Our Daily Bread 20 July 2020 Devotional fo Monday
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Topic: How to Wait
Today’s Scripture: Psalm 27:1–3,7–14(NIV)
Bible in a Year: Psalms 26–28, Acts 22
Key Verse: Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. – Psalm 27:7
Today’s Insight: Twice in Psalm 27:14 the ancient writer (believed to be David) urges believers in all generations to “wait for the Lord.” The Hebrew word for “wait” is qavah, which variously means “to wait, look for, hope, expect.” This is the word used in Isaiah 40:31, a well-known Old Testament verse about waiting on God: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (nkjv). One Bible scholar describes “wait” as living “in confident, eager suspense. . . . To live with the tensions of promises revealed but not fulfilled. . . . [To wait] with eager longing” (Ortlund, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners).
Our Daily Bread 20 July 2020 Devotional Message:
Frustrated and disappointed with church, seventeen-year-old Trevor began a years-long quest for answers. But nothing he explored seemed to satisfy his longings or answer his questions.
His journey did draw him closer to his parents. Still, he had problems with Christianity. During one discussion, he exclaimed bitterly, “The Bible is full of empty promises.”
Another man faced disappointment and hardship that fueled his doubts. But as David fled from enemies who sought to kill him, his response was not to run from God but to praise Him. “Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident,” he sang (Psalm 27:3).
Yet David’s poem still hints at doubt. His cry, “Be merciful to me and answer me” (v. 7), sounds like a man with fears and questions. “Do not hide your face from me,” David pleaded. “Do not reject me or forsake me” (v. 9).
David didn’t let his doubts paralyze him, however. Even in those doubts, he declared, “I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (v. 13). Then he addressed his readers: you, me, and the Trevors of this world. “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (v. 14).
We won’t find fast, simple answers to our huge questions. But we will find—when we wait for Him—a God who can be trusted.
Reflect & Pray
What do you do with your big questions? Where have you seen answers “in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13), and where are you still waiting for answers?
Father, melt my heart along with my fears and my anger.