Misery to Music--It's Me, Hi, I'm the problem, it's me

 

Deuteronomy 26:7-10

Psalm 42

Psalm 43

Psalm 130

{Disclaimer--I am not a Swiftie, but I'm not NOT a Swiftie.  😅  I think Taylor Swift might be good at writing songs of Lament.  Just not exactly BIBLICAL songs of Lament.}

At the beginning of Psalm 42, the heading reads "For the choir director.  A Maskil of the sons of Korah."  The sons of Korah have a beautiful back story of redemption.  Their famous ancestor was Kohath, who was one of three brothers charged with the care of the sanctuary.  The Kohathites had to carry their part of the tabernacle items on their shoulders.  They weren't allowed to touch the items so they had to wrap them, and honestly they got sick and tired of the task.  Korah, a grandson of Kohath,  aligned himself with a group of men who were not happy with the way Moses and Aaron were leading, or even that they were leading at all.  Numbers 16  As punishment, "the earth opened it's mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah's people, and all their possesions."  Yet here we see a remnant, the sons of Korah, spared and redeemed to write these beautiful maskils, which most closely means a contemplative or insightful psalm.  

Yesterday, we talked about me monsters.  Always the victim, always blaming someone else, always making every story revolve around them. 

Korah and his minions were the problem.  They brought the drama because they thought they were being mistreated, when in reality they have only done what was required of them.  (Luke 17:10) Korah set a trap for Moses and Aaron, but fell into it himself.  (Psalm 7:15) If they would have admitted their part and repented, their story would have gone a different way.  

Our psalms today teach us to admit the part we play in the drama. 

 It's Me, Hi!   In these individual laments, we find the sad songs bringing tears, depression, turmoil, sorrow.  They feel forgotten, oppressed, taunted, dejected.  By others, and by God.   They can't pull themselves up by their own sheer will and it sends them down to the depths of despair.  But out of the depths the songwriters call, to God, a cry for help, for rescue, for light and truth, for redemption.  If God kept a list, like we do, who could stand??????  Instead of the victim, these verses show we are our own worst enemies.  

But God.  With Him there is forgiveness. With Him there is hope.  With God there is faithful love and a trustworthy line to trace.  He turns our lament into lyrics, our sorrow into song, our misery into music.  His song will be with me in the night---a prayer to the God of my life.