Wait on the Lord; Ps 27, Ps 37

May the mumbling commence!

In Psalms 37 and 27, we find a GPS, a Godly Positioning System.  And these psalms are written particularly for people in trying times.  Read the first verse of Psalm 27:

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?

Fear is one thing that can derail us from being a godly person.  When I read these stanzas, I cannot help but think of the song:  “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?  Whom shall I fear?  Whom shall I fear..?  The Lord is the strength of my life – whom shall I fear?”

This confession of God, indeed, leads to worship.  Read more from Psalm 27:4-6 –

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple. 

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle

and set me high upon a rock. 

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me;

at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

I have color-coded the passage.  The petition is in Yellow.  Worship is in Green.  And confession of God is in Blue.  Petition and worship often lead to confession of the amazing attributes of the Lord.  Together, they help to dispel fear.

With what do we replace our fear?  Psalm 27 suggests bending our hearts to seek God’s face (Verse 7).  Seeking God’s face means to lean on the Lord for instruction for the right way to proceed – on the straight and narrow path that leads to God (Verse 11).  These things mean that we lean upon our confession of the awesome God, our petitions, and our worship so that we build confidence in the face of struggle.  Then, we wait (Verse 13-14).

Couldn’t it be something else – other than waiting?  Waiting is so hard in our instant society – where we fuss and fume over extra seconds for downloading something off the internet.  But, to travel the path that God puts before us, we have to wait on the Lord.  Psalm 37 is clear on the subject of waiting.  Read verse seven:

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

            when they carry out their wicked schemes.

As we wait, others will overtake us.  It makes us fret, worry and fear.  But trust, care, and patience wins out – just like careful driving in snowy conditions.  Those people driving SUV’s with four-wheel drive buzz past us only to slip off the road and get stuck.  Four-wheel drive impatience may help us go, but it does not help us stop when we realize that we are slipping off the narrow path.

What does this mean for the way we live our lives?  Refrain from anger and turn from wrath because they lead to evil (Verse 8), which we must also turn from so that we might do good (Verse 27).  What good should we do?  Give generously (Verse 21), carefully consider and emulate the peaceful person (Verse 37), and (yes, once again) wait for the Lord.  Let’s use these practices of the GPS of Psalm 27 and 37 in all our dealing with those God calls us to love – our neighbors and our enemies.

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out