Why God Doesn’t Always Pull Us Out of Sin Immediately

Open AI

As I was meditating on Psalm 40:12–13, these words captured my heart:

For troubles without number surround me;my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.They are more than the hairs of my head,and my heart fails within me. Be pleased to save me, Lord;come quickly, Lord, to help me.

One phrase stopped me.

“Be pleased to save me, Lord.”

It almost sounds strange, doesn’t it? Why would David ask God to be pleased to save him?

Why not simply say, “Save me”?

And if God truly is the One who works in us “to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13), then why does He ever wait? Why doesn’t He strengthen our will from the start? Why does He sometimes allow us to sink so deeply into weakness that hope feels distant?

The more I thought about the words “Be pleased,” the more I asked myself: who else would be pleased to see me saved?

The answer was painfully clear. Me. That’s when it clicked.

When I’ve cried out to God for help, I realized I wasn’t always longing for holiness; I was longing for relief. I wanted to feel better. I wanted my sense of moral stability back. I wanted to see a “righteous” version of myself again, the me who felt full of grace, the me who felt holy, strong, capable, and spiritually okay.

This is what hidden self-righteousness does to us. It makes our prayers sound spiritual while quietly centering everything around “me.” It can appear like we want God to be pleased, but deep down we mostly want to be pleased with ourselves. We want to feel righteous again. We want our inner comfort restored.

We want God’s help so our own sense of moral comfort can be restored. It takes spiritual maturity to love God for who He is, even when He does not make us feel righteous in the moment. Maturity is when God becomes lovely in Himself, not only when He makes us feel good about our spiritual condition.

That is what makes David’s prayer so powerful. His cry is not simply, “Lord, rescue me so I can feel better.” It is, “Lord, rescue me in a way that pleases You.”

He does not want deliverance that restores his pride. He wants deliverance that glorifies God and humbles his heart.

He wants saving that leads to worship, not saving that leads back to self-confidence.

So why does God sometimes let us feel the full weight of our weakness? Not because He is cruel.Not because He is distant.But because He is forming humility, not just “good” behavior.

If He rescued us too quickly, we might enjoy freedom without learning dependence. We might walk in outward obedience while still loving ourselves more than we love Him. We might crave the feeling of righteousness rather than craving God Himself.

Sometimes God lets us feel lost so that when He saves, our response is gratitude instead of pride. Then obedience flows from humility instead of ego.

Sometimes He allows the struggle not because He refuses to help, but because He is teaching us to love Him more than we love feeling righteous. He is shaping hearts that want Him more than comfort, more than moral success, more than self-approval.

Next time you ask for His help, remember to place His pleasure above your comfort. Seek His will before your relief. Let that be the posture of your heart:

“Be pleased to save me, Lord. Come quickly to help me.”

© Mikiyas Astatke