My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. – Psalm 62:5
What do you find worth waiting for? Fresh brownies from the oven? A paycheck? A wedding day? A beloved friend’s return? How about a new baby? Many things may be worth waiting for in the short term, but what are you willing to wait for your entire life? I think salvation from death may qualify for most.
Salvation was exactly what the saints of the Old Testament looked toward. Job said that he knew that his Redeemer would stand upon the earth in the latter day (Job 19:25). They looked to the Messiah in hope of redemption and deliverance from sin and death. Like countless others, Job waited in hope through his whole life.
By the time Jesus Christ was born, the idea of the Messiah was almost a legend. The house of David had not occupied the throne in hundreds of years and David himself had been dead for about a thousand years. When we consider that the promise of the coming of a Savior predated David by thousands of years more, it is no wonder that the birth of Jesus Christ was not met with fanfare.
Today we wait not for the birth of Christ but His return, however we do so with the knowledge and confidence of His existence. As foretold by Job and others, He has stood upon the earth and walked along His people. The Christ is real. The Savior is real. We can place our hope in His salvation in the knowledge that “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
