05202023 Pursuing While Waiting

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our loving God. He truly does care about us, and He is always watching over us, guiding us, comforting us, and providing what we need.

I was recently reading Psalm 119, and I noticed the troubled spirit of the psalmist in the stanza Caph (vs. 81-88). I also noticed what anchored him.

Notice where he starts. “My soul fainteth for thy salvation” (v. 81). This man was struggling. He desperately needed help. Most of the stanza is filled with an enumeration both of his internal condition and his external circumstances. He is “like a bottle in the smoke” (v. 83).  His oppression by his persecutors was prolonged (v. 84). They “digged pits” for him, persecuted him wrongfully, and almost consumed him (vs. 85-87).

In the midst of this trouble, the psalmist knew he needed God, and he knew he needed God’s words. He knew he needed quickening (revival) (v. 88). He hoped in God’s word (v. 81).

But God’s response was not immediate, either to the internal condition or to the external circumstances. Notice how the psalmist refers to the continued position of waiting and seeking. “Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?” (v. 82).

Here is where there is precious truth and encouraging instruction from this psalmist. Even though days were dark, even though his heart was fragile, even though deliverance was delayed, even though he was not finding the comfort he sought – he KEPT seeking!

The psalmist doggedly persisted in seeking help in the place where he knew it must be found. He kept hoping (waiting) in God’s word (v. 81). Even though he didn’t feel the comfort, he kept looking to the word (v. 82). Even though he was dried up inside, he kept remembering God’s word (v. 83). He insisted in the faithfulness of God’s word (v. 86). He would not forsake the word (v. 87).

This is exactly how life sometimes is. Things don’t get better. We are looking as faithfully as we can to the right Source, and still life is hard. We are determined not to give up on God and His Word even when “it’s not working.” And that’s what we have to do. There is no other option. There is no other hope for deliverance and relief.

So even if all our devotion and reliance seem vain, we must persist. Every desert has an edge – eventually. Every swamp breaks out into a clearing – in the end. Every storm gives way to calm – in time. Every night turns to day – finally. In the meanwhile, we can’t stop walking forward, and we can’t stop following the map. The only way out is to get to the other side, and the only way to keep walking is with God’s help and with dependence on the truth of His Word.

The end will come. God will deliver, and He will comfort. While we wait, we can’t give up on what will help us. Even if the help does not seem evident at the time, it is happening! And it will happen! Cling to the Word!

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA