Ep. 038 Wait on the Lord

Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located

in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship

Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,

discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church

and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be

your host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages

are a blessing to you and bring you closer to God.

Hello and welcome back to the podcast. My name again is David Bickford. I'm the pastor

here at the Potter's House in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. And today's message that

I put together is called, Wait on the Lord, A Journey of Rescue, Mercy, Trust and Hope.

The text that I'll be using as a jumping off point for today is going to be Psalm 130,

Psalms 130 · chapter mention

verses 1 through 8. So if you have your Bible and you're following along, you can turn there.

And as we jump in, I was thinking about the idea of rescue and how God has rescued us

and through Jesus Christ. And so I came across this article called, The Unlikely Rescue at

Ground Zero by Brandon Higelman. And this article was written back in 2016 and it's

about the World Trade Center and the events of that day on September 11th in 2001. And

so this is a pretty important day in American history. And even for myself, I remember where

I was that day. And it was quite the interesting day, you know, being in the military active

duty on the West Coast and hearing the reports of what was going on during that period of

time. And you're wondering what that meant for us. And the next day, the day after that,

I remember being, I was an air crewman being tasked to jump on an airplane and we were

going to go rescue some people who were in Arizona because there was the thought, there

was so much fear. There was this thought that there was going to be another attack because

there was a crop duster missing. And so they thought there would be a chemical attack.

And so they were going to send us in to rescue people. We didn't have the proper gear. We

didn't have respiratory equipment for that kind of event. So we didn't know if we were

going in to our death or if we were going to go and save some people. And it wasn't

until the very second before we headed out that the entire mission got scrubbed because

it was a false alarm. But it just gave me a little bit of a perspective that might differ

from some from those events that happened on September 11th and 12th in 2001. And so

I come to this story now, you know, about the unlikely rescue at ground zero. Jesus

left heaven and came to earth on a rescue mission in the same way he rescued us. And

we have joined the rescue mission to seek and save the lost people. That's something

we need to keep in mind. And remember, as we go through today's message is that we

are part of the rescue party. We've been saved. And now it is our opportunity to also

pick up the responsibility to go and seek and save the lost in Jesus name. So when the

World Trade Center crumbled to the ground on that dreadful day in September 11th, more

than 3000 people died. But a few of those who were buried beneath the rubble miraculously

survived the toppling of the towers. Two of these individuals were Will Gimeno and John

McLaughlin, a pair of Port Authority employees who had responded to the attacks and were

on the bottom floor when the south tower began to fall. They raced to an elevator shaft and

amazingly survived the 100 story collapse around them, but were buried dozens of feet

down in the midst of the array of rubble trapped without water breathing smoke filled air,

both Will and John had little hope of survival.

Yet as they laid there, pinned under the mountain of debris, something was stirring inside an

accountant in Connecticut that they had never met.

Let's look at our text in Psalm 130 verses one through eight. My soul waits for the Lord,

a song of a sense out of the depths. I cry to you, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, hear my voice. Let

your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, Oh Lord should mark

iniquities, Oh Lord, who could stand, but with you there is forgiveness that you may

be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. And in this word, I hope my soul waits for

the Lord more than the watchman for the morning, more than the watchman for the morning. Oh

Israel, hope in the Lord for the Lord is there or the Lord. There is steadfast in love and

with him is plentiful redemption and he will redeem Israel from all of its iniquities.

So the world around you seems at a loss or your heart feels wary. You can still count

on God. In Psalm 130, the poet uttered a cry for God to show mercy to his people. And

he encouraged his fellow Israelites to wait on the Lord to deliver them. Psalm 130 is

one of the 15 Psalms known as a Pilgrim songs and the songs of a sense sung by a Jewish

traveler, making the trek to Jerusalem for annual festivals. The song of a sense are

comprised of Psalms 120 to 134. This is one of the penitential Psalms as well as an individual

lament or a Psalm of a cent. So what does that mean? That means that this, this song

is for when you are going through something hard, something challenging, we could turn

to the Lord with our troubles and our trials here. Here is, you know, he is here for us

and listening. This song has no title nor author's name, either in Hebrew or in any

other versions, though the Syriac tradition says it was spoken by Nehemiah, the priest.

It was most probably composed during the captivity and contains the complaint to the afflicted

Jews with their hopes of the remission of those sins, which were caused, which were

the cause of their suffering and their restoration from the captivity to their own land. This

brings me to our first point, which is mercy, a desperate cry for mercy that we read in

verses one and two of our text. Before we jump into that, I want to give praise to God

because we did move. We're in a new building starting today, which will be June 9th. It's

a little bit of a soft grand opening as we have some stuff to still do and set up to

make it fully ready. But we are holding service in there regardless. So I'm very excited.

We're right off Highway 1. If you're coming through Salmon Arm, we're just above the Bank

of Montreal, right downtown. And so it's unit 201. So if you're in and around the area and

you want to come to church, by all means, we have Sunday service at 1030 and we have

Wednesday Bible study at 630. So and you can only the all the contact information is in

the show notes. So please come and join us if you're in town. So let's look at mercy

and this desperate cry that we read in verses one and two. The writer felt that he was at

the very bottom of his resources at the end of his rope. This expression stresses the

urgency of his request. The particular situation he faced is unknown, but in view of Psalm

130 verse eight, it may have been oppression by an enemy. The author was at the end of

his rope calling out to God to ease his pain and burden. In our walk with God, there are

many periods where we need to cry out to God for help. In our walk with God, there are

many periods where we need to cry out to God for help. Maybe you're exhausted, like we

can tend to be at times. Maybe there's a lot of family stress that you're dealing with

right now. It's not only okay, but it's right to reach out to God in prayer with your struggles,

your needs and laments. Acknowledging his miserable condition, the Psalmist prays and

it can be heard, it can be felt in verses one or two. The Psalmist likens himself to

a man at the bottom of a pit. Out of the depths I've cried, a true pentanent cry out of the

depths of his misery and from the depths of his heart. This means that we can cry out

to our Father, Oh Lord hear my voice. Our God hears us and sees us no matter what is

going on in our lives. He wants us to draw near to him. Let your ears be attentive to

the voice of my pleas for mercy. This lament is heartfelt because we trust that we are

not crying out in vain to an unhearing or uncaring God. In Isaiah 30, 18 it says, Therefore

the Lord waits to be gracious to you and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For

the Lord is the God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait on him. As those men were

sitting in their rubble, you can only imagine that they were crying out to God. You can

only imagine that they were crying out in lament and pain and fear. How often in our

lives are we doing the same thing? Are we sitting and crying out because we feel stuck,

because we feel trapped? Maybe we're trapped in our own busyness. Maybe we're trapped because

of our own self-imposed responsibilities. Maybe there's a lot of things that could be

going on in your life that you feel trapped by. And this brings me to my second point

which is trust. As we continue on with our September 11th story, Dave Kearns, who had

spent 23 years in active duty in the Marine Corps, was watching the scene play out on

his television like the rest of us. But more than allowing it merely to trouble him, he

decided to do something about it. He went to his boss and told him he wouldn't be back

for a while. And Dave went to the barbershop, asked for a high and tight haircut, and then

stopped by his home to put on his military fatigues, hoping the uniform would allow him

access into the blocked off area surrounding ground zero. He drove to Manhattan at speeds

of 120 miles an hour and arrived by late afternoon. While rescue workers were being called off

the wreckage pile because of the danger, Dave was able to stay because of the clout and

credentials that came with his military uniform. Finding another Marine nearby, the two men

walked the pile together seeking to save the lost. The men that were trapped in the rubble

had to hold on to hope that people were searching for survivors. They had to trust that their

rescue was on the way. We see this in verses 3 and 4 of our psalm. We see a strong expression

of trust being given to us in this portion of scripture. The psalmist realized that if

God gave people what they deserved, no one would be able to survive. To mark iniquities

means to keep a record of them, to hold the sinner accountable for each one. Fortunately,

God forgives. He does not keep track of every sin and exact punishment for it. The psalmist

was speaking of how God deals with his redeemed people. The consequences of God's forgiving

should be that his forgiven people fear him. Fearing God in a term that's constantly used

in the Old Testament virtually means trusting God, showing itself in obedience and worship.

If you take seriously the guilt of sin, you will take seriously the grace of forgiveness.

So we see here too that God desires the remission of sins, but there was a reason why God couldn't

hear them in Israel. They were grievous sinners, but all men are sinners. So if you, O Lord,

should mark iniquities because we have nothing of our own that can cover our sins, but with

you there is forgiveness. True repentance requires two things, the recognition of your

own misery and the persuasion of God's mercy. Both are needful for if you deny our sin or

misery we won't seek mercy. That you may be feared, it says in the text. Again, fearing

God is an Old Testament term that means trusting God. Our Father is righteous and holy because

of his nature. We know that we cannot be in his presence without a covering. Our sin separates

us from God, but through covering the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, we can have a relationship

with the Father. This brings me to the idea of hope. After the hours of searching they

heard the faint sound of tapping pipes and yelling. Will and John had been trapped for

nine hours by this time, completely incapable of working themselves free. Yet amid all the

rubble a Marine who earlier in the morning had been working a spreadsheet in Connecticut

found them. Of the 20 people pulled from the heaped up remains of the World Trade Center,

Will Gimino and John McLaughlin were number 18 and 19. And all because David Carnes took

off his suit, put on rescue fatigues, and stepped into the despair and darkness of Ground Zero.

In verses 5-8 we see a deliberate decision to hope. The writer purposed to continue to

wait for the Lord to deliver him while he reflected on God's forgiveness. He compared

himself to a guard on duty late at night. He could only wait for the morning light when

someone else would relieve him. And when all that was now dark would then be clear. God's

people should put their hope in the Father and their present distress because he is loyal

in his love. He will finally provide complete redemption. Ultimate deliverance was sure

in the future and this was the ground for the Israelites' confidence. Today God's

redeemed saints can call on him out of the depths of their affliction too. We can find

encouragement in the fact that God has forgiven us of all our sins past, present, and future.

However, we can also look forward to our full ultimate redemption when we see him. Until

then we should hope in the Lord as watchmen waiting for the dawning of our new day, namely

our glorification. In Isaiah 40-31, But they 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 be faint. The psalmist expressed his hopes in verses 5-6. The method of God's

servant in their address is in their addresses to heaven that they believe, hope, pray, and

expect, so that the psalmist did trust. I expect the Lord in faith. I will wait for

the Lord. My soul waits. His expectation was active, it was real, and it proceeded from

a feverish sea of his heart. His expectation was not presumptive but grounded upon God's

words and promise. In his word is my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen

for the morning, which he illustrates by the reference to a watchman who longs for the

morning. More than watchmen for the morning. It was now night with him, darkness and misery

upon his soul. The morning he expected was the remission of his sin which must come from

God's mercy. For this he eagerly awaited. In Psalm 27-14 it says, wait for the Lord,

be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. The psalmist exhorts God

and it puts his trust in him. This continues on in verses 7-8. The psalmist proposes his

own example to God's people. He says, O Israel, hope in the Lord like me and cry from the

depths, he says. For the Lord there is mercy. For the Lord there is steadfast love. This

is the reason and encouragement for the hope. Mercy flows from him and with him is redemption,

which we need being all born into sin. And this redemption was purchased for us by the

death of his son Jesus Christ. And this redemption is plentiful for it is enough to redeem the

whole world. 1 John 1-2 says, the life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified

to it and proclaim to you the eternal life which was the Father and was made manifest

to us. And this is to take effect upon Israel and he will redeem Israel from all of its

iniquities. It is not as the Jews expected, a temporal redemption, but one that is spiritual.

As the angel told Joseph, his name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people

from their sins. So as we come to an end, we remember September 11th in the survival

story the reality of being pulled from darkness into light. In the same way but infinitely

to a greater degree, God took off his royal robes and stepped into our dark and depraved

culture and served us. We were buried in the depths and the rubble of our own foolishness

with zero chance of pulling ourselves out of our sin. Chuck Smith, the leader of Calvary

Chapel says, so if the Lord should begin to keep an account of iniquities, none of us

would make it. Oh how thankful we are that with God there is mercy, there is forgiveness.

Oh happy is the man whose sins are forgiven with the Lord. There is mercy and plenteous

redemption. Psalm 33, 20 through 22 says, our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help

and our shield for our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name. Let your

steadfast love, oh Lord, be upon us even as we hope in you. If I could have every head

bowed every eye closed, I know this message might have been a bit short today but it's

one that is critically important to our lives as Christians as we wait upon the Lord. And

we have to remember too in terms of this waiting on the Lord, the reason why we have the capability

of waiting on the Lord is because we've already been redeemed, we've already been rescued.

But there are other people who are waiting on the Lord that we come in contact with every

day. They don't know they're waiting on the Lord. They're living in sin still. They're

trapped in the rubble of their lives. And that's why it is a journey of rescue, mercy,

trust and hope. Because we, those who know the love of Jesus Christ have a responsibility

to bring the message to others so that they too can be rescued, so they too can see them,

feel the mercy that comes through salvation, so they can put their trust and their hope

and a risen Savior. If this message has impacted you today and you're not right with God, you're

still trapped, you're trapped by your sin, you're trapped in your old life. I want you

to signify that with a love today and wherever you are, being safe if you're driving. I want

you to raise your hand though and signify that because I can't see it but God can see

it. No matter where you are, God knows what's in your heart. So if you rose your hand and

you meant it, I want to lead you through a quick prayer. It's an invitation we do at

the end of every message, every service, because we want people to have the opportunity to

give their lives to Jesus Christ. So with that, if you could just repeat after me, Dear

Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you sent your Son Jesus Christ and that

He died for my sins. I repent of my sins and I accept Jesus as my Savior and I thank

you for the salvation that comes through grace in Jesus' name. Amen. It's a simple prayer

but if you said that and you meant it, then you've moved into a new stage of your life.

The grace that flows from God is now yours as well and you can partake of it. You've

been rescued, you've received the mercy of Jesus Christ and now you can put your trust

and hope in Him and you can too wait on the Lord. It's a powerful, powerful idea and it's

not to be taken lightly. So where do you go from here though if you've done that prayer?

Well I would recommend you start praying to God, crying out to Him like this psalmist

did. Get into the Word of God, pick up a Bible, start reading from John. John's a great place

for new believers. The Gospel of John in the New Testament. And then find a Bible-believing

church to serve, not to just attend but to serve so that you too can join the rescue

party and see others to be brought to Jesus Christ just like you've done today. If you're

in Samanar, please come and visit us for Unit 201 at 231 Trans-Canada Highway right downtown.

Very excited to have you come and visit us on Sunday or Wednesday. If you're not from

here but you're looking for a church, we have over 3,500 churches globally. There's a good

chance I'll be able to find you a church that's from our fellowship that you could connect

with and you could dig into. But with that, I know this message might have seemed a bit

short but I think it's a critical thing that we understand that we need to persevere and

we need to wait on the Lord. And then as Christians we need to understand that we are on a journey

of rescue, mercy, trust, and hope. So with that, I want to thank you for listening to

me today and I'm just going to close in prayer real quick. Dear Lord God, I thank you for

everything that you're doing in the lives of the people who listen. I pray, Lord God,

that this would go further and further out into the world, that more people will be touched

by this message. In Jesus' name, amen. Remember to like, share, and subscribe to the podcast.

It really helps us get this message out. And thank you again for listening. I can't wait

for you to come back next time. God bless.