MEDITATION: Psalm 6:6 by Alan J. Hommerding

From Everyday Psalms

I am worn out from moaning;
I flood my pillow with weeping all night,
I soak my bed with tears.

This is an example of the psalms’ “don’t hold back” approach to prayer.  The psalmist finds it nearly impossible to overstate how miserable life is (“I make my bed swim in tears,” one translation has it).  Technically, this way of speaking or writing is called hyperbole, but in the psalms it’s used as a means to express utmost trust, confidence, and intimacy, all in an honest, loving relationship with God.  With whom do we share our most extreme moments of any emotion?  With those we love the most, with whom we are most at ease, and whom we rely on above all others.

 

PRAYER

I place all my trust in you,
loving and faithful God.
I place before you all that lies deep in my heart.
Hear and answer this and every prayer.

 

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LIVING THE PRAYER

Today I will express a joy or sorrow to God “one step further” than I normally would.

Do I follow the way of Israel and Jesus, who pray confidently, intimately to a loving “Abba” and show us to do the same?  Do I pray as one assured of the close, loving relationship I have with God?

THE NEW TESTAMENT SINGS

Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; but let not my will, but yours, be done.
(Luke 22:42)