“I waited patiently
for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”
Psalm 40:1
Why would we
expect that David would have anything worthwhile to say about waiting?
Can you think of
a time when David had to wait on God for anything?
How about the
time between his anointing by Samuel to be king and the fulfillment of that
word?
David had to
wait about 15 years.
Don’t kid
yourself though; these were not quiet, peaceful years when all David had to do
was meditate on the projects he would complete once he was King!
They were years
of waiting but they were years filled with turmoil, battles, threats and
attempts against David’s life.
They were
certainly years that could have given David pause as to whether or not Samuel
the Prophet had heard God in the first place when he anointed David.
There was ample
opportunity to question God while he was waiting and few would have begrudged
him if he did.
And yet David
did wait and he persevered even so far as to not raise a hand against Saul when
Saul repeatedly tried to have him killed.
He waited for
God to fulfill what God had proclaimed and he would not raise his hand against
Gods anointed knowing that God was well able to do what He said He would do
without David intervening.
So I would
propose to you that it is fair to say that David had an authoritative platform
to stand on when he spoke of waiting.
So much so, that
we have good reason to listen to what he has to say about waiting.
It is interesting that David did not simply
write: “I waited for the Lord”, but rather he says “I waited patiently for the
Lord!”
That word
‘patiently’ makes all the difference.
We all know
there is patient waiting, but how about inpatient waiting?
Which one are you
better at?
What are some
expressions we use or some examples of inpatient waiting?
How about:
The sarcastic
statement: Hurry up and wait!
Or…maybe you’ve
heard this one?
“God I want
patience and I want it now!”
Parents can
certainly appreciate this next example…
“Are we there
yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?”
Maybe you spoke
this next inpatient statement on your last vacation or business trip:
“I wish they
would hurry up and land this thing!”
Here’s the
impatient husbands’ declaration as he waits in the car:
“What is taking
her so long?”
David never
expressed this kind of attitude in his wait.
He waited in
calm expectation and earnest hopefulness.
It is a wait
accompanied by the Peace of God.
When you wait on
God, is that waiting accompanied by His peace?
Ask God to help
you today to wait patiently and with His peace!
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