Each time I read it, God would
unearth new treasures for me, and I began to see a common thread running
through the Psalm. This Psalm is a beautiful
example of “waiting well” during a fiery trial.
In verse 1, David teaches us to wait patiently and with a good attitude. Merriam-Webster describes patiently
as “in a patient manner: with calmness or without complaint or hurry despite
delays, difficulties, tedium, etc.” Part
of that means we stop fighting the reality of the trial—we stop trying to shove
it down, ignore it, deny it, fix it, get angry at it or at God for allowing it
or at other people we deem responsible for it, etc. It means to “ride the wave” as it were and
see where it takes us. It means that we
must quietly allow God to lead us in the trial and not fight Him every step of
the way like a petulant child. We internalize
the reality that this is going to be an extremely brutal season and that’s
okay. It’s okay because through it God will
accomplish His purposes that we most likely cannot even begin to
understand. Waiting does NOT mean we sit
back and twiddle our thumbs until God decides to intervene on our behalf. Waiting on the Lord is not a passive
act. As we wait, we are continually pursuing
Him and obeying His directives as He gives them.
David also shows us in verse 5 that waiting
on the Lord means reminding ourselves regularly of “all [His] wonderful deeds.” This is an integral part of waiting well.
In fact, that is how David begins this Psalm, by reflecting on a time when he
was enduring a fiery trial from which God eventually delivered him. I love that as David is meditating on God’s
past goodness, he says, “If I tried to recite all Your wonderful deeds, I would
never come to the end of them.” Reading
that verse reminded me that I am neglecting a very powerful tool in waiting
well. I do not reflect on or recite
God’s past miracles in my life nearly enough.
This is so critical because this is how we encourage and edify ourselves. This will renew our hope and bring a levity
during the trial that we could not otherwise experience. As soon as we begin to slide down that
slippery slope of discouragement, anger, or depression, part of the antidote is
to really stop and reflect on specific times in our life when He has
miraculously intervened on our behalf, and rejoice in His gracious miracles. He is the same God today that He was then.
Waiting well also means trusting Him COMPLETELY. Because David knew God intimately, it was
possible for him to trust God fully with every situation he faced. Only when we trust God fully do we experience
His peace which passes understanding. We
understand intrinsically, not merely intellectually, that God is COMPLETELY
trustworthy. We can have peace because
no matter how our trial ends, and no matter what extreme challenges we may have
to endure indefinitely, we know that we
know that we know that God has our back.
And that becomes enough. Our
peace comes from trusting Him with all of our problems, and letting Him deal
with them as He sees best. But in order
to do that, we have to be willing to give Him all those things to which we so
desperately cling because we cannot imagine life without them. Hebrews 11:6 states that, “But without faith
it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He
is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We cannot surrender everything to Him until
we believe that verse.
As we are waiting on the Lord, we
ask God to open our eyes to see His glorious miracles during the trial. There are always miracles; sometimes we are
blind to them, but they are there.
Waiting well means that we see His miraculous interventions, and not
only do we see them and reflect on them, we boldly and lovingly tell everyone
we know what God has done and is doing for us.
And that brings me to our next criterion for waiting well: telling others of everything He does and has
done for us. In verses 9 and 10,
David explains that he boldly proclaims God’s goodness to everyone. Verse 3 explains why this is important: “Many
will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.”
He proclaims God’s miracles so others can know God the way he does. He wants everyone to know how awesome and
good God is. He does it regularly and he
does it boldly. He is not embarrassed or
ashamed to talk about how great God is—he does not hold back because he is
impervious to what others will think of him.
“Waiting on the Lord” also means that we obey God fully, no matter
what. There will definitely be times
when God tells us to do something that doesn’t make any sense. If you KNOW that God has told you to do
something, do it even if you don’t understand why. A couple of decades ago, I was going through
a financial crisis. I remember that I
had twelve dollars to my name, and those twelve dollars had to last me a
week—gas, food, etc. I was a baby
Christian and I remember working very hard not to panic because I had no idea
how I was going to survive the week. I
went to a church service, and as the offering plate was going around, I
distinctly heard God tell me to put all twelve dollars in the offering
plate. I was sure I was hearing
things. However, I heard the same
command again. This time I argued with
God. God repeated the same thing …
again. So as the offering plate came to
me, I just dumped all my money in the plate and didn’t allow myself to think
about it. A couple of days later, I was
cleaning my room, and I found a wallet I had lost. When I looked inside, there were thirty
dollars. Because I obeyed God and did
something that sounded ludicrous and completely counterintuitive, God more than
doubled my money. I will never forget
that moment. I learned a lot about God’s
nature and character that weekend. It
doesn’t matter what God tells us to do—no matter how insane it sounds or how
difficult it is, if we KNOW it’s Him, we need to just do it. Do it just because He SAID to do it. And that’s enough.
Waiting well also means looking ONLY at HIM, not at our current
situation and circumstances. David
begins and ends this Psalm by looking upward toward God. However, in the middle of the Psalm,
specifically in verses 11 through 15, David begins to look at his circumstances
instead of God. He feels surrounded by
his countless problems and sins and sees no way out. He seems overcome with hopelessness (“For
troubles surround me—too many to count!
My sins pile up so high I can’t see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on my head. I have lost all courage.” vv. 11-12). How many times have we felt the same
way? Notice that as soon as David took
his eyes off of God and looked around him with his very limited human
perspective, THAT is when hopelessness took hold of him. I like the NKJ translation because the
translation of verse 12 is “THEREFORE my heart fails me.” Why does he feel discouraged? BECAUSE he is looking around him instead of upward
to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Also, as I was reading the French equivalent of the NKJV, instead of
saying, “My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;” it
says, “« the PUNISHMENT for my sins HAS CAUGHT UP WITH ME ».” I just found that so powerful.
One of my favorite qualities of
David is his steadfast devotion to God.
Even though he briefly takes his eyes off of the Creator of the
universe, by the end of the Psalm he is looking up again. We will stumble in our faith, but we must continually
strive to keep our eyes on Him only. So
many times, especially in my battle with Carlos, I have to remind myself that I
am not fighting HIM, I am fighting the evil forces that are vigorously and
persistently toiling to destroy him and our family.
One other way that David teaches us how to “wait well” is to seek
deliverance only from God and only in HIS timing, not ours. Verse 1 says, “I waited patiently for the
Lord to help me,” and verse 2 says, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair.” Verse 13 says, “Please, Lord, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me.” Verse 17 says, “You are my helper and my
savior. O my God, do not delay.” David is committed to allowing God to bring
the breakthroughs he desires WHEN GOD WANTS.
He will wait patiently as long as it takes. Nowhere in this Psalm does David whine and
moan to God, nor does he take matters into his own hands and strategize ways to
escape the grueling trial or short-circuit God’s purposes by conjuring up his
own solution.
“Waiting well” is extremely
challenging and requires a daily commitment.
When I become weary and discouraged, Galatians 6:9 calms me and encourages
me: “And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we
do not lose heart.” I cling to the
promise in the last part of that verse.
I just have to hold on to God with all of my strength, and I WILL reap
the rewards at some point.
Here are some Scriptures to encourage you to wait "well." :) I hope they bless you! Before you read them, I encourage you to take a moment to seek God and ask Him to reveal to you which of these qualities you are good at and which of them you need to improve upon. Then choose one trait of waiting well that you MOST would like to improve upon. Take a moment to pray and ask God to help you improve at that specific trait of "waiting well." Pray about it every day and make a conscious, deliberate choice to be aware of this weakness as the day passes; ask God to open your eyes so you can see when it rears its ugly head again, and you can immediately counter it with Scriptures. Then, when God directs each step in the process of improving, choose to obey Him, no matter how hard it is.
Here are some Scriptures to encourage you to wait "well." :) I hope they bless you! Before you read them, I encourage you to take a moment to seek God and ask Him to reveal to you which of these qualities you are good at and which of them you need to improve upon. Then choose one trait of waiting well that you MOST would like to improve upon. Take a moment to pray and ask God to help you improve at that specific trait of "waiting well." Pray about it every day and make a conscious, deliberate choice to be aware of this weakness as the day passes; ask God to open your eyes so you can see when it rears its ugly head again, and you can immediately counter it with Scriptures. Then, when God directs each step in the process of improving, choose to obey Him, no matter how hard it is.
wait patiently and with a good attitude
The Lord is good to those who wait
for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It
is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the
Lord. Lamentations 3:25-26
reminding ourselves regularly of “all [His]
wonderful deeds”
Great is the Lord, and greatly to
be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare
Your mighty acts. Psalm 145:3-4
trusting Him COMPLETELY
And those who know Your name will
put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek
You. Psalm 9:10
telling others of God’s goodness
However, Jesus did not permit him,
but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the
Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” Mark 5:19
obey God fully, no matter what
“You have charged us to keep Your
commandments carefully. Oh, that my
actions would consistently reflect Your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my
life with Your commands. As I learn Your
righteous regulations, I will thank You by living as I should! I will obey Your decrees. Please don’t give up on me!” Psalm 119:4-8
looking ONLY at HIM
“They do not fear bad news; they
confidently trust the Lord to care for them.”
Ps. 112:7
“Because he has set his love upon
Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known
My name. He shall call upon Me, and I
will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor
him.” Ps. 91:14-15
Dear beloved of God, if you are in the midst of a fiery trial right now, and the end seems nowhere in sight, know that God surely sees and He definitely cares.
Here's a song that encourages me when I'm frustrated with waiting on God.
Here's a song that encourages me when I'm frustrated with waiting on God.
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