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 reached down to me and heard my cry.
² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud;
And He set my feet on 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 become involved in falsehood.
⁵ Many, Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

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

⁹ I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
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 mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.

The psalmist says:  I waited patiently for the Lord; And He reached down to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud; And He set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm.   Do we truly know what it means to wait patiently for the Lord?  Our culture is a culture that seeks instant gratification. We want the answers to our questions answered immediately by google or Siri. We want food and merchandise delivered to our door.  Are we willing to wait patiently for the Lord to answer?  Would we be willing to wait patiently for a day?  2 Peter 3:8 says:  Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  Because we are limited in our thinking to finite time, we forget that God is eternal and that time means nothing to Him. In Revelation 1:8 God says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  God knows the answer to our questions and the outcome of our circumstances. In John 19:30, when Jesus was on the cross, He said:  “It is finished!”  Jesus provided and accomplished all that we could need or ask for through the finished work of the cross. It is settled in heaven. We need only to wait patiently for Him.  He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud; And He set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm. 

The psalmist says:  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. How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who become involved in falsehood.  We need only to trust in the eternal God who has already provided for all that we need. We need to not become involved in falsehood, in either the lies of human ideology or in the lies of the devil. People will try to convince us that they have the answers. The devil will deceive us to follow him rather than trust in God. But God, 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. How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust.  

The psalmist says:  Many, Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is no one to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count… Then I said, “Behold, I have come; It is written of me in the scroll of the book. I delight to do Your will, my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  If we will focus on all that God has done, on the many wonders which He has done, both in creation and in our own lives, if we remember what He has done, it will be easy to trust what He will do.  In John 14:15 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”   It is not out of fear that we are obedient to God, but rather, because we love Him, we delight to do His will. In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus says:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  When we trust in the Lord, when we delight to do His will, we find rest from our burdens because Jesus will do the hard things for us. In fact, “It is finished,” in the cross. 

Together with the psalmist we should say:  I have proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, 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 mercy and Your truth from the great congregation. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I will trust in You. Amen.