Did you know that nearly 1/3 of the bible is poetry?! – that is a huge amount! And the beauty of poetry is that it is often more expressive. Story gives us the narrative, but poetry can share the experience. It enables us to feel what is happening. To not just interact with something mentally – in a cerebral way – to think about it – but to engage emotionally – to feel it. A story tells us about a person, but when we read a poem written by them – we get insight into who they are – what motivates them, their character, their hopes and dreams as well as their fears and anxieties.

And I think that we see how that plays out really clearly in the psalms.

Of the 150 poems that make up the book of psalms nearly half of them are attributed to David – 73 mention him by name in the introduction saying ‘a psalm of David’ or of David. And I think that is why David is arguably one of the most well-known characters in the whole of the bible.

We have the narrative of his story in the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles – but as well as being able to read about him – we have 73 poems written by him. Poems that really reveal who he is.

And David doesn’t hold back in His poems. At times reading the psalms can feel like you are sneaking a peek into his private diary as he expresses his fears, his anguish, his delight, his joy! A lot of what he writes feel like the deep stuff that goes on inside us that is mostly hidden – at times, it’s some of the stuff we probably wouldn’t want anyone else to know!.

Psalm 109 is a great example of this – it’s a psalm of David in a time of struggle and adversity- he starts off by crying out to God about wicked and deceitful people who are surrounding him with hatred. And then his anguish pours out in such a raw and real way – v6, he asks God to appoint someone evil to oppose his enemy – give my enemy an enemy – and make it a vicious, bad one! He goes on to call for all sorts of revenge and retribution – may his days be few, may his children be fatherless, may no-one extend kindness to him.

It’s powerful, raw and at times quite shocking stuff.

Now, when we look at the bigger picture of the bible and the story of God’s love and forgiveness, I don’t think that life as a follower of Jesus is about revenge like this. However, what I think the psalms show us is the importance of engaging with our emotions. Of noticing and being honest about all the complicated feelings they stir in us. Of not just ignoring that and pushing it to one side – but of bringing the honest truth of that to God in prayer. It’s about bringing our whole selves to God – and that’s a scary thing to do – because that level of honest requires absolute trust! Trusting in God’s love and grace. Trusting that when we bring our whole selves in a real and honest way – God’s love is big enough and His grace deep enough that we will still be accepted, acceptable and loved by our father God.

David and the other writers of the psalms do that in a big way. And as they do that, what we see time and time again is how God meets them in the place of their honesty – lifts their heads and reminds them of His love and grace.

So, the psalms contain the full range of human emotion – and emotion that is powerful, raw and, at times can be quite shocking. I think that such a range of emotion can feel a little unsettling at times and perhaps make us feel uncomfortable. It’s quite juxtaposed to our British culture of suppressing emotion and having a stiff upper lip!

It’s also very public!! Although it feels like we are reading the private diary of David and others when we read the psalms – the instructions that are included in the intro to many tell us that these were poems that were sung collectively as a communal activity. Psalm 42 which we’ll unpack in a bit, tells us that it is a maskil – which we think means it is meant to be accompanied by reflective music as it is prayed and sung in worship.

Praying and singing the psalms was a communal activity – they call us not only to worship and pray together but to share and experience emotion and feeling together. And as we do that, although we might not be feeling the emotion that a particular psalm expresses, we are reminded that someone within our community may be feeling that way. It calls us to hold our community in mind and to share life together.

Now, I’m not sure how some of those thoughts might make you feel – we are not always good at recognising or expressing or understanding our emotions are we?! But we can find every emotion possible in the psalms! It’s all here – laid out bare!

And given that nearly 1/3 of the bible is taken up with poems like this, expressing ourselves in this way in prayer seems to be something that God values

So lets dig in to psalm 42 and reflect on what it teaches us about how we can express ourselves well and engage our emotions – because emotions are part of how God created us. They are part of how we are fearfully and wonderfully made! They are not designed to be an inconvenience, an embarrassment or something to feel ashamed of. They form part of how we are made in the image of God – and when we read the bible, we read the story of an emotional God!

It might be helpful to have your bible open at psalm 42 as we do this – because, i think we see a journey unfold as we go through this psalm. And it starts with noticing ….

v1-3 begin with the psalmist noticing what’s going on for him in quite a physical way – how he is feeling physically. He notices his tears – my tears have been my food day and night! He notices that there is a feeling like he is thirsting or hungering – there’s a need, a longing within Him – v2 my soul thirsts for God, for the Living God.

So step one of engaging well with our emotions begins with noticing what is going on in our bodies.

Over the past 20 years or so, our knowledge of how our bodies work has grown exponentially, thanks to new technology like MRI scans that have enabled us to better understand our brains and central nervous systems. And one of the key learning points has been just how integrated we are. Historically we have separated out our physical health from our emotional health, our spiritual health and our mental health. But we are learning more just how interwoven we are.

Now, as followers of Jesus, that shouldn’t be a surprise really – that message is sprinkled throughout scripture. Psalm 139 talks about how God wove us together in the womb. The first commandment is to love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength – each of those parts that make up our whole selves are important enough to be mentioned by name and they weave together and interact with each other.

So this new learning isn’t really new learning at all – I think we are just better able to understand ancient truths found in scripture now!

But what we are learning is that engaging our emotions often starts with noticing what is going on in our bodies – the physical signs that should draw our attention to what is going on for us – clenched fists, disturbed sleep, headaches, butterflies in your tummy – all physical signs of emotion within us.

And once the psalmist has noticed those physical signs, he moves on to bring some curiosity to it. In v5 he asks – Why my soul are you downcast?

He doesn’t notice those signs and ignore them and power on through – he brings curiosity.

It can be so easy to ignore our emotions – and often, even when we notice them – we then disregard them. There is a way of thinking that tells us that there are good emotions and bad emotions – ways of feeling that are OK and feelings that we shouldn’t have. And sometimes, our faith can get mixed up in that in an unhelpful way. I shouldn’t be feeling jealous of that – that is so ungodly. I shouldn’t get cross about that – I should be more patient.

But here’s the thing – I think that sometimes we get feelings and the actions we take in response to those feelings mixed up.

I like to describe emotions as a little bit like the dashboard of a car – in our car we have a light that comes on if someone forgets to put their seatbelt on or if a car door is left open. Lights that flash on to signal to us and help us work out what is going on around us. Our emotions are a bit like that – they are a beautiful part of how we are fearfully and wonderfully made – they signal to us what is going on around us and in us – they help us engage with the world and with those around us and they show us areas in ourselves that need our attention.

When something makes us cross – it may be that there is an injustice that God is drawing our attention to – an opportunity to speak His truth or bring His advocacy.

It may also be that we are cross because there is an attitude in us that is unhelpful – an unresolved issue, a belief we have formed that is untrue – something God is drawing to our attention in order to bring His healing and wholeness.

The thing is, when we ignore that feeling – or fight to push it away – when we fail to notice it and then bring curiosity  to why we are feeling that way – we miss out on an opportunity for God to work in us and through us.

But that’s not how the psalmist does it. There’s no shame in this psalm as the writer describes his feelings – just total honesty before God.

He notices the feeling, he brings curiosity to it and once its got his attention – he articulates it – he names how he is feeling – v6 my soul is downcast, v7 – I’m feeling overwhelmed – your waves and breakers have swept over me.

Psychologist Dan Siegel coined the phrase – ‘Name it to Tame it’. Speaking out how we are feeling – naming it out loud can be so freeing. Again, it feels like new learning in the neuroscience world – but it’s all ancient truths found in scripture. The psalms have been the pattern of prayer for God’s people for thousands of years, giving us a template to speak out loud how we are feeling.

And as the psalmist presses in, peeling back the layers, he finds a place of total honesty with God – v9, Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning? My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me all day long.

Psalm 42 doesn’t necessarily end with all of the answers and everything resolved – but look what happens as the Sons of Korah, the writers of this psalm, bring their honesty – it is interwoven with hope.

v4 They are reminded of a time when they were full of joy and praise – a time when they knew the presence of God and the joy of worshipping in His temple

v5 Their perspective shifts as they remember that there is hope in God

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise Him – there will be a time again when I can praise Him with joy!

v8 – They are reminded that they are not alone – By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life.

By bringing their whole selves – open, vulnerable and totally honest before God – no pretence, not ignoring what is really going on – the psalmists make space for God to meet them where they are at. For God to use their emotions to draw their attention to Him. They invite God into every part of who they are.

And the thing is – that level of openness, trust, honesty and vulnerability needs to happen in a safe space. In order to trust someone with the deepest and most raw and honest parts of ourselves – we need someone who is trustworthy.

Whose love is big enough to hold us safely when we are feeling the power that can come from big emotions.

Whose Grace is big enough to shower us with acceptance and love when we are feeling the force of shame.

Whose goodness and beauty is worthy enough to embrace the depth of our joy and gratitude.

And we find that safe space in the safe, strong, trustworthy arms of Jesus.

So, I want to encourage you today to follow that example of the psalmist.

To pause and notice – to pay attention to your body and the emotions and feelings that are stirred up in you each day.

To be brave enough to bring some curiosity to those emotions. To bring them to God and ask Him to shine a light on them as you reflect what they might be signalling to you.

To articulate your feelings – ‘Name it to Tame it’ – say it out loud!

To come to God in a place of honesty – remembering that His perfect love is big enough to hold it all – and that His perfect love casts out all fear.