Psalms 13 – GOD’S “WAITING ROOM”?
The World is Temporarily Closed. Image by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash
Psalm 13:1 “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”
THE WORLD IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED
The Covid 19 virus continues to spread with lockdowns and locked borders – the new normal. Around 250 million people have been infected, and 1.75 million have died.
Is it here to stay? Will we develop a lasting immunity? Is this going to be an ongoing event? What will happen in winter? What will happen in 2021?
“There is so much we still don’t know about this virus,” says a researcher. “Until we have better data, we’re just going to have a lot of uncertainty.” The world is temporarily closed.
“How long, O Lord?” Seems like a good prayer.
Ever prayed like this. I can’t say that I have ever felt like I have been forgotten by the Lord. Sometimes it’s me that has moved, not Him. In Psalm 13, David appears to be weary of waiting for God to act. His cry has echoed across the centuries and still receives voice today, “How long?” Oh, for wings rather than anchors. How long?
QUALITY OF LIFE
Sometimes as a Chaplain I hear people describe the Aged Care Centre where I minister as “God’s Waiting Room”. It presupposes that God no longer has a purpose for the people here and that we are all just waiting to die. I detest this term. It is devoid of hope and makes a mockery of the “quality of life” people can experience at any age and with any disability. It implies there is no quality of life because of age or disability. This is patently untrue.
A NEW KIND OF NORMAL
When his wife got sick, one Pastor even wrote a book called “In God’s Waiting Room”. It wasn’t his wife he described as in God’s waiting room but him.
Imagine if we described marriage as “God’s waiting room” “I, take thee, to have and to hold and I’ll just have to put up with it until something happens and things turn from better to worse, from richer to poorer, from health to sickness, or anything else that happens that we don’t like. We’ll just have to be in God’s waiting room and pray for til death do us part.” Life was not intended to be lived with such pessimism.
I have seen the most beautiful relationships in marriage succeed despite dementia, strokes and disabilities. It is where patience and love can coalesce in the purposes of God. Not so much “How long?” but “Life is different. How do I deal with this new kind of normal?” This is true for Covid 19 and life.
HONEST VENTING
Don’t misunderstand. We all feel at times that we are in God’s waiting room and we say, “How long, O Lord”, not waiting for death but for our circumstances to change. Sometimes it is not our circumstances that need to change but our response to our circumstances. David says,
“How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?”
David has literal enemies who want him dead but his enemies appear firstly to be the enemies of the soul – anguish and sorrow. He’s weary and impatient for life to work for him instead of against him. Negative thinking is beginning to rule his life. His imagination and impatience have begun to eat away at his hope.
At least he’s honest with God. Honest venting is a good way to pray at times but it’s not a good place to live. Matthew 6:27 (NLT2) says, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
Philippians 4:8 (NLT2) says “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This is not ignoring what is true but seeking to see what is true from the point of view of faith in an almighty God with whom we have a relationship.
THINGS UNSEEN
By the end of the Psalm David still doesn’t have God’s intervention but He knows that God has heard his prayer. That changes everything. A new kind of normal filled with faith and the promises of God. God has not forgotten or forsaken him.
Joshua 1:9 (NLT2) says “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-17 (NLT2) Paul talks about the persecution of Christians. He did not, however, think he was in God’s waiting room, except in the sense that troubles would soon pass and faith lasts forever. He says, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down but never abandoned by God.
We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. … Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. …That is why we never give up.
Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
1 John 5:3-5 (NLT2) says “… For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
In Psalm 13:3 (NLT) David says, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death.”
David has lost the spiritual motivation he needed to go on. Unless the Lord restores that vitality then he believes he will die. Without God’s answers, there is no purpose for him.
TWO WORDS THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING
David uses 2 words for God. He uses the word Jehovah which is translated as Lord. This describes God as a Covenant Keeper. He is always faithful to keep His promises. He also uses the name Elohim, simply translated as God: which speaks of God’s strength and power to accomplish all He intends. This is the God with whom David has a relationship. Without this connection with God, he believes he will die and he doesn’t simply want to wait around and die.
He is not only after a sparkle in his eye but for insight as to why God has not intervened as yet. Four times in this Psalm he asks “How long, Lord?” But he also wants the spark of strength to go on. Psalm 18:28 (NLT) says, “You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.”
Psalm 13:4-5 says, “Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. But I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me.”
Finally, David’s faith has triumphed over the enemies of his anguish and sorrow and he is full of the anticipation that God in His unfailing love, will rescue him.
Such is the beauty of faith, which allows us to take wings despite anchors. He is not outwardly rescued but he has exercised the faith of trusting in God’s Word and his soul is already taking flight.
Faith in itself brings hope and triumph to any situation. For a Christ-follower there is no such thing as hopelessness even in the midst of great sorrow and anguish. Something much deeper sustains us – the unfailing love of God.
I don’t have all the explanations, but I do have the assurance of God’s salvation and forgiveness which is eternal.
In Psalm 13:6 (NLT) David finally says “I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.”
I love You, Lord, not just because You are good to me, but because You love me and I feel safe and secure in Your love. You wrap Your arms around me and there is an ache in my heart for You.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT2) says, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.”
I came across a beautiful song recently on Youtube based on Psalm 13 and sung by Alisa Turner. Please look it up. It expresses the essence of Psalm 13 perfectly.
Pastor Ross
