Venting Upward

February 15, 2016

Psalm 43:1-5

When someone is depressed, the person has turned to a very sad state. One’s emotions are confused and need an outlet. The psalmist is doing the best he can to “vent upward.”

Instead of not expressing, some people hide the emotion. That can be dangerous, and lead to other unhealthy actions. The psalmist expresses his emotion of sadness in a healthy way. The sad emotion of depression can expressed in healthy ways. In this psalm, we are introduced to ways to express sadness so that it can help me and not hurt me. We are shown ways to express emotions in prayer by “venting upward.”

1. Vindicate me! (Psalm 43:1)

2. Why have You? (Psalm 43:2)

3. Send me! (Psalm 43:3)

4. I will praise You! (Psalm 43:4)

5. Why am I? (Psalm 43:5)

6. I will put my hope in You! (Psalm 43:5)

The venting progresses from anger at God, to questioning myself, to eventually finding hope in my current situation and depression. Venting upward helps me to change my perspective so that I can better cope with my circumstances.

Prayer: Thank You God that You provide a process to help me when I feel down. I can vent upward to You when I am overwhelmed.