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Mid-century illustration of a shepherd's staff resting against a stone in still water

Psalms 130:5 · World English Bible

Psalms 130:5 Meaning I Wait for Yahweh

I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word.

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What does Psalms 130:5 mean?

There is a waiting that is full of anxiety, the mind straining toward a future that has not yet come. And there is another kind of waiting, a deep and patient alertness in which the soul is simply present, open, and receptive.

From the Ego v. Being reading below.

Psalms 130:5 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

EGO & BEING

Ego v. Being

There is a waiting that is full of anxiety, the mind straining toward a future that has not yet come. And there is another kind of waiting, a deep and patient alertness in which the soul is simply present, open, and receptive.

To wait for the Lord in this way is not to demand that something happen. It is to rest in quiet readiness, trusting what is greater than your own thoughts. Then hope is no longer a nervous wishing but a calm assurance. When you wait in this stillness, you stop suffering the future, and you discover that the peace you were hoping for is already here in the present moment.

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Ego v. Being lens

Live Psalms 130:5 today

  1. Spend five minutes with no screen and nothing to finish, just sitting, and let yourself be alert without waiting for anything. Nothing has to happen for that time to be good.
  2. When someone is working something out slowly in front of you, hold back the solution and stay with them. Patient company is worth more than a fast answer.
  3. When you are stuck on something and the deadline is close, stop pushing for one minute and breathe before you pick it back up. The answer tends to come in the gap, not in the grinding.

How much of today's tiredness comes from living in a future that is not here yet?

The same truth in other traditions

Tao Te Ching

Muddy water clears when it is left alone. Do you have the patience to wait until things settle by themselves.

Zen

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself. Not every good thing needs your pushing.

Sufism · Rumi

Patience is not sour waiting. It is looking at the thorn and already seeing the rose.

Mid-century illustration of Jesus teaching the crowd on a hillside above the sea

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