Waiting on God (Psalms 27–29)

What if waiting wasn’t wasted time but sacred training? We walk through Psalm 27–29 and trace a path from fear to courage, from isolation to community, and from noise to the clear voice of a God who is never late. David shows us how remembering God’s past rescue fuels present resolve, why worship is more than a song—it’s alignment—and how teachability turns delays into formation. Rather than rushing the yellow lights of life, we learn to ask for a level path we can actually walk, steady under God’s guidance.

As the themes shift from personal plea to communal care, we explore how comfort received becomes comfort shared. David doesn’t hoard hope; he prays for his people, modeling a faith that looks beyond itself. That shift invites us to bring what we learned in hardship to spouses, children, neighbors, and co-workers who are navigating their own storms. The wisdom is practical: remember truth, sing anyway, stay teachable, and pass along the courage you’ve gained.

Then the sky opens. Psalm 29 lifts our eyes to a storm rolling in from the sea, snapping cedars and shaking wilderness, and names the thunder for what it is: the voice of the Lord. Not chance, not idols—God. The same God enthroned over the Genesis flood reigns over the downpour you face today. If he governs the waters that once covered the earth, he can govern deadlines, diagnoses, and detours. Patience, here, is trust in motion: remembering, learning, and loving while we wait for the One who arrives right on time. If this conversation steadied your steps, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review to help others find the show.

The first of Stephen's two volumes set through the Book of Revelation is now available. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ3XCJMY

Chapters

• 0:33 Are You A Patient Person?
• 0:52 Theme: Waiting On The Lord
• 1:10 The Yellow Light Story
• 2:30 What To Do While You Wait
• 3:06 Remembering God’s Light And Salvation
• 3:45 Worship That Builds Courage
• 4:06 Teach Me Your Way, O Lord
• 5:10 Lead Me On A Level Path
• 5:18 Confidence And Prayer In Psalm 28
• 5:50 Comfort Received, Comfort Given
• 7:15 Psalm 29: The Storm And God’s Voice
• 9:00 Enthroned Over The Flood
• 9:56 Your Storm, God’s Timing
• 11:15 God Doesn’t Run Yellow Lights
• 11:33 Closing Blessing And Resources

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:34

Would you describe yourself as a patient person? How about in those times when you're waiting on God to work something out? Well, in Psalms 27 through 29, we're challenged to patiently wait on the Lord to work on our behalf in his time. We're also inspired to reach out to others, sharing with them God's faithfulness and the truth that he's in control of all things. This is the wisdom journey, and Stephen called this lesson waiting on God.

SPEAKER_01: 1:11

I'll never forget that moment years ago when my youngest daughter was around four years of age, and she was riding along with me in the truck, and the light turned yellow. And I was I was able to give it the gas and scoot through the intersection, you know, just in time. I can still remember her looking over at me and with perfect innocence and sincerity asking me, Daddy, does yellow mean speed up? Well, at that moment I was convicted. In fact, I wish my wife had never taught her the colors so soon in life. I had some explaining to do to my daughter. Well, the truth is, I don't like to wait. Do you? And I shouldn't consider yellow as a chance to speed up, but I do. I I can imagine you're probably the same way, although I I hope you're a better example for your kids than than I was. But I gotta tell you, a few things are more challenging to me than having to wait on God. How about you? One author challenged uh my thinking when he wrote, How long we wait is not as important as what we're doing while we wait. Give us something to do while we wait, and waiting becomes bearable. You know, that's exactly what David has in mind as he writes here in Psalm chapter 27 now, on the subject of waiting on God. The theme of this Psalm is actually in the last verse, verse 14. Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. In other words, wait for the Lord, but don't just sit there and wait. David gives us some good things to do while we're waiting. First, he says, start remembering. Start reminding yourselves of the truths you already know. That's what David does here in verse 1 when he writes, The Lord is my light and my salvation. In other words, I'm going to remind myself that God saved me, and the God who saved me is not going to abandon me. He is to this very day the source of my light and my salvation. As David reminds himself of who God is, now he's motivated to worship the Lord. He says here in verse 6, I will sing and make melody to the Lord. In other words, it's dark all around me, but I'm going to sing to him. He's my light and my salvation. Maybe that's why the Lord sometimes has us wait. Maybe it's it's to remind us of who he is and what he's done. You know, that has a way of infusing courage into our hearts as we're waiting for whatever he's going to do next, remembering what he's done and singing to him in praise. Now, here's something else we can do. Don't just remind yourself of the truths you already know. Secondly, remain open to new truths you haven't yet learned. David writes here in verse 11, teach me your way, O Lord. See, David is saying, Lord, I'm I'm willing to sign up for some new course now in life. When you're waiting on God. Let me tell you, God's essentially enrolling you in some new faith-building course. And you can't audit it. You got to do all the homework and take the tests. Are you willing? Are you willing to take a seat in that classroom God has assigned for you today? Well, David writes, Teach me your way, O Lord. In other words, don't let me stay ignorant in my way of thinking, my way of living. Lord, teach me your way. Now he writes further here in verse 11, Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path. Now David isn't praying here, Lord, lead me on an easy path. His prayer is, lead me on a level path. That is, lead me to a path that I can walk as you lead me. Now in the next Psalm, Psalm chapter 28, David is writing with a with a heart full of confidence and hope. In fact, he sings down here in verse 6, Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield. In him my heart trusts, and I am helped. David then prays for his own people here in verse 9. O save your people and bless your heritage, be their shepherd and carry them forever. What a great example, by the way, of caring about other people, even when you've got a lot to be concerned about yourself. Kind of reminds me of the Apostle Paul, who wrote that God comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 4. You see, hope and comfort are things God intends for you to constantly give away. Now, unless you're living in a bubble, your life is touching other people, isn't it? You've got other people in the traffic pattern of your life. It's a spouse, it might be children, it might be neighbors, friends, co-workers, and they've been impacted by some challenge in their lives. Well, share what you've learned. Share what you learned back there in that classroom where the Lord took you through that curriculum. He taught you his ways, he gave your heart courage. What'd you learn? Well, don't keep what you've learned to yourself. This is one time you can actually let somebody copy your answers on a test. That test you had in life. Go ahead and share all your answers with other people. Now, Psalm 29 takes us into a scene where uh David is evidently witnessing a storm uh rising up over the Mediterranean Sea and then moving eastward and then over the mountains and then on south to the wilderness. So he he builds that into this beautiful poem. You know, on a clear day in Israel, you can stand on a mountain as I have, and you can see for miles around. So David is evidently perched up here somewhere, uh, and he's he's watching this storm, and he writes in verse 3, the voice of the Lord is over the waters. Now he's referring to thunder crashing out there over the Mediterranean Sea. Let me remind you, the pagan nations around him believe that Baal was the God of thunder. Baal was the God who controlled the storms. No, no, David says right here, no, that's the creator's voice. He's the one thundering away. Essentially, what he means is God is the one in control of every storm in life. David even writes here in verse 5, the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. In other words, this is a storm that is toppling some of those massive trees in Lebanon. Let me tell you, these cedar trees there grew a hundred feet tall, six feet in diameter. Yet the power of God, David writes, can treat those trees as if they were toothpicks in a jar. Now, as the storm uh moves off into the wilderness, David watches the skies begin to pour down rain, and he's reminded that God's in control of the greatest flood of water to ever hit planet Earth. He writes here in verse 10. The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. The Lord sits enthroned as king forever. Now I need to tell you that this word for flood here is rare. The only other time in all of the Old Testament this word appears in the text is in the Genesis account of the flood that covered the earth. So David is saying that if if the Lord was in control of that massive global storm, guess what? He's powerful enough to manage the storm that has entered your life today. You know, maybe right now you're experiencing a downpour. For some of you, it might be a quick shower and the sun's going to come out fairly soon. But for for others, maybe for some of you listening right now, it it's been raining for days. Maybe the water's rising. There's no sign of it letting up. It's just one thunder crash after another. Well, make sure, make sure, beloved, that none of this is wasted time in your life. Be teachable. Trust as God navigates your your little ark through that flood of water that's entered your life. I appreciate the fact that David has weathered plenty of storms himself. In fact, he he writes here as a veteran storm survivor. And David tells us that courage and hope are going to grow when we remind ourselves of what we already know is true about God. And then let's learn all over again, if need be. Let's go back into that classroom and learn that God is never in a hurry. God doesn't run yellow lights. He doesn't need to. That's because he's always on time. And beloved, maybe that's the reminder you need today. God will be right on time for you. Well, until our next wisdom journey, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

SPEAKER_00: 11:33

Thanks for listening to The Wisdom Journey with Stephen Davey. To learn more about us and access all of our Bible teaching resources, visit wisdomonline.org. Our phone number is 866-482-4253. And you can email us at info at wisdomonline.org. Stephen developed this daily program to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life. So please join us next time to continue the wisdom journey.