He lifted me up...eventually

"He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
Out of the miry bog,
And set my feet upon a rock,
Making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
A song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
And put their trust in the LORD."
(Psalm 40:2-3)

We love to sing this song, don't we? God has redeemed us. He lifted us up out of the miry mess of sin. He put us on Jesus Christ, our solid rock. He guides us. He gives us a reason for singing. People notice the change in us and put their trust in the LORD, too.

It's a great passage that helps us to look back at what God has done, what He is doing and what He will do.

But we don't like to sing the first verse of this Psalm - at least not the first line:

"I waited patiently for the LORD,
He inclined to me and heard my cry."
(v 1)

Waiting patiently for the LORD?

Are you crazy?

In our microwave-mentality waiting patiently is not on the radar.

We want God to answer our prayers right away and in the right way - our way. We already know what is best for us and our situation.

All we need is God to step in and straighten out that spouse who has so many problems.

We're just waiting for Him to heal that son who has cancer.

We want Him to move the heart and hands of our boss to give us that promotion.

We know that He can do it. We trust Him to do it. We've got the faith and we're praying.

Just do it, God!

Isn't that how we pray so often?

We want to be lifted up out of the mess that we're in. We don't want to wait patiently for the LORD.

Go back and read verses 1-3 together.

Look at the subject and verbs of the sentences.

What was the only thing that David did?

He waited patiently.

That's a life of submission. That's a life of trust. That's a life of obedience.

David waited patiently. God acted.