Unfailing Love

In today’s psalm, we find David full of despair as he wrestles with the idea that God seems distant and unresponsive to his concerns. But by the end of the psalm, David has regained his faith and can once again rejoice in the goodness of God. Before we begin, let’s open our time together with a prayer.

Heavenly Father, thank You for today. Help me to have purity of heart, clarity of vision, and increased faith. I am trying very hard to keep my thoughts on You, Lord, because I always want to feel Your close presence in my life. Help me to relinquish control of my thoughts and actions with the faith and knowledge that You know what is best for me. Amen.

Psalm 13 (NLT)
1 O Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever?  
    How long will You look the other way?  
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,  
    with sorrow in my heart every day?  
    How long will my enemy have the upper hand?  
3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!  
    Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.  
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”  
    Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.  
5 But I trust in Your unfailing love.  
    I will rejoice because You have rescued me.  
6 I will sing to the Lord  
    because He is good to me.

Have you ever turned to God in utter despair and prayed for relief? In my mind, I can almost see David kneeling in prayer and asking God, “How long, how long?” David repeats that question four times in the first two verses of today’s psalm. But did God really forget about David? Is it possible that David allowed his own mind to take control, and as a result, God suddenly felt distant to him?

I believe as David cried out to God, he slowly but surely came to the realization that God was only distant because David had set Him aside and allowed his own thoughts and fears to take over. As David continued to reach out to God in despair, I believe he gave control back to God and once again felt His mighty presence in his life. Can you think of a time when you felt like God had abandoned you? Is it possible you were trying to control your life instead of trusting God to lead the way?

By the end of Psalm 13, David had regained his rhythm – trusting God to rescue him, praising God for His unfailing love, and rejoicing that his faith in God had been restored. It is a rhythm we all need to embrace so that we never feel distant from God.

As we close today, go to God in prayer and allow Him control of your thoughts and feelings. Use the following prompt if you need help getting started:

Father, I relinquish myself to You. I trust You and believe You will…

I pray you draw near to God today and allow Him to bless and nurture you.