When we gather together on Sunday, we will be gathering for a service called: “Remembering God’s Faithfulness in 2012.” It will be a service of lament and praise. During the worship service we will remember the hard times that we have gone through this year, both individually and corporately, offer lament to God, and praise God for his faithfulness throughout the year.
The Scripture reading for Sunday is Psalm 146. Below you can read it as copied from “The Message” – often I find reading a passage in different Bible versions helps me understand the passage better. If you normally read from “The Message” I invite you to read Psalm 146 in a different translation.
Psalm 146 (from “The Message”)
Hallelujah!
O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God,
singing songs to my God as long as I live.
Don’t put your life in the hands of experts
who know nothing of life, of salvation life.
Mere humans don’t have what it takes;
when they die, their projects die with them.
Instead, get help from the God of Jacob,
put your hope in God and know real blessing!
God made sky and soil,
sea and all the fish in it.
He always does what he says—
he defends the wronged,
he feeds the hungry.
God frees prisoners—
he gives sight to the blind,
he lifts up the fallen.
God loves good people, protects strangers,
takes the side of orphans and widows,
but makes short work of the wicked.
God’s in charge—always.
Zion’s God is God for good!
Hallelujah!
As you read through this Psalm, take some time to note God’s promises to His people. If there are particular promises that you feel God is neglecting, take some time in prayer and offer that to God. The Psalms are full of cries from God’s people for God to keep his covenant promises. Sometime God’s answer will be a renewed perspective where we will be able to see God’s faithfulness, other times God may come quickly to our aid and answer our cry for help. Even still, there are other times where we will continue in prayer, seeking God’s aid, and that in itself may be the answer we get: trust in the Lord.
Thanking God for his faithfulness doesn’t mean that we have to only think happy thoughts and praise God even when we don’t feel like “praising.” By bringing our lament to Him we express a deep trust that will not let go, even when it seems like God isn’t holding up His end of the bargain. Lament requires God’s eternal faithfulness.
One thing is certain: “The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.” In the strength of that assurance, even in our lament, we can then proclaim together, “I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to God as long as I live.”