Having to wait for any expected good certainly affects our attitude. In this sense, the writer of this proverb accurately observed the growing despondency of the heart that waits unfulfilled. Yet, it is even more intense in the spiritual longing that we have for God. It was in this spiritual sense that many see this proverb pointing to Israel’s longing for the coming of the Desired One, the Messiah. As the Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai, “I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:7).
Today, we experience a kind of “heart sickness” as we await the return of Christ. But we have the Holy Spirit which fills us with a confident hope that assures us of the certainty of our desire. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).