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1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; let me cry for help come to you.

2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me:

When I call, answer me quickly.

3 For my days vanish like smoke, my bones burn like glowing embers.

4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass, I forgot to eat my food

5 Because of my loud groaning I am reduced in skin and bone,

6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.

7 I lie awake, I have before like a bird alone on a roof.

 

This verse in Psalms is titled “Prayer of the Afflicted man” He is pouring out his complaint before the Lord. We can tell when reading that this is a heartfelt appeal from someone weighed down with suffering. We can tell that the writer is at the peak of totally being overwhelmed and feeling gut punched by an episode in his life. His response is a complete RANT to the Lord! To me, there is such beauty in knowing I can rant and rave and go on and on and God will listen to me! Yet, he remains my total source of help.

How blessed we are that God welcomes our pleas any time and, in any place, when we are feeling so overwhelmed. I am guilty of ranting out load in my car, on walks, and silently in my prayers. We all relate to verse 2 when the author states “when I call, answer me quickly” when we must remember that all is on God’s time schedule despite our “toddler like acts’ of stating I want the answer now! God is always listening, but patience is required!

Matthew 11:28 reminds us also “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” To be heard is one of humanity’s deepest needs, and the writer places hope in the fact that God’s ears remain open. It is known that only God rules over time and space. We are never lonely when a child of God’s

Dear Lord: We always know you are there and listening. We pray that others who do not know you as our Lord may discover that you are life’s true meaning.

Linda Saddler

sadd4@aol.com