Thursday, September 9

Complain to God? Sure!

Here, David is crying out to God for mercy in confession. In the whole of Psalm 38 one feels the angst bound up within his heart. Question: When was the last time we voiced such a plaint before God? I think it is perhaps unusual these days. Read just 3 verses selected from the whole of the 22 verses. . . .
My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. ” (Psalm 38:5–8
Several factors in this Psalm emerge when sin overtakes:
1) There's no attempt to avoid, or re-frame the sin to sound better than it is.
2) He feels free to "dump on" God, to tell the Lord everything he feels. There's a freedom in such complaining. 
3) He recognizes the source of his sorrow (sin), and the Source of his salvation (God). He is not just having a "bad day."
4) He gets help, not from the bottle, or from sports or from the phone, but from God alone! 
5) He doesn't throw his hands up in disgust saying, "Where is God when you need him?" He goes to God and sort of "forces" upon Him his sorrow. He unloads on God. 

Again I ask, how frequently do we just unload on our loving Lord? Are we quicker to turn to a friend than to the One who should be our BEST friend? Just wondering.

Don't be a complaining person, but if you will, complain to the One who cares and solves our troubles.

2 comments:

Pastor Bob Leroe said...

Someone said that we should approach God with gutsy honesty because He can "take it." If we can't unload on God, we're in big trouble. Sometimes prayer isn't about asking for stuff, it's simply an opportunity to vent and release some of the pent-up junk going on inside us.

David R. Nelson said...

Well said, Bob. It seems from reading the Psalms that this is to be a common feature of our prayer life. Without it we miss out on as aspect of Christian maturity that would greatly enhance our experience of knowing God. Thanks for your comments.