An Answer to Prayer We are Grateful Seldom Comes

“Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.” (Ps 20:4 AV)

That is a scary thought!  David, while He is praying, has an answer from the LORD.  The above verse is the beginning of God’s answer to him.  David is discouraged.  He is seeking help from the LORD as he ascends his throne.  He cries out to heaven for strength and asks the LORD to consider his faithfulness in worship.  The answer comes back from heaven that God has accepted his prayer and that all that David seeks will be honored.  Why is that a scary thought?  Sitting here this morning I am so grateful the LORD did not do such for me.  Why?  Because I cannot say all of my counsel was in God’s best interest or mine.  I am so grateful the LORD didn’t answer many of my prayers the way I had initially sought.  This meant the answer was not always immediately palatable.  His answers are always perfect.  But they are not always comfortable.  Upon meditation, I chuckled at the above verse and praised the LORD he did not always give me the desire of my heart.

Struggling to find one example, the Spirit reminded me that the LORD’s answer was so perfect, it is hard to remember an errant request.  Taking solace and joy in the perfection of God’s care, the futility of the initial request fades into oblivion.  What would it matter what I asked for?  It wasn’t God’s perfect plan, so why try to remember it?  I do remember as a young adult and parent wishing I would open the mailbox and all our money issues would be solved.  I was hoping for a onetime miracle to supply all our needs for the rest of our lives.  I never prayed for it because I knew it was silly.  I remember asking the LORD for perfect healing for Lisa’s cancer.  That didn’t come.  In the interim, there were lessons I needed to learn that only trials can teach.  I don’t want to see her suffer.  Yet, suffering is part of God’s plan.  Sometimes, suffering is the only way to learn certain truths.  There were things about my heart and mind that needed adjusting.  There were steps of maturity that I needed to experience.  Life goes on and marches to a conclusion.  That march is not an easy one.  It is, however, a necessary one.

David was in such a place that the immediate concerns of his heart would be totally resolved.  He was in such a place that his heart was totally correct and his plans to victory were perfect.  There wasn’t anything he sought to resolve his current situation to which God could object.  His will was perfectly aligned with the LORD’s.  That is a really good place to be.  This means David’s mind was completely exercised in the matter of his trouble.  He had thought it completely through.  He had mused on the promises and nature of God.  He could find no biblical reason to change his request.  He knew the love and care that his God would provide.  There was nothing of himself in the request.  It was all for the glory of God.  I am truly impressed with the LORD’s answer to His simple and humble servant.  I trust the older and wiser I get, the more and more God can say the same to me.