There are days in our lives when we feel God is not listening to our prayers for help in difficult situations.  He seems far away.  Our prayers begin to repeat themselves each day with no seeming or apparent resolve.  We become impatient.  Anxiety builds in our limbo living between problem accepting and problem solving.  We feel our prayers hit the ceiling and bounce back to us for review.  We sometimes become indignant in our human thinking and selfishness.  We think, maybe God isn’t listening.  Maybe this problem is not important to Him.  Then we think maybe I’M not important or significant enough to Him to be heard.  STOP!  These are the very lies of temptation Satan feeds us on the elegant plate of wait.  In our wait, we look in instead of looking up for God’s work to be completed in and through us during which time the problem that weighs on us is being resolved by Him!  It is a matter of trust.  WHO do you trust?  The Liar or the Creator?

God is always at work!  Always remember that.  God so loved us, that He sent His Son to die for our debt sin.  God hears every prayer.  God knows every need.  God knows us by name.  He knows the number of hairs on our head.  We don’t know that!  God also knows what is best for us right now and in the future.  God is not only working on our problem but he is working IN us during the problem or difficulty!  We actually are growing and maturing because of God’s work in us!  This is His Perspective.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah.  Psalm 68:19

“The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.”  Lamentations 3:22

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6

“John 5:17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 28, The Message

A David Psalm

Don’t turn a deaf ear
    when I call you, God.
If all I get from you is
    deafening silence,
I’d be better off
    in the Black Hole.

² I’m letting you know what I need,
    calling out for help
And lifting my arms
    toward your inner sanctum.

^3-4 Don’t shove me into
    the same jail cell with those crooks,
With those who are
    full-time employees of evil.
They talk a good line of “peace,”
    then moonlight for the Devil.

Pay them back for what they’ve done,
    for how bad they’ve been.
Pay them back for their long hours
    in the Devil’s workshop;
Then cap it with a huge bonus.

⁵ Because they have no idea how God works
    or what he is up to,
God will smash them to smithereens
    and walk away from the ruins.

^6-7 Blessed be God—
    he heard me praying.
He proved he’s on my side;
    I’ve thrown my lot in with him.

Now I’m jumping for joy,
    and shouting and singing my thanks to him.

^8-9 God is all strength for his people,
    ample refuge for his chosen leader;
Save your people
    and bless your heritage.
Care for them;
    carry them like a good shepherd.

TRUTH: “God is all strength for His people, ample refuge for His chosen leader”…

Once again, David found himself in difficulty and cried out to the Lord for help. We don’t know what caused the problem, but it involved wicked people and workers of iniquity and deceptive people who pretended to be David’s friends but were working for his ruin. 

David had prayed fervently about his dangerous situation, but the Lord hadn’t answered him. It has often been said that “God’s delays are not God’s denials,” and David was learning that important lesson. In verse 1, he called on the Lord, and in verse 2, he cried out to Him in desperation, but the Lord didn’t answer.

The unchanging Rock had changed! Was the Lord silent because He could no longer hear and speak? David lifted his hands in worship as he prayed toward the sanctuary of God, but the Lord apparently didn’t see him. But Jehovah is the “living God” who sees His people, hears their cries, and speaks His Word to them!

David felt like a dead man whose body was in the tomb. He also felt like a criminal who was being dragged away with the wicked to be executed. They were hypocrites, but he was speaking the truth. They had no regard for the words and works of the Lord, but David was a servant of God who worshipped Him faithfully. According to God’s covenant with Israel, David’s idolatrous enemies should have been judged and condemned, but the Lord was doing nothing. How could God treat His anointed king like a criminal?

But we should remind ourselves that the Father allowed His own Son to be unjustly treated like a common criminal (Isa. 53:7-8, 12; Luke 22:37). David’s prayer was not an expression of personal revenge but a call for God to fulfill His covenant and bring righteousness and peace into the land. “Let them reap what they have sown” was his request.

Joy floods in like the morning sun!  Suddenly, the perspective changes, and David is singing instead of sobbing! The reason is given in verse 7: “My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped” (nasb). Faith in Jehovah made all the difference. The hands of the enemy were busy doing evil, but when David believed God and lifted up his hands in prayer (v .2), then God’s hands went to work and met the need (v. 5).

Faith moves the hands of God, and God’s hands control the universe.

Proverb 14:14-19, The Message

Sift and Weigh Every Word

¹⁴ A mean person gets paid back in meanness,
    a gracious person in grace.

¹⁵ The gullible believe anything they’re told;
    the prudent sift and weigh every word.

¹⁶ The wise watch their steps and avoid evil;
    fools are headstrong and reckless.

¹⁷ The hotheaded do things they’ll later regret;
    the coldhearted get the cold shoulder.

¹⁸ Foolish dreamers live in a world of illusion;
    wise realists plant their feet on the ground.

¹⁹ Eventually, evil will pay tribute to good;
    the wicked will respect God-loyal people.

WISDOM: “Eventually, evil will pay tribute to good; the wicked will respect God-loyal people.”  Why?  Because God is ALWAYS at work.  He sees all, knows all and will always be in control.

David blessed the Lord for his deliverance and wasn’t ashamed to confess it. His testimony was clear: “God heard me and God helped me! I trusted Him and now I praise Him!” David now had the strength to obey God’s will, no matter what the enemy might do. He also had the Lord as his shield (3:3; 7:10; 18:2, 30; 33:20; 84:11; Gen.15:1; Deut. 33:29).

David had God’s power and God’s protection. How wonderful that David turned a painful experience into a song of praise to the Lord and that he left behind a witness that has encouraged other believers for centuries.

David’s experiences, lessons learned and songs of praise have encouraged me.  How about you?

Abba Father,

Thank you for the trials that teach us, grow and mature us to bear your Spiritual fruits of your character in us. Thank you for problems that teach us your wisdom in solving them.  We haven’t arrived but we are not who we were yesterday because of You.  You are always at work.  I trust You.  I sing your praises, glorifying your Name!  Thank you for continuing to work on me!

In Jesus Name, Amen