Psalm 85:10-13
Title: The Lost Art of Waiting
Date: December 14, 2023
Author: Jackson Ringley
Waiting is a hard thing in our world. With our constant access to technology, we don’t have to wait much for anything. I’m an avid reader, and if there’s a book I really want, I know I can hop online, place an order, and it will arrive on my doorstep the next day. (Needless to say, I need a bigger bookshelf).
I find I don’t even like waiting very much. My schedule is busy; my days are long. Even waiting in line at my favorite coffee shop can be an agonizing affair. Sometimes, waiting feels awful.
I think the Psalmist would disagree with me about the importance of waiting. In Psalm 85, it seems like the Psalmist thinks the best things come when we wait for them. Everything in our English text here is in the future tense – will, will, will. The Psalmist knows that, if we are willing to wait, then God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace will flow throughout the world.
It is a profound act of trust in God to decide to wait for such a day. We don’t know when we’ll get there, but the Psalmist is certain that we will. By striving for a just and equitable world in which all God’s people have what they need, we will move ever closer to the day when “righteousness will look down from the sky.” This isn’t a passive kind of waiting. It is active; we must work together for such a day to be possible, and we know that, with God, all things are. We will get there together, so long as we remember it takes time.
Title: The Lost Art of Waiting
Date: December 14, 2023
Author: Jackson Ringley
Waiting is a hard thing in our world. With our constant access to technology, we don’t have to wait much for anything. I’m an avid reader, and if there’s a book I really want, I know I can hop online, place an order, and it will arrive on my doorstep the next day. (Needless to say, I need a bigger bookshelf).
I find I don’t even like waiting very much. My schedule is busy; my days are long. Even waiting in line at my favorite coffee shop can be an agonizing affair. Sometimes, waiting feels awful.
I think the Psalmist would disagree with me about the importance of waiting. In Psalm 85, it seems like the Psalmist thinks the best things come when we wait for them. Everything in our English text here is in the future tense – will, will, will. The Psalmist knows that, if we are willing to wait, then God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace will flow throughout the world.
It is a profound act of trust in God to decide to wait for such a day. We don’t know when we’ll get there, but the Psalmist is certain that we will. By striving for a just and equitable world in which all God’s people have what they need, we will move ever closer to the day when “righteousness will look down from the sky.” This isn’t a passive kind of waiting. It is active; we must work together for such a day to be possible, and we know that, with God, all things are. We will get there together, so long as we remember it takes time.
Jackson Ringley is a graduate student at Yale Divinity School and the Director of Social Media for Youth Mission Co. He is active with Montreat Youth Conference and Montreat College Conference and enjoys helping young people find their own voice in the Church and world. Jackson holds a BA in English and Global Studies from the University of South Carolina and has a deep passion for queer writing, global literature, and storytelling as a means for social transformation. You can probably find him watching Abbot Elementary, dancing to Taylor Swift, or enjoying a good cup of coffee.