The Joy in Waiting for GOD

Generally speaking, we human beings are not very good at waiting. Various studies have been done that attempt to evaluate the limits of people's patience. Not only just their patience, but their willingness to wait. One survey by Fifth Third Bank found that more than half of Americans admit to honking after the light turns green. I wait a few seconds, usually. Also, a majority, it says, will wait 10 seconds or less before passing a slow walker on the sidewalk. 71% frequently exceed the speed limit to get to their destination faster. And 72% of Gen wires, the millennials, admit to pushing an already lit elevator button. I've seen that. I push it. Here comes somebody else. Yeah, it tends to be younger people. They'll push it again. It's like, buddy, I already did it. It's okay. But I understand. You feel better that way. And then this one, more than half of Americans hang up the phone after being on hold one minute or less. That's not a long time. But of course, there's various reasons for this. Some would say, well, technology has made us to expect things to happen faster. If you've got to wait more than three seconds for a website to load up, just move on. You don't live in the rural country, obviously. You've got to take a while. Now, these are just a few things they found in their survey to help show the limit of people's patience, their willingness to wait. And there are some things here I would admit, yep, I tend to do. I tend to define waiting, especially at certain times. It's not an easy thing to do. Waiting generally is not easy to do. Now, considering our own degree of impatience, our own aversion to waiting, well, then how should we respond to the Word of God when we are exhorted to wait on the Lord? When we're exhorted to wait for God? Hmm. Notice for the examples, let me give you a few scriptures. Now, I'm going to go through these rather quickly. You can jot them down. I'm going to go back and speak to them a little bit here in a bit. But here's just a few quick scriptures. For example, Psalm 27 verse 14, in Psalm 27 verse 14, we're told to wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. That was the advice of King David. In Isaiah 30, verse 18, the last two lines of Isaiah 30, 18, it reads, For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. And then a third one, Micah 7 verse 7. Micah 7, 7. Therefore I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Now, just on the basis of these three scriptures, I think we could say that waiting for God is very vital, critical to our faith in salvation. But what does it mean? Exactly. Does that phrase only refer to the time we give and waiting for God's response? Does that phrase mean just biting our time, doing little more than marking off days and weeks on our calendars until God some way intervenes in our lives? And if that were the case, should we then just hang up on God if he doesn't respond quickly enough to our prayer, to our request? These are important questions, important things to think about. And so my purpose today is to deepen our understanding about what waiting for God means, and also to remind us to stay focused on God and the assured promise of the return of Jesus Christ. I have entitled the sermon today, The Joy in Waiting for God, The Joy in Waiting for God.

To understand what the Bible means by this phrase, you're going to hear me say it a lot today, this phrase, waiting for God, we need to go back to the word. We need to look at the words. We need to consider the meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek. That's a good starting point. Now, Hebrew offers several different words, often translated as wait. And each word, though very similar, has a different shade of meaning. Even though it's slight, those slight shades of meaning do give us some more insight as to what waiting for God means. For example, in Psalm 27.14, that first verse I read where David tells us to wait on the Lord, that word wait is the Hebrew word kava, q-a-v-a-h, q-a-v-a-h, which means to wait. As well as to look for and to hope for. It means to wait, to look for, and to hope for, to hope in, even. Isaiah 30.18, the Scriptures that said, blessed are all those who wait for Him, that word is chaka, c-h-a-k-a-h, c-h-a-k-a-h. It too means to wait, to look for, and to hope for, but it adds a shaded meaning of doing these things, waiting with full confidence, with absolute confidence. That's what that wait would mean. And finally, Micah 7.7, which said, I will wait for the God of my salvation, the word there is yakol, y-a-c-h-a-l, y-a-c-h-a-l. It means wait, but it has very similar meaning to the others, but it also adds the meaning of to expect, to anticipate, to expect, to anticipate, as well as to wait, to look for, and to hope in. Now the New Testament, the comparable Greek word, which shares these very similar meanings with the Hebrew, that Greek word is prosdekomai, prosdekomai, let's see, prosdekomai, P-R-O-S-D-E-C-H-O-M-A-I, prosdekomai. I'm going to give you a spelling quiz later, okay? No, I'm not. I wouldn't do that, especially on the Sabbath. So, for example, we find this word used in Titus 2.13, and I can read it for you. We're going to turn to the Scripture later on in the sermon. But over in Titus 2, verse 13, this Greek word meaning, waiting for, and it also means to await with confidence or to await with patience. And here in Titus 2.13, it's actually translated as looking for, and so it reads, We are looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing and of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. We're looking for, we're waiting for, we're awaiting with confidence and patience. And so those are some of the basic understandings from the original Greek and Hebrew. Now understanding these meanings of waiting tells us some important things, I believe. It means that waiting for God is not to be a boring, twiddling of thumbs. Anybody know how to do that? Or is it just me? Young people, you know how to do this yet? Okay, I didn't know if that was getting old-fashioned, too. So waiting is not meant to be boring, twiddling our thumbs while we're sitting in the waiting room type of waiting. That's not the experience we're supposed to be having. Instead, waiting for God is to be more like a yearning with anticipation for some great and marvelous, wonderful event to happen. It'd be like waiting for your wedding day. It'd be like waiting for the birth of a baby.

Or perhaps like getting your very first car. That one's for the young people. I don't want to leave them out. And for those of us who are more visual learners, we might imagine waiting for God as this leaning forward in expectation, as in the posture of being ready to run, like in a race, or in the posture of being ready to catch something. That reminds me of volleyball classes and softball classes. You need to be on the balls of your feet. You need to be ready to shift. You need to be ready to move. Am I the only one that got yelled at because I would stand slumped over just waiting? That is a visual image of how not to wait for God, just slumped over, standing there unprepared. That is not what Scripture is talking about here. No passive standing in place. Waiting for God is an action. It's being prepared. You're ready to go.

And so waiting for God will typically require that we patiently endure the passing of time. That is true. We have to wait sometimes, timewise, while we wait for God's perfect timing and while we wait for God's perfect response to whatever challenges we face in life. And so we're to endure patiently and with the yearning expectation that God will surely intervene. We are confident He will intervene. This act of waiting for God requires that we persevere in believing God and in doing what He says, no matter what.

Now perhaps it's something we haven't thought much about, but waiting happens quite a bit in the Bible. Yes, there's lots of great action scenes and events in the Bible. But if you step back and think about it, much in the Bible is about waiting. It's about people waiting. In his book, Deeper Places, Experiencing God in the Psalms, Matthew Jacoby offers this intriguing insight about waiting. Interesting. He says, waiting is the most common experience portrayed in the Psalms.

Waiting is the most common experience portrayed in the Psalms. It is largely implicit, understood, but it forms the context for much of what the psalmist expressed. They oftentimes were wanting God's vengeance. They're wanting God's justice. They're wanting God's mercy. They're wanting God's kindness. That all requires waiting. Even though it does not necessarily say we're waiting for this. He continues, waiting is the underlying experience behind every psalm that reaches out for God in some way, whether in grief or in joy. Waiting is, in fact, what we see God's people doing for most of biblical history. I thought that was a very interesting insight. I hadn't quite thought of that. And he may be right. He may be right. Now, the Bible does provide us with numerous examples of how faithful people of God waited sometimes for many, many years. Of course, still waiting. Many years for God to respond to the predicaments they found themselves in. Their examples instruct us that God will respond according to His will, and in ways that is always for the best. That's part of our confidence we can have in God, part of our faith. We also can see that those who faithfully wait for God are spiritually blessed with a profound and enduring relationship with God. Something comes for waiting for God, from waiting for God. And it's this relationship. That relationship with God is perhaps the greatest blessing God shares with us when we wait for Him. That's something to think about, too. So let me take you through a few examples. Let's turn to Genesis 12. Like for us to consider an example from Abraham's predicament.

Somewhat familiar territory to us, I'm sure, but we're going to look at this from the aspect of how he had to wait. We'll begin in Genesis 12. Now, Abraham, we might say, I think it's fair to say, waited for the day when he would have a son and heir. And not just because most husbands do want children, most husbands do want a son and an heir. But he also wanted the son and heir because God had promised to make a great nation from him. God had promised to make a great nation from Abraham. In Genesis 12, verse 1 through 4, here's what we read there. Genesis 12, verse 1 through 4. Now, the Lord had said to Abram, later he changes his name to Abraham, he said, Get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And so Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him. He did what he was told. And Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. And so he was already 75 years old. I believe he surely anticipated and looked forward to, with great expectation, God's blessing that's implicitly stated there of having children so that he could become a great nation. He's already 75. Now in Genesis 13, verses 14 through 18, we're going to read there. Actually, we'll probably pick it up in verse 16.

In Genesis 13, we see that God again promised Abraham. He reiterates the promise, and each time he gives a little more detail. Abraham is now in Canaan, and God is promising him that his descendants would be innumerable. Genesis 13, verse 16, we'll just look at these few scriptures here, verses 16 through 18. God said, And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. I think it's fair to say those descendants will be innumerable. There will be many, many, many, many. And he said, Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you. And then again, Abraham moved his tent, did what God is telling him, and he went and dwelt by the terebeth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built and altered there to the Lord. Now, I read that last scripture because it tells us something important. Again, it shows us that Abraham built an altar to God. His building that altered to God tells us that Abraham believed God, and he waited for God. He was willing to believe and do what it takes to show his right, worshipable relationship with God. That was part of his waiting. Moving on to Genesis 15, verses 2-6.

Now, here I have to admit it's difficult to know exactly how much time had passed. But Abraham humbly asked God in this instance, we're reading about, he humbly asked God about having children. For he and Sarah were yet still childless. And obviously they knew they weren't getting any younger. We have that cliche, they weren't spring chickens, or they were getting to be old summer chickens, or older, who knows? But they were getting older, and they knew it. But you can understand here, Abraham felt comfortable enough that he could ask God directly about it. And so we read Genesis 15, verse 2. But Abraham said, Lord God, what will you give me seeing I go childless? And the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring. And indeed one born in my house is my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to Abram, and he said, God said, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. Well, that was encouraging. And then God brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them. And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And he, Abram, believed in the Lord. And he, God, accounted yet his belief for righteousness. His belief pleased God very much. And now we come to Genesis 16. And what we see here is that 11 years have now passed since God first promised to make Abraham a great nation, but he still had no children. Here, Genesis 16, we see that Abraham and Sarah are taking things into their own hands. Abraham agreed with Sarah to lie with Hagar, her maidservant, as her Sarah's surrogate and buried child by her maidservant. Genesis 16, 15-16 tells us, So Hagar bore Abram, Abram a son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old. He was just 75 in Huron. He was now 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Their actions, however, as we read here, Sarah and Abraham's actions, their actions, I'm sure, were well-intended. But their actions did not produce God's promise, did they? Instead, as you can read more on your own, if you choose, instead we know it produced many more problems of their own making. It did not make for a peaceful family situation.

Genesis 17 now. In Genesis 17, we're following this thread, obviously. In Genesis 17, 13 years later now, 13 years later, when Abraham was 99, God announced to Abraham the upcoming birth of a son to Sarah, his wife. Genesis 17, verse 15 through 16. And then God said to Abraham, As for Sarah, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her. Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples shall be from her.

So the child is coming. The time they've been waiting for is finally getting nearer. And then, of course, Genesis 21, they wait for God.

And finally, in Genesis 21, verse 1 through 7, Abraham and Sarah received from God that promise they had long waited for. Genesis 21, verse 1 through 7. And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, as he had pronounced. And the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. We get the sense that God keeps his word. Verse 2, For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him, at just the right time. And Abraham called the name of his son, who was born to him, who Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me. This idea of laughing for joy. And she also said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.

They were as surprised as the neighbors that what God had done for them.

Of course, she was a spry ninety, and he was one hundred. What an amazing thing.

God, we see, was faithful to the promise he had made to Abraham twenty-five years earlier. Through all those childless years, through all their waiting, and through all of Abraham's human slips and falls, in this twenty-five years Abraham had remained faithful to God nonetheless. While he waited for God to fulfill his promise, his faith and his love for God grew deeper and stronger. Until ultimately, when God asked him to give up his only son Isaac and sacrifice to God, Abraham's faith and love for God were so strong that he did it. He never quibbled. He never asked why. He did it. His relationship with God had become that strong, that beautiful, that faithful in all those years. And so, by faithfully waiting for God, Abraham developed an astounding relationship with God. You can read these words in James 2, 23, where James notes that Abraham was called the friend of God. I think we'd like to be known as friends of God, too. In his faithfulness to God, Paul's inspired words made Abraham the father of all those who believe.

So, we should recognize Abraham as a powerful example of one who waited for God. To all of us who believe and follow Jesus Christ, Abraham is a fantastic example of one who waited for God.

Now, let's consider the example of King David.

And we'll begin over in 1 Samuel 16. Abraham's a very touching story. David's is a bit different, but he surely waited for God as well.

David faithfully waited for God, but in his case, he waited for God to deliver him from his many enemies, from his many troubles, especially during those terrible years that we recall when King Saul and his army sought to, well frankly, murder David.

And David must have found his predicament, at that time, entirely unexpected. He must not have quite expected that. For until that time, when Saul turned against him so powerfully, one might say that David had lived a rather obviously blessed life, a life obviously blessed of God. Now, 1 Samuel 16, verses 1-3 is going to tell us that God had already chosen the next king of Israel from among the sons of Jesse. And God had rejected Saul, King Saul, because of his continuing rebelliousness. In fact, before we go to 16, let's look at 1 Samuel 15.28, just a few, probably right next to the page, right akin to where you're at, right next door there.

God had torn the kingdom from Saul, and let's quickly read about that verse, 1 Samuel 15.28. Here's what Samuel said. Samuel said to Saul, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He had been rebellious time and time again against God. And he has given yet your kingdom to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. God can be quite blunt with us when he sees fit. Well, this verse explains then why Samuel, as we're about to read now, is fearful that Saul will find out about his little excursion, his little trip to Bethlehem.

So now let's do read 1 Samuel 16, verse 1 through 3. Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul? He feels terrible at what happened with Saul. Seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. Fill your horn, your container made of a cow's horn with oil, and go.

I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. As much sorrow as he has for Saul, he still recognizes Saul could be angry enough to kill him. He was worried about it. But the Lord said, We'll take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.

Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint for me the one I name to you. And so Samuel does travel to Bethlehem, and he met seven of Jesse's sons. But as we recall, God did not tell Samuel to anoint any of them. And though in Samuel's eyes, several of them looked very kingly in his point of view. But finally, Jesse sent for his youngest son, who was tending sheep, and let's read now verses 12-13. And so he sent and brought his youngest son in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes and good looking.

And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one. And then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. And so then Samuel rose and went on to Rema.

God had singled out young David right in front of all his older brothers, and chose him, not them, to be king. Now shortly thereafter, there are other wonderful, fantastic things that happened to David. Shortly after that, we know that what came next, from what best we understand, was this epic battle David had with the giant Goliath.

And that's described in 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel 17. We'll read a few verses there. Now, the army of Israel, including King Saul, were terrified. Maybe that's a little...no, that's not too strong a word. They were terrified before Goliath. But David was not. Even at a young age, David had already come to trust and place his confidence in God.

Notice what David says in response to King Saul's words. Let's notice 1 Samuel 17, verses 33-37. And Saul said to David, he said, David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you're a youth. And he a man of war from his youth. He's a tried warrior. He's a veteran of many years' battle. But David said to Saul, verse 34, Your servant, speaking of himself, your servant used to keep his father's sheep.

And when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. And when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and I struck and killed it. Your servant...and he's not bragging, he's just, by the way, he's just saying what happened. He's just speaking truth. And your servant, verse 36, has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

It's not because he's defied Saul, per se, or the army, or even David. He's defied, in defying them, he's defied God himself. Moreover, David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you. He certainly convinced King Saul, didn't he?

And truly, indeed, God delivered Goliath into David's hands, with just that one stone slung from his sling.

And every time I read these words, I'll admit it, these words are very inspiring to me. They get me pumped up.

They get me pumped up because these are the sort of things we all, I think, need to read and contemplate before we take on the giants in our lives. I don't know if you've taken on a giant. I know you have. We all do. There are different kinds of giants. But God will help us with them all. Now, of course, David's popularity, you can imagine, quickly rose. After his victory over Goliath, David came to live at Saul's court. That's pretty heady stuff. Even eating at the king's table now. He became the closest of friends with Jonathan, Saul's eldest son, and heir apparent to the throne. And David, it just seemed, he just went from victory unto victory against the enemies of King Saul and of Israel. He later married Michael, King Saul's daughter. Nowadays, we might call this very much a true life, real life, rags to riches sort of story. You know, shepherd boy makes good. He did really great. But David was slow to understand, as we read what's going on with Saul, what David didn't perhaps come to grasp or understand very quickly, David's slow to understand the increasingly dangerous predicament he was in with King Saul. Remember, Saul knew that God was going to replace him as king. Saul seemed to recognize God would do it. And so Saul grew increasingly suspicious and fearful the greater David's popularity and successes became. Saul became more hateful, more angry, more impatient, until he tried to kill David. And then finally, he forced David to flee for his life and to live the life of an exile. For some reason, David recognized that this was not the sort of giant he needed to face at that time. He would let God help him with this one, but in a different way.

God, we see, did not allow to David an easy road to kingship, did he? David's life suddenly turned upside down. It overturned in a moment, it would seem. Everything was doing great, and suddenly the world turned upside down.

Instead of a hero, he became arch-enemy number one. He became the villain. Instead of loved, he was now hated and despised. Can you imagine? Such a sudden change. And yet, through all the struggles and terrible times of his wilderness years, David learned some incredibly profound lessons about waiting for God, and about seeking God in his righteous ways, and about forging a strong and lasting relationship with God that would then make him the great king that he did, indeed, become, but according to God's time, and according to God's way.

Now, that's an involved story. It takes me more time than I can cover today.

But I'd like for us to notice from one of his Psalms. In many of his Psalms, David expresses his eager willingness to trust and wait on God. I referred to one of those verses from Psalm 27. Let's notice, for example, more of these similar ideas in Psalm 25. Let's turn to Psalm 25 now.

In Psalm 25, the historical setting of this Psalm is unclear. It's hazy. There's not a lot of clues to tell us exactly when he wrote this. Some Psalms actually have a subtitle, as it were, an indicator telling us the occasion and event it was written for. This one does not. So, although it's unclear, we could say that he could have written this Psalm during the wilderness years, but he could also have written this during the other tumultuous years of his later life. He had a very active, event-filled life, David did. But in any case, David explicitly states here his intent to fully trust and to wait for God. Let's look at some of these verses and draw some interesting points here. In verses 1-3, for example, Psalm 25, here in verses 1-3, Psalm 25, David humbly praises God, his praise from God begins from a place of humility. He humbly praises God and expresses his full trust and complete confidence in God. And he says to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in you. Let me not be ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed. You see, David was someone that did wait on God. Let no one who waits on you be ashamed. Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. So here David essentially states, in many ways, that in trusting God, it's simply not possible that God would disappoint you. In trusting God, in the right ways, in the right faith, in the right devotion, it's not possible that God would disappoint those who wait and trust in Him. That's the way God is. Verses 4-5, here David connects his confidence and trust in God with his faithful obedience and submission to God. His confidence is built on his obedience, his faith in God. And so he reads, verse 4, I don't think he's just referring to 24 hours, all the day, all my existence. And because, we might note here, because God is the assurance of his salvation, David makes clear that he waits on God to also instruct him in God's righteousness. He wants God to be his teacher. Do you notice here the parallelism? Notice here the four verbs that David uses to emphasize his desire to learn from God. He tells God, please, show me, teach me, lead me. And again, he says, teach me. When you get repetition like that, that's called emphasis. That says, this is what he really means and wants from the heart. David eagerly wants to build a right relationship with God. He's willing to wait and let God teach him. Now finally, verses 16-21 here, we see how David yearned for exactly that. He yearns for a close relationship with God. He did not wish to remain desolate or lonely. He did not wish to remain afflicted. But most importantly, he yearned to be close to God. He yearned for God's comforting solace. And he waited for God's justice and mercy. Read what he says in these words here. Verse 16, he says, turn yourself to me, God, and have mercy on me. For I am desolate. I'm lonely. There's a lot of us, perhaps, feeling a bit lonely nowadays. He says, I am desolate, lonely, and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses. Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins. He recognizes some of his affliction and pain as his own fault. The mistake is disobedience. Verse 19, he says, consider my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with a cruel hatred.

Verse 20, keep my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in you. Let my integrity and uprightness preserve me. Well, because the source of that is from God. And he ends it, I wait for you. I wait for you. And I think we can relate to David here. Anytime we feel isolated, we feel under attack. We sometimes feel we have more troubles than we feel we might be able to bear, and enemies of all sorts kind of bunch up around us, crowd us. And yet, just like David did, what we can take away here is that we can wait with complete trust, complete confidence and expectation, knowing that God will deliver us, that God will deliver us, and God is righteous, and he will do just what is best for us at the right time.

And so, David did remain ever faithful and loyal to God. It doesn't mean he didn't make mistakes. He didn't sin. He reconciled with God. He made those times right. That's what we all are to do. And about David, later the Apostle Paul would write, and he writes about this in Acts 13-22. You don't need to turn there. He writes that God called David, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. That's a sort of relationship David built with God, waiting for God. And so when we wait for God, and when we build a relationship with God, founded in faith and love for God, we too should expect to have this powerful relationship with God, this strong relationship with God, and that we will be doing God's will.

So now that we've learned more about what to... I've got to phrase this right. Now that we've learned more about what to wait for means, and how by waiting for God, Abraham and David strengthened their faith and their love for God, we must consider the next obvious question.

What about you? What about me? Are we waiting for God? Let's think about that now. Are we waiting for God?

First, what predicament or predicaments do we in you find ourselves in? What predicaments do we find ourselves in? Perhaps like David, we're being vexed by our world suddenly turning upside down, and by the way, worlds have been turning upside down since man was born. Perhaps we're feeling a bit vexed by our world suddenly turning upside down. Things just aren't going as smoothly for us as they once did. Maybe like Abraham, we're still trying to be patient for promises God made long ago, and promises we know that will be kept.

Maybe our troubles or predicaments are related to continuing nagging health problems. Maybe it's related to financial issues, difficulties. These things become more challenging to juggle through time. There may be trouble and upset in the family, or maybe with your coworkers, or maybe with neighbors. Perhaps you're struggling like never before with feelings of isolation and loneliness and discouragement. These are all normal things of life. These things happen to everybody.

But not everybody knows that they should be waiting for God. We do. We do.

So then the second thing to ask is, what is it we're waiting for God for? I know that grammatically it's kind of an awkward sentence. I get it. But it works. What is it we're waiting for God for? Do we, like Abraham and David, absolutely trust God to hear our prayers? Do we absolutely trust God to deliver us? Are we turning to God in humble and faithful submission and obedience? That's key to a right relationship with God. Now, we know God will deliver us. We shouldn't question that. Again, that's what God does. That's what God does. Let's notice the words Psalm 50. The psalmist was inspired to write these words of God. Back in Psalm 50, this is a psalm of Asaph, one of the wise men under David's reign in the temple. Well, leading to the time of the temple. Psalm 50, verses 14 through 15.

Here's what God tells us through the words of this psalm. God says, Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Do what God expects us and requires of us. And then he says, God says, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you. And then he throws in our response, And you shall glorify me. We will understand and know that God has delivered us, and we shall glorify God. Isn't that a wonderful, joyous occasion to wait for? Let's also turn to Psalm 37. Psalm 37, verses 5 through 7.

Here we read some more very encouraging words, very encouraging words for us to consider in times of trouble. Psalm 37, verses 5 through 7.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of Him who prospers in His way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. We're always going to see people seemingly getting through life easily. Don't worry about that, God says. I will take care of you. And then also down verses 39 through 40. Same chapter, now verse 39 through 40. But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them. And why? Because they trust in Him.

Repeat the word, deliver and save a lot in this psalm. That's why it's such an encouraging psalm.

Now waiting again, it requires God's help, and God will help us. It requires God's help, because we need His help in learning to trust Him. Trust takes time to build. Sometimes it grows quickly, sometimes it takes a little more time. But as we wait for God, we will be building that trust. No matter our predicament or troubles, we can trust God to deliver us. The Scriptures are very clear on that. We must seek God, we must trust and love God, and then wait in expectation for a certain response. We need not be filled with anxious care and worry. We need not fret. We may not like the situations we're facing. I don't, personally. Once in front of me. We don't like bad times, and we like things to be nice and easy. But it's hard to wait for God when things are going nice and easy, isn't it?

We have God's assurance that He will help us. Let's look at Psalm 91, verses 14-16. As I said, there's a lot of references about waiting and trusting in God. Psalm 91, verses 14-16.

We have God's assurance here. Psalm 91, verses 14. Because He has set His love upon me, this would refer to one who is faithful and trusting in God. People like us, you and me. Because He has set, we have set our love, we might say, because He has set His love upon me, God says, therefore I will deliver Him. I will set Him on high because He has known my name. And He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble. I will deliver Him and honor Him. With long life I will satisfy Him and show Him my salvation.

When we humbly trust, submit ourselves to God. When we look to God, when we seek Him and faithfully wait for His help, we can trust that He will deliver us from any troubles, even our sins, even the complications we bring upon ourselves in life. And that's also the assurance we find in the words of the prophet Isaiah. Let's go now to Isaiah 55, 6-7.

Isaiah 55, 6-7.

Great encouragement. Isaiah 55, 6-7.

We read, Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. You want to get near to God? Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on Him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Sometimes we may be leery of going to God because of our sins. That's exactly when we should be going to God. When we're scared of going to God, that's when you need to go to God, no matter how old or how young we might be. Now third, talking about our part, What shall be the outcome of our waiting for God?

What shall be the outcome of our waiting for God? We read about Abraham and David's outcome. We saw what they were able to achieve in their profound relationships with God. Ultimately, and we must never lose sight of this, the most joyous outcome we should look for, hope in, expect, desire, yearn for, and await with confidence and lean forward to, with all expectation, that most joyous outcome, through all of our waiting for God, is the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation through the resurrection to eternal life in the kingdom of God, that promise of salvation. Those who love and obey God and live by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ wait most expectantly for that joyous time.

In Psalm 62, I should have asked you to keep your thumb there, her finger, I'm sorry. Back in Psalm 62, in days ancient, in days nearer to her own time, the message is similar. In Psalm 62, David joyfully waited for and expected salvation as he understood it from God. Psalm 62, verses 5 through 7. Psalm 62, 5 through 7. I imagine David wrote this with great praise and joy in his heart. He said, My soul waits silently for God alone, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. Get that sense of confidence he had in God. In God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God.

Again, powerfully encouraging words. And today, we wait for God.

Today, we expect God's salvation, along with all who have followed God and Christ long before us, along with those who will follow God and Christ now and after we're gone.

Paul speaks of this. Let's look in Titus 2, verses 11 through 14. Titus 2, verses 11 through 14.

Clearly, strongly, Paul exhorts us to look forward to our salvation. 2 Timothy 11 through 14. 2 Timothy 2, 11 through 14.

I'm getting that wrong. I'm so sorry.

Rewind and erase what I just said. Titus 2, you were right. I was wrong. Titus 2, Titus 2, verses 11 through 14.

Paul wrote, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly in the present age right now. And looking for the blessed hope, that looking for, is that Greek word that means waiting for, anticipating with great confidence, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. He's talking about us. We must continue to wait for God until our salvation has come. We must continue to look for and hope in and expect and desire, and yearn for and await with confidence Christ's appearing.

And so, continue to allow our relationship with God to deepen and flourish. Waiting is an action. I hope I've made that clear today. Waiting is an action. And waiting is what building and maintaining our relationship with God actually requires.

As we conclude, let's turn back to Isaiah 25, verse 9.

I'd like to conclude with the words of Isaiah chapter 25 and verse 9.

We look to a future when God's kingdom is infirmly established on earth. What will be said of those people who chose to be steadfast in waiting for God in the future? What will be said of those people who chose to be steadfast in waiting for God? We find the answer here in Isaiah's prophetic words, Isaiah 25, verse 9. And it will be said in that day, in that day, behold, this is our God, looking God on earth, Christ on earth. Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.

So, brethren, may those also be our joyous words for having waited for God.