Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:7-8
Standing at the edge of Niagara Falls, my husband and I gazed in awe at the power of the water. We felt the mist on our faces as we held hands on the eve of our 25th anniversary. Waterfalls are beautiful to behold, but not so wonderful when you feel like you are underneath one.
Have you had a season where circumstances swept over you like waters from a waterfall? Death of a loved one? Medical crisis? Financial crisis? Not just a single event, but wave after wave? You think you have caught your breath when another wave breaks over you.
In this lament psalm and the one after it, David pours out his honest questions and suffering before God. Where are you? Have you forgotten me? He doesn’t stuff his emotions. Sometimes, we in the church forget to allow space for suffering. We must be honest with God about where we are in our grief
Then, he reminds his soul of the truth: his hope is in God. God’s faithful love sustains him in the night of his soul. Notice his suffering didn’t magically go away. He still hurt. But God was there in the midst of his pain.
Dear God,
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. I feel alone, like you do not care about me. Remind me that you are here with me, in the midst of this difficulty. Help me to cling to the rock of your love.
Amen
I have a new, free resource available. Writing a lament is a biblical and effective way to deal with our anger, grief, disappointment, etc. This download includes a devotion from Traveling with the Psalms, instructions for how to write a lament, and an example of a lament I wrote after the death of my mom. Just sign up for the newsletter below, and you will get the download in your welcome email.
Remember, the Father doesn’t just travel with you in the good times, but in the hard times, too.