Between the Times: Choosing Faithfulness in Adversity

Devotional

Day 1: How Long? Wrestling With God’s Hidden Face

The cry "How long, O Lord?" echoes through Psalm 13, naming the exhaustion of waiting for God’s intervention. This psalm gives permission to voice raw frustration when divine silence stretches thin. It reframes complaint not as rebellion but as an act of trust—choosing to address God directly rather than turning away. The psalmist’s questions expose the tension between feeling abandoned and clinging to covenant love. Here, faith is not denial of pain but the courage to bring aching questions into the light. [42:01]

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" (Psalm 13:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: When have you hesitated to voice your "how long?" to God? How might bringing your rawest questions to Him become an act of trust rather than doubt?

Day 2: Wings of Chaos or Shelter

Hosea’s warning about being "wrapped in the wind’s wings" contrasts sharply with the psalmist’s refuge "in the shadow of Your wings." These competing images reveal our daily choice: Will we be swept by chaotic desires or anchored in God’s protective presence? The metaphor invites examination of what carries us—fleeting cultural currents or the enduring shelter of divine love. Every decision whispers the question: What wings are you trusting? [47:14]

"A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy." (Hosea 4:19; Psalm 61:2-4, ESV)

Reflection: What "winds" currently compete for your trust? How might you actively seek the shelter of God’s wings in a specific area of unrest?

Day 3: What Do You Want?

Jesus’ question "What do you want?" cuts through life’s noise, demanding clarity about our true treasures. Psalm 13’s lament reveals that what we often want most isn’t circumstantial change but renewed assurance of God’s gaze. The challenge isn’t merely to name desires but to let them be refined—exchanging temporary comforts for the lasting wealth of abiding in Love’s presence. [46:23]

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21, ESV)

Reflection: How might your current pursuits reveal what you truly treasure? What would it look like to want God’s gaze more than circumstantial relief?

Day 4: Living Between the Times

The confessing church’s mantra "between the times" names the Christian’s paradox: holding past faithfulness and future hope while navigating present adversity. Psalm 13 models this tension—voicing today’s despair while recalling yesterday’s mercies and tomorrow’s song. Faithfulness means letting memory and promise bookend our struggles, becoming living bridges between what God has done and will do. [57:16]

"But I have 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." (Psalm 13:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What past evidence of God’s love can you "bring forward" to strengthen you in a current challenge? How does hope reshape your view of today’s struggle?

Day 5: The God Who Won’t Let Go

Hosea 11’s portrait of God’s "recoiling heart" reveals divine devotion that outlasts human fickleness. When we question faithfulness, we’re met not with a scorekeeper but the Parent who taught us to walk. Our grip may falter, but His never does. The cross proves even our rejection can’t unravel covenant love—He chooses us relentlessly, making our devotion a response to His stubborn grace. [01:01:45]

"How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?... My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger... for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst." (Hosea 11:8-9, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you need to trust God’s grip more than your own grip on Him? How does His refusal to abandon you reshape your view of faithfulness?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 13 speaks with a voice that names the ache of delay before it names delight. “How long, O Lord” becomes the honest doorway into devotion. The psalm first sets the prayer of exhaustion on the table. The soul says, I am hanging on by a thread, and the face of God seems turned away. The image that carries the ache is the loss of “the light of your gaze.” If the divine face shines, life steadies. If that light is withheld, the heart feels abandoned and small.

Jesus sharpens the question that lies underneath the ache: “What do you want?” The Sermon on the Mount makes the choice plain. Treasure that lasts, or treasure that cannot last. Light that fills the inner life, or darkness that spreads. A single master, or the fantasy of serving two at once. “You decide,” Jesus insists, because divided desire always collapses into bondage. The question lands even harder once Psalm 13 is added to the mix, because pursuing what lasts does not always pay off in quick rewards. Sometimes devotion gets answered by silence and resistance.

Psalm 13 then turns from exhaustion into appeal. “Look at me.” Let even a glance of God’s love restore light to the eyes, because the only gaze felt right now belongs to the enemy. The prayer asks for the return of that steadying light and refuses to look away. Finally, the psalm chooses faithfulness. “But I trusted in your steadfast love.” Past and future are pulled into conversation. Past assurance, “you have dealt bountifully with me,” steadies the present. Future hope, “my heart shall rejoice,” pulls the soul forward. The psalm lives between the times, where most days are actually spent.

Hosea adds God’s own side of the covenant. The Holy One in the midst says, How can I give you up. My heart recoils within me. I will not come to destroy. God has already made the choice of devotion toward a wayward people. That resolve becomes the ground on which human devotion can stand. The honest complaint is not betrayal. It is covenant speech. It says to God, I am not leaving this relationship, even while I tell you exactly how dark it feels. And from that place, the soul keeps answering Jesus’ question the way faith has always answered it. It wants what lasts. It wants the light of his gaze.

Key Takeaways

1. Honest complaint is covenantal devotion An “honest complaint” is not walking away. It is moving closer, naming the ache, and refusing to varnish pain with pious pretending. Psalm 13 gives sanctioned words for the days when God feels absent and the enemy feels near. Lament becomes fidelity in practice. [51:04]
2. Choose treasures that actually last Desire always takes a direction, and Jesus demands a decision. Accumulation will not anchor a soul, and a divided heart will not carry lasting joy. Single-hearted treasure sets the inner life into light. “You can’t serve two masters” is not threat but mercy. [48:58]
3. Live between past and future Faith lives “between the times,” holding past mercies and future hope at once. The psalm’s movement ties yesterday’s bounty to tomorrow’s song, so the present can be endured without lying about it. This is not optimism but memory and promise doing their work together. [55:32]
4. Ask for the light of God’s gaze The turning point in darkness is not a new tactic but a new look. “Look at me” is the prayer that seeks the restoring power of being seen. Even a glance can put light back into tired eyes and courage back into a hunted heart. [53:11]
5. God’s unrelenting choice fuels ours Hosea lets God say what lovers say when they refuse to quit. “How can I give you up” grounds human endurance in divine steadfastness. Devotion is not heroic grit but a response to the One who will not let go. The Holy One’s mercy makes allegiance possible. [61:21]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[41:38] - Psalms and Sermon on the Mount
[42:01] - Psalm 13 read aloud
[42:49] - Prayer for illumination
[43:30] - Remembering and retirement frame
[45:07] - Father Gregory’s piercing question
[46:45] - Winds and wings: Hosea and Psalms
[48:03] - Jesus asks about treasure and light
[48:58] - You can’t serve two masters
[50:26] - When God seems turned away
[51:51] - Psalm 13 as prayer of exhaustion
[53:51] - Choosing faithfulness in covenant
[55:32] - Living between past and future
[56:53] - Confessing Church: Between the Times
[60:16] - Hosea 11 and God’s resolve
[62:33] - Closing prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Psalm 13 (ESV)
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have 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.

Matthew 6:19-24 (ESV)
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... The eye is the lamp of the body... No one can serve two masters..."

Hosea 11:1-9 (ESV)
“When Israel was a child, I loved him... How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?... My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender..."

Observation Questions

Psalm 13 moves from a cry of exhaustion (“How long, O Lord?”) to a declaration of trust (“But I have trusted”). What specific words or phrases mark this shift?
In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body.” How does this connect to the Psalmist’s plea for God to “light up my eyes” in Psalm 13:3?
The sermon mentions Psalm 13 uses a literary structure called chiasmus to tie past and future together. How do verses 5-6 reflect this?

Interpretation Questions

Why might honest complaint (like Psalm 13’s “How long?”) be considered an act of faithfulness rather than rebellion?
Jesus says, “You cannot serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). What does “serving two masters” look like in modern life, and why does Jesus frame this as a choice between light and darkness?
Hosea 11:8-9 reveals God’s internal struggle: “My heart recoils... I will not come in wrath.” How does this divine tension shape our understanding of covenant relationships?

Application Questions

The Psalmist refuses to hide his exhaustion from God. When have you felt like “hanging on by a thread” spiritually? What would it look like to bring that raw honesty to God today? [51:51]
Jesus asks, “What do you want?” (Matthew 6:21). What “treasures” are you currently pursuing that feel temporary? What practical step could help you reorient toward “treasures that last”? [48:58]
Psalm 13 ties past faithfulness (“He has dealt bountifully with me”) to future hope. What specific moment from your past reminds you of God’s steadfastness? How could recalling this steady you in a current challenge? [55:32]
Hosea 11 shows God’s refusal to abandon His people even when they rebel. Where do you struggle to trust God’s “unrelenting choice” of you? What would change if you believed His commitment is not based on your performance? [01:01:21]
The sermon describes living “between the times” of past mercies and future hope. What daily habit could help you hold both truths together when life feels unstable?

Sermon Clips

43s

“``In the act of honest complaint, there is an expression of devotion, and Psalm 13 is an honest complaint. It isn't a rejection of God, quite the opposite. It is drawing nearer to God and being more vulnerable with God in the midst of feeling that god is out on a smoke break and not seeing and not doing and perhaps not caring. It's essentially the vulnerable prayer. Lord, I need to check something out with you because life isn't making sense right now.”

50s

“When we get to heaven, I'm convinced that god will ask us the same question that god has been asking human beings since the beginning of time, and that question is, what do you want? What are you going after? Because you can have it, but is that really what you want? A quick read of the bible actually will show us how god's poets and prophets spend a good bit of time getting us to contemplate the same question. What is it that you want? Do you want to live intentionally, or do you want to live chaotically?”

43s

“And Jesus, I think, does a familiar and similar kind of work and frames a similar question in today's text. What do you want? What treasures are you going to seek after? What light are you going to let into your soul? What are you accumulating? What do you spend your time looking at? Do you want to devote yourself to living life, or do you want to spend your time merely accumulating all that does not last? These are the things that Jesus focuses for us in asking that question. What is it that you want?”

50s

“Between the times, between the times experiencing a very tough thing. But what those that that title said is we are always living in faith. Excuse me. Our relationship with god is always lived between the times, whether in adversity or not. And the skill we need is to reach into the past and take hold of the those experiences of God's faithfulness that we remember and to reach forward into the promise of the future and of a steadfast love from which nothing can separate us and draw these two things together in the present. This is where the Christian life is lived.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Southminster Presbyterian Church This sermon · AI assistant

How does honest complaint express devotion to God?

What does living between past and future mean?

Why must we choose faithfulness over accumulating treasures?