Waiting on the Lord this Holy Week

The verse that struck me the most in today's readings is from Psalm 27:14 which says, "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" (ESV)

 

In another version (ISV), it is said this way, "Wait on the LORD. Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart. Wait on the LORD!"

 

I looked up the different versions of the verse here and was led to read and meditate on other parallel verses which I found very helpful in understanding God's message more.  Let me share some of the things I read that helped me understand what God was telling me through this verse.

 

Psalm 25:3 "No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame..."

 

Psalm 37:34 "Hope in the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land;"

 

Psalm 62:5 "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him."

 

Psalm 130:5 "I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope."

 

Isaiah 25:9 "In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

 

Lamentations 3:25 "The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;"

 

Here is a commentary from Barne's Notes on the Bible that further enlightened me:

 

"Wait on the Lord - This is the sum of all the instruction in the psalm; the main lesson which the psalm is designed to convey. The object is to induce others, from the experience of the psalmist, to trust in the Lord; to rely upon Him; to come to Him in trouble... to wait for His interposition when all other resources fail."

 

He added, "in all times of danger and difficulty, instead of despondency, instead of sinking down in despair, instead of giving up all effort, we should go forward in the discharge of duty, putting our trust solely in the Lord."

 

Here's another inspiring line from The Treasury of David:

 

"Wait on the Lord." Wait at his door with prayer; wait at his foot with humility; wait at his table with service; wait at his window with expectancy."

 

Another commentary said that the first wait means wait in expectation; while the second simply means wait as if expecting new measures of help.

 

What is God's message to me in all these?

 

First, He's asking me to to let my soul and body rest for I have been stressed and now sick with colds and sore throat.  Second, He is asking me to let go of my attachment to results and of relying on my own strength.  Third, He is giving me hope, courage and confidence that He will not fail me as I put my hope and trust in Him.  He will give me the help that I need to accomplish what He has called me to accomplish.

 

What will I do now to respond to His Words to me today?

 

I'll be sending my draft/manuscript to a copyeditor and trust that with her help, God will use her to improve on my work.  Instead of stressing about how to improve it this Holy Week, I'm deligating it to her so I can rest in body and spirit and be nourished and refreshed by God.

I will push through with the outreach to an orphanage I planned for Holy Wednesday.

I will focus on the retreat that my husband and I will attend from Holy Thursday to Black Saturday.

 

Moreover, I will do what I can to promote again our condominium unit that is still for sale and trust that God will help us pay for the remaining balance in our downpayment so we can move to our new house soon.

 

In both of these concerns, I will choose to trust and wait on the Lord with great expectation.  I will not let worry or any negativity bring me down or discourage me.  I will look forward to great things for the Lord has told me in the past that He has called me to do great things!

 

I will continue to bask in prayer and rely on the power of His Holy Spirit to help me endure the wait.