Simeon lived a righteous and devout life. He did not long for the good old days. He did not waste time thinking about what had been. He lived life leaning forward. The CSB says he was “looking forward to Israel’s consolation.” The NLT says he “was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.” The Message says he was “a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel.”

I awoke this morning with a song on my mind. It is about God’s daily gift of new mercies as expressed so beautifully in Lamentations 3:22, 23. The song says, “Yesterday is gone, gone, gone.” Now this little ditty is no lament. It is a song that bops. It practically shouts expectation and announces opportunity. 

Simeon was an expectation and opportunity kind of guy. 

He was also a prayerful and patient man. “The Holy Spirit was on him,” it says. God was in no hurry. Simeon slowed down to match his pace. Together, they walked through each day. Every day, every hour, every moment brought Simeon closer to the revelation he had been promised to see before he sailed for the other shore. 

Simeon was unhurried. No doubt, he was unharried as well. When you have heard God speak, when you let God lead you, when you know the destination, when you enjoy the companionship of the very heart of God, why would you worry or be afraid or concern yourself with matters that will mean nothing when what your are leaning into fully arrives?

Simeon was the kind of righteous and devout man who lived life with kindness in his eyes, gentleness in his touch, a song on his lips, and a readiness for whatever God wanted whenever he wanted it. 

Simeon had rehearsed a speech that sounded like a song. He was ready for his moment. You can read it in verses 29-32. Read it aloud in your best dramatic actor’s voice. Not a theatrical Shakespeare kind of thing, but maybe a bit operatic. Hear in your head the perfect tenor singing a song for the ages, a song of gratitude for what God had promised, a song of praise for the one who made the promise, a song of delight for the revelation God had promised and fulfilled just as he said he would. 

The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon (verse 25). He was “guided by the Spirit” (verse 27). He sang and he spoke in the power of the Spirit. 

God guided Simeon for years. He guided him into the right place at the right time. He guided him into expressing the right words to the right people. He guided him on home where all of heaven shared his joy. 

What are you waiting for? Where is God guiding you? How are you navigating the delays? How will you celebrate when God’s dream for you becomes reality? What is the song in your heart you can’t wait to sing?

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I will ask the Holy Spirit to lead me in the right direction at the right speed so that I always may be on time for what he has for me. 

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Our Father, I am anticipating some things only you can make real. I want what you want for some people who are dear to me. Guide me so that I am in the right place at the right time to see what only you can do and celebrate your goodness and grace forever. Amen.