My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? ... O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer; and at night, but I have no rest. [Psalm 22:1-2 MEV]
I think that this prayer is filled with theological misunderstanding. Yet I love this prayer because it is so real. So raw. Who cannot relate to praying such a prayer? Who has not felt forsaken in times of trouble. Jesus echoed this sentiment from the cross. Feeling forsaken is a part of being human.
This kind of transparent prayer is why I love David so much. He was certainly an ordinary man with human frailties. Yet his transparency was so extraordinary. In this psalm he gives us a healthy model of prayer as he lays out his frustrations before the Lord. And God meets him right where he is.
Such is the place where we are able to meet God. A healthy heart does not stifle our inner cries for merciful justice. A healthy heart is transparent with God, ourselves and others about how we are feeling. A healthy heart knows that it is not forsaken and is unafraid to embrace a feeling of forsakenness.
Help us Lord to not to bury our disappointments. Our frustrations. Our feelings of being forsaken.
... this devotion is part of a series about King David.
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