LENT 2020: Day 32

• Lent 2020: Day 32 Thursday, April 2, 2020:
  Psalm 31:9-16; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; Philippians 1:1-11

     Grant me grace, LORD, for I am distressed.
          My eye is worn out in vexation,
               my throat and my belly.
     For my life is exhausted in sorrow
          and my years in sighing.

These words from the Psalmist are ever relevant today, for we are indeed distressed.

And notice just how physical the Psalmist’s distress is. From the eyes to the throat to the belly, the whole body aches and is worn out. Sorrow and sighing has brought exhaustion.

Yes, LORD, this is how we feel.

As we look at the world around us, it is too much. And we can’t find the words.

But it is just for that reason that the Psalmist’s words have been preserved in scripture. For thousands of years, people of faith have reached for these words when they couldn’t find their own. For thousands of years, people have looked to these words to learn how to speak when words seem to fail.

And the words of the Psalmist teach us that it is right to feel pain, it is right to feel grief, it is right to be overcome with sorrow.

The Psalmist teaches us as well that it is right to ask for God to grant us grace.

It is right, too, for us to ask for grace from each other — and to give grace to each other — now more than ever.

When we experience anxiety, it impacts the way our brain functions. As a result, we may say things we don’t mean. And we may say them in ways we don’t mean to.

Know that. And extend grace to your kid, your spouse, your friend, your colleague.