Feeling Forgotten

By: Pastor Junior

Text: Psalm 13

Have you ever felt forgotten? There are seasons of incredible stress and trial in each of our lives that may result in our asking God, “What is up?!! For goodness sakes, what is happening, and where are You?” I find it comforting to know that David, one of the mighty kings of Israel, the one after God’s own heart, felt the same way. Richard Brown, my mentor, taught me this psalm once. According to him, anytime you feel forgotten, you can ask God, “ how long, Lord?” 

JOHN LEE, my online CHAPLAIN from Indiana Wesleyan University addresses the same thing in a weekly newsletter. He challenges us to behave as David did in this Psalm. 

Whenever I read Psalm 13, I feel what David felt then. When you read these words and personalize them, you will sense the passion David expressed through the song. 

“1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

    How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

JOHN LEE says “tough times come. But after a spell, we see a change in our circumstances.” God is always right, he does not owe us an answer. His silence, however, frightens us. 

One thing we need to consider about God’s silence is his steadfast love and faithfulness. According to LEE, God’s silence may be a way the LORD is refining us or maybe he is waiting for a change in our daily perspective.

David teaches us something that all of us need to take to account when we are waiting on God. After he questions God “ for how long” will he forget him, “how long” will he continue to turn his face away from him. He  goes on telling God what he needs and wants God to do for him. Then we come to the end of Psalm 13. Check out what David says…

“5 But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,

    for he has been good to me.”

Sometimes our self-centeredness veils us from acknowledging God’s present love; it prevents us from rejoicing in His salvation. Instead of praising him, we are complaining. David tells us to rejoice and praise even if he does not answer our persistent prayers. He loves us even if He does not answer us, yet. 

God’s love is present, without defect, as strong as ever. Amid anything, He is WITH us. I believe we can take notes from what David does. He puts his trust in God’s unfailing love. He decides and allows himself to rejoice in God’s salvation—in the Lord's deliverance.

This is the Challenge my Chaplain gave us, and I want everyone reading this to try it with me as well: “Today, let’s focus on all the great ways that God has shown up. You may be going through a time when you are questioning God’s goodness to you amidst the brokenness of this world. That’s ok. God is big enough for the questions. But let’s follow in David’s example and choose to remember how He saves us and delivers us too. You have those memories. Let’s ponder all the ways that God has blessed. Let’s purpose to praise Him amidst any desert we may be crossing or mountain we are attempting to scale. He is GOOD—always! His love doesn’t fail, even when we question….”