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Presented by Lisa Bishop
What is something you are currently waiting for? Whether you’re waiting for a job, vindication for an injustice, or a prodigal kid to come home, what you focus on when you wait matters.
In Psalm 25:5, King David is in the midst of waiting for deliverance from his enemies when he cries out, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
We’re not sure of David’s exact circumstances when he penned this plea to the Lord. While David is known for finding himself in sticky situations and long periods of waiting, one thing we see throughout the book of Psalms is how he waited on the Lord.
The origin of the word wait in Psalm 25 means to look for, to expect, to eagerly wait for, to bind together by twisting, be strong and robust, to stretch. You will be stretched in the waiting.
One commentary says the picture of binding and twisting is one of being intertwined with God in the midst of the waiting. In the waiting, there is the tension of enduring, of remaining, of relying on and depending on Jesus.
In the opening lines of David’s prayer, we see the disposition of his heart as he opens with this powerful decree,
In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause (Psalm 25: 1-3).
David was intentional about his focus on God as he waited.
Psalm 25 is said to be “(It is) a wonderful display of the heart of a well-taught believer in a season of crisis” (The Enduring Word commentary).[1]
I’m not sure what you are waiting for, but as you wait, who are you fixing your eyes on? In the waiting, it is our responsibility to train our minds, our hearts, and our thoughts to remember the character of God. And when our faith feels like it is flailing, to remember God’s faithfulness, preach the truth to ourselves and praise him. We can easily find ourselves focusing on pain or fear and forgo the reliance on God that waiting can produce. There is training and a forging of our faith as we grow in maturity in the wait.
As David ends his song to God, he makes one final request: May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you (Psalm 25:21). Let’s make our petition to God, the author, and perfecter of our faith as we wait.
[1] Guzik, D. (2019, July 2). David Guzik Bible Commentary on Enduring Word. Enduring Word. https://enduringword.com/