You don't need to "sugarcoat" your prayers!

Psalm 88

1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;
    day and night I cry out to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
    turn your ear to my cry.

3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
    and my life draws near to death.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am like one without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off from your care.

6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
9     my eyes are dim with grief.

I dare you to read the rest of this psalm. Why? Because it is one of the saddest, most depressing psalms in the bible.  The psalm is attributed to "Heman", a song writer in the temple, and the grandson of Samuel the prophet.

In this Psalm, Heman makes a map of his life’s history, he puts down all the dark places through which he has traveled. He mentions his sins, his sorrows, his hopes (if he had any), his fears, his woos, and so on. Now, that is real prayer, laying your case before the Lord.” (Charles Spurgeon)

So what are we to make of this psalm>  First of all it is very honest.  Heman does not try to "sugarcoat" what he is going through.  I like that about this psalm.  Sometimes in the church I think we always think we have to sound and look happy. And when we are not, there is something spiritually wrong with us.  When one reads the psalms, we can see this is not the case.  Heman bares all of his soul in this agonizing "lament".  

The only positive, hopeful thing Heman says is in verse 1, "You are the God who saves me."  After that it is all downhill.  Within his grief, Heman is not only sad about God not hearing him or comforting him, but even his friends have abandoned him. I would imagine for anyone who has cried out to God in this way, and not heard from him would at the very least need some good friends to listen and support him.  

Although the Old Testament speaks of salvation and the afterlife, you don't get the sense the psalmist has that hope within him.  You can see that he doesn't have a lot of hope in eternal in the psalm,

Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

So as New Testament Christians, who are saved by Jesus' death, and have the assurance of life after death by his glorious resurrection, what can we learn from this psalm?

1. It is okay to be down and to express your disappointment to God.  God can handle it.  You don't have to "sugarcoat" your prayers to Him, or anyone else for that matter.  In these times of sorrow, by being honest with God, we can grow closer to Him, just like when a friend listens to you vent about a situation weighing heavily on you.

2. Thank God for the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  Although the psalmist knew the God who saves him, he still did not yet have the hope of the resurrection.  We do. It is the hope and power of the resurrection through the Holy Spirit that sustain us in times of weariness.

So I don't know where you are at today? But God cares and you don't need to hold back.  Heman sure didn't!