be not still

Psalm 83:18, "Let them know that You, whose name is the Lord-that You alone are the Most High over all the earth."

Asaph pleas for God to deliver the Israelites as He had during the Judges Period when their victory over their enemies could point to God only (ie:  when Gideon's small band of soldiers defeated the Midianites).  Of course Asaph wants victory, but he wants more than that...he wants God to "cover their faces with shame so that men will seek Your name, O Lord." (v. 16)

It's so easy to feel like that in our time as well...okay God, time to let them know who You are and put an end to this craziness down here.  Sadly, I fear, it will get worse before it gets better.  Asaph opens with his plea, "O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still."  Just yesterday on the news someone would not make it home to his family because of some fight over traffic...for REAL...ugh, it breaks my heart.  God, be not still.  

Dr. Constable, at the end of the psalm puts it succinctly, "prayers based on God's reputation, His promises, and His past faithfulness are petitions that God will answer"...choosing HIS time to act.  We know it will happen because He promises it in His Word.  Romans 14:11 says, "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" Philippians 2:10-11 that says, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The hard part is the in-between, the waiting.  But that's when we get to be light in the darkness and tell others where our hope comes from.