“Too deep for words”

Romans 8:22-39

Pastor Tom Johnson, July 24, 2011

Listen to sermon:




Paul reminds us in our reading from Romans that we live by hope—and it is a hope that is unseen. “We live by faith, no by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). He tells us that creation itself groans for redemption—awaiting that day God will make all things new—hope is groaning and yearning for what God has promised to do.

Just like our future hope is now invisible, so our present struggle can be inexpressible. In our trials and strife, our prayers can be incommunicable, indescribable—too deep for words.

Paul says we groan in our hope for God to repair our lives and redeem this world. We groan in the midst of our troubles. We groan when we don’t have the words to express what we feel or describe what we are experiencing.

As our Scripture says, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought,” We are speechless—unable to articulate what is bothering us or how to ask for help.

In these times, we are broken, frail, and struggling. We are at a loss for words—we don’t know which words to pray—we are at a loss—it seems that the prayers we’ve learned and the Scripture we’ve put to memory have failed us.

I think one time that this groaning and prayer that is too deep for words is evident is when people are grieving. There are times when we experience loss or trauma that we cannot explain it to others.

When others try to put our grief into words, it falls short. They may have good intentions, but “We know your loved one is in a better place” does not cure the heartache. Or, quoting our text today, “All things work together for good for those who love God” seems to only put a band-aid on a mortal wound.

It is when we are in the midst of that nameless pain that we should know that it is okay not to be able to articulate it. It is okay to cry out to God. It is okay for our prayers to be no more than groaning and sighing that is too deep for words.

Our Scripture today is telling us that there are times when pithy sayings and shallow explanations don’t cut it. Even words themselves fall short of describing the human experience.

As human beings, we come to the limitations of our understanding, our strength, and even the dictionary. And Paul reminds us in our text that even though we may not know what we are saying, God knows.

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” Like no other earthly interpreter or counselor, he speaks our language.

I’m sure you have been around young children who are learning to talk. Some children are very precocious and will talk and talk—even though you have no idea what they are saying.

The mother or father will know exactly what they are saying. What is babble to strangers is completely clear communication to earthly parents. So it is with our heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit our Comforter and Counselor.

God understands our babbling, groaning, and sighing. Our text says, “And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

God speaks our language. He not only can read our scrawl, understand our babble and interpret our groanings—he knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart. He knows the number of hairs on our heads. And, in the most profound sense, he knows our pain.

The Spirit sighs with us with sighs that are too deep for words. And God hears our collective prayers. He receives our prayer as if it was as eloquently spoken as the Queen’s English in a royal wedding.

We often say those in our Sunday morning prayers, “Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.” Our Scripture assures us that he does. He hears us. It is in the depth of our misery and at the bottom of our gutters that God reaches down deeper still.

Although we cannot see him—although we cannot understand—although we cannot articulate and only have groans too deep for words—God is with us, he hears us, he understands us, and he intervenes for us.

In another passage of Scripture, Paul says that God gives a “peace that surpasses understanding” (Phil). We live by faith, not by sight. We live with a hope that will not disappoint us. We live with a peace that transcends human comprehension.

It is from the depth of this love and compassion that God says those familiar words: “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

In the midst of nameless pain and speechless prayer, God assures us. H intends good in our lives. He has an overall purpose. It does not mean that we will know how to explain what we are experiencing or give a clear reason for why we are experiencing what we are experiencing.

But it does mean that we are in the care of a God who cares, understands, speaks our language, and is working behind the scenes on our behalf.

“What are we to say about these things?” Paul asks. Paul speaks to himself and to us the good news: “If God is for us, who is against us?” He gave us his Son to live, die, and rise again for us. “And nothing in heaven or on earth will separate us”—not even our loss for words.