Originally posted: 11/22/2020
Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day when I call answer me quickly, (102:2).
Psalm 102 is somewhat unique in that it is neither attributed to a specific author or a particular circumstance. Perhaps that is intentional; a fervent prayer applying to all people in all situations.
There’s no denying the writer is up to his eyeballs in trouble, fretfully sinking into despair. But out of the depths, a beautiful melody was composed, a heart cry when life is tumultuous, when nothing feels secure, when the future seems doubtful, when in danger of being completely overwhelmed by distresses, fears and worries, when the need is urgent, and help is needed now.
Hear my prayer, O Lord!
And let my cry for help come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day when I call answer me quickly, (102:1-2).
The opening of today’s psalm strikes a chord that resonates with vigorous force in my own life. “…In the day when I call answer me quickly.” That word, Quickly; whenever I read or hear Quickly in Scripture, I am reminded of what I refer to as “our song,” a most precious remembrance I intimately share with the Lord.
You know how it is; it’s when you hear “your song” on the radio and you immediately are taken back to those special moments, those places that evoke exactly the feelings you experienced when “your song” actually became “your song.”
It was a period of three years, when life felt like it would never offer sure footing again. Threats and fears for the safety of our family were all too real; and for three years my time spent with the Lord in His Word and in prayer became my only sustenance to face another day. There were times when it felt as though I could actually feel the ground shaking beneath my feet.
There were days when it was painful to wake up and face another day. And one day, my confidante and prayer partner, the only one who was privy to all that was going on, sent me a card with her prayer, and a verse included from Psalm 69.
And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in distress; answer me quickly, (Psalm 69:17).
What my prayer partner didn’t know was that the Lord had been prompting my heart from His Word to pray for His Quickly.
In my desperation for justice and legal protection, the Lord led me to the parable of the unjust judge and the widow who was begging for legal protection against her opponent. And there in this parable, Jesus spoke His promise of Quickly.
“now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly,” (Luke 18:7-8 emphasis added).
My heart leapt as I read again from His Word, handwritten in a card, the promise He had spoken to my heart that He would answer me Quickly. After this, there were more occasions, when from His Word He would repeat His promise to answer me Quickly. And then, from my group Bible study in Genesis, I was reminded of what it means when God repeats Himself.
Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about, (Genesis 41:32 emphasis added).
And “our song” played again in the story of Joseph… the matter was determined, and He would bring it about Quickly!
Consider Him Who Answers Us Quickly
While three years of waiting, perhaps doesn’t seem to fit into our own definition of Quickly, it fits perfectly with His.
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by, (Psalm 90:4).
- He Answers Us Quickly according to His eternality.
- But You, O Lord, abide forever,
And Your name to all generations, (102:12).
- But You, O Lord, abide forever,
- He Answers Us Quickly according to His appointed time.
- You will arise and have compassion on Zion;
For it is time to be gracious to her,
For the appointed time has come, (102:13).
- You will arise and have compassion on Zion;
- He Answers Us Quickly according to the enduring and unchanging work of His hands.
- “Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 “Even they will perish, but You endure;
And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.
27 “But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end,” (102:25-27).
- “Of old You founded the earth,
How do we respond to Him Who Answers Us Quickly?
While, the Lord does not Answer according to our timetable, our schedule, or our wants, His Quickly is always according to His sovereign care.
Today, let us join in praying with the psalmist; that whatever our situation or need, He would Answer Us Quickly, as we trust the Quickly to Him. And let us ask Him to adjust our sense of time according to the truth of His Word, that He would expand our understanding of His Quickly.
[Emphases added in the following verses]:
- Let us ask Him to illuminate our understanding of how Quickly our life passes.
- Just as parents are kind to their children,
the Lord is kind to all who worship him,
14 because he knows we are made of dust.
15 We humans are like grass or wild flowers
that quickly bloom.
16 But a scorching wind blows, and they quickly wither
to be forever forgotten, (Psalm 103:13-16 CEV).
- Just as parents are kind to their children,
- Let us ask Him to strengthen our faith that He will thoroughly and Quickly bring His Word to pass.
- “for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly,” (Romans 9:28).
- Let us trust Him to Quickly crush our enemy.
- The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you, (Romans 16:20 NET Bible).
- Let us live mindful that this world is coming to an end Quickly.
- …for this world’s way of life will quickly come to an end, (1 Corinthians 7:31 BBE).
- Let us believe that the revelation of His prophecies will take place Quickly.
- The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves what must quickly take place. He sent it and signified it through His angel to His slave John, (Revelation 1:1 HCSB).
- Let us live in holiness that we would be ready; for He is coming Quickly.
- “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown,” (Revelation 3:11).
- “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book…12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done…20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20).
His Word is clear: this life is brief. And it is also clear that God has His own interpretation of Quickly. And what is most emphatically clear is, He Answers Us Quickly according to His eternality, His appointed time, and the enduring, unchanging work of His hands.
We must never allow our problems to become mightier than His Power, our worries to outweigh His Worth, or our fears to shroud His Faithfulness. More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus told His apostle, John, to write His promise, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Let’s remember that our 2,000 years is only two yesterdays in His sight (Psalm 90:4).
Today, no matter what we are facing, let us not lose heart. Let’s choose to listen for “our song,” as we see time through the lens of His Quickly, that we would be sustained in confident peace and strength in Him Who Answers Us Quickly.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).