Dear church family, in these COVID days how are you doing in ‘waiting patiently for the Lord?’  

As I work my way through my study of Isaiah, interspersed with meditations in the psalms I recently came across Psalm 40 where David declares in vs 1   “I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.”  

Have you considered what it means to wait patiently for the Lord? We live in a time where we are impatient if people do not immediately respond to our text messages. Often when we pray we live like God ought to answer us immediately. How often do we come away from our prayers disappointed, perhaps feeling that God is slow to answer, or that maybe there is something wrong with us and that is why He has not answered us? Or that God has not answered us the way we expected Him to meet our needs?  

Our God is very clear that He will care for us, His people. We see this in Isaiah 46:3,4 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” 

What blessed truths. Our God carries us. He bears us and He saves us. This is how God always loves us. In this age of our expectation of instant response we need to ponder the context of these verses and learn to wait patiently for our God to act perfectly according to what He has determined is best for us. The scholars that I am using for my study believe that Isaiah ministered from approximately 740 to 680 BC and that he likely wrote down his prophecies prior to 700 BC. In this period Israel, the northern kingdom, had been taken away into captivity because of their unrelenting sin against the Lord. Judah is heading in the same direction because of their sin.  We would expect faithful believers to be praying Psalm 40 and claiming Isaiah 46:3,4 and rightly so.

What happens? We see that in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, the land of Judah was conquered by Assyria with the exception of Jerusalem. God single-handedly defeats the Assyrian army and Jerusalem is spared, nonetheless the people continue in their rebellious ways. The Lord knows their hard hearts and He plainly declares through Isaiah that He will raise Babylon, who will conquer Assyria and in turn conquer Judah and will ultimately lead them into captivity. Then God declares that He will raise up Cyrus (see Isaiah 44.28, 45:1 and the prophecies that follow regarding Cyrus). Cyrus is a Persian king, who, by the will of God conquers Babylon and aids the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and start rebuilding the temple in 539 BC.

Think of the time line. Approximately 700 BC to 539 BC. What a long time to wait for the Lord. Longer than our life times and the times of children and grandchildren. Ponder the context. God will deliver them from a captivity and exile (Babylon) that has not yet happened, and He will restore them to the land that He gave to them, through Cyrus.   

God has declared that He carries us, His people. He has made us, He will bear us, carry us and save us. We are to wait for God to act with the confidence that He will act perfectly. This is not to put a damper on our prayers. We are to plead with our Lord, even as the widow pleaded for justice from the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). The point that God has been emphasizing to me is that He is perfect in His wisdom and power, He is infinitely loving and that He is impeccable in His timing. When our God takes longer to answer our prayers than we think we have patience for, I hope that you will turn to God’s great promises and rely on Him. Here are some verses from Psalm 40 that caught my attention:

“He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. (vs 2-5)

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.  Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!” (vs 11-13)

Be assured that our God is for us even when we cannot see it for feel it. Plead with God to make haste to deliver you and wait patiently, even if it is longer than you think you can bear it, with the confidence that He will preserve you. Take heart that even as you wait, our God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). That includes His enabling you to wait until He delivers you. He is carrying you. Therefore you ‘can do all things through Him who strengthens you’ (Phil 4:13). And in obedience, by faith, “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess 5:16-18)