“I wait for the Lord, my whole beings waits, and in His Word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

God has placed these verses on my heart for some time. They deeply resonated with me after Jim’s death in 2021. I’m not exactly sure why but the repetition of “more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning” grabbed me. Something about that repeated phrase begged me to look more deeply into it, because if it was repeated, it must have great importance.

I began thinking about what it must be like to be on guard all night long. I remember in college staying up an entire night to finish a final paper. I started the paper around 8:00 PM and at that point, all the noises of life outside our apartment were still going on - people returning home, dogs barking, birds saying their goodnights. But as the sounds began to fade and the night dragged on, I was still busy writing and I noticed that not only was I exhausted but there was no sound at all — and sound didn’t return until the very smallest of light appeared. And then the birds noticed and began to wake up and sing their morning songs.

That night has always stuck with me and makes me think of what a long night it must be for watchmen who are SO TIRED and wait for the morning….and wait for the morning. This is how we should wait on God. We wait with everything we have — our whole being. And waiting is so very, very hard and exhausting. But as we wait, we aren’t doing nothing, just as those watchmen aren’t doing nothing. They are watching. And we are watching and hoping — putting our hope in God’s Word.

So friends, if you are exhausted from waiting, remember to put your hope in God’s Word. Watch for Him - just as watchmen wait for the morning.

The Light is going to break the darkness. Praise God!

I created this painting to depict the darkest time before the dawn — when all looks hidden and void but there, on the horizon, the light begins to pierce the darkness! Our Hope has come!

Original oil painting on cradled (birch) gesso board. Painting is 18” x 24” and is available.