Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Saviour. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.
Psalm 27.9-10
By the grace of God we are all different but those differences mean, among other things, that the trials of this life hit us differently and elicit different responses.
David, the writer of this psalm, faced an incredible range of experiences throughout his life. These began as the youngest of the family not considered worth inviting to stand before Samuel as God sought out his king for his people. Then followed a considerable period on the run from Saul who saw him as a threat and sought to kill him while David resolutely refused to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed. During this time David and his faithful followers faced great hardships and from this psalm we can perhaps see him feeling God was far away or had rejected him completely – why else was his life in such turmoil?
Yet there is, at the same time, a note of confidence that even in the depths God was still there. Further he saw the bond between himself and his Saviour as a closer one that even that between him and his father and mother! In the huge pressures that he faced he knew
God would not let him go. That notwithstanding, in the depths he prayed ‘Do not reject me, O God, my Saviour. The suffering and hardships he faced at that time perhaps made God feel distant. But even when in this trial he was still confident in his relationship with God his Saviour.
Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Saviour. David’s confidence, even at low points in his life is based on relationship.
Hear the writer to the Hebrews:
God has said (to his people) “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
These are promises that we can and must hold on to at all times even in the darkest moments we may face. These may be due to the actions of others; they may be a result of illness, or some trauma which can make even the believer doubt and question as David did. It may be easier said than done but in such circumstances we need to hold firm to the truth that God is the same Saviour and will not turn away from you, who will not forsake you.
There is a challenge to all God’s people in this which is to stand with our fellow believers and by our prayers and loving concern for them, at all times and in all circumstances, be a reminder of the unchanging faithfulness of our heavenly father, God our Saviour who will not let us go.