It requires being willing to let go of what we may want in favor of what God wants for us. It takes giving up our false sense of control in order to let God be in the driver’s seat. They rush to marry without taking time to heal from the hurts of their divorce, rather than trust that God will provide all that they need if they are patient. Then they are surprised when the same problems they encountered in their first marriage reappear in their second. At times couples divorce and remarry before the ink has time to dry on the divorce papers. We want everything to happen in our time, not God’s time. The Cost of Impatienceįar too often we get impatient with God’s timeline. I never expected it would take twenty years, but now I can see how even though it took longer than expected, it happened in God’s time, right when it was supposed to happen with the right someone. I trusted that if it were meant to be, it would happen in God’s time. After my divorce twenty years ago, I wasn’t opposed to someday marrying again, but the life of a single mother and minister left little time for dating. In my own life, I’ve been witness to this as well. It may have been a chance encounter that led to a job and a move that resulted in meeting the person they eventually married. That happened after long waits and much frustration and thinking it would never work out. Stories about moves or chance occurrences that in retrospect happened precisely when they were meant to happen. I heard frequent stories of how something happened at just the right time. The writer states, “I have been young, and now am old yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread.” (25) Those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land, “But the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” (11) “Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to possess the land.” (34a) Waiting for God’s TimeĪs someone who worked with seniors for years, I can attest to the perspective that age gives us. The writer “holds that God deals with men by an unchanging law of retributive justice and that if the facts of experience at any time point otherwise, it is only a seeming disturbance of the balance of justice, for in due time, if he does not faint, the godly man shall be gloriously vindicated.” (Interpreter’s Bible, Psalms, p. The primary theme of Psalm 37 is stated in the first verse, “ Fret not yourself because of the wicked, be not envious of wrongdoers!” The word fret occurs three times in the psalm, stressing the point not to worry or be jealous of evil doers who seem to prosper. Often phrases and slogans from childhood which we may reject as adults, take on new meaning as we age and become a source of comfort. Those who are afflicted can take solace in hearing these phrases from their childhood, repeated, reminding them that good will prevail. “ Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him,” (7a) “ Wait for the Lord and keep to his way.” (34a) Evil may appear at times to triumph but this triumph is short-lived, “For the wicked shall be cut off but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.” (9)Īn acrostic psalm which starts each verse with a letter of the alphabet, Psalm 37 includes a number of quotations from the book of Proverbs, loosely joined together under the theme of wise counsel from an old man. His years in life have taught him the value of waiting on the Lord. Our psalmist for today is older and wiser. Psalm 37 reminds us of the importance of waiting. We are in a hurry, easily frustrated and can burst into anger when we have to wait more than a minute for a download of a video from you-tube. Yet, for all the waiting we do, most of us do it poorly. We are always waiting for something or someone. Psalm 37 – Good Things Come to those Who Wait!
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