5,6 God, the one and only—

I’ll wait as long as he says.

Everything I hope for comes from him,

so why not?

He’s solid rock under my feet,

breathing room for my soul,

An impregnable castle:

I’m set for life.

7 Quiet down before God,

be prayerful before him.

Don’t bother with those who climb the ladder,

who elbow their way to the top.

8,9 Bridle your anger, trash your wrath,

cool your pipes—it only makes things worse.

Before long the crooks will be bankrupt;

God-investors will soon own the store.

34 Wait passionately for God,

don’t leave the path.

He’ll give you your place in the sun

while you watch the wicked lose it.

1-3 I waited and waited and waited for God.

At last he looked; finally he listened.

He lifted me out of the ditch,

pulled me from deep mud.

He stood me up on a solid rock

to make sure I wouldn’t slip.

He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,

a praise-song to our God.

More and more people are seeing this:

they enter the mystery,

abandoning themselves to God.

5,6 I pray to God—my life a prayer—

and wait for what he’ll say and do.

My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,

waiting and watching till morning,

waiting and watching till morning.

3 I’ve thrown in my lot with you;

You won’t embarrass me, will you?

Or let my enemies get the best of me?

Don’t embarrass any of us

Who went out on a limb for you.

It’s the traitors who should be humiliated.

9-16 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight,

my groans an old story to you.

My heart’s about to break;

I’m a burned-out case.

Cataracts blind me to God and good;

old friends avoid me like the plague.

My cousins never visit,

my neighbors stab me in the back.

My competitors blacken my name,

devoutly they pray for my ruin.

But I’m deaf and mute to it all,

ears shut, mouth shut.

I don’t hear a word they say,

don’t speak a word in response.

What I do, God, is wait for you,

wait for my Lord, my God—you will answer!

I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off,

won’t smugly strut off when I stumble.

13,14 I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness

in the exuberant earth.

Stay with God!

Take heart. Don’t quit.

I’ll say it again:

Stay with God.

27-31 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,

or, whine, Israel, saying,

"God has lost track of me.

He doesn’t care what happens to me"?

Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?

God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.

He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.

He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.

And he knows everything, inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired,

gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out,

young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

They spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don’t get tired,

they walk and don’t lag behind.

2-4 God, treat us kindly. You’re our only hope.

First thing in the morning, be there for us!

When things go bad, help us out!

You spoke in thunder and everyone ran.

You showed up and nations scattered.

Your people, for a change, got in on the loot,

picking the field clean of the enemy spoils.

1-7 Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend,

make the mountains shudder at your presence—

As when a forest catches fire,

as when fire makes a pot to boil—

To shock your enemies into facing you,

make the nations shake in their boots!

You did terrible things we never expected,

descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.

Since before time began

no one has ever imagined,

No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you

who works for those who wait for him.

You meet those who happily do what is right,

who keep a good memory of the way you work.

But how angry you’ve been with us!

We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!

Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?

We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.

Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.

We dry up like autumn leaves—

sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind.

No one prays to you

or makes the effort to reach out to you

Because you’ve turned away from us,

left us to stew in our sins.

22 Don’t ever say, "I’ll get you for that!"

Wait for God; he’ll settle the score.

7,8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.

20,21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!

20,21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.