I think of that delightful quote from the poet Lemon Andersen:
The Lord may not come when you call, but He’s always on time.
Lemon Andersen
God might not answer you today, but He will answer. He’s always on time. I think about this as I read Psalm 20 this morning.
In Psalm 20, we see the repetition of one key verb: answer.
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion!
3 May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
4 May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
5 May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!
6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
9 O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
We see a God who answers many times in the Psalms alone. God will answer. God has already heard you and is already answering you.
You may now wonder why God is taking so long or why you don’t have the answer you want. After all, Psalm 20 even describes the types of answers: protection, help, support, fulfilled desires, successful plans, victory of our enemies. But why is it taking longer than you hoped?
I consider Daniel 10:10-14. It’s a strange but powerful passage about delay. Daniel is “mourning for three weeks” (Daniel 10:2). He’s exhausted, hungry, and sad. Why is God taking so long to help Daniel? We read this:
10 And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14 and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
I love how a messenger from God says to Daniel that he is a “man greatly loved.” Maybe these were the words Daniel needed most of all as he sat there. But then, the divine messenger says that as soon as Daniel went to the Lord with his problem, his words were heard, and God sent help. But why did the divine help take so long? Well, apparently, there’s a spiritual battle going on that Daniel knows nothing about. It’s so bad that another angel must come on the scene. Then, after three weeks of battle, the divine answer comes.
But it took a while.
Sometimes, perhaps our answer is on the way but held up somehow in spiritual battle. It happened to Daniel, and it can happen to us. I think God was teaching Daniel that his prayers involve something much deeper, much more expansive, and much more complicated that he can know. But God knows. And He sends divine help to fight battles we cannot perceive.