Psalm 90:12-17

“Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.” vs. 15

The psalmist isn’t asking for the moon here, his request is simple, “O Lord, may we at least have as many good days as bad days in life.” We can understand his thinking…because sometimes it seems as though things have gotten out of balance  So if we’ve had a string of years in which nothing has gone right it seems only just that they be followed by an equal number of years that are full of blessings. Whether the universe actually works like this is another question. And to blame God for the afflictions and the evil we endure does seem a bit of a stretch. But when we’re down in the dumps we don’t worry about logic. All we know is that we’re feeling bad and we want some relief. When the psalmist had those days he let God know about it and that’s not a bad move. It’s perfectly appropriate for us in our prayers to offer our complaints and laments…and if we’ve had a whole series of bad days we have every right to ask for gladness. That’s one of the blessings that comes from reading the psalms…the writers had an open connection to God and they never fail to let God know what’s going on. They are the perfect model for us…the first rule of prayer is to always be honest!

Thought for the Day: What complaints are a part of my prayers?