Take a minute to think about what you’re currently waiting on. Maybe it’s a new job, maybe it’s your next vacation, maybe it’s an Amazon package, or maybe it’s the next episode of your favorite TV show. What we wait on often shows us where our hope lies.
The psalmist starts off by crying out for forgiveness (vs. 1-3). These verses are extremely powerful in the fact that the psalmist is begging with everything in his being that the Lord would hear his voice. But in that crying out, he also recognizes that the Lord forgives (vs. 4-6). He proclaims that there is hope found in the Lord, and therefore he waits for him. In the last verses, the psalmist then turns to Israel and tells them of that same truth: that there is hope found in the Lord (vs. 7-8).
In our culture today, it’s very hard to wait patiently for that next vacation, that Amazon package, or really anything. We have the expectation that we should be immediately satisfied. But our immediate gratifications are fleeting. The Lord, however, is worth putting our hope in. He is worth the wait. He will redeem.
Are there areas in your life where you’re putting your hope in something else rather than the One who’s worth the anticipation? If you’re anything like us, we tend to place our hope in daily satisfactions rather than the Lord because we want instant pleasure. But the psalmist calls us to turn from these earthly things and put our hope in God, even though the wait may be long.
Now, let’s learn from the Psalmist and reread this truth, replacing “Israel” with “Christ City”:
O [Christ City], hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem [Christ City] from all his iniquities.
—Bethany + Eric