King David: The Weight of Wait

King David: The Weight of Wait

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I am often asked, “How can I know God’s will for me in this …decision, issue, area, timing …in my life?” The one constant in this arena of knowing and discerning God’s will typically involves waiting … and therefore patience.   

Typically, we truly can wait. We just don’t want to wait. 

God can seem as slow as molasses, but He’s always right on time. When we learn to wait patiently on Him in every circumstance, we will be like David, “A man – or woman – after God’s own heart.” 

There is a colorful episode in David’s life, before he is king. King Saul is losing his grip on reality, and fueled by paranoia and jealousy of David, he is hunting him down to kill him. 

David and his fighting men find a cave in which to hide, and as “luck”? would have it, Saul comes into the cave to “relieve himself.” The text makes it clear he is squatting, not standing, and therefore extremely vulnerable to attack. David’s men see this as a God-ordained opportunity to kill Saul and assume his rightful ascension to the throne. After all, God had already stated David would be his next king (1 Samuel 16).  

The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” (1 Samuel 24:4) 

But David sees it differently. David sees this differently because he lives in a God-saturated world: 

6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 … And Saul left the cave and went his way. 

David’s men saw this situation as a way to “move along and hurry” what was obviously God’s will. David saw it through a different prism. He was willing to wait on his Heavenly Father’s timing, not his. 

When I have waited on God’s clarity and then his perfect timing, I have known that He was directing me. Then, if I run into troubles, I’m confident that I’m still in His will, and that this is nothing more than a diversion. When I have not waited, I have been unsure of myself.   

“But! I do not like to wait. I like to move ahead. I like to make decisions and then carry them out. Action! Motion!” 

Why do I not like to wait? Because I might not get my way. Things may not go as I am so sure they must. Only patsies wait. Real men take action. 

What about you? Are you willing to seek and then wait for God’s clarity and timing? Or perhaps … you fit the Yiddish proverb, 

“Man plans, God laughs.”