For many reasons Psalm 27 has been deeply precious to me over the last year. Who hasn’t been touched and helped by King David’s Great Desire - to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple (v4)? Even more when we read on and find that this dwelling with God is what he knows will keep him safe in the day of trouble, as God sets his feet upon a rock, safe in his dwelling, hidden in the shelter of his tabernacle (v5).
His confidence in God rises as he expresses this desire. But his experience of release and relief doesn’t by the end of the Psalm. It finishes with him confident that he will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, but not seeing it yet. And therefore he has to preach it to his heart and wait patiently for God:
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait patiently for the Lord (Ps 27:14)
The idea of waiting for the Lord or waiting with patience occurs many times in the Bible. And of course patience is highlighted as part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5. Perhaps the most neglected and unwanted fruit among busy, frenetic, activist Western evangelicals (like me). Bible patience is not merely that we don’t mind waiting if someone is late, or have no aversion to queuing. It is actually part of what God’s love in our lives looks like, manifested to other people. I wonder if one thing God might do during this period of globally enforced stopping is reset some of us more towards Holy Spirit fruitfulness in our characters - including patience - and away from merely finding our satisfaction in activity and achievement?
Patience might seem like a strange thing to be included in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Why not hospitality? Or mercy? Well, look at this verse:
Bear in mind, dear friends, that our Lord’s patience (the same word as in Galatians, makrothymia) means salvation (2 Peter 3:15)
God is holding back judgement until everyone who is going to be saved is saved. He is patient, even though there is evil going on in the world. Paul knew that if Jesus hadn’t been patient, he would personally have had it:
I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience, as an example for those who would believe on him and have eternal life (1 Tim 1:16)
Jesus is patient so people get saved. And saved sinners display how wonderful he is by being like God in this. Their patience, don’t forget, was patience in the face of painful, fiery persecutions. Christians were getting hauled off to prison and worse and they had to do two things:
1. Wait patiently for salvation
2. Patiently forebear with each other
The word has both connotations. Endurance and bearing with:
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord (James 5:10)
Or see Colossians 1:11 where Paul prays that the believers might be strengthened with all power so that they might have great endurance and patience
It is telling that the first thing 1 Corinthians 13 says about love is that it is patient, before it says love is kind. Patience and forbearing is what love in action looks like
Patience is a Holy Spirit characteristic of people who wait in hope. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation” says Romans 12:12. We wait for our hope, doggedly keeping on trusting God, loving others and doing the work of the gospel. Looking for that day when God puts all things right and, in the meantime, being humble and bearing with one another in love as we are all under trial together.
Patience is one of the things God is doing to make us more like Jesus, full of love and joy, at peace with God and patient in affliction. Patience is the attitude that says “I am going to bring my hope of that day into today”.