Why are you in despair my soul, and why are you restless within me? Wait for God, for I will again praise Him for the help of His presence, my God.
NASB Psalm 43:5
Time can be such a challenge. Our world is defined by time. God is. Present. Now. Our times are in His hands. In His hands, we meet the reality of His decreed fullness of time or His now moment. As His created beings, subject to His purposes, we must learn to wait for the fullness of our time. We have a birthing time, a growing time, a preparation time, all working until the now moment of our time. Then our time comes to an end and we move to heaven.
It’s in the moments of waiting that we can find, as expressed in todays Psalm, despair of soul and restlessness within. Moments or seasons that demand the discipline to wait and to wait patiently birth character and strength.
Wait patiently for the Lord, be strong and courageous (take heart) and wait for the lord. Psalm 27:14
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Psalm 130:5
When you study the concept of waiting, you will note how interchangeably translations utilize hope or wait to infer the same concept. Waiting in hope, waiting with expectation are inclusive. It isn’t waiting if there is neither hope or expectation of fulfillment. I’ve written about the book “The Patient Fermenting of the Early Church”. The expression of theses first disciples faith, hope and love as they waited and longed for the return of the Lord should be significantly visible in our lives today.
Alec J. Motyer writes in his commentary on the book of Exodus; “ Knowing the will of God for every every day things, as well as for the big life changing decisions is a huge topic, but the example of Israel in the wilderness lays down a great fundamental principle. Israel did not seek guidance, they waited for it, because the directive will of God was expressed to them by the movement of the cloud, Exodus 40: 36-38. For them, guidance was a matter of waiting and watching. So also for Jesus: as for Isaiah 50:4- 5, the will of God was made known to him in the daily disciplined and privilege of meeting with the Lord and waiting upon him ‘morning by morning’ for his word.
It is in this position of waiting that we meet our (and others) pressure (temptations) to act. Psalm 106:13 reminds us Israel “ so forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold, NIV. The NLT reads, “yet how quickly they forgot what he had done, they wouldn’t wait for his council”. We have several Proverbs, 19:2, 21:5, that speak to todays well known proverb, “act in haste, repent in leisure”.
We also know from proverbs that man holds many of his own plans, but it is only the counsel of the Lord that stands. God watches over his word to perform. It’s vain to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he (God) gives his beloved sleep (rest). In others words you can make it happen! God is the creator, the performer. Jesus said our works were to believe. This frees us from all anxiety and stress to perform. Our job is to wait upon Him and continue to hope in His promises.
We are familiar with the words from Isaiah 40:28-31…”but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength”.
Where there is despair and restlessness there is a need for renewing. Acts tells us times are refreshing are in the presence of the Lord. Repentance may be required, but He is faithful to strengthen, his mercies are new every day, so….
Why are you in despair my soul, and why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will again praise Him for the help of His presence, my God.