Waiting

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We are taking this summer to walk through the book of Psalms. John Calvin said that the Psalms are “an anatomy of all parts of the soul.” And what he meant was that these 150 songs, written by David and various other composers, touch on just about every emotion and every life situation that the human soul can experience. So whether it’s a happy time or a sad time or a confusing time or a desperate time or a grateful time…there’s probably a Psalm that talks about it. So the Psalms affirm our emotions, but they also teach us how to lift our eyes above ourselves, so we can see things in light of God and who he is. So they start where we are, but they always lift us higher. And that’s why the Psalms are so valuable, and why people love them so much.

So today, we come to Psalm 40, and the life situation it addresses is waiting. Specifically, when something in life is not the way it’s supposed to be, and you’re waiting for it to be made right. Let’s read the Psalm together. Hear the Word of God…

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.

4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. 5 Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, LORD, as you know. 10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. 12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 13 Be pleased to save me, LORD; come quickly, LORD, to help me.

14 May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. 15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The LORD is great!”

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay. This is the Word of the Lord.

As he wrote this Psalm, David was apparently in a bad situation. Verse 12 describes it like this: For troubles without number surround me. He doesn’t specify what the troubles are. They could be very personal—like internal struggles in his own heart. They could be related to his family—it’s well known that David had some serious drama in his family life. They could be national trouble—like the threat of war from an enemy nation, and as the king of Israel, that would have weighed heavily on David’s heart.

But look at the next line in verse 12: my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. So whatever crisis David was in, he was attributing at least some of it to his own bad choices—his own sin. It’s well-known that the low point of David’s life was when he committed adultery, and then arranged for the murder of the husband of the woman he had slept with. And even after David had repented of that sin, there were ongoing consequences in his life. So whether David is referring to that specific sin or not, he recognizes that he bears some responsibility for the bad situation he’s in.

And the situation is so bad, at the end of verse 12 he says my heart fails within me. In other words, “I am in so far over my head, I’m desperate for God to come through.” So in verse 13 he cries out to God:

Be pleased to save me, LORD; come quickly, LORD, to help me.

So David has done all he can; and he’s pleading with God to come and make things right. And he waits. Can you relate?

Maybe you have a spouse that is in the grip of an addiction—they’re using way too much alcohol or pain killers, and they’re not willing to admit it. And you’re waiting for it to change.

Or you’re a Christian single person, and you’re committed to dating someone and eventually marrying someone who shares your faith in Christ. And you’ve lost count of how much money you’ve given to Christian Mingle and eHarmony, but every date is disappointing. So you wait.

Or you have a child who’s made some terrible life choices, and they’re far from God and far from happy. And you’ve tried every angle to try to talk sense into them, but all your words seem to bounce off. So you’re waiting for them to change.

Or maybe you’re like David—you’ve made some terrible life choices. Maybe you’ve ruined a marriage or gotten a DUI or committed a crime. And just like David, you’ve come clean and repented. But it seems like there’s a dark cloud over your life. And you keep waiting for it to change.

Or you’re out of work. And everybody says, “There are so many jobs out there—it’s a great market!” But you can’t find one, or at least a good one. So you wait.

Now: I’m not talking about situations where the ball is in your court, and it’s really up to you to do something about the problem. If your lawn is covered with dandelions, and you say, “I’m just waiting for all these weeds to go away,” you should probably go to Home Depot and buy some weed killer. I’m not talking about those situations. I’m talking times when you’ve really done all you can—you’re doing your part—but that not-right situation is still not right. And all you can do is wait. And here’s what I’m saying: sometimes that’s really hard. At least for me. Anybody else? Waiting is not a fun part of life.

Quick story: a few years ago, at an airport in Houston, passengers kept complaining about how long they had to wait for their baggage. So they hired more baggage handlers, and they got the wait time down to eight minutes—way better than the industry average. But the complaints continued—and the executives couldn’t understand it. But then they realized something: it took passengers an average of one minute to walk to baggage claim. So everyone would get off the plane, and hurry to baggage claim…and then for seven minutes, they would stare at the empty baggage carousel. So you know what they did? Brilliant idea: the moved the arrival gates—where the planes came in—further from baggage claim. So now passengers had to walk much further, but when they got there, their bags were waiting for them. Problem solved; the complaints dropped. So there was an article about this in the New York Times, and they interviewed the world’s leading expert on waiting in lines (did you know they have experts on that?), and he basically said the length of our wait is not nearly as important as what we’re doing as we wait. Isn’t that interesting? So if we have something meaningful to do while we’re waiting, the wait becomes much more bearable.

So here’s the point: in Psalm 40, David is in a situation where he’s waiting for God to come through! But he’s not just standing there, staring at the baggage carousel. He shows us some really wise things to do while we wait.

First, Remember. While you’re waiting, remember what God has done in the past. Psalm 40 starts out with David looking back on a previous crisis in his life. Look at the first two verses:

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

So just like the current crisis, David doesn’t say what happened back then, but it was bad. He felt like he was in a slimy pit, sinking down into the mud. Possibly a serious illness, where he thought he was on the verge of death. But as usual, we don’t know exactly what it was. You know, I believe that lack of specificity is intentional. It reminds me of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12. He says, “I had this thorn in my flesh” that tormented me. But he never says what the thorn was. And I think the reason the Holy Spirit inspired these writers to not name the slimy pit, and not name the thorn, is so we can apply these to our own circumstances. If David said, “I cried out to God because the Philistines were attacking,” we’d go, “I have no idea what that’s like. I’ve never been attacked by Philistines.” But if he says, I felt like I was sinking in mud, we go, “Yeah—I’ve been there. I know that panicky, sinking feeling.”

So he cried out to God, but nothing happened right away. So he waited patiently. And he waited some more. And at some point, he says, God heard my cry and he rescued me! I’m not saying I pulled myself out of that mess; I’m saying God pulled me out and set my feet on a rock. So David reminds himself that the God he’s crying out to now is the God who rescued him back then.

Now, since I brought up Paul’s thorn in the flesh, I should add this: Sometimes, when we cry to God, God doesn’t pull us out of the mess we’re in. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul says, “I prayed diligently—I pleaded with the Lord three separate times to remove this thorn!” And God said, “I’m not going to do it. But, I’ll give you extra grace—and that’s all you need.” And Paul says, “I can actually boast about my weakness, because it demonstrates God’s power.” So the point is, when we’re in crisis, whether God delivers us or gives us grace to endure it, it’s still the goodness of God that’s coming through for us. Amen?

When your life is a mess, it’s good to remember God’s faithfulness in the past.

Early in my ministry at The Chapel, God was really teaching me to pray. And for a couple of years, every time God answered a specific prayer, I would write that in the back of my Bible. So I just took out that Bible last week and looked at it—specific answers to prayer about people’s health, and people’s families, and finances. It was awesome to read that again. Because we so quickly forget, don’t we? We have short memories. So we need to intentionally remember. Because remembering God’s faithfulness reminds us of his character. It doesn’t guarantee that he’ll act in the same exact ways in the future, but it reminds us what our God is capable of.

If you’re waiting for God to come through, take some time to remember—just like David did. Remember those times when God answered prayer and got you through things that seemed impossible. Maybe it would help to start writing it down—keep a record in your Bible, or in a journal. Remember that the same God who showed up in the past is still with you today.

While you’re waiting, remember.

Secondly, while you’re waiting, Re-Commit. As David looks back on this time when God rescued him, look what he says in verse 6: 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—In other words, now that you’ve pulled me out of the mud and set my feet on a rock, what’s the appropriate response?

Sacrifice another lamb? God, thank you for saving my life; here’s a sheep. David realized that wasn’t the answer. And he wasn’t criticizing the sacrificial system of Israel, but he was recognizing that wasn’t enough. Something more than ritual was called for. So look what he says:

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

Here’s what David is saying: “Lord, because of what you’ve done for me, bringing you another goat just won’t cut it. Here I am! I’m ready to do your will—anything you say!” In other words the only adequate response to God’s amazing grace is not just offering an animal; it’s offering yourself. Giving God your whole life. Like it says in Romans 12, in view of God’s mercies, offer yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your true and proper worship. Offer yourself!

So back when God delivered him the last time, David committed his life fully to God. So now, as he waits for God to come through in the current crisis, he thinks back to that moment of commitment, and it’s an opportunity for him to re-commit himself as a living sacrifice to God.

I have found that sometimes, when people are in crisis, and life is hard, they get a little superstitious. They think they need to repeat a certain prayer every day to bring healing. Or they make a pilgrimage to some holy site. Or they wear certain medals on their neck, or they make a special offering in church. As if their act of sacrifice will unlock the blessings of God. And meanwhile God is saying, “I just want you. Offer me yourself. Let this crisis that you’re in lead you to full surrender. And re-commit yourself to do God’s will, no matter what it is.”

So while you wait, remember, re-commit, and here’s the last one:

While you wait, Rely. Rely completely on God. And there are really two aspects to that. First, Rely on God’s timing. It’s really interesting, because in verse 13, David says come quickly, Lord, to help me. And then in the last verse he says do not delay. So David is obviously eager for God to come through for him. But he also realizes that God’s timetable might not be the same as his. Which is why he starts out the Psalm by saying I waited…how? …patiently for the Lord. So despite David’s preference for a fast answer to prayer, he ultimately defers to God’s timetable. He realizes God knows things that he doesn’t.

Listen to these quotes:

Richard Hendrix said, “Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.”

Henri Nouwen wrote, “Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.”

It turns out that some of the most important work God does in us, he does through our waiting. My first three years at The Chapel, I served as the Pastor of Single Adults. And I heard so many stories about people who were desperate to find someone, so they would meet someone who they really knew wasn’t a good fit for them, but they so wanted to be married that they forced it. And it never worked out well. And I always admired those singles who were really content being single, and they just trusted God to bring the right person in his timing. And sometimes God did, and sometimes God

didn’t. But they were at peace, and I so admired that maturity. And you can apply that to every kind of waiting situation in life. Waiting on God brings peace. So rely on God’s timing.

And then finally, Rely on Christ’s Faithfulness. A few years ago, I realized something fascinating about the word “wait.” The lightbulb first went on when I was learning Spanish. You Spanish-speakers know that the word for “wait” is esperar. But that word esperar can also be translated “to hope, or to expect.” Isn’t that interesting? Same word means to expectantly hope for something, and to wait for something. So later, I was studying an Old Testament passage in Hebrew, and I noticed that the word for “wait” in Hebrew is qava. And then I realized that same word, qava, can be translated, guess what? “To hope or expect.”

I know for some of you this is why you hated language class in school. But to me, this is amazing. Because I realized that the concept of waiting is strongly connected to hoping. And when I say “hope,” I mean biblical hope: like strong, confident expectation that this is going to happen. When you have that kind of confident hope, you will be a person who waits. And the stronger your hope, the better you’ll be able to wait. Are you with me? There will be a test later. The stronger your hope, the better you’ll be able to wait.

So here’s the question: when you’re in some terrible situation, and you’re sinking in the mud, maybe because of your own sin or maybe because of someone else’s sin or maybe just because life is messy, and you’re crying out to God to come and change the situation, and you don’t know if you can wait any longer, what is it that can give you such strong and confident hope? And the answer is: our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And I know some of you are thinking, “Where is he finding Jesus in Psalm 40?” I’ll show you. Look with me at the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 10. Beginning in verse 4—listen…4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, (that should sound really familiar! It’s quoting Psalm 40…) but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’” And then go down to verse 10…

10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

So follow me here: back in Psalm 40, David realized we owe God something more than just animal sacrifices. Right? So he said, “I’m offering myself!” Which is great. But it wasn’t enough. Because David was a sinful person, remember? So even after David offered himself, the priests had to keep bringing sacrifices to the altar: day after day, year after year. Until Jesus showed up. And here’s what the writer of Hebrews is saying: “What David did in a very imperfect way, Jesus did in a perfect way.” Are you with me? Because Jesus went to the cross, look at Hebrews 10:10 one more time: we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. No more relying on priests; no more relying on rituals; because of the cross of Christ, you have been made holy—that means you have been set apart as God’s treasured possession.

So let’s bring it all together: when your husband is drinking too much, or when you can’t find a job, or when you’re staying home again on a Friday night, or when you’re only halfway done with your

chemo treatments and you’re so nauseous you can’t get out of bed, or however you feel like you’re sinking in the slimy mud…the reason you can esperar—the reason you can qava—the reason you can wait with confident hope and expectation that God will come through—is because your Savior Jesus went to the cross to make you holy—to set you apart as God’s treasured possession. He chose you; he loves you; and he is not letting you go. He will either deliver you out of this or give you the grace to stand through it—

So trust him, and keep waiting on the Lord.