Psalm 102:2

Psalm 102:2

Answer me quickly

The Psalms have frequently presented us with this picture of God as one who “hides His face.” Is that inferring that He forgets us? Is He ashamed of us or is too busy for us? Or maybe He thinks, “Oh no, not him again.” There seems to be reason to believe that sometimes the psalmists believed that God withheld His favour and His attentions purely as a form of retribution, they realised that they had no grounds for seeking His attentions. I have met Christians in our modern age who also harbour a kind of grudge believing that they are not being listened to, that prayer does not seem to work, that despite their efforts nothing changes. There is no simple answer to these misgivings, certainly the Lord does not jump every time we shout at Him and there are occasions when He seems totally distant from our suffering and our pain. However, it’s a strange claim to make that He never listens, and He never answers.

The language of the psalmists is quite clear, when the Lord does hide His face, it is time to despair, conversely, when His face shines upon us blessing and salvation are not far behind! At the end of the day, we can only join with the writer of these words and plead that our God will not turn from us when we are in distress. In truth, He never does! In truth, He always hears our cries so we have to be patient but also plead that the deliverance will not be long in coming. Add all this together and we are reminded, once again, how dependent we are on our Father and how pointless and empty life would be without Him. Even in our moments of despair, we have hope and an anticipation that the world cannot know. Hallelujah!

 

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