Psalm 32:6 | Praying When God Will Be Found
Each week at Metro North, we are diving into a new passage of scripture. This week, we're looking at Psalm 32.
Psalm 32.6: "Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters they shall not reach him."
This seems like such a strange verse. What does it mean when the Bible tells us to pray when God can be found? Does that mean there are times when he cannot be found?
Since God is omnipresent this does not mean that God is only in one place so we better seek him when he is around. Since God is all powerful this does not mean we have to hurry up and catch him like we might have to for a busy friend who has limited time. We can always pray to God anytime and he will be our ever present help and strength.
What this verse means is that when we suffer from the guilt of our sins and the pains of this world we can find God in a very special and powerful way. When we are brought low we can see God and experience him in such an intimate way that we wouldn't have unless we suffered. When life is going well we don't alway find God because we forget about him. But when things are not going well we can indeed find God because we are desperate and open to his help. When we go through rough times we are meant to think that the time to experience God is now. We get down on our knees in prayer with hearts open and wills bent in submission, and then we find God.
When we find God, God becomes sweeter to us than anything else in the world (Psalm 34.8). We experience the blessedness of being poor in spirit, the blessedness of being those who mourn, and the blessedness of being persecuted because of righteousness (Matthew 5.3-10). When we find God we have the assurance that the testing of our faith produces perseverance, and this will lead us to be mature, complete, and not lacking anything (James 1.4-5). As we turn to God we will find that his hand is open to satisfy our deepest desires (Psalm 145.13-16). Though afflicted it will be like we are satisfied after a huge feast (Psalm 22.26). Christ will be our treasure for which we are willing to lose all things. (Philippians 3.7). We will experience the tender words of God: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine" (Isaiah 43.1).
Finding God means we become more overwhelmed with who God is and his goodness and grace than we are with anything else. Praying and finding God does not remove us from life's difficulties; rather it means we realize God is bigger than life's difficulties. As verse 6 indicates, the rush of great waters will still be there but the rush won't overwhelm us.
We can be sure that we will find God because God first found us. In a world filled with pain and misery looking for hope, Christ came born in the flesh (Matthew 1). He walked on this earth seeking the lost. (Luke 19.10). We are dead in our sins but Christ in his rich mercy died for us while we are still sinners (Romans 5.8). And so we can sing, "amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found."
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