Power in Honest Words

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge..." Psalm 61:1-3

I love words. I particularly love poetry. I love that people with the gift of writing can take words and express the most intense of emotions with them. They truly are a tool, being used to craft, mold, build and shape the message that we want to get across.

Words can be used for good or bad. Very gifted orators such as Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, D.L.Moody and Jesus Christ have, through given speeches and conveyed messages that have stood the test of time and are still studied, recited and applied today. Likewise we have people in our history like Hitler and Stalin who used words to gain people's confidence and lead movements that we look back on in shame.

The beauty of words though is that you don't have to be a gifted orator to write powerful things. You don't have to be trying to push an agenda or to make your words convey a certain thing. The most powerful words are simply the ones with emotion behind them.

Some say David was the greatest poet of all time. Obviously, his poetry in the psalms is beautiful, powerful, meaningful. But I don't think it was because he took classes on how to convey meaning through words or how to become a better writer. I believe David was unashamedly honest before God. These are the words that we see, his private thoughts and conversations with God. I don't think David wrote for an audience, I think he wrote from his heart, often a broken one at that. And because of this, his words are so powerful and emotion-driving, because they are real.

This is one of my favorite portions of the psalms because you can feel his honesty. He is not simply coming before God and asking for something, or making a request known. He is desperate and pleading. When his heart is faint-the King, with everything at his disposal, the most powerful man alive at that time. His heart is faint. He begs God to hear his cry. Not his request, his cry. He pleads to be led to 'the rock that is higher than I'. He knows he needs something other than himself, he knows it is out of his control.

I hope my words can always be this honest and transparent. I believe there is power in honest words.