Psalm 86

I recently completed a reflection on Psalm 86; Prayer in time of distress. This Psalm is a prayer of an individual discussing with God their intention of praising and honoring him in hopes of receiving God’s love, walking in his truth and giving him answers in regard to his distress. This is one of the issues that I have with religious practice; this individual seems to be placing everything he has in what God can do to help alleviate his distress. There is no mention of what the individual himself is doing to help his own problem. I am a big advocate of people needing to be the main person involved in creating their own answers, instead of waiting for someone to tell them what to do. For individuals who believe in God I see him more along the lines of a counselor, maybe since that is my occupation, but he should be there to guide and offer suggestions and to not outright “fix” problems. If God was there to continually fix everyone’s times of distress, then we would never learn how to do for ourselves.

            In this regard God is also like a parent teaching us how to be self-sufficient. As parents, we cannot jump every time our children do something wrong, or not the exact way that we want it done. They need to make mistakes, learn how to fix their own problems and know how different emotions feel. I had written in a paper previously that I felt that individuals have such a belief in God and have such a need to have God tell them what to do that as adults subconsciously they see God as a parent who is someone that can fix everything for them. Even though many adults may still have their parents alive, it is not the same as when they were children, active prayer, going to church, prayers such as the one in Psalm 86, seem to me similar to that as a child requesting protection from a parent.