Wait

 1/12/25

“Truly my soul silently waits for God; 

From Him comes my salvation. 

He only is my rock and my salvation; 

He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. 

My soul, wait silently for God alone, 

For my expectation is from Him. 

He only is my rock and my salvation; 

He is my defense; I shall not be moved.”

—Psalm 62:1-2, 5-6 

Every January, Meema chooses a word to be a guide and goal for the year. This year, her word is “Steadfast,” which is what I want to talk about today. Psalm 62 gives us a good definition for steadfast when it talks about not being moved. David uses the word picture of a huge rock behind which he can hide or on which he can stand. No matter what comes his way, the rock stands immovable.

If you read these verses carefully, you’ll notice a change in the wording. The word “salvation” in verse 1 changes in verse 5 to “expectation;” he is now confident that whatever comes against him cannot succeed. But there is another, subtler change: from “greatly moved,” he says he “shall not be moved.” In the first occurrence, he is somewhat tentative; by the time he gets to verses five and six, he is completely confident that he will be steadfast. How did this transformation come? Again, the wording is subtle, but significant.

In the first verse, he tells us his soul waits silently for God. Faced with all sorts of problems, he has begun to simply wait, listening for God, looking for how he will work. But in verse five, he doesn’t say his soul is waiting on God; he is commanding his soul to wait for God. He has moved beyond his ability—what comes natural. He has waited as long as he can; he has reached the end of his patience; his problems are still there; he wants to quit, and now has to command his soul to continue waiting. It is that command, that refusal to let his feelings dictate his actions, that makes the difference.

Sooner or later, you’ll come to the end of your endurance. It’s then that you need to command your soul to continue waiting. When you do so, you go from “not greatly moved” to “I shall not be moved.” You are steadfast.