Learning To Trust

Psalm 89:46-52

46O LORD, how long will this go on?

Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your anger burn like fire?

47Remember how short my life is,

how empty and futile this human existence!

48No one can live forever; all will die.

No one can escape the power of the grave.

Interlude

49Lord, where is your unfailing love?

You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.

50Consider, Lord, how your servants are disgraced!

I carry in my heart the insults of so many people.

51Your enemies have mocked me, O LORD;

they mock the one you anointed as king.

52Blessed be the LORD forever!

Amen and amen!

Martha was ticked. Her brother, Lazarus, had been on his deathbed when she sent word to Jesus. After all the times she had been there for Jesus, you’d think he would come quickly in her time of need. But no, by the time he got there, Lazarus was dead and already rotting in his tomb.

“If you had been here, my brother would not have died!” Martha scolded.

“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. Of course. That’s what you say to grieving people—think of the hereafter. But Jesus clarified, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:17-25).

Was Jesus speaking of spiritual resurrection? Of course, but he chose to demonstrate his spiritual power in a very physical way. Calling into the tomb, he invited Lazarus back to the land of the living. “Wait,” Martha said, “it’s going to smell really bad!” But then Lazarus stepped out—he was alive!

The end of Psalm 89 is full of questions. Where is your unfailing love, Lord? Why weren’t you here when we needed you? Martha had the same questions, but as she learned to trust the Lord’s power and timing, she received a wonderful surprise. As we learn to trust the Lord in the same way, the Lord will surprise us, too, just as he did Martha.

The last verse of Psalm 89 brings it full circle—just attach it to the psalm’s first verse and read it all again. No matter how bad things get, we can always count on God’s unfailing love to surprise us.

If all were easy, if all were bright,

Where would the cross be, where would the fight?

But in the hardness, God gives to you

Chances for proving what He can do.

M. D.

A Word on Words

The final verse of this psalm is a benediction much like Psalm 41:13 and 72:18-19. The double “amen” was probably a congregational response.

Notable Quotable

“It is no accident that unchanging love is used five times in this psalm and faithfulness seven times. The congregation is left with the choice between God’s integrity and their own.”

JOHN I. DURHAM