Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. – Psalm 43:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 23, 2019): Psalm 43

Joshua Harris, in “I Kissed Dating Goodbye: A New Attitude Toward Relationships and Romance,” argues that “The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.” Timing is essential in every aspect of our lives. In baseball, the perfect swing is only perfect if the ball is present in the path of the bat. Over the many years of the sport, millions of perfect swings have become the ingredients of a strikeout. If the ball had been present, those swings would have been home runs. But the ball was absent and the batter was sent back to the dug out to get his or her glove, and to prepare to return to the field to make a defence against the perfect swings of the other team.

Psalm 43 seems very similar to Psalm 42. Some have argued that Psalm 43 is actually a fragment of Psalm 42, or maybe it is a summary of Psalm 42. Others have argued that the two Psalms should be placed together to make up one Psalm. But the likelihood is that the two Psalms appear so similar because they are written during the same period and about the same event. It seems that, from the point of view of the Psalmist, God is slow. He is not responding to his poetic plea with the speed that the Psalmist desires.

But God’s timing is perfect. While sometimes it seems that he is slow, by faith, we understand God’s evaluation of our situation is better, and that he will move when the time is right. He delivers his answers to our prayers when we most need them. Until then, like the Psalmist, we learn the lessons that are present in the waiting. Vindication will come, but it might not be the most critical part of the struggle. The lessons we learn as we wait on God’s timing helps to shape our lives into the extraordinary thing that they can be. And God wants nothing less for any of us.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 44