Have you been praying about something for a long time, and yet God has not answered you?
If so, what have you concluded?
• That God does not hear you?
• That God does not love you?
• That He is indifferent to your request?
• That He cares not about your heartache?
Perhaps this is what King David thought when he wrote the following Psalm of Lament:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13 – ESV)
Whether or not you can identify with David’s words, I would like to share a few things about this Psalm that I hope will bless you.
David is in deep despair (v2), and he sees God as the source of his trouble because he believes that God has continually forgotten him and left him at the mercy of his enemy. And, worse than that, he has concluded that he is under a curse from God who has hid His face from him (v1).
And yet … he does not stop praying to God, for he knows that only from Him can deliverance come (v 3-4). And that it is still good to trust in His steadfast, covenant love (v5). And that through these things he anticipates God’s salvation (v5), a restored sense of fellowship and well-being.
So, how might we apply this Psalm to us? Well, if you are thinking and feeling like David, please remember that God’s covenant love is based on the New Covenant, with its greater promises. Therefore, no matter what you are going through, nothing will separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:38). So, as David did, keep praying and trusting in God. He has not forsaken you. Through Christ’s blood, you belong to Him, and nothing can remove you from His care. And one day, He will deliver you from your suffering. So don’t lose hope.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Rob