Faith in Lament

Christ in Gethsemane by Michael D. O'Brien

 

Scripture

Psalm 6

¹   O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,
          or discipline me in your wrath.
²   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
          O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
³   My soul also is struck with terror,
          while you, O LORD — how long?

⁴   Turn, O LORD, save my life;
          deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
⁵   For in death there is no remembrance of you;
          in Sheol who can give you praise?

⁶   I am weary with my moaning;
          every night I flood my bed with tears;
          I drench my couch with my weeping.
⁷   My eyes waste away because of grief;
          they grow weak because of all my foes.

⁸   Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
          for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹   The LORD has heard my supplication;
          the LORD accepts my prayer.
¹⁰  All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;
          they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.  (NRSV)

Devotion

Some days are just hard. Nothing seems to go right, and all the world seems stacked against us.  Sometimes, it can even feel like God is punishing us with a taste of divine wrath.

The psalmist knows these feelings well.  Thanks to its references to the speaker's physical symptoms in verses 2,6, and 7, psalm 6 is often known as the "sick psalm."  The nature of the problem, though, goes beyond the psalmist's physical body.  The people of ancient Palestine day understood that their bodies were deeply connected to their spirits.  When their relationships with God and one another took a turn for the worse, the could expected to pay a physical price.  Conversely, diseases, aches, and insomnia could be signs that God was angry with you or neglecting you. (Limburg 18-19).  If you wanted to heal your physical ills, you needed to  work on mending your relationships with God, one another, and even yourself, as well.  What we are talking about here is a holistic approach to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

The specifics of what has caused the psalmist's physical anguish remain unstated, but we do know that they feel surrounded by a community of foes.  We also know that they terrified of God's wrath and worry about being cut off from, God's love.  They even compare their situation to being in the depths of Sheol (the gloomy underground place of the dead).  And yet even as they shake with fear and grief--even as they stay up all night drenching their bed with tears--the psalmist has faith that God hears their agonized cries.  Eventually, God will accept their prayers and return to heal their suffering bodies and broken relationships.  The question isn't if God will deliver them.  It's how long will God take to do so.

As Psalm 6  reminds us that we don't need to hide our pain and frustration from God.  Put simply, it's okay to tell God that we are not okay.  In fact, it's those very kinds of prayers that encourage God draw near us and mend what is broken in our lives.  And as our relationship with God and one another strengthen, we may find some of the physical symptoms associated with grief, anxiety, depression, etc. beginning to ease.  Our pillows go back from being things that soak up our nightly tears to the comfortable places we rest our sleeping heads.  And it is God that makes it all possible.

It's hard to admit when we aren't okay.  Our society regards physical, emotional, and spiritual ailments as weaknesses that shouldn't mentioned if we want someone's approval.  And so we "suck it up" and try to hide our inner pain.  The  truth, though, is that it takes great trust to be honest when we feel hurt, angry, or scared.  And that's what faith is: trusting in God enough to step out of comfort zones and go beyond what it feels "natural" to do.  Such faith includes sharing our laments with God and one another. When we give voice to our sorrows and ask how much longer we can expect to go through this, God listens to us.  And though we may not always understand how God steps into comfort us or appreciate God's timeline, we can rest assured that we will be delivered from all the things that strike us with terror.

Be it is sleepless nights, bodily aches, or something else entirely, I encourage you to take your laments to God.  Be honest about what you are feeling.  I promises you that God is strong enough, loving enough, and steadfast enough to handle whatever you need to say.  And the day will come when God will deliver you.

Prayer

How long, oh God, must I bear these trials?  Come deliver me so that I my sorrows may come to an end and I may delight in your presence.  Amen.

Works Cited

James Limburg. Psalms.  1st ed.  Westminster Bible Companion.  Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000.