Waiting Training Part 1

Psalm 27:1-14 (NKJV) A Psalm of David.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
² When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
⁴ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.
⁵ For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸ When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹² Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
¹³ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

The title of this Message is – Waiting for God

How are you with patience?

Is patience difficult for you?

We must learn the art of patience if we truly want to enjoy life. It seems that there is always something we are waiting for:
Is your prayer, Lord I need patience and I need them now?

We wait in traffic, and we wait in lines at stores, restaurants, and even to go to the restroom.

We wait to hear about a job.
We wait while an automated voice goes through 1,000 options on the phone.
We wait to complete school, then we wait to retire.
We wait to grow up.
We wait for a decision to be made.
Wait…wait…wait!
We cannot escape the web of waiting!

Because of this, Patience is an essential quality of a happy life.

“Patience is a virtue,
Possess it if you can.
Found seldom in a woman,
Never in a man.”

Every day presents plenty of opportunities for this.

Many of us can relate to the great New England preacher Phillips Brooks. He was noted for his poise and quiet manner. At times, however, even he suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One day, a friend saw him feverishly pacing the floor like a caged lion. “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked. “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

The Bible speaks often about the importance of waiting on God:

Psalm 25:5 (NKJV) Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.

Psalm 37:7-9 (NKJV) ⁷ 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.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret–it only causes harm.
⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 40:1-2 (NKJV) ¹I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Psalm 62:1-2 (NKJV) ¹ Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.
² He only is my rock and my salvation; *He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Psalm 130:5-6 (NKJV) ⁵I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.
⁶My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning– Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Micah 7:7 (NKJV) Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NKJV) Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

What does it mean to wait on God?
G. Campbell Morgan;
“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means;

First, be active under command; second, be ready for any new command that may come; third, have the ability to do nothing until the command is given.
The Hebrew word translated “waiting”… has likeness with a word that means “to entrench.” God works for him that entrenches himself in Him. The idea of waiting for God here is that of digging ourselves into God.
Waiting for God, then, means power to do nothing save under command. This is not a lack of power to do anything. Waiting for God needs strength rather than weakness. It is the power to do nothing. It is the strength that holds strength in check. It is the strength that prevents the blundering activity, which is entirely false, and will make the true activity impossible when the definite command comes.
Waiting is far more difficult than working. Waiting requires strength. It demands absolute surrender of life to God, the confession that we are at the end of our own understanding of things, the confession that we really do not see our way and do not know the way. The waiting that says: “Until God shall speak, we dare not move and will not move, we will not be seduced from our resolution to wait”; requires strength (The Westminster Pulpit, vol. ix, pp. 318-323).

There are times when the only hope we have, the only solution to our situation, the only cure for our condition…is to wait on God.

In Psalm 27, David was facing a situation that we can identify with:

I. His Desperation Condition

Fear, ¹The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Foes, ²When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. then 6 and 11. Thal about my enemies; ⁶And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
¹¹ Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Fight, ³Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
⁵For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

D. Failure, ⁹ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.

E. Forsaken, ¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
[When my father and my mother forsake me] Or, more literally, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me; but the Lord hath gathered me up.” My parents were my protectors for a time, but the Lord has been my Protector always. There is no time in which I do not fall under his merciful regard.
False Statements, ¹²Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
G. Faint, ¹³I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

We find here a man at the end of his rope…he is giving out and almost ready to give up.

The answer is in next week’s final of “Wait Training.”

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