The Other Participant

Wow!  Do you realize that it is the end of May already?  Where have the last five months gone?  It seems like we were just sitting back on the couch in the living room enjoying the Christmas tree!  I have heard it said that as you get older, time goes by faster.  So… if that’s the case, let’s slow things down a little bit today and go back and touch on another side of the equation that we brought up yesterday.

In studying Psalm 40:1-2, we saw the Lord utilizing the classic textbook steps for effective listening.  “I waited patiently for the Lord.  He turned to me and heard my cry for help.  He pulled me out of a horrible pit, out of the mud and clay.  He set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure.”  (God’s Word © - take a look at yesterday’s blog entry “A Listening Ear" – 5/30/12)  Let’s take a couple of moments now and look at the other participant in this conversation.

While there is only one sentence that describes the speaker’s input, the implications are significant enough to teach us a big lesson!  The footnote for this verse in the NIV Study Bible begins by describing this psalm as “A prayer for help when troubles abound.”  Therefore when David (or any of us) was knee deep in trouble, he wrote that “I waited patiently for the Lord.”  The interesting part of this statement is found in the words that are usually translated “waited patiently.”  In my study of the verse I discovered that those two words are actually the same word in the original Hebrew.  And wouldn’t you know it, but one of the meanings of the word is “to expect!”

So we can see that David wasn’t just sitting around patiently enduring until he received some assistance from the Lord.  No!  The commentaries state that the word used here was doubled so as to emphasize the action required to receive an answer by the requester.  I would translate or paraphrase this verse into modern vernacular by saying that “I was expectantly expectant for the Lord to move on my behalf.”  Thus denoting a strong and constant anticipation of what the Lord would do for me based on my trust in the truth of His word. 

Paul described this same type of anticipation when he talked about the Good News to the Colossians.  He said: “Some time ago you heard (same definition for this word as used in Psalm 40:1- one again, see yesterday’s blog entry) about this hope (or expectation) in the Good News which is the message of truth.  This Good News is present with you now.  It is producing results and spreading…”  (Colossians 1: 5-6)

David is showing us how to approach the Lord with our requests.  It is also the way we should approach people when we enter into a conversation with them.  This method demonstrates our desire to hear and receive from those to whom we talk with.  It shows the love of God through our commitment to the other person involved in the conversation.  It tells the other person that they are important to us and to God!  I think the bottom line is that this is just another example of how to let the light of Christ shine through us to those we come in contact with in our daily lives.

So, go out and be a blessing to someone today.  Take the time to make the time to be a part of another person’s life today!  Show them that you care, and be “expectantly expectant” of how the Lord will work through you for the other’s behalf.  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”