Psalms – Prayers of Honesty
Saying yes to God to be a leader in ministry does not mean we will always live in perfect harmony with others in and out of God’s church, singing Kum Ba Yah and holding hands. We are human. We are fallible. We might not get tired OF the work but we certainly get tired IN the work God invited us to do, especially when the battle to do His will seems beyond our ability to get His will accomplished… in His way.
As a pastor in God’s church, we can feel overwhelmed when the demands of His people do not match the commands that God is telling us to be and do. We fall down when we are overwhelmed and make bad choices just to make people happy. Making others happy, avoiding God’s direction, so you will be lifted up in the eyes of those you minister alongside, face to face, is sin and will bite back. God will take us to the “woodshed” when we take the easy road and say what others want to hear instead of saying what God wants. We will suffer now and later for playing the “must please others” game. Even the fickle ones we are trying to please will eventually turn on us! Crazy, right? But true.Psalm 6, The Message
A David Psalm1-2 Please, God, no more yelling,
no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a change;
I’m so starved for affection.
2-3 Can’t you see I’m black-and-blue,
beat up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?
4-5 Break in, God, and break up this fight;
if you love me at all, get me out of here.
I’m no good to you dead, am I?
I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!
6-7 I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed
has been floating forty days and nights
On the flood of my tears.
My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.
The sockets of my eyes are black holes;
nearly blind, I squint and grope.
8-9 Get out of here, you Devil’s crew:
at last God has heard my sobs.
My requests have all been granted,
my prayers are answered.
10 Cowards, my enemies disappear.
Disgraced, they turn tail and run.
SOMETHING TO CHEW…The Psalmist is suffering for being God’s leader. He feels God is punishing Him for how he leads and fights this battle between good and evil. He’s tired and weary, maybe even ill from the battling God. “Yahweh, how long will it take for you to let up?”, The Psalmist cries out in honesty and agony.
All of these psalms are helpful to us when we need to confess our sins and draw closer to the Lord. In this psalm, David records the stages in his difficult experience of moving by faith from trial to triumph.
God cannot be where sin is for God is perfect and sinless. So if we feel God has moved away from us, even avoiding us, it is probably because we have walked farther from His Light and ventured into the Darkness where God is not and will not follow. Cry out to God. Come back into the Light. Do life His way. The closer we move to God the more His Light will shed perspective on our battle with ways to win the victory over evil. From trials to triumph, that is the way of the Lord!
What’s love got to do with it?
Here is an amazing thought…the closer we all move to God, the closer we are to each other! Want more love and affection? David cried out, “I’m starved for affection.” “If you love me, get me out of here.” God loved us before we thought about loving Him back. He made a way for us to love him back with all that is in us. God’s love never changes but we must go where God is, repent of following evil, accept His Son’s redemption of us and follow in His ways to experience His never ending love.
HEART CHECK…With God, the battle is surely won. Without Him, we are left in the dark on our own. Where are you? In tears or in triumph…or somewhere in between? Remember if God is for us, who can be against us? No one. God sent His Son to battle for our souls…and won! That’s why the “battle belongs to the Lord”.
Do we trust Him? How and how much? What battle has God won in your life recently? Did you praise and thank Him? How? How much?
“My prayers are answered”, says David triumphantly. “Cowards, my enemies disappear” when we walk in the Light. “Disgraced, they turn tail and run.” Evil will flee when we fall on our knees and cry out to the King of kings and Lord of lords in Jesus Name.
Is this the time for you to cry out to the God of creation? Is it time for you to stand with God instead of running ahead of God? Isn’t it time HE fought the battle for you with HIS power and might?
Our lives on this earth will be a continuous, daily battle to make right choices.
Do I follow the world or do I stand firm in my faith and follow God?
Dear Lord,
In our “trials to triumph” lives, be our Shield, Protector, Provider, and Victor. You provided the Perfect Way back to You and Your love by the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Yes, You know suffering. So we cry out to You. We give in to You. Our desire is to live victorious! All my trust is in You.
In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe.
