HOW LONG LORD HOW LONG

Proclamation:

“Look on me and answer, Lord my God.  Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death …”  Psalm 13:3 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  It is believed that David wrote this psalm after his sin with Bathsheba while he was fleeing from his son, Absalom.  Four times he asks The Lord God, “How long …” (Psalm 13:1-2)  He feels that The Lord has forgotten him or is hiding His face from him.  David wants to know how long he will have to counsel himself and how long will his enemy triumph over him.  He is in distress and wants The Lord God to hear him and to answer him.  After he questions God, he prays and asks Him to give light to his eyes that he may see more clearly, that he may understand what is going on and know what he should do.  David goes from lamenting his current situation (Psalm 13:1-2) to rejoicing because he recalls that The Lord has dealt bountifully with him. (Psalm 13:5-6)

Application:

All too often, we tend to forget that The Lord God does things in His time frame and not ours.  When He does not immediately deliver us, or help us, we are ready to conclude that He has forgotten us or has turned His face away for us so as to punish us because of His displeasure with us.  The Lord never stops loving us, and He continues to bless us even though He does not like our sinful behavior.  If we would confess our sins and turn from our sinful ways, He would hear us and deliver us. (1 John 1:9 and 2 Chronicles 7:14)  Our problem is that we want to do what we want to, and that is not usually the same as what He wants us to do.  The question is not how long will God delay in answering us, but how long will we continue to disobey Him.  When Job repeatedly asked The Lord, “How long …” (Job 7:19, 8:2, 18:2, and 19:2) He finally replied by asking Job “Where were you when I …” (Job 38:1-41, 39:1-30, and 40:1-2)  After Job humbly replied that he was not worthy, (Job 40:3-5) The Lord God continued to question him. (Job 40:6-24 and 41:1-34)  The next time that you are tempted to question The Lord God and ask “How long …” you should read these chapters in the Book of Job.  We should also remember what He has already done for us.  Give God the praise, honor, glory, worship, and respect that He is due and deserves.