As I listen and watch the news about the spread of the coronavirus, the drop in the oil price and the stock market, the cancellation of sports, entertainment and political events, the closure of college classes and nursing homes, I ask myself what my response should be. By the grace of God I am currently reading the sermons of Charles Simeon (1758-1836). This morning I read his sermon on Psalm 130:5,6.

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the LORD more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Out of the depths of despair King David cried out to the LORD for mercy. Simeon’s headings are:

1. He waited for God with earnest desire. When God’s answers to his prayers were delayed, he cried, “How long, O LORD, how long?” (Psalm 6:3; 13:1,2) God would have us cry out to him (Luke 18:7) and give him no rest until he arises and comes to our relief (Isaiah 62:6,7).
2. He waited with patient hope. Although earnest in prayer, he was willing to wait the Lord’s leisure. He rested upon the Word of God: “In his Word, I hope.” It was quite sufficient for him to know that God had promised to help his people. He had no doubt that all that troubled him would be cleared up in due time.
3. He waited with confidence. A watchman knows that eventually the morning will come. So instead of abandoning his post, he waits until the proper time for his relief. Thus David assured himself that God would come to him at last, and reveal himself to him out of the abundance of his grace and love.

In his application to us Simeon points out:

1. Consider how it is relevant to every one of us. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:13,14). This spirit of waiting should mark us also. However long God may defer his answer to your prayers, you should wait with meekness and patience. In his appointed time he will come. Be content if the morning never comes until the very moment of your departure from this world where we have troubles.
2. See what honor this does to God. It demonstrates the reality of his goodness, which does not willingly afflict you, but orders everything for your greatest good, even to humble you the more deeply and to prepare you for a richer appreciation of his mercy whenever it is granted to you.
3. See what benefit it gives to the waiting soul. “The LORD is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD” (Lamentations 3:25,26). “I waited patiently for the LORD, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:1-3). “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

As we go through this period of turbulence, we can wait with confidence that God is in control of our lives and that he will bring us through it. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). All will be well. This too shall pass. Trust in the Lord.