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Psalm 130:5  I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.

The Hebrew  word translated ‘wait’ both times in this verse means much more than just ‘passing the time’ until something happens – it means ‘waiting in positive anticipation and expectation’, which is reinforced by the word ‘hope’, which is much more than simply ‘keeping one’s fixed cross’ that the English word is usually used to convey.  The point the psalmist is wanting to make is also reinforced by his use of ‘my whole being’ (nephesh=‘my life’ ‘the very essence of who I am’) to refer to himself.

So this verse – in fact the whole psalm – challenges me, and causes me to reflect deeply on whether I can make the psalmist’s claim my own!  The name ‘the LORD’ in the OT, ‘Yahweh’, derived from the Hebrew for ‘I AM’ (Exodus 3:14) foreshadows the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who regularly got himslf into trouble with the Jewish religious authorities for using ‘I AM’ in connection with himself (most blatantly when he said, “Very truly I tell you, … before Abraham was born, I am!”, which produced the reaction: “At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” – John 8:58-59), All this leads me to ask myself, “Does my very being, everything that gets me out of bed in the morning, and keeps me going, ‘functioning on all cylinders’ throughout the day, find its significance in Jesus?  Is he the centre and focus of all my expectation and hope?

Can I truly sing with a clear conscience, “What is our hope in life and death?  Christ alone, Christ alone.  What is our only confidence?  That our souls to him belong. Who holds our days within his hand?  What comes, apart from his command?  And what will keep us to the end?  The love of Christ, in which we stand.  What truth can calm the troubled soul?  God is good, our God is good. Where is his grace and goodness known?  In our great Redeemer’s blood.  Who holds our faith when fears arise?  Who stands above the stormy trial?  Who sends the waves that bring us nigh unto the shore, the rock of Christ?  O sing hallelujah!  Our hope springs eternal. O sing hallelujah!  Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death.  Unto the grave, what shall we sing?  ‘Christ, he lives; Christ, he lives!’  And what reward will Heaven bring?  Everlasting life with him!  There we will rise to meet the Lord, then sin and death will be destroyed and we will feast in endless joy when Christ is ours forevermore.  O sing hallelujah! Our hope springs eternal, O sing hallelujah!  Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death.”? (Keith & Kristyn Getty)

And do I constantly go to the vital source for this: ‘his Word’?  “Your words to me are life and health; pour strength into my soul; enable, guide, and teach my heart to reach its perfect goal!  Your words to me are light and truth; from day to day they show their wisdom, passing earthly lore, as in their truth I grow.  Your words to me are full of joy, of beauty, peace, and grace; from them I learn your blessed will, through them I see your face.  Your words you have fulfilled on earth, yourself, the living Word; within my heart your image print in clearest lines, O Lord.”  (George Currie Martin)

– Bruce Christian