A Lenten Reflection

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in God’s word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than those who watch for

the morning,

more than those who watch for

the morning.

|Psalm 130: 5-6|

I’m not a morning person. Anytime my alarm clock wakes me up, especially if it’s before 9am, I feel a certain emotion – but it’s nothing close to the hopeful anticipation that drips from the psalmist’s pen.

The psalmist stuns me with her attempts to describe how powerfully she waits for the Lord. Like those who watch for the morning. At my Ministry in Context church – Bethany Lutheran Church on the South Side of Chicago – people often thank God for “waking me up this morning.” The response is always the same: “Amen. Amen!”

But for the psalmist, it’s not just “like” those who watch; it’s more. So much more, in fact, that she has to write it – to say it, to sing it, to shout it – twice.

She asks, knowingly: You know how people watch for the morning, for the beginning whispers of the sun, for the soft rays that illuminate the sky while we are still half-asleep and swimming in dreams, for the life-giving light to shine on God’s awesome creation? My soul waits for the Lord MORE even than that. My soul waits for the Lord more even than that.

Amen. Amen!