This is a gift

Psalm 13 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

But I trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The thing I find interesting about this Psalm is its movement of tenses: the beginning verses speak to looking forward to the future - of a time when God will no longer forget.  A time when God's face will appear and all will again be well.

Yet by the time we get to the end of the Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of a trust for God that appears to have been ongoing and that God has been dealing bountifully already with him.

It seems initially a bit disconcerting, and yet, that's often I think how at least my life of faith works.  I seem be able to go from one minute sighing "How long?" to God to praising God for all the good that has always been there - that I didn't notice all along.

I have been doing an "E-course" with Rob Bell where this notion seems to be at play.  The course is on finding joy in our lives, as the first session is on the notion of life being a gift. One of the suggestions Bell gives at the end of the first lesson is to write on a piece of paper - or as a tattoo if you are so bold - the words "This is a gift" and post it somewhere where you will see it often.  Somewhere where you are likely to look when things aren't going well.  Maybe at your desk at work?  Maybe on the mirror in your bathroom?  Maybe over the kitchen sink?

And there, when you are even in the midst of crying to God "How long?" you can be reminded of God's continued bounty being yours always.

And your heart can rejoice even in the midst of its wilderness.

 Generous, bountiful God, this life is a gift.  Thank you!  Amen.