“How long, O Lord…?” – Psalm 6.3; 13:1-2; 35:17; 74:10; 79:5; 80:4; 89:46; 90:13; 94:3; Isaiah 6:11; Jeremiah 12:4; 47:6; Habakkuk 1:2; Revelation 6:10
No less than fifteen times Scripture records the pleas of God’s people, “How long, O Lord, how long?” Perhaps we have found ourselves echoing this cry in our present crisis. That’s okay! The question expresses both lament in hardship and longing in hope, and the Heavenly Father welcomes both from His beloved children. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul declares that, “all of creation has been groaning and suffering together right up to the present moment, and we ourselves, by the indwelling Spirit, are groaning within as we yearn for the culmination of our adoption as God’s children”–when He brings us home and we receive our new eternal bodies (Romans 8:19-24).
We should surely take comfort from the fact that God has a definite answer to our, “How long, O Lord?” The occurrences of this question in Scripture show that while God does not always choose to reply, when He does He makes clear that what is happening is according to His plan and timetable. He is “ordering all things according to the purpose of His will” (Ephesians 1:11), and He tells us where it is taking us: “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, establish, and settle you [there]” (1Peter 5:10)!
“Are we almost there, Dad?”
Set aside some time today to give voice to the Spirit’s groanings of lament and hope within you unto your Heavenly Father.