Is anguish doubt?
Ok, first of all, let’s be very clear about the kind of ‘doubt’ we are talking about.
I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
Galatians 4:20
We aren’t talking about Paul’s doubt about the Galatians. We aren’t talking about mere human lack of knowledge about the world that surrounds them. The kind of ‘doubt’ we are discussing is a lack of faith in the God that created the universe, and sent His son to die for us.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13
David was a warrior, but he doesn’t seem to have been all that stoic a guy. He danced ‘uncovered’ before the LORD, embarrassing his wife. (Hint: the story doesn’t go well for her.) And he was always letting it all hang out in his Psalms, too. “How long…LORD?” he asks here in Psalm 13.
But is this the kind of ‘doubt’ that Jesus warns us against in the NT? We have but to read a few verses on and see David returning to the truth that he knows, that he does not doubt… “I will sing unto the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.
All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Psalm 22
Psalm 22, a Psalm of David later referenced by Christ, reflects the same pattern, only backward. In Psalm 13 David confronts his present situation of distress and anguish with memories of God’s mercies in the past. In Psalm 22, he challenges them with the certainty of the present and the future. God is governor, all the Earth shall serve Him.
And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.
And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
Mark 14:21-42
Which reaches its ultimate conclusion in Mark 14, in Christ. When faced with His ultimate anguish Christ rests not in God’s actions, past or present, but in His will. Time and time again, in His work on Earth, Christ made it clear that He was here to do His father’s will. And so here, at the ultimate moment, mere minutes before His arrest and trial, Christ casts Himself onto that Will. ‘Not my will, but thine be done.’
Introduction/Conclusion
This post is the second part of my answer to
‘s question about wrestling with faith. In the first post I made the point that when we wrestle with faith, faith is our ally, not our enemy. We do not wrestle *against* faith.Which is what we see here. David and Christ did not fight their belief in God, their understanding of God, their history with God. They used that knowledge, that understanding, that history, to support them in their anguish, in their dark times.
How does the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32:22-32 serve as a metaphor for the spiritual and emotional benefits of grappling with doubts and questions about one’s faith?
In what ways do the Psalms, particularly those expressing lament and questioning (e.g., Psalm 13 and Psalm 22), provide a biblical foundation for viewing struggles with faith as an essential part of spiritual growth and relationship with God?
Considering Jesus' own moments of anguish, such as in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42), how should Christians interpret and value their own moments of doubt and struggle in their faith journey?
Contra the prosperity gospel, the Christian life is not all strawberries and cream. Living with Christ means suffering with Christ; as it always has:
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:32-40
Despite all of those victories, and despite all of those persecutions, they received not the promise. They obtained a good report, but they received not the promise.
We are called to fight, to strive, to wrestle… in faith. To wrestle through good times and hard ones. Always with our eyes on the prize, always with faith.
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
I believe that “wrestling” with God IS a product of faith. Doubt is also a human reality in perfect alignment with faith. The issue is don’t doubt vs faith, but faith vs unbelief.
Would we say that the Son did not have Faith in the Father when he questioned Him in the garden (doubt?). No, because Jesus did the same thing as David, He confessed His heart and its emotions, and then submits in faith.