Sunday, August 19, 2007

Psalm 102:1-17

102:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
2 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!

3 For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
7 I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8 All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9 For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
10 because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11 My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the Lord builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
17 he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

It is hard to keep believing when God is silent. Silent areas of my life are where they become the most questions. While those questions can be good, and lead us to deeper faith, it doesn't feel good. What feels good is having a response. Answer quickly, when I call. Karin and I went for years without cell phones, and we had many frustrated friends who wanted us to respond immediately!

Even with such great demands being asked of God, the Psalmist doesn't forget his position in the world. It's not very high. Really what is being created each day that will last? How many of the people who make headlines today will be remembered in 100 years, much less 50, much less 10. We are not even them, just normal people doing normal things. We feel the entire spectrum of emotion. And our days are like an evening shadow (you know during the best light), or withering like a blade of grass.

Then we look to God. Amazing. He has been there and seen it all. Sort of the way we think of vampires living throughout so many generations, experiencing all sorts of sights and sounds. That is God. Yet he does not feed upon people like prey, but rather cares for them. He is reaching out to them when they cry and offering them hope.

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