"Praying is all very well, but if you don't drop everything that's tugging you in different directions and hold empty hands out to God, he can't really put anything in them or take hold of them to lead in any direction."

- said by our very own Nina Van Drempt

Ezekiel chapter 1

vs 10

Lion, Ox, Eagle - all of which are powerful beings.

vs 11

Why do their wings cover their bodies? I have no idea. Unless it is to keep themselves covered for the sake of decency. I mean, they are beasts with human faces.

vs 12

We've already heard about them going straight ahead. But it's the mention of spirit that seems odd to me. I would have thought it would be the wind they are following. When did the spirit come into it, and why, if it is the spirit of God, isn't it capitalised? Perhaps it will become clear.

vs 13

Scary stuff. I don't know that it is meant to really symbolise anything more than a very scary and impressive approach.

vs 14

So they moved in straight lines and didn't turn, but they sped back and forth? The flashes of lightning bit makes me think that they're almost blinking forward and backward, like a movie special effect.

vs 15

Just one wheel each? So they're not chariots. Unicycles? I think I'd pay to see that circus.

vs 16

Right, so the wheels are all alike, made of topaz, and a wheel intersecting a wheel? Okay. I mean, if you're trying to confuse me, you've succeeded.

vs 17

Ahh, see, I was going to ask about that. Because I thought they were in a line, and then a verse earlier said something about all their wingtips touching, and I thought, "but doesn't that mean they'd be in a circle?" I thought I was being anal, but look, here it is in black and white.

Now, apparently these wheels can travel sideways. Which sort of makes more sense with the wheel-intersecting-wheel thing. I mean, how else would you describe that? It sounds like four ribs that make up a hollow ball to me now. Topaz? Still weird for a wheel, or gyroscopic bally thing.

vs 18

Okay, I was waiting for eyes. Now we have the all-seeing eye balls. I wouldn't want to have my eyes stuck to wheels rolling in the dirt. But you get the feeling that they see everything.

Ezekiel chapter 1

Yes, you read right. I may be here for some time. Especially given this will get interrupted by sermon prep and stuff.

vs 1

Forgive me if I don't know what year Ezekiel was born, so this does make for a slightly difficult dating system. No doubt if you are really interested, you'll look it up somewhere. The nub of the matter is that this is during exile. So it's a sucky time. Although I guess any time is a good time to get a vision from God - and exile possibly the best time.

vs 2

There we go, see, that gives us a much better date. Good man, Ezekiel!

vs 3

So Ezekiel is a priest. That's good to know. And we now even know that where he is is in the land of Babylon. So that's pretty exiled.

vs 4

I'm not quite sure where the fire came from. But it's apparently red or white hot, and glowing. Which is pretty cool. The storm itself we assume is part of the vision. You imagine a whirling maelstrom of cloud and lightning, and tell me you don't think it's something to do with God, and God being all powerful.

vs 5

These four living creatures do a whole lot for God in visions. Now remember, part of the reason we're reading Ezekiel (in Bible study, and hence why I'm reading it here) is because we want to learn about Revelation better, and Penny refused to let us do Revelation without doing Ezekiel. So here we are with four creatures. They look kind of human - which is not my recollection of the ones in Rev, but hey, four is four, and creatures are creatures.

vs 6

See, that's just pretty messed up right here. What does the number four signify? Something, surely. Four wings I'd say means they can move around all over the place. Four faces? Seeing lots, perhaps? I don't know, I think eyes do that job. Four faces just makes them freaky.

vs 7

Yeah, okay. Sometimes you just have to admit you don't know what something means, and it just looks impressive. Bulls are a symbol of power, calfs I would think less so - although having said that, what did Israel make as an idol of God? A calf. So there you are. And bronze is a powerful alloy used in the manufacture of weapons. It's easy to forget we are talking iron age here I think, 593BC or so apparently, and so bronze is a symbol of strength I reckon.

vs 8

Freaky! Serious freak alert. I do not want to meet these things in a dark alley, or in a fiery windstorm of lightning for that matter.

vs 9

They're almost marching in angelic formation - wingtip to wingtip, not turning to the side as they move straight ahead. You read all this, and come on - even if you don't get all the imagery, just on the face of it the picture is one of power.

God is powerful, even when his people are in exile. Comforting thought.

Obadiah

vs 11

By standing idle when injustice is occurring, you are essentially like one of the robbers. Which when you think about it sucks, because you don't even profit. But you'll still be treated as one. This here is a verse you could use to establish the principle they've called in the States the "bad Samaritan" - the idea that by doing nothing when someone is in trouble, you are in fact liable.

vs 12

This was the issue - this was the reason they stood back. Because they don't like Israel, and they wanted it to fall. And God does not take kindly to this attitude towards his people. Especially from those who are so closely linked in their history.

vs 13

Just because God is judging his people doesn't mean it's right to be a part of that judgment. God can open a door for his people to be punished. And evil people can walk through it. That doesn't mean his vengance will not come down on you if you still choose to take action against his people. God just knows that evil people will do it, though.

vs 14

These just sound like the actions of people who have a personal vendetta. I mean, looting a house that's already broken into is opportunism. But lying in wait for someone fleeing a burning building... what kind of scum?

vs 15

And most nations back then - and probably now - don't stand up to God's test. What we do will be returned on our heads. As nations. I suddenly care who I vote for a little more now.

vs 16

I'm not sure if this is meant to be a blessing or a curse. It's hard to tell. I mean, it could mean a number of things. It could mean that when the nations come to plunder Edom, they will do the drinking there.

vs 17

This is why I think that they'll do their drinking in Edom. Because in this verse it is Zion that becomes the deliverance and inheritance once more.

vs 18

And so the destruction of Edom is set out. It will come from God's people, it will be total. God has spoken.

vs 19

I'm not exactly sure what is going on in the next two verses. Are these Israelite people who are moving into Edom? Or is it other peoples from around Israel?

vs 20

The promise of God's people returning and having land is here. Even through the punishment of Edom there is hope for Israel. And I think this is the whole point of the little book. Through vengance comes salvation. Part of being saved from wickedness is the judgment of that wickedness.

vs 21

As will all places be in the end. God's dominion will stretch into eternity, and all things will come to his feet. I mean, it's his already, but he'll claim it, as it were.

Obadiah

vs 1

When we read this, we have to remember that although Obadiah was prophecying about Edom, most likely he was doing it to Israel. He may have gone down to Edom, or this message may have made it to them, but I think the primary audience of this written prophecy is Israel.

So the nations have been told to rise up in battle against poor Edom.

vs 2

Ouch. What is the reason behind this? Do they get given a reason? We'll find out, I guess. But imagine having all the surrounding nations hate you. Bit like Israel now.

vs 3

Sounds like Edom is placed in a pretty good strategic defensible area. But God's message is that high rock mountains and defensible areas are no match for him.

vs 4

Ouch. And when God brings you down, that's big time down. Israel learned that via exile.

vs 5

God is saying that having God against you is worse than having thieves or robbers or grape pickers, because even they will leave something behind. God is going to strip them bare.

vs 6

Ouch, even the hidden treasures taken. It's funny, but I guess back in those days one of the best ways to keep treasure was to just hide it.

vs 7

Even your friends will be against you. What an awful thought, to think that the people you rely on will not only ditch you, but actively work against you. And to be told beforehand of such a betrayal would make you feel terrible.

vs 8

And that's it for Edom. Even wise people, those wise people you hear about in Proverbs for whom things will be okay because of their wisdom - they're all gone.

vs 9

I don't know who Teman is. Oh, he's Esau's grandson. And this is really powerful and awful language. "Everyone will die. Slaughter, death, fear." Harsh!

vs 10

Now we get the reason. Edom has been violent against God's people, so now it is going down.
They are brothers, Jacob and Esau. But when Jacob was being robbed and harassed by the nations, Esau did nothing but watch, and possibly join in. Now they are going to get the same - the nations will plot and join against Edom, and it will fall. Not always good to be on the winning team.

Psalm 25

vs 12

I think the question is rhetorical. Either that, or you're recognise them because God will instruct them in his ways. Which is a pretty cool promise.

vs 13

This is sounding very proverbs-y right now. But I guess in reality what it is is promise-y, as in God's promise to his people.

vs 14

It's not as though God keeps the details of his covenant hidden from people. In making the covenant known, though, I suppose he is also offering for you to sign up to it.

vs 15

What is the snare? No idea. Could be his enemies, could be his own sin. Whatever it is, though, David knows that only God can free him from it.

vs 16

Poor David. He did have times of great affliction, and of loneliness. To be able to turn to God in such times is a huge comfort, and not in a psychological crutch way either. You can't know it till you've been there.

vs 17

The troubles might not go away, but the anguish and pain and sorrow can. God can give joy even in the midst of trouble.

vs 18

Don't take away the affliction necessarily. The sins are the primary problem, and no doubt the root cause too. So David asks God to hit the problem where it hurts.

vs 19

We have nothing like the number of enemies anymore, do we? Although living a life in leadership and political influence helps.

vs 20

Don't just protect me because of who I am. Protect me because I am protected by you. It's not tautological. The honour of the protector is at stake.

vs 21

Integrity and uprightness protect not because of what they are in themselves (although proverbially they do do that too) but because God delights in the upright and the righteous. What does that mean for the rest of us?

vs 22

Is this just a toss in line at the end, for all of Israel? Or was David using the singular to call out on behalf of his people? He can do that. He is king, after all.

Psalm 25

vs 1

The inevitable trust that humanity has - for we are a people of faith - is here by David set upon God. He is in this psalm petitioning for God to keep himself and Israel safe from themselves, mostly.

vs 2

There is also the everpresent threat of enemies from outside which plagues Israel, not to mention this idea of being shamed which is so hard for us to understand outside of a shame culture.

vs 3

Shame, shame, shame. Why is David asking God to protect him from shame? Because that's what God does - he doesn't let those who rely on him be shamed. No, it's those who aren't faithful who are shamed. Treacherous "without cause" is an interesting statement. Not often you'd hear a king say that there might be a cause for treachery.

vs 4

TNIV got rid of the 'O' here, and I'm glad to see it go personally.

David doesn't want to be a traitor - he wants to know the ways and paths of God, so that he can follow them.

vs 5

Why does David seek to follow God's path? Because God is his God, his saviour, and that is where his hope lies.

vs 6

They are indeed. God's mercy stretches right back to the beginning, not just of his dealings with Israel, but with people generally. By David's time, there has been many hundreds of years of God's faithfulness, even just to Israel. How many thousand do we need?

vs 7

This is quite an ask. David asks that rather than being remembered for his sin, that God instead looks at David through his loving eye and remembers his love for David and his people. That tghis is pre-Jesus is at once astonishing, but also reminds us that God hasn't really changed.

vs 8

As opposed to, you know, just blasting them to cookie bits. I think we forget how plausible an alternative that is to sin.

vs 9

The humble. People who can't be humble before God have themselves a fairly serious ego problem. Wait, that's all of us. D'oh.

vs 10

See, this is one thing the Jews knew full well - God loved them, especially when they were doing good. We tend to look at the world through "God loves everyone" glasses, and he does! But there is something special about being a Christian. God will eventually let the non-Christians go. He makes no promises to them.

vs 11

David wears his sin, accepts its gravity, and yet still asks and expects forgiveness. Pre-Jesus expects forgiveness. Why? Because he knows that God wants glory, and it will make his name great. Woe betide us when we ask forgiveness but God forgiving us wouldn't make his name great...

Psalm 24

vs 1

Yep. Forgive me for not finding such statements a breath of fresh air or a new revelation. This sort of thing gets done to death, in my opinion. Which is sort of funny, since it's not hammed up much in the psalms themselves, in my opinion.

vs 2

It's nice to have an explanitory cause too. Why does it all belong to God? He made it. We hear all this so often, but really it's quite a revolutionary thought for ancient times. One nation's god able to create the whole world? Come now, silly thoughts.

vs 3

No-one, of course. That's the point. God is in one sense unapproachable. And yet people have been up his holy hill, and have stood before him. A relational paradox.

vs 4

Okay, so apparently people can come up to the mountain of the Lord. But you can see that they must be holy. Pure and separated from the things of the world.

vs 5

Those who are pure will receive blessing and vindication. And those who are prepared to climb a big damn mountain.

vs 6

I suppose David is of the opinion that his generation were actually pretty on the level in wanting to reach God. And you know what? Considering before and after, he might even be right. That must be a nice thing for him to look back on.

vs 7

This is assuming that the king of glory actually wants into the city. If he does, then that is rather cool, and no doubt you want the gates open.

vs 8

The mighty Lord, triumphant in battle, would have been a pretty comforting picture for the people of Israel during David's time. We're just not so embattaled.

vs 9

Wow, repetition! I've never seen it so obvious in a psalm before. It's almost a chorus.

vs 10

And the same again! That's actually quite fascinating. Nice little psalm.

Psalm 23

vs 1

The picture of God as our shepherd is somehow comforting. That he gives us everything we need is a powerful truth. But I've heard it so many times. It just loses its zing a little. In that way, it's nice that the TNIV has different words. Refreshing.

vs 2

Nice place for sheep, I guess. It really is a lovely picture, and all the more when you imagine it a little more metaphorically, and think that God will give us comfort.

vs 3

For his name he does it. That's an important message to us, to remember that God has his glory in mind always.

vs 4

TNIV took a big risk prefering the other translation there. I mean, everyone knows this psalm. But the message is basically the same - a scary valley that we must walk through - but we have our comforting shepherd there to guide us.

vs 5

These are all pictures of welcome, of acceptance, of hospitality. That God welcomes us and sits with us even in the midst of our enemies is such a powerful picture. It's like setting up a tea party behind any lines.

vs 6

That's a nice assurance to have. It's a very pleasant psalm, really. We get sad because we hear it at funerals a lot. But it's really quite cheery.

Sermon - Psalms of complaint (Psalm 22)

I know you've all been waiting (whoever you are), so here's my latest sermon.

Psalm 22: Psalms of complaint

#3 Complaining to God is legitimate

#4 Sometimes we need to initiate – God then accommodates

#2 Saying that something is not right with the world is true!

#5 Prayers of complaint always end in trust in God and praise for God

#5 Articulation, submission, relinquishment

#1 God's word is not just about God, but also about us and how we relate with God

#3 The world is not a good place – we have a right to complain about it

Words

Last weekend, millions of people would have been sitting in churches somewhere in the world and heard the words of Jesus when he was on the cross, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani”, and they would have heard that this means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. And I dare say that a number of them, hearing those words, wonder at why Jesus said them. Perhaps you have wondered at those words before. I know when I first became a Christian, and probably for several years, I didn't really understand what those words meant. I mean, didn't Jesus know what he was getting into? Isn't that the point of the garden of Gethsemane, where he says, “Not my will, but yours be done”? So why does he now have to ask this question? Doesn't he know why God is forsaking him? It's the whole point of his mission to earth, so we hear at Easter – that Jesus comes to die on the cross, paying the price of death that we deserve for our rebellion against God. Our sin went onto Jesus, and God turned his face away from him, treated him as the criminal, punished him instead of us. Jesus was forsaken, as he had to be. So why ask, “Why have you forsaken me”?

If it doesn't seem obvious to you, then chances are you don't know your psalms as well as the Jews who were around at the time of Jesus' death would have known them. For us, the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” sounds like a cry for understanding. But for a Jew who knows their psalms, it is the first line of King David's psalm 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” In fact, when we read this psalm, looking back on the events of Good Friday, we see that any Jew who knew their psalms would have been shocked at the similarity between what was happening to Jesus, and what is in that psalm. In verse 6 we read that the psalmist is scorned and despised. In verse 7 the people mock him and throw insults at him. In verse 8 we read words that are so similar to those used to mock Jesus, it is uncanny, “He trusts in the LORD," they say, "let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Later in verse 16 it says, “They pierce my hands and my feet” - wounds of a crucifixion. Verse 17 says, “I can count all my bones” - not a bone of Jesus' body was broken as he was crucified. Verse 18 says, “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garments.” And we see the very thing happening to Jesus' clothes while he is on the cross.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this psalm was written by someone watching the sufferings of Jesus. But rather, it was written nearly some 1,000 years before by the king God chose over Israel, King David. When David wrote it, he had little conception of a messiah coming after him. He wrote from his own sufferings, his own persecution, his own bad situation. He wrote it as a complaint to God. David had his own fair share of bad experiences in life, and at one such time he penned this psalm, complaining to God about his situation.

Now when I say the word “complaint”, I think the first picture that would pop into our minds is that of a crying child saying something like, “It's not fair!” or “I don't wanna!” I think as a culture we tell people not to complain. When a child doesn't like its vegetables, we tell them, “Don't complain. You are much better off than those starving kids in . They would love to eat what you're eating,” and so we tell them that you're not allowed to complain if there is someone in a situation worse than yours. If they get beaten up at school, we tell them, “Don't complain, do something about it,” and so we tell them that complaining is not an active response to something bad happening. If they get bad marks in an exam, we tell them, “Don't complain, it's your own fault. You should have worked harder,” so telling them that the bad things that happen in life are generally your own fault, and its up to you to solve them. If they make a bad decision or someone takes advantage of them, we say, “Don't complain. That's the way life is. Get used to it,” so telling them that there's sometimes nothing you can do to change a situation – that life is just full of sorrow and pain. And if something really bad happens, we tell them, “Don't complain, God has everything under control,” and so we tell them that God wants it to happen that way, and if it's God's will, we shouldn't complain about it.

Yet, when someone does something that we are not happy with, or we think is wrong, or when we think we have been hard done by or we deserve a second chance, what do we grown ups do? We complain! If we are served something in a restaurant we don't like, we complain to the cook, we complain to the waiter, we complain to the other customers around us. If we get beaten up, we complain to the police, we complain to the government, we complain to the newspapers! If we aren't happy with our marks, we complain to our lecturer, we complain to a moderator, we complain to the university department, we complain to an appeals board. If we feel like we've been ripped off by someone, we go to court and we complain to a judge! And if we don't think the judge made the right decision, we appeal the decision and complain some more!

In Australia, we have a technical term for such a person – whinger. Being called a whinger is not a flattering term, is it? But when someone faces a situation of injustice or something is happening that we don't like, we always complain about it. We let people know that we think it's wrong and that we think it should change. Do we call those of us who protested against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan whingers? Those who protested against Aboriginal discrimination, whingers? Who protested for women's rights, whingers? Who protested for worker's rights, whingers? Who protested against slavery – was Willam Wilberforce a whinger? So we will complain to our governments for change. But can we complain to God? Isn't it disrespectful to do so? Aren't we meant to just praise God and thank him? Aren't we objects of God's mercy?

Well, you might be surprised to learn, as I was, that the book of psalms contains more complaints to God than any other kind of psalm. There are more complaints than there are songs about God as king. There are more complaints than there are praises. There are more complaints than there are thanksgiving psalms. More complaints than blessings, than curses, than victory psalms – as one scholar (Gunkel) has said, complaints make up the 'basic material' of the psalms! Psalms 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 35, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 69, 70, 71, 86, 88, 102, 108, 109, 120, 130, 139, 140, 141, 142, and 143 are all psalms of individual complaint to God. These are only the psalms that follow the specific model of being a complaint made by an individual. If we include the communal complaints of Israel as a whole, and the psalms which contain elements of complaint, we would have an even longer list.

The very existence of these psalms in the Bible tells us four things that are important for us to know. First and foremost, their existence tells us that God's word is not just about God. It is also about how we humans relate to God. We as humans feature large in God's book! He wants us to know about him, but he also wants us to know how to relate to him! We don't just read the Bible to find out about God, his character, his will and his promises. We also read about how God wants us to relate to him. God doesn't just want us to be full of information about him – he wants us to be deep in relationship with him. The psalms are a vision to us of how we can relate to the God we learn about in the Bible.

The second thing we need to know from the existence of these psalms is that there is something wrong with the world. If there was nothing wrong, why would we complain so much? The truth is that the world is broken. Whether it be illness or natural disaster, where the natural brokenness off the world hurts us, or whether it be mocking, hatred and persecution inflicted on us by enemies, where other people hurt us, the fact is that there is something wrong with the world. You might say, “But doesn't God say he created the world, and it is very good?” Yes! But then we came along with sin and we messed it up. It's a good world – but broken. The broken bits are sharp, like a broken bottle, and they hurt us.

The third thing we need to know from these psalms is that we have a right to complain to God about the sharp, broken bits of the world. This is a huge, huge thing. And I don't know about you, but for me it can seem daunting, disrespectful. Who are we to complain about the world? God created us! Without him we wouldn't even exist! He put us in this world, which he made for us. Whose fault is it that it's broken? Our fault! What right do we have to complain? None! But God gives us the right. He listens. He writes the rules, and he says, “I give you the right to complain to me about the brokenness of the world.” This is part of the relationship that God wants us to have with him. He wants us to recognise that the world is broken, he wants us to mourn it, and he wants us to come to him about it. It's not whinging! God has made in us a longing for a perfect world where there won't be any hunger, or suffering, or pain, or persecution, or evil of any kind. He wants us to know that this ain't it.

Finally, the fourth thing we learn from the existence of these complaining psalms in the Bible is that God wants us to initiate the conversation. He wants us to come and ask for help. Now, you might think this is harsh. And sometimes, sometimes it feels really awful. The first verse of psalm 22 wrenches the heart, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” You might picture a little child in a supermarket who has hurt themselves and is crying, and the parent is standing just a few feet away, but doesn't step over to help the child. The child wails and cries, but until it asks for help, the parent stays back and lets the child suffer. It's a terrible picture. Why is no-one helping that child? But God wants us to realise that we have to have faith in him, we have to call out to him. We have to learn to know that he is in charge, and that only he can make things better. We have to initiate – God will then accommodate.

Keep these four things in mind when reading these psalms of complaint. They exist to help show us how we can relate to God, they affirm that there is something wrong with the world, they show us that God has given us a right to complain to him about the wrong things in the world, and they tell us that we have to initiate the conversation with God. These psalms really are a gift to us, to all Christians, and when you think about why they exist, it is little wonder that there are so many, and that they are so appealing and can be so comforting.

I said before that these psalms of complaint follow a model, and they do. They are poetic, and like all (good) poetry they follow a pattern that can be distinguished. For your interest, that poetic pattern looks like this (thank you Lasor, Hubbard and Bush) – all psalms of complaint contain these elements: (1) A cry to God for help; (2) A stylised description of the crisis that is being complained about – so like the bulls of Bashan surround me, or the lions tear at my flesh, or I am being poured out like water; (3)An affirmation of trust; (4) A series of petitions to God for help; (5) An additional argument or appeal to God; (6) A vow or promise of praise for God's help; and (7) An assurance of being heard by God.

This is a fine model, and if we were all going to go away and write a psalm of complaint, I would look at this more deeply. But what I would like to look at instead this morning is how we actually should complain to God, and what will happen when we do. Because I think that while I know there are one or two gifted poets here, the rest of us will struggle simply to put this stuff into practice in our own prayer lives, let alone to shape it into a poetic form that we can share with others. Of course, if you are gifted in poetry or song writing, perhaps you would give thought to writing such a complaint? As churches, I think we have lost something of our communal relationship with God by not having modern songs and psalms of lament and complaint that we can share together. The vast majority of modern Christian songs are, I think, praise and worship, and that is great! But I think the occasional song of lament, of complaint - asking why, petitioning God for help, affirming our trust in him and displaying our assurance that we are heard by God – would be of huge benefit to the church. So I won't name any names, but you songwriters out there know who you are, so get cracking.

For the rest of us, though, how do we use these psalms of complaint to help us reach God with our laments, our complaints, or pains and sufferings? For this, I want to use a much simpler model for complaint psalms that is given by a scholar called Walter Brugemann. He says that the key to understanding the complaint psalms is to recognise that when we complaint to God, we must follow three steps – articulation, submission and relinquishment. Brugemann is a scholar, so he likes big words. I prefer to say that we need to follow three steps – we need to let it out, then we need to put it down, and then we need to give it up.

So firstly, we have to let it out. These are prayers of complaint! They contain our hurt, our anger, our upset, our pain. We are complaining to God that this is not the way it should be! We are complaining that we are going through all this hurt and suffering, and God is nowhere to be seen! Day after day the pain continues, and yet God seems to just let it keep happening! We are complaining that the world is broken, that its sharp edges hurt, and we want something done about it! This step of articulation means we have to come to terms with the way we feel. Yes, of course God is there, and yes, we know he loves us, and yes, we know he is all mighty, and we know we are saved. But it still hurts! We still feel bad! Anyone can tell you that just because you know something is true doesn't make the pain or emotional anguish go away. So articulate it. Let it out. Tell God how you feel. Ask him those hard questions. Why are you suffering? Why did this bad thing happen? Why hasn't he come back yet to make it all better?

It might sound terrible to us, but this is how the psalms do it. This is how David did it. This is how Jesus did it. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus knew full well why he was forsaken – it was God's plan! But he still lets it out. He articulates the pain and the hurt that he feels there on the cross. Verse 2 says, “My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” David feels like God is not listening, so he lets God know that's how he feels. He tells God in verse 6 he feels like a worm, because of the scorns and insults people are heaping on him. He feels like he's under attack by powerful bulls, like he's being torn apart by hungry lions. He feels beset on every side, and he lets God know. He even tells God that he feels like God himself is laying him down in the dust to die, like he feels there is no-one to help him. He tells God what he wishes God would do - “Don't be far from me, come quickly to help me, deliver me, rescue me, save me!” He lets it all out to God.

So go ahead and let it out to God! Tell God how you feel. Tell him how you see the situation. Tell him what's happening to you, how you wish it was different. Tell him what you wish he would do. God knows you are hurting, he knows you are angry. He knows the world is broken, and he wants you to initiate the conversation. He wants you to approach him with it. If all we ever do is praise God and thank him and worship him and never approach him with how we really feel, the problems we really face, the hurt we really have, we aren't in relationship with God. We're being fake. God doesn't want fake. He wants us to let it out.

You might think that sounds hard, but really, it's the easy part. Because after we let it out to God, we then have to put it down before God. We have to submit to God. We have to accept that God is in charge over this issue. We can tell him how we wish he would deal with it. We can tell him what we want. But we have to put our hurt and our pain down at God's feet and say, “This hurts, and I want you to take care of it, because I can't.” When we look at psalm 22, we can see how this takes shape for David, how he puts down his troubles before God. To him, God feels far away. But in verses 3, 4 and 5 we see the truth of the matter, “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.” David feels forsaken, but he knows that God delivers his people, and so he has to has to submit to that truth. You have to take the anger and hurt and pain of your circumstances, and put them down before a God who you know is all powerful, and all loving, and you have to accept that he is the only one who can deal with them. You have to submit to God's authority in the matter, recognise his pre-eminence over you - even your pain and suffering. In our prayers of complaint to God, we are not demanding that God resign his position as if it is somehow his fault. Your suffering and your pain are not some scandal that God must feel responsible for. God is in charge, and you are coming to God to set wrong things right. You don't go to court to blame the judge for your problems. You complain about what has happened to you, then you look to her to set things right. You have let out your feelings, now you must accept God's authority to take action.

Is that how you see God? Do you see him as a judge in authority who can arbitrate between you and a broken world, heal the wounds, make sure justice is done? Or do you see God as some politician on whom to heap blame, and try and make responsible, and push for his resignation? Because that is wrong. God is not beholden to us. Realise that if you are complaining to God about your life, you are also putting God in authority to be in charge of that life. We have to all learn to submit our lives to God, and accept that he is the one in charge, not us. That's what Jesus did on Good Friday.

Finally, we are told that the last step in the prayer of complaint is relinquishment. I've said that after we let it out, and we put it down, we finally have to give it up. For many of us I think this is the hardest step of all, because it means letting go of that situation which is causing us to suffer, and accepting that it belongs to God, and he will take care of it now. In the Bible, prayers of complaint always end in trust in God and praise for God. Complaining to God is a step of faith. We are taking it on faith that if we step out before God and bring him our problems, that he will accommodate us and deal with those problems. We have let it all out – all the anger, the pain, the suffering, the tragedy of our circumstances. We have then put it down at the feet of God, accepting his authority to deal with our life as he sees fit. In this final step, we give it up – we have to be prepared to walk away from that problem, trusting that God has it now, and will deal with it. So much faith should we have in God to deal with that problem, that we should be able to say, like David in the psalm in verse 24, “For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” We should be so assured of God's action in our circumstance that we can say, as in verse 31 that future generations “will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!”

Imagine you were in significant financial trouble. You can't pay your mortgage, or your credit card bills. You're in debt up to your ears. You even, in a panic, borrowed some money from some shady criminal types. The day is coming when all these debts are going to fall due, and you know you just can't pay. So you call out to someone for help. You pour out to them all the woes and troubles that you have had, and you beg them to help you with your trouble. Imagine they don't say anything back, but you know that every time someone has come to them, every single time, they have been helped. You know that whenever you've needed this person, they have been there for you. How well are you going to sleep that night? It all depends on how much you trust that person to be able to deal with that problem, doesn't it? How likely is it they can solve the problem, and how likely is it that they actually want to help you? That's what will determine whether you stay up worrying all night, or whether you sleep like a baby. And when someone asks you, “Hey Ben, how are things with you? How are your financial troubles?” if you really trust that person to solve the problem, you'll say, “They're fine. Been taken care of,” because they are as good as solved.

How many Christians do you think lost their jobs and their homes in the recent global financial crisis? For them, this would have been a real life situation, not just an imaginary story. How well did they sleep, I wonder. How well would I sleep? Could I give it up - my painful, worrisome situation - knowing that God has it under control? Some scholars think that the Israelites were so sure of God's answering their prayers that they would give thanksgiving offerings at the tabernacle or temple before they had even received the answer to their prayer. They would say, “He has done it!” Would you be prepared to put money down in expectation that God will surely answer your prayer, your complaint? That's what it means to relinquish – to give it up.

Let it out, put it down, give it up. That is how we should complain to God, how we should acknowledge his authority, and how we should expect action from him.

To close, I'm going to read a poem that I wrote in the form of a complaint to God. Seeing as I told all songwriters here to write one, I figured I should at least try. This is my complaint to God, but I hope that, like other individual complaints, it might help us all.

I call you my God,

but you're so far away.

Yet I know you are there,

so I ask every day.

Sometimes they attack me,

those who don't believe.

They jeer and they sneer,

but no help I receive.

Why is there suffering?

Why is there pain?

It's a fair enough question,

why don't you explain?

You, God, have made things

so hidden and vague,

while they ask, "Why the crusades?"

or "Why the black plague?"

Please, open your mouth, God!

To them, make it plain.

Help them see that a Christian

can still have a brain.

Show them they're mistaken,

When they say I'm a beast,

Like a greedy tele-evangelist,

or a paedophile priest.

Give me strength to continue

to stand up for what's right,

and not fall for the dark things

in which they delight.

I call out to you, father,

to make these blind ones see.

And I know that you'll do it,

because you did it for me.

Nothing to see here. Move along. There will probably be a sermon in this space soon.