Good Evening Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Psalms 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.”
I remember hearing stories of some old line Pentecostal groups that had what they called tarrying services. They would stay up all night waiting for the Lord to make a visitation. After all that is what is instructed in Scripture in verses like Psalms 40:1 and Isaiah 40:31 which talks about waiting for, or more correctly upon the Lord. I tend to think it is more God waiting for us that we waiting for Him. During these tarrying services the faithful would spend hours praying to God, confessing sins, just really getting down and heavy with God.
You see the word “wait” as most of you know from paying attention in class is the Hebrew word, “kavah,” which is more than just sitting back waiting like you are waiting for a bus or train. This word is the same word use for making rope. Rope is made today much the same way it was made in ancient times. The binding together of thin strands of fabric that would easily break on it’s own but when tightly bound together with hundreds of similar strands of fabric, the one resulting rope becomes unbreakable. In Psalms 40:1 David is saying he is “waiting patiently.” Actually, the word kavah is repeated two times which is why the translator added the adverb patiently. The word patiently is implied, it is not in the Hebrew. David is saying that when he completely bound himself to God, then God inclined or “yet.” The root word is “natah.” This has the idea of stretching out, or reaching out to embrace. That is when God heard the cry of David. The word “cry” here is “shava’” which is a calling out for help. Note, even before God hears the cry of help from David, God is already reaching out to embrace him. Well, let’s get this progression right. Before David found himself in trouble where he had to call on God for help, God was already reaching out to him and as He was reaching out David began to cry out for help.
There is a story in the Talmud of a rabbi who crossed a street and head a small child silently sob for his mother who had left him to go to the market. The rabbi knew the mother had left some time ago, for had the mother just left and was in the child’s sight, the child would wail loudly for his mother, but now that she was out of sight, the child only sobbed to himself. So, to are we with God. David’s cry was not a silent cry, for he knew his heavenly Father was reaching out to him as know the nearness of God he wailed to him, long for the protective, secure embrace of His heavenly father and the child longed for the secure protective embrace of his mother.
There is an old song, written by Gary Paxton who wrote such novelty songs as Alley Oop and co-wrote the Monster Mash with Bobby Pickett. After many years of successful song writing Gary Paxton found Jesus and began to write more serious music, such as:
Time after time I was searching for peace in some void,
I was trying to blame all my ills on this world I was in
Surface relationships used me till I was done in
But all the while someone was begging to free me from sin.
He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in line,
He was there all the time.
I think maybe this is what David was talking about here in “waiting patiently” for God. It was really that God was there “waiting patiently “ for David, as David was slowly through prayer, confession, praise, worship binding himself to God. You see the word “wait” is spelled with a qof which represents sanctification, sacrifice, receiving. This is followed with a vav which represents transformation through unification. The vav is then followed by an ayin which represents spirituality. God is patiently waiting for us to sacrifice our lives to Him so we may be unified with Him and be spiritually transformed. The time of tarrying is not waiting for God to come, it is God waiting for us to lay aside all the hindrances, all the foreign thoughts and fleshly desires so that we become one is spirit with Him. Note that the qof is the number 100 which represents God’s patience, vav, is six the number of man and the ayin is 70 the number of restoration. Waiting or kava’ is God patiently waiting for man to be restored to Him.
He was there all the time, just waiting patiently in line.
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