So many are talking about me: “Even God won’t help him!” — Psalm 3:2
This was what an old Hebrew songwriter heard when he was suffering. His enemies taunted him with it. It was as if they were saying that God was an absentee landlord: provided everything, but nowhere to be found when something broke. And this psalmist definitely felt something was broken in his life.
Do you ever feel the same way at times? It’s as if the world has given up on there being a God or, if there is, then that deity is absent most of the time. Honestly, I find myself dropping into that hole from time to time.
This psalmist, though, followed his lament with this affirmation: “But you, Lord, are my shield! You are my glory! You are the one who restores me!” (Psalm 3:3)
We don’t know why his lament turned abruptly to affirmation. Maybe it’s because he’d lived his life immersed in the “Instruction” (Torah), in being part of a tight-knit community, and in helping others. He simply had felt God’s presence. And now, when he heard the jeers, it served not to depress him but to rebound him. He had known God to be very present, very just, and very compassionate. Even though he didn’t necessarily see any way out of his predicament, he found strength to simply wait, hope, and expect that God will indeed help him. The brashness of his enemies was like a wakeup call to hoping and trusting.
Interestingly, remembering this, he could “lie down, sleep, and wake up because the Lord helps me.” (Psalm 3:5)
May we not dismay when people bluster and rant about God being absent or uncaring.
Instead, may we get a good night’s sleep.