Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Read

Psalm 102:1-17 (NRSV)

Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you.
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call.

For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
I am too wasted to eat my bread.
Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my skin.
I am like an owl of the wilderness,
like a little owl of the waste places.
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
For I eat ashes like bread,
and mingle tears with my drink,
because of your indignation and anger;
for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
your name endures to all generations.
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to favor it;
the appointed time has come.
For your servants hold its stones dear,
and have pity on its dust.
The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the LORD will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.

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Reflect

Before the actual psalm begins, the Bible tells us that it is the prayer of one afflicted and faint, pleading before the Lord. How can you relate to the psalmist’s feelings of being unheard, desperate, lonely, and weak?

I know a lot of people who feel guilty when they express their desperation, loneliness, or weakness to God. They feel unworthy to ask God “why,” almost as if in doing so they are blaming God. I believe that this psalm is telling us that God wants us to pour out our feelings and thoughts to God.

Just like in this scripture, after lamenting, we should praise God. Give God the glory for being this friend who lets us lament, takes our burdens, and gives us much needed encouragement. We may never understand why God allows some things to happen, but it comforts me to think that maybe it is because we tend to draw nearer to the Lord when we feel at a complete loss.

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Pray

Gracious God, thank you for loving us and allowing us to lament our deepest, darkest feelings to you. Help us to learn to appreciate the trials we go through because they help us to develop a better relationship with you. Please be with those who are feeling alone, lost, depressed, confused, and heartbroken. Touch those people today and allow them to feel your love. In Jesus name, Amen.

Go with God.