When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me. Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. Psalm 27: 8-12, NKJV.
Gracious God, we come to You in search of comfort as we study Your Word. We know that You will speak to our hearts and we will be blessed. In the holy name of Jesus we claim and accept these blessings. Amen.
These are the verses from psalm 27 that were not included in the first half of our study. So far, we have listened as the psalmist expressed his confidence in God, and in His protection. Today we will pick up where we left off on Friday – Part 6. The moment of sobriety in the midst of praise! The psalmist pleaded with God to hear him when he cried. Today, we will listen as he continues this conversation with God. It is important to notice what the psalmist is saying to God. He is saying in effect, “I will do what you asked me to do. ‘You said, ‘Seek my face,’ and I will seek Your face.’ ” This is a very effective way of praying. We must be able to feel so at home with God that we can repeat His promises back to Him, or tell Him that we are doing what He asked us to do, and then tell Him that we are expecting Him to fulfill His promises to us. God is honored when we express that kind of confidence in His Word. We must be willing to open ourselves completely to God, in prayer. We must not be afraid to tell God that we expect great things from Him. He is a great God!
Now the psalmist goes a little further. Perhaps there were times when he felt that God had turned a deaf ear to his plea; that God had hid, as it were, His face from him, and was not listening. Maybe he felt that God was angry with him. For this reason he is asking God not to ignore him now. Have you ever felt this way? There have been times when I have asked, “God, are You there? Do You care what happens to me?” The good news is, that I have always concluded that He is there, and that He does care! In God’s Word, the Savior has promised that whoever comes to Him will never be rejected or turned away (John 6: 37). Knowing this, no child of God need hesitate to approach the Throne of Grace. He or she can do this with the full assurance that God is waiting to hear from You, and that at the time of prayer, You and I, will have His undivided attention!
From the pen of E. G. White we read a very encouraging statement: “We have nothing to fear for the future except as we forget the way the Lord has led us . . . in the past!” Now the psalmist remembers past mercies and voices them, “You have been my help.” This is another very important and helpful element of victorious prayer: Remembering past blessings! There is nothing that lifts the soul to measureless dimensions of spiritual heights, as when we remember the blessings of the past! It is a way of telling ourselves, “God did it before, and He can do it again!” It encourages and increases our faith. Try it and you will see what it will do for your faith and your prayer life!
Now he is ready to hope again! He is ready to trust again! “Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me.” He is willing to trust God to the utmost! “Even if those on whom I depend for my sustenance and care, should give up on me; even if those who are responsible for bringing me into this world should cast me off, I know that I can trust in You! I can depend on You to come to my rescue!” Jesus is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, or a father, or even a mother! To most of us it sounds strange that a woman would, or could, forsake her child. Usually, single parents are moms. But there are circumstances in which even a mother will abandon the child that she carried under her heart for nine long months! We have seen it happen in our society, and in different parts of the world.
But when all else has failed, like the psalmist You can rely on Jesus. Jesus will not fail you – now or never!