Say It By Sighing

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing.”  Psalm 5:1

Sometimes I still sigh.

As a child, when I sighed in reaction to parental correction or instruction, my mom always responded with, “Stop it, Starla! Now!” (And I promptly obeyed lest the admonition turn to action!)  But I must admit that as an adult, my sighing has not ceased but increased, for sometimes a sigh says what I cannot.  The forceful breath erupting from deep within my soul expresses longing, frustration, sorrow, or regret.  I have sighed when overwhelmed by the enormity of life, the perplexity of pain, or when my heart ached so hard that neither tears nor talk would come.

God understands.  He’s heard many sighs before.  Job sighed in his grief and suffering.  “Sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water” (Job 3:24).  David sighed in his distress and danger.  “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing.  Listen to my cry for help”(Ps 5:1-2).  Since many enemies wanted to bring David down, his cries and his sighs often went up.   Up to the one the One who listens.  Up to the One who cares.  Up to the One who gives full attention to our exclamations and exhalations. 

God understands because He sighed too.  “Jesus put his fingers into the deaf man’s ears.  Then he spit and touched the man’s mute tongue.  He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, ‘Be opened!’” (Mk 7:33-34) Jesus healed, but as His heart felt this man’s hurt, He also sighed.  “Then the Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.  To test him, they asked for a sign from heaven.  He sighed deeply and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?’” (Mk 8:11-12) How many times did He have to tell them?  How many ways did He have to show them?  Filled with sadness and exasperation when stubborn leaders wouldn’t hear His teaching or believe His miracles, Jesus sighed. Deeply.

When words fail and you find yourself sighing, know that it is enough.  Our King and our God who leads us, blesses us, and surrounds us can translate our respirations into requests(Psalm 5:2,8,12).  As we heave our sighs, He will help.

When you can’t say it, sigh it. 

God understands.