How Long – When Life Feels Too Much To Bear
BRD REFLECTIONS
Genesis 16 and Genesis 17; Psalm 13 (NIV)
(Yeo Su Chen, Chairperson, Communications Committee)
READ:
Psalm 13 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
This is my go-to Psalm when life throws too much at me. Every time I read this comforting Psalm, I thank God for giving me so much information and insight into King David.
If David, a devoted man of God mentioned and written about by God so extensively, can lament in such despair and pain about life, what more a plebian creature like me? The Psalmist engages in a personal conversation with God throughout this passage.
Psalm 13 starts with David crying to God in despair: “How long, O Lord?”. I think there are no words that are more human than these. From an elderly Jew waiting to meet his fate in the gas chambers, a refugee floating in the cold open ocean, a patient suffering from a terminal illness, a mother cradling her dying child, a father who cannot bail out his wayward son, to a suicidal youth who cannot take the pressures of life anymore, I cannot imagine how many times people have cried out these words in pain silently or out loud in the history of mankind. I, too, have cried out to God when overwhelmed in life.
The Psalmist then goes on to plead with God to elicit a response. He asks God to “light up” his eyes (v. 3) lest he is defeated and his enemies triumph over him (v. 4). It is his heart-to-heart no-holds-barred talk with God.
Finally, the Psalmist concludes with a declaration of his trust and hope in the Lord, and in the last verse, he proclaims his praise for the Lord because he knows the Lord “has dealt bountifully with” him.
David starts out in despair, engages God, and concludes with a resolute declaration of his absolute trust in God.
APPLY:
Contrary to its theme (“How long O Lord”), ironically, this Psalm never fails to lift me when I am down.
I identify with the Psalmist in crying out to God when life is full of challenges. Here, the Psalmist also models for me to reflect on the goodness of God amid all my struggles and sadness, fear and frustrations, while pleading for God’s mercy and divine intervention. In God’s world, time is not seen in minutes, hours, or days. I have to wait for the Lord to work on me and resolve my difficult situations.
I am to continue looking to God for succour and support and remember His truth, love and grace, no matter how bleak my circumstances may seem.
I continue to stand on His promises and trust in His everlasting love and redemption.
I continue to praise and worship Him because while I am suffering, I also recall the wonderful things He has done for me, including His death on Calvary for me.
DO:
I have to:
- Wait upon and trust in Him when I feel demoralised, dejected or despondent
- Remember He loves me and meets me where I am
- Recall His goodness to me in my life
- Continue to praise Him even when everything seems to go against me
- Finally, have a personal relationship with God so I can go to Him whether I am in dire straits or enjoying a life of ease
PRAY:
Eternal Father, when I am down and out, help me to trust in you. When I am disappointed by people, help me not to disappoint You. When I am tired, remind me that You know exactly how I feel. When I can’t see you, please find me. Don’t let me stray from you, and always keep me near to you, please, no matter what comes my way. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
