Cry Out to God

Ray Ortlund post: If you can only groan or sob or sigh

“My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.” Psalm 63:1

“Do not be afraid, dear children of God, you that have fallen into a mournful state, do not be afraid to cry out to God. I know we sometimes feel as if we must not and dare not pray. We have become so dull, so lifeless, so unworthy, that we do not expect to be heard, and feel as if it would be presumption to cry. But our heavenly Father loves to hear his children cry all day long. . . .

If you can cry out to Jesus, he will joyfully hear you. If you will give him no rest, he will give you all the rest you need. The Lord finds music in his children’s cries.

‘Oh,’ say you, ‘I would cry, but mine is such a discordant and foolish cry.’ You are the very man to cry, for your sorrow will put an emphasis into your voice. Of all the cries your children utter, that comes closest home to you which arises out of their pain and deep distress. A dying moan from a little one will pierce a mother’s heart. See, she presses the babe to her bosom! She cries, ‘My dear dying child,’ and weeps over it. You too shall be pressed to the bosom of everlasting love if you can only groan or sob or sigh.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the Old Testament (London, n.d.), II:663.