Читать книгу Advent: A Calendar of Devotions 2020 (Pkg of 10) - Jenny Smith - Страница 5

Shepherd of Israel, listen!

You, the one who leads Joseph as if he were a sheep.

You, who are enthroned upon the winged heavenly creatures.

Show yourself before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh!

Wake up your power!

Come to save us!

Restore us, God!

Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

LORD God of heavenly forces,

how long will you fume against your people’s prayer?

You’ve fed them bread made of tears;

you’ve given them tears to drink three times over!

You’ve put us at odds with our neighbors;

our enemies make fun of us.

Restore us, God of heavenly forces!

Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

—Psalm 80:1-7

When my five-year-old wants something, he says it. And to be honest, he’s not really asking. He demands. He pleads. He cries out. As an adult, I balk at the simplicity of his demand. “Child, don’t you know life doesn’t work that way? We care about people’s feelings, we ask respectfully, and we patiently wait for an answer.” Do you think that answer satisfies him? No way.

But when it comes to conversations with the One who made us, my son is on to something. King David was too. The language in our psalm for today is direct, pleading, and passionate. David didn’t beat around the bush or dance around the question. David was frustrated, angry, and disappointed.

Do you notice how many active verbs are in this text? Listen. Show yourself. Wake up. Come. Restore. These are demands from the heart of a desperately searching man. And they can be our words too. Sometimes we’re too nice to God. We hide our anger behind placid prayers. We deny our loneliness and summon fake joy. I imagine this grieves the heart of God. We think we can hide, but our gracious God is here, with us. God knows our loneliness, anger, and frustration. Why must we hide it from the One who knows us better than anyone else?

This Advent, what might it feel like to be incredibly honest with God? In these quiet moments of your day, I urge you to whisper, write, sing, or speak your true feelings. Let God have it! All of it. God can handle it. I wonder if God even delights in our utterly unvarnished truth, mess and all. Maybe your truth-telling will lead to healing this Advent. Our awareness is an important step on the journey to welcome Jesus anew.

Closing Practice: Write a brutally honest prayer to God.