We are called to resist evil and love our enemies and turn the other cheek.
We are called to be humble, and we are called to serve others.
We are to be the light of the world; the salt of the earth.
We are to be Christ to our community, to our neighbors.
We are to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
So, when we get involved in fighting about worldly things, trying to hurt others…
…well, how couldn’t we feel displaced and unhappy?
It’s like having what the psalmist calls “a divided heart,” is it not?
I mean, how many of us, when we made the decision to give our lives to Jesus Christ, thought to ourselves, “I’m going to follow Jesus but I am going to have a divided heart”?
“I’m going to give my life to following you Lord, but I’m not going to go all the way.”
“I plan to become distracted and incombered by worldly things.”
“I am going to continue my angry streak.”
“I am going to love God and some of my neighbors…not all of them, but only some—only the ones who think like me.”
“And this divided heart business is going to make my Christian journey unfruitful or not as fruitful as it could be…
…and not as fulfilling as it could be…”
I know we didn’t think like that when we began our journey, but most of us, I’d imagine have found ourselves in circumstances we would have never wanted to be in or doing things we would never have planned on doing.
In Psalm 86, David is dealing with a gang of people who are rising up against him; they seek his life.
They hate him and they hate God.
And he is terrified.
And I’d imagine he is tempted to hate these people back.
“O God,” David cries out, “the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…”
“…give your strength to your servant…”
“Show me a sign of your favor so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped and comforted me.”
What is David praying for here?
Is he praying for strength to destroy his foes?
Is he asking God to strike down those who are after him?
No.
He is praying to God for transformation.
Whatever has caused these people to hate David, David is praying that God will so transform him—that they will see it and become transformed themselves.
So much for revenge.
When Jesus later teaches us to love our enemies, perhaps this is what Jesus means.
“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.”
In David’s time of need, as he is being tormented by those who seek his life David turns to God.
And when it really comes down to it, in times of trouble, God is the Only One we can turn to.
There is no one else as committed to us and there is no one else Who has the power to rescue us.
When the Apostle Paul was struggling with sin, he cried out: “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
And the answer was right there: “Jesus Christ our Lord!”
David knew the answer as well.
And so, in the midst of suffering, David found the renewal of hope.
And that hope is found in God and God alone.
Everyone who has experienced new birth through faith in Christ, has experienced the forgiveness of God, the steadfast love of God, the miracles of God.
But just about everyone who has experience all these things has also found something within themselves that could be described as being something like an divided heart.
We want to follow Christ, but we want something else as well.
And sometimes the something else wins.
And when that happens we lose.
And so, we return to God, longing for transformation which is a life-long journey…
…a day to day affair…
…a minute by minute thing…
Oh, how I want to follow God with my whole heart!
How about you?
I know I live, so much of my life, with a divided heart.
My heart is divided between who I am and who I want to be…
…what I say and what I do…
…my joys and my sorrows…
…promises made and promises broken…
…my commitments and my wanderings…
…living faithfully and living as if I were self-sufficient.
The fragments of my heart are many.
Maybe you know this about yourself as well.
Perhaps you too can name the ways your heart is divided.
I suspect we are all, for various reasons, in this bind.
My first response to my divided heart is usually to try harder, do better, and to fix the circumstances of my life.
I’ve discovered, though, that this brand of glue doesn’t hold things together.
The way of the Lord and what I need to learn is wholeheartedness.
To live this way means I can hold nothing in reserve—I must be open and willing to risk my whole heart for God, in the service of others, seeking what Jesus is offering me with Himself
(borrowed from an unknown author).
And so, in this Psalm of Lament, David is asking God to forgive him for whatever sin he has committed which has caused these people to hate him so…
He is praying that, God will change him by teaching him God’s ways, so that he may walk in God’s truth with an undivided heart for the sake of the world.
Talk about resisting the lure of hatred.
Talk about grace born of prayer.
For what David has learned is this: he—not his enemies—needs the patience and steadfast love of God; he—not they—needs to be forgiven; he—not they—need renewed concentration to resist sin; he—not they—needs to focus on God’s teaching, on learning God’s ways afresh.
And isn’t this what all of our mistakes and “getting caught up in the mess of the world” boils down to?
We need to focus on self and not on what others think.
We need to focus on God and loving God and loving neighbor with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
That is the only way that our answer to the question of: “How are you doing?”
“How is it with your soul?”
--can ever be: “It is well, it is well, it is well.”
What if Psalm 86:11 became a life verse for you and for me:
“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.”
Imagine how well we would be able to live in this time.
Can we challenge ourselves to learn, to memorize, to pray, and to implement Psalm 86:11 so we can be the transformed and transforming people God wants us to be?
Amen.
