Read Psalm 77:1-4. 1I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. 2In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. 3When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. 4You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Asaph’s trouble goes unnamed yet we can feel its intensity. Like the patriarch Jacob at the loss of Joseph, his soul refuses comfort. There is no rest and there are no words. Yet the psalmist cries aloud to God. He still seeks the Lord. He prays without ceasing. He prays without words. Jesus did the same.
Hebrews 5:7-8. 7In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Where does your distress go? How do you process your suffering? Are moaning and meditation part of it? What do you do when there are no words for your grief? Like Jesus, have your supplications given way to loud cries and tears before God? Such grieving is obedience. It is son-ship. It is to live is Christ.
You: Have you ever felt inconsolable?
You in Christ: How can your union with Christ bring consolation in times of distress?
Christ in you: The Christ in you expressed his grief with tears. Do you?
Pray: Father, teach us how to grieve, how to groan, how to cry. These are not sinful responses but faithful obedience that I need to learn. Help me. Spirit groan for me when I have lost all my words. Amen.
To Live is Christ 