God Hears Our Complaints and Loves Us The Same
- By John Chisum
- Published September 22, 2008
John Chisum
John Chisum is a well known worship leader, conference speaker, recording artist and the founder of Worship4Life and Firm Foundation Ministries. John is a regular contributor to PraiseCharts in the Worship Articles and Resources section. For booking worship concerts, retreats, and Worship4Life Weekends with John Chisum, please contact: Susan Stark 276-236-1085 for scheduling information as well as Worship4Life.org. You can also find John on his new site: doxa360.blogspot.com and doxa360.com
In Psalm 69:1-4 David writes out of his anguish (and I'm sure stinky bad breath because he had to hide in caves a lot):
Maybe that's the real lesson here. God is big enough to hear the praise and take the complaints. He doesn't love us more when we're happy than when we're sad. He is with us in the good and the bad, when we want to love Him and when we can't understand why He doesn't seem to be listening. He sees us when we're on the mountaintop and when we're hiding in a cave somewhere fearing for our lives. Maybe it's just okay to feel what we feel and remember that Jesus was well acquainted with our weaknesses. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin."
"Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to
my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail
looking for my God.
Those who hate me without reason
outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal."
David
had some very real enemies. His own son, Absolom, wanted to cut his
head off. He was a warrior-king who felt things at a very deep
emotional level, like me, and he wasn't afraid to wear a tunic and play
a harp. He kicked butt and wrote songs. So far my worst enemies are in
my head and my teen-aged daughter still wants me to drive her to the
mall. I don't own a tunic or an ephod but I do have some baggy jeans.
I'm just learning that it's okay to sing a lament or two along with the
happy-clappy praise stuff that can momentarily lift any of us out of
the doldrums.those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal."
Maybe that's the real lesson here. God is big enough to hear the praise and take the complaints. He doesn't love us more when we're happy than when we're sad. He is with us in the good and the bad, when we want to love Him and when we can't understand why He doesn't seem to be listening. He sees us when we're on the mountaintop and when we're hiding in a cave somewhere fearing for our lives. Maybe it's just okay to feel what we feel and remember that Jesus was well acquainted with our weaknesses. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin."
