Psalms DAY 8

DAY 8 - The Turn

Psalm 10:12-18

Our songwriter prays his pain but makes a turn in v.12: “Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.” He calls on God to get up and do something! He still asks “why,” but there’s enough faith to believe God might help. 

The change continues into v.14, “But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted.” That’s a big change! Remember, he started in v.1 by questioning whether or not God sees all that’s going on. Now he’s sure God sees. In very graphic (but metaphorical) language, he then tells God to disarm the bad guys, v.15, “Break the arm of the wicked man.” You can feel faith building as he gets to v.16, “The LORD is King for ever and ever.” Translation: “I know things look bad, but God’s not done with us yet. Somehow, someway, God’s gonna make this right.”

The songwriter prays his pain until it’s praise again. That’s what the psalms of lament urge us to do and help us to do: pray your pain until it’s praise.

This sounds like overly-positive, churchy advice, but every lament psalm makes this turn. The trouble is, we don’t know how long a time it was between v.13 and v.14. We don’t know how long he prayed, “Why, God?” before he could say, “The Lord is king.” 

Lament psalms challenge us to pray through the pain, not around it. Bring the pain and the doubt to God. Pray your pain until it’s praise.

REFLECT
What do you think of the advice to “pray your pain until it’s praise?”

PRAY
It doesn’t always feel like it, God, but you do see our pain. You care about our hurts. You won’t let unfairness go unanswered. The Lord is king forever and ever. Amen.