Meditation on Psalm 116 - “The Grace of Waiting”

I love the Lord, for He has heard

the cry of my appeal;

for He turned His ear to me

in the day when I called Him.

There comes a time when strength fades and even the will to rise seems exhausted. The soul feels worn thin by years of striving, by battles inward and outward, by hopes deferred and questions unanswered. Yet in such weariness another kind of strength quietly begins to reveal itself, the steadfastness of God’s love.

When I look back, I see how every season of affliction has been carried by unseen hands. When I fell into discouragement, He sent His angels to lift me. When my heart grew cold, He warmed it again with the fire of His mercy. The path has not been without wounds, yet each wound has become a doorway to His compassion.

“I was helpless, so He saved me,” the psalmist sings. These words pierce the heart, for they uncover the truth that we are never left to ourselves. The Lord bends low to those who can no longer lift their heads. He delights not in our strength but in our surrender, in the soul that waits, trusting His Providence when nothing is clear.

How mysterious is the grace of waiting. To wait is to love without grasping, to rest without seeing. It is the soul’s silent “Amen” to God’s will, spoken through tears and endurance. Those who wait for the Lord are not idle; their stillness is filled with faith. In that waiting His angels minister, unseen yet near. The saints intercede, their compassion born of shared suffering.

“I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.” Each breath becomes a prayer of gratitude. I am still here, sustained by His mercy, steadied by His hand. The years that seemed lost are gathered in His light; the broken pieces are held together in His peace.

What remains now is thanksgiving. Not for what has been easy, but for the hidden grace in every hardship, for the God who never turned away, for the strength that came only through weakness, for the love that endures when all else falls away.

O Lord, I am Thy servant, the child of Thy handmaid.

Thou hast loosened my bonds.

To Thee will I offer a sacrifice of praise

and call upon Thy holy Name.

In gratitude I bow before Thee,

for even in my affliction Thou hast been my joy.

Let my waiting become worship

and my weariness a psalm of love.