The Cries Of Desperation

MESSAGE: “THE CRIES OF DESPERATION”

-- Psalm 130

INTRODUCTION:

When death occurs in what we consider to be an untimely manner it is always harder for us to deal with.

It was only last September we gathered here in sorrow and heavy hearts at the passing of ___.

aa.) Today is even more painful because we are still mourning the passing of ___, and now another untimely death has come to this family.

ab.) Today we come to mourn the passing of ___.

aba.) Again, it is what we consider to be an untimely death, and the very nature of ___’s passing makes our losses even harder to deal with.

Yet as hard as it is for us to deal with, I have found that God’s Word always gives us hope even in those times of life that are so hard to accept and deal with.

A.) Today, I want us to seek some comfort primarily from Psalm 130.

B.) In times like this we all have:

QUESTIONS OF THE HEART.

1.) These questions are not new.

Every generation of humanity has had to deal with these questions. The questions of What if, and if only.

aa.) Today we come here with many of those “what if”, and “If only” questions and comments.

When Scripture recorded the death of Jesus’ good friend Lazarus there were also those “What ifs and If only’s”

ba.) When Martha first met Jesus after the death of her brother she said (John 11:21) If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

baa.) Later when Martha’s sister Mary met Jesus, she said the same thing to Jesus.

Today we also have those “What if”, and “If only” questions.

ca.) “If only I had got to the boat a few minutes earlier?

cb.) “If only I had known ___’s state of mind and could have got him help.”

cc.) What if I had done this, or that, or something else, would it have made a difference?

cd.) Could I have prevented this tragedy from happening?

ce.) Were there signs I should have seen but missed?

D.) These are all-natural questions we ask but for which we have no answers.

da.) The reality is that family, friends, and loved ones did everything you knew to do.

db.) We can look back on a thousand different scenarios of could have, would have, and should have but in the end the only one who knew the fullness of the pain and heaviness of ___’s heart was ___ himself.

dc.) Much of what he was going through was locked up in his own heart and he did not share that with others.

dca.) We so wish he had, as it might have made a difference.

dcb.) Yet many times each of us are also closed books and carry burdens and pain that we do not share with others.

.01) The writer of Proverbs expressed this so well when he said: “Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be grief.” (Proverbs 14:13)

II) WHEN A PERSON TAKES HIS OWN LIFE, IT IS BECAUSE HE IS IN THE DEPTHS OF DESPAIR.

It is not an act of rebellion, selfishness, or anything else.

If anything, it is a desperate cry, and the hope for something better.

1) That is the very place the writer of Psalm 130 was at.

A) Psalm 130:1-2 “Out of the depths, I cry to you O Lord; O Lord hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”

aa.) This is also the same place that ___ had gone to.

aaa.) How many times he must have called out to God we will never know.

B.) There may be some in this room who have never been where ___ or the Psalmist were at.

ba.) If you have never been at that place, you have truly been blessed.

bb.) Yet I expect for many of us in this room there have been times we have been in that same situation.

bba.) Times when it felt like we were in the depths of despair, and that death looked better than life.

bbb.) Times when we could find no answers but had so many questions, and so much pain that we could not even express our heart to others.

bc.) It is possible there have even been some in this room who have yourself attempted to throw away God’s great gift of life.

bca.) It is not something we often talk about, but even if you have not been quite to that place, there are likely several people in this room who have thought those very same thoughts.

.01) I know I have.

The only difference between ___ and you and I is that he came to the place where he could not come out of those feelings and gave in to the pain and brokenness of his heart.