Wait!

Tom Barnard

 

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 27:14

 

This is not a suggestion. It is not a discussion starter. It is not a proposition. It is a command. And it is repeated—“wait” is said twice. The psalmist wanted to make sure that the readers understood the importance of his words. After all, kings were not in the habit of being ambiguous. A king’s desires were like commands. In the last sentence of this psalm, David was direct and unflinching:

 

Wait…Be strong…Take heart…Wait!

 

These words were not marching orders. But they were orders. David began this song with some of the most inspiring words in the Old Testament:

 

“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;

Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.”

 

What was the source of David’s confidence and courage? He understood the power of patience. Andrew Murray understood this as well. Hear his thoughts on the subject of waiting patiently for the Lord.

 

            The whole duty and blessedness of waiting on God has its root in this, that He is such

            a blessed being, full, to overflowing, of goodness and power and life and joy, that we,

            however wretched, cannot for any time come into contact with Him, without that life

            and power secretly, silently, beginning to enter into us and blessing us…Come, and

            however feeble you feel, just wait in His presence. As a feeble invalid is brought out

            into the sunshine to let its warmth go through him, come with all that is dark and cold

            in you into the sunshine of God’s holy, omnipotent love, and sit and wait there, with the

            one thought: Here I am, in the sunshine of His love. As the sun does it work in the weak

            one who seeks its rays, God will do His work in you.

 

Heavenly Father, I want to feel the warmth of your love.  If that means I must wait more and march less, I am willing to do that. I come to you as a spiritually-challenged invalid who has often resided in the cold and dark. Unable to help myself, I have leaned upon parents, friends, family, and spiritually-mature pastors and mentors to wheel me into the sunlight of Divine Love.  I am there today, and I will wait patiently for you to do your work in me. Amen.