How Long, Lord?
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?We have all had those moments. Moments where we wonder- where is God? Doesn’t He hear me, doesn’t He see that I feel alone? Doesn’t He see that I am about to go under? Doesn’t He see I cannot go any further??
I’ve learned that God WANTS us right there!!! He wants to be our EVERYTHING, He wants to be our SAVIOR. When we are in that tough place, HE can rescue us. HE gets all the credit. We realize we are nothing, and we NEED HIM.
That is where David was in Psalm 13. It’s a short chapter, just 6 verses. Read it with me.
Psalm 13
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
for he has been good to me.
When we are in that hard place; when seemingly God is still silent and we can’t see our rescue yet… Then we CLING to these verses.
Notice this verse starts with a but: which is like saying, I know I FEEL like you have forgotten me, and I FEEL you are hiding from me BUT I know more than just a feeling.
HOWEVER, this is the TRUTH:
Verse 5: But I TRUST in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing of your praise because He HAS been good to me!
In those verses lies the truth! UNFAILING, SALVATION. And what did David do? He sang praises to God because He was good to Him PREVIOUSLY. So in those moments where we feel alone, we need to focus on the times that He HAS been good to us. Bring to mind the times we felt Him right beside us. Rehearse in our hearts the experiences where He provided in amazing ways. Praise Him in that.
We’ve all been right in that hard spot; where it’s easier to look at the mountain ahead of us, rather than focusing on the past faithfulness of God. Today push past the easy thoughts, and let’s focus on the Unfailing.salvation of God.
Join in, share a time where you found God’s unfailing salvation.
I like your encouragement for us to focus on His past faithfulness rather than on the mountains ahead! Yes, we do need to push past the easy thoughts and focus on the correct ones instead.