Season of Waiting

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, January 18th, 2026:
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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​Psalm 40

​R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

​R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 

​R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

​R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.

​R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
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Pause. Pray. Reflect. 

Psalm 40, attributed to King David, is a Psalm of supplication and surrender. Like David, we too have times where we have “waited patiently for the Lord” to answer a prayer, to show up in a circumstance, or to bring reconciliation in a relationship. Waiting can be hard. Personally, I find counting down the days to a known outcome to be a source of relief for me. That’s perhaps why I thrive in liturgical seasons that have a set number of days. But we are now in Ordinary Time which, at times, feels like a prolonged season.

Even when a particular season or a trial seems challenging and never-ending, we can trust that God is inclining His ear to us like an attentive parent. He not only hears, but he listens to every whispered prayer and unuttered plea. His delayed response is sometimes a mercy that we become aware of only in hindsight. 

In this first month of the calendar year, it is worth reflecting on situations and challenges that the Lord has preserved us from in 2025. We may not be aware of God’s mercies, but we can be assured that there were many times where He was holding us in the palm of His hands and helping us walk through fires we could not see. 

As I begin this new year, the word “entrust” keeps coming up in my prayers, and I believe that this is a word from the Spirit. God is inviting me to entrust myself and the people I love to Him. He desires for me to have the response: “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.” I know there are going to be challenging seasons of waiting on the Lord to answer my prayers and find solutions to my trivial problems, but I trust that entrusting every aspect of my life to him will bring a peace beyond understanding. 


Lord Jesus, I entrust myself to you, along with my dreams, hopes, and loved ones. I am open to your will as I start this new year. Do what you will with me and my time. Amen.



Rebecca D'Mello

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