THE REWARD OF PATIENCE!

THE REWARD OF PATIENCE!

Ps 40:1-5

40 I waited patiently for the Lord ; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 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.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord .

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord  his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O Lord  my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

          Only once in all the Bible do we find the phrase “I waited patiently.” Yet patience is everywhere lauded. It seems to me, however, that endless waiting is discouraging without the reward of patience which is receiving! The psalmist quickly tells us that “he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

          The period of waiting found the psalmist in “an horrible pit.” We do not know whether he was describing his actual circumstances or if waiting itself seemed to him like a hole full of mud and muck. We see that his focus was upon the Rock!

          Once his prayer was heard and answered his heart began to sing and his mouth began to praise. Those observing him were encouraged to keep on waiting for their own fulfillment. They were encouraged to keep trusting the Lord.

          There is an old hymn that always makes me scratch my head a bit. Nevertheless it more than adequately describes a condition of waiting. The words were written by John Newton and was published on or about 1779 (three years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and well into the Revolutionary War). The tune is Green Fields and the words are as follows.

HOW TEDIOUS AND TASTELESS

How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus I no longer see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me;
The midsummer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay.
But when I am happy in Him,
December’s as pleasant as May.

Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song,
Say, why do I languish and pine?
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from the sky,
Thy soul cheering presence restore;
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.

          The psalmist, in verse 5, rightly concludes that God is a good God and full of blessings for his waiting children. He could never tell it all by telling. He could never count all his blessings by counting because “they are more than can be numbered.”

Dear Lord, as the mother patiently waits for the birth of her child, so we wait for the good end of waiting. AMEN