Wednesday, December 9: Psalm 27:7-14
Are you good at waiting? To be honest, I do not typically enjoy waiting. If I anticipate something good will happen, such as the births of my two daughters, then the waiting experience was excellent! But if I just had a medical lab test, I may not enjoy waiting for the report to come to me. When Mary and Joseph headed to Bethlehem, they likely knew Mary was near her due date. But that pregnancy was so unique, who knows what they thought along the way!
We do not know the specific circumstances in David’s life when he wrote Psalm 27, but he had some “adversaries” (27:11). As usual, he reached out to God in prayer. He knew God was loving and caring, but David hoped he could see God’s face (27:8-9). Today I often wish I could see the faces of friends and family. Using technology such as Zoom, I can see their faces, but I usually see people with masks on. David trusted God to help him, but he desired a more vivid revelation of God.
David concluded this Psalm with sound advice for himself and for us. Twice in verse 14 he insisted “Wait for the LORD.” The season of Advent reminds us that God’s people waited for the appearance of God’s promised Messiah. Christians know Jesus fulfilled God’s promise of a Savior. Patty and I gave our daughters, Amy and Karen, Advent calendars when they were young. Pragmatically, maybe the calendars gave them some psychological control over their growing excitement during the countdown to Christmas day. But as they matured, they learned that waiting for God is an ongoing spiritual posture. Whatever your life situation might be during Advent 2020, you and I can faithfully wait on God. We may grow weary of the many changes in our world this year, but God met our deepest needs when he provided our Savior. And God will continue to guide us today.
Warren McWilliams