Waiting

I waited patiently for the LORD;
      he turned to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:1 (NIV)

As I was reading this morning, I could almost hear the gentle bassline of U2's "40" in my head. Far better, I suppose, to hear that song since it's based on this Psalm than to hear Tom Petty's "The Waiting" in my head. Waiting is hard sometimes (OK, now I'm starting to hear Mr. Petty). Waiting can be a lot of things:

• passive - just sitting around waiting for something to happen
• active - getting the house cleaned while waiting for guests to arrive
• fearful - just wait until your father gets home
• hopeful - waiting for Jesus to return
• patient - as we read here in Psalm 40
• impatient - like my cat when she's waiting to be fed in the morning
• without unknown expectations - waiting for the iPhone to come to Verizon
• with known expectations - waiting until COB on a Friday knowing that the weekend is nigh

David is actively, hopefully, patiently waiting with known expectations for the Lord. David knows the Lord will hear him and will answer his prayer. And He does. God has been paying attention and is actively listening to David's prayer. Forget about everyday and one more yard. This is how I want to wait.