“Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.”
The Storm
This psalm is worth noticing for its own unusual honesty, one of the few psalms that does not resolve into confident hope by its final verse, ending instead in genuine darkness, worth holding as scripture’s own permission for prayer that does not require a tidy, resolved ending to actually be genuine, valid prayer.
Notice all thy waves, echoing this whole first movement’s opening image, waves and billows, this same overwhelming water now specifically attributed to God’s own action, thou hast afflicted me, worth holding as honest wrestling with God’s own apparent role in genuine suffering, not avoided but directly, honestly named.
This is worth holding as real permission for whatever prayer you are currently praying that does not resolve neatly, that remains genuinely, honestly dark, without requiring you to manufacture premature hope simply because that is what prayers are supposed to sound like, according to some unwritten, unrealistic rule.
Whatever genuinely dark, unresolved prayer you are currently praying, receive today this psalm’s own example as permission. Scripture itself contains this kind of prayer, honest, unresolved, genuinely dark, without requiring artificial resolution, worth praying honestly today, even without forcing a tidy, premature ending.
Find the Still
- Pray today without forcing premature resolution, following this psalm’s own unresolved honesty.
- Notice any pressure to manufacture hope before you are genuinely ready to actually feel it.
- Receive this psalm’s inclusion in scripture as permission for your own genuinely dark, honest prayer.
Prayer
Lord, thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. I pray this honestly today, without forcing resolution I do not yet genuinely feel. Amen.
Carry this today
Scripture itself contains unresolved, honestly dark prayer. This is genuine, valid prayer.