The Only Testimony That Matters
May those who [ab]fear You see me and be glad, because I [ac]wait for Your word. Psalm 119:74 NASB
See me – Doctrinal discussions. Statements of faith. Creeds. Tracts. Testimonies. You’ve heard them all. Perhaps too many times. Lots and lots of words. Did they really make a difference? Were you compelled to pursue God because of any of these? Or did something else propel your spiritual pursuit? Something you saw in someone else, perhaps?
The poet gives us a deep insight into real evangelism. One can ignore a man’s doctrines, creeds, and theology. One cannot ignore the way a man lives. I can claim certain cognitive beliefs, but it is my living that is the true billboard of my faith. How I behave says more than what I speak. So, the poet tells us to “see me” and be glad. Look at me and see a man who reflects God’s image. How many of us can truly make such a claim? The pen might be mightier than the sword, but words are of little importance when they are stacked up against behavior. What I do matters more than what I say. The biblical message (not necessarily written) is transmitted in living. So Yeshua can say to his disciples, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” He doesn’t mean that you have seen an ontological unity. He means that you have seen a man who expresses what it means to be completely what God intended—fully human, alive.
What does a fully human, alive person do? “Life consists of endless opportunities to sanctify the profane, opportunities to redeem the power of God from the chain of potentialities, opportunities to serve spiritual ends.”[1] We all agree, I’m sure. To be fully human is to finish the creative process by redeeming the world for the Creator, and becoming who we were meant to be at the same time. The only question we might have about the poet’s insight is this: Why wait?
Why is “waiting” the reason that those who see me see what God intended? The Hebrew word translated “wait” is yāḥal. “yāḥal occurs eighteen times in the Piel, fifteen times in the Hiphil and three in the Niphal with the idea of ‘tarrying’ and ‘confident expectation, trust.’. . . yāḥal is used of ‘expectation, hope’ which for the believer is closely linked with ‘faith, trust’ and results in ‘patient waiting.’ The sense of expectation may be positive, i.e. hoping for good in the future.”[2] This is not furtive wishing. It is not the Greek idea of projecting desires into the future. This is confidence grounded in the God of past action. I don’t wait hoping that somehow, some day God will answer me. I “wait” with utter confidence because He has already answered me, over and over, in the history of my people. So, look at me. What do you see? A man absolutely confident in the sovereignty of God. A man whose life is a witness to God’s grace. A man who knows that God is engineering his days to reach the intended end—and is content with the process. See that man and you will see the Father.
The greatest witness to God is a life lived in His service.
Topical Index: evangelism, expectation, confidence, trust, yāḥal, Psalm 119:74
[1] Abraham Heschel Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 86.
[2] Gilchrist, P. R. (1999). 859 יָחַל. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 373). Moody Press.
