Some time ago a friend gave me a poster which I liked so much that I put it in a frame and hung it where I’d see it every day. The poster contained five images of a figure in various emotional states, each accompanied by a different caption: Help! God dammit! Lord have mercy! Thank You! and Wow! The overall heading for the poster was ‘All prayers, no matter what the words, are really one of five’. The illustration for Help! depicted a solitary mud-covered hand pushing up out of a mud pool, while that for God dammit! portrayed a little guy with extra-large teeth bared in anger, his clenched hands pulling a cap down over his eyes. When thinking about how these five images cleverly illustrate different kinds of prayer, it struck me that they could also be applied to the psalms with somewhat parallel results.
Like an outstretched mud-covered hand of a drowning person, the psalms are full of cries for help. Since this is often our experience of life, a good place to begin is with those ancient poetic prayers in which a cry for help is central these are often called ‘psalms of petition’. But before doing that, a few general words will help to set the scene. Everyone knows something about the psalms, since excerpts are used in every Mass before the gospel. Anyone who sings in church also knows that many psalms have been beautifully put to music. Everyone knows that ‘the Lord is my Shepherd,’ and some find encouragement at a funeral Mass in the words ‘Out of the depths, I have cried to you, O Lord…I yearn for the Lord, more than those who watch for morning’ (Ps 130:6).
There are 150 psalms in the Hebrew Bible collected into the book of Psalms. These psalms cover a long period of history, perhaps over 500 years in the making. Psalms are often attributed to David, but it is unlikely that he could have written them all, since many reflect situations that arose centuries after David was dead. The psalms show us ancient Israel at prayer, and how their needs and concerns are very similar to ours, even if expressed in imagery that at times differs from ours. Because they were composed for liturgy they survived the centuries, being handed down from one generation to the next, not unlike some of our hymns. They vary in content, length, and imagery, and although they were composed for communal use, they also express the individual’s need. Perhaps the most compelling reason for Christians to want to know more about the psalms is the fact that Jesus, during his life time, would have known and prayed them - a wonderful legacy.
So, let’s begin where many a prayer begins, with a cry for help! Each of us knows from personal experience about the reality of chaos and catastrophe, be it bereavement, job loss, financial difficulties, failure in relationships, rejection in its many forms, a doctor’s diagnosis. Or it may be nothing more than a sharp word, a disappointment, criticism, or a minor illness. In a number of psalms it is quite clear that the situation of need involves sickness (Psalms 6, 22, 38, 39, 69, 88, 102). The psalmist however does not treat physical illness as an isolated phenomenon; rather the cry for help includes physical, emotional, social and spiritual dimensions, and is expressed in graphic, even exaggerated terms. Psalm 22:15-16 does really capture metaphorically what a cry for help can mean: ‘The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery; my tongue sticks to my gums. You set me in the dust of death. Yes, wild dogs surround me - a gang of evildoers crowd around me.’
Emotional suffering is often prominent in these cries for help. Psalm 31:11-12 expresses this with feeling: ‘Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; my neighbours are appalled by my suffering - those who know me are horrified by my condition; those who see me in the street run away from me. I am forgotten, like a dead person no one thinks about; I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.’ There are times in our lives when feelings such as these capture what life is like. And it’s good to know that we are not alone in our cry for help. Psalm 69:1-3 speaks of being sunk in an abysmal swamp: ‘Deliver me, O God, for the water has reached my neck. I sink into the deep mire where there is no solid ground; I am in deep water, and the current overpowers me. I am exhausted from shouting for help. My throat is sore; my eyes grow tired of looking for my God.’
Some psalms containing desperate cries for help also include a social dimension, where the person in need experiences rejection by friends at a time of greatest need. Psalm 22:12-13
need. Psalm 22:12-13 is perhaps most eloquent in this regard: ‘Many bulls surround me; powerful bulls of Bashan hem me in. They open their mouths to devour me like a roaring lion that rips its prey.’ The metaphor of ‘devouring bulls’ used here is very effective, even if it is not one that we would use today. But its import is clear, and sometimes a metaphor like that can convey how we feel more vividly. The opening words of this psalm, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I groan in prayer, but helps seems far away,’ articulate how the psalmist feels spiritually isolated and cut off from God. Small wonder that these words are placed on the lips of Jesus on the cross by Matthew (27:46) and Mark (15:34).
The excerpts from the psalms quoted above show how, in the biblical perspective, ‘sickness’ or the cry for help involves physical, emotional, social and spiritual aspects. While individual psalms may emphasise one or other dimension, Psalm 38 is an excellent instance of how all four elements are interwoven in a holistic understanding of human suffering and need.
One piece of advice: it may be helpful to jot down a single verse of a psalm which speaks to your experience rather than trying to relate to an entire psalm or groups of psalms. Our needs change over time, and it may be helpful to compile a little anthology of favourite psalm lines that can help us articulate our personal cry for help. These lines reassure us that we are not alone, and that God is with us, no matter how dark the valley, or deep the abyss.