Praying the Psalms With Hope With N.T. WrightНамуна

Calling on God in Dark Times

Psalm 94 asks, “How long?” When the taunting comes, and we ask why God doesn’t do something, this psalm assures us of God’s activity and instructs us in how to confidently wait on God’s promises.

The psalm starts with a call that sounds almost unchristian to us. “O Lord, you God of vengeance, you God of vengeance, shine forth.” We are taught in Romans 12 not to avenge ourselves but to leave room for God's wrath. That's what we have here. The psalmist may realize that they cannot or must not avenge themselves. But if wickedness is happening, God has to deal with it, because God is not careless.

When God sees abuse, mass murder, racial injustice, and all manner of horrid activity, if God doesn't hate that, he is not a good God. And if he doesn't want to do something about it, then he is a careless God. This remains true even though the way that God acts in the world is frequently through the prayerful, humble, and suffering testimony of his people.

Verse 14 says the Lord will not forsake his people. That is the promise we cling to so that through the difficult times, we can see our way forward, knowing that the Lord is faithful, that the strange things that happen to us are not signs that God is out of control or has forgotten or gone away.

There is a tension between God's delayed justice and the suffering of the righteous. We can see many examples of people acting in contradiction to God, whether by their words or actions. We can look at the world and see many examples of people acting in ways that go against God and God’s commitment to justice. People flaunt their wealth, oppress the poor, act with arrogance, and wield power for individual gain. None of this is in God’s plan for creation. The Psalms are committed to reminding God of this plan.

Sometimes, the best we can do is to daily remind God that he has promised to act on behalf of the poor and the oppressed, the outcast and the foreigner, over against the wishes and desires of the rich and powerful. Psalm 94 is a psalm about how we hang on while waiting for all that to be done.

Reflect:

Reflect on the list of God’s characteristics in this psalm. How might you pray these as a response to areas in which you want God to act? What other practices might a focus on God’s character enable in your life?