ChosenRebel's Blog

Read Psalm 40

The School of Waiting

It starts in Psalm 27:14, this theme of “waiting” for God to act, waiting for God to rescue his servant from desperation. Again and again, David says “Wait for the Lord”. In Psalm 37:7, and 10, and 34, David repeats the theme, then again in the Psalm 38:15 and then in Psalm 39:7 and then here in Psalm 40:1. There is something that happens in the School of Waiting that no other school can deliver.

My trouble is I don’t like enrolling in the school. 

(Part of the Poetry Project)
Suggested by Psalm 40

Waiting

Waiting.
Trying too, anyway.
It’s harder than it looks.
And I’m not very good at it.
It is more than watching the march of time.
It is more than seeing the distance behind.
You are doing . . . something.
You are growing my trust, stretching my faith,
.      in your goodness,
.           your power,
.           your mercy,
.           your good plan.
And as I wait,
.        as I watch,
.        as I wonder and worry,
I grow . . . not restless . . .
no, that isn’t the right word,
. . . reflective.
.
I grow reflective and responsive to a still small voice at 3:01 AM
An echo from the past
reverberating, pulsing, returning from under the years,
rememberings climb out of time and clamor to be heard.
I think of all those times when hope was lost,
when heartache and pain and remorse and regret and betrayals multiplied
…….and friends divided
…….and sorrow mounted
…….and disappointment pounded
…….and loneliness and self-pity and anxiety and fear seemed to
…………line up against me like an army to overwhelm me
…….and end me,
…….until you stepped in and provided the eucatastrophe.

Those times when I was lost and lightless
and suddenly a thousand watt bulb turned my soul to joy, irrepressible joy.
And you, always you,
only you,
you set me on a new and solid footing,
and expanded my spirit with a new song.

So, here I am, waiting.
Trusting.
And saying again, “I will wait patiently for you,” 
delighting in the new song you will give.
Again.

Go to Psalm 41