Wait for the Lord

Psalm 27

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

²When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

³Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

⁴One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

⁵For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

⁶And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

⁷Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me
⁸You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
⁹Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
¹⁰For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.

¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
¹²Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me
and they breathe out violence.

¹³I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
¹⁴Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Wait for the Lord

Some 700 years before the incarnation of the Son of God, the prophet Isaiah looked forward to the day God would come to bring salvation to the world. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)

We have waited for Him, that He might save us. And waiting is exactly what God’s people did. Through good times, which were sparse, and trying times, which were plentiful, the faithful looked forward to the coming salvation that God would surely bring.

In Psalm 27, David instructs us to wait, not once, but twice. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; (14).

But what does it mean to wait for the Lord?

The Hebrew word translated as “wait” is qâvâh (קוה) and it means more than just sitting around waiting. It’s a word of expectation and hope. The lexicon defines qâvâh as “to wait, look for, hope, expect.”

To wait for the Lord is to look to Him in faith. It is to trust in Him for good. It is to expect Him to save.

Psalm 27 teaches us to do exactly that; to look to the Lord, trusting in Him for help and hope.

Waiting on the Lord Gives Us Confidence (1-3)

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

David begins with the idea that we can have absolute confidence in the Lord. It’s as if he is saying, “The God of the universe is my light and my salvation! There is literally nothing I need to be afraid of.”

Sanctuary is Found in Waiting on the Lord (4-6)

⁴One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

⁵For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

As David waits for the Lord, he finds sanctuary in the Lord. He desires to be with the Lord, because He knows that in the presence of the Lord, there is safety. The Lord will protect him, even when the world around him seems to be falling apart.

During the season of Epiphany, the one Isaiah was waiting for is revealed as the one who has come, and His name is Jesus. Little by little, those disciples called by Jesus to follow Him in this week’s Gospel reading will learn the lessons David teaches in Psalm 27. When Jesus is with you, there is nothing to fear, not angry crowds, not raging storms, not disease, not even death. When Jesus is with you, you can always find shelter under His wings. Jesus is your sanctuary, your place of safety in this world of danger.

As we wait for the Lord, looking in faith and hope to Jesus, He will teach us the lessons of Psalm 27. What do I have to be afraid of? The one who conquered death is with me!

When the world is too much for me to bear, I can always run to Jesus and He will shelter me with His presence.

So I will wait for the Lord. I will be strong and take courage and wait for the Lord.