Psalm 40
Be Still: Lord I often come carrying confusion and hurt and anxiety. Would you speak to me today and remind me of your presence, your peace and your love. Amen
Read: Psalm 40
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. (v1)
Encounter: I expect you can bring to mind someone who has been patient with you. A teacher who helped you understand something -- a parent, a friend who sat with you when you were going through something hard, or a colleague explaining how something works.
When someone is patient with us, it expresses love towards us. It can have a deep impact on our lives because of the way it makes us feel. We feel validated and safe and able to make mistakes, take risks and grow.
At the same time when we are able to be patient, it expresses our trust in a person or a situation – that we will have an answer, that the solution will be found, that someone is listening. Waiting patiently speaks volumes about an ability to trust.
The Theologian Kosuke Koyama has called God the ‘three-mile-an-hour God'.* Three miles an hour is the speed most of us walk; it was the speed Jesus walked alongside people. It’s different from the rush and high-tech busyness we so often live in. In a high-speed world we can easily forget that love takes time. That God is love. And love is patient.
As we bring our concerns and worries, issues and frustrations to God, this Psalm reminds us that we have a God who hears us and loves us, that we can wait patiently in trust and peace for him to respond.
Apply: How patient has God been with you? In that case, can you trust him? We believe in a heavenly Father whose love is always and endlessly towards us and who always hears our cry. Trust that God is at work all the time even, and perhaps especially, when we can’t see it. Trust that he is in control and his plans are better than ours. Trust that his timing is better than ours.
Devote: Lord I worry about so many things, both big and little. Today would you hear my cry. I trust in you and so I will wait patiently for you to answer. Thank you that you promise to turn towards me and listen.
* Three Mile an Hour God; Kosuke Koyama; SCM Press 2021