Psalms 64 - Lament / Psalm 64
What We Think About God Changes Everything
My name is Dave, and it is good to be with you today. If you could grab your Bibles and turn to Psalm 64, we are going to continue in our series through the book of Psalms.
I was thinking about this earlier in the week, and it reminded me of something a man with a big beard and an even bigger brain once said: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” That is a pretty bold statement, but as we have been diving into the Psalms lately and running with this theme of He is with me, I have realized that the heart behind the Psalms is that very thing. It is about getting a clear picture or view of God so that it shapes the way we live, the way we think, and the way we identify ourselves. Our view of God changes everything about us.
What I really love about the Psalms is that they remind me a lot of music. I love diversity in music. My wife will even tease me because I might listen to classical music one day and punk rock the next. I just love mixing it up, and in many ways, the Psalms are very similar. There are different genres and types of psalms that we are looking at this summer, and they are simply different ways of expressing human emotion throughout different seasons of life.
With music, we have classical music to express our creative, intellectual, or inspirational side. There is emo and screamo music for the moody teenager who is mad at his parents and the rest of the world. And then there is country music for those who don’t have taste in music! I probably just lost about half the crowd with that statement, but my wife and I have a strict two-country-song rule in the car, and then it has to go to something else. I like diversity, but not that diverse!
Just like music, the Psalms contain different genres to help express different seasons of life and varied human emotions. Throughout this book, we see a beautiful tension. Last week, Josh did a great job teaching us through the idea of praise—this reality that we can praise God no matter what our circumstances are because He is with us. Praise prayers are songs of joy and celebration, looking at the good, positive things in this world and saying, “Lord, thank You for Your goodness in our lives. We lift You up.”
The Tension of Lament
If you are anything like me, you probably felt the tension that Josh mentioned as a segue last week: yes, I can praise God in any circumstance, but what does that look like when life is horrible? As we saw in the video earlier, what about when you lose your sister to cancer at an early age? What about when your dreams and plans for the future come crashing down on top of you? How do you praise God then? How can you genuinely praise Him when you just don’t feel like it?
That is where the tension of lament comes in. Today in Psalm 64, we are studying a psalm of lament. Laments sit on the other side of the spectrum from praise. They are prayers of pain, confusion, and even anger about what is happening in the world. The poet is almost screaming up to God, saying, “Do You not see what is happening here? Are You going to do something about this?”
Lament helps us understand that while we praise God in every circumstance, there is beauty and permission in being real in the process. This structure allows us to move past a shallow, almost hypocritical version of Christianity. Instead of ignoring our pain and pretending it isn’t there, lament allows us to acknowledge it, be raw about it, and then look up to God and say, “I know You are going to do something.” We can say, “God, I don’t know how to praise You in this exact moment, but I trust that You are with me through it, no matter what.”
As we look at Psalm 64, we see a season in David’s life that many of us in this room can relate to—a time of deep pain, fear, and dread.
Psalms 64:1-2 (NASB)
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; Preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, From the tumult of those who do iniquity,
Right away, David says, “Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint.” I love that he admits right off the bat that he wants to complain. This is a venting session for David. The word for complaint here is lament—an emotional plea. He is begging God to hear him: “God, I need help. I’m afraid. I’m dreading what’s next. I have nowhere else to go. Are You paying attention? Do You even care?” There are many times in life when we find ourselves asking those exact same questions.
David then asks God to preserve his life from the dread of the enemy. In the next few verses, he explains that his enemies are verbally attacking him with malicious insults. David is drowning in a sea of insults, and he sees God as the only lifeboat that can keep him afloat.
Running Away, Running At, or Running To
As a pastor, I have the privilege of sitting down with so many people to hear about both the good times and the tough times. A common trend I have seen in those conversations, and in my own life, is that during seasons of deep pain, we tend to run in one of three directions.
First, we tend to run away from God. It feels like He has abandoned us, so out of pride and independence, we say, “I don’t need Him; I’m going to figure this out on my own.” We stiff-arm God and run the other way.
Second, we run at God. In times of pain, we lower our shoulder and want to give God a piece of our mind. We accuse Him: “Did You cause this pain? If not, You’re a big God who could have stopped it—why didn’t You?”
Third, we see what David does repeatedly when he is pursued and attacked: he runs to God. Like a child in pain who needs comfort and runs with outstretched arms into a parent’s embrace, David runs to God. Not running away, not running at Him with a lowered shoulder, but running to Him. And as he runs to God, he continues to be completely raw and honest about his circumstances.
Psalms 64:3-6 (NASB)
Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech [as] their arrow, To shoot from concealment at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear. They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, ‘Who can see them?’ They devise injustices, [saying], ‘We are ready with a well-conceived plot’; For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep.
David paints a vivid picture for God of what his enemies are doing, relentlessly attacking him with their words. He describes their words as poisoned arrows. In ancient warfare, archers would dip arrowheads into the venom of vipers so that if the initial impact didn’t kill the target, the poison coursing through the bloodstream would finish the job.
David is saying, “It feels like they are shooting me with poison-tipped arrows. The words hurt immediately, and the venom keeps sinking deeper and deeper. God, I am tired. I am worn out. I don’t know how much longer I can hang on. Are You going to do something?”
A Dark Cloud and a Shift in Perspective
While I can’t relate to David’s situation perfectly, it reminds me of my senior year in college. For the most part, I had lived a pretty good life and had an awesome childhood. I played college baseball, loved the Lord, and things were going well. I was looking forward to finishing my baseball career and marrying the love of my life right after graduation.
Then, out of nowhere during my senior year, I was enveloped by a dark cloud of depression. I could hardly see past my own feet. I was talking to someone recently who was reminiscing about our senior year, and I had to tell them, “I don’t even remember that.” I was just going through the motions, weighed down by depression and anxiety, avoiding people, and just trying to survive.
It was the first time in my life that things had not gone the way I expected. It was the first time I felt like I had no idea where God was. I even began to consider walking away from my faith because I thought, How can I be a Christian and feel this far from God? Something must be wrong. Should I even keep following Him when I can’t feel Him anywhere?
In that moment, I needed someone like David to come beside me and say, “You need to see God from a different perspective. You’ve had it easy your whole life, and now that things are dark and heavy, you need a new view of who God is.”
In verse 7 of Psalm 64, we see a remarkable shift happen in David. His circumstances have not changed, but his attitude completely transforms. Watch how he speaks about God:
Psalms 64:7-9 (NASB)
But God will shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they will be wounded. So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake the head. Then all men will fear, And they will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done.
David is still in the middle of his painful circumstances, still under attack, still anxious and dreading what is next, yet he speaks of God’s deliverance in the past tense, as if it has already happened. He has so much trust in his God that he knows He will show up and be with him.
It reminds me of a little kid on the playground who is getting bullied by bigger kids, but says, “I can take this, because my dad is bigger than your dad, and he’s coming to take care of it.” David knows who his Father is.
David portrays God as a mighty warrior. When we teach the Anatomy of a Disciple at our church and talk about being humbly submitted, we often reference James 4:
James 4:6 (NASB)
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore [it] says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’
The word “opposes” paints a picture of God standing as a mighty warrior in front of the proud, breaking them down until they recognize their true size compared to His. David is saying, “God is a mighty warrior, and I want to be on the humble side, not the proud side. I want to be the humble child hiding behind my Dad while He takes care of business.”
You can approach God with pride, and He will bring you down to size, or you can approach Him with humility, running to Him as your refuge so He can protect you and bring justice.
The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
Looking back at my senior year, I would love to tell you that everything turned out perfectly and that I never struggle anymore. But if I am honest, I still have seasons of ups and downs where darker times return, and I have to work through that feeling of distance from God.
During that college season, a man many of you know, Dave Obold, walked beside me and gave me a book called The Good and Beautiful God. The central theme of that book is that in dark and difficult times, God is still a God you can run to. He is good. He is not punishing you or paying you back for your wrongs in those heavy seasons. He is inviting you to draw close and see Him as good and beautiful right in the middle of the struggle.
For the first time, I had to see that God was still good even when my circumstances felt bad. I had to realize that He cared, guided, and protected me, even when I felt like He had abandoned me.
The rock band Switchfoot has a song called “The Shadow Proves the Sunshine.” It starts out dark and melodic, almost depressing. But as the song progresses, you realize the core message: the presence of the shadow proves the existence of the light. In our darkest moments, the shadow reveals just how beautiful and necessary the light truly is.
When life is shooting poison-tipped arrows at us, the darkness gives us an opportunity to reach out and witness the goodness of our Father in a profound way. David concludes the psalm with this declaration:
Psalms 64:10 (NASB)
The righteous man will be glad in the LORD and will take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will glory.
The phrase “the righteous one” does not refer to someone who is perfect and does everything flawlessly. A righteous person is someone who humbly approaches God, recognizing their desperate need for a protective Father. When you understand that God is the source of your safety rather than the cause of your pain, you stop running away from Him or running at Him—you run to Him as your refuge.
The Cross: God’s Ultimate Proof
You might be sitting here thinking, Dave, you don’t know my pain. You don’t know what I’ve been through. And honestly, you are right. I cannot compare my struggles with depression to what you are walking through right now. I don’t know your full story.
But there is One who does. The One David looked to as his Father and mighty warrior knows your pain intimately. He knows what it feels like to be attacked and oppressed.
Hebrews 4:15 (NASB)
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as [we are, yet] without sin.
Jesus went through everything we experience and far beyond it. We have a High Priest who relates to our pain, who even felt the agony of abandonment on the cross. Just because you might not understand what is happening in your life right now does not mean God does not care.
The ultimate proof of God’s care is the cross. That is where He showed that He is the mighty warrior who fights for you and stands with you when everything else is against you. We have a saying in our culture that if someone truly cares about you, they will give you the shirt off their back. Jesus didn’t just give you the shirt off His back—He gave you the very blood in His veins.
1 Peter 1:18-19 (NASB)
knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, [the blood] of Christ.
God could have chosen anything to redeem us, but He gave the most precious thing He had: the lifeblood of His Son. There is no greater demonstration of how much He loves and values you.
So as we close today, my question for you is simple: Will you run to Him?
Will you stop running away in pride? Will you stop lowering your shoulder to run at Him in anger? When life is dark and heavy, will you run into His arms? Look to Him as your good Father and your mighty warrior who fights for you. Even when everything in this world seems against you, He is with you.
Let’s pray.
Father, we come before You today with grateful hearts for the book of Psalms. We thank You for all You have done for us. We confess that we often feel guilty when we struggle to praise You during hard times, but we are so thankful that David shows us it is okay to be real. It is okay to bring our complaints and laments to You while still choosing to trust You.
Teach us to run to You. Help us to see You as our good Father and our mighty warrior who protects and defends us. Thank You that You are with us in every single circumstance. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.