“…I will watch for You…”
When you hear, “God is never in a hurry,” do you find it frustrating?
Impatience tends to be blamed on our fast-paced world and over-booked schedules. The lack of patience from within is rooted in something more profound. The soul hungers to be satisfied by the promises of God, and our waiting drives the urgency for God to answer our cries for help.
Our feeling that God is not moving quickly enough is not a product of the modern world, but a sentiment shared for thousands of years.
“Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” Psalm 10:1, NRSV
“Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O LORD, make haste to help me!” Psalm 70:1, NRSV
Most of the Psalms were written around 1000 years before Christ was born. Those who wrote out their laments, praises, and heartfelt prayers lived with their faith in the coming Messiah, a reliance on the law for comfort, and prayers for God to intervene.
We live with the knowledge that the Messiah has come, and His resurrection power is within us. But they then, like us today, did not want to stay in a place of pain, difficulty, or danger.
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?” Psalm13:1, NRSV
“Do not hide from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble!” Psalm 69:17, NLT.
We cry out for the LORD – All mighty God – to rescue, heal, change the situation, the heart, and the outcome.
When it appears God is not answering, has forgotten, or doubt tells us He doesn’t care, these are signs we have crossed the threshold of waiting. The ancient scriptures also capture the role of waiting in our times of distress.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27: 14, ESV
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” Lamentations 3:25, ESV
The scriptures reverberate in the caverns of our minds, summoning us to wait on God. Our hearts hear the distant echo, and we shrug our shoulders with heaviness and sigh with the question, “how can I wait?”
“You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress” Psalm 59:9, NLT.
Here the psalmist declares his power to wait comes from God. He sees God as an impenetrable wall around him. Verse 10 says he makes these claims based on God’s unfailing love. “My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies” (Psalm 59:10, NRSV, bold added). God’s unfailing love reassures the psalmist and sustains him.
But coming face to face with God’s lovingkindness and victory has not happened; the psalmist is waiting. The Hebrew word used in verse 9 for “wait” is “samar” (shaw-mar) and many of the translations use the word “watch.” “Samar” can be defined as guard, observe, attend to, or watchman.
Imagine a watchman, the guard in a tower waiting and intensely looking towards the horizon for reinforcements to appear. Surrounded by the enemy, the troops below eagerly anticipate the trumpet blast to sound from the watchman’s tower announcing help has arrived and victory will be theirs.
“You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress” Psalm 59:9, NIV.
Watching is a decisive piece of waiting, but what does “watching while we wait” look like?
- Watching is active. What do we need to continue to do in readiness, and what needs to be done in preparedness?
- Watching is attuned to not just what we see but also what we sense and hear. How can we be more in God’s Word learning His ways? Are our ears bent towards heaven throughout the day listening for God’s direction?
- Watching is attentive to what God is currently doing out of His graciousness. What can we be thankful for now? Where has God already been active on our behalf and then allow our faith to be strengthened?
- Watching anticipates with the belief God will act on our behalf. Can we thank God for what we believe He will do? Is there anything we need to do differently because we believe God will move?
“O [God] my strength, I will watch for You; For God is my stronghold [my refuge, my protector, my high tower]. My God in His [steadfast] lovingkindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly on my enemies [who lie in wait for me]. (Psalm 59:9-10, AMP, bold added)
Waiting and watching are active and involve being attuned and attentive with the anticipation that God is and will work on our behalf. Perhaps one of the reasons God is not in a hurry is He does not want to usurp the benefits we will reap from watchfully waiting.
I pray that your waiting buds into patience and your patience blossoms into watchfulness. May any frustrations turn into curiosity and any reluctance turn into obedience. May God steady your glance into a gaze as you anticipate meeting up with God’s lovingkindness and the victory that is just ahead. So be it, in Jesus’ name.
Meditate: God will meet me
Reflect: What areas in your life are in a season of waiting? Which watchful points could use some work – Active? Attuned? Attentive? Anticipation? How have you already seen God at work while you are waiting? Is there someone else in your life in a season of waiting that you could encourage?
Rooted: Psalm 59:8-10, 16-17; Psalm 130; 2 Peter 3:8-13
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(Bible References: NRSV – New Revised Standard Version, NLT – New Living Translation, ESV – English Standard Version, NIV – New International Version, AMP – Amplified Version)
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