Day #212 - Hide Your Face?
The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder
“But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?”
Psalms 88:13-14 NIV
Have you ever lost contact with someone close to you?
One of the hardest things in life is the absence of a friend or a loved one. The greatest ache in my life has been the loss of friendships to death or distance. Sometimes I’ve lost friendships due to betrayal or misunderstandings. But I’ve come to learn the presence or absence of a friend is the greatest joy or sorrow in my life. When I have friendships, I have true riches.
The psalmist in Psalm 88 is mourning the loss of “the Presence.” He declares that he calls out to God for help every morning. But He has lost the sense of God’s nearness. He says, “Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?” This stings the psalmist. He is grieved over the fact that He doesn’t see the face of God anymore.
The Israelites were to be a people of “the Presence.” This brought the favor of God’s face upon them. Some of the Psalms are a song of mourning over what the people of God had lost when they turned to rebellion and faced God’s judgment. The greatest judgement of all is the absence of His presence.
But what if we saw the devastation and the brokenness of our families, neighborhoods and cities as just places that are devoid of God’s presence? What if every broken area in the world just needs God to be near? There is something about this cry for help to the Lord that is beautiful. It acknowledges the true value of His nearness.
There are things in the world that we need to grieve over. I like to focus on the victory we have in Christ and live in hope. We serve a God of redemption who loves to do miracles in our lives. But there are times where things have gone really bad in life and in society and we should ache for the return of God’s face to smile upon us again.
Lord God, I know there is more of You. I want to see Your face. I want more of Your presence. But there are times where I feel rejected and that Your face is hidden from me and my people. Do not hide Your face from me, my family or my city. Let Your presence be upon us. Let Your presence be upon my nation. Your nearness is our greatest need. In Jesus name, amen.
In His nearness, our souls flourish. In His absence, things fall apart and are lost. Lord, we pray for Your holy Presence to be among us in our church, in our families, in our cities, and in our nation. Thank You for Your mercy and grace upon us, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from us. Thank You, Father - Amen.