Week 50
Psalm 55:1-2 “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and do not hide yourself from my supplication. Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted.”
This text reflects the cry of the hurting heart. Here there is intensity, earnestness, and struggle. This prayer is not prayed in the quiet confines of calm, but this is the prayer of the Christian in the throes of battle and despair.
“Give ear to my prayer, O God; and do not hide yourself from my supplication.” This reveals the great need and the great fear of the Christian. We can endure anything except God’s absence and non-response to our prayers. We sometimes feel anguish because God is silent, and we feel Him absent. We pray, “Dear God, please do not be silent and absent from my heart’s cry and need.”
Turmoil and distress are terrible contexts in which to live life. In such times there is no peace, no assurance, and no certainty to underpin and undergird our hopes and desires. We feel as though we are carried about by the currents of the ocean without recourse and help.
But wise is the Christian who takes his or her appeal to heaven’s throne in such cases. We personally know our God, and we know that God will not abandon us to fatalism and the arbitrary winds of chance. Our Lord will act in keeping with His holy character and plan. He cannot lie, and every promise He makes to us in Christ is “YES, YES,” and “YES.”
Perhaps these moments of great concern in life have come by the gracious and sovereign hand of God (indeed they have) to push us closer to God, to find Him more and more faithful in the hour of our tragic and troubling need. Do we not wish for a closer walk with Jesus? Surely, we do! Do we not wish to know our God better? Absolutely, without question! Can we not imagine that in this dark mist of difficulty we find the sunshine of divine purpose and love?
Thus, let us pray not just with energy, but also with purpose. We pray in our need because it honors God for us so to do. We seek Him when our hearts are lonely and sad, because it exalts our glorious God for us to be happy in Him when the world lets us down. We are called to be happy in the Lord, and our eternal joy is found only in His love, grace, and providential provision.
Christian friend, do not let these adverse conditions tear you away from your faith and love in Jesus. Run to Jesus in the hour of your need. Jump into His arms with full trust and confidence, knowing that He loves you and you will find Him to be sufficient for every need you have. Surely, you will find that your valley of the shadow of hardship will show you fresh avenues of God’s love and provision for you in Christ, and your heart will rejoice.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me not to give up when my heart is lonely, sad, and heavy. May these times of anxiety and sorrow be the means by which I trust more fully in You. Thank You for loving me and thank You for being there for me. Amen.