Psalm 35:17-18

How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions! Then I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people.

Have you ever felt that the Lord has completely forgotten about you? Perhaps you have seen God blessing all the people around you, and you are wondering when it’s going to be your turn. If you’ve ever had those thoughts then you will understand where David was coming from. He had a succession of crushing experiences and was desperate for God to step in and sort things out.

Waiting is never easy, but when things are going so painfully badly it is much, much worse. Time and again in this psalm, David cried out to God to fix the situation. But what impresses me is that as he waited for God he didn’t lose confidence that God would, at some point, step in and answer his prayer. He was sure that he would be praising God for his deliverance before long.

Samuel Becket’s famous and despairing play ‘Waiting for Godot’ introduces us to Vladimir and Estragon as they wait for Godot. They wait and they wait, and he never turns up. It’s all hopeless. That’s not our situation. At times we do have to wait, and it’s hard and discouraging as it’s not what we would choose. But God hasn’t given up on us and we can be sure that he will respond to our prayers and answer us. For that reason, like David, we can continue to have confidence in God and trust him with our future.

Waiting feels like a complete waste of time when it’s happening but the truth is that if God always answered us immediately we would never need to develop a relationship with him. As we wait on him, with the confidence of knowing that he will certainly respond to our prayers, our relationship with him becomes stronger and more robust.

Question

What have you learned in the times when you have had to wait on God?

Prayer

Thank you Lord that, just like David, we can wait on you with confidence, knowing that you do hear us and will answer. Amen