The Psalter

“It is called the Book of Praises, yet it includes more laments than anything else. Pondering this contradiction might provide a good way to sharpen your aim in prayer. Here is a starting point for that meditation: When you lament in good faith, opening yourself to God honestly and fully—no matter what you have to say—then you are beginning to clear the way for praise. You are straining toward the time when God will turn your tears into laughter. When you lament, you are asking God to create the conditions in which it will become possible for you to offer praise—conditions, it turns out, that are mainly within your own heart.”

—Ellen Davis, Getting Involved with God