THERE ARE TIMES for all of us when God seems so very far away—yes, even as though we have come to the farthest ends of the earth looking for him, calling out for relief, seeking an answer to a heart-rending need, something no amount of personal effort has been able to resolve. David’s lament is such: “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.” (Psa. 61:1-5)
Perhaps personal innocence lies shattered from an encounter with evil, and there is no one else to turn to in our loss and shame. Or a loved one is dying, and there is no time left now to mend a broken relationship that was left untended for too long. Maybe a wayward child has been swept away into the outer darkness, and the frantic parent doesn’t know which way to run to find them, where to reach out and grasp a hand needing to be pulled back from disaster or impending death. It is a time when only an answer from God will help. At times like this, it not only seems that God is not responding soon enough, but that he may not even be listening. The Psalmist has experienced this vast distance between the lips of the plaintiff and the ear of God, and for that reason his pleas and his prayers speak to us, even as they speak for us. “I call as my heart grows faint.” (Psa. 61:2b)
Praying in faith and expectation in times of great distress depends upon a relationship between man and his God in which there is a sense of certainty about future needs that has had a past history of favorable answers to persistent prayer. Here, the Psalmist says, “For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.” (Psa. 61:5) If the word of the Lord is trustworthy, if we have faith in his name and in his character, then in times of great trial our promise is found kept in a heritage which is his legacy to those who believe in him. “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.” (Psa. 145:18-19) Such a relationship is developed, not in a single instance of facing and overcoming loss, but through a series of events in which God has proven faithful, even though our faith has been tried and perhaps found wanting. Given an understanding of the consistency of God in response to our own wavering trust, we have a deep sympathy for the father of the demon-possessed boy in the gospels: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) And, we might consider adding his words to our prayers . “LORD, ‘I do believe…’”
Persistent prayer leads us to pray and to keep praying. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:16-18) Elijah learned to trust the Lord through such experiences, but even he had times of doubt. When Jezebel sought his life, he ran to the desert and hid in a cave, where the Lord called him to account. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13), and reminded him of his provision: “I reserve seven thousand prophets in Israel.” (1 Kings 19:18) Elijah was strengthened by the Lord, and regained his trust and sense of mission.
Even though faint of heart, the Psalmist relies on God, asking him to “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” (Psa. 61:2c-3) You or I may feel heartweary, and that we ‘have traveled to the ends of the earth’ because the answer to our prayer has been so long in coming, but be encouraged by this example of faith—even worn out to the point of utter exhaustion spiritually and emotionally, God is still present for us, as he was still present for the Psalmist. God is, after all, omnipresent—this is his creation, all of it, and he is everywhere and all the time present.
We don’t need to travel ‘to the ends of the earth’ crying out to him to somehow prove the depth of our need. We need instead to travel to the end of ourselves, and this is a much more difficult journey. We must stop relying on the strength of the depth and passion of our prayers and rely instead on the promises of God, which are trustworthy, guaranteed by the quality of his character and nature. God already knows that we “long to dwell in his tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of his wings” (Psa. 61:4), for it is he that has placed the desire within us. Our journey is not to the ends of this earth, it is to our heavenly home. And that journey is not one that we have to labor to achieve; it has been completed for us as a gift. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:3)
Do not let your hearts be troubled…
Q. Can my ever-anxious heart be stilled?
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