Prayer
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1. While I was reading the short Psalm
number 70 and I was meditating on it, I noticed that the Psalmist says to the
Lord, ‘Make haste’ three times (v. 1,5 – NKJV), and one time he says, ‘Do not
delay’ (v. 5). I wonder, ‘Did the Psalmist not know that passage of the
Scripture which says that “God has made everything beautiful in its time”
(Ecclesiastes |
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First of
all, it must be said that since the author of the Psalm number 70 is David, he
could not know that passage of the Scripture which says that God has made
everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11) because these words were
written by his son Solomon after he became king of Israel. Nevertheless, I
don’t think that David, by speaking those words, questioned the fact that God
answers at the right moment, and surely he had experienced His punctuality
because all those who pray to God continually experience God’s punctuality in
His answers. Therefore we should understand those words of his, that is, ‘Make
haste’ and ‘Do not delay’, in this way: they are normal expressions spoken by
a human being who was in a distress. He, seeing that his enemies were on the
point of overcoming him, called on His God with all his heart so that He might
deliver him from the hands of his enemies and He might not put him to shame.
On the other hand, several times we find these expressions in David’s prayers
(Psalm 31:2; 38:22; 40:13,17; 69:17-18; 141:1; 143:7), and we know that David
was a man after God’s heart, who knew that God answered his prayers at the
right moment. These words of David are like these other words he spoke to God
in the day of trouble: ‘Do not forsake me, O Lord” (Psalm 38:21 – NKJV), even
though he knew that God had said to Joshua: “I will not leave you nor forsake
you” (Joshua 1:5 – NKJV). And there is also this expression used sometimes by
David – who trusted God with all his heart – in his distresses (which is
similar to the above mentioned expressions): “Let me not be ashamed” (Psalm
25:2,20 – NKJV. cf. Psalm 31:1,17), even though David knew very well that the
upright “shall not be ashamed in the evil time” (Psalm 37:19 – NKJV), and
that his forefathers had trusted in God and had not been ashamed (Psalm
22:5). |
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Of course,
such an attitude may appear contradictory, but it is only an apparent contradiction.
Therefore, if that’s how things are, I believe that if we children of God say
to God, ‘Make haste’ and, ‘Do not delay’ in the midst of our distresses, we
don’t show we disbelieve that God answers us at the right time. But rather we
show that we want God to help us at once, immediately; however our will must submit
to the will of God because we know that He will answer us when He wills.
Sometimes I also have said to God in my prayers to make haste to help me and
not to delay, and I must admit that even though sometimes I wanted God to
help me in my own time, God answered me in His own time and He was not late
at all. Therefore, I had to submit to the will of God. What did I learn from
this? That we must never question the fact that God will answer us, and that
it is not necessary for us to say to God, ‘Do not delay’ or ‘Make haste to
help me’; for God knows when we need to be helped and how we need to be
helped for our own good. Therefore, I believe that if we pray with this
assurance (that is, with the assurance that God answers us in His own time),
we will be blessed. For sure He will not tarry. |
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I think of
an another apparent contradiction which is in the Bible, which is this. Even though
Peter knew that the appearing of the Lord Jesus will take place at God’s
appointed time, he says in his second epistle: “Looking for and hastening the
coming of the day of God ….” (2 Peter |
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However,
let me point out another apparent contradiction. Is it not an apparent contradiction
the fact that even though Jesus knew and had said that the Son of Man had to
suffer many things from the priests, the scribes and Pharisees, and be put to
death and be raised the third day, when He was deeply distressed in the
garden of Gethsemane he asked the Father to take that cup away from Him (Mark
14:36)? Of course, it is; however we know that He said to the Father the
following words also: “Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mark
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