How Long?

By Judy Cook

How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 

Consider [and] answer me, O Jehovah my God: Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the [sleep of] death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; [Lest] mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved. 

But I have trusted in thy lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.  I will sing unto Jehovah, Because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13)

How many times have we cried out to God, "How long?"  ..........

  ............or whispered it?

So many times we pray earnestly......

 waiting

 praying

 ......and waiting yet more.

We've felt that God has turned His face from us and just doesn't see our anguish. We wonder, "How long can I go on, with such pain in my soul and such sadness in my heart?"  Perhaps it was our own illness, or the illness of a loved one that burdened our soul. 

It may have been another situation that tore us apart.

A lost child.

A lost spouse.

 What tears we shed as we pray! We begin to feel that our enemy, our greatest enemy, satan, is feeling victorious.

But no!

We have trusted in God!

We know He has limitless love and care for us. Even though a particular situation may remain unchanged, we can still take joy in knowing that, ultimately, if we remain faithful and trust in the Lord, we will see His salvation!

Like the young men of Israel, we can say, "If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Dan. 3:17-18).  

We can have faith that God knows best.

He knows all things.

We may not understand, but we can still trust Him. We can sing praises to God because of His mercy and His eternal blessings.

He (no matter what we endure) has dealt bountifully with us.