Suffering Psalms - Part 1

DAILY BYTE

Our favorite way to be in church – and in life it seems – is to be happy. I wouldn’t dare try to count the number of magazines and songs that focus on this never-ending goal. We teach our children songs like “ The Happy Song” by Martin Smith, part of which goes: “Everybody’s singing now, ‘cause we’re so happy! Everybody’s dancing now, ‘cause we’re so happy!”

It would be nice if that were actually true. I concede that there is absolutely a place for this kind of praise and exclamation of overt joy in our lives. I also affirm that there are times when we must learn to exclaim joy as a proclamation of hope for what we desire for ourselves and the world around us in the future.

However, the reality is that most of us are not overtly happy most of the time. In fact, most of us are struggling with some pretty serious issues most of the time, and as the devotions have discussed this week, to be true community, we must learn to be honest with one another about our struggles and suffering, not simply plaster on a happy face and avoid reality.

As it turns out, many people who have come before us also struggled, and some of them preserved their struggle for us, profoundly naming it The Word of God. We find particularly powerful permission from God to express both our joy and our grief in the stunning beauty and often gruesome honesty of the Psalms.

We tend to quote the psalms of praise and hallelujah quite frequently. But, the overwhelming majority of the psalms actually focus on expressing anger, grief, and confusion!

As you pray through such a psalm of lament today, it is important to note, that these prayers and songs were written by a community and for a community. It is important that we read them together, as we learn to struggle together through our individual and communal suffering.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”’
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

IF YOU ARE FEELING BRAVE…
Re-write this Psalm in your own words, as you reflect upon the challenging circumstances in your own life or in the life of someone you love.