WAITING as a MISSIONAL POSTURE: A 5-Day Journey Exploring the Role of Waiting in Missional Livingಮಾದರಿ

Waiting in Times of Adversity

We’ve seen that waiting on the Lord is both an antidote to weariness (Isaiah 40:28–31) and a posture of sustained hope that becomes the path to truth (Psalm 25). Waiting is also the wisely strategic choice when the people of God find themselves in adversity. Psalm 27, credited to King David, portrays a time when the writer found himself in extremely difficult circumstances. He describes the situation in graphic terms: evil people who desire to “devour” him, enemies and foes who attack him, and a mighty army that surrounds him (vv. 2–3). Whether David is describing literally a military threat or is using wartime metaphors to picture the deep distress he is experiencing in his personal life, it is clear that he is hard-pressed.

In the midst of this anxiety-producing reality, David makes a series of choices that are summed up at the end of the psalm (v. 14) as waiting on the Lord. Once again, we see that biblical waiting is not passive, but involves active, intentional choices. In Psalm 27, the writer gives us a beautiful glimpse of four choices that make up confident, hopeful waiting.

First, the psalmist chooses to ground his perspective in truth: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, the Lord is the stronghold of my life” (v. 1). Because this is true, he can live without fear, despite the grim circumstances (vv. 1–3). Second, as we saw in Psalm 25, he chooses to keep his eyes fixed on the Lord (vv. 4–5). He decides to seek the presence of God, actively and daily “beholding the beauty” of the Lord and “inquiring in his temple.” Third, amid the hostility surrounding him, the psalmist chooses to offer God exuberant, passionate worship (v. 6). “Singing and making melody to the Lord” is a key element in biblical waiting. Finally, the poet chooses to align his life with the ways and purposes of God (vv. 7–12). He leans into God’s gracious, holy presence, and asks to be led in the Lord’s way, even in the midst of his distress. As in Psalm 25, waiting on the Lord is not just about sustaining the expectation that God will act to change our external circumstances; it is also about an active and sustained embrace of his work in our own inner being.

This packet of choices—a perspective grounded in truth, a determination to keep our gazes fixed on the Lord, passionate worship, and alignment with God’s ways—is summed up in verse 14 as waiting on the Lord. The psalmist addresses both his own soul and the whole people of God: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (NRSV). This waiting is not just a vague hope that “someday, somewhere, somehow” God will act on his behalf; it’s not an otherworldly expectation. David declares with bold confidence, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (v. 13).

My friend, wait on the Lord!