Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-171 Sunday 01 Sep 2002

Reading: Psalm 123 – FAITH AND QUESTIONING

‘Please have mercy, Lord! We have been insulted more than we can stand.'(Ps 123:3, CEV)

Recently, I met two men. One, whose wife had left with their three young children, spoke of how God had sustained him and strengthened his faith; the other, who had suffered a prolonged period of illness, spoke of his bitterness and was in danger of losing his faith in God. In any situation of pain, distress, confusion or oppression, we have a choice. We can choose to focus on God (vs 1,2), or we can allow the pressure of the circumstances (v 4) to shift our gaze elsewhere.

As the writer approaches Jerusalem, he chooses to raise his eyes to God. He will not be distracted. But this is no easy process. There have been no quick answers. He will wait until God shows mercy (v 2). And having expressed his confidence in God, he gives vent to his pain in the cry which follows (vs 3,4). Faith and questioning can go hand in hand. Sometimes all we can do is hang in with our questions unanswered and our longings unfulfilled.

Waiting is a recurring theme in the psalms. We met it in Psalm 119; it emerges in Psalm 37 (vs 7,34) and again in Psalm 130. During the week in which I write this, I have been with Scripture Union staff from around the world, some of whom are experiencing the reality of persecution. The cry of the saints from the altar goes up in every age, ‘How long, O Lord, how long?’ Whether it is persecution or something else, the waiting is part of living in a fallen world. It is also part of the process by which God draws us to himself in the simple dependence of verses 1 and 2.

Pray today for the suffering church. Further details can be obtained from Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and other specialist organisations.

– John Grayston

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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