Waiting for the Morning

“My soul waits for the Lord...”Psalm 130:6

On one of my morning jogs around town, I came across a place at the top of the bay, with a solitary tree between the road and the shoreline. I registered that spot into my memory banks, thinking it would be a great place to catch a picture of the sun rising one day.

A month or so later I drove over to the spot, parked my car, and started to watch the horizon for the signs of sunrise. I positioned my tripod in a spot where the solitary tree would be off to the side of the picture, giving me a good frame.

After I had taken several pictures, I noticed that there seemed to be something that I hadn't seen earlier right at the base of one of the branches of the tree. I zoomed in with my camera, and I discovered that it was a hawk (watching the waterfront for breakfast, I presume). It sat there in the tree for several more minutes. With the hawk between me and the sun, the best I could hope for was a silhouette; I'm not disappointed, though.

When I look at that picture of the hawk scanning the horizon, my mind goes to the 130^th psalm. The psalmist is in a dark night of the soul; he feels all alone, and the world is against him. He realizes that his only hope is for God's mercy. So he confesses, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman waits for the morning, more than the watchman waits for the morning.” (Ps. 130:5-6)

The psalm refers to the watchman, the sentry stationed on the wall watching for enemy advances in the dark of night. It is a terrifying and lonely job, and daylight couldn't arrive quick enough. When the sentries scan the horizon, they are not only watching for approaching enemies and danger; they are also watching for the sun to come up, so they can be relieved of their duty.

Their waiting for the morning is a deep longing of the heart.

Sometimes we find ourselves in times of darkness. We're frightened at the world around us. We're grieved at the loss of a loved one. We're anxious about the phone message from the doctor's office. We're heartbroken over a shattered relationship. We're _________________________ . You can surely fill in the blank, because each of us has had something that has cast us into darkness of spirit.

When those times of darkness come upon us, we long for the light. We want some sign that this darkness will not last forever. We want hope.

We find hope when we fix our hearts upon the Lord. God will turn our darkness into light. He will turn our mourning into joy. He will heal our broken hearts with his love.

Wait for the Lord, more than the watchman waits for the morning. More than the watchman waits for the morning.

Something else strikes me about this psalm. It is written from the darkness. The writer is in the darkness when he pens these words. It's not a wishy-washy faith that he expresses, but a faith forged in the darkness. And yet, even in the darkness, he is able not only to confess his own faith, but also to urge all of God's people to turn their hearts to the Lord:

“O Israel (in other words, O people of God), put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is steadfast love and with him is unfailing redemption.” (Psalm 130:7)

And so I don't offer you this hope lightly. I know that some of you reading this may very well be in the darkness right now. But I know that you are not alone in the darkness. And I know that as you hope in the Lord, and as your soul waits with the same longing as the sentry for the morning, then daylight will come.

Wait for the morning. It will come.

Because God is faithful. And God is love. And with God is unfailing redemption.