Most people do not enjoy waiting, especially if waiting is not their choice. However, the scriptures show us that waiting is part of our spiritual journey and character development.
In Psalm 25, David three times wrote about waiting on God. Each of those times he had a different reason to wait with hope and expectation.
Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Psalm 25:3
In Psalm 25:3, David declares that those who wait for the Lord will not to be put to shame. In our carnal nature, the enemy tempts us that we need to stand up for ourselves and do something. We’re afraid if we don’t speak up, we will be put to shame and we will be embarrassed by others’ bad decisions and/or behaviors. But David declared that those who wait on the Lord to be their vindicator, have nothing to fear, and they don’t have to worry about being put to shame.
Are tempted to stand up for yourself and set the records straight? Can you trust God that He will not let you be put to shame if you are doing what is right?
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5
In Psalm 25:5, David speaks of waiting on God to lead him in truth and to teach him the way. It is tempting to move into action when we don’t know the whole story, but we don’t feel pressured when we don’t have the truth. People are going to pressure us to take sides and draw a conclusion on something that we don’t know much about except what they told us. But David wisely stated that he is willing to wait on God to lead him and to be his teacher. David was so confident yet desperate that he wrote he will wait on the Lord all day.
When was the last time you waited on the Lord all day with a focused attention and desire to hear the truth from Him and not from all the voices around you?
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. Psalm 25:21
In Psalm 25:21, David says that waiting on the Lord allows him to remain in integrity and uprightness. He was not looking for shortcuts. He didn’t allow himself to get impulsive and make bad decisions that then he will have to lie about and try to cover up. However, there was a time that David did not follow the revelation that God gave him, and he allowed his lust to compel him to impulsively and fall into adultery. This also caused him to try to cover it up by eliminating Bathsheba’s husband. David lost his integrity for a season because he did not wait on the Lord to keep him in uprightness.
Are there areas where you are tempted to act impulsively that could also lead you to lose your integrity!?