Having grown up in the Christian church, being angry at God seemed like something that was a major “no no.” Those who have taught me what I know about Christianity basically taught that it is wrong to be upset with God. However, although it may be not the best to be angry with God, it is a very real part of being a Christian and following God. Recently I have really been diving into this which is very ironic considering we discussed this in class. A Psalm that was brought to my attention by a friend is Psalm 142. Throughout the Psalm, David expresses his complaints to God, which is something I feel as though I have been taught not to do.
A specific verse that stands out to me is the first half of verse 7 which says, “Bring me out of prison, so that I may give thanks to your name.” The reason this stands out to me is because David is saying that because he is experiencing trials and is in prison, it is hard to give thanks to God (obviously). He actually asks God to bring him out of this hard time that he can give thanks to God. He is not negating that its hard to praise Him when you at a low. All my life, I feel like I have been told that I must not be a good Christian if I can’t praise God when life is hard.
When you take a look at the Bible, there are so many texts of people who are angry with God and what he is doing, asking why he is so far away. I find this very ironic because these texts of anger with God is almost non existent in church.