Lament 3: Do You Hear Me?

The psalmist David had his fair share of difficulties.  Some of which were due to his own doing, leaving him responsible for the consequences of his own actions.  Some were not.  

We sense a level of desperation in the psalm we are studying today.  Another level of this concept of lament that we’ve been reading about.

Psalm 6

O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
    or discipline me in your rage.

Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.
    Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

I am sick at heart.
    How long, O Lord, until you restore me?

Return, O Lord, and rescue me.
    Save me because of your unfailing love.

For the dead do not remember you.
    Who can praise you from the grave?

I am worn out from sobbing.
    All night I flood my bed with weeping,
    drenching it with my tears.

My vision is blurred by grief;
    My eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.

Go away, all you who do evil,
    for the Lord has heard my weeping.

The Lord has heard my plea;
    The Lord will answer my prayer.

May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.
    May they suddenly turn back in shame.

There’s not much worse than realizing you are in the wrong.  I suppose this is true if you have a conscience and morals, realizing that you have done something wrong or wronged someone.  It’s a gut punch.  You’re retracing your steps, debating on what to do, trying to figure out how to make it right again.

As I’ve read this psalm over and over, I’ve been reminded how lament is full of honesty.  Raw emotion.  True feelings.  You’re on your knees with reality.  Recognizing that you need help from the only One who can heal and guide and deliver.  That level of humility brings you face-to-face with God.  It’s in those moments that we are reminded that God’s ways are better than ours.  Always.

Just because we are in a humble state of honesty with God doesn’t mean that our misery will come to an immediate end or that all of our prayers will be instantly answered.  There will be times, in fact, when this does happen, but it may not happen all of the time, or when we think it should happen.  The psalmist here speaks of that.  He questions God about how long the pain will go on.  He wants restoration and quick fixes.

Don’t we all want this?  In our honesty, we all want and desire a level of comfort.  For most of us, growing up in this country has allowed us to have comforts at our fingertips.  Most of which we don’t even think about most days.  It’s become second-nature.  

My prayer is that as we become more aware of ourselves, we can become more aware of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  May we learn to rely on Him in complete faith, in good and bad times.  May we learn that to lament is to be honest in our prayers and to come to Him for guidance in all circumstances.  Whether we’ve found ourselves in trouble or trouble has found us, God is still here in the midst.  You are not alone.  Lament helps us process our emotions and bring our thoughts to the One who holds it all in His Hands.