1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

There is nothing wrong with facing the realities of life, even when things are bad. There is no sin in admitting that we face great problems or sharing our feelings of fear, dread, anger, frustration or disappointment. What is wrong is when we dwell on these to the point that we allow them to affect our faith in God. David knew that things were bad in his life and he pleaded with God for relief and saw none. He begged for God to remove his enemies and their constant pursuit for his life and yet it continued for years. Was he able to understand why God did not answer? Of course not; but he never doubted that God was hearing his prayer and never doubted that God would answer in his own time and in his own way.

When pursued by his own son who had formed a coup and determined to take over the kingdom from him, he was cursed by a man named Shimei. Joab, the commander of his army, wanted to go and kill him. The reason David gave for not allowing this was because God may be behind it and he would be fighting against the will of God. He said he would let God avenge his enemy, if he chose to do so.

Today we will have problems. Some of them will seem unfair and some will be so big we will despair or become frustrated. We need to never forget that we can (and must) cast all our cares on the Lord, for he cares for each of us. In the words of the old hymn; “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” Like David, a man after God’s own heart, we must never fail to trust God and turn our cares over to him.

Lord God, creator, sustainer and ruler, I come to you today with a heart filled with thanksgiving for all the wonderful things you have done for me. I thank you that I have no reason to worry because you are in control and for the peace this gives my heart. Fill me with your Spirit so that I can love with your love and be both willing and able to forgive those who have done me wrong. Rid my heart of all bitterness and anger and fill me with your joy. Use me to share your word and to encourage those who are filled with grief and anxiety today. Forgive me when I fail you. In Jesus’ name.