This photo shows a sunset where land ends and an unfathomed sea begins. It looks like uncharted territory, blank and cloudy. But there is something about this photo that might help us. We have learned by experience that as the sun sets, the rotation of the earth will bring its light back into view in the morning. Our gracious God has done this for us. (Psalm 30 is given at the end, but scroll down now if you’re too anxious to hear a good word from God to wait!)
In “Caph – Unanswered Prayer, Pt. I” we looked at a few alternative responses we can make when we feel that God has not answered our prayers in great and dire time of need. In this post, we will answer the question:
How are we to respond in times of waiting for our prayers to be answered?
While this is not a lengthy treatise on all that we can or should be doing while we wait, the first and most important step is the step we have just seen our psalmist take: We appeal (again) to the God upon Whom we wait. As we read through this octrain of Psalm 119, we can discern at least six firm steps that our author has taken.
1. “My soul faints…” “I am like a wineskin in the smoke…” The psalmist poured out his heart towards God, vividly describing his thoughts and emotions in words. So often we either pour out our thoughts and emotions in words to others who are incapable of helping us except for the ministry of “being there,” or we pour out our thoughts and emotions wordlessly through other means, e.g., drink or gluttony, illicit or addictive sex, bad attitudes up to rage and bitterness, work and busyness, spending money or other resources such as time—all forms of escapism.
We can also turn our despair inward and suffer silently in overstress and depression, bringing on a whole host of physical and mental and emotional dysfunction and illness. If that sounds familiar to you, you are not alone; it comes from my own experience as well. Some of us are “outies” and express our despair outwardly, but some of us are “innies” and dig a pit 6 ft deep and (as my husband likes to put it) pulls the dirt down over the top to boot. It is in my experience that even “innies” end up oozing outwardly what is within, and “outies” become decrepit of spirit within. Alternatives never work.
But the psalmist directs all of his thoughts and feelings, however inappropriate they may feel, toward the God whom he believes still hears and will act in time. Describing our thoughts and feelings to God is an act of faith. It says that we believe He is there and hears us. Research is said to agree that prayer “in general” is a medical healer, but we don’t need medical research to tell us. We can keep going to God in prayer and discover it for ourselves.
2. “…looking for your promise…” The psalmist is not passive. He is actively looking to see where God may be answering his prayer! I have prayed many times for God to encourage me concerning my “as yet” unanswered prayer, and when I have had the good sense to begin to look at how God is active in my life, I begin to see much more than when I sat passively waiting for my prayer to be answered in the way I have designed or in my own timing. God hears my prayer, certainly, but He has His own ways of answering that are far higher than my own. In His working in His own timing, partial answers may come before full answers are seen.
For example, I have prayed for certain people to turn fully to the Lord and to give up the life of drugs and theft that has squeezed them into a cattle chute of addiction and imprisonment. While that person has not turned fully back to the Lord, they did come into contact with other Christians during their confinement and something happened that changed their habits since their release. They have employment and they are trying to live differently. While it may not yet be the resolution to all the problems, I see that God is working to reveal to them that they are on the wrong course and that change is needed. It is a step for which I am grateful. This encourages me to have faith for the “not yet”.
The psalmist never lived to see the Promised Messiah, but he saw God at work, even in his present difficulties (“they almost wiped me from this earth, but…”). What are your “almosts”? Often we are so focused on a positive response from God that we fail to see in the “negative” spaces. What did NOT happen that might have been destruction? If you’re suffering and are still reading, why is that? Why didn’t I die on the treacherous LONG road home through the blinding, blowing snow on icy roads at night over the steep mountain pass? (That’s a real and recent story!) Is God working to preserve my life, even when I despair of realizing (or remembering) my purpose in life? Apparently! Apparently, God does have a purpose for my life or I wouldn’t be here. I may not yet know what it is, exactly, but knowing that He was there with me while I prayed every icy inch of road lets me know that He’s got His reasons and I can trust Him with my life entirely.
It is an act of faith to trust that God doesn’t have to consult me with how He is answering my prayers, or who He is using to answer my prayers. I may not ever see the answers to some of my most specific prayers. But God will let me see “the edges of His ways” (Job 26:14) if I am looking for them, because God wants me to be encouraged (e.g., Joshua 1:9; Hebrews 3:13; Isaiah 41:13; John 14:27)! He wants me to know that He is FOR me and not against me. He sent His Son to die for my sin, and to raise Him again so that we, too, might have victorious eternal life in joy. That is His purpose for you and for me. I’m looking to see God at work and I ultimately find John 3:16. Yes, God has already worked toward my deepest prayers. I can hold on to that.
3. “When will you comfort me?” “How long must [I] wait? When will You punish my persecutors?” God allows us to question Him. Job questioned God. Though God, in His answer to Job, did correct Job’s questions and braced him with His answers, Job was not punished for having asked. He was taught.
This is what God does when we question Him! God teaches us more about Himself and we are brought even closer to God than ever before. Rather than stand aloof from God, because we think He stands aloof from us, turn to God and speak your questions. This is an act of faith: you are saying to God that you expect Him to respond! You believe He is and that He is able and willing to communicate with you. That is faith!
Faith moves the heart of God to act. Of course, our psalmist isn’t railing, shouting blasphemies. His attitude is deep need., not vile allegations or prideful abuse or self-pity. What is your attitude toward God? Do you need His help? Are you willing to ask God for help?
A final note is that the psalmist does not ask “Why?” but “When?”. God never did answer Job’s questions about “Why?”, but He did answer Job’s deeper need. Job needed to know God was still there, still loving Job and still God of the Universe:
“I [now] know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. . . . Surely . . . I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. . . . My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself [am humbled] and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1-6).
(Job 42:1-6).
And how did God ultimately and finally answer Job? (Keep in mind that this answer entails YEARS of fulfillment):
“After the Lord had said these things to Job, . . . ‘My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer . . . You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” . . . and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer. . . . After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. . . . The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. . . . After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years. “
(“Epilogue”, Job 42:7-17).
With this kind of precedent in scripture, and with the precedent that the Messiah did come to Israel in the perfection of time, I believe I can trust God for the waiting period. It’s hard, but He promises to give me strength to endure until its fulfillment:
Why do you complain, Jacob?
Isaiah 40: NIV
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
4. “…contrary to Your law.” While we are waiting, it is a good idea to consider who is most important to us in our prayer. My dear spiritual mentor, Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, helped me with this. She pictured prayer as coming up closely to Christ in Gethsemane and quietly listening to His prayers. [2]
Too often, my prayers are all about what I want, what I need, even when I’m praying for someone else. I don’t want the pain of losing a loved one. I don’t want to be confused and helpless. (Or, in some situations, I don’t want to be burdened, so YOU help them, God!) I see the situation as it is, I think to myself, and I believe I know what is needed: healing, salvation now, life instead of death, preservation instead of risk, love instead of hate, and so on. God wants those things, too! But God also knows the situation better than I do, and the people concerned within it. He demands, and is worthy of, our own worship, repentance, spiritual growth, gratitude, and praise. He wants my spiritual growth and cleansing from repentance! He wants my worship! He wants my praise and gratitude. By coming alongside my Savior, I won’t miss what really is concerning God. This paves the way for God to work through me in intercession for others. But not until I hear Him first.
To put a point on it, concerning injustice, when I pray for others am I also indignant at the things that break God’s heart? Is there room in my sin-impaired compassion for a holy compassion toward God—that it is HE that is wronged, and not just myself or my loved one? When God becomes the focus of injustice, my prayers suddenly change course. I pray with the heart of God:
“Our Father, Who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, just as it is in Heaven. . . . For Yours is the Kingdom and the glory and the Power forever. Amen!”
(The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13)
“Lord, when will You bring all unrighteousness to justice? When will you avenge your stolen glory? Be merciful and let Your glory reign in my heart and in the heart of my loved one. Use this situation for Your holy purposes that I cannot now see exactly; I know You are a God of love and mercy, and I will wait for You in faith.”
5. “Help me…” “Preserve my life” The psalmist asks God not only to act, but in an act of humility, declares his own need. He has come to the end of his own knowledge about himself or how this world works. He is not in control and confesses so. How hard is this? It is very hard. We are built to be co-managers of God’s Creation with God (as cited in the “Creation Mandate” found in Genesis 1 and 2). We are made to rule, and yet we are also made to be ruled. We are created beings, created to be loyally subject to our Creator.
We have been given the gift of volition, which the animals do not possess. We can choose whom we worship: ourselves or our Creator. Our psalmist, and Job, and every true man of God we have been given for our earthly models, have chosen God. Before leading the frail children of God into the Promised Land, Joshua called all of Israel into a crisis of decision:
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates [before God called Abraham out of Ur and gave him a lasting covenant to establish a chosen people of God in the earth], or the gods of the Amorites [the pagans], in whose land you are living [as enemies before a hostile people]. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
(Joshua 24:15 NIV).
The mighty King David prayed for help in Psalm 86: “Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. . . . save your servant who trusts in you. . . . listen to my cry for mercy” (Ps 86:1-2, 6).
Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, humbled Himself before God in His darkest hour:
“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; . . . My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
(Matthew 26:38, 39; Jesus prayed this same prayer three times, v.44).
It is helpful for us to ponder what this means when Jesus got up from his quiet place of prayer with the Father and remarked to his sleepy disciples: “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Was Jesus’ prayer to His Heavenly Father unanswered? Did Jesus give up on God and just walk nihilistically into the militarized arms of the Roman guard, the treacherous Jews, and the intelligent but fearfully compromising Pilate? After all, God had tested Jesus in the wilderness long before Jesus’ ministry began through the temptations of Satan who offered, essentially: “God will save you if you just ask Him to...”
Jesus knew that God was able to save Him if Jesus relented before the test. But Jesus also knew that God had the higher authority. Jesus subjected Himself as ‘man’ to be obedient to God (Philippians 2:5-8). If Jesus could humble Himself to death on a cross for our sakes, we can do so in our greatest confusion and discouragement.
”Help me, Lord, for I do not understand how I should pray.” (Romans 8:26-27).
5. “…but I have put my hope in Your Word…”, “…I do not forget Your decrees.”, “All your commands are trustworthy;…”, “I have not forsaken Your precepts…” These are all statements of faith. God loves it when we use our words to establish God’s truth in our hearts and minds. We need to say these things out loud, for the ear teaches the brain. Don’t just “think” these things, say them aloud. Say them to others if you’re not willing to talk aloud to yourself; better say them to God aloud in prayer, but say them.
I have written about this in a previous post (“Yod – Living a Life of Faith”), but it bears repeating: how can we put our hope in God’s Word, or remember His law, or know to believe that His commands are trustworthy, if we are not picking up the Word of God (the Holy Bible) and reading it to learn of God? What has He said? What has He done? What has He promised? What is He doing? Why? What will He do?
Our psalmist is well-versed, saturated even, in scripture. We don’t know exactly who the psalmist is by name, but we do know that he was one trained in the scriptures from an early age, possibly King David, possibly a God-selected musician in the Temple during or after Israel’s return from captivity in Babylon in Nehemiah or Ezra’s time. The unnamed author is so confident in God not because he has seen God’s answers to his often-pleaded prayer, but because he knows God has acted in the past, God has promised much good for the future, and God has been deeply and personally involved in the psalmist’s own life in the present by giving him the presence of mind to pray and not shatter in time of deepest distress. What do you believe about God?
Do you rely on what other people say about Him and Jesus, or do have you read what God has said and done for yourself? Others may have it wrong, and how would you know?
God’s Word gives hope. God’s Word stabilizes us in unsure times, and certainly we are all in great need of hope in these times of global pestilence, drought, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, recession, persecution, rampant violence and terror. How much more so when life hits us devastatingly hard on a personal level. As the Spirit said to St. Augustine one day through the words of a nearby child’s casual chanting: “Take up and read!”[1]
6. “I have put my hope…”, “I do not forget…”, “I have not forsaken…”, “…that I may obey…” Not only has the psalmist declared his faith out loud in actual words, communicable to God, to himself, and to others, but the psalmist is also declaring his own volition. He has not only put his hope in God’s word in the past, He will do so even now. He has not only not forgotten God’s decrees in the past, he does not forget them now. He saturates himself in God’s word now in his despair.
The psalmist has not only not given up on God’s word in the past, but he keeps God’s law now while he suffers. This is not the time to fail God! This is the time to assure God of our loyalty and trust in Him.
Yes, we are weak. The psalmist has already confessed his need and that he feels he is at his last ounce of strength to hold on. I’ve been there, and I’m sure my reader has, too. And yet, he musters his faith, rooted in God’s word, and keeps enacting the mercy and love and compassion God calls him to enact. He is not giving in to bitterness, vengefulness, or despair. Though he may be discouraged, he still hopes. He still obeys. He finishes his prayer with his purpose in prayer: “…that I may obey.” He is stating not just his will for now, but his will and determination for the future. He knows that faith begets faith. I obey now, so that I will obey and be faithful in the future.
We all know how easy it is to sin once we’ve given a foothold for sin in our life. Let the guardrail down once, and the next step lower is that much easier. While he is in waiting for his prayers to be answered, he focuses his will on obeying what he knows right now he must do.
What are those things? They will be personal to each person, of course; but generally from the Word, a few highlights apply to all of us:
a) I will come to you, Lord, when I am at my lowest ebb–I will not turn away from You;
b) I will actively look to see You at work in my life and in the life of those around me--I will not be passive in unbelief, but will look with the eyes of faith to see You faithful;
c) I will be honest in my questioning and will direct all my questions to You by the reading of Your Word and by pouring my heart out to You in prayer–I will not squander my soul to those who are either helpless themselves or to those who may divert my trust and worship toward some other ‘god’;
d) I will look upon Your heart and be more concerned with Your glory over my own, even if I am praying for another soul–I will not allow myself to sink into selfish despair or doubt and rob You of all that You have purposed in bringing my affliction or the affliction of others about;
e) I will take up Your Word and saturate myself in all that You have said, for Your Word is Truth and forms the bedrock of reality in this life; I will say this aloud so that others may hear that, though I am afflicted, I yet believe You will answer me–I will not drift in willful ignorance of Your works or lean on my own understanding or that of another; and
f) I determine to obey what I know to obey from Your Word while I wait for you to answer, for You reward the faithful; enduring through obedience will only strengthen my faith and assure me of receiving the blessing You have held out for me in Your promises–I will not fail You by willful neglect or rebellion, only help me in my weakness, Lord.
Conclusion.
Yes, there are things we can do when we don’t know what to do. There are steps we can take that can fulfill us in the long waiting for answered prayers.
I still have prayers that have not been fulfilled in the way I have hoped: some prayers have been sealed off in time by the death of loved ones (saved or unsaved), and yet some prayers are still ‘open’ to God, though things look stubbornly dark and scary at present. But God has given us our book of Psalms (and all of scripture) to teach us and guide us through the darkest times when unbelief stares us dead in the face and taunts us to give up hope. I have been there and have found my God faithful. I pray that becomes your experience, too.
Jesus, our Emmanuel. Our psalmist (who wrote all of Psalm 119, not just this eight verses) waited on God to fulfill His promises to himself and to Israel. From his words, we can be sure that God has blessed him personally. And we know from the whole of the New Testament (and the witness of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life) that God answered the psalmist’s prayer in the coming of the Messiah, Jeshua, or Jesus the Christ. God answered Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane, for, though He died an excruciating death on the cross for all our sins, mine and yours personally included, He also rose again from the grave, conquering death not only for Himself, but for all Who follow Him in faith and trust. God is still answering the prayers of Christ. Will you join with me in helping Christ fulfill His own prayers by
* believing His word (that His Word is True),
* receiving Him by faith into Your life as Lord,
* repenting of (turning away from) your nature of sin and any sins that are heavy on your heart, and
* choosing to follow Christ in his model and from His word, even to death?
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father, I am amazed at how much you really do know us in our sin and in our suffering. And yet, I see now that you love us and guide us and nurture us toward You, because You love us. You have loved us so much that You gave Your only-begotten Son, You gave up Your glory to come down to us in our own flesh, the Incarnation which we celebrate this Christmas, to live and die to pay the cost for our rebellion against You. In our sin and unbelief, You forgive us when we ask You to forgive. You help us to believe and worship You as we were made to do. Thank you for giving me a ladder out of my depression, to turn my back by faith upon despair and to turn to You afresh as my living Hope. I give my life to You yet again, daily even, for You are worthy of all glory and honor and praise. I believe You, Lord! Help my unbelief! Give me life, and give life to those whom you have given me for intercession. I will wait on You and worship you in joy and gladness, anticipating what I know will surely come–Your holy blessing and faithful fulfillment of all my deepest longings, and Your holy will fulfilled on earth as it is now complete and finished in heaven, the Day of Your blessed Return. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
© by ReadPsalm119.com. PHOTO: Poi’pu Tombola, Kauai HI 2021.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] “386 St. Augustine Converts to Christianity”, Christian History Institute, first published in Christian History magazine, Issue #28, 1990; accessed online at ChristianHistoryInstitute.org. See also: St. Augustine, Confessions of St. Augustine, chapter 12 (XII), accessible at Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org).
[1] Shelley, Erica. March 30, 2021. “The Burden: a poem of brokenness and calling”, A Life Overseas | a cross-cultural conversation, alifeoverseas.com. I believe the autobiography Erica mentions is Gold Cord: The Story of a Fellowship (1932), by Amy Carmichael, CLC Publications (Oct 1, 1982).
WORSHIP
Rather than offer a man-made song for worship, let’s worship today with God’s own inspired words of life and healing. God does and will answer your prayers. It is good and safe to wait on Him in faith.
Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.
Psalm 30 ESV
30 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[a]
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.[b]
5 For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.[c]
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
IMPORTANT RESOURCES:
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If you need someone to speak with about spiritual matters, and are NOT in an immediate crisis environment or situation, please contact PeacewithGod.net (a ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association). You will be able to chat or email with a live person who will listen to you, pray with you, and give you the resources you need to go further in your questions or even guide you into a new life of faith if that is your desire. They will help you locate a Bible-believing church in your area, if you are ready to connect with other believers and don’t already have a church home. Finally, they can give direct you to a list of optional, free online discipleship lessons so you can learn more about Christ and the life of peace that He offers.
If you have questions about Christ, who He is and what He was doing on the cross and how it all applies to you and your own situation, please visit either of these most helpful resources: ChristianityExplored.org (International) or ChristianityExplored.us (North America), and EveryPerson.com.
