Psalm 40: Part 1

I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

I’m sure that you’ve heard and know quite well that we’re living in a culture of instant gratification. Want a burger? Go to Wendy’s (shameless product placement), order one, and in less than a minute, you have one. Want to hear the new song by Seventh Day Slumber? Go to Rhapsody, look it up and you’re listening. Remember back in the day when if you wanted to watch a TV show, you had to actually sit down at that time and watch it, commercials and all? That, or a tech savvy person could program his/her VCR to record the program on tape, so he/she could watch a scratchy, fuzzy recording later with the ability to fast forward through commercials. Now you can TiVo it, or go only the next day and watch your favorite show with minimal commercials in high quality video.

This instant gratification culture carries into every aspect of our lives. I can’t tell you how many sixth graders were shocked to discover playing an instrument was hard and required work. Our attention spans have become increasingly shorter and shorter. Today, the music is 3-5 minutes long per song. Certainly no time for theme development! The idea of listening though something like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for 74 minutes is totally foreign. Matter of fact, when we would listen to the fourth movement in it’s entirety, I could guarantee one or more students walking out of my class in protest. That was always a fun conversation with the principal. He would ask, “You mean they’d rather have a detention than listen to 30 minutes of music?” I’d reply, “Yep!”

So let’s put this in a spiritual context. Re read things like John 16:23-24 that say, “in that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you…. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Sweet, the ask and ye shall receive verse! We know that one pretty well. Bring on the instant gratification. Does God work like that. Not to say that sometimes He doesn’t answer prayers immediately, but that’s His prerogative, not ours.

Are you frustrated by asking things of the Lord and not immediately seeing answers? We need to hear Psalm 40, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me, and heard my cry.” Patiently. Let me say it again, Patiently. You know when Spurgeon wrote on Psalm 40 in The Treasury of David, he barely spends any time at all on that word. Maybe it’s because that word didn’t stand in stark contrast to society then.

This is something my heart needs to hear. I need to be asking the Lord for patience. And I need to patiently ask the Lord for patience! I need to cry out to Him constantly. I need to cry out to Him desperately. When I ask Him to move in the hearts of people, is it a flippant, on the side comment, or is it like the parable of the Persistent Widow. Jesus says in Luke 18,

“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

We read this, and yet, I don’t know about you, but I catch the part about, “He will give justice to them speedily.” I miss the part about, “who cry to him day and night.” Are we persistent and patient? Shouldn’t we be? What does this look like in your life? Have you been crying out for the lost day and night? Do you pray earnestly for our missionaries abroad in the world? I don’t, but just how dissatisfied am I with my prayer life am I? Not enough.