My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

Psalm 27:10

David seeks from God what a child seeks from his or her parents. We look to a parent to receive, listen to, guide, and protect us, don’t we? Well, that is exactly what David is seeking from God.

We seek acceptance. In the world, we experience much rejection. Parents reject children; children reject parents. We are rejected by spouses, erstwhile friends, potential employers, and others in dozens of diverse situations. But God does not refuse us. David prays, “Turn not your servant away in anger. . . . Cast me not off; forsake me not” (v. 9), and he knows, even as he prays, that God will not forsake him. God has accepted him in the past. He will continue to accept him.

We seek to be heard. Sometimes children talk to us only because they want to be listened to, and unfortunately many parents are too busy to listen. Is God ever too busy to listen when we speak to him? Never! God is a true, listening parent, a parent who says: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).

We seek guidance. Which of us knows the way to walk so we will be kept out of sin and make progress in the way of righteousness? No one! We no more know how to live our lives for God than children know how to avoid danger and care for themselves. They need to be taught, as do we. In God we have one who can be turned to for guidance. David prays, “Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies” (Ps. 27:11).

We seek protection. The fourth thing a child looks for in a parent is protection, and David is certainly seeking this of the Lord because of his many enemies. They are the background of the psalm. They are the bullies of the neighborhood, and David needs the protecting presence of God just as a small child needs his father in such circumstances.

What are we to do when answers to our prayers are delayed? We simply need to wait. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord” (v. 14). If some wealthy person promised to give you an expensive gift, wouldn’t you wait for it expectantly? If you were in trouble and a king were coming to your aid, wouldn’t you be alert for his appearance? God is just such a generous benefactor and powerful king. He is well worth waiting for.

—James Montgomery Boice, author, Come to the Waters