Jump Start # 691

Psalms 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.”

This is one of David’s Psalms. It speaks as the voice of experience. David has witnessed the help of the Lord. The passage illustrates this: “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,” “He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm,” “He put a new song in my mouth.” David is joyfully proclaiming the praise of God. In verse 5 he writes, “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, and thy thought toward us; there is none to compare with Thee..”

The opening statement is what especially catches our eye and attention, “I waited patiently for the Lord.” The KJV and the NIV both use the same words as the NAS does here. Waiting patiently for the Lord is not something most of us do very well. Waiting in general is hard. We become impatient in traffic, the checkout line, and when put on hold while on the phone. We like things to run smoothly, swiftly and efficiently, and of those, especially swiftly. It is the baby boomers who invented “fast food.” We are the age of high speed, microwave, lightning fast. Waiting is hard. Have you ever noticed people who are having to wait? I see them in the long lines of traffic when there is some road construction and lane closures. I see them at the airport waiting their turn to go through security. Folks don’t wait very well. They sigh a lot. They look around. They play with their phones. They get bothered, and that’s just reflecting upon what  I generally do (sad to admit). Some complain. Some just give up. I’ve seen people walk out of a store if they thought the line was too long. I’ve seen cars turn around in the grass because the drivers became tired of waiting

Here David is waiting on the Lord. And the text says, “I waited patiently.” You wonder what David was waiting for? Was it the answers to his prayers…it may have been deliverance from his enemies (he prayed often about that)…could it be that he was waiting for God to give him the crown as He promised? Many years passed from the time God promised David that he would be king until he actually was made the king. Abraham had to wait a long time for Isaac, about 25 years.

Waiting on God. That is a truly fascinating thought. Some have waited on their kids to finish up with practice. Some men wait on their wives to get ready to go someplace. But how many times have we thought about waiting on God. Waiting for God to answer your prayers. Waiting on God to deliver you. Waiting on God to open the heart of a loved one to receive the gospel.

David didn’t just wait on God, he waited patiently. He didn’t grow weary. He didn’t complain. He didn’t sigh and turn around, giving up. His wait was a patient wait. What wonderful thoughts and example David gives us.

The righteous are waiting on Jesus to come. He will someday. What a glorious day that will be. But we must wait. And how will we wait? Patiently, of course. There is a wonderful song that we sing, “In His time…in His time.” It’s not, “in our time,” but rather, in His time.

How are you doing waiting?  Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Roger