Having sorrow in your heart daily? Your enemies rejoicing over your troubles? Lost the sparkle in your eyes? Lost the song in your heart? Lost the rest in your sleep?
We just came back from a 2-week working and holiday trip to the US and UK. Amongst the many places we visited, we spent four days in State College... the place where we spent our sabbatical more than 3 years ago; where this blog was first initiated. We connected with old friends and visited the church, which was starting a new series on the book Psalms... I was refreshed by the sermon and decided to focus my bible reading over the next few months on Psalms.
This morning, I read and meditated on Psalms 13. It is a short one... containing only 6 verses. The context of the prayer is that of an anguished complaint concerning a prolonged serious problem that threatens death. It begins with a question, "How long, O LORD?"
The feeling of “being forgotten” is addressed in this psalm. King David, the author of this psalm, frequently claimed that God was slow to act on his behalf. Don’t we feel the same impatience? We can identify with the author as he enumerates having sorry in his heart daily; we have been through these situations; we’ve lost the sparkle in our eyes; we’ve lost the song in our heart; we’ve lost the restedness in your sleep; and our enemies are rejoicing and triumphing over our troubles!
BUT…. despite these, King David found hope and confidence in God… He remembered God’s unfailing love. In the last two verses, David affirmed that he would continue to trust God no matter how long he had to wait for God’s justice and deliverance to be realized.
Are you waiting for relief from despair? Like King David, we must continue to trust God even when he doesn’t answer us immediately… Join me in my prayer for today, which is anchored on Psalms 13: 5-6.
“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”
