GOD KNOWS WE FEEL

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8

Feeling overwhelmed, Sierra grieved her son’s fight with addiction. “I feel bad,” she said. “Does God think I have no faith because I can’t stop crying when I’m praying?”

“I don’t know what God thinks,” I said. “But I know He can handle real emotions. It’s not like He doesn’t know we feel.” I prayed and shed tears with Sierra as we pleaded for her son’s deliverance.

Scripture contains many examples of people wrestling with God while struggling. The writer of Psalm 42 expresses a deep longing to experience the peace of God’s constant and powerful presence. He acknowledges his tears and his depression over the grief he’s endured. His inner turmoil ebbs and flows with confident praises, as he reminds himself of God’s faithfulness. Encouraging his “soul,” the psalmist writes, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (v. 11). He’s tugged back and forth between what he knows to be true about God and the undeniable reality of his overwhelming emotions.

God designed us in His image and with emotions. Our tears for others reveal deep love and compassion, not necessarily a lack of faith. We can approach God with raw wounds or old scars because He knows we feel. Each prayer, whether silent, sobbed, or shouted with confidence, demonstrates our trust in His promise to hear and care for us.

Read: Psalm 42 (NIV)

For the director of music. A maskil^c of the Sons of Korah.

1 As the deer^f pants for streams of water,^g

so my soul pants^h for you, my God.

2 My soul thirstsⁱ for God, for the living God.^j

When can I go^k and meet with God?

3 My tears^l have been my food

day and night,

while people say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”^m

4 These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:ⁿ

how I used to go to the house of God^o

under the protection of the Mighty One^d

with shouts of joy^p and praise^q

among the festive throng.^r

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?^s

Why so disturbed^t within me?

Put your hope in God,^u

for I will yet praise^v him,

my Savior^w and my God.^x

6 My soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember^y you

from the land of the Jordan,^z

the heights of Hermon^a—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep^b

in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.^c

8 By day the Lord directs his love,^d

at night^e his song^f is with me—

a prayer to the God of my life.^g

9 I say to God my Rock,^h

“Why have you forgottenⁱ me?

Why must I go about mourning,^j

oppressed^k by the enemy?”^l

10 My bones suffer mortal agony^m

as my foes tauntⁿ me,

saying to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”^o

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.^p

INSIGHT

1. What emotion have you tried to hide from God?
2. Why is it often hard to be honest with God about difficult or overwhelming emotions?

Eleven psalms, including Psalm 42, are attributed to “the Sons of Korah.” Numbers 16:1–3 identifies Korah as the leader of an insurrection in the days of Moses and Aaron that resulted in deaths by earthquake (vv. 31–33), fire (v. 35), and plague (vv. 46–50). Yet even though the earth literally opened up and swallowed the leaders and followers of this rebellion, Korah’s children weren’t wiped out (26:8–11). Responsible for the care of the sacred tent of worship, members of this family became worship leaders of Israel who gave us some of the most memorable words in the Psalms (Psalms 42:1; 46:1; 84:1).

PRAYER

Unchanging Father, thank You for assuring me that You know I feel and need to process my ever-changing emotions. In Jesus holy name, I pray and believe. Amen!!

Read: Psalm 42 (NIV)  | Bible in a Year: Songs of Songs 6-8; Galatians 4