Have you ever had a “How long, O Lord?” moment or season in life?
My daughter Emma, she’s our 3rd child, keeps us laughing. She’s 6 years old now & she has her own name for things. For example, she calls a “Butterfinger” candy bar a “fingerbutter!” I know, we need to get her checked for dyslexia.
What you might call a “fly swatter,” Emma calls a “bug whacker!”
Sometimes we say one thing, but what we mean is something else.
I think this is important because I think this is what we do as followers of Jesus. It’s even true for those of us who are not because we all have those moments when we cry out to God, “How long?”
But that’s not what we’re really saying, is it? That question really isn’t a question.
The pain we’re experiencing, the suffering we’re going through, the situation we’re dealing with, the sickness, the broken relationship, the difficulty we’re facing at work, at home, with our kids, with our friends, with the team, with whatever it is… we cry out to God, “How long?” but what we’re really saying is that it’s been “Long enough!”
Here’s the good news, no matter what kind of suffering you’re in the middle of, there is a prayer for you in the prayer book of Jesus, the psalms.
And if you’re in the middle of some kind of trouble, of some kind of suffering, then you understand that innate desire to cry out to God. And you’ll understand this prayer in Psalm 13, another prayer of David.
Psalm 13
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
David cries out to God, & he calls him by name… O LORD, Yahweh, how long???
Once again, we don’t know why David is praying this prayer. We don’t know what trouble he’s facing this time. We don’t know what he’s up against, who’s after him, what he’s dealing with & why he is so desperate. But in this moment he’s crying out to God like you & I cry out to God saying, “Enough is enough!” I can’t take it any longer, I can’t stand up under it anymore. I’m literally at the end of my rope!
It’s in these seasons of life that we really struggle with this question… Why!? Why are we having to suffer?
If it was just for a short amount of time, we might understand. If it was only for a short season, we might not complain so much.
But you know like I know that sometimes suffering lasts for days, weeks & even years. And that’s a different question, isn’t it? That’s a harder question. That’s a question without an easy answer. If God is who He says He is, if He loves us as much as He says He loves us, then why… Why do we have to go through LONG seasons of suffering?
Why do we sometimes feel forgotten by God?
Why do we cry out to God for help in the middle of our “How long, O Lord” moments only to get no help, no response, nothing, nada?
David continues to plead his case & voice his complaint to Yahweh…
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
Do you ever remember hearing your parents say, “Look at me when I’m talking to you.” Or maybe, if you’re a parent you’ve said those same words to your kids!
That’s essentially what David says here! Turn & answer me, Yahweh! For the second time David calls God by name! He’s at the end of his rope & he’s crying out to God to pay attention to his prayer!
And before you think that David is being irreverent before God, I think it’s important to remember that David has a relationship with God. That David’s relationship WITH God precedes his complaint TO God. That David’s years of prayer precedes this moment of raw emotion.
[Tweet “David’s relationship WITH God precedes his complaint TO God.”]And God is big enough to handle his complaint. God is big enough to hear David’s emotional explosion. God isn’t going to strike David down for lashing out to Him. It’s ok for David to vent to God in this moment… & it’s ok for you, too.
If God wasn’t big enough to handle your complaints, what would that say about God?
Our “How Long, O Lord” Moments
For you & for me, our lives are filled with “How long, O Lord” moments. Maybe you’re in that season right now. Maybe you’re praying to the same God David is praying to, & you need the God who is famous for deliverance to come & deliver you. You’re praying, “If I ever needed you, I need you now.”
For all those “How long, O Lord” moments… I don’t have any easy answers to why we sometimes feel forgotten & abandoned by God, but I do want you to remember this…
The God who created you will not forget you when you cry out to Him.
[Tweet “The God who created you will not forget you when you cry out to Him.”]Just because you’re facing difficulty in your story doesn’t mean that God isn’t present in your story.
I once heard Dr. Charles Stanley say these words & as soon as I heard them I wrote them down, “Talk to God. Trust Him. Wait for Him to work.”
[Tweet ““Talk to God. Trust Him. Wait for Him to work.” -Charles Stanley”]Even in these “How Long, O Lord” moments we don’t pray as a people without hope. Even in those moments, when… it looks like our prayer went unanswered. When it appears that prayer failed us, that God failed us… we can still pray with David…
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he is good to me.
David ends his prayer with hope. He ends his prayer with anticipated confidence of God’s faithfulness.
And we can too because we have a hope that transcends this life on earth. We know of a hope beyond anything David could have ever dreamed or imagined, because we know Jesus.
