The Prayer of Suffering


Prayer: Dear Lord God. It is amazing that You have chosen to interact with us and grant to us personal loving attention. Thank You for joining me in these times of prayer and conversation. I am so honored that the God of the Universe would spend time with me. Please fill my heart and mind with thoughts inspired by Your Word and enhance my faith that I might love you more and serve others better. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Read: Psalm 88
http://www.esvbible.org/Psalm 88

Think about It: We’ve all be there; that place of deep emotional (and often times even physical) pain that simply will not go away. It is the true experience of anguish. There are numerous words we can use to describe those feelings; despair, sadness, depression, alone, abandoned, darkness, and as we discussed yesterday, even wishing for death. It’s terrible, it’s lonely, and we will do just about anything to escape the pain.

Many neglect to read the Psalms because several of them are so gut wrenchingly honest about the human condition. There is pain involved! The psalmists didn’t flinch away from that reality. They let those emotions pour without apology. And almost always they ask God, “Where are you?!? I’m in trouble here!” That is what we read in the words of Psalm 88. This writer (not David this time) has been in pain for what appears to have been a long time (“from my youth”). Perhaps he had leprosy, or some other debilitating disease. Clearly, something was wrong that caused others to shun him or stay away. So not only is he in great pain, he is alone. His despair is life encompassing. Where does he turn? He turns to God in a very honest plea for help. Verses 1 & 2 even indicates that he is shouting to the Father. (The word translated “cry”  actually means “to shout”.)

Perhaps we need to think about the word “faith” at this point. This concept can be misconstrued to mean that we just roll over apathetically and accept whatever God has for us without question or conversation. But true faith lies in relationship. We are free to wrangle with God, to wrestle with Him (remember Jacob) and let Him know how we really feel. We get to shout our frustrations to the Lord and share the true feeling that lie within; that is what real relationship looks like! Think about those people in your life toward whom you feel apathy. Are you truly in a great relationship with them? No, certainly not! But the ones you love and care about – they get the truth. They know when you are joyful just as they know when you are hurting and sad. That’s authentic humanity and that is what God want to see from us. Just as Jesus declared His pain to the  Father in the Garden, so we too can declare our sorrows to Him. He hears and He cares!

Walter Brueggemann (20th century theologian and author) writes, “Psalm 88 stands as a mark of realism of biblical faith . . .  because there are situations in which easy, cheap talk of resolution must be avoided”. (Message of the Psalms, p. 81)

Prayer: Dear Lord God, when I am troubled, please help me to immediately bring my cares and concerns to You. Help me to always realize that You want to know what is going on with me and that You do care, even if You don’t  answer my prayers the way that I think is best. I know that You always mean good and blessing for me, so help me to frame my thoughts and attitudes in that light. Because of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more