Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

Once again we have a Psalm that is incredibly rich. Not surprisingly, several parts of it have been set to music. It’s almost surprising to realize all of those songs come from the same Psalm! I don’t know of an originally English musical setting for this verse, but a friend of mine put the Japanese translation I use directly to music. I had to modify the terminology a little to make it singable in English, but it came out like this. “Be strong, and wait for God. Take heart, and wait for Him. Know that the Lord your God will answer, so be strong and wait for Him.” This is a fitting ending to a Psalm that starts with saying we have nothing to fear, because God is our light and salvation. This is a Psalm of someone who genuinely knew God, even though he wandered at times. We all fit in the “wandering” part of that, so the question is how well we know God. As David says in verse 4,  being close to God needs to be our chief goal in life. The truer that is, the more His grace and mercy will overflow in our life. As He told Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) We need to realize that knowing God is worth more than all the universe put together, because He created it all with a few words. As finite beings we really can’t grasp an infinite God, apart from His revealing Himself to our heart, but if that is our desire, He will do just that. We just have to be willing to act on what He shows us, and let our priorities and our values fall into place accordingly.

This is something the Lord has been working into me more and more over the years. “You can’t take it with you” is a truism, but the older I get the more I understand it. I’ve heard it said, “He who dies with the most toys, wins,” but such a person is still dead. As Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36) There are many things I do care about in the world as I know it, but all of those things have to take a back seat compared to my Lord, the Creator of the universe. When Jesus died for me, how can I not live for Him? Frankly, things often don’t happen on my preferred schedule, but as this verse says, I’m not to let that drag me down in any way, but trust my Lord and His timing, and rejoice in Him!

Father, thank You for telling me, years ago now, to rest, relax, and rejoice. That includes dealing with the various areas in me that still need to change! Help me trust You and Your schedule, so that I may do what You want me to do, when and how You want me to do it, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!