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Posts Tagged ‘Waiting on God’

Insights into Psalm 62

Posted in Devotional, Psalms, tagged , , on May 22, 2021| 1 Comment »

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Psalm 62:5-7

I love this. My own struggles reflected in the psalmist’s description. The psalmist says, “my soul, wait.” He is instructing his soul. He is saying to himself, “don’t become anxious, just wait. God will come through.” He confirms that all that he wants or needs is found in the one true and living God, Y-H-W-H.

Our soul is the entirety of our being–mind, heart, and emotions. I hold nothing back–leave no thought to flutter away to other concerns. Every ounce of my being is focused on, expecting Him–His glory and majesty, His provision, His protection, who He is and what He has done. The Psalmist confirms this when he says, “He only . . .” (Emphasis added.)

The Psalms says, I wait “for God alone.” This single-minded devotion is a natural out-flow of the command in Deuteronomy 6:5 (the Shema) to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The Psalmist is modeling for us the life lived under the yoke of heaven.

I confess with the Psalmist, I have no other Gods before Him. He is my heart’s one desire. Worshiping God is what I was made for, but it is also what I most enjoy.

And so I wait as the Psalmist waited. In the waiting, God comes. After He comes, I wait enveloped in His presence. His Shekinah glory lights me up!

I wait silently. As Solomon said, “God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.” In the silence, I am filled with expectation–hope. Hope for provision, hope for protection, hope for healing, hope for renewal, hope for revival, hope for the future here and with Him–the endless eternal with God.

The Psalmist gives voice to his expectation in verses 6 and 7. Speaking of Adonai, he says, “He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense . . . In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

God is my rock–unlike sand or soil, He doesn’t shift or move. He is reliable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is my rock of strength–a place where no enemy can reach me. He is my hiding place. In Psalm 27:5, the Psalmist tells us “in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”

My experiential knowledge (not mere book knowledge) of God’s character as my rock and my strength–allows me to say with the Psalmist–“I will not be moved. I will not be shaken.”

 

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Waiting in the wake of the cross

Posted in Easter, tagged , , on April 15, 2017| 5 Comments »

Do you ever struggle with waiting? Maybe God has promised you something–something amazing, and yet it does not happen as swiftly as you expected. Instead, God calls you to wait.

The Bible teaches this waiting. Psalm 27:14 exhorts us to “wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” Psalm 62:5 adds a prayer of the psalmist, “my soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.”

But the waiting is hard. This passion weekend, I was reminded of the disciples waiting–they didn’t seem to believe that Jesus would rise from the dead from what we read in the gospels. They were, however, waiting–huddled together in the upper room, trying to make sense of the chaos and horror they witnessed–their teacher and beloved friend was tried, convicted and sentenced to death on the cross. They watched from afar off as He hung on the brutal torture rack of the Roman cross–dying a slow death of suffocation.

They had believed He was the Messiah–the one who would save them from the Roman oppression, and there He hung–a victim of that very oppression–innocen. What a horror it must have been for them! Their circumstances were over-whelming the promises they had been given. They couldn’t even hold them in focus. Fear ruled their hearts.

So it might be for you. God made a promise, but He is asking you to wait. The circumstances keep getting darker. But still He says, “wait.”

Fear not, Sunday’s coming and He will burst forth in glorious light from the darkness of the tomb–having conquered death and all that oppresses you. He is a risen Savior! He lives!

Wait a little longer . . .

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Prayer – Countering the Confusion that Accompanies Unanswered Prayers

Posted in Prayer, Psalms, Relationship with God, Unanswered prayers, Waiting on God, tagged , , , , on September 27, 2010|

In our last post, we looked at some of the ways our thinking can become confused when God delays in answering our prayers.  For a review, you can look at Psalm 77:7-9.  The remedy for the confused thinking illustrated in those verses is found in the verses that follow, Psalm 77:10-12.

In these verses, the Psalmist gives us 3 things we can do to get our thinking straight and fight the confusion that can enter our thinking when we have to wait for God to answer our prayers.

  • Remember what God has done.
  • Mediate on what God has done.
  • Tell of what God has done.

REMEMBER

In battling the confused thinking, I need to remember the work of the LORD, both in the history of mankind and in my own history, my own life.  This is a good time to remember that reading through the Bible from cover to cover every year or so will keep the works of God and the deeds of God in my memory.  Also, keeping a journal of what God is showing me and how He has answered my prayers can be a good way of keeping track of my history with God.  When I become confused in my thinking, I can review the records I have kept of how God is working in my life and the lives of my husband and my daughter and my family and friends.

MEDITATE

The Bible teaches that we must bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”  By meditating on the Word and the works of God contained in the Word, I can train my mind to be obedient to Christ.  This is what is meant by taking every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  My thoughts can run in all directions and question God and be confused over His nature, but as I meditate on the Word and purpose to allow Christ to dominate my thoughts, I can learn to bring my thoughts through the Word and make them obey what Christ has said and done.  It is a discipline that must be practiced.  It can only be done if I know what the Word says.  I must be willing to sit and consider what the Bible means and how it can be applied to my life.

TELL OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE

How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”  Isaiah 52:7.  It is important to learn of  what God has done and to mediate on what He has done, but it is equally important to tell others of what God has done.

When you become confused in your thinking because God has delayed in answering your prayers, and you are tempted to question God’s mercy, His faithfulness or His grace, consider the remedy for confusion discussed above:  Remember . . . Mediate . . . Tell!

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