No Disrespect Intended

“Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
     hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught”

Psalm 55:1-2

 

Would you please read the text above again?

Any thoughts come to mind?

As I read it, it can almost sound disrespectful or demanding of God on the part of David.

But there is, I believe, some light shed on David’s frame of mind as we read verses 4 and 5:

“My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death assail me.
 Fear and trembling have beset me;
    horror has overwhelmed me.”

There’s something about desperation that causes our prayers to “cut to the chase” so to speak.

When we are overwhelmed we jettison the pretenses and all the jargon.

Our prayers become – in the vernacular of a common manufacturing process – “lean”.

 We say what we mean and mean what we say.

Desperation has a way of ‘trimming the fat’ from our words.  

David was wounded deeply by a friend as he wrote this psalm.

It caused him to call out to God.

Reading the verse of our text it might be easy to imagine David shaking his fist at God as he spoke the words; except we know the context and we know the heart of David.

God knows the ‘context’ of your life and He knows your heart.

Don’t let false words get in the way of your heartfelt cry to God.

When you are desperate; when you are in a very difficult place, perhaps even questioning the purposes of God in that place, let your prayers be honest and direct with God.

Maybe you have put on a brave face for others but God knows you better than you know yourself so don’t pretend with Him.

I encourage you to take a few moments if you can and read the whole of Psalm 55.

It is rich in lessons.

I close with these words from verses 16 and 17 of that Psalm:

“But I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
 Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.”