HOPEFUL WAITING

Psalm 130:5-8

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.”

The Scripture is full of admonitions to wait on the Lord.” Psalm 27 says: “Be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”  Psalm 37 says: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.”  There are many other examples I could cite but perhaps the most well known is from Isa. 40 where it says: “Those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary”  (NASB).

The idea presented in Psalm 130 is waiting with anticipation.  It isn’t morning yet, but the watchman knows the morning is coming; the dawn isn’t in question.  And so, the psalm teaches us, it is with the promises of God’s Word.  Putting one’s hope in God’s promises isn’t just wishing, it is waiting with anticipation.  We know the answer, the fulfillment, the solution is coming just as surely as the dawn.  We can trust God because his love is unfailing.  No matter how many times we have fallen down God has always picked us back up.  No matter how completely we have missed the mark, we have always found forgiveness in Christ Jesus. 

I hope today that everyone reading these words can say with the Psalmist, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” 

Pastor Keith Andrews