How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him, lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
~Psalm 13 (ESV)
Like Advent, despair forces us to wait, to ask “how long?” and to wonder when will hope come again. Martin Luther once said, “hope despairs and yet despair hopes.” What a precious gift the Spirit gives when hope forms in our hearts simple prayers of faith such as O Lord my God; light up my eyes!
Light is the source of all life. Our spiritual lives need light also. The light of God’s love and favor never fails to eventually overshadow our despair and usher in the strength to trust, to hope again.
Psalm 13 invites you and I to practice waiting and to remember that God has never failed us. Faith has triumphed. During this season of Advent, may you and I wait with our eyes enlightened by the God of all hope.
Come Learn Rest Ministries 