Psalm 69:16-19 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁶ Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
¹⁷ Hide not your face from your servant,
    for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
¹⁸ Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
    ransom me because of my enemies!

¹⁹ You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.

I had a friend who would say to me, “God isn’t answering my prayers.”

My answer to him sounds appropriate for today. “Maybe God is more concerned with what is going on inside you than what is going on outside you.”

Verse 17 rings so true for answers to our concerns, “make haste”. We want instant answers. What if the problem that God is working on is lack of character on our part? Character is developmental and takes time. Patience is developmental.

James 1:3 English Standard Version (ESV) for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

We can say we trust God but do the words of our mouth and our actions properly reflect trust? What is trust without patience?

I am reminded of my dog’s behavior while I am fixing breakfast. She does this impatient dance with her nails clicking on the floor. She is excited with anticipation for something she is not going to get. It does not stop her from begging and being hopeful.

When we eat our breakfast, she mopes. She looks so pathetic. Is that how we look when we are being impatient? Does our continence drop?

Psalm 43:5 English Standard Version (ESV) Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Mood affects worship. We tend to be less enthusiastic in worship when we are disappointed. Disappointment comes from unrealistic expectations. Thy will be done slides back to the end of our prayers in favor of “give me”.

Psalm 69:13-15 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
¹⁴ Deliver me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

Can we trust God’s perfect timing? We live in an age of instant gratification. We put in our order, drive up to the next window and our order is ready. What is on the menu board dictates what we can order and we make our choices based on availability. What is on the menu board in God’s Kingdom? It is not likely those things which serve our appetites.

What strikes me in these verses is David’s trusting demeanor. “Take your time God. Get it right. I will wait patiently for your perfect timing.” All that is voiced in “At an acceptable time”. God being a God of order knows best how to carry out His promises to us. We are not in this world of disorder alone. What we do and how we act while we wait on God’s perfect timing is a witness to all who know us, see us and depend on us.

Jesus slept in the boat during the raging storm, our example of trusting God. We on the other hand, rather than looking at what Jesus was doing, scream in fear of the storm.

Mark 4:38-40 English Standard Version (ESV)

³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

We must use our faith while we wait.