The People Watching May Need Prayer Too

Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake.

Psalm 69:6

Read Psalms 66 through 70. Focus on Psalm 69:5 through 6. Psalm 69 speaks from deep distress. The speaker describes waters rising, weariness from crying, hostility, and shame. Within the plea, he asks that others who seek God will not be put to shame because of what is happening around him. His concern reaches beyond his own immediate relief. Other people's trust is involved. They are watching a life of suffering and trying to understand what faith means within it. Psalm 66 recounts God's help, Psalm 67 imagines his way known among the nations, and Psalm 68 names care for the vulnerable. Psalm 70 asks for urgent rescue. Psalm 69 adds a prayer for people whose view of God may be unsettled by another person's suffering. That can be part of a family's experience during a hard season. A child hears adults pray and notices that the difficult situation remains. A friend wonders why someone they respect is having to endure so much. A relative becomes angry at the apparent distance between what they believed and what they see. The person at the center may feel responsible for making faith look convincing to everyone. They try to remain composed, provide explanations, and protect others from questions they cannot answer themselves. That is too much to assign to a suffering person. This prayer offers a different direction. Concern for the watching people can be brought to God without making yourself the producer of their certainty. Ask him to care for them, provide sound companions, and keep their questions connected with truth. You can also speak honestly. “I do not know why this is happening. We can keep bringing it to God and seek the help we need.” The sentence offers relationship and responsibility without inventing an explanation. If you are one of the people watching, seek an appropriate place for your own questions. Do not require the person already suffering to resolve every difficulty the situation has raised in you. A trusted pastor, mature friend, or careful shared reading may provide support. Psalm 69 lets a person's distress include love for other seekers. Let that love become prayer rather than a demand for a flawless performance. God can care for the people watching without requiring you to explain everything they see. Put It into Practice Pray for the watching person by name. Offer an appropriate source of support or conversation that does not add the whole weight of their questions to the person at the center of the trouble.

Whose faith has been unsettled by a hard situation, and have you expected the person suffering most to resolve that difficulty for them?

Lord, care for those whose trust is unsettled by what someone they love is enduring. Give them honest words and wise companions. Release the suffering person from having to create a convincing explanation for everyone around them. Amen.