The Embittered Soul

“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.” (Psalm 73:21-22)

A bitter soul believes there is something on earth better than God—and God is the one standing in the way.

Heaven-directed anger flows from the same ancient lie: God is the gatekeeper, and he is holding out on us.

When bitterness takes root, we become “like a beast toward [God].” We turn conversational prayer into grunts. We hold back our hearts but give him our complaints. 

The “sanctuary of God” is the only place that stirs us out of a bitter and beastly stupor. 

We are awakened, not by getting what we crave, but by realigning our appetite to a greater reward.

“Nevertheless, I am continually with you … Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Has your soul become bitter? 

Is your heart pricked toward the Lord? 

Have you become like a beast toward God?

It is a “wearisome task” to sort out the source of entanglement on your own.

Go again to the sanctuary—and let the Lord bring clarity. In the secret place, come back again to the “strength of your heart” and your “portion forever.”

Bitterness vanishes the moment we see God again as better than everything else. God cannot stand in the way when he is our superior reward.