Our emotions, our questions, our wrestling in his presence demonstrates our faith and belief that He is in control and that He can actually do something about the situations that cripple us.
We start at a young age with things like, “Are we there yet?” and “Why?”. I admit I’ve asked these same questions. Often. Haven’t you? Questions, they are how we learn and how we grow. A friend of mine, Anne Wilson, said in a sermon a couple of years back, “That’s one of the dangers in getting older, that you stop asking questions.” The truth in that statement has resonated with me ever since I heard it. At first, it seemed like a wise statement, but the truth of it continues to ring louder and louder for me. When we stop asking questions, there’s a chance it’s because we think we have the answers. Often, that’s true. But when it comes to our faith and to the ups and downs of life, I’m not so sure it’s as true. Sure, we handle most things day to day but if we’re really honest with ourselves no matter how strong, wise, wealthy or savvy we are, we all know we could use some help. But asking questions is reserved for kids, right?
There are two significant truths I take away from Psalm 13. First is this, I don’t believe David is angry in this Psalm. He’s concerned. He’s certainly outspoken. He’s asking specific questions with the expectation of a response. But don’t get bogged down in just the first 2 verses. If you do that, you miss the beauty of the praise in the last 4. David has definite emotion wrapped up in this Psalm but God can handle it. In fact, I believe God desires it. He never asks us to be robotic or operate on blind faith. Our emotions, our questions, our wrestling in his presence demonstrates our faith and belief that He is in control and that He can actually do something about the situations that cripple us. His timing is sometimes different, even his answers might not be what we would pick. But one of the advantages of getting older is we begin to see God’s faithfulness and his providence during our most challenging times.
I said there were two truths for me in Psalm 13, here’s the second: God loves our questions. He’s not an irritated parent when we come asking. He’s not too busy to bother with “a request so simple.” What makes the Psalms so amazing is just what we find in Psalm 13. Difficult, heavy questions asked with passion but in the end, declarations of truth about who God is and praise. Have you ever noticed that almost every Psalm ends in praise, no matter how it begins? What if there is a connection between taking our everything to God and finding peace and comfort? What if He is meant to be our first call instead of our last resort?
Asking questions doesn’t make us weak, it makes us stronger. Don’t for a second think when Jesus encouraged the crowd to “become like little children” he meant just for them to be younger. Maybe just maybe he was encouraging them to rediscover the art of asking questions.
