Psalm 27:13-14 WAIT WELL, SIN NOT!

Don’t tell me what you believe, but let me watch your life, 

and then I will know what you believe!

Psalm 27:13-14

13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living!

14 Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord

Don’t tell me what you believe, but let me watch your life, and then I will know what you believe!

In this psalm, David has expressed very clearly what he believes about God and His character. There is no arrogance in his believing, since he knows that he does, because of the grace of God. What he knows about God is the result of the Lord revealing Himself to him. What he understands about God’s involvement in his life is the result of the Lord’s loving teaching. All through the psalm, we see the careful resolve David has to not allow the world or its external pressures to shape his thoughts and reactions.

David has no doubt that God’s goodness is not reserved for a future time, but is to be presently experienced by him, in his relationship and submission to the Lord. His belief shaped his life.

Here we are today, thousands of years later, worshiping the only true God, the same God Who led David. We have God’s Word to inform us and instruct us on the character, wisdom, power, and love of God. We have the local church, where the teaching and our fellowship with other believers should encourage growth in our lives. What do we really believe? Well, what does our life look like?

Should we ask ourselves if there are reactions and behaviors that should cause concern in our lives?

Ephesians 4:31

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

This verse sums up both the inner feelings and the exterior manifestations of those attitudes.

Can a person who is resting in the will of the Lord and has abandoned all things of the past into the hands of God have these kinds of feelings? Or should our faith in God produce totally different reactions?

Let me be even more clear: are there people in your life whom you are avoiding or, worse yet, you are not even speaking to? Have you lost contact with a loved one who has caused you to have bitterness? Is going to work becoming a chore that you must endure? Is your marriage relationship becoming an unbearable burden? The fact that you are avoiding some thoughts or people does not mean that those sinful attitudes are not present in your heart!

When Paul wrote this verse under the inspiration of God, he was delivering a clear command for all those who are children of God!

The test comes in the next verse.

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

If God has forgiven us, we have known the grace of God, and that must produce a change in our attitudes and behavior.

This verse does not encourage avoidance or indifference. This verse is pregnant with inner love and visible actions. It’s hard to avoid its clarity. Read the preceding verses and allow them to shed light on your life.

No one can look at these lists and think that they have never been guilty of one or more of those actions, but there is NO EXCUSE for us to continue in them!

One of the areas where so many professing believers struggle is forgiveness. Not only do they struggle to forgive, but they struggle to ask for forgiveness. If you cannot remember the last time you have asked forgiveness of someone, it is not because you have been living a perfect life, but because you have minimized your sin, or worse, you have justified it. Are you ready for a real test? Go to the person you are closest to and ask them if they see you as a person who is quick to repent and ready to forgive. But don’t go and ask, unless your prayer is to become more godly in that area!

Why do we struggle so much in these areas? Because we are impatient! We are impatient with our circumstances; we want them to be resolved as quickly as possible. We are impatient with people, because they don’t change as quickly as we would like.

David had learned to wait upon the Lord. When we feel that circumstances and people are not changing quickly enough, our impatience is actually directed to God.

Is it easy to wait? Certainly not! Pain and hurt are real and if we cannot see their value, they become unbearable. David reminds us to be strong and to let our heart take courage. What does that look like?

We come back to the ongoing teaching of Scriptures: know God, believe His Word, meditate on what is true, surround yourself with godly teaching and godly people, and trust the Lord.

Quick responses and reactions driven by impatience never produce godliness.

David learned many lessons through his seasons of sin and their consequences. He learned well and, by God’s grace, He was used by God to instruct us. Wherever you are in your life right now: learn, repent, strive, trust, and wait upon the Lord.