Do Not Delay

But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. 

Psalm 40:17 

How often do we want God to hurry up? Our cry is like that of the people of Revelation, ‘How long, O Lord?’ David wanted God to intervene in his situation. He closed this psalm with the words, ‘Do not delay, O my God.’ This is a common desire among the people of God and has been so throughout history. Abraham and Sarah waited long for Isaac. Israel in Egypt waited long for their deliverance. The people of faith waited long for the advent of Messiah. The people who believe in God, His word, and His promises, have often cried, ‘Do not delay, O my God.’ The only way for us to be truly at peace when God seems to move more slowly than we want is to trust Him, that He sees what we do not see and knows the end from the beginning. Also, the evidence we see from the sacred history is that God is at times early, but He is never late. One salient example of this is the advent of Christ. As Paul puts it, ‘but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.’ Our timetable and God’s are often not the same. His takes precedence because He does know the end from the beginning. Our comfort is that nothing falls outside of his providential plan. If He has given us Christ, He will not withhold from us any good thing. He will come at the appointed hour and not delay. We can trust His timing. 

Our Wise and Sovereign God, 
we rejoice that Your timing is perfect. 
We praise You that You will intervene 
when we most need You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning