“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.” – Psalm 40:1
The writer of Psalm 40 begins with a statement of God’s faithfulness. I called to the Lord, I waited, God heard. If you continue reading, you can add to the sequence that God acted. God not only hears; God responds. We don’t exactly know the circumstances in the life of the writer. We don’t know if the circumstances were current, or if the writer is simply looking back in reflection. We do know that the writer is celebrating God’s faithfulness to hear and to respond when we call out to Him. As we acknowledge God’s faithfulness, let us not overlook the important dynamic that connects the call and the response. In the writers words, it is patient waiting.
I took a few moments to check a variety of English translations of this verse. (With Bible software, that is extremely easy to do.) I wanted to check on the consistency of one particular word in the verse. That word is “patiently.” Does the writer really describe his waiting as patient? According to every translation that I checked, that appears to be the case. Without any variation, the word “patiently” is right there. Patience is the term that describes the manner of the psalmist’s waiting. Unfortunately, it seldom describes the manner of my own waiting. In my walk with the Lord, patience is not the most flourishing of the spiritual fruit. Somehow I suspect that holds true for many people. It may help us, though, to think of patience not so much in terms of temperament, but in terms of discipline.
On many occasions I have waited with people while a loved one has been in surgery. Such waiting is always difficult. Hospitals have taken generous measures to help assuage the anxiety of waiting, ranging from intermittent calls from a surgical nurse to flat screen monitors that display constant updates about the procedure. Doctors usually give an estimate of time to the family before surgery begins. All of this is intended to help assure the loved ones in waiting that things are progressing the way they should. Even with all of these measures, impatience frequently arises. At such times I have often reminded people that we really don’t want the doctor to finish before she is finished. If that doesn’t make sense to you, hear it another way. We don’t want the doctor to leave her business with the patient incomplete. If it takes an extra 30 minutes to finish the job, take the extra 30 minutes. Even though our impatience eats at us, what we really want is completion.
I expect, if we are honest, we would want the same with God. The psalmist is not celebrating a God who works like a genie in a bottle. God works in His perfect time. The writer does not say, “I snapped my fingers and God came running.” No, the writer is saying, “I called, God heard, and in God’s time He responded.” Patience, then, is a product of discipline, not temperament. It is an act of trust. There is a saying: “God is seldom early, but He is never late.” I hope you will have that kind of trust as you face unresolved issues today. Have you called out to God? He has heard you. Keep praying. It is a way to nurture within yourself a trusting confidence in God’s faithfulness. Or to put it another way, you will find your waiting to be patient.
Calm our hearts, Lord, and instill within us a patient trust in your perfect timing. Amen.
The Winding Path 