One of my favorite stories is of the monk who joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first ten years, the abbot called him in and asked, “Do you have anything to say?”
The monk replied, “Food bad.”
After another ten years, the monk again had an opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, “Bed hard.”
Then at the end of thirty years, once again the monk was called before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he broke his silence and blurted out, “I quit.”
The angry abbot shot back, “It doesn’t surprise me a bit. You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.”
Great story. Like the abbot, I’m not a big fan of complaining, or complainers. My unspoken response to those who complain is what a friend once said to me when I was complaining: “Build a bridge and get over it.” Once in a while I will actually say that if I feel a jolt like that would be good for the griper.
Most of the time, we are instructed by God’s Word not to complain. Paul said to the Philippians, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” (Philippians 2:14-15)
Yet there is a form of complaint that is not only acceptable, it is actually therapeutic. David did it in this psalm; David does it a lot in the psalms: He gripes to God. The whining and griping we voice, for the most part, grates on people who have to listen to us. It does us no good—even if they give in to what we want, they have been pushed down the path to a negative opinion of us. But when we pour out our complaint to God, things happen.
What things? One, we get out what, by and large, shouldn’t be bottled up inside. Two, voicing our upset gives us a chance to evaluate whether we should really be upset or not. Three, we put what we can’t control in the hands of the One who is in control of all things. And four, as we are asking God to change the circumstances we are griping about, God does something better—he changes us.
“The very things that you most deprecate, as fatal limitations or obstructions, are probably what you most want. What you call hindrances, obstacles, discouragements, are probably God’s opportunities. Bring down your soul, or rather, bring it up to receive God’s will and do His work, in your lot, in your sphere, under your cloud of obscurity, against your temptations, and then you shall find that your condition is never opposed to your good, but really consistent with it.” (Horace Bushnell)
As you read this psalm, you will notice that while David starts off with whining (Psalm 64:1-7), he ends up worshiping (Psalm 64:9-10). That is usually what happens when you follow the psalmist’s plan for problem-solving. And anytime you end up worshiping, you are in a good place.
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“Don’t pray for rain if you are going to complain about the mud.”