IN THE WAITING
(Rejoice in the waiting - December 4, 2022)
Series Big Idea: "While waiting on God let us focus on His presence"
Sermon Big Idea: "Seasons of waiting should not keep us from praising the Lord"
Key Scripture (Psalm 13:1-6)
Jesus’s time on earth as a human came at a very specific and strategic period in history. There had been no Word from the Lord in over 400 years. For many people, times were bleak. The world looked to their political leaders for rescue, but they failed. Religious cults in the Roman Empire promised spiritual salvation but failed to deliver. Numerous pagans converted to Judaism only to find it full of rituals, rites, and strict laws. Despair covered the earth. Confusion reigned. Hope died. “When the fullness of the time, a time right in God's view came, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, created under the law, to rescue them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).
Darkness and confusion still reign over the earth. But because Jesus was born, died, was resurrected, and is coming again, it doesn’t have to rule our lives. We have hope in Christ. We have life in Christ. Over the next several weeks I want to talk about waiting on God in the middle of our circumstances. Specifically, what we do while we are waiting. This week we will focus on the story of King David and a specific period in his life when he felt despair and abandoned by God.
(Psalm 13:1-6)
LORD, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me? 3 Consider me and answer, LORD my God. Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise, I will sleep in death. 4 My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance. 6 I will sing to the LORD because He has treated me generously.
Some say David's lament in these verses was over his enemies, specifically Saul, while others think it was a sickness. Whatever the case may be, let's assume it was because of his problems with King Saul. Exhausted and dejected, David wrote this psalm. He was discouraged after years of fighting King Saul. He had previously resorted to desperate human means to escape his unrelenting adversary. He could not go another day, hour, or minute. Here we see one of his many prayers to the Lord.
The Psalm can be divided into three divisions. His despair (1-2), his desires (3-4), and his delight (5-6).
1. David’s despair (1-2)
Just in these two short verses David used the question and words “How long” four different times. John Phillips says it was like he was getting a busy signal from God and so David chooses to bang on Heaven’s door with these four questions. It certainly gets our attention as we read. There are two feelings that came from his spiritual frustration. The first is that he felt abandoned by God. He asked God if he had forgotten him. Jesus experienced the same feelings in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion, feeling abandoned by his friends and by God. We must remember that God is not in a hurry. The work He wants to do in our lives and souls is only fulfilled if it is given time to allow His plans to mature. It doesn’t mean He has forsaken us. He is trying to teach us. He can see the final result. We can’t.
David also felt depressed by his situation. He was a man usually in control of his emotions but here he seems to have no control. I am sure we all sometimes feel the same. Nothing is settled in our life. We can’t eat. We can’t sleep. The more we try, the more that feeling comes sneaking back up in our minds. This leads us to the next two verses in this passage.
2. David’s desires (3-4)
Now David begins to cry out in a more thoughtful way to God. His emotions were leading him to think he was going to die. He chooses to hang on to the Truth of God’s Word so that he would prevail in all he was experiencing. He had even thought his enemies would kill him, but God was teaching him the significance of being totally in God’s will. The things that God was allowing in his life, although they looked as if they would be the end of him, would ultimately work for his gain and for God’s glory.
3. David’s delight (5-6)
In the last two verses, we see the song of victory in David’s delight. In a moment of struggle and testing, David reached the soul's final stage. Through tears to truth, he prevailed. David's quick mood swings in this passage have confused some people. But the secret can be found because he focuses on the Lord his God, Jehovah his Elohim, in the middle of the psalm.
In his rejoicing, he rejoices for salvation. Yes, from sin, from himself, and from Satan. But it is also salvation from Saul. We can see David’s victory cry. We too can be saved from situations in our lives, but it is all in God’s perfect timing and His perfect way.
Conclusion:
Verse six strikes a significantly strong cord for all of us. Why? Had his current circumstances changed? No. At this time was he no longer being pursued? No. Was Saul dead? No. Was David miraculously building a great defense? No. Not a single thing in his physical circumstances had changed in these verses. David could sing because God had not changed! David said in verse 6, God has treated me not will treat me graciously.
God has treated us graciously. “When the fullness of the time, a time right in God's view came, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, created under the law, to rescue them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).
Jesus came to earth so he could die for our sins. Jews had been wondering for hundreds of years when their Messiah would come, but God's plan was perfect. We might wonder sometimes if God will ever answer our prayers. But we should never doubt him or stop hoping. He will answer when the time is right. Are you waiting on God's timing? Trust his judgment and know that he is looking out for your best interests.Pastor Beaver's thoughts and ideas are inspired by:
Holman Christian Standard Bible
English Standard Version Bible
King James Version Bible
Christian Standard Bible
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