To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. —Psalm 25:1-5
If you've never been at the place where the trials are so significant that you don't even know what to do, then you won't understand Psalm 25. David is pleading, God, I'm not seeing it. I know You have ways, but I have to learn them because everything that's happening makes no sense to me at all. A big part of trusting is learning this truth: trust must extend past understanding.
In August of '09 I taught Psalm 25 in my church. 98 percent of our people knew nothing about what I was facing and dealing with, but my circumstances sure caused me to understand verse 5 where David says: "Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation." The word salvation can have many meanings in Scripture. Most literally, it means to “make wide.” It's contrasted with a person who is in a narrow place full of trouble and distress. I'm stuck here. I can't move. It's too tight, God. It's closing in. It's very dark. And he's saying here: You're the God who gets me out. That's what he's claiming by faith. If you've ever been in the I-need-God-to-get-me-out-of-this place, that's what this is about. I wait for You. No one but You can get me out of this. You are the God of my salvation.
Well, when you say that you're waiting, that means that you're accepting God's timing and the wisdom of it. You're confessing this: I'm not fussing. I'm not fuming. I'm not fixing. You’re not thinking in the back of your mind, Oh, I could do a few things to get me out of this situation. I've got some insights. I could say some things. I could get some balls rolling. I could take hold of this if I had to.
Waiting means you’re no longer relying on what you can figure out or even understand. It is deliberately relying on God through prayer and flat-out trust. This is way beyond me, Lord. I’m leaving it in Your hands. I know I don’t have to understand in order to trust You. I'm waiting on You for my salvation; You have to get me out of this narrow place.
James MacDonald
