Be Still And Know

Psalm 69:16-17 Answer my prayers, O LORD, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful. Don’t hide from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble! Waiting is never easy. Whether it is for a phone call, a parcel or medical results, waiting can be exhausting. If life is going really badly, waiting is even more agonising. That’s exactly how we find King David in this psalm. Things are going disastrously for him. He begins by saying that the floodwaters are up to his neck. He feels that he is sinking deeper and deeper into the mire and he can’t find a foothold. We’ve all had times like that, and it isn’t pleasant. David clearly felt overwhelmed and disorientated and, in his despair, he cried out to God. In his long life, David had learned to be completely honest with God, and this is one of many psalms in which he held nothing back. He is absolutely exhausted, and he gives a graphic account of his condition. He says that his eyes are swollen with weepi