Day 2: Crying out to God for relief and understanding

Focus

Reflect on today’s reading using these questions.

1. What questions does the psalmist ask himself? Of God?
2. How does the psalmist try to hold the tension between despair and hope in this passage?

Devotion

The writer here is struggling to make sense of his world and his feelings. The weight of sadness and despair threatens to engulf him. In response he tries to will himself to praise God: “I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” (vs 5b–6a, NLT) And yet, immediately, he acknowledges that he is still in deep anguish. Notice that the psalmist seems to vacillate between remembering the goodness and power of God and the deep and abiding feelings of abandonment. “But each day the LORD pours His unfailing love upon me.… ‘Oh God my rock,’ I cry, ‘Why have you forgotten me?’” (v8a, 9a, NLT).

Connect

1. When you are caught between remembering God’s faithfulness in the past and a present painful experience, how do you give room for the expression of both feelings?
2. Think about a time in your life when you struggled with despair. How did you make sense of your feelings while remembering God’s care in the past?

The psalmist is full of questions for God and himself. “Why have you forgotten me?” (vs 9). “Why am I so sad?” (vs 5). But notice the stark difference from the rude questions from his enemies: “Where is your God?” (vs 10). Their questions are not an act of faith. Even in his confusion, the psalmist keeps coming back, looking for God’s care so that he can sing praises even in the night (vs 8).

Dig deeper

Many psalms of lament contain both the remembrance of God’s goodness and the simultaneous feeling of being abandoned by God. Such conflicting emotions and beliefs often exist together.

Read Psalm 6 for another example of mixed feelings. Notice verse 2 and 3: “I am worn out, O LORD; have pity on me! Give me strength; I am completely exhausted and my whole being is deeply troubled. How long, O LORD, will you wait to help me?” Despite drenching his bed with endless tears (verse 6), he also says he trusts God will hear and answer (verse 8 and 9) and will vindicate him (verse 10).