There are pressing needs that you and I have prayed about, and we have asked the LORD, “How long, O LORD?” But deliverance has yet to come, and we feel as David does. The temptation to give up is strong during that time. It can be easy to forget how many prayers the LORD has answered in the past when we are under pressure.
During the 2023 Fellowship Conference, Pastor Nathan Rages, from @RedeemingGraceChurch shared this exhortation before a morning prayer meeting.
[Unedited transcript.] Well, I have a brief thought before we pray. And it’s from the 13th Psalm. If you’d like to follow along in your Bibles or just listen. Some 13 will read the first two verses. David is crying out to the Lord and he says, How long, Oh, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Did you hear the repeated phrase there? Four times. He asks the question, How long? How long the Lord alone will it be? David was in some kind of really bad fix, wasn’t he? He was. He was feeling the pressure. Things were bad. Things had been bad for a while. Things were continuing on bad. And it felt as if God had forgotten him and forsaken him and hidden his face from him. And David is crying out in a very natural way. Lord, how long will this go on? How long before you’re calm? How long before you show up? How long before you deliver us? And David is not alone in the Bible when asking God this question is a Psalm 80. I notice that Assaf asked the same question. He says, How long will you be angry with the prayer of your people? Or the question. Habakkuk asks the question, How long Oh Lord, will I call for help? And you will not hear the martyrs. In Revelation Chapter six, they ask the question, How long? Oh Lord, until you avenge our blood and bring judgment. How long? Then? I suspect the same question enters into our prayers on many occasions. How long the Lord will this all this excruciating trial continue? How long, Oh, Lord, will I keep falling into this besetting sin, seeing that I want victory? And how long before my lost loved ones are finally, say, how long will it be? How long will our churches be troubled as they often are? How long will apostasy continue? How long will our Gospel witness seem so powerless? How long before we have what we just sang about? Before we have before we have showers of blessing? Yes, we’re thankful for mercy drops, but we long for the outpouring of the Spirit of God in historic revival. Right? Not just read about these stories, but see God at home in wonderful ways. And we say, How long, Lord, how long until it happens? The need seem so great. There are pressing needs that that we have prayed about. Some of you have prayed about certain things, hundreds of times, thousands of times, sometimes with tears calling upon God. And yet the deliverance has not come yet. And you might feel the same as David. How long or how long the Lord will I keep praying? Why keep longing? And this need not be met? How long, How long will it be? And the temptation is to finally give up. Say, Well, I’ve waited on God long enough. Yes. Is it going to work? I guess prayer doesn’t work for the big stuff. No, it’s not going to really break. So we’re not really going to do anything. Oh, please don’t do that. Remember what our Lord taught us? He taught us. He taught us that at all times. We ought to pray and not lose our right when we’ve waited a long time, when it seems like it’s been a very, very long time. We’re tempted to give up, to lose heart. Don’t lose heart. And it’s so good that David did not lose heart in this psalm either. The first verse is he’s talking about about how long. But in the last verse he expresses a wonderful confidence in God. The end of the song, verse five, he says, But I have trusted in your loving kindness all along. As this trial continued, he continued to trust in God and specifically to trust in God’s loving kindness, His steady covenant, faithful love. And and then he says, My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord. He’s looking forward. And he said, Yeah, it’s been a long time. It’s been a long time. Help hasn’t come yet, but it will come. I’m certain. I’m certain the Lord will be faithful. The Lord will do glorious things. There are days of of rejoicing and celebration ahead for when God does break through, when God does meet these big needs that weigh on my soul. And then the last line, because he has dealt bound to flee with me sometimes. Sometimes when we’re when we’re really under pressure, we forget how bountiful God has already been in the past. And we need to call those things to mind and say, look, he’s not he’s not answer this prayer yet. Well, look at all these other things. He has I mean, bountiful is bound to be blessed. And so so that can encourage us to say, yes, Lord, it’s been a long time. I might even say how long? How long it’s been, Lord. But. But I know how you’ve blessed in the past. I’m confident that I can trust you for the future. Days of rejoicing are coming, and so we can have both elements in our prayers and perhaps right in our prayers this morning, we would have both elements or some things we say, How long, Lord? How long until the deliverance comes? But on the other hand, Lord, we’re confident that the deliverance will come. You will act. There will be days of of a fullness of joy as we see your glorious answers to prayer in the future. Amen. During the Fellowship conference, Pastor Nathan Ranges from Columbia, Missouri, shared this exhortation before a morning prayer meeting.
