Psalm 130: Waiting on God Through the Pain

“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. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.”

Psalms 130: 6-7 NIV

During my years in Africa, I came to know many watchmen. In each home I lived, there was always a watchman standing guard during the night. Yacob, Mosie, Inussa, and Pierre were those I knew best. Often, I would step out of my home at night and go talk to them. Night watchmen even have their own special kinds of wisdom and beliefs. They have lots of time to reflect, lots of time to wonder. Some watchmen were not helpful. They would sleep through loud noises, and people knocking at the gate. They were fearful themselves - and would run to me for help.

But the ones I mention were good ones. These men were tuned to the darkness. They saw every little thing that happened: every bird or animal that moved. They knew the night skies, where each star was, when and where the moon would rise and fall. Their ears could discern between what they knew and what was new. They recognized creatures by their voices. They had a keen sense not just of what was wrong in the darkness, but what was right in the darkness. And out of this “rightness” came their alertness and their sense of calm and expectancy as they waited for the light of day - the morning.

Earlier this year, I traveled to Ukraine with a companion from my home church. We went to visit a mission partner of The Outreach Foundation, the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary with its president, Dr. Ivan Rusyn; and Tavriski Christian Institute, a developing friend, and its president, Dr. Valentyn Syniy. These two men and the staff and students they lead are some of the “watchmen” of Ukraine. In the midst of this very dark time, not only are they not hiding in fear, but they have taught and lived out skills that help people not just see what is wrong, but also what is right, and what God is doing in and through them now. They are not simply sleeping while the war takes over their lives, rather they are leading and moving with expectancy and hope, knowing that though the darkness is real, their hope in Jesus, who was born in darkness but entered as light, hears them, is present with them, and will lead them to the morning of peace.

This Advent season is a hard time for many people around the U.S. and the world. We need to know the darkness, and not just close our eyes, but open them to see what God is doing in that darkness.

May each of us become the watchmen that wait expectantly for the morning of light, the morning of peace, the morning of hope in Jesus who was born for us all. 

“…put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption.”

Caryl Weinburg
Trustee
The Outreach Foundation