O God, do not keep silent

Meditations on Psalm 83

O God, do not keep silent;
       be not quiet, O God, be not still. Psalm 83:1

Where is God when it hurts? Where is God when we face untold troubles, and sink into murky depths of despair? Where is God when a young mother hurts because her husband has left her? Or when a little child is left all alone because his parents have perished? Unanswered questions fill places and people all across the earth, and many wonder in these difficult times “Where is God?” “Is God really there?”

Some doubt the existence of God. Some think that God does not see all the suffering that the world endures. Or some perhaps think that He only sits and watches as mankind and history go by in the tides of time.

But the Scripture says otherwise, for the Scripture says that God cares. In the days of Noah, when morality had sunk to its lowest ebb, and the whole earth was filled with violence and every inclination of man’s heart was only towards evil, it is written that God’s heart was filled with pain. It is the pain of a father seeing his son go astray, or a teacher watching his student depart from the lessons taught to him. We could never fully understand the pain of the Creator watching his prized creation degrade into terrible deformities because of sin.

It is written that the eyes of the Lord range to and fro across the whole earth. He knows what is happening everywhere, and He knows the suffering that people face, and the atrocities that wicked men do. God is just and righteous and there will be a time when all deeds will be brought to judgment, but God is patient and gives time for men everywhere to repent.

But until that time, what about us, how do we face our day to day lives? Will God work for us and help us where we are? Here’s where faith comes in, where we are called to pray “O God, do not keep silent, be not quiet, O God, be not still”. We are called to pray and ask God to be real in our lives, to overturn the injustices where we are, to empower us to do His will in power and might and love. When we begin to believe, that we will start to see God answering our prayers, and we will start to really believe that God is real and working all around us like His Word says. We will watch Him change lives, and redeem lost souls, bringing healing to the sick, and hope to the despairing.

And all these starts with a little prayer for God not to be silent, for God not to be still.

May God be real in your lives, active and working, as you trust and hope in Him in all faith.

God bless, Jason