I’ve been enjoying my opportunity to lead the adult School of Discipleship as we consider together the material from the book by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane entitled How People Change. If you’ve not joined us yet on Sunday mornings I’d encourage you to do so. Not because I’m teaching it but because the material that Tripp and Lane have written is very helpful- not only to me but to many others.
This past week we looked together at a Psalm unlike the others in the Psalter- Psalm 88. For the sake of space, I won’t reproduce it here but I encourage you to read it for yourself. What distinguishes this Psalm is that it does not end on a positive note. It is a psalm that gives vent to the author’s pain. It is not a “fist in the face of God” type of vent, but it is a baring of the soul in the face of pain and discouragement.
We learn that the Bible is full of realism. It acknowledges the pain and suffering of a fallen world. We know that full well. This psalm is helpful in that it encourages us to express our hurt to the Lord and to unburden ourselves to Him. We are to cast our anxieties upon because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). To use the terminology of Tripp and Lane, life has its “heat.”
I’m glad Psalm 88 is in our Bibles. It gives me encouragement for all that burdens and weighs on me. It shows me how to process pain- not by taking a “hyper spiritual” approach and acting like I’m unfazed but to take it all to the Lord.
