Waiting On The Lord

Today's meditation is from Psalm 131. I like the songs of ascents, section in the psalms, because these were the traditional songs the Jewish people sang as they traveled to the temple, to meet with God.

Psalm 131:1-3 NIV
[1] "My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
[2] But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
[3] Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore."

This is such an interesting psalm, as there is no great theme, rather humility and contentedness are the the simple goals. There is almost an emptying of all, except for the hoping in the Lord, and that is enough.

This is such a good verse for quieting my mind and heart. So often when I come to prayer I have a hundred things going on, and I carry them with me. What I really need to learn to do is lay everything down, and just rest in the Lord, coming before Him, just desiring His presence and nothing else. That is what a weaned child with its mother is like, not needing anything from her personally, other than her presence.

The final verse - speaking of putting one's hope in the Lord, is interesting. The original Hebrew word is yachal, which means: to wait, hope and expect. So often we think of hope in a different light than this. If I rewrote this verse using a more complete translation of the word, it would read - 'Israel, wait for the Lord, expect that He will visit you with His presence, He is your hope, now and forever more.' I like the expectation, the understanding that its just a matter of time and the Lord will be there.

I am reminded of the times when I was growing up with my brothers and sisters, and my dad wasn't yet home from work. I am sure we were driving my mom crazy, so she would have us sit by the big window in the living room, and wait for Dad to come home. We would all sit there trying to be the first one to see his car. Sometimes we would sing - Dad, come home'. I am reminded of this, because we had in our little hearts the sure expectation that it was just a matter of time before he would arrive. That is what I think Israel was called to in this Psalm, and so are we, expecting that we will see the Lord and experience His presence.

The Lord desires to come, to envelope us in His presence, to be our source of all hope, to put our minds and hearts to rest. He desires this for each and everyone of us, regardless of our state of soul, life or situation. Come Lord Jesus, we wait expectantly for You.