The Psalms of Lament
PART 5:   Psalm 69
There is no Judge Judy

©2004 Sandra Glahn

Part 1 - Psalm 6   (PDF format)

Part 2 - Psalm 13 (PDF format)

Part 3 - Psalm 27 (PDF format)

Part 4 - Psalm 44 (PDF format)

Part 5 - Psalm 69, 70 (PDF format)
- Shuffle the Deck
- Deal the Cards
- What Are You Holding?
- Group Option
- Play Your Hand

Part 6 - Psalm 74, 88, 102 (PDF format)

"How to SPS"

"How to Lead a Group SoulPerSuit"

"Shuffle the Deck for Groups"

LAMENT
WEEK 1 - ½ or full page
WEEK 2 - ½ or full page
WEEK 3 - ½ or full page
WEEK 4 - ½ or full page
WEEK 5 - ½ or full page
WEEK 6 - ½ or full page

Supplies

Shuffle the Deck (top)

1) Imagine these two women are having a conversation. Write a short dialogue with at least 5 lines for each character.

2) Cut a tombstone shape out of paper (or make one out of PlayDoh) and write your own epitaph on it.

Deal the Cards (top)
The psalmist is oppressed and asks God to judge his enemies.

1. Begin by reading Psalm 69 and 70.

2. Psalm 69:1 Deliver me, O God, for the water has reached my neck. 2 I sink into the deep mire where there is no solid ground; I am in deep water, and the current overpowers me. 3 I am exhausted from shouting for help; my throat is sore; my eyes grow tired of looking for my God.

It’s like… Imagine falling into a well that’s about five feet deep with mud in the bottom. The water is up to your neck and you can feel yourself continuing to sink. You yell and yell for someone to pull you out, but no one comes. The psalmist is saying his trials are like that. A young mom with four kids described the demands of her kids as sometimes being as if “wild wolves are tearing my clothes from my body.” What are your trials like?

3. We read of the psalmist’s plight in 69:3 (note the parallelism):

Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head.

Those who want to destroy me and are my enemies for no reason outnumber me.

Why does he say his enemies are after him? And how many enemies does he have?

4. In v. 4 we read, “They make me ‘pay back’ what I did not steal!” Imagine! They claim he did something he didn’t do, and now he has to pay them for something he did not take. Have you ever been falsely accused? Ever known someone who was? What was it like? Dr. Keith Willhite, who is now with the Lord, was a professor at Dallas Seminary before he died of a brain tumor. But when he was going through cancer treatment he said the cancer was not the hardest thing he’d ever been through. What was? Being falsely accused.

5. Now the psalmist prays, “O God, you are aware of my foolish sins; my faults are not hidden from you. Let none who rely on you be embarrassed because of me, O sovereign Lord and king!
Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel!”

Sometimes when we’re going through a difficult time, we think back on our sins and we know we have no right to ask for anything. It’s always appropriate to search ourselves, so spend some time confessing your sins. Then acknowledge that, even though you have no right to approach God in view of your sins, through the shed blood of Christ you have access to come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and help.

6. List the requests the psalmist makes in the first 19 verses.

7. In verses 22 through 29 the psalmist prays for God’s judgment on his enemies. List things he asks God to do to his enemies.

Here is a key difference between the approach to the King of Israel’s enemies then and a Christian’s enemies today: We are to pray for those who persecute us and to “bless and curse not.” Jesus provides the ultimate ethic: love your enemies. Paul says to return evil with good.

Do you have any enemies? If so, pray for them. You may not have any personal enemies, but what about those who would like to blow up your city? What about Osama bin Laden? Have you prayed for the salvation of Suddam Hussein? Get a globe or a world map and pray for the enemies of the church around the world—in China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, France, Israel, Cuba, the U.S….

We pray for the salvation of those who abuse us. Yet we also pray with the confidence that our God will bring them to justice “on that day” if they choose not to repent. And He is no Judge Judy, relying on the testimony of people who sometimes lie. Our God is everpresent and sees all (one of His names is El Roi—the God who sees). Or God is omnipotent—El Shaddai, the Almighty God who can do all. He is perfect in justice. And with all knowledge and all power, He judges the nations. Imagine the fate of someone who messes with the child of One such as that!

8. Read vv. 30-36. What does the psalmist say will happen in response to his prayers for God’s judgment?

What Are You Holding? (top)

9. Write out your expression of confidence in a praise to God despite your miry-clay-sinking-pit trials:

10. Re-read Psalm 70. Rejoice in our God, who is able to trample out “the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” Sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Group Option:
- Sing together “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

- Together, get a globe or a world map and pray for the enemies of the church around the world. Pray for ways to bless those who persecute the church. Pray for these enemies to come to saving faith in Christ.

Play Your Hand (top)
Decorate a playing card or a playing-card-sized piece of paper or cardboard that answers one of the following questions:

- “I sink into the deep mire where there is no solid ground.” ”I am in deep water, the current overpowers me.” “Wild wolves are tearing the clothes from my body.” How would you describe the trials in your life?

- What it would look like to BLESS your enemies and to PRAY for those who persecute you.

- Who is this God that you call on from your miry-clay-sinking-pit?

(top)
©2004 Sandra Glahn

We want your cards in the Lament Gallery! Take a digital picture or scan them in and e-mail the image to us. And please tell us about your card so I can include that also.

1. Appeal
2. Complain
3. Request
4. Response
5. Praise