The likelihood that at some point during the Christian’s life a feeling of being neglected by God, distant to God or completely abandoned by the Creator is highly probable. It might be where you are right now. You may have even been there for awhile. Take heart you’re not alone. Many are feeling those exact emotions and many who have gone before us have endured a lifestage such as this. David is one of them.
According to Bible.org, the gist of Psalm 31 can be summed up as follows, “The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication.” This is not an uncommon theme for the Psalms. David says something akin to, “God, it feels like I’ve been left to fend for myself and it seems like you’re hiding your face from me.” God then shows up in a big way. David responds with, “God, I put my faith in you because you are always faithful.”
Yet in Psalm 31.22, a new insight is divulged. Depending on the translation, you get anything from:
“I jumped to conclusions and said, “I am cut off from your presence!” But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help” (NET)
or
“I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.” (ESV)
The general idea is that David panicked when he started feeling the void of not hearing from and interacting with God. It’s a fairly normal reaction, to go from feeling the presence of Yahweh to getting nothing but a dial tone. It’s pretty easy to place the blame on God, too. We still have our same habits and routines. We’re doing the same things we’ve done in the past to hear God’s voice, but for some reason it’s not working.
David takes ownership of his action and says that he “jumped to conclusions” or acted out of “alarm” or “haste”. How long do you give God before you let him know that you’ve been cut off from his presence? How long until you say, “I am cut off from your sight”? It should be alarming when that feeling strikes us, shouldn’t it? Crying out to God to hear our plea should be the first action we take. No answer? Repeat. Still no answer? Keep going.
It’s not that easy, though, is it? It’s hard work. Patience wears thin, life speeds up. We wait for God to move. Oh, but to hang on the promise of God’s word as we wait. God always shows up. He has to. He can’t be unfaithful. It might seem like He’s ignoring us, but we hold fast to his word like David does when he finishes this psalm like so many others:
“Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!” (ESV)
He hears our cries for mercy.
*Does the NET translation drums up memories of the “Jump to Conclusions” mat of “Office Space” fame for anyone else?
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