December 31
“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him;’ lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me,” Psalm 13:1-6.
At the close of the calendar year, we direct our attention to the words of the psalmist above. The psalmist begins by asking five questions with the searching words, “How long, O Lord, how long?” Yes, God does not operate according to the human calendar. In response to our impatience and our insistence that God should hear and answer to our cry NOW, we must learn to listen to the Lord when He says, “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts,’” Isaiah 55:8-9.
At times to us it might appear as if God is nowhere near, as He tells us through the prophet Isaiah: “‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer,” Isaiah 54:7-8. Sometimes, God says, “Now!” Sometimes, God says, “Not now! Later!” Sometimes, God says, “Never!” God knows what is best for us. In another psalm, the psalmist wrote, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning,” Psalm 30:5.
With the psalmist, we plead, “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; enlighten my eyes.” Indeed, God hears and answers the prayers of His people. This assurance is given to us in both the Old and New Testament. Through the psalmist, God invites us, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” and He promises, “I will deliver you,” and then He reminds us, “You shall glorify Me,” Psalm 50:15. In another psalm, we are told, “O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come,” Psalm 65:2.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus invites and promises, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened,” Matthew 7:7-8. The Savior also promises, “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive,” Matthew 21:22. “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you,” John 16:23.
The psalmist pleads with the Lord to hear and deliver him out of his troubles, and then he adds, “Lest . . .” Three times, he refers to other things that could happen: “Lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him;’ lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.” However, with a certainty that God will respond to his pleading favorably, he says, “I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Indeed, let us sing praises to God for everything with which He blesses us for both body and soul. He provides us with the necessities of life, and He sent His Son to be our Savior. Jesus suffered and died to redeem us, and He rose again from the grave to conquer sin, death, and the devil for us. He invites us to believe and trust in Jesus as our Savior, and He promises us everlasting life.
“My heart’s Delight, my Crown most bright,
Thou, Jesus, art forever.
Nor wealth, nor pride, nor aught beside,
Our bond of love shall sever.
Thou art my Lord; Thy precious Word
Shall be my guide, whate’er betide.
Oh, teach me, Lord, to trust Thee!” Amen.