Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering: Make it So

 

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Prase ye the LORD.  Psalm106:48 KJV

 Amen. You’ve read it. You’ve said it. Do you know what it means? What do you mean when you say it? Charles Spurgeon in his commentary on Psalm 106 shares that, “It has been adopted, and without translation retained, in all languages in which the gospel of Jesus the Son of David is preached.” Webster reflects similarly that, “This word, with slight differences or orthography, is in all the dialects of the Assyrian stock.” He goes on to share its meaning, “As a verb, it signifies to confirm, establish, verify; to trust, or give confidence; as a noun, truth, firmness, trust, confidence; as an adjective, firm, stable. In English, after the oriental manner, it is used at the beginning, but more generally at the end of declarations and prayers, in the sense of, be it firm, be it established.” As Spurgeon so neatly summarized, amen means, “So be it.” Being a Trekkie from birth, my ear hears, “Make it so.”

 In my years of following Jesus, I’ve come to understand an amen at the end of a prayer as signifying, “Let it be done according to God’s will and plan, not my own desires.” It’s a form of submission, an echo of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39).

 Today’s scripture comes at the end of a long renumeration of Israel’s sinfulness and straying from God. Over and over and over again, they had broken faith with God, but He had proven faithful. It is with this in mind that the psalmist says, may God’s ways prevail. He who did not lead us astray or leave us in the messes of our own making. He who has always proven trustworthy. Let Him be in charge. Let Him decide what is best and what is to come to pass. It’s almost like he’s writing out a pro-con list. On one side is Israel who just can’t seem to get it right. They have all the evidence before them, miracles performed over and over again right in front of them, and yet at every turn they complain, they ask for their own way, they break their covenants. It’s easy to sit in judgement of them, but how often have we been the same? The other side of this list is God’s faithfulness. “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake.” (vs 8) “Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.” (vs 44-45) I think verse 43 sums up the whole psalm quite well, “Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.” When looking at the two side by side, there is a clear winner. God’s ways are faithful and true and best.

Here’s the Thing: Martin Luther famously said, “As your Amen is, so has been your prayer.” Do you mean it, or is it just a word you tack on at the end to signify that you’re done praying? Is your heart filled with praise, knowing that God will put everything together perfectly and you can trust Him? I desire to have my “Amen” lay all my cares, concerns and worries at the feet of Jesus, handing over to Him the handling of them all, trusting His faithfulness and goodness to work everything out according to His perfect plan.

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