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Have you ever been angry with God?? I don't just mean upset that you didn't win the Lottery (again)*... I mean "knock-down-drag-out" angry. Life just isn't fair and you've had enough. Have you ever prayed during those times, or do you feel a need to settle yourself down first?? I think we've all been there at one time or another. I know I have; and there can come a time when it seems better to take matters into our own hands. That never ends well, trust me!!*
Today's message explores those moments and reassures us that it's okay to bring our anger and frustration toward Him, to Him in prayer.
As indicated in the intro. paragraph above, we need to allow the Psalms to open our emotions up to our spirituality. We all have moments or periods in our lives of disappointment, discouragement, and flat-out overwhelming. There can be a variety of ways that we may respond to these emotions in the face of our spirituality --
Process -- We may feel a need to cognitively or psychologically process our emotions in order to sort them out ahead of praying
Stuff -- Some people are uncomfortable dealing with emotions due to their background, so they "shove it down" and try to put a brave face on for God.*
Sanitize -- Some people try to "dress up" their emotions so they are less intense before going to God with them.
Filter -- Still others may not bring their frustrations to God at all. They think that spirituality has to "look good" or "behave itself". What does it say in 1 Peter 5:7?? "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." God knows you've got troubles, He wants us to bring them so He can fix them. (not that He doesn't already know, but so we know He's taking care of it)
Turn with me to Psalm 3 and see how David handled things in prayer --
Psalm 3[a]
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”[b]
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. 4 I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.
This Psalm reminds us first off that God meets us at every point of disappointment, discouragement, and overwhelming. God's promises to David took time, and his son, Absalom, was getting impatient. We find Absalom's story mainly in 2 Samuel 13-18. In his conniving and conspiring against David, he "edged in" and won over the hearts of the people and turned them against his father. As a result, David had to literally run for his life. This is the context in which he wrote Psalm 3.
In 2 Sam. 15:25-26, we see just how strong David's faith really was. He orders Zadok the Priest to take the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and await God's response. If he found favor, good; if not, so be it. He totally and completely put his very life in God's hands!! This brings another temptation some of us may have when our struggles "butt up" against our spirituality. We may read a story like this out of the Bible and dismiss our troubles as no big deal. But that is just as big a mistake as any of those listed above. How can we receive all God has for us if we don't give Him all we are?? The good, the bad, and the ugly, as it were... again, it's not as if He doesn't already know it's there. It's just up to us as to how much we are willing to trust Him with. But look at what David does in Psalm 3 --
Statement of truth -- He puts the facts right out there. His enemies are many and they mock him!! He's not going to deny it.
Humility -- He displays humility in verse 3. God is his shield and glory. It's God who lifts his head*. He's not trying to "chin up" and be brave on his own.
Faith -- In verses 4 and 5, David expresses his faith that God hears him, and cares to fix things. He is so peaceful that he lies down and goes to sleep.
Sets aside fear -- He is making a positive confession against fear in verse 6.
Imprecatory statement * -- Now there's a $5 word for you!! LOL David is essentially telling God to "knock them out, Lord"!! However, this shows that it's okay to wish your enemies harm; as long as you leave it to God. In doing this, David was putting the lives of his enemies in God's hands. This shows the confidence in God that brought him rest, and God's deliverance from and justice toward his enemies.
Blessing of God -- Even in the midst of all the trouble David was in, he gave praise to God and asked God's blessing on his people. Even including himself!!
Pastor Matt's side story came at the end of the message this time. He just came back from vacation and there was a source of frustration at some point.(he didn't share the details) In the course of talking through it with his wife, she brought out an excellent point. She spoke of the old saying many of us know that, "what goes up, must come down". (if you're not singing this, you're too young, lol) This shows how the World generally thinks. We all have ups and downs in life, and that's the facts.
But what does the Bible show us?? Jesus' victory came through the disgrace of Crucifiction. And just look at Matt. 5:1-8. "Blessed are the poor in spirit... those who mourn... the meek... hunger and thirst for righteousness..." In God's Kingdom what is down, must come up!! How cool is that!!??
One of the last things Pastor Matt shared was about sharing his troubles with a close friend. This man listened to what was going on with the voice that consistently berates him and tries to say things like, "what good are you??" "you don't deserve nice things", etc.. and just invited Matt to sit in his emotions for a bit. This doesn't come naturally whatsoever to him; but he did it and after allowing himself to actually feel the emotions, he started to pray and know God's presence in the midst of it. That's what God invites us into. He knows there's going to be trouble in our lives, but if we can allow ourselves the full experience of knowing His presence in the midst of allowing ourselves to feel our emotions, then we will truly know the power of His peace. Otherwise, we are rejecting God's offer of good for our lives. And, of course, that doesn't mean everything will turn out the way we want, but that we trust that He knows what's best and we accept that.
Finally, he ended with a quote from Pete Scazzero* -- I can't find it rn, but it basically talks about how we tend to equate doing "for" God with being "with" God and how our journey is an ever-deepening trust of God through ongoing levels of friendship.
Get in the habit of bringing all of you to experience all of God, and be blessed!!
Footnotes:
See message from 2 wks ago...
Have you ever known someone you really, really wanted in your life, only to find out they're married?? Yeah... bummer!! But God knows best...
The old Melissa Manchester song, "Don't Cry Out Loud" comes to mind. What horrible advice!! :/
Many of you may remember this worship chorus -- https://youtu.be/mVSf6wjNw1w
Imprecating is essentially cursing someone. (think Gypsies pronouncing a curse on someone who's wronged them)
This guy has a lot of great quotes, look him up!! He studies the correlation between Mental Health and Spirituality.
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