- Joined
- Aug 22, 2022
- Messages
- 632
- Reason
- CALS
- Diagnosis
- 08/2022
- Country
- US
- State
- NJ
- City
- Livingston
I am often cursing during the day. The f word comes flying out of my mouth. The dog was counter surfing and ate a package of cherry turnovers. I can't move Tom Forward to get the sling all the way down his back. The wheels on the evil hoyer lift are going hither and thither. And on.
I pray for trust. Trust in the Lord. His mercy endures forever. God is my father. I will place my trust in him whose love is perfect.
Some say the book of Job tells us a great deal about our suffering in life....I am the Lord. It is beyond your comprehension. I am with you always.
Take Psalm 69 as an example. The psalmist starts by crying out in pain, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck” (v. 1). He goes on to speak about those who are bringing suffering into his life: “Many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me” (v. 4). Indeed, the psalmist believes he suffers at their hands because of his devotion to God: “For I endure scorn for your sake” (v. 7).
While he expresses his desire for God to rescue him, he also tells God he wants him to harm his enemies. He wants God to punish them for what they have done to him:
May the table set before them become a snare;
may it become a retribution and trap.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
Pour out your wrath on them;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute those you wound
and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
Charge them with crime upon crime;
do not let them share in your salvation.
May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous. (69:22-28)
Many Christians balk at this kind of imprecatory language in the psalms, but if we are honest, we ourselves have felt this passion toward others—the person who let us go, the person who may have infected us with the virus (or the country from which it came), the secularist who wants to remove our religious freedom, the politician who instituted a policy with which we disagree.
But notice what the psalmist is doing here (and there are a number of laments which contain these types of imprecations). He is not saying, “God, give me the resources and the opportunity to hurt my enemies!” No, he is rather saying, “God you hurt them!” And there is a world of difference here. The psalmist is turning his anger over to God. God will do what he will do in response to the harm done to us. In essence, what the psalmist does is in keeping with Paul’s later admonition to those who are angry: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom 12:19).
Interestingly, as is well known, almost all of the laments, including those with these hard-hitting imprecations, end with statements of confidence or joy. This generalization includes Psalm 69, which concludes with a section of praise that begins, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving” (v. 30). Though this transformation certainly took place over a period of time and not in a second, the psalmist was able to work through his anger to a place of joy in the midst of suffering."
I pray for trust. Trust in the Lord. His mercy endures forever. God is my father. I will place my trust in him whose love is perfect.
Some say the book of Job tells us a great deal about our suffering in life....I am the Lord. It is beyond your comprehension. I am with you always.
Sharing from Cataclesia Institute
Giving Anger to God
"We first turn to a group of psalms that the prolific and insightful biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann called psalms of disorientation.2 Laments are psalms that we pray when life is confused, crazy, troubled. There are different types of laments, but some of the most powerful are those that express anger. The psalmists clearly are angry with those who have harmed them as well as God himself.Take Psalm 69 as an example. The psalmist starts by crying out in pain, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck” (v. 1). He goes on to speak about those who are bringing suffering into his life: “Many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me” (v. 4). Indeed, the psalmist believes he suffers at their hands because of his devotion to God: “For I endure scorn for your sake” (v. 7).
While he expresses his desire for God to rescue him, he also tells God he wants him to harm his enemies. He wants God to punish them for what they have done to him:
May the table set before them become a snare;
may it become a retribution and trap.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
Pour out your wrath on them;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute those you wound
and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
Charge them with crime upon crime;
do not let them share in your salvation.
May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous. (69:22-28)
Many Christians balk at this kind of imprecatory language in the psalms, but if we are honest, we ourselves have felt this passion toward others—the person who let us go, the person who may have infected us with the virus (or the country from which it came), the secularist who wants to remove our religious freedom, the politician who instituted a policy with which we disagree.
But notice what the psalmist is doing here (and there are a number of laments which contain these types of imprecations). He is not saying, “God, give me the resources and the opportunity to hurt my enemies!” No, he is rather saying, “God you hurt them!” And there is a world of difference here. The psalmist is turning his anger over to God. God will do what he will do in response to the harm done to us. In essence, what the psalmist does is in keeping with Paul’s later admonition to those who are angry: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom 12:19).
Interestingly, as is well known, almost all of the laments, including those with these hard-hitting imprecations, end with statements of confidence or joy. This generalization includes Psalm 69, which concludes with a section of praise that begins, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving” (v. 30). Though this transformation certainly took place over a period of time and not in a second, the psalmist was able to work through his anger to a place of joy in the midst of suffering."
