How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hid your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
The footnotes in my Bible say that this prayer for help was written during a time of physical illness that David had. I’m sure many people who are struggling with physical pain, injuries, diseases, and illnesses ask the same question David asks:
How long? How long?
How long will I have to endure this?
How long will God hold out on me?
Are you out there, God?
What a helpless feeling—to see no end in sight to a sickness. I think about those who have fought cancer for years and years, and my heart breaks for them and their families.
Sometimes life doesn’t make sense to us. But it makes sense to God.
David asks, “Will you forget me forever?” ‘Forget’ in this psalm actually means ignore. David knows that God could never forget one of his own, but doesn’t it sometimes feel like God is just ignoring us sometimes? Some of our prayers have been prayed for months and even years without an answer.
How long, God?
Again, this psalm reminds us that it is okay to pour our hearts out to God, the good and the bad, but we need to finish our prayers the same way David did, with a declaration of our faith, even when we don’t understand.
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
God’s love is unfailing. He never forgets or ignores us. He has saved us from our sins and has given us eternity with Him. If he did nothing else but that, He still deserves our praise forever. The amazing thing is that He has done so much more than just saving our souls. He gives us peace, blessings beyond compare, joy, friendships, family, opportunities to serve, life, and laughter to name a few.
I hope that every day I will choose to praise Him.
When I don’t understand His ways—I will praise Him.
When I feel like He has forgotten me—I will praise Him.
No matter what—I will praise Him.
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