My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me. Psalms27:8-10
Yesterday we saw that even after starting out with bold certainty, David is able to express some of his desperate longing and he articulates the fears and doubts that have been gnawing at his soul.
But even as he expresses his worries ("Don't hide your face, turn away, reject or forsake me"), David also affirms his core belief: "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me."
As unlikely it is that parents will forsake their children, it is even less likely (i.e. impossible) that God would forsake him.
God says the same thing in Isaiah 49:15
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!"
David's faith is not bravado or stoicism but it is also not a careless plunge into emotionalism. This is a fine balance:
He expresses faith, brings his doubts to God and then takes a firm stand.
May we do the same!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
