哪怕是最漫不经心地去阅读诗篇七十三篇的人，都不能不因为诗人的开放的态度和诚实而感到惊讶。他说：「我的脚几乎失闪……我见……狂傲人……就心怀不平」（2-3节）。这也是诗篇其中一个重大价值──它让我们明白，当我们在遇上冲突的时候，承认自己内心的想法是十分重要的。我想再一次强调，要是我们忽略或否认自己的真感受，那会给自己的属灵生命带来非常严重的伤害。

今天在一些基督徒圈子中流传一种教导，那就是我们不应该承认自己的负面思想或感受──哪怕只是短短的一秒钟也不可以。他们认为我们必须积极地生活，不应该考虑和注目于负面的事情。这是多么荒谬的理论！我深信提倡这种论点的人一定从来没有读过诗篇。

我完全赞成我们应当对生命抱持积极的态度，正因为我们要积极，所以必须真实地面对事情，不论它们有多么负面。除非你很清楚的看到正在困扰着你的事物，否则你怎能知道需要在哪方面保持积极呢？只有当我们愿意真实的去面对一个问题，然后才能够以正面的方式去处理。要是焦点没弄清楚就想正面的去解决问题，这样会好像在沙土上建造房子，无论倒了多少水泥在根基上，以及如何去巩固墙壁，当风暴来临的时候，房子还是会完全坍塌。

Even the most casual reader of Psalm 73 cannot help but be struck by the openness and honesty of the psalmist. He says: "My feet had almost slipped...for I envied the arrogant" (vv.2-3). This again is one of the great values of the book of Psalms - it brings home to us the importance of acknowledging what is going on in our hearts when we are caught up in the midst of conflict. I cannot stress enough how spiritually damaging it is to ignore or deny our true feelings.

There is a form of teaching going around in some Christian circles today which holds that one should never admit or acknowledge a negative thought or feeling - not even for a single second. Life must be lived positively, it is said, and that means refusing to consider or even glance at anything negative. What nonsense! The people who advocate this approach to life can never have read the book of Psalms.

I am all for a positive approach to life, but positivism first involves facing things realistically no matter how negative they may be. How can you know what you need to be positive about until you have clearly seen what is troubling you? Once an issue is faced, and faced hearts" realistically, then the matter can and must be dealt with in a positive way. But to try and be positive without bringing into clear focus what is wrong is like building a house on sand. No matter how much cement is poured into the foundations, and no matter how well the walls are reinforced, when a storm comes it will sink without trace.