Psalm 55: aka, Praying While Wishing Others Were Buried Alive

If Psalm 55 were a blog post, the comments would be merciless. The writer might be reported to the police. But this wasn’t a blog post; it was a desperate prayer from a king who was at the end of his rope.It begins with honesty: “Hear me and answer me. My thoughts upset me. I’m very troubled.”Prayer is a time to bring to God what actually is, where you reveal the unvarnished reality of your life. And sometimes, the reality is: I’m not doing well. My thoughts upset me. I’m very troubled. In this Psalm, it’s as if David sensed that God leaned in, paid close attention. This gives David freedom to be even more honest. It turns out his opening lines were a bit too edited.In verses 4-5, David gets very real and very dark:“I feel great pain deep down inside of me. The terrors of death are crushing me. Fear and trembling have taken hold of me. Panic has overpowered me.”If this were your friend, you’d be alarmed. You’d start offering ridiculous and unhelpful things just to stop the hemorrhaging. You’d start looking for the little button underneath the desk that calls in the experts.In verses 6-7, David seems to be suicidal, or close to it...Click here to read the rest of this post. I'm guest blogging today over at my friend Steph Spencer's inspiring site, Everyday Awe. Photo Credit