5 Heart Cries From the Psalms

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.  And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

— Psalm 29:9 (NIV)

Praise!  Not all the cries in the Psalms are of lament.  Some are those we’d bellow as if we’d already arrived in God’s eternal house.  Power, glory, and blessing are His, our eternal, Sovereign God.  None is due this accord but Him.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

— Psalm 34:17 (NIV)

Delivery!  The righteous He delivers.  Not when the righteous want, nor in the circumstances they can even predict.  Only a Sovereign God could deliver as and when and how He wishes to deliver.

“Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping.  I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were.

— Psalm 39:12 (NIV)

Silence!  How else is a faith to be tested?  If we give up when God is silent, how little do we believe He is Sovereign.  And yet, there are times when we feel vanquished.  We do give up, for a time.  Thank God He is the God of the second, and 490^th chance.

For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.

— Psalm 72:12 (NIV)

Promise keeper!  Many verses in the Psalms attest to the truth that God hears the cries of His afflicted.  We must have faith when He seems silent.  Only a Sovereign God can keep His promises.  If we don’t give up, He will keep His promises.  God is the only real help we have, yet He’s all we need.

Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.

— Psalm 142:6 (NIV)

Help!  Some people and situations overtake us, overwhelm us, and overcome us.  It was always designed to be this way.  Somehow God must convince us that we’re not sovereign.  Our faith is ever contingent on falsity until we realise this.  Only God is Sovereign.  We’re not in control.

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There are many different cries that ring out of the Psalms in God’s holy Word.  As many cries as the human spirit is able to feel and express.

© 2016 Steve Wickham.