Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation (Psalm 5:1-3 NIV).

The words from the Psalmist reveal one thing we do very well, and one thing we do not do so well.

This is what we do very well: "In the morning I lay my requests before you."

We have no problem laying our requests before the Lord in the morning, at noontime, late in the afternoon, and before we go to sleep at night. And, by the next morning we can start a new list. Our list of requests can be long and detailed. "Lord, this is what I want to happen in this situation; and this is how I want this problem to be solved. Lord, I want You to do this, and Lord, I hope you will hurry up and do this other thing." We can even presume we know what the Lord thinks is best. "Lord, I know You would not want this to happen to me; or Lord, I know You would not want me to be unhappy."

By the middle of the day our requests may change. Our desires may be totally different than they were early in the morning. When the agenda changes we are very good at asking the Lord to change the plans we had previously requested. Then, if need be we will change the request made at noon to better suit our desires before we go to bed.

We are very good at laying our requests before the Lord in the morning.

Waiting for Him to respond is never easy!

This is what we don't do so well: "Wait in expectation."

The expectation part is not a problem. The problem is with the waiting. Once we've presented our requests before the Lord, we are ready for it to happen. We act toward the Lord much like when we punch a button on our computer and get frustrated if the computer does not give us the instant response we expect. We want it now. We expect it now. We are disappointed when it does not happen now. We cannot understand why our requests are not granted now.

We love to present our requests to the Lord, but waiting for Him to respond is not easy.

Perhaps there is a better way to live. In the morning let us lay our requests before the Lord and wait expectantly for the Lord, who gives ear to our words and listens to our cries for help, to respond as He determines is best. Until He responds, we will wait expectantly. When He responds, we will trust Him, knowing that He always responds in our best interest, and that He will continue to respond in a way that draws me closer to Him.

 

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Title: "Wait in Expectation"
Author: Tom Norvell
Publication Date: September 06, 2009

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Tom Norvell is the author of "A Norvell Note." He ministers at the Hermitage Church of Christ in Hermitage, Tennessee.

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