There are times when we become very impatient, because we are kept waiting for that which we greatly desire. There are also times when it is a blessing to be kept waiting. Of such a waiting David speaks in Psalm 25:20, 21 in these words: "O keep my soul and deliver me; let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in Thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee."
Waiting here is not waiting for something to happen. Rather it is waiting upon someone. In this case it is waiting upon God. And that means putting one's trust in Him. It is waiting upon God in the sense of looking to Him and expecting something from Him.
What David wants is that his soul be kept from sinning against God. That is what we find in our versification also in these words:
Defend and keep my soul,
From foes deliver me
And let me not be brought to shame;
I put my trust in Thee.
Be truth and right my shield,
Because I wait for Thee
Thy church, O God, do Thou redeem
From all adversity.
He prays that God will keep his soul from shame, and that integrity and uprightness preserve his soul. In other words, he wants to be kept in covenant faithfulness. He is not merely concerned about bodily comfort and safety. He wants to continue to walk as God's friend.
How about it? Are you as concerned about your soul as others are about their bodies? Are you concerned about living in integrity, that is, innocency? Is uprightness, being exactly as God wants you to be, your deep desire? Is that more interesting to you than to be kept from sickness, pain, and physical death?
Do you want to be kept where you will enjoy God's secret and enjoy covenant blessings? Pray then that you may be kept waiting upon God and His mercy in Christ. That is a blessed waiting. And that is a very important keeping. We must wait upon God; but He must keep us in that covenant activity. He must keep in us the new life Christ earned for us and has bestowed upon us.
Read: Psalm 121
Psalter versification: 63:3, 4
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter number 110
Why not sing along??
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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Nahum 1 ; Nahum 2 ; Nahum 3
Revelation 8:1-13
Psalm 136:1-26
Proverbs 30:7-9
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Quote for Reflection:
John Calvin on Hebrews 7:12: "As the authority of the Law and the priesthood is the same, Christ became not only a priest, but also a Lawgiver; so that the right of Aaron, as well as of Moses, was transferred to him. The sum of the whole is, that the ministry of Moses was not less temporary than that of Aaron; and hence both were annulled by the coming of Christ, for the one could not stand without the other ... We must then remember, that the Law is that part of the ministration which Moses had as peculiarly his own, and different from that of Christ. That law, as it was subordinate to the ancient priesthood, was abolished when the priesthood was abolished."
Additional Info
- Date: 17-December
