Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.
Our favorite movies have happy endings with good resolution. When we are left hanging by an ambiguous ending, we feel cheated. Most psalms, even the ones of lament, end with the psalmist proclaiming his trust in the Lord. My Seminary professor pointed this one out to me. These are the last three verses. If our movie ended this way, we would voice our displeasure to the usher and anyone who was nearby. Yet sometimes God would let his people wait. Jonah, Elijah, and David who cried out in some way, “How long O Lord?” The Lord’s answer is for as long as the Lord wills it. That is the lesson he teaches his people; patience, trust, and worship.
Another Psalm, the 102nd, is a cry for a speedy answer that day. It sounds awfully impatient but today we like things in seconds, not just same day service. Texts and emails take seconds but if they are delayed, O the groaning! We pray and wait. God would, it seems, have us learn to wait better than we are accustomed to. Patience is not a fruit of the Spirit for nothing. We need the Spirit to be able to wait on the Lord, especially for years or even decades. Let us pray for that today.
Dear Lord, thank you that you hear us when we pray and you answer when we call. Help us to be patiently waiting for your will to be done without complaining, even if it is years. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church