truth that empowers the wait

Lead me in your truth and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:5

O God,

I pray this prayer as I begin thinking about what it means to wait. Lead me in Your truth. Teach me. You are my salvation, Lord Jesus!

Amen

As I explore the message of this bit of ancient song, I reflect on how waiting on the Lord provides for my deepest needs. I wait for what will be yet to come from His hand. I rest in what I already have from Him. And this little verse in a psalm of praise reminds me of two precious truths for all who will wait. These two truths meet two great needs.

The first fact is that God teaches me His truth. In fact, in Jesus, God is the truth. He is all I need to know. Knowing Jesus and His ways supersedes any and all of my other perceived needs. Even when I don’t quite believe it, I need truth. I need to be taught. Jesus is both my Truth and my Teacher. Be my soul’s Rabbi, Lord Jesus and lead me in the truth while I continue to wait for what I am trusting in You to teach me!

The second truth is that God saves me… He alone is my salvation. Why wouldn’t I wait for Him as long as it takes? I was saved when I first believed the good news of salvation: that Jesus died and rose again to save my soul from hell. I am being saved as I believe and follow Him, an ongoing experience of rescue as I turn from known sin to follow my Great Savior. I will be saved forever, united completely with Christ, with all the redeemed (especially those I am separated from by death), destined for eternal life in a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness! That is worth believing, serving, living for, and waiting for!

With these two truths in mind, I can wait. David was content to wait if it took “all day long”. And those who are led in God’s truth, who rejoice in the God of their salvation, look to Jesus as they wait, knowing all the good they have in Him, believing all the good to come in the waiting, and hoping for all He has for them after the waiting!