Yesterday my pastor’s sermon came from Psalm 13, a six-verse Psalm in which King David cries out in despair to God. Here it is in its entirety, from the King James Version (c/o Bible Hub):
1{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
The title of the sermon was “What Do You Do When God Delays?” The whole point was that we’re always eager for answers and results now, and our tolerance for what we perceive to be as delays is pitifully short.
Of course, God isn’t delaying—He’s on His timetable, not ours. When everything is going well, we don’t think about it, but when things go wrong, we’re often desperate for life to return to normality; if it doesn’t do so immediately, we get impatient with God.
The Portly Politico 