Psalm 137

Psalm 137 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Would anyone have noticed if we'd skipped the last verse?  It's not exactly the verse you read to get excited about a Scripture reading plan.  I'd be okay if it disappeared from the Psalms.
  But there it is, and we have to deal with it, like so much of life.  We don't get a choice -- we just have to make do.  In this case, the raw pain of the Psalmist assaults our sensibilities.  The Psalmist is disconsolate about the situation they find themselves in, cast out of their homeland.  Their despair leads to hopelessness, and death seems preferable to this alien life in which they find themselves.
  There is no happy ending in this Psalm -- it's just raw pain, and sometimes all we can do is acknowledge the pain and disappointment and despair of life.  We offer that to God, knowing that it won't disappear in a moment.  In our prayers, we can recognize that God understands what it is like to mourn, since God watched his own Son be crucified on Good Friday.  In our pain, we can trust that God knows our pain and accepts us as broken people.
  We also remember that Good Friday isn't the end of the story.  The despair of the Psalmist, the despair of the disciples, was not the end of the story, though they may believe it is so in the moment.  Easter is coming.  Resurrection is around the corner, and though we wallow through great pain, it is not a lost cause, because Christ conquers all, and each and every one of us is invited to join in that triumph.
  Joy comes in the morning.  Sometimes, the night is so long we struggle to remember that such a thing is true.  Offer your pain to God, no matter how raw it is. Hold onto the reality that our God promised to be with us in the valley of the shadow of death, and may we find comfort in the knowledge that God understands pain and loss.
  And then let us trust that our pain will someday pass away, there shall be no more pain, nor death, nor mourning, for Easter triumphs over all!