Waiting and Hoping in the Dark

My sleepy eyes popped open with a start and a grimace.

“What in the world was that pain?”

A couple hours later, I added another question my worries, “why isn’t the pain going away?”

I looked at the clock. The doctor’s office wouldn’t be open for hours, yet.

Just wait a little longer, I reasoned. Maybe this will resolve itself by morning.

And so, as the midnight minutes ticked slowly by, I sat on my bed, just waiting for daylight and relief.

Now, thankfully, this story had a happy finish. All I ended up having was a kidney stone! And yet, that uncomfortable night of waiting was one of the longest nights I can remember. Truly, at one point, I thought the dawn would never break!

And it got me thinking: don’t the trials we face in life feel like this sometimes? Like a long, dark night we can’t wait to be over?

In such moments, the Psalmist has timely words for us. Look at Psalm 130:5-6:

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. (NIV)

If we find ourselves enduring long, dark nights of trial, these verses encourage us to do two things:

Wait for the Lord and hope in His Word.

Wait for the Lord.

Waiting is a part of life that we are used to and that, frankly, we’re bored with. We wait in lines (while glazing over in front of our phones), we wait for packages (forgetting what we ordered, in the first place), and somedays, as discussed above, we wait impatiently for trying times to be over.

But David’s waiting is altogether different than the kind we’re used to. It’s different both in what he waited for and in how he waited for it.

First of all, David didn’t say he was waiting for a specific outcome to his circumstances. He said he was waiting for God Himself. In verse 5, he said, “I wait for the LORD” (note that LORD is spelled in all capitals, there). And then in verse 6, he said, “I wait for the Lord” (and Lord has only one capital, this time).

By using these two distinct names of God, David was recognizing important truths about the One he waited for: God was the LORD God of Israel, who had a proven character and a history of faithfulness. And God was also his personal Lord and Master who got to decide how things turned out in his story.

David wasn’t waiting for a genie who would grant his wishes, David was waiting for God—this wise, trustworthy and sovereign Lord—to come on the scene. He couldn’t know exactly how God would move in his circumstances, but he did know that God’s very presence would transform the darkness around him like a sunrise. And that brought assurance of a brighter day for David. So, he waited for the LORD—for his Lord.

Of course, it’s also important to consider how David waited for God.

In verse 5, he said, “my whole being waits…” and in verse 6, he added “I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning…”

This was not a passive waiting. It was an active waiting that implied looking, leaning, wanting and reaching.

You know, that night when the pain kept me awake, I repeatedly leaned to look out my window, desperately hoping to see the first glimmers of daylight.

And this is how we are encouraged to wait for God in our long, dark nights of trial. “More than watchmen wait for the morning,” we are to lean forward, searching and reaching for glimmers of God’s presence.

The truth is, God is always on the scene. He is always with us, as Believers, and He is always working. Yet sometimes, we overlook the evidence.

It makes me wonder: How might our circumstances be brightened if we started paying attention to every glimmer of God’s presence and provision in our lives?

Somehow, I think the darkness might look a little lighter.

And yet, I also have to admit: there are some nights we look for signs of God’s presence, but see nothing at all. In these moments, we wonder where God is and worry that dawn will never break.

This invites us to adopt David’s second piece of advice.

Hope in God’s Word.

Hope is looking forward to tomorrow with good expectations.

But what do we do when the horizon shows no signs of a sunrise and our expectations start to look a little jaded?

David urges us to do what he did: hope in God’s Word.

In other words, we are to look away from what our eyes see and look back at what our God has said. We are invited to let Scripture, with its unshakeable promises, give us a reason to hope again.

If a watchman can persevere through the night because he believes morning will come as it always has, how much more can we, as Believers in God, persevere with hope?

His promises are surer than the sunrise. Not a single word from His mouth has ever failed (Joshua 23:14), and His Word will keep holding true as it always has.

So, if our trials start to feel like pitch black, unending nights, let’s follow David’s lead and remember: we have promises to hope in and a God worth waiting for.

This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Summer Soundtrack” on the Psalms. To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!

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