My whole being waits, and it will happen!

Rediscovering Advent, A 30-Day Guide for Family and Individual Reflection 

by Christianity Today

I was searching for some Advent devotional material to use for this season but I didn't really find anything good until I found this one yesterday. I read some excerpts from its preview here and decided to get a copy and spend time daily meditating on God's word in the following four weeks. 

Today's reading was from Psalm 130:5-6 and Isaiah 9:6-7 with the perspective of viewing Isaiah's prophecy through Psalm's lens of longing and waiting. 

Psalm 130:5-6 NIV

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 

Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

This is one thing we have always been doing all our lives. We have always been waiting, whether in anticipation or in fear or in apathy, we have been waiting. As I have noted in yesterday's devotion that it is a gift to be thirsty, I think it is also a gift to be in waiting.

How so?

It is in waiting that we depend on God as we cling to him in weakness and trust. It is in waiting that we learn profound spiritual lessons which will be lost if we ever had the privilege of hindsight. It is in the experience of longing that we value what we will receive when it comes. It is in the longing that we know when to rejoice when it becomes a reality. 

My whole being waits! The emphasis is seen in Psalm 130:6 where "more than watchmen wait for the morning" is mentioned twice. The Psalmist says it and then he says it again, hence we better pay attention. But why would the watchman watch for the morning? Isn't he suppose to watch over whatever he is watching, rather than the morning? The NIV Zondervan Study Bible states that the "watchmen know that the morning will come and provide relief from their burdensome task, but they still must wait for that relief. Likewise, the sinner can be confident that the Lord’s forgiveness will eventually come, but in God’s own timing."

My whole being waits. And it waits in anticipation for the fulfillment of the kingdom of God, and it will happen! We will see justice and goodness and fairness and peace. The Lord Almighty will surely make it happen. 

This is Jesus's message of hope, of Advent. 

pearlie