Friday, August 7, 2020

Trust in God's presence and timing

 “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 heart 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 (NKJV)

In this psalm, David is again crying out to God for deliverance from his enemy, perhaps Saul.  We likely don’t have physical enemies like David did, people who pursue us and try to take our lives. But we do have spiritual enemies (e.g., Ephesians 6:10-12). And our flesh, our old nature and our besetting sins are enemies that war against us as well.

 David’s repeated cry of “how long” expresses his feeling that God had forgotten him. That may be our feeling sometimes too. But we are to live by faith not sight and we trust in God’s provision and presence with us even if we don’t feel it.  David also expresses concern that God wasn’t moving quickly enough against his enemy.  But God’s timing is often different from ours and He accomplishes His plans in His time. During those times of seeming delay in answers to our prayers, God asks us to trust Him. Our faith is strengthened and our character is developed when we wait on Him.

God deals bountifully with us when we trust in Him.  Even during days of darkness, our hearts rejoice when we remember His salvation. Even when He seems distant, He will comfort us with His grace and mercy. 

                                                          My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

              “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the                      sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.”

          Lyrics by Edward Mote (1797-1874)

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