Good afternoon, y’all! We gathered Sunday to discuss Psalm 13, written by David, a man after God’s own heart. Though just a couple short verses, we unpacked quite a bit here in regards to what our prayer approach with God can look like and be productive. David starts asking why God has forgotten him. We fall into this temptation from time to time, to believe that we have been abandoned. Have you ever felt alone? That different versions of the enemies are attacking you and you can’t find God in your midst. Sometimes we feel like whatever problem we are going though is something we “have” to take care of on our own. But let’s be real, I’m betting you’ve realized more often that not, that you actually need God to step in and take the burden that is too big for you to shoulder individually. But how do you respond to these feelings? From a position of hopelessness, David pleads with God to light up his eyes again. We see that even though David doesn’t see a way out, he still chooses to believe that God is good and will make a way. The psalm wraps up with David recognizing what God had done for him in the past, and using that as hope in what God will do in the future. He doesn’t just resolve to do it on his own and stubbornly shut God out. Instead there is a surrender of dependency on God and a shift in attitude from lament to intentional recognition of how David had seen God show up before. I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I have personally noticed that my whole demeanor changes when I choose to praise God for what He has done, in the midst of my calling out for help during times of struggle and stagnancy.
