Attention: Complaint Department
• Who do you complain to?
• How do you feel when someone complains to you?
I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.
Psalm 142:1-2
When King David wrote this psalm, he was running for his life. Saul wanted David dead, and at the time that he wrote these words, David was hiding in a cave. David had something to complain about!
But notice who David complained to. He cried aloud to God. He didn’t complain to his boss, co-workers, teachers or friends. He lifted his voice up to the Lord. He told God his troubles.
He didn’t have to choose God. He had other people in the cave with him. He could have written his complaints down and sent them to someone else. He could have gone somewhere else to hide, somewhere with lots of people to complain to. But he didn’t. Because he knew he didn’t need to.
The truth is that complaining to anyone but God doesn’t do any good. It’s fine to go to friends and family for support in tough times, but God doesn’t want us to spend all our time complaining to others. He wants us to bring our troubles to him. He’s God—he can handle our complaints.
PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for caring about our problems. Please remind us to bring our troubles to you. Amen.