Where Are You, God?
READ: Psalm 89:46-52 A Prayer for Deliverance 46Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like fire? 47Remember how short my life is; remember that you created all of us mortal! 48Who can live and never die? How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave? 49Lord, where are the former proofs of your love? Where are the promises you made to David? 50Don't forget how I, your servant, am insulted, how I endure all the curses of the heathen. 51Your enemies insult your chosen king, O Lord! They insult him wherever he goes. 52Praise the Lord forever! Amen! Amen!
WHERE ARE YOU, GOD? We’re continuing to dig into Psalm 89. It begins with confident praise for God’s faithfulness and promise of a dynasty that will last forever. But by verse 37, there is great concern that God is not keeping his promise to the current king. Today’s passage is the final section of the psalm. The psalmist makes his heartfelt feelings and concerns known to God. He feels like God is hiding. He feels like God’s promises are no longer true. He feels like he’s suffering for those who have disobeyed God (“the heathen”). The last verse of this psalm seems a bit out of place. It appears to be a spontaneous burst of confident praise. That verse marks the end of book three in Psalms. It’s very similar to the verse at the end of book one (Psalm 41:13) and book four (Psalm 72:19), and it can serve as a reminder to us that even in difficult circumstances we can turn to God with anger, frustration and praise.
PRAYER: Dear Father, there are times when I feel like I can’t pray because I’m not in a good place. Thank you that this psalm reminds me that I can bring my anger, anxiety and fear directly to you and you will hear me. Thank you that you long to relate to your children. Amen.
DIG DEEPER: Describe how you feel about your current circumstances. Write a prayer to God in which you tell God how you feel. Close your prayer by thanking him for hearing your prayer.