A Gentle Reminder

These days, it’s difficult for people to wait for anything. According to the Urban Dictionary, the term “microwave generation” applies to the many people today who expect instant information on their smartphones and instant gratification in almost every aspect of life. We have become so impatient, says the Urban Dictionary, that we stand in front of a microwave, tapping our foot and yelling, “Come on!”

We may have taken impatience to a new level, but being patient was tough even in biblical times. In many of his psalms, David cries out to God with complaints that God has not come through for him and seems distant or even silent: “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!” (4:1); “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (10:1); “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (13:1). 

In Psalm 27, David makes similar pleas to God: “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! ... Hide 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!” (vv. 7, 9). 

David’s pattern in most of the “complaint psalms” is to follow the complaints with reminders of how God always comes through for him. In Psalm 27, however, David simply makes one confident statement: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” (v. 13). He then finishes the psalm with today’s verse, where he exhorts himself to wait with courage.

When God seems distant, we need to follow David’s pattern: cry out to God, remind ourselves of God’s help in the past, and exhort ourselves to be strong in God. The result will be reassurance and confidence that enable us to be patient … even when we don’t want to be.

Questions for Reflection and Application

• What is the longest amount of time that you have waited for God to answer (or respond to) one of your prayer requests? What was the request? Why do you think God waited so long to respond?
• Take a minute and consider some times when God has come through for you. List them. For each, how long did it take for God to respond, and how long did it take for the situation to be resolved? What patterns do you see?
• Why does God want us to wait for him? Think of at least three reasons.