For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. –Psalm 62:1-5
I would be the first to confess- and my family would all agree- that I am not the most patient of men. I don’t like waiting for things to happen; I like them to happen when I want them to happen. Which is a shame, because the Bible talks a surprising amount about waiting- waiting for the Lord. Waiting is an attitude of trust and faith, of being content to let the Lord do his work in his way in his time. Our natural impulse is to rush ahead with our plans, our vision, to try and save the world and save ourselves in our way. But the Lord wants us to trust him and wait for him to save us.
Advent is supposed to be a time of waiting, waiting for Christmas. More profoundly, in Advent we remember how the people of Israel for centuries waited for the Lord God to send the Messiah. The promise was kept, the waiting ended, and the Messiah came. But now we are waiting again: waiting for God’s kingdom to come in power, and for Jesus to return. Yet we have turned Advent into a time of busy frenetic activity, as we run around preparing for Christmas.
So let me suggest something: set aside some time this Christmas to wait on the Lord. Take an evening, or a morning to do what the Psalm writer says: be silent and wait. Take a Bible with you, and read some of the Psalms, or a passage like 1 Peter 1:1-10, that speaks of the hope that we have. Then ask God to show you the hope that we have, and to show you what he wants you to pray for. And let your soul wait in silence.
And enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCWSz0mL888