'Cries of the Heart: The Cry of Pain (a Lockdown Lament)' by Mal Calladine - May 17 2020

What happens when we bring our pain to God? In this talk, Mal Calladine looks at Psalm 40, a heartfelt cry of desperation quoted across our culture, including at the end of every U2 concert. If we can identify with the urgent call for help to deal with stuff which looks too hard for us, maybe we can feel God’s closeness the way this writer could too.

Support material

Below we list the passages referenced on Sunday, to re-familiarise yourselves or to do a more in-depth study on those scriptures (even before you meet to discuss them online?), with some links to more content referenced in the talk.

Then there is a list of life application questions & discussion starters, as a suggested structure for when you meet online...

My goal was to focus on a familiar psalm-song that brags on all that God has done; but finishes with a desperate cry for God to help right now! To emphasize that even after speaking of all God has done for us in the past; there is still a place for the urgent cry of pain & need, in our ‘now & not yet’.

Scriptures referenced in the Talk:

Psalm 139: 3-5 & 14
from the Street Bible; now published as ‘Word on the Street’

Psalm 40

  • v1-5 All that God has done for me

  • v6-10 My response to live a faithful & right life

  • v11-16 BUT I still need your mercy & protection; because look at all life’s troubles & difficulties

  • v17 The finishing cry of help!

Psalm 34: 18
‘the Lord is close to the broken-hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit’

John 1: 4
‘in Him is life, and that Life is the light of the world’

Discussion Questions & Further Resources

  1. Processing the ‘cry of pain’ Psalm 40: 17… What are the situations you are most reminded of, when thinking about crying out to God for help from your sense of need? Is there any situation you particularly want to see change or ‘be delivered?’ What feels most urgent? (where your cry is: “You are my God, do not delay!”

  2. Processing ‘anger is a good indicator, but a bad outworking’ … Can you identify in the last week any time you have had an angry or frustrated reaction, beyond what was reasonable to the situation? What triggers do you think that relates to? Can you identify values or thoughts that were informing your reaction? Is God’s view or values different to those? If so, acknowledge to God your need to replace the values that triggered that reaction with His.

  3. Processing ‘the pit of pain’ (Psalm 34:18)... Is there anywhere you feel in a ‘pit’, ‘crushed or broken-hearted’; where you want to experience Jesus climbing down with you; being with you; & then pointing to a ladder of hope?
    Try reading Lamentations 3v 1-26. Dwell in the affirmation of the writer describing their sense of abandonment & loss of their ‘pit’ in vv1-19, which are all the things described in v20 as “I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me’. Some of them I really relate to!!
    Then read vv 21-26: “this I call to mind, & therefore I have hope…”. Ask Jesus where his love, compassion and grace are new to you this morning? Where can you see hope? Look to share that with at least one other person.

  4. Praying out anger… You could try doing a ‘Luigi Gioia prayer time’; & start with 10 minutes of sharing your frustrations with God… the vent that makes us ‘marginally, but crucially, better’

  5. Processing “Upset, to Reset, to Re-engage” … Where do you consider you are in this process: in your home life; work life; wider life in this Covid19 season? What are your next action steps? If…

  • Upset… is to Respond in the moment, where life’s demands seem urgent & re-active with little let up?

  • Re-set… is to Reflect on, consider, and start to try out changes needed in & around us?

  • and Re-engage… is to Commit to a new season with a different posture & different emphases; living into a ‘new normal’? Implementing new strategies & confirming the actions needed where the world & its attitude has changed?

Compare with Twitter who announced this week that all employees could work from home full time once Covid19 is over, if they’ve found they prefer it.

6. Was the Holy Spirit showing you anything else particularly during the talk?

7. You could watch how U2 finish their live concerts with Psalm 40 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHMFoEM5BT4

8. And Superchick’s ‘Beauty from Pain’ song (which comes with a ‘mascara warning’ ) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqBMYoctFZM

Mal Calladine, first in seriesSevern VineyardCries of the Heart, Psalms