Sunday, 18th October 2020
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 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. He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.(Psalms 40:1-10)
Politicians make promises to us if we elect them. We need to wait. In fact our life journey is waiting and through waiting we see things happening. The question for us is often, how long do we need to wait? The process of the journey of waiting is not easy.
While we are waiting we seek a lot of things, we try to do things, putting a lot of hope and dream while waiting. When we are waiting we need to ask an important question, is what we are waiting really what God wants us to wait have? If this is not from God then it will not last and it will not bless us. It may also curse us!
The Israelite waited for 40 years to enter into the Promised Land. Many things happened during his time and only after they have been through all these they were able to enter into the Promised Land. Our life journey is also a journey of waiting, to entering into the eternal life. That’s why we believe in God and follow Him.
During the time of waiting we can be blessed. But how can we know we can be blessed during the time we wait? The story of King David taught us how to wait. He waited after Samuel anointed as king, because he respected God, Samuel, and his father. David knew God’s Will for him but he was willing to wait even when nothing has happened for many years after that. Even after David killed the giant, he went to work for King Saul. Throughout the time David respected and honour King Saul even when King Saul tried to kill him.
Instead of fighting for his own right, David hid from Saul and believed that everything was in God’s hands. Do we want to receive the blessings or do we choose what we think is the right thing to do? When we choose God’s way, He will be responsible for us, whereas if we choose our own ways, then we will have to be responsible for our own decisions.
1. Wait for the Lord ( v.1-3 )
In the original scripture, the first verse means to wait and wait, not just wait patiently but a command to wait. Something we must do! How does God listen to our prayers? Do we cry and call our to Him? Do we fast and pray? Or do we just make an excuse saying we will pray but then we forget? We say, ‘if it’s from God then I will do it’, but how do we know if it’s from God? Is it from our feelings? What does it mean to pray for peace?
We have no excuse, we need to wait for the Lord. No one likes to wait, especially when we have no choice, when there is nothing we can do but to wait. If we focus on waiting then the time will pass very slowly. David waited for ten years to become the king of Israel, he focused on the promises of God. He believed and waited for the Lord.
When we wait, we need to ask, if what we are waiting for is from God o from us? We can seek confirmation with our authority, if it’s not from God then don’t waste our time waiting, but if it’s from God then don’t ever give up!
2. Trust in the Lord ( v.4-8 )
When we know what we are waiting is from God, then we should never give up, continue to persevere, even if it’s very difficult.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)
Trust in the Lord means to put ourselves down under God’s protection, and lean not on our own understanding. Not just wisdom but everything we know we need to rely on Him. We need to let go of our own thinking, because when we said we follow our heart we are following our feelings. We should let go of all that and simply follow God.
People try to make excuses for ourselves, to always think only what we do is right, other people cannot understand us. We think we know a lot and we don’t need out authority to tell us what to do. But we will suffer and pay a price for our stubbornness.
Our eyes are blind when we see things from our human flesh, instead of from God’s perspectives. We think we know ourselves but we actually don’t.
3. Keep on praising the Lord ( v.9-10 )
David never complained when he was waiting. He never complained about his father, about Samuel, or about Saul, when he tried to kill him. David never complained, instead he kept on praising the Lord. How many psalms has David created to praise God?
Wait for the Lord, trust in Him and keep on praising. During the hard time he didn’t give up, he put his faith in God. Let’s learn from David, focusing on God’s promises, don’t take the short cut, wait in faith. At the end, we will be blessed like David!