“You will find in the Psalms that there is not a single emotion which you feel which the Lord Himself has not given us the words to express to Him in prayer and praise. Learn to pray the Psalms in private, for there you find the resources to cope with the day of death and darkness.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The neglect of the Psalter in public Christian worship lays the groundwork for pastoral disaster: it has the effect of shortchanging the brokenhearted when they come to God in the company of their brothers and sisters on the Lord’s Day. Miserable Christians have every right, and indeed really must, express their misery to God in prayer and praise.
To prevent them from doing so is an act of pastoral cruelty. And isn’t it wonderful that we have such a God as the one who condescended in love and grace towards broken humanity to give us the Psalms for these very times of darkness? Let’s not neglect them; let’s use them as much as we can, in private prayer and in public worship.”
–Carl F. Trueman, “Death, the Final Boundary,” in Minority Report: Unpopular Thoughts on Everything From Ancient Christianity to Zen-Calvinism (Geanies House, Fearn, Scotland, UK: Mentor, 2008), 201-202.
