Pouring Out Your Heart to God
“…pour out your heart before him:” (Psalm 62:8)
Israel was in cruel bondage in Egypt. God sent Moses to deliver them. Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and said, “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1) Pharaoh was not impressed. He replied, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)
Pharaoh not only didn’t let Israel go, he made their work harder. Their job was to make bricks. They had been provided straw to make them, yet now they had to find their own straw, and the daily quota of bricks would stay the same. They missed the quota two days in a row, and the Israelite supervisors were beaten. When they protested to Pharaoh, he told them, “Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.” (Exodus 5:17)
The Israelite officers then went to Moses and Aaron and said, “The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.” (Exodus 5:21)
Moses had done what God said, and Pharaoh make their bondage worse. Even the Israelites were angry at him. Moses said to God, “Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)
It seems almost blasphemous for Moses to come to God Almighty that way, but he was doing exactly what our opening passage says to do. Moses could have quit. Yet he prayed, and God replied to Moses, “Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh:” (Exodus 6:1) Pharaoh had said arrogantly, “I know not the LORD,” He was about to meet Him.
The psalmist wrote in Psalm 61:2, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed:” You can be doing right, as Moses was, yet things can be going badly in your life. As a result, you can be overwhelmed with grief, anger, and frustration.
Don’t quit. Tell God what’s on your heart. He knows it already: “…I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” (Ezekiel 11:5) Yet He wants you to confide in Him. You may not get the answer you expect, but you’ll get the answer you need. God knows how to make things right in His time: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
God loves you so much that He provided a way for you to be forgiven for your sins and spend eternity with Him in heaven. If you want to know more, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 5/16/2021
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822