Psalm 40: Heard

The Psalms are filled with David and others crying out to be heard by God. “Hear my cry”; “Listen to my prayer”; “Hear me, O LORD” are common lines in the prayers and songs of the psalmists, they are common words and thoughts for many of us as well. It’s not just that we hope to be heard, many fear that God is not listening. If we don’t see the action we asked for or the movement that we expected we assume we haven’t been heard; we pray harder, shout louder, search for the “right” words that will get God to move. We assume that if we are heard we will be agreed with, that if God is listening then He will do what we ask. We’ve defined being heard with getting our way, but the goodness of God causes God to hear us and yet, hold out for what He knows is best for us, even when it’s different from what we’ve been asking of Him. I love Psalm 40 because it’s one of the moments in which David swells in his faith rather than shrinking in his circumstances, where he declares what he’s sure of and remembers what he knows. It’s a moment that most of us need, a moment that makes all the difference, a moment when the truth of who God is overcomes our fears of not being heard.

David began this psalm by writing “I waited patiently for the LORD . . .” There are few things we push against more than waiting. We live in a culture that is bent on making everything faster, not because we need it, but simply so we don’t have to wait. Things that used to seem miraculous are now considered slow, obsolete, sometimes even unbearable. Our paychecks are deposited directly into our bank accounts, so we don’t have to wait to make the deposit ourselves. Many of our basic necessities are now delivered to our homes so that we don’t have to wait until we can get to the store. We send text messages and anticipate, sometimes even demanding, immediate responses. The more “advanced” we become the more impatient we appear. As humans, we’ve lost the reality that patience is part of our created character, it’s not just something we need to be successful, it’s part of our intended identity. Just think of how God built patience into creation. When seed is planted it does not immediately yield a harvest. It must be tended, watered, but more than anything else, it must be waited for. When a woman becomes pregnant, she doesn’t immediately give birth. The child in the womb must be nurtured and developed, patiently waited for until he can safely move from the womb into the world. God built patience into creation to show who we were created to be, but even more, to show who He is.

God’s longsuffering, His patience is as much a part of His character as His power or His holiness. My favorite passages about God’s patience are found in II Peter 3. Peter first tells us “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Notice the connection, when God is patient with us, we often consider Him slow. This goes back to our desire to have our needs met, our belief that if God is listening then He should be moving, that He should act at the sound of our voice rather than us learning to live by the sound of His. God’s actions come for His character, not from our requests. He moves according to His goodness, His love, His holiness, His gentleness, His patience and His faithfulness. Our prayers are not offered to give God direction but for us to learn how to join our hearts to His, to learn how to ask for our desires but trust His plans, to come to Him in our weariness and rather than just unburdening ourselves, to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him. God’s promises are fulfilled through His patience, not through our urgency.

David tells us that when he waited patiently for the LORD, when he walked in God’s character rather than trying to push God in his impatience, that God “inclined to me and heard my cry”. Patience with God is not about waiting for Him, it’s trusting in Him. We aren’t waiting for God as if there are a lot of things He has to do first, or there are other needs ahead of ours in His line, we wait for God because His ways are better than our understanding, His actions are greater than our requests, His timing is holier than our urgency. Waiting for God is putting ourselves in His hands and believing that His hands are where we belong, basically, waiting for God is surrender and submission to God. David wrote then when he waited for God, that He inclined and heard. The Hebrew word we translate “incline” means “to bend toward”, it’s a picture of God, our Father, stooping down not just to listen but to gather us to Himself. This is part of what we must realize in the waiting process, God does not listen from far off and then act as He sees fit, God comes close to us, He stoops to us, He bends Himself, He listens closely, not just hanging on our words, but putting Himself in our space. When we draw near to Him, we must wait as He draws near to us. We must trust the promise that God is inclined toward us.

At the tomb of Lazarus, the place of great mourning and disappointment, Jesus made a promise that David realized in our psalm and that I forget far too often. Martha and Mary had wondered why Jesus hadn’t come, strangers had questioned why Jesus could heal strangers but not help his friends, the disciples had reasoned that going to Bethany after Lazarus had died was too late and probably foolish, but Jesus taught us the power of waiting and the promise of being heard. He wept. He groaned from the depths of His Spirit. He joined the mourning of His friends and then He prayed. “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Jesus’ prayer is our promise, God is always listening, we are always heard. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus God has inclined Himself to us, through our prayers God is always listening, we are always heard. The heavens are not as brass, don’t confuse not getting your way with not being heard. Don’t become stubborn and demand that God act simply because you have asked. When we wait for the LORD, we get to see the fulfillment of His promises, the outcome of His actions and His answers to our prayers. Sometimes what we need more than to see something happen is to remember what’s been promised. Keep asking, always pray, don’t give up. You are being heard, God has bent toward us, He will do His will, we just need to wait for the LORD. He won’t be slow, He won’t disappoint and we won’t be pushed aside.