My Own Tsunami

 I spent 20 minutes this morning watching this video about believers in Japan who are dealing with life after a massive earthquake and tsunami. God used it in a powerfully convicting way for me, hitting me with a force similar to that of a tsunami, as I listened to these men cry out to God in terror, in hope, in faith, in awe of the One they know is their only satisfaction and strength.

I've often wondered what would prompt a psalmist like David to say some of the things he said to God. There are Psalms where it seems he is crying out in anger, and I've thought a lot about what righteous anger means. There's a man praying in this video with that kind of anger. He shouts his prayers in a way that would create an uprising in many of our churches, but watching him grow weak and weep at the conclusion of the prayer, it made sense.

"I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of my grief; it grows weak because of all my foes." (Psalm 6:7)

This guy knows what that feels like. He's experienced those very things, and he doesn't understand why God has allowed this kind of grief. His heart cries out that emotion to God, but in a way that expresses clearly that he knows the Lord hears and cares deeply for His children. He's angry at the sorrow that his church is experiencing, and yet God remains the only One to Whom he can turn. God alone can rescue those people in their distress and in their sin. It's a powerful testimony of one who has lost everything and yet has never lost faith in His Creator.