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Title: Pour Out Your Heart
Date: Feb 11, 2010
Topic(s): Faith/Trust, God's Care
Scripture: Psalm 62, 2 Kings 20:1-6, 1 Samuel 1:9-Psalm:18, Psalm 28, Psalm 102:1-4, Psalm 31, 2 Kings 9:1-19

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Ecclesiastes 3:7 tells us there is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak." And Psalm 62 includes both a time of silent waiting before God (v. 1) and a time to pour out your heart to Him (v. 8). So, what does this "pouring out your heart" involve?

What Does God Say?

"Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us" (Psalm 62:8, ESV).

Pouring out involves a struggle during which the deepest gut-level emotions and needs of your heart flow out of you and into God's hands. We might call it "spilling your guts." It's when you're honest, earnest and purposeful in what you bring to Him.

Psalm 102 is described as "a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD" (emphasis added, notes in ESV). Here's just a sample of the writer's poured-out heart:

"Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you!
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread" (Psalm 102:1-4, ESV).

Among others, Psalms 28 and 31 show us what we can "pour out" to God: need for mercy, need for help, need for refuge, need to be saved from enemies. We can pour out specific needs or issues close to a person's heart; he or she brings to God what matters most and seeks God's face as well as an answer that meets their need and honors God.

My Thoughts

Look at prayers from an ordinary woman named Hannah and a king named Hezekiah.

1 Samuel 1:9-18
2 Kings 19:1-19
2 Kings 20:1-6

• What mattered most to the person praying?
• How was God addressed?
• What did they seek as a response or answer to their prayer?
• How do these prayers differ from yours?

My Part

Remember Psalm 62:8?
"Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us" (ESV)

Did you notice what comes before pouring out your heart? Trusting in God at all times, no matter what's going on in your life. It's a lot easier to pour out your heart or share what's really on your mind with someone you trust. Do you trust God with what's on your heart? He is the most trustworthy Friend you could ever have. Not only that, He's the only one powerful enough, wise enough, compassionate enough to take care of you.

What do you need to pour out to God today? Picture it filling a bottle or pitcher. Don't be afraid of what God might think or say about your struggle. Just pour it out, empty it from your heart and into His capable hands.

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