From Petition to Confident Expectation

Sunday was Father’s Day, the first holiday without my Dad. I knew church was where I needed to be, but it was difficult to be there. I cried during one of the songs, again in the sermon as fathers were mentioned, and again as a friend who recently lost her mom hugged me.

I’m not quite ready to dive back into Ephesians, but this morning as I read Psalm 143, I was reminded of truth in the grief. A couple years ago, I wrote a more in-depth devotional on this Psalm (see “I Ponder the Works of Your Hands”), but today I want to highlight a few things.

Before we begin, remember that the psalms can speak into a variety of sorrow, suffering, and grief. David, for much of his life, was pursued by literal enemies. Most of us have not experienced an enemy’s pursuit, but we experience sorrow, suffering, and grief in other ways.

A Psalm of David.

1  Hear my prayer, O Lord;

give ear to my pleas for mercy!

In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

2  Enter not into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous before you.

3  For the enemy has pursued my soul;

he has crushed my life to the ground;

he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

4  Therefore my spirit faints within me;

my heart within me is appalled.

5  I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all that you have done;

I ponder the work of your hands.

6  I stretch out my hands to you;

my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

7  Answer me quickly, O Lord!

My spirit fails!

Hide not your face from me,

lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

8  Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

9  Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!

I have fled to you for refuge.

10  Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

Let your good Spirit lead me

on level ground!

11  For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life!

In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!

12  And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,

and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,

for I am your servant. [1]

As I read through this Psalm today, I used my colored pens to emphasize different aspects of the psalm. I use the purple pen to underline petitions. There are many petitions in this psalm. In verse 1, David pleads for God’s mercy and asks God to answer him. In other parts of the psalm, David asks for specific things including deliverance, to be taught, and to know the path he should go. David’s petitions model to us that we too can cry out to God. We can plead for His mercy and to answer our prayers, knowing that He is faithful to do so. We can also plead for specific things but within the context of God being glorified (vs 11), and ultimately His will not ours.

Some of the words in verses 3 and 4 resonated with the sadness in my heart – crushed, darkness, faints. My heart is full of thankfulness that my Dad is with his Savior, free from physical suffering. I have hope and joy knowing that his death is not the end. I will see him again, but Scripture is full of examples where joy and grief co-exist. As moments of grief come and go, so do the feelings of darkness and being crushed or my soul fainting within me.

David isn’t chided for the way he feels, but he also understands it is not good to remain in the dark place. In the middle of the psalm,  David purposefully sets his mind on God, on truth. “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands” (vs 5). David remembers “God does…” truths. Woven throughout the psalm, are “God is…” truths. David’s anchor is God.

My comfort, encouragement, hope, and strength come from God, so I need to daily, hourly, saturate my mind in “God is…” and “God does…” truths. Whatever your darkness, He hears. He is merciful. He is faithful. He is righteous (vs 1). God will never change.

The “God is…” truth that has been the most comforting, encouraging, hopeful, and strengthening to me is God’s sovereignty. My Dad’s condition changed dramatically overnight, and from there, it was a handful of days before he died. It shocked my Mom and I that morning when we walked in and saw the change, but it had not come as a surprise to God. God was sovereign over the timing even when birthday wishes were coming in for me as I held my Dad’s hand with his last breath. Daniel 2:21 says: “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” Man has no control over times and seasons, but God absolutely does. When life feels out of control to me, God has perfect control, and His sovereignty does not operate alone. His perfect wisdom, power, goodness, kindness, righteousness, and all His other attributes are perfectly knitted together at all times with His sovereignty. In this, I found comfort, encouragement, hope, and strength.

David pleads with God throughout the psalm, but he ends the psalm with confident expectation of what God will do because he knows his God. Notice the repeated word will that express David’s confident expectation. Our situations are different than David’s, but we can have confident expectation that God will act. He may not act in the way we think He should, but He always acts for our good and His glory.

Reflection

1.    How have you pleaded with God? What was your petition? Are you persistent like David?

2.    What words stand out to you in the psalm? Why?

3.    Write down the “God is…” and “God does…” truths from the psalm. Which ones comfort, encourage, strengthen, or give you hope in your darkness?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 143:title–12.