Do I have any idea what God is doing?

 

READ Psalm 81–85

The Bible says to pray for God’s people that all might “stand complete” in Christ, yet experience tells me that this does not happen quickly and sometimes not at all, at least this side of heaven. This morning’s prayer in a book I’m reading expressed the same perplexity. The author hinted that he would do things differently if he were God, but then quoted from the NT:

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (Romans 9:20–21)

None of us can blame God for our short-comings. Even though we ask Him to ‘zap’ us into shape, it is amazing enough that He has put the treasure of Jesus into these jars of clay. He is the Potter and the clay has no right to tell Him what to do.

These OT psalms turn it the other way: He is everything and has every right to tell us what to do. My problem is not that I know better, but that I don’t listen as well as I could. The psalmist describes this:

Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. (Psalm 81:8–16)

How many times have I been like that — not realizing (or admitting) that my problems are my own fault and God is chastening me with the consequences, then I turn around and ask Him to take away the very things He is using to get my attention!

This happens when it seems evil people have a better life than mine, or that those who need God’s help are being ignored. As the psalmist says, I also wonder and pray: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (82:2–4)

Instead of feeling sorry for myself and instead of ignoring what God is trying to tell me, I need to listen. When I do, things change. He pulls me out of this foolish “run my own life” mode and changes my desire for comfort to a desire for His glory and for the defeat of all who oppose Him . . .

O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads . . . . Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. (83:1–2; 16–18)

When I listen and obey, I know that “the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!” (84:11–12)

Many times I pray for revival, that all God’s people would joyfully submit to Him. The end result is appealing, but the process involves something like the work of a potter — he spins and pummels, shapes and reshapes, and none of it feels good. Is it harsh to pray for revival then? Are the troubles and trials part of the process of God doing whatever is necessary to get His people to listen and obey?

Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. (85:4–7)