Read
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
A Prayer
1How much longer, Lord,
will you forget about me?
Will it be forever?
How long will you hide?
2How long must I be confused
and miserable all day?
How long will my enemies
keep beating me down?
3Please listen, Lord God,
and answer my prayers.
Make my eyes sparkle again,
or else I will fall
into the sleep of death.
4My enemies will say,
“Now we've won!”
They will be greatly pleased
when I am defeated.
5I trust your love,
and I feel like celebrating
because you rescued me.
6You have been good to me, Lord,
and I will sing about you.
Reflect
Abandoned. Alone. Nothing left to live for. Hardly sounds like words one might expect from the mouth of a king. And yet, David pours out his wretchedness before God. The darkness is a real and living thing, threatening to overtake David’s very existence, to cause him to “fall into the sleep of death.” The depth of such depression knows no economic boundaries, distinguishing little between prince and pauper.
Thousands of years after David poured out his heartache, the human condition remains little changed. Every one knows someone – be it a family member, friend or colleague – struggling through what Saint John of the Cross described as “the dark night of the soul.” Even Mother Teresa of Calcutta struggled through such anguish, revealed only through letters found after her death in 1997.
What hope is there when such despair descends? When joy seems distant and trouble constant? When it seems God has forgotten all about you?
Two short lines at the end of David’s poem provide an answer. “You have been good to me, Lord,” he remembers. He recalls better days, when God’s love flowed freely, when he walked through green fields, beside quiet streams. When all creation seemed to explode with goodness and joy. Those days are far away, but they did exist once, and they will again.
“I will trust your love,” David writes, “I will sing.” It is a conscious choice, a shift in attitude. It does not belittle the struggle of the dark days, but grasps at that tiny flicker of light in the distance that hints of better days to come.
Respond
Lord, be my light when all around me it is so dark. Hear these cries from the depths of my soul. When I am bone-tired and beyond weary help me remember your goodness and your mercy. Take my tears of anguish and turn them to tears of joy. I choose to trust in your love even through this darkness. Amen.
Kelly Rempel
Kelly Rempel is a wife, mother of two, writer and Jesus-follower. She lives in Winnipeg, MB where she is developing her passion for introducing children and their families to Jesus in her role as Family Ministry Director at Braeside Evangelical Church. She formerly served as the Senior Editor for ChristianWeek, a national publication focused on Christian faith and life in Canada (and beyond). She grew up in northern B.C., obtained her journalism diploma at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, and attended Bethany Bible Institute (now Bethany College) in Hepburn, SK, before moving to Winnipeg. In her spare time, Kelly enjoys trying her hand at various creative pursuits.