Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

I want to read two verses today, one from the beginning of Psalm 31 and one from the end.

So Psalm 31, verse 2, incline your ear to me, rescue me speedily, exclamation point.

Then Psalm 31, verse 24, be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.

Exclamation point.

How about the tension between those two verses?

The same Psalm, the same song, the same prayer at the beginning is saying, God, please listen

to me and help me fast, rescue me speedily.

Like today, right now, as fast as possible, exclamation point.

Like there's a longing for help in the moment.

God, please do something now. How often is that the cry of our hearts? God, we need your help now.

Please help now in this moment. God, as soon as possible, please do something. We all can identify with that.

And then as the Psalm progresses and just praises God for his power and his wisdom and his love,

and then you get to the end.

And Psalm 3124 says, be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. So apparently

it's right and good when we are praying to ask God for his help now, immediately, speedily. That's not wrong to ask God for his help now, immediately, speedily.

That's not wrong to ask God for that, to cry out to God in a Psalm 31, verse 2 kind of way,

at the same time, trusting God, taking courage in our hearts as we wait for God to answer in his time,

according to his wisdom, his power and his love, knowing that he is working even when we are

waiting and even when things are not happening as fast as we

would like them to happen or even the way we would like them to happen that doesn't mean he's

not listening to us that doesn't mean that he's not working in ways we cannot see for our good.

...