Please begin by reading Psalm 40:1-3.
The first line of this Psalm is something the majority of humans aren’t good at doing. Waiting and patience don’t seem to be habits of the modern person. When we look at the life situations of the people around us, our current society, patient waiting isn’t practiced with much enthusiasm. It seems that the people who serve us or wait on us aren’t used to people who patiently wait. In fact, they’re usually extremely thankful to those who show them some courtesy. Our fast-paced society and world has caused many to become more impatient and less likely to be willing to wait very long for anything.
I believe we can say that the opening verses of this Psalm speak to us the following thought: “Hang on, there’s way out.” Or maybe you remember what Yahweh said to Moses when the Israelites were faced with the sea on one side and the Egyptian army on the other. “Be still, Yahweh will fight for you” (Ex 14:14). Of course the promise of Isa 40:31 is pretty good, too. “Those who wait on Yahweh will find new strength.” We need to have the kind faith and trust in our Sovereign Lord God Almighty that provides us the strength to wait. Even when we struggle to have the faith to believe, we can certainly trust that our Lord is working for our good.
When we reach the end of ourselves, the place where we have no more ability to handle a situation, that’s when we truly need to look to Yahweh for help and deliverance. There is always a way out with his help. We don’t have to feel frustrated or angry or overwhelmed by the ongoing troubling situations in our world. Yahweh does hear our heartfelt cries and does provide help. If we’re praying and seeking his direction and will, we should be filled with his peace. Anxiety can be far from us because of our hope in our Lord’s faithfulness.
Our circumstances, spirituality, education, or financial means don’t matter. Nothing we have or own is the answer. The Scriptures clearly point out that problems come to everyone who lives on this earth. There’s no place we can go to avoid the effects of this fallen world. But there is a God we can trust. There is a Creator who desires to help his creation face the problems. But we have to seek him, to pray to him, to desire to be led by his Holy Spirit. Man doesn’t have the means to make a Utopia, as much as mankind has longed to accomplish this. Only by trusting in the heavenly Father and his plan of salvation can anyone find the ultimate peace of his perfect eternity.
We can’t give in to the pressures. We can’t begin to put our hope for man-made solutions. We must remain strong and resolute in trusting the Father, Son, and Spirit to meet our needs. We must stand strong in our faith and look beyond the circumstances we find ourselves in. We must allow them to work things out for our good. Know this, Yahweh doesn’t control us like pets, making us wait to receive some special treat. We’re not performing animals who do tricks to get a treat. We are to be his servants by an act of our will. We’re to choose to follow him.
The phrase “waited patiently” is very interesting. It’s actually the same word used twice. I guess we could say we’re being “patiently patient.” Instead of just waiting, it’s referring to waiting with hope and eagerness and expectation. It’s a looking for the good things that our loving Father will bring our way. The idea I get is that I can patiently wait, with expectation and hope, for my Lord to work out my troubles instead of struggling on my own. When I interfere too much I’m likely to make things worse instead of better.
The main idea here is that Yahweh is working according to his timetable and schedule, his plan and purpose. The situations and circumstances we encounter in this life can cause us a lot of stress, we all too often become impatient trying to hurry along the resolution of our difficulties. The advice here is to cry out to our God and allow him to work. Sometimes he’ll lift us out of our troubles and place us on secure ground where we can walk without stumbling. Sometimes he’ll strengthen us within the situation to enable us to stand strong and sure while we wait for the resolution.
Do you know the growing cycle of the Chinese bamboo tree? When it’s planted, nothing much happens for the first four years. Then at some point in the fifth year it will grow around 90 feet in six weeks. Now, did it grow that much in six weeks or in five years? Sometimes Yahweh seems to be moving at that kind of pace in our lives. Sometimes it seems like our God is taking forever to deal with our issue. If we’re not expectantly waiting for his help, we may get impatient and give up before he works everything out. Some of us are in such a hurry to get answers to our problems and concerns that we’re not willing or interested in waiting on Yahweh to work for us.
Waiting on Yahweh with true patience has purpose. It’s not an aimless pursuit, where we’re just hanging out. As we wait for answers to our problems we should be continuing to do our Father’s business. In the midst of struggling we should be doing the works of the Kingdom. To sit on the sidelines waiting for our Lord to deal with our “pressing” issue is a waste of our time, and his. We should be actively serving him while waiting for him to resolve our “pressing” issue. Sometimes he’s trying to get us to realize that the thing we believe is so important is a lesser issue, not a pressing one.
Good and proper waiting requires focused prayer. If we’re patiently waiting for Yahweh to answer our cry, we’ll be offering Kingdom-minded prayers. Luke 18:1 says, “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up.” Eph 6:18 tells us, “Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent.” Persistence is what our Lord expects from us. The ability to continue to work for our Lord instead of getting ourselves all wound up in a single issue is based in trust. Holding on to that single issue with a death grip will keep us from being effective servants for our Lord and Master.
And if we wait patiently we’re told Yahweh will give us “a new song to sing.” When we expectantly hope in his response, our perspective changes. Things look different when our eyes are set on heavenly things. Even if the problem is overwhelming we know that it won’t last forever. We act differently when we know help is on the way. Even if this world falls apart, we know Jesus is returning and will make all things new. With this kind of faith and hope we’re much less likely to get into a panic, feeling stressed and uncertain about our future. We know our heavenly Father is faithful and will touch our lives in a way that blesses us and raises us above earthly troubles.
When we fall in love our perspective changes. We walk around humming love songs. People see the dreamy look in our eyes and know someone has touched our heart. We walk around bubbling over with happiness. That’s the kind of thing people should see in us because we’re in love with our Creator. When Yahweh effectively moves in our lives and relieves the pressures of this world, people should see the change in us. As we patiently wait for his answer, people should recognize that there’s something different about how we deal with problems. Having real hope and the strength to be patient are gifts from our Lord, and these will certainly make us stand out among all the impatient people in our world.
People outside Christianity need to know that their Creator has an interest in them and their situations. If we’re too busy or stressed ourselves to allow time for sharing this good news with others, we can’t know his peace and neither can they. We’ve got to lay aside the “I know what you’re saying, but I still worry” answers we glibly offer. If we know the truth, we need to act on it. It will likely take some time to truly feel the peace and hope stilling our fears. It will likely force us to control ourselves as we learn how blessed this help from our Lord is. But if we persevere and really trust our Lord, we’ll come to a place where patient waiting isn’t so hard to live out.
Christian author Eileen Guder said, “To be impatient with God, chronically and habitually impatient with Him because things are not to our liking, makes the Christian life a dreadful burden.” We must remember that we’re the servant and Yahweh is the Master. He’s not answerable to us for a slow response. Learning to patiently wait for our Lord’s timing is something of the heart, not the head. Once we learn to truly and properly wait we can sing a new song in the midst of whatever problems and troubles we face.
Our culture and society teaches us that waiting is wasteful. We’re told that being perpetually busy is good, that we need to be in control of every situation, that hindrances must be removed. We’re taught that waiting is a form of abuse. We’re told that if we can’t surf the Web while talking to someone on our smart phones that somehow we’re less than the best we can be. We expect instant gratification and have lost the idea that a sense of expectation while we wait for something is a good feeling.
But the Scriptures tell us waiting on Yahweh is beneficial. We’re told by our heavenly Father that we’re not the center of the universe. Our Father tells us to remember that he’s always with us, that he desires to help us overcome our troubles. He promises to steady and strengthen us when we feel weak. He tells us he wants to guide us when we get lost. We need to trust in our Almighty God’s provision, even when we can’t see it or it seems to be slow in coming. We need to know that he is absolutely faithful and he loves us beyond measure. We can know for sure that he’ll take care of us when this world is bringing us despair and trouble. Remember verse 2, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”
Blessings & Peace, Mike
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Blessings! I hope that this study has enlightened you or helped you in some way. Please feel free to leave a plain old comment, or a question. Comments are moderated to keep the peace