The psalmist has faith God will listen to his prayer. Still, sometimes the answer doesn’t seem to come very quickly. The psalmist uses voices of enemies to reveal how he feels at those times. He feels shame because others mock him for believing the Creator is actually listening. He feels he is living a lie. In the night, he despairs rather than sleeping. He becomes angry, ready to walk away from God.
However, the psalmist reasserts his trust in being part of a continuing conversation with God. As in any relationship, communication is not always as clear as desired. Yet, the psalmist is ready to rest and to hold the promise of God in his heart as he waits. God will answer him. God’s face, God’s good, will shine on him.
We don’t always receive the answer we seek, the help we need, as quickly as desired. We will wonder, question, doubt. Yet, as with Mary Magdalene, we have the promise that God knows our name, God hears us, and God answers us in many ways. So we can lie down in peace and rise up in gladness, even as we wait.
Listening God, answer us when we call, and help us listen and be patient as we wait, confident in the relationship announced in the good news of the risen Lord. Amen. — MHD