Psalm 69:13-15 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
¹⁴ Deliver me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

Can we trust God’s perfect timing? We live in an age of instant gratification. We put in our order, drive up to the next window and our order is ready. What is on the menu board dictates what we can order and we make our choices based on availability. What is on the menu board in God’s Kingdom? It is not likely those things which serve our appetites.

What strikes me in these verses is David’s trusting demeanor. “Take your time God. Get it right. I will wait patiently for your perfect timing.” All that is voiced in “At an acceptable time”. God being a God of order knows best how to carry out His promises to us. We are not in this world of disorder alone. What we do and how we act while we wait on God’s perfect timing is a witness to all who know us, see us and depend on us.

Jesus slept in the boat during the raging storm, our example of trusting God. We on the other hand, rather than looking at what Jesus was doing, scream in fear of the storm.

Mark 4:38-40 English Standard Version (ESV)

³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

We must use our faith while we wait.

Psalm 69:10-12 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁰ When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach.
¹¹ When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.
¹² I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.

Do not expect the world to understand us. We worship out of obedience of faith and sacraments. The world will talk trash about us and in this we are to accept this because it is exactly how they treated our Lord.

Psalm 44:22 English Standard Version (ESV) Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

They regard us as less that animals for they have respect for animals. In the eyes of the world we are to be treated with disrespect, unworthy of affection. We should not expect compassion or mercy from the world. The hard part is to look past the treatment towards our hope and our future. We live in the now, and now it hurts.

James 5:9-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:7 English Standard Version (ESV) Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

No one says this is easy/ My wish is that in understanding what is happening and the results to come, we would find peace in doing as the Lord has asked in forgiving their ignorance.