Today I want to share a word about waiting upon the Lord, as I comment on Psalm 37:1-11:
The Impulse to Act:
When a crisis occurs or when trouble comes, one of the most common human reactions is, “We must do something!”
Often, that cry for action reaches the ears of our political leadership and the result is hastily drafted and flawed legislation which is usually expensive and might even make the situation worse. Because, “We must do something!”
One commenter has called this hasty impulse to act “moral panic,” and he may well be right.
The Wisdom of the Psalmist:
In fact, the wisdom of the Psalmist is just the opposite of a moral panic. The Psalmist’s answer to a crisis or trouble is to wait. Specifically, he urges us to wait upon the Lord. God’s timing is always perfect and when we get ahead of Him we usually make things worse. The Bible is full of examples of just this type of mistake.
One example is when Abraham and Sarah decided that he should have a son by Hagar, Sarah’s servant. From this act the Arab nations were born, and a conflict was sparked between the Jews and the Arabs that continues to trouble us until the present day.
Another example is how King Saul failed to wait for Samuel to arrive at Gilgal and make a sacrifice to the Lord which, Saul was not authorized to do. His troops were scared, and Samuel was delayed, so Saul “had to do something,” but actually he didn’t, since Samuel appeared just after the sacrifice was made. Because he failed to wait, Saul lost his crown.
A third example is when King David recaptured the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. He didn’t wait for the Levites to come from Jerusalem to carry the Ark, but placed it on an oxcart. When the ox stumbled, a man named Uzzah placed a hand on the Ark to steady it, and God killed him for violating the Law. Of course, it was really David who had violated the Law, and he was so shaken he stored the Ark outside of Jerusalem for three months. A man’s life was a high price to pay for being impatient.
The Work of Waiting:
Military commanders have learned through hard experience that the first reports of both success and failure are inevitably wrong in some way, and often wildly so. Good commanders are patient and they have learned to wait for confirmation before responding to either good news or bad. So, when trouble comes, we need to learn to wait upon the Lord and not give in to moral panic. As we wait, however, God has given us some tasks to do:
- Trust in the Lord and do good.
- Take delight in the Lord and commit our way to him.
- Be still and do not fret.
- Learn to be meek and put away wrath.
If we focus on our relationship to God we will sooner or later see Him act to bless us and to glorify His Name. Like in the Parable of the Sower, grass may spring up today, and wither on the morrow. God is not laying down a sod lawn in our lives, but He is planting trees that thrive in living water. Trees take a considerable time to mature but they are inherently strong and resilient, especially when compared to grass.
The Fruit of Our Efforts:
A great example of waiting on God is found in Acts 1 and 2. At the Ascension of Christ, the Disciples were told to go back to Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Spirit. They did and while they waited, they prayed and sought God. On the Day of Pentecost, not before and not after, the Holy Spirit came, and a great harvest of souls was gathered in.
God is growing spiritual trees in our lives and when we short-circuit that process we are the ones to suffer. Let’s learn to patiently and wisely wait upon the Lord!
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
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