The message is simply this: Total honesty before God is the deepest expression of faith in Him and is the only way to be authentically human in God’s world. It is the only path to spiritual wholeness, and the only way to heal the hurts of the past. The means Scripture gives us for doing that is praise.

In our modern culture, I fear that many have developed a distorted idea of what constitutes praise. Often it is identified only with the hand-clapping, arm-waving, warm-fuzzy, feel-good style of worship.

That is not the only kind of praise in the Bible, however. There is an entire Book of the Bible that is a book of praise. It is a real world book. It is a book for people who want to be authentically human. The Book we call “Psalms” is titled “Praises” in Hebrew.

Way over half the Psalms are lament psalms. They comprise most of the first 2/3 of the book. Lament Psalms are not often seen as praise, because we have too often associated praise only with the bright and happy moments in life. Lament psalms are prayers that articulate to God what it is like to live in a real world. They cry out to God from the darkness of the hurts, pains, anger, frustrations of life.

Sometimes lament psalms are strong. Often they offer harsh words to God. Sometimes they are downright irreverent. But they are honest. And they are praise. They are praise because they acknowledge God as God, from the midst of the pain of being human.

Psalm 22 is a good example of such a lament. Maybe today is a good day for a lament psalm.

A. The Reality of Emotions

1. (1-2) The cry of near despair; feelings and emotion

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but I find no rest.

This prayer gives us permission to be honest before God with our pain. We do not have to respond to the crises of life with a false piety that denies our humanity. If we hurt, why can we not go to God openly with that hurt?

Notice, though, what the psalmist is doing. At the same time that he is questioning God from the depth of his pain, he is praying. Why does he address God as “My God” at the same time he is asking Him where He is? How can you ask Him where He is if He is not there?!

Here is a paradox of faith that beautifully illustrates the difference between what we know to be true and how we feel. The Psalmist feels God is not there. Yet he prays. There is no more profound act of faith than to pray to God when you feel He has abandoned you. That means that the darkest of our doubts, the most desperate of our questions from the deepest of our grief can be the most honest and transparent times of our faith!

2. (3-5) Confession of trust in God who has acted

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not disappointed.

We need to follow carefully what the psalmist does next in the prayer. He expresses trust in God in the standard formula. God is Holy. He is enthroned on the Praises of the people. He has done great things in the past. God has delivered other people when they cried.

All of these things are true. The psalmist is not denying anything about God. He is quite willing to say all the traditional things about God. Yet, he goes on.

3. (6-8) Feelings of alienation and rejection; honesty in the midst of pain

But I am a worm, and no man; scorned by men, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads; “He committed his cause to the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Here the honesty breaks through again. He says all the right things. But his emotions have gone in a different direction! The traditional confessions are true. But sometimes they are not enough. As we have seen, sometimes the “Praise the Lord’s” are overshadowed by the reality of life.

4. 9-11 renewed trust in the present

Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you kept me safe upon my mother’s breasts. Upon you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help.

The psalmist now moves to a renewed trust. He has come honestly before God. He has hurled his questions at God. He has poured out his pain to God.

B. The Reality of Suffering

1. (12-18) his condition

Many bulls encompass me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet–I can count all my bones– they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots.

The Psalmist returns to his complaint. In very stylized and poetic language he describes his pain. It sounds like he might be facing impending death due to a creeping disease. Anyone who has watched the horrible progression of cancer in a loved one understands the language here, and the feelings of isolation and abandonment! We are still not sure what the problem is. But we know it is serious.

2. (19-21) his petition

O LORD, be not far off! You who are my help, hasten to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion, my afflicted soul from the horns of the wild oxen!

Again, the psalmist requests God’s intervention in his present circumstances. Although highly poetic, it is a simple prayer. And it is to the point. He needs help. And he asks for it. No bargains with God. Just honest request.

C. The reality of God’s Presence

1. (22-24) Move to trust in the midst of pain

I will tell of your name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the LORD, praise him! all you sons of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and he has not hid his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

Here is the heart of the Psalm. The transformation of the psalmist is complete here. He has moved from the dark despair of verse one to a point where he can talk about embracing a future filled with possibilities, even proclaiming those possibilities to others!

However, we must ask what has happened since verse 1? What great event of deliverance has occurred that caused such a radical turnaround for the Psalmist.

And we will be surprised at the answer. Nothing! Nothing has changed! No miracle. No great vision of God. No promise of a solution. No hint of resolution of the problem. He is still in the midst of his crisis. Nothing has changed.

Except, the Psalmist has worshipped God from the midst of His pain. He has brought his pain honestly to God. He has prayed for God to intervene. And he has left his hurt in God’s hands. He has trusted God. He has been totally, authentically human before God. And it has brought healing and a renewed faith.

The change has not come because God has changed, or because circumstances have changed. It has come with the psalmist as he has faced his pain honestly, and released it to God in prayer, with God’s help, and strength, and grace. He has laid his burdens at God’s feet, with all the force that his emotions honestly require. And he has left them there.

He has found newness and hope simply by coming into the presence of God as a needy human being. No pretense. No nice words. Just the psalmist, and his pain. And God! That is praise in its purest form. That is worship at its most honest level. That is being authentically human before God. There God does some of His best work!

2. (25-31) Concluding doxology

From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. Yea, to him shall all the proud of the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and he who cannot keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; men shall tell of the Lord to the coming generation, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, that he has wrought it.

These verses conclude with an renewed affirmation of trust in God. But the only way to verse 25-31, is through verses 1 and 2!