Theological term
Lament
8 sermons · All terms
The Cross and the Crown of Christ, Part 1
Psalm 22 is the suffering Messiah speaking in his own voice — a depth of self-disclosure that the prophet Isaiah 53 approaches but does not match. This sermon works through the first two of three laments in verses 1–11: Christ's desolation under judicial desertion by the Father, and the reproach heaped upon him by his enemies. The cry of dereliction is neither a rupture in the Trinity nor a dissolution of the hypostatic union, but a penal desertion in which the Father withdraws his favorable countenance from the one who has been made sin as mediator. Throughout each lament Christ models the pattern of honest complaint before God followed by confident recourse to the Father's holiness, covenant faithfulness, and sovereign purpose — a pattern the church is called to imitate in its own far lesser sufferings.
The Lament of the Psalmist
Psalm 13 is a lament psalm of David that moves through raw grief — the perceived forgetfulness of God, the daily sorrow of the soul, and the threat of encroaching enemies — to a resolved trust in the covenant mercy of God. The sermon traces this trajectory through the true humanity of Christ, who himself prayed lamentingly in Gethsemane and on the cross, establishing lament as a legitimate and God-given vehicle of prayer for his people. Lament is distinguished sharply from whining: whining refuses to petition God and ends in despair, while biblical lament drives the soul toward God and terminates in doxology. The congregation is called to bring their distress boldly to the throne of grace, resting in the hesed of God covenanted to all who are found in Christ.
The Complaint of the People
Numbers 11 records the complaint of Israel in the wilderness — a sin that provokes divine judgment, exposes the limits of Moses as covenant mediator, and points forward to the burden-bearing Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. The chapter is not a collection of independent narratives but a unified account of complaint (vv. 1–15), the appointment of seventy elders (vv. 16–30), and the execution of God's judgment (vv. 31–35). Israel's craving for meat is not mere hunger but a rejection of Yahweh as their God — an idolatrous longing for Egypt that God answers with poetic justice. The passage calls the new-covenant people of God to replace grumbling with gratitude, recognizing that God is to be valued for his own sake, not merely for what he provides.
Psalm 13
Psalm 13 gives voice to the experience of God's apparent absence — the prolonged, disorienting silence when His face seems hidden and the enemy seems to be winning. This expository treatment of David's lament psalm traces two movements: the fourfold 'how long' of questions arising from the Lord's seeming absence (vv. 1–4), and the sudden turn to trust in His mercy and salvation (vv. 5–6). The sermon argues that faith is not a feeling but a tenacious clinging to the promises of a covenant-keeping God, and calls believers to keep praying, keep coming to the house of the Lord, and direct their attention away from their plight and toward God's unchanging goodness — even when, especially when, they must cry out 'how long.'
A Cry from God's Oubliette
Psalm 88 is the most sorrowful psalm in the entire Psalter — a cry from one whom God has placed in what the preacher calls an 'oubliette,' the lowest and most forgotten prison in a medieval dungeon. Heman the Ezraite, whose name means 'faithful,' addresses the covenant LORD from the depths of unrelieved affliction, offering no tidy resolution but only the continued cry of faith in darkness. The sermon argues that this psalm validates the reality of deep suffering among God's faithful people, calls the church to companionship with those who suffer, and ultimately points to the Lord Jesus Christ, who descended into a darker oubliette than any of his people will ever know — and who therefore sympathizes with and intercedes for all who cry out to God in their trouble.
The Healing of the Blind Man
John 9:1–12 presents the healing of a man born blind as a sign that Jesus is the light of the world — not merely a title (John 8:12) but a function he enacts in restoring both physical and spiritual sight. The sermon addresses the disciples' question about the cause of the man's blindness by distinguishing between suffering that is a direct consequence of particular sin and suffering that is ordained by God's sovereign providence to display his works. God's absolute sovereignty over all creatures and all their actions — including congenital affliction — is defended from Scripture and the 1689 LBCF chapter on providence, with Job, Paul, and the man born blind as converging witnesses that God's people walk by faith in Romans 8:28 when affliction comes. The sermon closes with an evangelistic appeal drawn from John's stated purpose: that readers believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have everlasting life.
The Prophet's Faith in a Time of Distress
Habakkuk 3 presents the prophet's response to the announced Babylonian invasion of Judah: not despair, but a structured movement from fearful petition through deliberate theological remembrance to confident refuge in God. The sermon traces three movements in the psalm — petition, remembrance of God's acts in redemptive history, and refuge — arguing that a perplexed faith steadies itself not by self-reflection but by rehearsing who God is and what He has done. The doctrine of justification by faith (Habakkuk 2:4), appropriated in the New Testament, is shown here in its practical dimension: the just do not merely begin by faith but continue to live and persevere by it through every extremity. The congregation is called to imitate the prophet by building their own 'collage' of God's mighty works in Scripture, thereby finding rest, joy, and stability in God alone when earthly supports fail.
The Darkness of Depression
Proverbs 15:13 declares that sorrow of heart breaks the spirit, and Scripture is neither silent nor superficial on the darkness of depression. This sermon surveys the presence of depression among the people of God across the canon — from Elijah under the broom tree, to David's lament in the Psalms, to the Man of Sorrows himself — establishing that the condition is real, that it afflicts genuine believers, and that in itself it is not sinful. Practical counsel drawn from both special and general revelation is offered: the physical ABCs of rest, diet, and exercise; the spiritual ABCs of prayer, Scripture, and corporate worship; and careful instruction for those seeking to help the suffering, closing with the reminder that the ground of hope is not gladness of feeling but the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone.