How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬-‭7‬
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.

Some days, it seems hope is fleeting, our efforts seem futile, and the enemies of what is good and right seem to scatter along life unscathed. I have found that just ignoring these feelings, or pretending they do not exist, does no good. I am all for positive thinking and focusing mainly on the good in life. However, we see here that the psalmist also shares his frustration, anger, and desperation with God.

Why does he do this? Isn’t God busy enough with managing the universe? The startling truth of the matter is: God is able to do both! He can simultaneously keep the planets in orbit around the sun and care deeply for how one of his children is experiencing hardships in life.

I love how Psalm 12 starts out. The author really lays it out there for God to hear. Will you forget me forever? Will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and my enemies triumph over me? How long will I have sorrow in my heart?

These are REAL questions of a REAL follower who is in a REAL battle in life and has gotten to a point where he does not see a way out. I grow tired of the fancy prayers I hear sometimes by church-goers who aren’t honest with how they are feeling. I hear the proverbial platitudes: “There is a time and season for everything.” “Life will work out if you follow God’s Will.” While these have truth in them as they come from scripture, many times they are applied as a substitute for really caring and understanding how one can help.

Here are some personal takeaways: 1) My faith needs to be honest. I need to be honest with God when I am down, discouraged, feeling underappreciated and not seeing the rewards of life’s labor in doing good. 2) I must ask God to look upon me and my situation and answer me. I must petition him in a vulnerable, humble way. 3) I need to ask him to give me back the light that shines in my heart when it seems to have gone out. I must fight to keep and maintain this. 4) I must trust in his faithfulness and salvation.

Our parallel verses in Isaiah expands on the benefits of point 4 above. A) He will keep me in perfect peace if I trust in him. B) He is The Rock on which I can stand, the only rock that can withstand the forces of evil in this world. C) Justice for the poor and the oppressed will come. He promises this. D) He makes the paths of the righteous smooth. He levels out ways for us from paths that seem too hard to travel or too steep to climb.

Lord, thank you for this model for asking REAL questions of you. This flies in contrast to the “religious people” who never want to be honest with their struggles or feelings, so they always look like they have it put together. You desire REALNESS and honesty of your followers. May I never lose sight of this. I love that you do care about me and my individual challenges, though you have a whole universe to manage.