Many think prayer should be dignified as if God would take offence at our saying what we really felt.
I yell out to my God … with all my might, (Psalm-77:1-Message)
Sometimes life demands prayers that yell.
my life was an open wound that wouldn’t heal.
Constant pain, aggravated by the least stress presses our character. Our world collapses to pain management and love for others is challenging. Yes, we yell to God.
When friends said, “Everything will turn out all right,”
I didn’t believe a word they said. (Psalm-77:2)
Others, who have not suffered, patronise us with words they want to be true to protect their theology.
I go over the days one by one, …. I strum my lute all through the night, wondering how to get my life together. (Psalm-77:5-6)
Such pain is a lonely place. We are alone with our thoughts and our music.
Once again I’ll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders. (Psalm-77:11-12)
When we realise we are unable to put our lives back together we seek God again. We need to rediscover who the God of the Bible really is.
You … walked straight through roaring Ocean, but nobody saw you … hidden in the hands of Moses and Aaron, (Psalm-77:19-20)
Our pondering from pain brings us to new understanding of how God works.
I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens. (Psalm-77:1-Message)
No explanations are given, but we do come to know him deeper, and are assured that he is listening.
For a more in depth study – The undignified prayer
2 thoughts on “When life is an open wound”
Thank you for positing this! Very timely…
I read the original Psalm through in several translations… It’s really an interesting one.
Something that caught my attention is how, once the Psalmist begins to set his mind on God and His wonders, he doesn’t return to a mere discussion of his own pain and problems. Maybe the wonder at God and the trust that seeing His past faithfulness evokes are a salve to the pain. Hard to think about your pain when you’re caught up in awestruck wonder. When you’re finally able to reach that point in your heart…
Hi Aimee. Thanks for the comment. This is very true. I find it is a bit of a battle. The moment I allow my problems to resurrect they drown out everything else. It seems we need to find God and then stick with him in order to encounter a place of peace and wonder.