Read
(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.)
In Times of Trouble
1I pray to you, Lord God,
and I beg you to listen.
2In days filled with trouble,
I search for you.
And at night I tirelessly
lift my hands in prayer,
refusing comfort.
3When I think of you,
I feel restless and weak.
4Because of you, Lord God,
I can't sleep.
I am restless
and can't even talk.
5I think of times gone by,
of those years long ago.
6Each night my mind
is flooded with questions:
7“Have you rejected me forever?
Won't you be kind again?
8Is this the end of your love
and your promises?
9Have you forgotten
how to have pity?
Do you refuse to show mercy
because of your anger?”
10Then I said, “God Most High,
what hurts me most
is that you no longer help us
with your mighty arm.”
11Our Lord, I will remember
the things you have done,
your miracles of long ago.
12I will think about each one
of your mighty deeds.
13Everything you do is right,
and no other god
compares with you.
14You alone work miracles,
and you have let nations
see your mighty power.
15With your own arm you rescued
your people, the descendants
of Jacob and Joseph.
16The ocean looked at you, God,
and it trembled deep down
with fear.
17Water flowed from the clouds.
Thunder was heard above
as your arrows of lightning
flashed about.
18Your thunder roared
like chariot wheels.
The world was made bright
by lightning,
and all the earth trembled.
19You walked through the water
of the mighty sea,
but your footprints
were never seen.
20You guided your people
like a flock of sheep,
and you chose Moses and Aaron
to be their leaders.
Reflect
When God seems absent, what does it take to ask him the hard questions about where we find ourselves?
We are not told what had happened to make the psalmist feel like this, but all seems lost. “Is this the end of your love and your promises? . . . Have you forgotten how to have pity?” he cries out. God no longer helps his people with his right arm. And that hurts. The writer twice describes himself as restless – troubled, agitated, compelled to mourn – all translations of the Hebrew text.
With its first ten verses, this psalm gives us permission to bring our hard questions to the author of the big Story; the questions that keep us restless in body and soul. This psalm gives us courage to name and mourn the losses and grief in our stories that we believe God should have prevented or at the very least fixed. It takes courage to bring the social injustices in our world before the One who spoke that world into being and judged it good . . . and demand answers.
But the courage to mourn isn’t enough. We also need tenacity. Moses and Abraham had that tenacity—the kind that reminded God of his promises and dared to hold him to them. Paul displayed it in the way he lived out his hard calling. So it is with this writer. In verses 11-20 he remembers and then reminds God of his rescue of the Hebrew slaves, their exodus, the parting of the Red Sea—all the miracles of long ago.
Our stories are full of miracles. Remember them. Speak them out into the flat silences of dark nights when God doesn’t seem present. Remember them and remind God. We have permission.
Respond
Dear God, you are the good shepherd. Help us remember that you know us by name. Remembering gives us the courage and tenacity to follow you through the valley of shadows. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Renee James
Renee James is the communications director for Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec (CBWOQ), and the editor of its award-winning magazine live. An award-winning freelance writer, she’s been published in Faith Today and has been a regular contributor to Leadership Journal and Today’s Christian Woman both published by Christianity Today International (CTI). She's also been a regular contributor to Gifted For Leadership, CTI’s leadership blog written by and for women leaders.