Dear Brethren,

Waiting Patiently Upon The LORD

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Psalm 40:1-2

Psalm 40 was written by David at a time where he was in a terrible and difficult position. In verse 2, David likened himself as being in a pit. David described the pit he was in as a “horrible” pit. It was not a pit of tranquility where one can rest in it.  Instead, it was a tumultuous pit, where one had to struggle with. Perhaps it was his internal voice of murmuring and self-pity, and the external noises of abuses and torment. The condition of the pit as described was of “miry clay.” It looks like a quicksand pit. The more David struggled, the deeper he went into the pit, and the more difficult was it for him to come out of the pit.

Are you troubled and afflicted?  Are you wrestling in your own pit of sorrow and misery? Are you sinking as you try to struggle to come out of the pit? Learn from David how to be delivered from the horrible miry clay pit.

Learn to wait patiently upon the LORD. In the worst of circumstances, do not despair and give up. Keep praying to the LORD. In His time, He will lead you through your trials and difficulties. We are impatient people who want instant answers to our prayers. We expect God to help us the moment we call on Him. We want things to be done in our own way and time. We often try to squeeze God into our own time frame, forgetting how finite we are and how infinite God is.  Prayer is not demanding God to conform to our will; but prayer is to conform our will to God’s will. The virtue of waiting upon the Lord is as important as prayer in itself.

Waiting upon the Lord in prayer is a virtue that we ought to uphold.  Waiting upon God is not laziness or an excuse of not doing anything.  Neither is waiting upon God means an abandonment of effort. Instead, waiting upon the Lord in prayer means that we are getting ourselves ready for God to work, and not jumping ahead of God in our own willful ways. God’s time is always the most beautiful time. God’s way is always the perfect way. Wait patiently upon the LORD. When you truly wait upon the LORD, your life is lived with assurance and confidence as every step of your way is established by the LORD.

The Promise of Waiting Upon The LORD

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” Isaiah 40:31

Those who wait upon the Lord are likened unto eagles. Eagles are a symbol of speed, strength and freedom. Because of its good eyesight, the eagle can see a storm coming even though it is still far away. The eagle is fearless in the face of storm. He will wait and wait and then stretch forth its wings and fly in the direction of the storm. He will use the wind that brings the storm to lift himself up to soar above the storm and thus overcoming the storms.

Yes, when we wait upon the Lord, the Lord will send His winds to help us lift ourselves above the storm. With the Lord’s help in the midst of the storm of your life, you will not be weary nor faint. I pray this will be our spiritual experience every time we face the storm of life. Wait patiently upon the LORD.

Elder John Leong