When I am feeling a little down, I go to my playlist of melancholy songs, but when I am in a good mood, I like to listen to my peppier beats—songs like Peggy Lee’s “It’s a Good Day” or Dinah Washington’s “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” We like to listen to music that resonates with our emotions. The same can be said about prayer; we pray what we are feeling. The Bible is a treasured resource for this kind of prayer, and there are many ways to pray with the Scriptures. Some like to imagine themselves in the stories of Genesis or the Gospels. Others prefer to meditate on the wisdom of Proverbs or the teachings of St. Paul. I like to recommend praying with the Psalms.
The book of Psalms is a collection of ancient songs that run the gamut of human emotion from a wide span of Israelite history. In Hebrew, the book of Psalms is called Tehillim or “praises,” and some psalms are distinctly hymns of praise, while others are of thanksgiving or trust. Some refer to the monarchy, to God’s anointed, or to the sovereignty of God, and others offer wise instruction. The largest class of Psalms, however, are laments: hymns that express deep sorrow, pain, and remorse, are dire pleas for rescue, and even dare to question God.
I especially like the laments because they articulate human emotions so genuinely. Likewise, when we pray, we should be honest with God even if we are angry. Laments are not afraid to ask God, “Why?” (See Psalms 10, 22, 42, 44, 74, 80, 88). It is a cry we are all familiar with: Why did our house flood? Why did my child die? Why did he hurt me? Why did she leave me? Why am I terminally ill? Why do you hide your face, O Lord? Although the psalmists’ circumstances may be different than ours, the feelings of anguish and abandonment still resonate with us. But for all the expressions of misery, anger, and regret in the laments, they usually manifest utter trust in the Lord and oftentimes irrepressible praise to God. The beauty of the laments is that, despite the frustrations they convey, there is nevertheless within them the conviction that we have a God we can cry out to.
Sometimes, God does not always answer our laments and prayers the way we hope, but this is another poignant thing about praying with the Psalms. God’s answer was to become flesh and live the very Psalms we pray—to be betrayed and mocked, abused, and abandoned, and to die. God knows the depths of human suffering, and in Jesus, we do not pray the Psalms alone. God is with us in our suffering. God has indeed shown us his face, as the psalmists so desperately demand, and it is the face of the Crucified One.
