Keep Talking

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

Psalm 6:2

David was mired in pain. He doesn't spell out the circumstances. Perhaps this was the rebellion of Absalom. His own son had betrayed him and now wanted him dead. Can you imagine the avalanche of hurt, rejection, anger, guilt and fear?

He gives voice to his pain. He doesn't keep quiet. He doesn't withdraw. He doesn't run and hide from God. He doesn't sulk in anger against God.

Oh no! He cries out. He puts his agony into words. He keeps talking to God.

Eavesdrop on David's cries to God:

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

     heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. (6:2)

My soul also is greatly troubled.

     But you, O Lord - how long? (6:3)

For in death there is no remembrance of you;

     in Sheol who will give you praise? (6:5)

I am weary with my moaning;

     every night I flood my bed with tears;

     I drench my couch with my weeping. (6:6)

My eye wastes away because of grief;

     it grows weak because of all my foes. (6:7)

Did David hold back?  Hardly.

Did David voice his frustrations?  Absolutely.

Was David honest with God?  Completely.

Did God listen to these cries of pain and anguish and hurt? Did God care? Could it be that God recorded these cries in the Psalms to teach us how to pray when we are mired in the quagmire of pain? Does God want us to express all our heart, all our hurt, all our agony, to him? Did God hear David's prayers? David's cries?

Listen carefully to David's next prayers:

Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

     for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

The Lord has heard my plea;

     the Lord accepts my prayer. (6:8-9)

When life overwhelms you, keep talking. To God. Openly. Boldly. Honestly. Passionately.

He will hear you.