Lyrics
Verse 1
Well it’s been a while and I’m still waiting
And if I’m being honest
I’m getting tired of praying
When nothing's shifting
Where are you?
Are you listening?
I’ve read about the days and nights they wandered
Aimless in the wilderness
Asking how much longer
Until they’d see it
Will I ever see it?
Chorus
If you could keep a promise
After forty years of wandering
When the answers felt like secrets
But you always have your reasons
Cause you’re not in the business
Of keeping things unfinished
While you’re preparing something
My waiting’s not for nothing
Cause forty one is coming
Forty one is coming
Verse 2
So if it’s not your timing then don’t change it
Just promise you’ll be with me
Every minute that I face it
I might be tired
But I know your ways are higher
Chorus (Repeat)
If you could keep a promise
After forty years of wandering
When the answers felt like secrets
But you always have your reasons
Cause you’re not in the business
Of keeping things unfinished
While you’re preparing something
My waiting’s not for nothing
Cause forty one is coming
Forty one is coming
Bridge
I’ve lived through nights that feel like lifetimes
And days that never end
But I trust you just enough to know
That you’ll do it again
Chorus (Repeat)
If you could keep a promise
After forty years of wandering
I’ll keep hoping till I see it
I’m not going back to Egypt
Cause you’re not in the business
Of keeping things unfinished
While you’re preparing something
My waiting’s not for nothing
Forty one is coming
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
“Forty One” by Samantha Ebert is a song about waiting that is honest about weariness. The first verse admits to being tired of praying while nothing seems to shift, and asks where God is and whether He is listening. It then looks to the Israelites who wandered aimless in the wilderness, asking how much longer, which recalls the forty years in Numbers 14 and Deuteronomy 8:2.
The chorus builds on that story. If God kept His promise after forty years of wandering, then waiting is not wasted, since He is “not in the business of keeping things unfinished.” That is close to Philippians 1:6, where God finishes the work He begins. “Forty one is coming” is the singer’s image of the promise arriving after the long wait.
The second verse accepts God’s timing and asks only for His company, noting that His ways are higher, as in Isaiah 55:9. The ending resolves not to go back to Egypt. The song’s message is patient hope, held up by remembered faithfulness.
Related Scripture
- Deuteronomy 8:2 Remembering the forty years in the wilderness
- Philippians 1:6 God completes the good work He began
- Isaiah 55:8-9 God’s ways are higher than human ways