When Aaron and I were in Bethlehem, we had the privilege of being in a Bible study over the Book of Psalms with some great Old Testament scholars. It was there that I first heard about the pattern found in Psalms - orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. I immediately connected to it because I felt I was in the orientation stage but that I was slipping into disorientation (or the pit) with the news that my mom's cancer had come back and spread; and that short of a miracle...my mother would inevitably die young (52 yrs) leaving her husband and 10 children (with the 2 youngest still being only 8 & 14 yrs old).
Working through some of the Psalms in our Bible study with this new perspective about the stages that the psalmist went through helped prepare me for the pit that I was falling into. I realized that it was ok to be in the pit (me or others that I know), that I didn't have to "put on a happy face", and that I could be real with God when I am in the pit. It also gave me the firm expectation that God would bring me out of the disorientation to a new orientation. I knew though from reading the Psalms that this new orientation would have to be attained by going through the pit but that it would be worth the pain. And that when I came out of the pit, I wouldn't want to go back to the way things were if it meant giving up the peace and understanding that would come from being in the pit.
Of course, I wish I could skip the disorientation (my mom dying) part and just go straight from orientation to new orientation but, it was only after I watched my mom die this past Christmas that I gained a new hope in Christ's resurrection and an understanding about death that I did not even have in my orientation stage when things were all good. I was definitely fully in the pit facing my mom's death but God was (and still is) pulling me out.
Before my mom died, I was afraid of death my entire life, but now I am not which is a miracle. I now have fully experienced God's peace that passes all understanding and God's grace that sustains me through the unthinkable. It was through my mom's death that God's promise to me was fulfilled - the promise that He would not give me something that I could not bear. I didn't think I could ever face a loved one dying. I thought I would fall to pieces but I clung to the hope He would give me strength and courage right when I needed it (maybe not even a moment before). And it is only now after my mom's death can I confidently say "He kept His promise!" And because of all of this, I am certain that He will keep His promises to me in the future.
I am so thankful that I had this Biblical pattern laid out before me of God being faithful to His servants to bring them out of the pit and that I could put my faith in this unchanging characteristic of God that was revealed to me in His Word the Psalms. It helped knowing that while the pit absolutely and totally sucks - God was not going to leave me there!
So cry out to God while your in the pit, share with Him how horrible it is, but then tell Him to get you out of there, and after that, trust and thank Him that He will!
I found this article that talks about praying the psalms and it summarizes this pattern very well. I don't know if this is considered "cheating" =) for my post but it explains it better than I could have and really helps me to understand this concept.
Anyway, here it is...
"Walter Brueggemann, Ph.D., for example, has developed a way to bring the psalms into our own personal lives. In his book entitled Praying the Psalms (Saint Mary's Press) he suggests that the psalms reflect two very basic movements in everyone's life. One is the move into the "pit". It happens when our world collapses around us and we feel that there is no way out of the deep hole into which we have sunk. The other move is out of the pit into a welcome place. We suddenly understand what has happened and who has brought us up out of the pit.
Brueggemann further suggests that human beings regularly find themselves in one of three places: a place of orientation, in which everything makes sense in our lives; a place of disorientation, in which we feel we have sunk into the pit; and a place of new orientation, in which we realize that God has lifted us out of the pit and we are in a new place full of gratitude and awareness about our lives and our God. Using these three "places," Brueggemann suggests that life has a rhythm as we move from one place to the next. He believes that that psalms match those places and the surprisingly painful and joyful moves we make. In short, there are psalms of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. Recognizing that different psalms match these three places in our lives can help us identify psalms that fit our personal lives. Let me explain.
Psalms of orientation reflect the ordinariness of life. Most of us spend a large part of our lives in this place. Things are settled and life makes sense for the most part. We have a sense of confidence in the regularity of life and God's creation. A number of psalms express this outlook, articulating a confidence that the world is orderly due to God's wisdom built into the world at the time of Creation. We find in these psalms a sense that good people prosper and the wicked are punished. They express the conviction that God is the one who guarantees life and protects it. Psalm 33 is typical of these psalms of orientation, It is a song about a world made secure by God's justice; everything about the world reveals God's faithfulness.
But life rarely stays so orderly and coherent; at times it can be brutal and irrational. We can watch our world collapse without warning, and we are pulled down into what seems a dark pit. In this pace of disorientation hangs a great sense of abandonment. The psalmist moans, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Ps 22:1). Our usual response to this rupture of our equilibrium is denial. We want to believe that things are really OK, but even if we know they are not, we certainly do not want anyone else to know. Our denial forces us to cover up. We put on a happy face, and our isolation grows more intense.
A number of psalms give voice to experiences of abandonment in this broken and terrifying place long before the time of Christ. These psalms of lament, which are the most numerous in the Book of Psalms, are audacious affirmations of faith. They bring this harsh brokenness to God, resisting the temptation to deny reality. Those who prayed these laments were confident that God would understand their negative language. When we are in a time of disorientation, praying these psalms challenges our desire to keep up a good front and helps us bring to speech those feelings we might otherwise keep hidden. In one typical lament the psalmist cries out four time, "How long?" and insists that God answer this prayer. (See Ps 13:1-3).
The language of the lament psalms can seem scandalous. How can faithful people speak to God that way? Often we want to make excuses for such outspokenness. We may even be uncomfortable with these prayers. Yet they are the collective prayers of a people in pain. They are not magical, however; praying these psalms will not make everything better. But unless they are spoken, we run the risk of trivializing our relationship with God. The language of the lament calls upon God by name and expects a response. It takes a great faith to be so candid.
Every one of the lament psalms except Psalm 88 concludes with a prayer of thanksgiving. It would be simplistic to suppose that once the lament had been prayed the person's complaint was immediately answered and life was restored. We do not know how many weeks, months, or even years passed before the psalmist could utter those words of thanks signaling the end of the lament. But concluding with a prayer of thanksgiving reflects our faith that God will rescue us and bring us up from the depths.
God does hear our prayer, and when this happens, it is always a surprise: the surprise of grace. Then change in circumstances cannot be explained by logic or inevitability. It comes only from the goodness of God. The move to a new place in our lives, a "new orientation," as Dr. Brueggemann calls it, is accompanied by the language of joyful gratitude. We are fully conscious of this moves as a gift. The psalms of new orientation are filled with amazement, awe, and gratitude. They narrate how God has rescued the individual in a decisive way. Psalm 30 is a good example. The psalmist tells the story of sinking into the pit (see vv. 8-10) and being raised out of it (see vv. 11-12).
This period of new orientation is not simply a return to normal where everything is coherent again. The rhythm of life expressed in the psalms is not circular. New orientation is another stage in our journey of faith. The experience of the pit has changed us, and the experience of God's grace has transformed our life. We cannot go back again. We now know something about life and God's way of fidelity that cannot permit a return to an earlier faith. The psalms are not only personal prayers; they are above all "pilgrimage" prayers. Life becomes coherent once again, and the pilgrimages goes on. But we must learn not to forget, which is why we need to pray the psalms daily.
The psalms are prayers of praise that were spoken by individuals and by groups. They were sung in formal worship centers, such as the Temple in Jerusalem, though far more often in the private sanctuary of individual hearts. The psalmist sings: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits" (Ps 103:2), then goes on to enumerate at least five of those benefits. Here we find a clue as to why the psalms remained the prayer of a faithful community. We sing praise in order to remember because we so easily and quickly forget. These prayers remind us what it means to praise God, that is, to not forget all God's benefits.
When we pray the psalms we find in them the eloquence and honesty of a people who trusted that God was there in times of coherence, despair, and gracious gift. But we also bring to the psalms our own similar experiences. We might express them in different and imaginative ways, but these ancient prayers still mirror our life struggles, and the pilgrimage of faith goes on.
PSALM SUGGESTIONS
Psalms of Orientation Psalm 1 Psalm 111
These psalms reflect a confident Psalm 8 Psalm 112
belief that the world is well Psalm 14 Psalm 119
ordered, reliable, and life- Psalm 33 Psalm 131
giving to the person of faith. Psalm 37 Psalm 133
Psalm 104 Psalm 145
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Psalms of Disorientation Psalm 13 Psalm 79
These Psalms reflect the Psalm 22 Psalm 81
brokenness of life when it is no Psalm 32 Psalm 86
longer orderly but savage. Psalm 35 Psalm 88
Spoken out of the depths, Psalm 50 Psalm 130
they are still bold acts of Psalm 51 Psalm 137
faith. Psalm 73 Psalm 143
Psalm 74
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Psalms of New Orientation Psalm 23 Psalm 100
The pit is not the end of life; Psalm 27 Psalm 103
There is more. New orientation Psalm 30 Psalm 113
Psalms reflect the surprise of Psalm 34 Psalm 117
New possibilities that are Psalm 40 Psalm 124
Experienced as pure gift from Psalm 65 Psalm 135
God. They are full of thanks. Psalm 66 Psalm 138
William J. Parker, C.Ss.R, Psalm 91 Psalm 150"
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