Still Waiting

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, January 14th, 2024:
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.

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

If there is one phrase I do not like, it's “Patience is a virtue.” I am not a very patient person, and waiting is something I do not do well. So I should not be surprised when I discover, in my life, that many of my struggles are connected to the times when the Lord has called me to wait! I remember the first time my spiritual director told me that sometimes God doesn’t answer yes or no but answers “Wait.” It explained a lot, but it wasn’t something I wanted to hear! 


The psalm for today is extremely important to me and a great consolation as I struggle with the need to be patient and to trust and let God work in the waiting moments of my life.


The psalmist reminds me of the gift of waiting patiently: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard me.” It is essential for me to remember that I am not alone in my waiting, even when it feels as if I am. God is there in the waiting – and when I forget this or focus on something other than Him, I miss the opportunity to be with Him there in that waiting.  


If I truly want to be able to say “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will,” as we do in the psalm, then I need to recognize that waiting is part of the will of God. Being open to that, trusting in that, and NOT giving into my preference of being busy or just doing things I like is part of God’s will. The psalmist learned that God is not always looking for big actions or grand gestures (bull offerings and sacrifices). Remember how the Lord provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in place of his son? Perhaps if I look about my life and see no proverbial “ram in the thicket” I might be called to wait for the Lord. How will I recognize this “ram in the thicket”? I need to trust that God will reveal it at the right time. He did for Abraham and He will do it for you and me. 




Sister Teresa MacDonald

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