“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”

Psalm 130:5-6

Before satellites and GPS, before radar, before clocks, before any of these technologies were around there were watchmen. These men were posted as sentries and called to be on the lookout for many things – for threats, for messengers, and for the faint glint of sunlight peaking over the horizon.

Imagine yourself sitting at a post in the long dark hours of the night. Did you doubt that the sun would come up? No. You knew it would. Every day of your life the sun had been faithful to rise and then set. Rise and set. Rise and set. But without a watch to let you know exactly when this would happen every morning you were left looking, watching, expecting.

Go back and read the verse from Psalm 130. Do you see how waiting is compared to the eager expectation of the watchman? We tend to think of waiting as a passive thing. Think of the grocery store checkout line. Why is it stocked with magazines and candy? To give you something to do while you’re waiting. Today we have phones for that but we’re still distracting ourselves while waiting. This is not the kind of waiting the Bible talks about, especially here in regards to God and his word. Waiting in the Bible is filled with hope and expectation, an edge of your seat anticipation, a squinting your eyes toward the horizon kind of longing.

The watchman trusted that the sun would come up every single morning, but don’t we have a greater hope? Shouldn’t we be spilling over with faith-filled confidence?This is the point of what he’s saying. Our waiting is filled with more eager expectation than the watchman. Why? Because our God is more faithful than the sunrise. The promises of his word are more sure. The things of this world will pass away but the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. His promises are rock solid.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Isaiah 40:8

So how is your waiting? How is your watching? Is it filled with confident expectation? Our God is more faithful than the sunrise and I am praying that I can be found on the edge of my seat, straining my eyes toward the horizon eager to see his promises come to pass just like he said.