Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 13:1-6
Ps 13:1-6
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 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? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Rom 8:25-26
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
If you have ever walked a hospital floor all night, thinking, praying, wondering, praying, even pleading with God to let that person that you love so dearly, be able to live and to get will, then you understand the anguish of our Psalm today. If you have had your best friend betray you, turn against you, and even try to harm you, then you understand why the Psalmist is pleading with the Lord to respond.
But in his worst anguish of heart, he never doubts the goodness of God. He does not accuse God of being behind his troubles. He knows that God hears him and is going to answer, but he is having a hard time being patient. He does not know why he has to suffer so harshly. He cannot reason why God allows the wicked to seem to prevail for a while. But he never lets his lack of understanding cause him to doubt the righteous judgment of God. He puts his trust in the love of God.
We ask why this is happening to us. We wonder why God allows us to go through whatever it is we are going through. We want to know how long before he will respond and deliver us. This is normal. This is not wrong. We all want answers to our problems, and we want to understand why these things happen to us. But God does not always let us know the answers that we are looking for. It may be a test of faith to see if we trust him without understanding it all. It may be a way of building our faith or getting us ready to help someone else in their trials. It may be (as Solomon put it) just “time and chance” has happened to us. Just trust God!
O Lord God, increase my faith so that I can depend on you, even when I do not have any answers to all of my questions. Give me peace in the hard times. Give me joy in the sad times. Give me patience in the waiting times. Use me to help others to know your goodness, your peace, and your joy as they face these times. Please be with our nation. Help your people know that you are in charge and to trust you, and to be respectful of those in authority. In Jesus name I pray.
Robert
