TRUST HIS TIMING
Opening Prayer
Jesus, I look to You today. You are my hope and assurance of eternal life.
Read Psalm 102
A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life[b] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 102:1 In Hebrew texts 102:1-28 is numbered 102:2-29.
- Psalm 102:23 Or By his power
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you ever felt that the Lord has taken His time answering your prayers?In the agony of deeply distressing times (1–11), the psalmist’s cry is fervent and urgent. Like the man who prayed, ‘Lord, give me patience, and give it to me right now!’ the psalmist seeks a solution in his time: ‘when I call, answer me quickly’ (2).
‘But you, Lord…’ (12) is a pivotal point in the psalm; the psalmist turns from his own day of distress to consider God’s day of deliverance (12–22). This turning point becomes a trusting point as he repeatedly affirms that God ‘will’ respond with compassion (13a, 17) to bring deliverance for His people (15, 16). All this will happen, but only at God’s ‘appointed time’ (13). The psalmist is certain of God’s intervention, so sure that he anticipates future testimony about this great deliverance (18–20)! Focusing on his day of distress left the psalmist feeling helpless and hopeless; as he turns his eyes upon the Lord, hope is rekindled.
God’s timing doesn’t always tally with our own. But it is always to be trusted because He is the timeless and changeless one (25–27), ‘the same yesterday and today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8, NIV).
Apply
What situation is currently causing you to take your eyes off Jesus and filling your mind with worry? Give it to God today and let Him know that you trust His timing.
Closing prayer
But I trust in You, Lord … My times are in Your hands’ (Psalm 31:14a, 15a).
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