People are often shocked by the raw honesty of the psalms. The psalmists regularly give voice to their emotions: fear, sadness, anger, joy, hope, guilt, shame, doubt, gratitude—the Bible doesn’t hold back, but encourages a faith-full honesty. The psalms show us that such emotion, in itself, is not sin. Psalm 137, a psalm dealing with the deep pain of loss, often poses a challenge to interpreters, but Pastor Luke Herche argues that even this psalm presents a godly, because god-ward, response to loss. Preaching on this psalm, Pastor Luke shows that when we face loss we should lament what is, long for what will be, and love like Jesus in the meantime.

Part of a series, Praying through the Psalms.

From Sunday Evening Worship, March 9, 2025.

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All Souls (Urbana, IL) is a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a Christian, Reformed denomination with historic and theological roots in the Protestant Reformation.