Complaints – Psalm 69:7-10

A text – Psalm 69:7-10

⁷ It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that shame has covered my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my kindred,
    an alien to my mother’s children.

⁹ It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
¹⁰ When I humbled my soul with fasting,
    they insulted me for doing so.

A reflection:
Here is a picture of a servant of God who is suffering. This servant is now alienated from family – even from siblings. Why? Because of the servant’s zeal for God’s house or household. No matter what lengths the servant went to for God’s sake, the consequence was insult and shame and torment.

It is quite a psalm to end the week on – but it fits with our Matthew and Jeremiah passages from Monday and Wednesday. And it underscores something about believers who suffer for living the life God calls them to: they talk to God throughout. They lament. They complain. They ask God to hurry up. They whine and cry. They are continuously lamenting and suffering, and all the while they are in constant communication with the Lord who called them to the situation they have found themselves in.

When Jesus says, “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” this may be one of the meanings – the Lord is always right next to us to hear our complaints and whining. The Lord is always with us, listening for our hope of salvation from the torment.  No matter what we are suffering or why, talk with God. Make your complaints to God along with your thanksgiving. God is listening for us all.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thanks for loving us. Thanks for calling us to jobs of doing your will. Help us to remember we can bring our disappointment and anger to you as well as our thanks and praise. Amen.