How Long LORD?
WEEK 4, DAY 4 OF CHOOSING GOD INSTEAD OF THE WORLD, A LOVE GOD GREATLY STUDY
Scripture Reading: Genesis 40; Psalm 13 (SOAP – Psalm 13:5-6)
Determined to Trust
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. NLT
Observation:
The Genesis Saga: The Cupbearer and Royal Baker
So , not only was Joseph a dreamer – apparently he was also an interpreter. sometime after Joseph was put in prison Pharaoh had two of his officials, a cupbearer and a royal baker, put in prison. As God would have it, they were placed in the same facility where Joseph was being kept and he was made their attendant. While they were there the cupbearer and royal baker both had a dream that left them noticeably depressed. They shared the dreams with Joseph and they (well, at least the cupbearer) were delighted that he was able to interpret them. Joseph was most likely delighted as well – since it gave him hope that they would mention him to Pharaoh and he would release him. Unfortunately, while things went just as Joseph had predicted from the dreams, his name was not mentioned and he remained in prison.
TODAY’S FOCUS VERSE
David wrote this Psalm in a very emotional state. He spills out frustration, confusion, fear of his enemy, desperation, great sorrow, hunger for God’s attention, worry, suffering, shame, and embarrassment. “BUT…” (you have to love the ‘buts’ of God’s Word – right?). After spilling out all of these emotions he responds to his own rant, breakdown, or what I would call a panic attack with the expressed determination and declaration, “But I trust in Your faithfulness.” His trust was so solid that he even declared a time of rejoicing, certain that God would both deliver and vindicate him. Don’t you love this? I do. I love that David open and close relationship with God, especially knowing that God refers to David as “a man after My own heart”. Don’t you see, God wants to have this kind of relationship with us – one where we are open and honest, not hiding our hearts from Him but laying them open before Him – truthful of our doubts but so confident in Him that trust and praise always win out.
But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ NLT
Acts 13:22
APPLICATION: HOW THEN SHOULD WE LIVE?
While we shouldn’t doubt God, when doubts arise – and they will – we should cry out to Him like David did. We should also follow-up our questions and concerns with declarations of His faithfulness, His goodness, and our trust in Him to ‘deliver’ or meet whatever need we have expressed. When we do this praise is sure to follow and overwhelm the emotions of doubt.
Doubt brings sorrow; faith brings praise
BibleRef.Com
PRAYER: RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD
Father, help me never doubt you. Surely I have seen Your goodness and faithfulness all the days of my life. Help me in the throes of suffering and trials of this life to trust You, to remember, to call out to You, and to look for Your deliverance, and to praise You when it comes! – In Jesus’ Name – amen and amen.
*2 Chronicles 20:22; Joshua 6:20; Acts 16:25-40
YOUR TURN:Personal reflections
- How was God’s faithfulness shown to Joseph in prison?
- How have you seen God show His faithfulness to you when you were in a season of despair?
WANT MORE?
(I’m sure that I’ve shared this before but the highlighted portions came to mind when I was reading/writing and I couldn’t resist sharing again – I encourage you to read the lyrics and then take some time to sit [or dance] before God in worship.)
Blessings Lyrics [this song and its rights do not belong to me]
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if the thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us
And when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if the thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?