Worship in All Circumstances: Waiting

My name is Jeremy.

If you haven't met me before, I am one of the staff leaders here at Watermark.

And even as I was preparing and thinking about this message this morning,

I'm just reminded of Isaiah's words.

Gosh, I'm a man of unclean lips.

And I don't stand here with any sort of, as Oscar was saying,

righteousness that I've somehow earned myself.

God has been preaching to me.

His spirit has been convicting me throughout this week and all the time.

And so this morning, I really want to begin with the tone that the Lord is speaking to all of us as a church.

And although I get the, I guess, this place of speaking to you,

in every single way, I am also speaking to myself.

So as a community, as a church, let's kind of grow together.

So let me just pray for me.

And please pray for me at this time and pray for us as a church.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you for the psalms that you have so graciously given us to teach us,

to encourage us, to challenge us.

And I pray for my heart right now and the hearts of every single one of us here, Lord,

that we would be receptive,

that our eyes and our hearts would not wander to the distractions so many they may be in the world and our lives,

but we would just look you, look at you, look you in the eye,

set our hearts on you right now,

and be open to what you want to teach us, Lord.

And I pray that for myself, Lord.

Would you even now continue to speak and challenge me, God?

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So the topic we're looking at today is waiting.

Waiting.

And it's something you do every day.

Some of you here already are waiting for lunchtime.

And your stomachs are telling you.

So I admonish you right now, ignore those voices,

and just for the next 30 minutes or so,

focus on the bread of life, on Jesus.

But waiting is something we do every day.

And some things we wait for, you know, they're a little more trivial.

You know, we wait for the MTR or bus like all of you did coming this morning.

We wait in line at the supermarket.

You know, we wait seemingly endlessly for that person to pick up at customer service.

Hours and hours, it seems like.

And we wait for, I guess, getting to rides in Disneyland, right?

And experts estimate, from what I've seen over the last research,

over the last week or so,

experts estimate that people can spend up to two years in their lifetime

just waiting in line for different things.

It's pretty crazy, right?

Up to two years.

And in our culture today of Internet and social media and instant gratification,

you know, many experts think we're actually becoming more impatient

because we're expecting everything to come in the blink of an eye.

And you want to go on a date?

Tinder.

You want to buy something?

Get same-day delivery online.

Don't want to wait for that ride at Disneyland?

Fast pass.

And I'm not necessarily endorsing any of these things,

but I'm just saying that's what you see in society today.

And a few years ago, one researcher looked at 6.7 million people

and their kind of online viewing habits.

And he found that some people started abandoning their videos

after two seconds of loading because it wasn't fast enough.

And then by the 10-second mark, half of these people ditched their video.

And this was already a few years ago.

Today, I don't even know how fast the Internet speeds are.

But I think that's just a small kind of commentary

on this instant gratification culture that we live in.

And these things can be trivial, but they remind us

that we, collectively, as a developed society,

you know, we are very much expecting convenience.

It's the norm.

But some things we wait for are far from trivial, right?

And that wait can be agonizing.

Students, you are waiting for your exam results.

You wait for that acceptance or rejection letter from a school.

You wait in the hospital waiting room.

You wait for results from a medical test, from a checkup.

You wait for a company to call back after that interview

that you think went great or bombed completely.

And we also might face a lot of adversity in waiting.

At some point in your lifetime,

you will be waiting for some kind of difficulty to pass you by.

You wait for relief from sickness.

You wait for that demoralizing work environment to just change.

You wait for a spouse or a loved one to change from their hurtful ways.

We wait for things to get better.

We wait.

We're going through a series on Psalms

and this idea of God's call for us,

for his people, for all people,

to worship him at all times, in all seasons.

And the Psalms give us a great insight

into how we can genuinely pour out our emotions to God,

how we can be real and honest before him.

Over the last three weeks,

you may have heard how the Psalms call us

to preach to ourselves daily.

And most importantly,

the Psalms tell us,

teach us how in every season,

in every emotion,

we can be worshiping God.

So today we turn to Psalm 62,

a psalm about waiting.

And it's not a long psalm,

so we're just going to kind of look at it

through a few key themes.

Please kind of go,

have your bulletin there,

taking a look at the scripture.

And I'll just highlight

some of the relevant verses for us.

And just to give you an outline

for how you can follow with me,

I'm just going to go through

like three major points.

Firstly, I'm going to talk about

our goals of waiting.

Our goals of waiting.

And secondly,

our process of waiting.

And thirdly,

our model of waiting.

So our goals,

our process,

and our model.

So let's frame that first point

as a question.

The question is,

what are you waiting for in life?

What are you waiting for?

Now everyone has things

that they hope to achieve,

and inevitably,

we spend time waiting for them.

I've already listed a few things

at the beginning

of things we wait for,

and Psalm 62 is no different.

It gives us a snapshot

of the goals that people

may have in the process of waiting.

And so in 62,

it seems like the psalmist

is facing adversity.

He's facing challenge from others.

He's waiting for relief.

He's waiting for deliverance.

Verse 3,

how long will all of you

attack a man

to batter him

like a leaning wall,

a tottering fence?

The imagery there

is like a structure

that's been battered,

and it's been rendered unstable,

a tottering fence,

if you can imagine,

that's what the psalmist feels like.

Verse 4,

they only plan to thrust him down

from his high position.

They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouths,

but inwardly they curse.

Now, I don't know if any of you

have faced the adversity

that the author of Psalm 62

seems to be experiencing,

but I think we've all,

I'm sure we've all experienced

some kind of attack

or deceit

or hypocrisy

in some shape or form, right?

And in these times

of difficulty,

of challenge,

we want,

we wait for things

to get better.

And then in verses 9 and 10,

they give us

this good perspective

on what people

put their hope in.

Those of low estate

are but a breath.

Those of high estate

are a delusion.

in the balances

they go up,

they are together

lighter than a breath.

That's basically

addressing this issue

of social status.

And the psalmist realizes

that these things

have no weight.

Like if they're in a balance,

they just go up

like a breath.

No matter if you have

a high or low social status,

there is no eternal significance

in those things.

verse 10,

put no trust

in extortion.

Set no vain hopes

on robbery.

If riches increase,

set not your heart

on them.

You know,

many people

wait,

they wait all

their life

to get rich.

They might even

resort to violence,

to robbery,

to extortion.

But the psalmist

sees that wealth

and prosperity,

they're not worth

setting our hearts on.

They too,

like social status,

have no eternal significance.

so the psalmist paints

this picture for us.

He says this,

like basically in life

when you're facing

adversity,

the world tells us

that status

enriches

our solutions

to your problems.

you know,

we work hard

and then we wait

for that hard work

to pay off.

We're waiting all

day

for that day

where we reach

that goal

that we think

will give us

success

and satisfaction.

People spend

their entire lives

waiting for that day

that they'll finally

be happy

and they become

so enamored

and obsessed

with these goals

that they're even

willing to trample

on others,

to batter others,

to step over others.

And when you reach

that goal,

you realize

it's not quite

as satisfying

as I thought.

And then there's

the next goal

and the next goal.

And the psalmist

is basically saying

to us,

those goals

are empty

and you can just

read the news,

look at

your celebrity magazines,

your gossip

and OK Magazine,

whatever,

from the broadsheets

to the tabloids,

countless examples

of people

who are rich

and famous,

who crash

and burn,

who fall into

overdose

and addiction

and suicide

because they have

reached the top

but it was empty.

There's a pithy quote

from Jack Higgins

that I really

found compelling.

Jack Higgins

is a British writer.

His novels

have sold

over 150 million

copies worldwide,

translated into

55 languages

and as he was

reflecting on his success,

someone asked him,

what would you have

liked to know

as a boy

from when you

were a boy?

And this was his answer

that when you get

to the top,

there's nothing there.

There's nothing there.

But the psalmist

in 62

paints a very

different picture

of what we should

be waiting for.

For God

alone,

my soul

waits in silence.

God himself

is what the psalmist

is waiting for.

Through the psalm,

we see that God

is described

as a rock,

a fortress,

a refuge.

God is the source

of salvation

and glory.

Verses 11 and 12,

we see that power,

power and steadfast love

belong to God.

You know,

the things that we

chase after,

love and power,

are,

they actually

belong to God.

So this morning,

whether you're

Christian

or not,

no matter what

your worldview

or your faith,

Psalm 62

is drawing

this stark

contrast

between waiting

for God

and waiting

for everything

else.

God is the

source

of everything

good

while everything

else

passes

like a breath,

like vapor.

So the first

thing for us

to start

thinking about

as we dwell

on Psalm 62

is the question,

what are you

waiting for

in life?

What are your

real goals

if you're honest

about yourself?

The second

question,

the second

point is this,

how are you

waiting?

And this

speaks to

the process

that I was

talking about.

The second

point is the

process

of our

waiting.

So you

can be

waiting for

something

that's a

good thing.

You know,

maybe you're

waiting for

that job

offer.

You're

waiting to

be in

love.

Or you're

waiting for

that loved

one to

come around,

to get

better,

to recover

from illness

perhaps.

Maybe some

of you are

even waiting

for Christ

to return.

Now,

all those

things are

good things

and there's

nothing inherently

bad about

those things.

But if our

focus is solely

on those

specific things,

what happens

is that we

get stressed,

we get

impatient,

we lose

sight of the

process,

we lose

sight of

how we're

waiting,

and our

waiting starts

to become

agonizing

and frustrating.

the New

York Times

reported that

some years

ago,

executives at

a Houston

airport faced

a troubling

customer relations

issue.

The passengers

were lodging

just countless

complaints about

the long waits

at baggage.

Anyone ever

experience that?

Everybody,

right?

in response,

the executives

increased the

number of

baggage handlers,

right?

Very,

very sort of

prudent thing

to do.

And the

plan worked.

The average

wait time fell

to eight

minutes.

And this was

well within

industry benchmarks.

If any of you

guys work within

the aviation

industry,

you'd be like,

yeah,

yeah,

that's really

good.

But the

complaints

persisted,

okay?

And the

executives were

puzzled.

Okay,

what's going

on?

Why are

these complaints

continuing?

So they went

and took a

more careful

on-site analysis

and they found

that it took

passengers one

minute to walk

from the gate

to the baggage

claim.

And then seven

more minutes

to actually get

their bags.

So in other

words,

roughly 90%

of their time

was spent

standing around

and waiting

for their

bags.

So the

airport decided

on a new

approach.

Instead of

reducing wait

times,

it moved

the arrival

gates away

from the

main terminal

and routed

the bags

to the

outermost

carousel.

So the

passengers now

had to walk

six times

longer to

get their

bags.

And guess

what happened?

No more

complaints.

It dropped

to nearly

zero.

So if you

studied

organizational

behavior at

all,

there's

actually a

lot of

examples

like this.

You know,

the notice

in lifts,

you have

lots of

mirrors

around you.

It's a

way for

you to

kind of

look at

yourself

and be

kind of

occupied

or look

at other

people if

you're

creepy like

that.

You know,

all the

candy and

magazines

you see

at the

checkout

aisle

when you're

waiting for

supermarkets?

That's

organizational

behavior there

because you

get annoyed

when you're

waiting.

You're

looking around

to the

people next

to you

and you're

like,

wow,

that's

faster than

me.

That

checkout's

faster.

But if

you're

looking at

the juicy

celebrity

gossip or

thinking about

which candy

to buy,

it's another

way for you

to be

waiting well

in the

perspective of

the supermarket

owners.

waiting,

it's another

thing.

It's another

thing that

is going to

be able to

have to

get to

the

money.

But hear me out

here.

I'm not saying

that what we

should do is

just distract

ourselves with

these trivial

things.

But what these

examples tell us

and tell you

from the

experts,

from people who

make a living

out of

waiting and

processing lines,

is that the

actual process of

waiting is

just as

important,

if not more

important,

than the

actual time

you spend

waiting.

So your

perspective on

your waiting is

critical from

every perspective

of these

experts.

I was thinking

about this for

myself.

I'm studying to

get my seminary

degree right now

and people often

ask me,

some of you have

done this

yourselves,

they ask me

when I'll

finish.

And because

I'm doing a

part-time,

it's going to

take a

while,

kind of just

chipping away

at this

statue.

It's going to

take quite a

few years and

if I'm honest,

sometimes I

think,

man,

this is going

to take

forever.

And there's

this creeping

kind of feeling

that,

oh,

I just wish

it was over

now.

I just want

to get it

over and

done with.

But the

issue is if

I'm focusing

on that

specific end

of getting

that degree,

I might

get discouraged.

But in

this process,

God's been

reminding me

little by

little that

every little

class I

take,

every chapter,

every book,

every paper,

that in and

of itself is

part of the

process.

And there's

inherent value

in every little

step on the

journey.

But if I'm

only fixated on

the prospect of

getting that

degree,

inevitably I'm

going to get

frustrated.

I'll miss

out on really

enjoying and

growing in

the moment.

You see,

the Christian

has a very

unique process

of waiting.

The psalmist

declares,

for God

alone,

my soul

waits in

silence.

The psalmist

not only

recognizes that

God is the

only one

waiting for.

He also

recognizes that

we should

wait for

God in

silence.

Now, I

don't know if

you really

picked up on

that, but

when I first

read it, I

was like,

what does

that mean?

Why is it

in silence?

And the

Hebrew word

for silence

carries this

idea of

stillness,

of rest.

It carries

this idea of

a quiet

confidence.

confidence.

So when we

wait for

God, we're

not doing it

with some

kind of

wishful,

hopeful

thinking.

We wait

with confidence

because, like

the psalmist

says, power

and steadfast

love belong

to God.

The God we

wait for is

powerful and

faithful, and

when we wait

for God, we're

waiting with

trust in

his character.

Now, you

might be

thinking to

yourself, well,

Jeremy, it's

easy to wait

when you're

doing something,

you know, like

building towards

a degree.

You're taking

these classes.

It's very

active.

You're doing.

It's hands-on.

You're thinking.

You're looking

at yourself in

the mirror.

It's very

active.

You love

looking at

yourself.

These are

very active

things that

engage us, but

what about the

hard things in

life?

The things

that don't

seem like

there's anything

active I can

be doing?

What about

things that

I have no

control over?

What about

those really

big things

that keep me

anxious at

night?

It's not

something like

waiting in a

checkout line.

That's so

trivial.

What about

relief from

the suffering

and anxiety

that we

experience?

I'm not here

today to just

give you some

kind of formula.

about waiting

through hard

times.

But Psalm

62, it gives

us some really

good indicators

about how we

should be

waiting.

You know,

when we face

adversity, it

can seem a lot

of times that

we're just

waiting around.

There's nothing

we can do

about it.

We're just

waiting

passively.

But the

psalmist shows

here that he

is waiting in

a very active

sense.

If you

recall in

previous messages

in this series,

we've talked

about how

psalms are a

lot about

preaching to

yourself.

See that very

clearly here.

So verse

one, for God

alone my soul

waits in

silence.

And then

it's repeated

in verse

five.

But notice

it's a little

different.

It says,

for God

alone,

oh my

soul,

wait in

silence,

for my

hope is

from him,

from the

Lord.

You see

how it

switches?

And you're

directly

addressing

your own

soul.

You're

telling your

soul,

soul,

heart,

mind,

wait in

silence,

in confidence,

for the

Lord.

So when

you're

waiting for

God,

you're

actively

preaching

to

yourself.

And that's

very,

very important

when we're

going through

the psalms.

You're

reminding

yourself.

When you're

doing

communion,

you're not

just putting

a cracker

and juice

into your

mouth.

You are

reminding

yourself

and preaching

to yourself

of what

God has

done.

Notice

all these

action words

in the

psalm.

Verse

8,

trust,

trust in

him at

all times.

Pour

out your

heart to

him.

You know,

there's

nothing

passive

about this

kind of

waiting.

God is

telling you

to be

brutally

honest with

him because

you don't

need to

sugarcoat

your

feelings.

You don't

need to

sugarcoat

your

frustrations

with some

kind of

Christian

bubble wrap

because God

already knows

everything

good and

bad that's

swirling around

in the depths

of your

heart.

For

Christians,

the process

of waiting

can be

an active

opportunity

to rely

on God

and ask

him,

God,

God,

what are you

teaching me

through this?

What can I

learn from

you?

how can I

grow through

this season

of waiting?

So next

time you're

waiting in

that lift

for seemingly

endless,

endless time

and you're

looking in

that mirror,

instead of

being fixated

on yourself,

just think

about how

you're made

in the image

of God.

Think about

the God

who fashioned

you,

who created

you,

who loves

you.

that you're

precious to

him.

I also

want you to

notice that

in this

section,

not only

is the

psalmist

preaching to

himself,

he's calling

out to the

people around

him,

guys,

listen,

people,

trust in

God.

And I

can't stress

this enough

because it's

not just

that you're

preaching to

yourself.

The reason

why God

gave us

a church,

a community,

is for the

very precise

reason that

we were

never designed

to live

and grow

as individuals

isolated.

That's why

we're called

Watermark

Community

Church.

That's why

you go to

your community

groups and

you meet

and you check

up on each

other and

you remind

each other

because the

psalmist is

telling you

that it's not

enough to

just preach

to yourself

because we

are forgetful.

people.

And as we

see God

working in

each other's

lives,

as we

hear of

God's

faithfulness,

as you

tell each

other in

your community

groups how

good God

is that you

should trust

in him,

I can't tell

you how many

times I've

just been

reminded and

encouraged and

challenged by

the people I

see in my

life, by my

community group

hearing about

God at

work.

work.

So this

process of

waiting is

meant to be

done in

community, not

in isolation.

So we have

to think about

our goal in

waiting.

We have to

think about

what we're

waiting for in

life.

We also

think about

how we

wait.

We think

about the

process of

waiting.

waiting.

But I

don't want

us to hear

these things

and just

think, okay,

I just need

to do a

better job

focusing on

God, and

I just need

to do a

better job

waiting.

I just need

to have

better waiting

techniques.

I don't want

you guys to

think of that

because ultimately

the beauty of

the gospel is

that God has

also given

us a model

for waiting,

a model of

waiting that

provides us

with everything

we need to

wait throughout

our lives.

So that's

our third

point, a

model of

waiting.

You see,

you know,

when you're

waiting, you're

always modeling

your hope after

someone or

something.

Maybe you

see someone in

your life or

you read about

somebody, you

see someone who

has something

you want, and

you see how

they've waited

for it, and

they finally get

it.

Maybe it's

that story

that a lot

of us have

read, you

know, that

story of

that hot

single person

was waiting

for that

special someone.

But first

he learned to

find contentment

and singleness,

and then God

provided, and

he got married.

You know, those

are great

testimonies, and

I'm not knocking

that at all.

I've seen that

happen, and

it's amazing.

God doesn't

promise that we'll

get exactly what

we want just

because we wait

long enough or

pray long enough.

The story, the

testimony could

just go, just as

well go like this.

The single person

learned contentment.

He continued to

grow in contentment

for the rest of

his life.

He trusted that

God knows what's

best for him, and

that testimony would

be just as

wonderful just as

God glorifying.

So my point is,

when we're

modeling our

waiting, we have

to remember that

waiting is not a

way to manipulate

God.

It's not a way to

earn what we

want.

It's not a way to

earn what we think

we want.

we deserve.

That's not what the

psalmist means when

he says that God

will render to a

man according to

his work.

Psalm 62 and

the whole Bible,

it's about

salvation.

It's the reality

that we as human

beings need to be

saved.

We need to be

saved because we

have rejected the

only thing that

matters.

God.

God.

We've turned away

from having eternal

life in a loving

relationship with

him, the one who

created us.

So when I read

Psalm 62, that God

is my salvation, I'm

declaring that my

salvation rests on

God.

That's what the

psalmist is saying.

It rests on God, not

anything that I've

done, not any

technique that I've

applied in my

waiting.

Everything is

resting on God and

because of that,

because I'm relying on

God, God will give me

according to the work

of relying on him.

Psalm 62 shows us

that there is a real

model of waiting.

It's no one that you've

seen in your life.

It's nothing that you've

seen in the world.

The model for waiting

is God's faithfulness.

It's his character.

It's what he did

throughout the entire

Old Testament, from

Genesis to Revelation.

Saving people, Exodus,

bringing the people out

of captivity.

And as a Christian

today, looking at the

psalm, we have an even

clearer model.

And that model is

Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ, God

became a human being.

He experienced

everything we

experience today.

He waited in every

way that you wait

today.

But instead of

sinning, instead of

falling short,

instead of becoming

unrighteous, Jesus

lived a perfect life.

He should never

have died.

But he chose to

die in our place.

And he was

resurrected with

the new

heavenly body.

So guys,

today, if

your faith

is in

what Jesus Christ

did for you,

you're in

relationship with

God.

You're waiting for

eternal life.

And in that

eternal life, God

will render to

you

according to

your work

today.

When we

model our

waiting after

Christ, we

have this amazing

assurance that is

just incomparable.

No matter what

you're waiting for

right now, no

matter how long

you've waited for

it, you can be

absolutely certain

that God is your

heavenly Father,

that He loves you.

unconditionally, He

knows what's best

for you.

He's promised you

eternal life when

everything will be

made right.

There's a lot of

good things to be

waiting for in life,

and I'm not telling

you now to just

kind of give up

waiting for them.

but Jesus gives

us this ultimate

model for waiting

in His life,

death, and

resurrection, that

we are actually

waiting for

eternal life,

heavenly bodies

in a new

creation with

no sickness,

sorrow, or

pain.

All of your

waiting today,

small or big,

it all ties back

into this grand

story of waiting

waiting for

the ultimate

redemption,

ultimate

restoration.

And we have to

see this big

picture to

understand how

every step of

waiting is part

of a greater

waiting that

Jesus points us

to.

But the amazing

thing is unlike

anything else you

wait for in life,

anything in this

world that you

might wait for,

the amazing thing

is you don't ever

have to wonder if

this kind of

waiting, a

waiting that's

modeled after

Jesus, you

don't have to

worry that it

won't pay off

or it won't

result in

anything.

You know for

sure that God

will give

eternal life

because he

showed us

factually,

historically,

in Jesus

dying on the

cross.

This isn't

something that

we just conjured

up to create a

hopeful thing.

This is historical.

This is truth

that Jesus died

and resurrected.

He is our

model for

waiting.

Jesus is our

rock.

Jesus is our

salvation, our

refuge, our

glory.

So if you're

following Christ

today, when you

think about your

goals of waiting,

when you contemplate

the process and

how you are

waiting, you can

be sure that you're

not just waiting for

God in some

abstract sense.

happiness, it's

not the power of

positive thinking.

You're not putting

your hope in some

general made-up idea

of God's goodness.

You are putting

your hope on

Jesus.

It's based on the

truth of the

gospel.

If you're not a

Christian today, the

question that Psalm

62 continues to

pose to you is

this, what are you

waiting for in

life?

Is it something of

this world that

will pass like

vapor, that will

disappear inevitably

on your deathbed?

Or is it something

everlasting that can

only come from the

God who created you,

who loves you,

who wants to spend

eternity with you?

I want to close

with just a little

bit more research

on waiting that I

came across.

There are two

recent studies from

some top-tier

universities that I

came across.

We're talking about

big names.

University of

Chicago, Cornell,

UC Berkeley.

And one study

found that, this

is the main

conclusion that it

found, it found

that waiting

actually makes us

more patient

because we

place a higher

value on what

we're waiting for.

Okay?

And the other

found that waiting

can actually make

us happy because

if we're waiting,

especially if we're

waiting for an

experience, the

data actually

showed that the

waiting for that

experience made

people happy.

And as I was

kind of thinking

about these

studies, it

hit me, it's

great that these

top-tier schools

and institutions

and top minds

are thinking

about this issue

and they're

researching these

topics in the

21st century.

But with a lot

of things, God's

word addressed

that about 2,000

years ago.

In the book of

Romans, God tells

us that the

sufferings of the

present are not

worth comparing

to future glory.

We read in

Romans 8 that

all of creation,

it's groaning

and waiting

eagerly for

freedom.

We're waiting

for our bodies

to be made

new.

And then God

tells us something

interesting.

He says,

hope that is

seen is not

hope.

For who hopes

in what he

sees?

But if we

hope for what

we do not

see, we

wait for it

with patience.

If we hope

for what we

do not see,

we wait for it

with patience.

That sounds

like some of

these conclusions

that people are

finally coming to

today.

Because we

don't know

exactly what

eternity will

look like.

We don't know

exactly what

eternal life

will look like,

but God

promises us

that it

will be

amazing.

So God,

along with

these top

tier universities,

they're telling

us that we

can find joy

even in

waiting.

Even in

waiting because

the most

amazing

eternal

experience is

ours to have

through Jesus.

All the

waiting,

all the

wondering,

all the

suffering in

this

lifetime,

the Lord

says,

it is worth

it.

The

psalmist

calls us

to wait,

to hold

fast to

the Lord's

word,

and follow

Christ to

the end.

I'm going to

invite the

band to come

back up right

now.

But before

jumping right

into just

singing again,

I think

there's

something in

what the

psalmist is

telling us,

to wait in

silence.

And I

don't know

if you do

that often.

But to

wait in

silence in

that

confident

rest.

Let's take

a minute to

do that right

now because

every single

one of us

here is

waiting for

something.

And I

can't speak

to exactly

what it

is.

Some of

you in

here may

be waiting

for very

good things,

but they're

not just

good things,

they've

become your

ultimate

things.

And that

waiting is

causing you

anxiety and

frustration.

Because even

though they're

good things,

things that

you will enjoy,

that God may

even desire

for you,

you have

made them

your ultimate.

and you're

no longer

waiting for

eternal life

in God's

presence,

you're just

waiting on

God to

give you

stuff.

Some of

you may be

waiting for

God intently

and God

tells you to

wait in

silence because

He will

return,

He will

provide,

He will

assure you,

you never

know when

He will

return.

And He

says wait

patiently,

wait

expectantly,

wait with

hope and

trust.

Some of

you may

have no

idea what

you're waiting

for this

morning.

So take

this time to

just reflect,

what is it

really that

you're waiting

for, if

you're honest?

Is it just

that promotion?

Is it just

that special

someone?