Read Psalm 119:145-152

“I cry out with my whole heart; Hear me, O LORD! I will keep Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:145)

What prevents you from crying out to the Lord with your whole heart?

As David was reflecting on all the wonders and treasures of God’s Word, he began to experience the need to pour it all out before God. Several times in this short stanza we find David repeating this action. Each time, the Word of God becomes the answer to His cry. This brings David to an emphatic conclusion.

“You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth. Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever.” (Psalm 119:151–152)

Beloved, there are two truths we must draw out of this inspired example.

First, is the act of crying out to God with our whole heart. It takes humility. It takes raw emotion. It even takes discipline. In our humanness, we tend to let the circumstances of life well up within. Then, when our anxieties reach their limit, we burst like an old wineskin filled with vinegar! A close friend may be able to endure your spillage of gall, but only God can turn the bitter waters of Marah into a sweet spring of life (see Exodus 15:23-25). Why not first cry out to God in your crying?

The act of crying out to God is often thwarted by busyness, distraction and the lie of self-sufficiency. Do not bite that apple, Beloved. You need God, and you need Him desperately. We must learn to be alone with God and find those secret places where we can empty our souls of trouble.

Many a lost man will give his well-earned money and time to unload his worries to a therapist. How is it, then, that we — who have the attentive ear of God — will not come freely before His Throne of Grace to find help in time of need?

“Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:1–2)

Second, we must accept that the antidote to our anxieties is found in God’s Word. To pour out our hearts to God is good, but this is only a selfish endeavor if all we do is talk to God while refusing to listen to Him.

We must have ears to hear! And we must give our ear to the truth of God’s Word. The answer is not in our feelings. When we cry out to God, we must cry out with the full understanding that what we need is truth, not to feel better. Truth does not submit to our emotional state. It never will. Rather, we must learn to submit our feelings to Truth. Then and only then do we discover the profound joy found in God’s Word.

For what did David say? He would ”hope in [God’s] Word” and ”meditate on [God’s] Word.” Surely, Beloved, after we have cried out to God, we must turn our attention to God's Truth.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)

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