How long, O LORD, Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my soul daily? How long will My enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;” Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13: 1-6, NKJV.
Dear God, there are days when we wonder how long our suffering will go on. Please draw near and speak hope to our hearts we pray, in the name of Jesus! Amen.
Today we continue with our hard questions. The questions most of us are afraid of asking. Today the question is, How long, LORD? Have you ever been there, or felt that? Have you ever been in a situation when you felt as if God had forgotten you, or was ignoring you? Many would not dare to admit that to anyone! It would make them look bad, as if they doubted God. And surely, no one wants to risk that. What is even more sad, is the fact that we do not dare admit this; even to ourselves!
This is a Psalm of David; in his better days, known as “a man after God’s own heart!” I ask again, as I did yesterday, Is David’s God different from our God? What is becoming clearer to me everyday, is the fact that, the better we know someone, the more likely we are to be honest; completely honest, with that person! We do not have to second-guess, if the person finds out certain things about us they will cast us off! I use the phrase “the better we know…,” rather than, “the more we know…,” because, as in the more important issues of life, it is the quality (how well we know them), of the relationship; not the quantity (the amount of time we know them), that counts.
Some people we have known all our lives, and there are things that we would never share with them. On the other hand, there are those who we have known for only a few years; yet we would not hesitate to open our hearts to them. It is the quality of the relationship that makes the difference. The question then would be, How well do we know God?
Do we know Him well enough to be certain that He will love us, no matter what…? Are we aware that God is not intimidated by our questions? Can we be sure that His invitation to “Come now and let us reason together” is still open? Do we know that we can say to God, “Lord, how long do I have to bear this pain, before You visit my hospital room? How long do unbelievers have to ridicule me, before You “show up,” and let them know that I am Your child? How long do I have to be financially trapped before the windows of heaven will open up and allow the blessings to fall in my neighborhood? How long LORD? How Long?
The good news is, that because David was not afraid to ask; he was also able to see, that through it all, God was always there: But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me. In the past, God was there, “I have trusted in Your mercy.” For the future, “[M]y heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.” In the present, “He has dealt bountifully with me.”
My friends, do not be afraid to ask. Our God is bigger than our questions!