I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. Psalm 40:9-10

What do you do when the person you were counting on lets you down? You reach out for help in your hour of need, and they are nowhere to be found. You start asking questions. “What happened? I thought you loved me.” But when your words do not move them, something in you starts to hide. Silence begins to feel safer.

There have been times I have prayed for what seemed desperate. I reasoned that since God loved me, He would surely provide it. But then nothing happened. So I prayed harder. I tried to stir up more faith. Outwardly, I said the right things about God. I defended Him to others. But inwardly, the first threads of disillusionment had already begun to unravel. My testimony sounded thin, even to me.

That is why these verses arrest me. At first glance, David sounds as though he has just come down from some mountaintop. He speaks so openly of God’s faithfulness and we might assume that the breakthrough has already happened. But the rest of the psalm tells a different story. David is still in trouble. He is waiting. His soul is ragged. But he is still talking.

Faith is not only praising God after the answer comes. Faith is continuing to speak of His love while the ache still hurts. It is refusing to let sorrow tarnish His character. It is choosing to say that He is faithful, while part of me still waits for visible proof.

This is the kind of faith I cannot manufacture on my own. It must be born of God. In my need, I am still commanded to speak of His faithfulness. Not because my emotions are always aligned, but because the foundation beneath my life is stronger than my present feelings. His promises are not invalidated by my confusion.

Lament and praise can live in the same heart. I can tell Him that I am hurt, confused, and weary, while still refusing to conceal His goodness from those around me.

Give me grace to speak of Your faithfulness even while I wait. AmenSave