April 14th, 2025
Lord, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.
May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely well-aware of the popular Disney movie “Inside Out”, centred around an 11-year-old girl’s emotions. I love this movie, and its many moments (R.I.P. our boy Bing Bong), but one character that annoyed me the most during the movie was Sadness. Sadness seemed always to be messing things up! She was always seemingly in the way. The central conflict in Inside-Out is between Sadness and Happiness, with Happiness doing all she can to eliminate Sadness because, in her mind, Sadness is no good. I think Happiness’ attitude toward Sadness in the movie can often be the attitude we Christians have and are told to have with our sadness. Just get rid of it.
The Bible, however, shows us a different picture of how to experience our sorrows. Throughout scripture, especially the Psalms, we see people face their sorrows head on, expressing them fully. Just hear some of the ways people of God in the Psalms express their sorrows:
Psalm 6:3 “My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?”
Psalm 6:6 “I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.”
Psalm 10:1 “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
Psalm 88:18 “Darkness is my closet friend”
Even Jesus expressed his sorrows openly! It is fitting we are speaking of sorrow, as this week is Passion week, leading up to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. This week was one full of anguish and sorrow for our Lord, both in physical pain and the experience of abandonment from the Father on the cross. In Matthew 27:46, we gain insight into Jesus’ sorrow of abandonment from the Father on the cross, as he quotes Psalms 22:
“About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46)
As you can see, a Christian is not expected to act like they never are sad, nor is being sad treated as a bad thing. If Jesus openly displays his sorrow, I think we can take that as permission from God to be sad as well. Emotions are morally neutral. There are no good or bad emotions, just good or bad responses to our feelings. Emotions let us know something is going on and call us to respond. We learn from the Psalms that an appropriate response to our Sadness is to take this emotion to God.
Today's verse of our devotion reminds us of why we should take our sadness to God.
“Lord, you are the God who saves me” (Psalm 88:1)
As you will notice, a common theme in our responses to our emotions is to take our feelings to God, based on His character.
Regardless of what makes us sorrowful, we can trust God will be there for us.
Psalm 130: Feeling sorrow because of guilt? Know that in Christ, there is forgiveness; he loves and will redeem you.
Psalm 6: Feeling sorrow because of people or circumstances working against you? Know that the Lord loves you, hears your prayers, and works out the situation.
Psalm 10: Feeling sorrow because God feels far from you or the pain of this world? Know that God is near; he sees the trouble and grief of the hurting, encourages them, and protects them.
God has proven himself trustworthy through generations, thus we should trust him!
Throughout the various Psalms of Lament, there are four principles we can learn and apply to our prayers of sorrow:
Bring Your Pain to God
An easy but often neglected first step is to pray about your sorrow. God wants you to come to him.
Be Honest About Your Pain
God knows what you feel already, share it openly and honestly.
Ask for Help
He cares and desires to help you (Psalm 6:2;4)
Trust in God
He is the God that saves (Psalm 88:1)
God is not distant, but available to us in our pain. Take all your sorrows to Jesus today!
Challenge This Week
Think of one thing that has been causing you sorrow recently and craft a prayer, following the outline of the Prayer of Lament above. Use a sheet of paper and pen to write it out. Here’s an example below:
Bring Your Pain to God
"Dear God, I am reaching out to you today about my friend, whom I found out has been gossiping about me."
Be Honest About Your Pain
"Finding out about this broke my heart. I've cried a lot about the thought of potentially losing my friend. I feel myself beginning to hate them for what they did and the lies they spread. I don’t know what to do."
Ask for Help
"Lord help me process this pain. Give me wisdom for what to do, allow me to love and forgive as you forgave me, and let the lies of my friend be exposed for what they are"
Trust in God
"God, I trust in you. I know that you care for me. You won’t let lies win, so thank you in advance." In Jesus' Name, Amen
Song for the Day:
Listen to "Same God ~ ( feat. Jillian Ellis & D'Marcus Howard) | Cross Worship"