I waited patiently for the Lord.

Psalm 40 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord.

⁴ How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
⁵ Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

⁶Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”

⁹ I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know.
¹⁰ I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹ You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
¹² For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.

¹³ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
¹⁴ Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to destroy it; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt.
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
¹⁶ Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!” ¹⁷ Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

James 1:2-4 says:  Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  In Today’s text the psalmist says:  I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord.  There is a proverbial saying that patience is a virtue. If that is true, then we are not a very virtuous society. We want everything quickly; immediately. Unlike the psalmist most often we do not wait patiently.

The psalmist says, he waited patiently and God lifted him up. How patient are we? Are we patient enough to be perfected by God?  Are we patient enough to allow God to hear our cry and bring us up out of the pit? Daniel 10:10-14 says:  Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, “O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”    God hears our cries and our prayers the moment we speak them. He moves on our behalf from the first day we set our hearts toward Him. Even more, all that we need and all that we ask is already provided for by God. In John 19:30, when Jesus was on the cross, He cried out: “It is finished!”  All that we need or want is already fully provided and accopmplished in the cross. God has already answered in Christ.

Why then do we not always get the answer? Why do we need patience?  In part, it is because God is infinite not finite. He is not limited by or restricted to time as we are. 2 Peter 3:8 says:  But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.   What if the Lord’s answer takes a day?  What if it is because God already knows the end and it is our waiting; our patience in the difficulty which is used to perfect us, so that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing?  Romans 8:28-29 says:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.   We are perfected when we are conformed to the image and likeness of Christ. God uses the things in our lives, that by His will and in His time we would be conformed to Christ’s likeness.  In truth, we are restored to the image and likeness God intended from the beginning. In Genesis 1:26-28 it says:  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them…   Will we be patient enough to allow God to recreate us into the image He intends for us to be; perfect and lacking nothing; blessed?

The psalmist says:  How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.  We are blessed not in that we get what we ask from God, but rather that we put our trust in Him, knowing He will give us all that we need. How many times do we wish for or ask for something that is not really what we need? We ask based on our limited knowledge and worldly perspective, rather than trusting God who sees all and knows all. In Jeremiah 29:11-14 God says: I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes…   God’s plans are good. The wonders He will do and His thoughts toward us are for what is best for us; that we would be blessed, restored, perfected and lack nothing.

The psalmist says:  Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  We cannot and need not give anything to God to receive what He has for us. Ephesians 2:8-10 says: By grace you have been saved through faith; and ^[h]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   God’s plan for us is also His gift to us. The psalmist says: I delight to do Your will, O my God…   In Psalm 37:3-5 he says: Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.   It is as we trust in God; as we delight in His will and His way as we faithfully we do the things He prepares for us, that we receive the fullness of His every gift; all the good He has for us.

Will we, wait patiently and trust God? Like the psalmist, will we:  proclaim glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; can we say: Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.  You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!” Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.   Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, for all You have done, all You are doing and all that You have planned for me. I will wait on You that I might be made perfect according to Your will.  Amen.