Devotional Tuesday: Cry Out to God... With Faith
Reflection from the 13th Psalm
The 13th Psalm is something we are all probably familiar with…
I often hear myself asking God, “ How long ______?” (Verse 1)
I have not met many people who have told me that God seems to do everything in their life in a predictable or convenient timeline. Rather, it seems that God’s plan is always slightly different than the plan we would have chosen. This is a common question we ask God.
Its moments like this when we are unsure of what has happened, what is happening now, or what will happen in the days to come that we feel as though the Lord may have forgotten us—or at the very least, he forgot to give us assurance that he is there with us.
David, the Psalmist, is well accustomed to this human plea to God. David, like all of us, begs God with genuine and true cries asking for God to reveal himself and provide his grace to us.
I use a GREAT Bible Study software called Logos to make notes and annotations on the text. If you want to learn more about this amazing Bible Study tool click HERE.
The Psalmist offers two realities for us to explore—the first in his opening and the second in his closing.
We can cry out to God.
The Old Testament normalized crying out to God. It was an ever-present and normal part of their spirality and human experience. David’s psalms are full of cries to God.
In our western and modern world, we have sought to hide our problems and insecurities. We have tried to avoid these needs, especially needing God to miraculously intervene in our lives.
However, that was not the experience of the people of Israel. They were aware of their need for God. In this need, they were accustomed to crying out to him.
May we normalize crying out to God…
Anther thing to note: it is perfectly acceptable to cry out with hints of hurt or doubt. Our feelings are real and legitimate. We must not try and ignore those things. Rather, we must offer them to God. They are real and can become a sacrifice given to God as an offering of our faith in him.
That is what David displays. He takes his true feelings and emotions and pours them out to God. He cries out to him and reveals his true self—weakness, doubt, and pain included.
This is where David begins…
We can proclaim our faith.
David offers two sentiments as bookends for his Psalm: a cry and a proclamation. He offers the following as a declaration of his faith that remains:
5 BUT I HAVE TRUSTED in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
I had a teacher once tell me this impactful truth:
“God is faithful, even when we are faithless.”
I have been reminded of this truth often. Its wisdom has become an encouragement to live a life of faith because that is the way in which we become more like Jesus himself. To be like Jesus, we must live in faith.
David, in the midst of feeling forgotten and hurt, refuses to abandon his faith in the God whom he trusts.
This is a mirroring of God’s faithfulness.
This way of living is the mark of a seasoned disciple of God. In the midst of uncertainty, we are able to reflect God’s faithfulness to us with our own faithfulness to him.
David acknowledges and reveals his doubt to God, but ultimately chooses to live a life of faithfulness. He choses to affirm his God and offer praise in the middle of his trial.
May we cry out to God and proclaim of his faithfulness.