How Long? - Psalms 13 & 14

How long? A question any Christian has asks in times of trouble. What strikes me about Psalm 13 is that it's ok to ask God questions, to pour out what you're thinking. And I shouldn't say it's ok, but also good. David does it here in the Bible! I think of Jeremiah doing the same thing (Jeremiah 12:1-4, 20:7-10) during his hardships for the sake of following God's Word, and the saints awaiting justice in Revelation 6:9-11.

When we ask this, when we feel forgotten by God, we remember God's past mercy (חֶסֶד). And this gives us joy and confidence since we know that through it all, God's accomplishing his purposes. Think of David's hardships during the conspiracies of Absalom and Adonijah. It corrected David, showed him the consequence for sin, and prepared the throne to be passed on to Solomon who completed the construction of the temple. This Psalm is a prayer for patience and trust.

It's Necessary For Us To Enter Into God's Kingdom Through Many Hardships - Acts 13-14

One of the first things Jesus said about the converted Saul was, "It is I who'll show him how much it's necessary to suffer for my name" (Acts 9:16). We saw it previewed in Damascus, and now it's beginning.

As I said yesterday, starting here in chapter 13 we see the explosive spread of the good news about Jesus on its way to "the ends of the earth" as the Spirit picks Barnabas and Saul out for this work.