Psalm 119: Kaph

Have you ever cried out or prayed to the Lord in frustration? In my own experience, I have begged Jesus to return so that I don’t have to deal with this wicked world anymore.  It is interesting that in the previous stanza, the psalmist took comfort and hope in God’s Word.  Now, he has turned the corner essentially complaining to the Lord!  It isn’t about His Word though, it is about the suffering in this sinful and broken world.  In verse 84, he asks God, “how much longer must I live like this? When will you finally deal with these people?”  Can you relate???  So can I!

Yet, here we are.  There they are.  Jesus hasn’t returned to “set things right” yet and here we are right in the middle of it.  Yet, the psalmist concludes with this line:

According to your loyal love preserve me alive, so that I may heed the testimony from your mouth.

This is a crucial attitude for us to embrace.  It is easy to blame God for the atrocities surrounding us.  We feel pain and sorrow because of what is happening around us and to us.  Yet for some reason, God decides it isn’t time for Jesus to return nor for us to be called up.  What gives?  Here’s the deal: God wants His followers to remain so that the lost may be saved.  We are blessed to be a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3).  How can the unrighteous be transformed and introduced to the glory of God if we don’t tell them?

You see, this has been my own personal struggle: viewing people through my feelings instead of God’s view.  This world is sick with sin.  God is the Great Physician.  They need us to help them learn that He exists and how to get to Him.  It’s not a good excuse for the things people do to us and others that are sinful, but it is a symptom of their brokenness.  Yes, I am even talking about active followers of Jesus!  Even Christians need to hear the Gospel now and again. Jesus never promised to take us out of this broken world, yet He did promise to be with us as we journey through it.  This is the very commissioning Jesus gives us in Matthew 28:

18 And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.”

In John 16:33, after Jesus explained the process of abiding in God through the Spirit which was to come (and now has come), He reminds us of the core truth:

I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.

So then, the challenge is to change our way of thinking!  Not to ask God to take us from this world, but to give us courage and remember that He has already conquered it all!  We, as His followers, get to walk into the battle daily having already won it because of His work on the cross.  It’s like playing a sports game already knowing what the final score will be.  This changes things.  It changes how we see brokenness and sin.  We get to invite people over to the winning team before the game is over.  We also get to remind those who are on the winning team what the final score will be.  Is it still tough?  Absolutely.  But it also can be fun if our perspective is aligned with God’s plan.