Cause Me to Hear – A tune the Lord gave me for Psalm 143:8-19
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, 1976
The year 1976 in Prince Albert was one of the many tough stretches of our spiritual odyssey my wife and I endured. We were searching for a living and meaningful relationship with the Lord, Who was leading us through the “valley of the shadow of death.” These passages of Psalm 143 gave us hope and comfort. The Lord gave me a tune for them.
The psalm speaks of hearing God’s “lovingkindness in the morning.” I knew the words spoke of a morning when we would exit a dark period in our lives, a time of uncertainty, mystery, loneliness, fruitlessness, a time seemingly purposeless and where God was nowhere to be found.
We were asleep, as it were, and He was silent. “God, where are we? Where are YOU?! What are You doing? Are we going in the right direction, doing what’s right in Your eyes? Are You faithfully directing us, and we don’t know it? Or are we lost and wandering? Things are so different from what we were expecting of the true Christian life!”
In retrospect, we see that our faith was being increased and tried. Would we trust the Lord when our experience was so strange? Easy to believe when things are according to one’s ideas of things. Easy to navigate the known, the tried and true, but how does one deal with the new and unexplored?
What faith does it take when you can trust your own experience and understanding? But when you find yourself helpless, ignorant, and with nobody around to help and advise you, what do you do? Do you trust the Lord or not?
We looked and felt like such fools and losers, yet we knew we had to take the road we were taking and take it alone, even as Abraham and Sara had to wander far from their “land,” family, and acquaintances.
The Psalm 143:8-12 King James Version (KJV)
8 Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee.
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto Thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
11 Quicken me, O Lord, for Thy Name’s sake: for Thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And of Thy mercy cut off my enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am Thy servant.
Note:
Notice how David calls on God to destroy his enemies. Wow, is that “Christian”? We were learning things not found in orthodox Christian circles. In this past half-century, the Lord has destroyed our enemies. He was, is, and will be with us all the way, even as He personally promised, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper.”