To Encourage You

Psalm 62:5 “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.”

Do you talk to yourself?  It’s something perhaps everyone does at one time or another.  Sometimes that “talk” is silent, as we roll various thoughts over in our mind.  As we lie on our beds at night, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night, how often do our thoughts become anxious as we expect the worst or fear what we’re about to face in the future? It can be a bad habit, particularly if that “talk” becomes negative and those thoughts and words become a voice of worry about what’s coming around the next bend.   

But for the Christian, there is a wonderful alternative.  We have a Good Shepherd that is watching over us, and that Shepherd has told us to not be anxious about anything. He’s told us not to talk to ourselves about our troubles, but to talk to Him in prayer.  He’s told us that if we will do this, and if we will trust Him, the end result will be the peace of God rather than anxiety and worry (Philippians 4:6). 

But we can also talk to ourselves, but in good ways.  The verse above is an excellent example of this. Here the psalmist is talking to himself.  In the silence, in those quiet moments when he is all alone and when worrisome thoughts often come to torment him, he says to himself “Wait for God!” He follows this with the reason to wait.  It’s that this God Who knows everything about Him, this Good Shepherd Who loves Him, is one in Whom he can have great hope.  Some versions of the Bible translate the latter part of this verse as “my EXPECTATION is from Him.”  We find similar language in Psalm 5:3, which says “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly.” 

You see, for those Who will but trust in this omnipotent God, the future is not something to worry about. It is not something to dread.  Rather, it is something we can anticipate with great hope.  Everywhere we look in Scripture we find this same message for those who truly wait on their God.  In Isaiah 40:31 we hear this: “They who wait for 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.”  From Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”  Psalm 25:3 tells us that “None who wait for you shall be put to shame,” and Lamentations 3:25 says this: “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks Him.”  And this from King David, as he looks back to his time of waiting: “I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry (Psalm 40:1).” 

May God help us who know Him to wait with expectant hope for Him, rather than to worry.  Our God is bigger than our problems, He is in control of our future, and He loves us.  It’s a message we need to talk to ourselves about, especially when we are tempted to tell ourselves lies that are the opposite.