Daily Manna · Day 188 · July 7
Soul Waiting on God
“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.”
Most of us keep a backup plan in case God does not come through.
I do too, though I would not have chosen that word for it. It is a second option kept ready in case the first one does not come in time, or at all: the savings, the person who would take the call, the way out already mapped in case this church, this marriage or this job goes the way I fear. None of that is foolish. But it turns into something else the moment I notice that I am leaning my whole weight on it.
The first word of the psalm shows what David means. "Truly" translates the Hebrew word ak, a strong little word that also means "only," and it appears six times in this short psalm, as in "He only is my rock" and "My soul, wait thou only upon God." David is saying more than that God is his best option. He is saying God is his only one. He keeps repeating it, the way a person does when he is arguing with his own fears and needs to hear it again. The word behind "waiteth" means silence, so David is really saying that his soul is silent before God. Plenty is still happening around him, but the bargaining inside him has stopped.
Verse eight tells you what to do with the plan you would rather keep quiet: "Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him." Two verses later comes the warning: "Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them."
So pray it as it stands, knowing that "from him cometh my salvation."
God, You know what I would reach for first if this went wrong. Let me name it plainly: the money, the person, the way out. I am not pretending I have no backup plan. I am asking that it stop being my rock. Make my soul quiet before You. And help me leave the decision unmade for one more day, trusting You with it. Amen.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 188 is Tell The Children (Psalm 78:7).