give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray. (Psalm 5:1-2)
Some people are surprised to learn that a huge number of the Psalms are cries for help. These are often referred to as psalms of "lament," and according to many counts, they comprise the largest single group of psalms. Some of these psalms sound desperate, some plead, and some are downright angry. Some people are surprised by this as well because somewhere along the line they got the notion that railing at God, questioning God, or shaking a fist at God was either an act of disbelief or of disrespect.
And yet a recurring theme in the psalms and many other parts of the Bible is the longing of faithful people for things to be set right. In the Beatitudes, Jesus speaks of those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness" being blessed by God. This simply means that those who long for a broken world to become a place of goodness, peace, hope, and mercy, who experience pangs similar to thirst and hunger when they dream of an end to evil, hate, violence, and exploitation; these are among those God calls blessed.
Curiously, many Christians have exchanged this longing for a better world for a longing for heaven. Indeed some Christians actively disparage people who work to care for the earth because "God's just going to destroy it some day soon anyway." Yet Jesus calls us to pray for God's kingdom and God's ways to come here on earth, as they now are in heaven. It is Jesus himself who holds out the hope of a world where God's will is done. It is Jesus who holds out a vision of a redeemed and transformed world for us to long for, await, and work for.
What do you long for? What does your faith call you to long for? "Give ear to my words, O LORD;
give heed to my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry."
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