Are you angry with God?

Express your anger directly to God.

Psalm 22 puts God on trial, sort of.  Jesus even quotes this Psalm from the cross.  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  How could God have let this happen to me, my family, my loved one?  I am really angry at you God!  “Why are you so far from me, so far from the words of my groaning?  I cry out by day, but you do not answer me, by night and am not silent.”  You are God, aren’t you?  You made promises didn’t you?  Why do I feel so alone?  I thought I knew you, but now I wonder if you are there?

David was angry with God.

“In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.  They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.  Hey God, what about me.  Do you see, do you notice?  You helped our spiritual ‘Fathers’.  They thought you were real.  They told me about how you delivered them.  Maybe you don’t understand my situation.  God, I am really on the ropes here.  My life is going down the tubes.  I can’t get the help I need and I am getting worn out.  I have been dealt a hard blow in this life and have a bad hand dealt to me.  Am I being punished for some great sin?  Have I fallen out of your favor?  Others see my situation, and even they wonder how my God could let this happen to me.

I believe you are the creator of the world.  You gave me life, a heritage of faith and Christian parents.  So where are you, God?  It seems like my circumstances are pressing on me constantly.  I get angry at the ones I love.  And they tear right back at me.  I feel helpless and afraid. My heart for life is melting  away like melting wax.  I am  running out of energy and strength.  I do not feel like the person I want to be.  And I am angry.  Why have you forsaken me?  I all have great WHY questions to bring to God and I want to see you, God,  face to face.

David continues.  God, I need you.  I need strength and help.  I am at my end.  Please come quickly and help me.  I need a deliverance and rescue for myself and for those I love.  What can I do, God.  Why have you forsaken me?

David comes to the same God who he accuses of forsaking him and writes in verse 22 of Psalm 22.  “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation, I will praise you.”

Tell God your anger.  Go out in the woods and yell at God.  God gave you your feelings.  Let them out.  God is a great God and can take all your anger and frustration.  Don’t hold back.  Ephesians 4:26 Paul acknowledges we get angry.  He reminds us in our anger not to sin.  Telling God how you feel is not a sin.  Not talking to God at all is a sin.  As you tell God what you are angry about let your feelings turn into an open, honest heart that needs healing.  Let your spewing of words turn into a humble, exhausted prayer asking for God to come again closer to you.  God has not forsaken you.  He came to David when David was really down.  David closes the Psalm by saying, "All who have gone down to the dust will kneel before Him....for He has done it."  David joins the throng of witnesses who have held on to their faith and received again the presence of God.  God promises to listen to our cries for help and we wait to see what God will do.

That same down and out David wrote Psalm 23.  You might have heard it before.  David had experienced the depths and pain of life.  He discovered that God was there with him even when he felt that God had forsaken David.  You might be in the valley of the shadow of death.  But  God has not forsaken you.  Call out His name, even in anger and then trust him. God will help you see life differently.

So how does God respond when we are very angry with Him.  God listens with a loving, understanding heart.  Jesus cried on the cross "my God, why have you forsaken me," also said, "into your hands I comment my spirit."