Psalm 28: give God the time and space to work things His way
It is interesting to see how this psalm, better called a prayer, is structured. There is the petition at the beginning, the reason for the petition, or the background information, afterwards, and at the end, thanks are given. Note these verses: “I have been helped; my body has recovered its vigour, with all my heart I thank him.”
It is hard to imagine that David could have obtained the answer to his petition by the end of the psalm. Sometimes, instant answers to prayers are given, but most of the time, getting an answer takes time, and there are two reasons that come to mind here. One, God works on His schedule, which covers the big picture; He knows best when it’s time for something. Two, the delay teaches us patience. It teaches us that it’s not what we want, it’s what He wants. We simply have to trust in Him, that will act in due time, and not worry about it or try to rush it through human means. It’s one of the hardest things to accomplish, I know. I struggle with it constantly.
If we manage to do this, we are strengthened in our faith. And it shows our faith even more when we’re able to thank God wholeheartedly, as David does in this psalm, while we are still waiting for His answer: “Blessed be Yahweh, for he hears the sound of my prayer.” If we can truly do this, we have real faith! If we can thank God for something He hasn’t yet done, and really believe that He’ll come through for us, then wow, we have really progressed in our walk with Him! I openly acknowledge that I’m not there yet. I’m working on it. I still worry and fret and can’t turn things over to Him completely. But I really do want to get there, to have the strength of faith that will allow me to sleep soundly in the face of what looks to be impending trouble, knowing that my life and my affairs are in His omnipotent hands.
