Rooted in WorshipSample

Faith-filled Watching and Waiting

“O my Strength, I watch for you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.”

Psalm 59:9-10

We are all watchers. We are watching something or someone. Or we are watching for a moment to occur. We are constantly on the watch. We watch the clock to know when to leave or when someone will arrive. We watch for the server to catch our look to fill our empty glass or cup. The groom watches for his bride to enter the room. A mother watches for her child to take his or her first step. The athlete watches his opponent. Nations and neighbors watch each other. Each of these moments of watching includes an element of waiting. We are watching with anticipation for a moment we believe will happen.

David, the author of this Psalm, was watching. His gaze was intense because his situation was one of life and death. He knew what hung in the balance. He was watching for those who were seeking to kill him. His watching was so attentive he described them with detail. While he kept his eye on the enemy, he kept the eyes of his faith focused upon the Lord. His life depended on a divine moment of intervention that had yet to occur. He was watching and waiting upon the Lord as much as He was watching for those who desired to kill him. He wrote this Psalm as a song to be sung in memory of such days.

This Psalm is the counsel of God to those who struggle in the times of watching and waiting. Too often, we react to a situation as we feel pressured to do something. Too often, we speak when we should have been quiet or at least given the situation a little more thought. Sometimes, the situation would best be served if we paused instead of reacting. The divine watching and waiting revealed in Psalm 59 requires strength, trust, and faith. These internal capacities are a lethal combination to defeat compulsive and careless decision-making that does more harm than good.

The absence of the ability to divinely watch for the Lord to intervene in your situation can be terrifying, if not fatal. Weakness in moments of watching and waiting is called impatience. It has been said that “impatience can cause wise people to do foolish things.” To be impatient could place you in harm's way as you attempt to do what only God can do. I call impatient watching faithless watching. Faithless watching can be maddening. While you are waiting and watching for the circumstances to change, you are inwardly peppered with worry and anxiety. Eventually, worry and anxiety will promote a step of action that will likely fail. At the very least, the result of an impatient step of action is far less than what was hoped for or needed.

David the Psalmist could not afford to misstep in his next step. He needed God to do a God-sized thing. The words flowing from his pen speak less of his foes and more of the sovereignty of his God. He begins to match his watching of his enemies with his watching for his Savior. He begins to watch with a faith-filled watch.

On many previous occasions, in other Psalms, David acknowledged that the Lord was his Strength. The Lord was his Strength on the battlefield, when he was hiding in caves, on the run to escape those who desired to kill him, and when waiting to know what he should do next. The prophet Isaiah, who lived a few hundred years after the Psalmist, discovered this same principle. He recorded in Isaiah 40:31 (NASB95), “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

If you are in a season of waiting and watching for something to happen, you need the strength of the Lord to navigate the wait. Waiting can be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausting. Therefore, do as the Psalmist and the Prophet Isaiah did. Pause and seek the Lord for strength to watch and wait faithfully.

While you may not know the name Helen Lemmel, you probably know a song she wrote in 1918. The words to the chorus of her song are:

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

I pray your faith-filled watching leads you to proclaim the same words the Psalmist recorded in the final verses of this Psalm: “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.” (Psalm 59:16-17)

Reflection:

Is your faith defined more by patience or impatience?

Are there situations you are currently facing in which you need the wisdom and intervention of the Lord?

Bring these situations before the Lord today in prayer.