Angry about the state of your world? The solution is simple: Pray!

By Dean Collins

Have you ever had a day where you were pretty sure those committed to doing the right thing for people had suddenly left the building or the country, or even the planet earth?! It’s not a particularly healthy psychological or spiritual state to think you are the only one around trying to follow the Lord and carry on his kingdom work. But if you catch yourself thinking or feeling that way, the first step is to tell the Lord about it.

What David saw

David opened Psalm 12 asking God to save him because the godly had departed. David didn't mince words. He told God what he thought, what he saw, and how he felt. His description of the situation might actually be one you relate to from time to time and maybe even recently. Here are a few of David’s descriptions of what he saw and believed to be true.

1. The faithful have vanished from the children of man. Neither you nor I were there when David wrote this psalm, and I suspect things were tough. But I doubt every faithful person had vanished from the face of the earth. If you are alone in a cave or even isolated in your home or office during the pandemic, you might think you are the only faithful one still trying to do God’s work, but just because you think or feel it doesn’t mean it’s true.

2. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor, uses flattery instead of telling the truth, and speaks out of both sides of their mouth. Everyone? Yes, all of us are sinners. And yes, all of us have told a lie, at least a little one. But I doubt everyone is deliberately going around telling lies to all the people they know.

When you hear a lie or two and when those lies have been told about you, well, you might start to think everyone has been lying. There is plenty of flattery and misrepresentation of facts and information every day in social media and then repeated by nearly everyone. Sometimes we even can get caught up in it without realizing we are spreading lies. We must be careful to speak the truth with love to others. We must also guard against thinking we are the only ones who do so.

So while David was bluntly expressing his thoughts and feelings to God about the condition of his community and the lack of truthfulness in others, he asked God to put an end to it. He literally asked God to cut off the tongues of the liars!. And David basically thought that was justified because these people who were going around boasting about who they were and what they did and telling lies basically deserved it.

What we can remember

There are a couple of things we can remember from this prayer and other prayers in the psalms. God can handle our unfiltered emotions including our anger when we believe someone has wronged us or someone we love. God wants to know our thoughts. He is willing to meet us where we are.

The other thing we need to remember about prayer and about God is that it’s best that we let him define justice and decide what punishment is merited when any of his children have been hurt. Even though Scripture says David was a man after God’s heart, I am glad David isn’t actually God. I am also glad that neither you nor I have that responsibility. It’s best that we let God be God and distribute his justice and his mercy for us and for others.

David had figured out that if one is honest with God in prayer God will actually meet them in that place of vulnerability and begin to heal, comfort, and correct while they sit with him or walk with him in prayer.

David continued his prayer shaped by the Holy Spirit who confirmed that God will meet the poor in their place of emptiness. When his children are taken advantage of, God will reach down to support them and meet their needs. He will likely nudge you and me during our prayers to join in his work.

David reminded himself that the words of the Lord are pure, exceptionally so because they have been purified over and over again. David also acknowledged that even though there are people opposed to God, God will never leave us abandoned. God will keep his children daily and even forever.

Where we’ll find God

So if you end up on a day where it seems everyone has abandoned the kingdom of God and you are the only one left, then run, don’t walk, to the Lord in prayer. Let him know your pain points and lonely thoughts. He will meet you there, and before you know it I suspect you will not only feel his presence but it won’t be long until one of his other children will come along to help you through this tough moment.

Your time with God’s Word
Psalm‬ ‭12:1-8‬ ‭ESV

Photo by OSPAN ALI on Unsplash

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