Jump Start # 3596

Psalms 28:6 “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications.”

There is an interesting break in the text of Psalms 28. And, this break makes us wonder about the writing of some passages. The chapter begins with David, the writer through inspiration, calling upon the Lord to hear him (1). He begs God to hear the voice of his supplications (2). He seeks safety and wants the Lord to keep him from being taken away with the wicked (3). Then we come to our verse today. David praises God because has heard him. The Lord becomes his strength and shield (7). He has been helped (7). David sings the song of thankfulness (7).

Did you catch the break? The Psalm begins with David asking God to hear him. Then, he thanks the Lord FOR hearing him and answering his prayer. Now, unless David is looking back and seeing how everything unfolded, it seems that between verses five and six, God answered David. Between verse five and six, God rescued David. So, it is likely, that David didn’t write this in one setting. David started this prayer. And, however long, God answered that prayer. David then writes a praise of gratitude from a thankful heart. How much time passed between verse five and six, we do not know. Was it hours? Days? Months?

For us, it is important to see:

First, we often live between verse five and six. We have prayed. We have prayed and prayed. And, now we wait. “In His time,” is more than a hymn, it’s the thought of a faithful heart. We wait for the sick to get well. We wait for the door to open. We wait for the prodigal to come home. We have prayed. That’s living in verse five. And, before we can praise God for answering us, verse six, we wait.

It’s that period of waiting that can cause some to conclude that God is not doing anything. We’ve prayed but we continue to wait. And, waiting is hard. Waiting often leads to doubting.

Second, we must not forget to thank the Lord when we move into verse six of our lives. We’ve prayed, that’s verse five. We’ve waited. Now, the Lord has blessed us. Prayers answered. Problems solved. Hope and promises again fills the air. But, let’s not forget to thank the Lord because of verse six. God was not silent. God was not deaf.

Third, the problems of verse five do not seem so big once we are in verse six. In verse five, the world is falling apart. We are scared. Answers are few. God seems distant. We pray long and hard and often when we are in verse five. The night never seems to end when you are in verse five. But, the sun comes out again in verse six, and everything seems much better. God has rescued once more. God is faithful. He has not forgotten, nor has He forsaken.

It’s the troubles of verse five that helps us to seek the Lord and pray the best. We’ve all heard sermons about prayer. We’ve sat through classes about prayer. We’ve been given little projects about prayer. But, nothing beats living in a verse five world to make you pray. We like peace, affluence, joy and good times. But, those may be the very things that keeps us from praying very much. We can start thinking that we’ve got everything under control and everything is going just the right direction for us. It’s the verse fives that drop us to our knees and humbles our hearts. We are not in control. There are things bigger than us. We need the Lord.

How interesting, tucked within the short Psalm, a break in the flow and a lesson for us. You will find a break in Psalms 23, the shepherd Psalm. The first three verses describe God and His activity. He leads. He guides. He is a shepherd. But in verse 4, the Psalmist no longer talks about God. He now talks TO God. Verse four switches to a prayer.

I expect there have been breaks in our life’s story. Times when we were in the wilderness. Times when God wasn’t even a thought in our minds. But then, we changed. God is foremost to us. God has saved us and rescued us.

Breaks—there are a lot of lessons there if you look for them

Roger