They Prayed, and God Answered Not

A Psalm of David.

Hear my prayer, O LORD,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness.   Psalm 143:1

Reading the story of a nineteenth century disaster, I rejoice to see the story of some praying to God in their distress. What was not a cause for rejoicing was in seeing the author's heart hardening before me as the Lord did not save those people from the approaching disaster. To many who do not believe in the Lord, it goes something like: they prayed, and God answered not, therefore God does not care or does not exist. The Lord is not invited to testify in His own defense, further evidence is not sought out, and judgment is swift. They see so little and judge so much. 

In the flesh we are like a judge who takes his seat on the bench, looks over at the defendant, and passes judgment with a swift slam of the gavel. Both counsels are left stunned, the court reporter is not sure what just happened, and the defendant is elated or crushed in one quick moment. The next case is brought and the judge does it again, and again, until the docket is clear for that day. What? One quick look at a defendant and judgment is passed? It should never happen in our courts, and faster than a person could read the contents of a city library, the state supreme court would censure the justice and have the cases retried. And yet, this is the sort of judgment our Lord gets every day. With just a glance the person sees a little and judges the Lord to be not good or not in residence or never has been. 

And then there was David's prayer in our verse for today. A prayer of faith to the One who is faithful. In this verse we can see a man who would wait on the Lord's answer whether it be yes, or no, or wait, or even a blessed silence. In faith we know the Lord always hears us, and in faith we accept His answer as good and loving, no matter what it may seem to us in our limited view. We know it is His view that matters. 

Love and joy to you in Christ the Lord!

Bucky