Wednesday, January 14th | Daily Devotion
- Jan 13
- 4 min read
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie. -Psalm 40:1-4
TRANSCRIPTION:
Good morning, good morning, grace and peace be unto all of you, my Father’s children. I’m Dr. Powell, and we’re here with our weekday devotional during the year of 2026. This is our month of January, in which we are focusing on Psalms and the Key of Life. On this Wednesday, I wanted us to take a look at the 40th division of Psalm. I’m going to read a little bit, but of course, I want you to read the entirety of the passage. But I believe that this is more fitting and more apt—probably the most apropos—for times like these.
“I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie.” And it goes on.
David does something that I think is easier said than done. Have you ever been in a place where you felt as though your footing was unsure? Now you knew you had a deliverer, but it seemed like deliverance was taking a long time. Okay, maybe I’m the only person who’s ever identified with a place where I was needing God to do something, expecting God to do something, hoping for God to do something—only to sit and watch time elapse, asking the question, “When, God?”
But David says, “I waited patiently for the Lord.” Out of that word patience—that’s a virtue. The reason why patience is a virtue is because it’s not easy to come by. And so David is saying that the patience that I had to derive inside of this moment was something that I learned over time. But David’s patience is not rooted in him just being a great person.
It’s rooted in David having a great memory. David is patient with the Lord and patient in waiting for the Lord mainly because David has had experience with God coming through. The way that patience is really garnered is our ability to not lose our memory of what God has already done. He says, “Listen, He inclined to me and heard my cry.” I like when he says, “and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.”
Because when it is that you’re in the place between prayer and manifestation, it might seem like your footing is unsure. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there before. When I look at the surrounding circumstances, I’m trying to find my way to keep my feet planted, but it seems like you’re sending everything in my direction to rock me. But I like David, masking that I patiently wait on Him because patience has always, always resulted in God showing up.
We’re talking about a God who never fails. We’re talking about a God who never misses the mark. So it’s amazing to us that within our imperfection, we trust more in things that fail from time to time. We will check the weather app to make sure, to ask questions like whether or not we need an umbrella. You ain’t got to see a lick of rain. All you have to do is hear, “I heard it was going to rain.”
If we could exercise the same amount of faith when dealing with the Lord, then ultimately, beyond that of a weatherman who fails often, we ought to recognize that’s the place where our strength lies—our ability to be patient. And our patience is only garnered from a place of our memory of who God is.
I can be patient because I already know the outcome: that if God said it, I believe it. If He told me He’d never leave me nor forsake me, I believe it. And so while I feel abandoned, I have to tell my psyche it’s not true, and that that is a lie of the enemy.
So I don’t know who this is for this morning, but I pray that as you continue through your Wednesday today, be patient, seek the Lord, but always keep in mind what He’s already done. God bless you. We’re going to have an incredible, incredible Wednesday.