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Psalm 58 is troubling to many readers.

“O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.” Psalm 58:6-8

I taught a Bible study in the Psalms at the beginning of this year. We encountered a couple Psalms like this that contain what are called imprecatory prayers. Most of them are written by David. The language is violent, calling down judgment on his enemies. But when you read about David’s life, you don’t see David taking vengeance on anyone. In yesterday’s reading David is fleeing Jerusalem as a result of Absalom’s conspiracy to take over the throne. A man named Shimei calls down curses on David and throws stones at him as he flees. David refuses to allow his men to take vengeance on Shimei. David goes so far as to say that maybe Shimei’s cursing is from the Lord.

So where do these prayers come from?

Walter Brueggemann helped me out as I researched this question. He speaks of this psalm in particular and says that godly people aren’t supposed to feel like this. But what if they do? What do you do with the emotions that roil within you? It’s helpful  to remember that David was a man of war. He had many enemies, enemies that treated him unjustly, enemies that lived lives in defiance of God and God’s people.

Brueggemann’s point is that these psalms of imprecation are a way for David to take all the violent emotion he must be feeling and process it in prayer.

Take everything you feel and place it before the Lord in prayer. Prayer is a way to process it all, to remember that God is the only perfect judge.

Yesterday I marveled at the fact that God the Almighty hears prayer. His ears are open.

Today I noticed this in Psalm 86:

“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”

You may have a God whose ears are open but that doesn’t tell you anything about the disposition of that God towards you and your prayers.

He may hear, but then not answer.

He may hear and give a harsh answer.

He may hear and require elaborate rituals in order to get an answer.

In Psalms 32 and 51 and now in Psalm 86 there are beautiful descriptions of a God whose disposition is forgiveness, mercy and abounding, steadfast love!

Sometimes it helps to stop and look up a word in the dictionary to get its full meaning.

To abound means to exist in great quantities, to be rich in. It comes from the Latin which means to overflow.

God’s ears are open to his children and his disposition is that of overflowing, bountiful love.

It reminds me of John 1:16:

“And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

One of the dominant themes in today’s psalms was that God is the Mighty One, the LORD; he is awesome in power. He does not need anything we can give him, even the sacrifices and offerings he commanded.

And yet this one verse strikes me as precious:

“O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.” Psalm 65:2

God hears prayer.

God, the Almighty, who needs nothing we can give him….. hears…….. our………. prayer.

God’s ears are open to my weak whisperings.

I need to let that sink into me. I need to pray that it will cross that chasm between my head and my heart.

As I lay in bed late tonight reading these passages I am overwhelmed by the grace and faithfulness of my God.

He chooses a people for himself. He covenants with them, not based on what they do or don’t do. He swears by his own name to be faithful to them.

Yesterday I wrote about how complicated and flawed humans are, how David wasn’t the perfect hero we want him to be.

Today the readings were all about what God has done for David, that God desires to establish a name and a house for David. And again, it’s not because of some perfect track record that David’s achieved. No. It’s pure grace.

“You, LORD God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.” 1 Chronicles 17:17

Humans are complicated creatures. So far in the story, David is the good guy, doing most things right. But as he consolidates power as King of Israel and builds a palace, he takes on some of the characteristics of the kings around him.

2 Samuel 5:13 says that David took more concubines and wives for himself in Jerusalem. More children are born to him. This isn’t something to be admired. This was something God had warned the Israelites about in Deuteronomy 17.

But in the 1 Chronicles passages, it’s clear that God is listening to David’s inquiries and blessing him. So what’s the deal?

There are no perfect characters in the Bible. And David’s imperfections will continue to be revealed. This is discouraging if we want to pin all our hopes on David, our hero. But it’s encouraging because David resembles many of us, imperfect and complicated, but sincere in our desire to follow God.

Encouraging most of all is that God doesn’t base his actions towards David on his obedience but on his gracious covenant with his people.

“Hello darkness, my old friend…” Simon and Garfunkel

“You have taken from me friend and neighbor – darkness is my closest friend.” Psalm 88:18

Psalm 88 is one of the darkest psalms. It’s uncomfortable to read, but we must read it if we are to understand how prayer works. Prayer is a processing of emotion, a spiritual catharsis.

Heman the Ezrahite declares that the LORD is his God, the God of his salvation, but honesty compels him to also declare the intensity of his despair.

His soul is full of trouble, he has no strength, he feels near death.

He declares that God is behind his troubles. God has put him in the depths of the pit and his wrath lies heavy upon him.

But he keeps praying. He keeps crying out. He asks why??

Heman is completely alone by the end of the psalm and describes God’s doings toward him as a flood of dreadful assaults.

Most psalms that are in the lament category end on a positive note; as you read you see the change in the psalmist as he reminds himself of God’s character and his ways. Not this one.

But if we’re honest, that’s how a lot of honest prayer ends. There isn’t always a resolution. We can’t always tie a beautiful bow on the end.

Don’t be afraid to read these psalms. Yes, they are uncomfortable, and yes, they leave us with further questions about God and prayer. But we need them. They expand our prayer vocabulary and teach us that we’re not alone in experiencing times of darkness.

Psalm 44:6-8 says,

“For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.”

I have these verses marked in my Bible and the initials C + S next to them. Years ago, when I was homeschooling these two children (C + S), God impressed these verses on me for them. C + S had a lot of difficulties and we spent a lot of time trying to sort them out. C would cry a lot in frustration. S sometimes lied about doing assignments. I took them to an educational specialist and learned about auditory processing and executive functioning.

It was hard.

I always want to be the best at whatever I do. That trait can be good if transformed into doing things with God-glorifying excellence, but the flip side of that trait (in me, at least) looks like a competitive drive soaked in pride. God has lovingly been breaking me of that through being a parent. I had no idea how C + S would do as they grew up. I was scared and anxious most of the time. I questioned myself all the time.

This psalm was written by men who knew war. They had gotten to the point where they realized they couldn’t trust in the weapons of war – their bow or spear or shield.

I got to the point, and am still coming to the point, where I realized I couldn’t trust in any parenting book, or educational method, or perfectly planned out schedule. I am still learning that it’s enough to boast in God, and in him alone.

C + S are 19 and almost 18 now. God has done amazing things in their lives, things I can’t take credit for, praise him! They both graduated high school with honors and both will be in college in the fall.

Surely, I will continue to boast in God and give thanks to his name forever.

Look up! I love the Songs of Ascents. I had to sleep in this morning to battle a potential cold so wasn’t able to do my regular Bible reading routine. I hate that. I like routine, but life happens and human beings are not machines.

But God proved gracious as I sat in the car waiting for my daughter to return her graduation gown and collect her diploma. As soon as I started reading these psalms aloud, the eyes of my heart were directed toward the Father and I was drawn into prayer.

The Lord is your keeper – Psalm 121

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! – Psalm 123

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. – Psalm 124

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. – Psalm 125

All of us are looking for heroes. Today is Memorial Day and today we honor those who gave their lives for our country. They are rightly called heroes.

David is the hero that everyone in Israel is looking for.

In today’s reading Saul’s star continues to plummet whereas David’s rises higher and higher. In the psalms, David pours his heart out to God and uses prayer to process his anger at all the injustice done against him. He truly desires to honor God.

It all culminates with Psalm 18 where we see the true hero – God himself. God is David’s rock and refuge, his fortress and deliverer, his shield and stronghold. Through the long years of running from Saul, David’s suffering has driven him into God’s presence again and again. And God has never failed him.

At the end of Ruth there is a short genealogy that ends with someone named David. I’ve learned from studying Genesis with Jen Wilkin that genealogies are important. But it takes until 1 Samuel 16 for us to be introduced to David. Most people who have a little familiarity with the Bible and classic Bible stories know who David is, but imagine if you were reading the Bible for the first time and encounter this person? He’s been hinted at in chapter 13 when Samuel tells Saul that God has rejected him for a man after his own heart. Who is this? Where will he come from?

As is God’s way, he chooses someone no one expects. It always reminds me of the Cinderella story. Samuel looks over the sons of Jesse expecting the Lord’s anointed to be among them. But God rejects them all. He finally asks Jesse if there is anyone else. Yes. The youngest. The one tending the sheep.

This is the one after God’s own heart. Throughout today’s reading David is portrayed as doing almost everything right. The Lord is with him and he has success after success. But soon enough he is running from Saul and hiding in the wilderness. The Psalms I read today represent this time in David’s life when he is crying out to God, his only refuge.

There were no huge insights for me today, but it was good to read the 1 Samuel passages along with the Psalms. Reading this fast is really making the story come alive.