God

It's happening! Everyone is returning from isolation! Minor league baseball is stirring dirt in our community, professional basketball welcomes back more fans, and BBQ smoke is rolling on the river to kick off month-long events. On our campus, people are returning! Sr. Adult monthly lunch returned, Sunday Small Group Bible Study returns, we are hosting a wedding, the Sr. Living Towers is welcoming back guests, families are gathering on the playground, and worship attendance continues to increase! While we all have experienced a collectivity sense of isolation, we all are seeking to return to normalcy and replenishing!

When reading the Word of God, we can learn that God's chosen ones dealt with their isolation, even while being favored. Abraham found himself isolated in his faith (Gen. 12), Joseph found himself isolated from family (Gen. 38-50), Elijah was isolated from hope (1 Kings 19:1-8), and David, with the favor the Lord clearly upon him, felt isolated from God (Psalm 13).

The CSB titles this Psalm "A Plea for Deliverance." This Psalm overflows with real emotions, including overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, depression, and abandonment. This passage reveals David's struggle with the Lord and his feelings. David, while running from King Saul, writes the Psalm. As a matter of fact, he may have been hiding at this time in a cave while the Philistines were teamed up to hunt him out. Day after day, he found himself in a desperate situation. In weariness of body and soreness of mind and heart, he cries out to God: David asks the question that at many times in our lives we have asked; "Lord, How long?" That question, more times than not, is asked during times of isolation.

David fears at the beginning of this Psalm that God has forgotten him and left him forever. The experience of God's absence has inward emotional effects on David. His sense of abandonment leads to inward "wrestling" with thoughts (13:2—"I take counsel within myself") and daily "sorrow" ("torment") in his heart. Often, in prayer, we spend most of our time speaking to God rather than listening to God. During David's lament, I believe that while praying, he was also listening with his heart. His prayer evolved in the written six verses from desperation and isolation to deliverance and worship.

David had moved from a pit of despair to confidence in God and a spirit of worship. At the start of the prayer, all David could see was his present hardship. By the end, however, he was reflecting on God and His goodness and love. This is the way prayer works. God wants us to be honest with Him, no matter what we are feeling, and as we pray, He opens our eyes to His truth and reminds us of His goodness and love.

Amid David's suffering and lament, he affirmed some critical characteristics of God that are important for us never to lose sight of. David called to mind God's steadfast, unfailing love, His saving power, and His goodness. David had firsthand experience with each of these characteristics of God, and even amid fear and despair, David knew they were still genuine. God had not changed. David changed because of God, and as a result, David eventually learned to replace the question "How long, O Lord?" with the affirmation, "My times are in your hands" (31:15). This is a lesson that all believers must learn.

As we all return from isolation seeking to be restored, remember, when you feel isolated from God, we can be confident that He is present and will never abandon you.