2006-12-30 - Trusting, Ever Trusting

Psalm 13:1, 2, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?"

David is here pouring his soul before the Lord. We see him here struggle with terrors both from within and from without. He is assaulted by both his thoughts and enemies around him. He cries out to God and it is almost a cry of desperation. He comes to God, tells God of all his struggles from all sides and cries out, "How long, Lord, will you forget me forever?" Have we not all reached this stage of despair at some point? Surely we all have cried out to the Lord and said, "Don't you see? Don't you care? Don't you understand? Help!" Essentially this is what David is doing.

It is common for us to set a shorter span of time for our relief from distress than God does. We would like things reconciled immediately, but God teaches us patience. It may seem like God is hiding his face from us, but He knows all things. He knows our struggles better than we do. He recognizes our sorrow before we are even sad. God teaches us patience. Patience is hard to learn. It takes patience to learn patience. We must not defer our hope. Let us keep our hope firm in the Lord.

There is some relief in venting our griefs to the Lord or even to another person. Let us be careful how we do it, however. Let us never lose sight of the sovereignty of God, His caring concern over those who are His, and His promise that he will not challenge us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Let us strive for the mindset, in such times, that it is not God's unkindness to us, but His perfecting us into all grace. This will help us greatly in avoiding the feeling of being overwhelmed, when all our circumstances seem set against us.

David asks, "How long?" Long afflictions can be especially hard to endure. We must remember the faithfulness of God. He has not forgotten or hidden His face from us. We are frail and easily broken by pain, sickness, sorrow, and endless outward circumstances. The one who bore our sins also carried our sorrows, heals our sickness, and alleviates our pain. Let the help that is from above prevail upon your soul as you rest in Christ alone. Sorrow and struggles are a part of life; even an eminent saint like King David experienced them. Let them help us towards growth in our Christian walk - and not lead us into despair.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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