How Long?

February 20, 2017

How Long?

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!

Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Psalm 13:3

The phrase, ‘how long’ is used over fifty times in the Bible, thirteen times in the Book of Psalms and four times in Psalm 13. When the phrase is used, sometimes it is God speaking, asking how long He has to put up with the sinfulness of Israel. Most often it is God’s people pleading to God, “How long must we wait for your deliverance?” Realizing that David wrote these psalms three thousand years ago makes his lament, “How long?” even more poignant.

There is no easy answer to this question. If a thousand years to us is but a day to God (2 Peter 3:8), then according to God’s calendar David wrote these psalms three days ago. I don’t know if that helps you, but I find comfort in remembering that God’s time cannot be measured. Neither can God’s eternal goodness be measured. This is why the letter of Hebrews can boldly state that Jesus, “who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). The glory that awaits God’s children far outweighs the feelings of despair we may experience today.

But as David notes in this psalm, the wait is not without purpose and great blessings. As David turned to God, he found God turning to him. (See also James 4:8) God restored the sparkle to David’s eyes, and David sang praises to God. When our soul cries out to God, ‘How long,” David inspires us to remember we can turn to God and experience God putting a sparkle in our eyes.

“All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we were looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.