What is a long time? A year? Ten years? A hundred years? A thousand years? The answer to this question is ’it all depends’. We live in an increasingly impatient world; we want and expect everything NOW, just like spoiled children. I was like that on Thursday afternoon when I was in a huge hurry trying to sort out some paper work, and found myself shouting at the computer to ’hurry up!’ Even though it was probably only taking a couple of seconds longer than normal to get going. There is a saying ’a week is a long time in politics’, illustrating how quickly things can change in that area of life. For some things time really seems to drag, for others it just flies by. In fact, time can be both flying and dragging for us at the same time, when we think about different situations and areas of our lives. What we see to be a long time also varies through our lives. When I was six, a term at school seemed to last forever, now I am 39 a year seems to go as quickly as a term did back then. But whatever age we are, when we are missing somebody or something, or when we are desperate for something to happen, the shortest delay seems like a long time.
This was the experience of David. He was going through a deep valley in his experience of God. The Lord seemed far away. So far that it felt like he had forgotten him, the humble shepherd boy who he had raised up to be king over his people. It seemed as though he was getting no response whatsoever to his prayers or to his worship, it was as if the Lord was not just ignoring him, but actively hiding from him. He was desperate for the fellowship with God that he had known before. It seemed to be such a long time since he was conscious of the Lord’s attention and presence.
Not only was he going through a deep valley spiritually, but it seems that there were other problems as well, contributing to his despondency and feelings of abandonment. Perhaps other people were getting at him, perhaps all he could see was problems and difficulties no matter where he looked. He prayed, but nothing seemed to change. God seemed to be doing nothing.
Time was really dragging, he was missing the one thing that he loved the most and which gave him the most joy and fulfillment. It caused him to cry out in desperation and impatience ’How long?’ For how much longer would he be abandoned?
God seemed so far distant. How long? Three times he cried out, in his confusion and bewilderment to God, how could the Lord who he had served so faithfully seem so far distant and to be ignoring him? Then he cried out again, how long would the adverse circumstances that he was facing carry on for. Nothing was going right, and nothing, it seemed had gone right for a very long time.
Most of us can identify with David here, finding God far distant and seeming to lack contact with him. For many of us it seems that these times go on forever.
Many would have given up. Many would have concluded that God had abandoned them forever. Many would have given up and just shrugged their shoulders and tried to carry on with life on their own, perhaps filled with resentment against God for allowing them to stay in these circumstances. Or perhaps they would have doubted God, doubted his desire to help, doubted his love for them, even doubted his very existence. Many would have become cynical and weary of life.
But David’s response was different. Instead of doubting or becoming cynical, he continued to trust and pray. He prayed to the Lord who many would have said had abandoned him, the Lord who he knew was the only one who could have rescued him from the dire circumstances in which he was.
He prays that he would be given light in the dark circumstances in which he found himself. He knew that the Lord was the only giver of light. He knew that one tiny ray of light from the Light of the world would completely change the whole situation. He was still aware of his difficult circumstances, of all his problems, but he still trusted that the Lord was in charge, and was greater than any problem that he had.
He did not just call for deliverance for his own benefit, but also because he did not want the reputation of the Lord to suffer before non-believers. He did not want his enemy, whether it was a person or just difficult circumstances, to seem to have won and overcome the power of the Lord. He was still zealous for the reputation of the Lord, for him to be glorified in the eyes of the world.
After his prayer came trust. He had trusted in the Lord in the past and seen his power, seen his care and his interest in his servant. Even in this dessert time when God seemed so far distant, when everything was going wrong, when life was drudgery, he was able to rejoice. He was able to rejoice for two reasons.
Firstly he could look back in joy to times in the past God had been so close that he could almost touch him, to great times of spiritual blessing and feasting. The remembrance of these times would be a joy and a refreshment to him.
But secondly, he could look forward in joy to future times of blessing. To future times when he would at first hand experience the deliverance of God. To times that he knew would be coming. He knew that the Lord had promised his salvation, and he knew that he would keep his word.
The times of trouble and suffering, the times of lack of blessing, the times of feeling abandoned by God seemed to take so long, to drag on and on. But he knew that the Lord would honour his word.
Again, we can all identify with David in his dessert times. We have all known the wilderness. Perhaps we are in it at the moment. Perhaps God seems far distant, to even have abandoned us. Perhaps everything is going wrong in our lives. Perhaps we are desperately thirsty for blessing, but it seems that none comes. This situation might seem to be going on for a long, long time, to be dragging on interminably. We might be in despair that things will ever get better.
In those times, when God seems far distant, let us follow the example of David, who continued to trust. Who continued to pray, not always necessarily in quiet and reverent and Churchy language, but to cry out directly “HOW LONG!” To make our prayers clear and plain.
Let us also look both backwards and forwards. Backwards to times of blessing and spiritual refreshment in the past, but also forwards to the time of blessing that is to come.
Dessert places are common in our spiritual lives, times when God seems either to be absent or ignoring us. There are different reasons for this, many of them are down to us. But the like David we can be sure the time of refreshment will come.
If we are in the dessert now, let us pray to him and trust him. He will return to us and give us refreshment.
