“How long, O Lord? How long will you forget me and hide yourself from me? How long will my enemies prevail over me?” (Psalm 13:1a, 2b)
We live by faith, not by sight. Often it doesn’t appear that God is giving us His undivided attention. Often we feel like the world is winning and that the grave is the end. We must trust in God’s steadfast love when we cannot easily see His love in our daily experiences.
Where we can see the love of God is on the Cross of Christ. A crucifix is offensive to the eyes. It is ugly, with a naked, bleeding, dying man. A crucifix offends our pride. “You expect me to worship something so feeble? You expect me to find salvation in a man who couldn’t save Himself?”
That’s what the eyes see, but the eyes of faith see the salvation of our God. The Gospel pulls back the veil and we no longer see a feeble man being murdered by His enemies. Instead, we see our Creator laying down His life for us. We see our Savior entering the grave in order to make a way out of the grave for us.
Thus, whenever we pray, “How long, O Lord?” we are not speaking out of despair. We pray such desperate words with confidence. We pray, knowing that God will consider and answer us. He will not abandon us to the grave or hand us over to our enemies.
Prayer
Help then, O Lord, our unbelief;
And may our faith abound
To call on You when You are near
And seek where You are found.
For You, O resurrected Lord,
Are found in means divine:
Beneath the water and the Word,
Beneath the bread and wine.
(“We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight” LSB 720, st. 3-4)
Stay encouraged!
Pastor Mike
