Louder Than “Amen”

To pray the words “Your will be done” sometimes creates a conflict in us, particularly when we know that God’s will is the opposite of what we ourselves want. We must consider whose will is to have precedence—ours or God’s.

There are some Christians who pray, “Your will be done,” but they do it with an attitude of rebellion and resentment. They believe that they cannot escape the inevitable, and they become angry about it. They say the words “Your will be done” almost through clenched teeth. Other people say the words with an attitude of passive resignation. They say, “Your will be done,” but what they mean is something like this: “Lord, I’m not very happy about the way things are turning out, but I suppose You know best. So I’ll go along with it, and I’ll try hard to believe it’s for the best.”

The proper attitude to the will of God, and the goal for which we should aim, is one of rejoicing. It’s not easy to arrive at such an attitude, I know, but nevertheless we must have it before us as the desired end.

David, as we see in the passage before us today, prayed this way. If we can cultivate this attitude as our normal and characteristic reaction to everything that happens around us—sorrow, disappointment, disillusionment, frustration, disaster, loss, bereavement—then such a spirit is more than a match for anything. As someone has said: “The Hallelujah of triumph is louder than the Amen of resignation.” It is!

Further Study

Ps 100; Jn 5:30; Eph 6:6; Heb 13:21

What is the psalmist’s exhortation?

What should be our heart attitude?