Did you know that it’s impossible to control your emotions?

Emotions just come, whether we want them or not. Joy, sadness, anger, despair – all of these feelings are natural responses to life. God gave us the capacity to feel strong emotions so we know when it’s time to take care of ourselves.

Joy feels good, so our response is usually to do more of whatever sparked that good feeling. Once we discover what gives us joy we will return to it again and again. That’s one way we take good care of our hearts.

But some feelings are so negative we only want to experience them once. Anger makes us feel driven to act and get the negativity out into the open. Sadness, betrayal, grief have the opposite effect, draining energy and making us withdraw.

 You can’t fight your emotions, but you can manage your response. You can pray and acknowledge what you are feeling; give it a name and describe it. Then you can ask the Lord to help you find a way through it to peace and joy.

David was the master of naming feelings and finding his way through them with the Lord’s help. His Psalms are like a diary of his emotional life.

Psalm 39

David must have had trouble with saying the wrong thing in front of certain people because he tried to restrain himself from talking.

“I said, ‘I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.’” “Psalm 39:1

But refraining from talk didn’t relieve the pressure he felt inside.

“So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But my anguish increased; my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.” Psalm 39:2-3

Instead of blurting out his thoughts to other people, David turned to prayer and asked the Lord to help him get perspective.

“’Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.’” Psalm 39:4

David got God’s perspective on things when he realized just how brief his lifespan was.

“You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.” Psalm 39:5

Life’s too short to spend it feeling bad all of the time so David looked to the Lord for an answer and found hope.

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7

Stuffing his emotions inside didn’t help David. He needed to express his anguish and he felt relief when he talked with the Lord. He got perspective and he was able to work through the things that bothered him. Instead of bottling up his emotions, David let them flow in prayer in Psalm 39.

Psalm 40

David found himself in a slimy pit full of mud and mire – or at least he felt like he was in a slimy pit. He couldn’t get his footing until he started to pray. Change didn’t come instantly, but as David talked to the Lord his situation began to improve.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” Psalm 40:1-3

David described a three-step process.

1. He prayed and waited for the Lord to answer.
2. The Lord helped him stop his slippery emotional descent.
3. He was filled with gratitude and praise.

And even other people noticed how well David recovered.

“Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” Psalm 40:3

A good outcome for David led to good outcomes for other people, too.

Psalm 41

David observed that those who care for the weak and sick also receive compassion from the Lord when they are in need.

“Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.” Psalm 41:1

When resources are stretched thin and we have to decide whom to help, it’s good to know who the Lord considers a priority. The Lord is on the side of the weak and he blesses those who care for them.

The Lord also sees and cares for us if we come under attack.

“My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die and his name perish?’ When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it around.” Psalm 41:5-6

David knew the Lord could help him with these malicious people and it relieved him of the need for retribution. It was enough that with God on his side, his enemies couldn’t defeat him.

“I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.” Psalm 41:11-12

Psalm 53

David saw some people who claimed God didn’t exist, and he noticed they had become corrupt and their ways were vile. Did God know about these people?

“God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Psalm 53:2-3

Not only did God see these people, he saw the full extent of the problem across the earth. At one time or another everyone acted as if God didn’t exist.

“Do all these evildoers know nothing?” Psalm 53:4

People didn’t have to remain in this corrupt and lost state because God was willing to forgive and reconcile with them when they repented. David was one of those people, as we read in Psalm 32.

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1-2

People who repented from their sins moved out of the category of evildoers who knew nothing, to the category of people who knew God and his forgiveness.

Psalm 55

David’s heart was troubled again in Psalm 55. Once more people were distressing him and this time it was someone very close to him.

“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it . . . But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.” Psalm 55:12-13

Broken relationships among believers are really painful. People who serve the Lord together for a long time can have a falling out and this Psalm shows how they might feel. They hurt and it’s hard to find a way forward. When God’s people can’t figure out what to do, David’s solution is to turn to the Lord.

“Cast your care on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken . . . But as for me, I trust in you.” Psalm 55:22,23

People can work their way through a conflict while maintaining their faith and integrity. But they have to seek the Lord together so he can show them the way.

Psalm 58

Psalm 58 is an imprecatory Psalm, which means it’s a prayer to bring down curses on someone. That doesn’t sound very biblical, but God understands that it happens. In this case David was disgusted and praying against corrupt judges and rulers.

“Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.” Psalm 58:1-2

David was really angry with these power-abusing rulers. He compared them to venomous snakes and he hoped God would break the teeth in their mouths. He wanted God to make them vanish, like water flowing away; he wished they had not been born alive. He wanted God to sweep them away forever.

The important thing to note here is that after David vented his feelings, he left it up to God to deal with these people. He didn’t ask God to let him break their teeth or make them vanish; he prayed and waited for the perfect justice of the Lord. He anticipated a good outcome from the hand of God.

“Then people will say, ‘Surely the righteous are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.” Psalm 58:11

It’s OK to be Real

The Psalms teach us that we can be completely honest with God. The fact is, our faith grows when we tell him the truth and then leave the outcome up to him.

And when God does what is best in the situation, we end up blessed while the Lord gets all the glory.