9 But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies. 10 You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us. 11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations. 12 You sold your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale. 13 You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us. 14 You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us. 15 My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame 16 at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

In the first eight verses of this Psalm, David is extolling the greatness and faithfulness of God as he has been with and delivered Israel throughout their history. God had done mighty works and won many battles for them. But then he turns and begins to bemoan the fact that now things are not going well for them and it seems God has forsaken them. The problem, as David sees it, is not that they are being humbled but rather that he does not understand why. He is willing to accept punishment from the hand of God if he realizes what he has done wrong. But here he does not know of anything in his personal life or the life of the nation that has caused God to turn from them. Do we ever wonder why things seem to be turned against us? Do we question why God is doing this to us (or at least allowing it)?

More often than not, when we answer for God in our personal lives, we are speculating at best. There are times we can honestly evaluate things and be pretty sure we know what is going on and why. More often, we really don’t know why it is happening. It is simply a test of faith for us to trust God and believe that he really does know what is best. We must believe that he does keep his word and has not forgotten us but rather sees us in all our problems.

One universal principle, whether we understand why or not, is that we can be made closer to God because of what we are going thru. We can trust him more, talk to him more often, know his peace (when we actually submit our will to his) and then come out of it with a new, stronger relationship with him. We come away knowing God in a way never before even imagined.

O God, I thank you for all the times in my life that you have delivered me from my enemies, carried me thru problems and given me strength when I could not go on my own. I thank you for being my Father when my earthly father went to be with you. I thank you for all I have gained in my life thru what I have lost. Strengthen my faith so that I can keep my eyes and my heart focused on you and the things above. I pray in the name of Jesus.

May God bless each of us as we wait on the Lord in humble faith.