Psalms for a Hope Mom’s Grieving Heart

Hope Mom,

I have always loved the Psalms, but I think I’ve come to love them even more because of grief. There are so many places in the Psalms where we find people talking to God from right in the middle of what they are experiencing. They ask hard questions. They tell Him when they are afraid and when they feel forgotten. They remember what He has done before and remind themselves of what is true about Him. They praise Him, they wait for Him, they cry out to Him, and sometimes they simply tell Him how much they hurt.

I’m grateful God gave us these words because there have been times when I haven’t really known what to say to Him myself, and I know so many Hope Moms who have felt that way too. Grief can leave us with questions we didn’t have before, and sometimes even finding the words to pray can feel difficult. On those days, I think there is something really beautiful about opening a Psalm and letting the words God has already given us help us pray.

So today, I wanted to give you a little list of Psalms to keep somewhere. You don’t need to read all of them or work your way through the list. Maybe just notice the one that feels closest to where you are today and start there.

Psalms for a Hope Mom’s Grieving Heart

Psalm 13 — when you’re asking, “How long, O Lord?”
Psalm 16 — when you need to remember that you have a beautiful inheritance
Psalm 22 — when God feels far away
Psalm 23 — when you need to remember that the Lord is your Shepherd
Psalm 27 — when you are afraid and need courage to wait for the Lord
Psalm 31 — when you need a refuge and a reminder that your life is in God’s hands
Psalm 34 — when your heart is broken and you need to remember that God is near
Psalm 40 — when you are waiting and need to know that God hears your cries
Psalm 42 — when your soul is downcast and you’re longing for God
Psalm 46 — when everything feels uncertain and you need to remember that God is with you
Psalm 55 — when you feel overwhelmed and need somewhere to bring it all
Psalm 56 — when you are afraid and need to remember that God sees your tears
Psalm 88 — when the darkness hasn’t lifted

Maybe one of these becomes a place you return to again and again. Read it slowly. Speak it aloud. Write out a verse that stands out to you, or choose one to memorize. Listen to it in an audio Bible. Read it in another translation and notice what you hadn’t noticed before. Highlight the words you want to remember or text a verse to a friend who might need it too. Pray the words back to God when they say what you haven’t been able to put into words yourself. And as God’s Word becomes more familiar to us, we begin to carry more of it with us, so that on the days when grief makes it especially hard to remember what’s true, His words are already there to come back to.

And as we head toward the holidays, when grief can show up in ways we expect and in ways we don’t, save this list somewhere you can find it again. You don’t have to figure out where to go in Scripture every time your heart hurts. Sometimes you can simply go back to a place you already know and let God’s Word remind you again of who He is.

Jennie is the Executive Director for Hope Mommies. She and her husband Brian live in Oregon and have four children together— Trenton, Paige who has been in Heaven with Jesus since 2010, Mason, and Cora. If you were to knock on her front door today, you’d find her in something comfortable drinking a hot cup of tea, while trying to figure out how to balance all the things that make up a life. She enjoys spending time in God’s word, fresh flowers, board games with her kids, cooking, and evening walks in her neighborhood. She adores being a new creation in Christ and prays she reflects Him well on this earth.