“What I do, God, is wait for you, wait for my Lord, my God – you will answer!” Psalm 38.15
David’s life is a good model for me to follow. Not because David lived the perfect life, he didn’t. Not because David’s life is a model that we can mimic in all respects, we shouldn’t. David’s life is a model in how to recognize one’s weakness or failing and return to God. David shows us how to be angry with God and how to express one’s fears and doubts. David models honesty and a passionate pursuit of a God relationship. David’s life is unique due to the wide range of problems he found himself in, most which were his own making!
In Psalm 38 David’s prayer is a combination of whining and lamenting. God’s discipline and teaching is too stern and too frequent, my family does not visit anymore, my enemies are winning, and God is not doing his job! David even wraps his few words of hope in self-pity.
Given the day to day challenges of life, my sense of how unfair life can be, and the sheer size of the mountains in front of me, I find David’s words of hope the single way out of the trap. I often fall into the trap of Psalm 38; I complain about life, I lament without comfort, and I talk as if every problem is of someone else’s creation. God is supposed to be Santa Claus, fixing everything in reach! David suggests something totally different.
Stop, wait, and let God answer.
My life is a witness to the validity of this approach! There is no need to complain about the free will choice of others; it is their choice, respect it. When the outcome of our own decisions creates hardship; live and learn! Complaining about the problem only builds an illusion that we may not be accountable for our decisions. When life’s decisions sit at our doorstep David’s model comes in as the right process to follow.
Stop, wait, and let God answer.
God always loves you!
