Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

Psalm 17:1 ESV

Why be a psalmist? Are you struggling with dark thoughts and troublesome feelings? I strove this way for over forty years. I prayed but wasn’t honest with God about my feelings.

I shared information with God, and His Word informed me, but facts don’t necessarily change a walled-off heart.

Years ago, my counselor asked me, “How did that make you feel?”

 “I think …,” was my standard response. I didn’t know how I felt about anything!

Over time, I learned that emotions are okay to have and feel.

Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ Name, help me to feel my feelings!

How was honesty possible with God if I wasn’t honest about my feelings with loved ones? Vulnerability and practice—with both.

Distancing myself emotionally from people and God resulted in two failed marriages, shattered friendships, and job hopping. The Psalms have become my mainstay. When prayer doesn’t come, I voice the Psalms. Being a psalmist is getting easier.

Journaling is similar but may fall short of connecting spiritually with God. Penning a psalm directs our hearts to God with raw emotion, leading us to see God as He is. Praise results!

Psalm 13 portrays Psalmist David’s heart journey.                               

David asks God hard questions. How long, O LORD? (v. 1) His endurance is failing. He implies God’s abandonment and apparent indifference. David feels helpless about his enemies prevailing. He pleads with God to reply before he is destroyed. At last, the shift in his heart is evident when he declares, But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me (vv. 5 - 6). Hopelessness transformed into hope!

It's okay to approach God honestly with despair, pain, anger, fear, or grief. Don’t be like me and sanitize or suppress your words. Write them out to your steadfast and trustworthy God as a psalm.

Karen Sims