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While We Wait - What Happens When We Wait

  • Writer: Paul Downie
    Paul Downie
  • 2 minutes ago
  • 20 min read

Psalms 40:1 NIV 

[1] I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.40.1.NIV)


Our past experiences shape our present-day choices. If we have a good experience of a company, we are more likely to use them again. If we have a bad one, we are less likely to use them. That has been our experience. There are some companies that we will choose to use in a heartbeat, even paying a little extra for the privilege. There are others whose very name provokes a negative reaction from us. And I’m sure we aren’t at all unique. 


Past experiences also shape and mould our faith in God. The older we are, the more of these experiences we have. Our faith can be like a muscle: the more it is stretched before God intervened, the stronger our faith is. 


It should be no surprise that many of the Psalms – particularly those written by David – follow a similar theme. We see the psalmist recall God’s wondrous blessings in the past, we see them describe their present day predicament, they then use this as a basis for Him to intervene. 


Psalm 40 is one such psalm. 


Except there is another side to it. This famous psalm also looks at how we should react to what God has done for us. That makes it something to which we should all pay attention. 


So let’s begin by reflecting on those wonderful past blessings as we look at What God Did. 

 

What God Did 

Psalms 40:1-3 NIV 

[1] I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. [2] He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. [3] He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.40.1-3.NIV)


I have never sunk in quicksand. But I have experienced the Lord’s deliverance. And I can tell you: it usually comes when things could not be any darker. 


I can cast my mind back to two incidents in the town where I grew up when I came close to being stabbed. Or being moved suddenly from a bad neighbourhood after seventeen years of trying, just three days after one of my sisters was attacked on her way to church. I can recall money arriving seemingly from nowhere precisely when it was needed. Or my wife and I escaping from the worst of a tropical storm. Or my brother-in-law making it to hospital just in time before the onset of a heart attack. 


Although I would not exactly recommend any of these experiences due to their nerve-shredding nature, I know I am not alone in saying that I have experienced God’s hand in rescuing me, often in times when I could not rescue myself. 


That is clearly David's experience here. 


The five verbs David uses here give us five distinct phases of how this works. 


Firstly, David waited. 


That’s fine. We understand that. But the first word sung in this psalm in Hebrews is the word ‘patiently’. It is the patience that was rewarded with God’s help, not just the wait. 


And this patience is patience with optimism: it is patience that is expectant and hopeful and looking forward, not the bleak Stoic patience that passes for spirituality in some Christian circles. This is patience with a smile.  


The emphasis, then, is on God rewarding David’s patience with His intervention. 


As Paul put it in Galatians: 


Galatians 5:5 NIV 

[5] For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.5.5.NIV)


And in Romans: 


Romans 8:24-25 NIV 

[24] For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? [25] But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 

This world is full of reasons to be pessimistic. But no Christian should ever think that way.


Yes, things are not good. Yes, this world needs to be changed. Yes, we should be seeking to make it better. Yes, our situations can be very, very bad. 


But every Christian always has something amazing in front of us. We always know things will get better. 


When I was a student, a Glaswegian rock band wrote these words that resonated with me. I was not surprised when it became a hit: 


‘This should be heaven 

But this feels like hell  

So hold your head high 

Cos you know I’d die 

For better days’ 


What makes the Christian so much happier and joyful and more resilient than any others is that Jesus died, and rose from the dead, to bring us better days. No matter our situation now, our better days are always in front of us, not behind. We are absolutely guaranteed that they will come. And so we wait for them patiently. 


David waited, and we see that God turned and heard. 


Oh, how precious this! 


Psalms 17:6 NIV 

[6] I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.17.6.NIV)


2 Chronicles 7:13-15 NIV 

[13] “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, [14] if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [15] Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.  

We saw in a previous study that absolutely remarkable picture in Revelation where heaven falls silent for half an hour for our prayers to he heard, and how God responds in power (Revelation 8:1-5).  


It is truly astonishing that the Lord of all the earth hears our prayer, inclines His ear and answers. That should never cease to amaze us. 


We also see how God answers that prayer. God lifts – He lifted David out of the pit of destruction and the miry clay.  


Now, here’s where things get really interesting. The Hebrew for ‘slimy pit’ in the NIV has really been sanitised. The Hebrew seems to refer to a pit with a roar, like the roaring of the seas or a roaring mob. This seems to be akin to a prison pit or cistern, into which both Joseph (Genesis 37:21-25), and later Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:6), were incarcerated. The reference to miry clay in some versions of the Bible likely refers to the conditions at the bottom of the pit or cistern. These were often used to store water when it rained, which would gradually be used or would evaporate in the heat until there was none left. So while the land around the pit would be bone dry, the bottom could still be sticky, muddy and slimy until it eventually dried out too. 


This is an awful, tragic picture. Anyone in that position would have no freedom, no rights, no choice and would be completely at the mercy of the enemies who captured them. 


Interestingly, there is no record anywhere of David ever been captured by anyone, least of all being thrown into a wretched slave or prison pit or cistern. He is using this picture metaphorically, to describe how he felt when all his choices were taken from him and it felt like his enemies were gloating over his decline. 


Have you ever felt like that? 


Yet God lifted him out of there! He rescued and redeemed him.  


What a glorious picture! 


Yet God was not done. 


God placed him on a rock. What a contrast to the miry clay! A rock is a picture of trust, faithfulness, certainty. Clay is a picture of untrustworthiness, doubt and uncertainty. 


This is what the Bible says about God: 


Psalms 18:2 NIV 

[2] The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

2 Samuel 22:1-4 NIV 

[1] David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. [2] He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; [3] my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me. [4] “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2sa.22.1-4.NIV)


But God is still not done. God put a new song in David’s mouth. Among many things, David was a songwriter . That should come as no surprise – Psalm 40 is one of his songs. David’s heart was so overjoyed at being saved and rescued that he wrote a song about and sung it from the heart. 


We might not have the skill to write a new song. That might not be our forte. We might have a voice that gives a tuning fork PTSD. And that’s okay. Maybe God didn’t gift us that way. 

But I’m sure we have had experiences of God’s salvation and deliverance that have caused our hearts to sing for joy. 


That is what David is talking about here. 


What a wonderful situation! 


Yet David is doing something very smart here. 


I’m sure we have all experienced heading off to a remote location where there were no shops. When we do that, we pack food and water and take it with us. That is the prudent thing to do. 


David here has stored up this wonderful tale of his salvation and drew on it in hard times like a hiker in a desolate area eating food and water they brought with them. This is a good idea. It makes us stronger. It helps us survive. 


So we see here a glorious and wonderful tale of salvation, but we’ll move on now from what God does to see What We Do. 

 

What We Do 

Psalms 40:4-10 NIV 

[4] Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. [5] Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. [6] Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. [7] Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. [8] I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” [9] I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. [10] I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. 

There is a very interesting cultural phenomenon in Scotland that isn’t present in other countries, and to some people might seem a little strange. Buses in Scotland only have one set of entrance and exit doors – at the front, close to the driver. It is considered right and proper behaviour here to thank the driver as you get off the bus. If you don’t, people believe you are impolite. 


Here, in these six verses, we see what is the right and proper way to respond to someone who has done something significantly more for you than just drive you to your destination: He saved your very life from a lost eternity and continues to save you in the here and now. 


The first of these is to Be Thankful.  


As Paul taught the Colossians: 


Colossians 3:15 NIV 

[15] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.3.15.NIV)


Colossians 4:2 NIV 

[2] Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.4.2.NIV)


And the Thessalonians: 


1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV 

[16] Rejoice always, [17] pray continually, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

And the Philippians: 


Philippians 4:6-7 NIV 

[6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/php.4.6-7.NIV)


Now we need to remember that David is not celebrating some amazing victory here. He was facing a difficult situation, as we will see later. But he was still very grateful for his God: he recognises that he is much better off than those who worship idols and is grateful for both God’s future plans and His current deeds. 


This is key. If we are not grateful for what we have, we sabotage our own spiritual and mental health and wellbeing. We make life more difficult for ourselves and we do so needlessly. David was facing a challenge. Life was hard for him. But still David found something to be grateful about, and if it wasn’t anything in his situation, it was for God Himself. 


The second of these is Be Obedient. 


Now, this section is quite difficult to understand from a modern perspective, so it’s better that we take another look: 


Psalms 40:6-8 NIV 

[6] Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. [7] Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. [8] I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.40.6-8.NIV)


There are actually three pictures of obedience in this passage, allied to how it is quoted in the New Testament. The first is of opened ears: clearly to hear and obey God’s commands. 

The second is of pierced ears. Now, this is nothing to do with why people pierce their ears (or, indeed, any other part of their anatomy) nowadays. It was not at all a fashion statement or a cultural expression. It was much more than that. It was actually to do with a ritual that took place during the Year of Jubilee, when a Hebrew slave had the option to go free, but elected to stay with his owners: 


Deuteronomy 15:16-17 NIV 

[16] But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, [17] then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant. 

It was a picture of voluntary servanthood and servility. It was a picture of ownership and submission. 


I bet your local piercing parlour doesn’t have that as their advertising slogan! 


The point is that David is committing himself for life as a servant of God. 


If also look at how the writer to the Hebews used the Greek translation of these verses, we see this: 


Hebrews 10:5-7 NIV 

[5] Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; [6] with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. [7] Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’ ” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.10.5-7.NIV)


This echoes what we see in Philippians: 


Philippians 2:5-7 NIV 

[5] In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; [7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/php.2.5-7.NIV)


This is a picture of Incarnated God. In other words, these verses talk about Jesus Christ obeying God, coming to earth as a vulnerable child and dying on the cross.  


These are three pictures of the utmost obedience. David even compared them to outward religion and states clearly that it just isn’t enough to worship God in form only, we must obey Him. He then rams it home with his next sentence: 


Psalms 40:8 NIV 

[8] I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.40.8.NIV)


There is a very interesting incident recorded in Luke: 


Luke 17:11-19 NIV 

[11] Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. [12] As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance [13] and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” [14] When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. [15] One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. [16] He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. [17] Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? [18] Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” [19] Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” 

These ten men had found themselves excluded from society – likely for many years – by a dreadful and terminal communicable disease. They were deprived of human contact – even human touch. So we can fully understand their enthusiasm when Jesus sent them to the priest to perform the required cleansing rituals. It was as they acted in faith that they were healed of a disease for which their culture had no cure. 


And yet they forgot one very important thing: only one of them thanked Jesus, and he was a Samaritan. 


They had received healing from Jesus, salvation from a deadly and lonely fate, and yet were so eager to re-enter their community and society that they forgot to thank the One who had made it possible! 


How often do we do that? 


David stated in this psalm that we should do a lot more than that. We should not just worship God or give thanks to Him, we should live for Him in obedience and submission to Him because of what He did for us. And we should do so not because of some bargain to Him to intervene and help us, not just to get what we want, but because of who He is. 


That is true obedience. 


But we don’t just see opened ears, pierced ears and an Incarnated God here. We also see an open mouth. 


Psalms 40:9-10 NIV 

[9] I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. [10] I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. 

David is keen not to portray his deliverance as something he did himself, but as something God did. 


Why? 


So that God got the glory. 


We often talk of the glory of God as being a bright light emanating from Him. And that is correct. It is. But it is also His reputation. We glorify God by showing Him to be great and awesome and loving – by being everything that He is. God never needs to have His reputation managed, because, unlike so many, He is holy – His integrity is utterly flawless. 


However, His reputation is often mismanaged, even tarnished, when His people misbehave. One of the ways they misbehave is by being saved by Him and then boasting of it as if they did the saving. Or being silent and not telling of the wonders of what God did for them. 

David did not fall into that trap. 


Do we? 


So we have seen, then, what God did, in that He saved us, what we should do, which is to live our lives in obedience and submission to Him, and give Him the glory for what He has done. 


David now moves on to the business end of this psalm, which is What We Want God To Do. 

 

What We Want God To Do 

Psalms 40:11-17 NIV 

[11] Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. [12] For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. [13] Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me. [14] May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. [15] May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. [16] But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!” [17] But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay. 

I was never so good at what we used to call the ‘monkey bars’ at school. I was a nerd. I had the upper body strength of an overcooked noodle. I was never good at hanging on to things. 


But here David is hanging on – and he is hanging on by faith to God. He is facing a huge challenge and he knows that, despite all he has going for him, he can’t face it alone. Here he makes his plea for God to get involved. 


Before we go any further, I want you to notice two things that are different about David’s prayer here that are often lacking from ours. David began with a clear statement of God’s character, expressed through what He had done in the past. He then continued with a statement of his own character – of how he had reacted to God’s salvation. 


That isn’t usually how we pray. We usually don’t focus on what God has done in the past – we’re too concentrated on what we want Him to do for us now.


Neither do we pay any attention to how we reacted to it – we instead bargain for his intervention by saying what we will do if He does it. But in many cases, we have no intentions of following through. We just say it to get God on our side, in the hope that we can somehow trick Him. 


But it won’t work. Because God knows. 


David took a different approach. He prayed for God to help him based on who God is and what He has done; his faith in God and what it has meant to David in terms of how he has reacted to God’s interventions in his life. That truly is a wonderful thing. 


But can we do it? 


David based these verses around three pleas that any of us who are facing a touch situation can echo: 


Do not withhold your mercy from me. 


Now, that is quite striking. David saw his salvation not as an entitlement, but as a mercy: not as something he deserved and demanded, but as something he did not deserve. He wasn’t arguing with God for something that was his right, he was pleading for God to help him as an act of grace. 


Why? 


Because of his troubles and his sins. 


Now, isn’t that remarkable. As part of his plea for God’s help, David confessed not only that he wasn’t entitled to it, but that he had done things that would be deserving of God not helping. 


And this is not unusual. Look at Psalm 51: David’s confession of his most heinous sin. Even here David pleaded for God’s help. 


So we see here that we don’t  deserve God’s intervention, but we approach Him on the basis of His love and mercy. 


May all who want to take my life... 


In verses 14-16, the tone changes. What we see here is imprecation – almost a form of an ancient curse. Yet there is something we need to note here. Yes, there are people who were treating David disgracefully while he waited for God’s intervention, but David left the judgement and revenge to God: 


Romans 12:19 NIV 

[19] Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.12.19.NIV)


Listen – and this is so important: life is hard enough without the added unnecessary burden of grudges and revenge. Yes, what others are doing to you is really hurtful. But part of waiting on God is to leave it to God and get on with your life. Let Him judge – that is His job, not yours. 


May the Lord think of me. 


These closing thoughts are very powerful. Of course, God always thinks of those He created and loves 


Psalms 139:17 NIV 

[17] How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.139.17.NIV)


But it also ends with a plea for God to not delay.  


Now, this is sometimes hard to read. Often we find ourselves in situations where we long for God to intervene and He doesn’t seem to be doing it yet. But God is never early or late. 


Galatians 4:4-5 NIV 

[4] But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.4.4-5.NIV)


If God is able to plan His intervention to save us at Christmas and do all of it – the angels, the star, the shepherds the wise men – precisely on time, then we can be assured that His intervention to save us from the storms we face will also be right on time. 


David knew all this. He was trusting on all this. That’s why he sung this song. 


And all this made him prepared to wait for God to come and intervene. 


Because that is what it truly means to wait on God. 

 

Conclusion 

Psalms 40:1, 17 NIV 

[1] I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 
[17] But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay. 

I now work from home, but I’ve spent many years of my life waiting for trains and buses and planes to get me to different places. 


But what does it mean when you wait for public transport like that? 


It could be a conscious choice. It could be that it’s too expensive or too great a distance to use your own vehicle. It could be that you can’t afford your own vehicle or don’t possess the ability to drive one. It could be an economic decision in that the cost of parking and fuel is far greater if you use your own vehicle than if you use a public one. 


For many people it’s simple a need. Public transport is their only way to get from A to B. 


What does it mean, then, to wait on God? 


That is really what this series is all about. 


David clearly knew what it meant. He did it when he was in a difficult situation. But I want you to notice something that is critical to our understanding of what waiting on God means: David did it not just because it was the ‘right’ or ‘spiritual’ thing to do, but because it was needed. He did it because it was necessary. 


What made the difference was how he waited and what he did while he waited. 


We noticed in this psalm that David was able to wait for God patiently because of what God did – how God had been good to Him in the past. And that is important. Waiting patiently is a test of our faith. But faith is not a leap in dark. It needs evidence, as Hebrews 11:1 tells us.


David was able to wait patiently because he believed and trusted in a God who had always come through for him in the past and had never let him down. 


We also saw what we do when we wait, and why this is important. Most people bargain with God and try to persuade Him to intervene based on something they seem to intend to do, but really have no intention of doing. David is not deceitful like that. He tried to persuade God to intervene in his current situation by almost reminding God of how he was obedient to Him and cared about God’s glory, not his own. 


Lastly we saw what David wanted God to do – which was to save him from his predicament. Interestingly, in this we saw that a crucial part of waiting on God is not taking revenge on those who make an enemy of us, but that we should entrust this to God. 


Looking back at my own life, I can see plenty of occasions where I have not waited on God. I have not waited on Him to provide what I needed in His good time. Pretty much on every occasion, this went badly wrong, and I ended up paying the price for my own impatience. 


But I have also seen how God has provided for my needs exactly on time and sometimes in quite spectacular ways. 


This psalm doesn’t just teach us to wait on God, it also teaches us how to wait. It isn’t always easy. Our desire for control and our inner impatience always makes life harder for ourselves.

 

But if we learn to wait on God, we will know a lot more peace, and we will experience God’s provision in quite beautiful ways. 


So wait on the Lord: be strong, take heart, and wait on the Lord. 

 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, I am so sorry for my impetuous impatience and the mess it causes. Thank You for verses like these that teach me how to wait on You. Help me to exercise me faith and to be prepared to do it. Amen. 


Questions for Contemplation 

  • What was it that enabled David to wait on God? What can we learn from this that will help us when we have to wait? 

  • What was the basis of David’s plea for God to intervene? Is this true of you? Why / why not? 

  • What have you learned about waiting on God that you didn’t know before? 

 

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