"How Long Oh, Lord"

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Father, I thank you for those that you have brought here today.

What a joy it is to be gathered together and have the freedom to open up copies of your word and see for ourselves the glories of Jesus Christ.

By the power of your spirit, you have inspired every word of this text and you illuminate our hearts as we look to you in dependence on your grace.

Help us to see Christ clearly from your text today that as we look at him, we will begin to look more like him.

Strengthen our faith, we ask. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

For with him, with him you are well pleased, amen. I'll invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 12. Jeremiah chapter 12.

We have been for the last five Sundays spending our time in other passages in the

Bible, thinking about the basic truths that we have been handed by the reformation beginning 500 years ago, that according to the scripture alone, our salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

And these are essential truths that matter for every bit of our Christian lives.

Well, we've had a wonderful time, I think, celebrating the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And the passages that we looked at are not unique in that they proclaim

Christ, for every passage in the Bible does that. And I think we've been seeing that as we've been moving our way this last year through the book of Jeremiah.

We have been looking at the message of Jeremiah passage by passage, line upon line, verse upon verse, and we have seen

Christ displayed time and time again. And it has been a great joy.

And we return to it now in Jeremiah chapter 12. Jeremiah chapter 12.

I thought a review would be in order since we've been away from the text for a while and some of you are new and visiting and haven't been with us so far.

So if you would like to know what Jeremiah is all about, you can jot down five words, all beginning with the letter

C, so you can get a head start. The first word you should think about is the commission, that Jeremiah was commissioned in chapter one.

We read about God calling Jeremiah as a prophet. He said, before I formed you in the womb,

I knew you. That's what God thinks about life in the womb. But he says, Jeremiah, I knew you,

I loved you, I chose you before you were even formed in the womb. And before you were born, he said,

I consecrated you. I set you apart for a very special purpose. And that purpose was to preach the truth of God, to be a prophet to all the nations, not just Judah who needed to hear some preaching, but also to all of the nations surrounding

Judah, and even the nations that would be invading Judah. They were all going to hear the truth of God through the preaching ministry, through the writing ministry of Jeremiah.

And Jeremiah, of course, was a bit overwhelmed by that. He was just a young man, and he made many excuses like Moses did, and said,

I don't know how to speak. I'm not gonna be good at this. And God said, I'm gonna put my words in your mouth, and you're going to tell them exactly what

I say. And I will strengthen you, and they will not overcome you. I'm gonna make you like a fortified city, and they're not going to defeat you.

So the first word we think about when we think about the book of Jeremiah is the word commission, that God commissioned

Jeremiah to preach. Second word is corruption. And this is a word that describes the condition of Judah, the people to whom

Jeremiah was sent to preach. Judah was in a very bad place spiritually, socially.

Everything about it was corrupt. And the end of chapter five, God, through Jeremiah, declares this.

He says, an appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love to have it so.

But then God asks, what will you do at the end of it? If everybody says what they all wanna say, telling people exactly what they wanna hear, if all the priests rule by their own authority and say, this is how

I see things, if nobody's listening to God and nobody is conforming their lives to the truth of God, the people may love to have it that way.

They may love to hear what they wanna hear and to live how they wanna live, but what will you do at the end of it?

That's how corrupt they were. And they weren't thinking about the end of it. And the end of it is the third

C, and that word is collapse, collapse. In Jeremiah chapter seven and verses 32 through 34,

God paints a picture, not the only place, but this is one of the places. He paints a picture of what it will be like when the whole society collapses.

He calls it the valley of the slaughter. And such will be the collapse of this society that there will not be enough living to bury the dead.

And no one, no one will care about the collapse of Judah. The fourth word is another

C, and that's the word of condemnation. And that, of course, we hear. And this is an interesting thing, that God would send his prophet to preach a message of condemnation, but he was preaching to those who were not interested in repenting of their sins.

Oh, they would cry out to God, all right. And we hear about that in Jeremiah 11, 11, that they would cry out to God when the disaster came, when the collapse was upon them, but he would not listen.

He said, I will not listen to them. I will not heed their cry. Why, why would he not listen to their cry?

They're crying out to God. They're saying, help us, deliver us, save us from this disaster. But in reality, they didn't care who got them out of the mess because in verse 12, they were also crying out to all the false gods that they worshiped, burning incense at every street corner in Jerusalem.

They didn't care which God got them out of their problems. They would just pick whoever and whatever.

This is just people are thoroughly corrupt. They will have an imminent collapse. God has condemned them.

And yet throughout all of this preaching from Jeremiah, much of which has this negative tone, we have found time and time again that there is a tone of compassion in the preaching of Jeremiah.

It's the fifth C, it's compassion. Sometimes it's a little bit hard to see. Sometimes you have to stare very close.

For instance, in verse 16 of chapter 11, God reminds Judah, Jeremiah is preaching.

He says, the Lord called your name, Judah, a green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form with the noise of a great tumult.

He has kindled fire on it and its branches are worthless, literally broken.

The broken branches of an olive tree on fire. That's a very sad picture of Judah.

And yet Paul takes up this image when he's writing in Romans 11 and says it's an actually, surprisingly, it's an image of hope.

For branches were broken off that you may be grafted in. And even some of the broken branches will be grafted in. All these different people groups may be grafted in to God's people into the kingdom of God if they turn by faith and repentance and they look to Christ and they will be grafted in as God's people.

So there's a tone of compassion, sometimes hard to see, but it's there. And those are the five

Cs I think would help us remember what is going on in Jeremiah. He's commissioned to preach a message to a corrupt people about to face collapse because of God's condemnation, but there's compassionate work behind this warning message.

Now, as we look at Jeremiah chapter 12, as I read through the text time and again, there was this question that came to my mind, a question from Revelation six and verse 10.

How long, O Lord? How long, O Lord? And it's the cry of those who have been killed for their faith.

It is the cry of those who have lost their lives because they love Jesus Christ, because they have his word and try to follow his word.

And brothers and sisters, it may not feel like it, but the church is under great, great persecution in our day and age.

And I'm not talking about snarly politicians who don't like people of faith.

I'm not talking about the sideways glances we get when we talk about God.

I'm talking about people who live all over this planet who believe in Christ, want to follow

Christ, and they're being killed because they believe in Christ and they're following Christ. And they're losing their jobs, they're losing their homes, they're losing their clothing, they're losing their food, and they're being killed.

And more of our brothers and sisters in Christ have been martyred in the last 100 years than in all the previous centuries combined of the church.

How long, O Lord? The martyrs ask in Revelation 6 .10. How long until you avenge our blood on those who are killing your people?

We'll come back to that question. But it's a question that we can also hear as well in chapter 12 of Jeremiah.

Would you stand with me as I read verses one through four? Let's stand and receive this passage as a message from our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's hear the questions that Jeremiah asks of God.

Righteous are you, O Lord, that I would plead my case with you. Indeed, I would discuss matters of justice with you.

Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

You have planted them. They have also taken root. They grow. They have even produced fruit.

You are near to their lips, but far from their mind. But you know me,

O Lord. You see me, and you examine my heart's attitude toward you. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for a day of carnage.

How long is the land to mourn, and the vegetation of the countryside to wither for the wickedness of those who dwell in it?

Animals and birds have been snatched away because men have said, he will not see our ladder ending.

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. You may be seated. Jeremiah is asking questions of God.

He's saying, why? Why? He's asking, how long?

He's asking questions of God. I think sometimes we fail to ask questions because we're afraid of the answers.

Someone once said it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, which means

I'd rather just go ahead and do what I wanna do, even though there's the chance that it may be wrong.

I don't wanna ask permission because I'm afraid of the answer, so I'll just go ahead and do that, and then

I'll ask for forgiveness later. But there are many who think that concedes too much, and you might as well plead ignorance.

Not so much asking for forgiveness or asking for permission, but just saying, oh, I didn't know, and that's a wonderful place to be.

Ignorance is bliss as long as ignorance is a constant. Don't ask, don't know, everything will be fine.

We often fail to ask questions because we fear the answers.

But James says, if any of us lack wisdom, if any of us are in a trial, if any of us are suffering, if any of us lack wisdom, and we don't know why, and we don't know how long, we are to ask.

We are to ask of God, and we are to ask in faith. And I want to stress that this morning, that we are to ask of God for wisdom when we are suffering, when we are in times of anxiety like Jeremiah, when we are greatly frustrated with life.

We are to ask God questions. Let's pay attention to Jeremiah's frustration, first of all.

Jeremiah is praying to God, and he is very frustrated. If there's anything that you should walk away from this morning, it is this, that when you're frustrated, pray to God, and ask him questions.

Now, these questions signify faith. Jeremiah's frustration, first of all, has to do with the prosperity of the wicked that we see in verses one and two.

At the end of verse one, he says, why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

You have planted them, they have also taken root, they grow, they have even produced fruit.

You are near to their lips, but far from their mind. Jeremiah is frustrated with the prosperity of the wicked.

He says, they deal in treachery. He's calling them traitors.

Traitors to who? Traitors to what? Well, in the previous chapter,

God reveals to Jeremiah that there is a conspiracy among the men of Judah, among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that they have conspired together to worship false gods.

That they have arranged things just so in their society that they can, in addition to worshiping

Yahweh, the true God, that they will worship any other God that they desire and reinforce their own rebellion against God by affirming to one another that it's okay and it's fine and it's good to do this.

There is a conspiracy and they have betrayed God. They are traitors to the covenant that God made with them when he said,

I will be your God and you will be my people. I am the Lord, there is no other. You worship me alone.

That they have betrayed that, they are traitors. Also, they are traitors to Jeremiah.

They have betrayed trust with him. Part of the conspiracy that God reveals is that the men of Anaphoth, Jeremiah's hometown, have been plotting to silence him through murder.

They hate him so much that they want to kill him so that he will stop preaching

God's word because he's not saying to them what they want to hear.

He's not like the other prophets, the false ones that say, peace, peace, when there really is no peace.

So Jeremiah is frustrated about the prosperity of the wicked because they're dealing in treachery, but they seem to be at ease. Everything is going fine for them, he says to God.

Why is this? Why is it that they can plot idolatry and plot murder and all these evil things in their heart and it looks like they're having a grand old time?

That doesn't seem right. He is frustrated. He's frustrated with the prosperity of the wicked because they are not only traitors, they are hypocrites.

They are hypocrites in worship. You notice that in verse two. You, God, you are near to their lips, but far from their mind.

That's the definition of a religious hypocrite. Somebody who's talking, talking, talking about God, talking, talking, talking about spiritual things, but truly

God is not central in their mind. The truths of God are not central to their heart.

And he says, look at them. They're at ease. They're worshiping. They're going to the temple.

They're affirming one another in their treason. What is

Jeremiah doing, but languishing and fearing for his life. Something's not right here,

Jeremiah is saying. He's frustrated with the prosperity of the wicked. He's frustrated also with the pride of the wicked in verse four.

Here is question. How long is the land to mourn and the vegetation of the countryside to wither through the wickedness of those who dwell in it?

Animals and birds have been snatched away because men have said, he will not see our latter ending. The pride of the wicked is evident here in that those who are worshiping idols are leading the whole nation away from the one true

God. And God had arranged things for Israel and Judah in such a way. He promised them, if you abandon me, if you go worship other gods, if you treat the poor among you unjustly, if you go down this path,

I will bring famine. I will bring crop failure. I will bring disease.

Your livestock will not produce. You're going to have a horrible time of it so I can grab your attention and turn you back to myself.

That was the arrangement he had made with this nation. And it was going on. And Jeremiah said, how long is this gonna have to go on?

God, why don't you just end this? And he's frustrated because you can hear how arrogant the wicked idolaters are, these hypocrites, because they say of Jeremiah, he's not gonna see our latter ending.

They're so tired of Jeremiah preaching the message God gave him to preach. It wasn't the best of messages as far as popularity.

Jeremiah is preaching and preaching and preaching that judgment is coming. Their end is near. The Babylonians will conquer you all because of your idolatry.

And what do they say? How do they respond? They don't say, oh, Jeremiah, thank you for warning us we'll change. No, they're saying, yeah, right.

You're gonna die before us, old man. You're gonna die and you're not gonna see our latter ending.

What you're saying is false. They're arrogant. They don't believe the word of God.

They don't care how much the land suffers. They're just gonna do what they wanna do. And Jeremiah is frustrated.

That's why he's asking God questions. Why? Why? How long?

Have you ever asked God those questions? Have you ever asked God why? Why am

I suffering? Why does it have to be this way? Have you ever asked God how long? How long does this have to go on?

How long are we gonna have to go through this? These are the questions Jeremiah is asking. You know, is it okay to question

God? Is it okay to question God? You know, sometimes

I think we get the idea that it's wrong to question any authority. But somehow that's inherently wrong.

I understand if it's a matter of rebellion. I understand if it's a matter of simply trying to disprove someone's authority so I can do what

I want. We heard about that this morning already in Mark, didn't we? The Pharisees, Sadducees, they come questioning

Jesus, but are they coming to learn something? No, they're coming to try to prove that he's wrong.

They're coming to prove that he's false. And that's why they're asking questions. They don't wanna really know something.

They're trying to disprove him. And of course, questioning authority in that way is not helpful at all.

Perhaps we get the idea that questioning authority is wrong due to the way that authorities tend to respond when they're questioned.

Perhaps we get the idea that God is the same way. Somebody in authority gets questioned, what happens?

They get angry. How dare you question me? That's rather an ungodly attitude.

Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, son of God. And when he gets questioned, does he fly off the handle?

He thinks about the best way, whether they are sincere questioners or scoffing questioners.

He answers them in the best way for their good that he can. We have to be careful, those of us who are in authority, whether we're parents or in leadership of some kind, we have to be careful that we don't get angry and shut down the questions when they're asked.

What if they are in rebellion? Will it help things if we get angry? Let's model godliness.

Let's model godliness by maybe taking a breath, but answering the question in the best way we can for this person's good, for whom we're responsible.

We're responsible for their souls and leading them towards Christ. So it's okay to question

God, not in rebellion, but in faith, in faith. Think about who questioned

God in the Bible. How about a man of faith named

Abraham? Didn't Abraham question God? How can these promises be true when

I have no heir? God, how is this going to work out? What about Job?

Didn't Job question God? And in the end, he laid his hand over his mouth, said,

I've said too much. I've questioned too much. But he was a godly man.

God said to the enemy, said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? He was a very godly man, a man of faith.

And when he suffered, he questioned God. Who else questioned God? You can think of a lesser known prophet by the name of Habakkuk.

When you read Habakkuk's letter, it's a Q and A. Habakkuk asking

God why. God's saying, because. Habakkuk said, yeah, but why?

God's saying, because. Somebody else who questioned

God too. Jesus Christ. Didn't he?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's not wrong to ask

God questions when we're suffering. It's not wrong. What we need to see though is that the kind of questioning that is good and right and helpful is those kinds of questions that proceed out of faith the questions that come from faith and not the questions that deny the faith.

For instance, notice the way that Jeremiah displays his faith by his questions.

How does he begin? Righteous are you, O Lord, that I would plead my case with you.

You see, he's not questioning if God is righteous. He's saying, I wanna understand from your righteous perspective why things are the way they are.

Because I'm frustrated, I'm struggling. But you see, he begins in faith.

Righteous are you, O Lord, that I would plead my case with you. Indeed, I would discuss matters of justice with you.

He's not saying God is unjust. He's saying God is righteous.

God is righteous. This is a good place to start for your questions when you ask questions of God.

When you're questioning God and you're suffering, when you're questioning God and your frustrations, begin here that God is righteous.

God is righteous. What does it mean that God is righteous? Well, it means that God is right.

He is right. If we ever wanna know what is right and wrong,

God is right. And then we, by contrast, will know what is wrong.

And God has revealed who he is to us in the scripture. So we may know what is righteousness, that God is right.

He determines what is right and wrong because of his own nature. He desires what is right.

He never desires anything wrong. God is righteous. It means that he perceives all things rightly, that when

God describes a situation, it's always the right description. God is righteous.

This means that he is self -consistent.

In Psalm 119 verses 137 and 138, this is what it says.

Righteous are you, O Lord. This is exactly what Jeremiah said, but then the psalmist expands.

Righteous are you, O Lord, and upright are your judgments.

Everything that God says, all of his discernments, all of his words are upright.

He says, you have commanded your testimonies in righteousness and exceeding faithfulness.

Exceeding faithfulness. What does that mean? It means that God is unchangeably self -consistent, which means that he never ever varies away from who he is.

He never makes a decision that is inconsistent with his previous character. He is never about anything that is inconsistent with who he is by his nature.

He is always forever consistently right. How does that help you when you're asking questions?

You're asking questions of God. I'm suffering. I'm frustrated. Look at the way the world is. And you're asking

God questions of why and why and how long, but you begin this way. But God, you are righteous. You are right in everything that you do, in everything you've ever said.

You are right. Doesn't that strengthen your faith? That you're gonna receive an answer at some point that's going to show you why?

Secondly, Jeremiah is confessional in his questions because he believes that God is in charge.

God is sovereign. Notice what he says at the end of verse one.

He says, why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

He's asking God because he thinks God is responsible for that. That God is in charge of that.

Verse two begins this way. You have planted them. You have planted them.

Who has given them life? Who has given them the mental capacity to achieve all of their treacherous acts?

Who has been sustaining them in their breath all this time? Who has done all? God has planted them.

God has made them. God has given them life. And they take root.

They grow. They produce fruit, Jeremiah says. And Jeremiah is pretty confident that God can take care of things, isn't he?

Because at the end of verse three he says, drag them off like sheep for the slaughter. Set them apart for a day of carnage.

Why does Jeremiah say that? He says, I'm tired of being the one marked as a sheep for the slaughter. I'm tired of worrying about carnage coming my way.

Isn't it about time, God, that you arose and did something about these wicked people?

He thinks that God apparently has so much authority that God can do whatever he likes with those that he has made, with his creatures whom he owns.

And thank God that God is righteous because everything he desires is right and everything that he does is right.

And Jeremiah thinks that God is sovereign. He's in charge. That God determines the timing.

How long? Well, he's asking God because God's the one in charge of the timing. You see,

Jeremiah believes that God is responsible. In Psalm 115 verse three, the psalmist says, our

God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases.

That's a great verse that defines what does it mean that God is sovereign? He's in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases.

And so Jeremiah prays to this God who is a righteous God and who is a sovereign

God. And he's asking him questions that only God can answer about Jeremiah's frustrations.

Only God can ultimately answer those why questions about the time of his suffering. Only God can answer the how long questions.

Jeremiah believes that God is righteous. Jeremiah believes that God is sovereign. And Jeremiah believes that God is all knowing.

God is all knowing. He prays to God about the hypocrites saying that you are near to their lips but far from their mind.

God knows that. God knows that. How does Jeremiah indicate that God knows that?

Verse three, but you know me. He means, you know them, but you also know me. You know me, oh

Lord, you see me. You examine my heart's attitude towards you. God knows everything.

He knows exactly what's going on in the minds and in the hearts of all of his creatures.

God is all knowing. God sees the hypocritical heart.

So he knows. You know, when we think about God knowing all things, it's not just that God knows the number of the stars that he made and the names that he's given to each of them.

It's not just that God knows how everything in history will turn out ultimately for his glory.

It's not just the facts that God knows. When we think of God as all knowing, the

Bible consistently makes it a relational matter that God knows all things.

For instance, Psalm 139 begins this way. Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You understand my thought from afar.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Even before there's a word on my tongue, behold, oh Lord, you know it all. For God to be all knowing, it means he knows everything there is to know about you.

Everything he, for him to be all knowing, yes, he's got all the facts in the world, past, present and future.

But he also knows everything there is to know about you and I. God is the one who is righteous and sovereign and all knowing.

In other words, Jeremiah is praying to the God who's in charge of everything. He's in charge of everything and he's a righteous judge and we're all accountable to this righteous judge.

Jeremiah's going to this God and praying in faith in his frustrations.

You know, I wonder, how do you go about finding answers to your questions? In your suffering, in your frustrations, how do you go about finding answers?

Do you pray to God? Do you ask God? You say, well,

God's never talked to me the way he talked to Jeremiah. No, he's talking to you in a way that is far more full, complete, beautiful and precious than the way he talked to Jeremiah.

He's given you a complete word. Part of Jeremiah's pressure, part of his struggle was he didn't have the complete word.

He was strained to understand the things that God was telling him. We're far more blessed.

We've been given a full word, a complete word. So God does speak. So living an active word, sharper than any two -edged sword, pierces deep within us.

We are laid open before this God who knows us and he speaks to us in his word of his son that we may know the why, we may know the how long.

We can trust him as a righteous, sovereign, all -knowing God. As we're talking about these questions,

Jeremiah knew how to ask these questions because of who God was and he knew who

God was. He confessed his righteousness. He confessed his sovereignty. He confessed that God was all -knowing.

How's your doctrine holding up? How's your doctrine holding up?

Do you know who God is? Do you know him according to the scriptures? Do you know he's a righteous

God? Have you seen it for yourself in the word? Do you know he's an all -powerful, sovereign

Lord? And have you seen it from the scriptures? Have you been meditating on those passages like Psalm 115 .3?

Do you know that this God is an all -knowing God and he is not ignorant of your situation and all of the ways that you've been struggling to respond to it?

Do you know that? How's your doctrine holding up in your suffering? It'll come out when it's time to ask questions and it matters a great deal that we know the one true

God revealed to us in the word. It matters a great deal that we know

Christ. If you don't know who Christ is and you're suffering, who

Christ is and you're in the middle of trials and you're frustrated with life, if you don't know who

Christ is, then you're in a world of trouble. But with Christ, we have all we need.

You know, I think of the passage in Romans 8, in verse 31, in a passage that talks about how

Christians are to view their suffering as in Christ and not apart from Christ.

In verse 31 of Romans 8, it says, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

Now, listen carefully. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things?

Do you hear the comfort in that? God has given us his only begotten son,

Jesus Christ. He has given us the greatest that he could give. Do you think he's gonna stop helping us?

If he's given us his son, he will give us all that we need to go through the times when we're asking why and the times we're asking how long.

Paul says, no one can bring a charge against God's elect, no one can condemn us, no one can separate us from the love of Christ.

Don't we understand this? God has given us his only begotten son so he will with him freely give us all things we need to endure and persevere and go through these times of how long and why.

And a final word for us this morning, as we're thinking about asking questions, sometimes the answer doesn't come right away.

And we ask the why and we ask the how long, but we don't get the answers right away. And it's not a bad thing to keep searching the scriptures, they can only help, they can only build up our faith in Christ.

But sometimes we don't get the answer right away. The martyrs in Revelation 6 did not get their answer right away.

I mean, they're martyrs, they have died for the faith, they're in heaven and they still don't have all the answers.

Surprising, they're asking how long, oh Lord, will you allow this bloody injustice to remain undealt with on earth?

They know God is righteous, they know God is sovereign, they know God is all knowing, that's why they're asking him the question, how long, oh

Lord? And you know what the answer is? And there was given to each of them a white robe.

And they were told that they should rest for a little while, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been, would be completed also.

Surprising. See, God's in charge and he knows the time. He knows how long it's going to take until the tribulations of the church is complete.

But what is given to them while they wait? While they wait for the answer, while they wait for God's justice to be accomplished, they are given a white robe.

What's the symbol? In Revelation, the symbol is consistent throughout. In Revelation, it is the righteousness of Christ.

It is the righteousness of Christ. The picture is this. Oh saints, oh brothers and sisters in Christ, while you're waiting for the answer like Jeremiah about justice and about righteousness and when will

God make all things right, while you're waiting for that answer, rest in your justification in Christ.

Rest in your righteousness in Christ. Think of it this way. I think of it this way.

When I'm deeply troubled by injustice, when I'm deeply troubled by suffering, if God can take somebody like me and declare me right before him because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, if he can set me right, he can set all things right.

He's already set me right. I can wait for him to set all things right. I can trust him.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this passage that we've only just begun, but here we have these questions, questions that are familiar to us that we have asked you.

We've asked you why and we've asked you how long, but Father, we see that we're to ask in faith.

We're to ask for wisdom in faith, knowing that you are righteous and you are sovereign and you are all -knowing and we can trust you.

Help us to rest in Christ while we wait for your answers. And by this,

I pray that you would build us in the faith to our most good and to your highest glory.