Hobart Herd Devotional – Psalms 13 – 5-11-20
What is the hated phrase that comes from your children’s mouths when you are on a road trip, “Are we there yet?!” Translate that into our prayers to the Lord today, “How Long”. If I was God I think that I would ban the phrase in our prayers. “How long do we have to wait for an answer from You; How long do we have to endure this virus before You bring healing; How long do I have to wait for You to meet may needs; How long until the Lord returns and makes it all right?” I have probably left out a few, but you get the idea. The patience of God to listen to my complaints and lovingly hear my whining is beyond compare. You would think that after 55 years of being His child and watching Him work perfectly in His own timing that I would learn to wait and trust in Him.
If I was to title Psalms 13, it would be The Whine of “How Long”. David had to wait to become king even though God had Samuel anoint him as the next king years in advance. David’s hearts desire was to build a temple for the God he loved, but God said no, you have to wait for your son Solomon to build the temple. So many times David had to wait on God’s timing and answer to his prayers. He even pleaded that he might die before the answer came; that his enemies would claim they had overcome him and won because of the time it took God to answer. David pleaded for God to “enlighten his eyes”(vs. 3) so he might understand why it took so long.
The great news is that God does hear, and in His time He answers. Psalms 13:5-6, 5
But I have trusted in Thy loving-kindness; My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.(NAS) The Hebrew word for loving-kindness has three parts to it; strength, steadfastness, and love. When we begin to trust in the God of loving-kindness, we quickly learn that He has been there all along, and every period of waiting patiently for Him is well worth the time. When ever we are stuck in the “How Long” mode, we need to remember how God has been there in the past and wait expectantly with excitement for His answer to our prayers. When we do we will find that the Lord has truly dealt bountifully with us.
Listen to your heart attitude; is it whining “How Long” or is it waiting with expectation and excitement for God to work His will and way through it all?
Father, thank You for Your patient loving-kindness; You have every reason to ignore me and kick me to the curb for my whining attitude. Forgive me for all the “How Long’s” in my prayers. Help me to trust and wait expectantly on You when it seems that You have forgotten or not heard my prayers. I put my trust in Your loving-kindness and wait patiently for Your bountiful grace and mercy. In Jesus Name, Amen! Pastor Rob
Worship Chorus: Thy loving-kindness is better then life, Thy loving-kindness is better then life. My lips shall praise Thee, thus will I bless Thee. I will lift up my hands unto Thy name.