Hope in the Waiting

Introduction

On Mother’s Day, I try to focus on topics that mothers often struggle with. Last year it was the topic of comparing ourselves with others. This year, I want to talk about waiting on God. Waiting isn’t one of our strong suits as human beings. It is hard when you desire something so bad, but it seems like it is a million miles away from you.

I remember one time as a kid, my mom had dropped me off at the Military Youth center for some activity. Everything went normal and afterwards I went outside to wait for my mom to come pick me up. Now as a kids situations like these often send us into a tailspin because we don’t have an accurate understanding of time or we misunderstand what our parents said if we even listened; so I don’t want anyone to think my mom was negligent. But there I sat at the Youth Center waiting, a white car drives by, “Nope not my mom.” A black car, “Still not my mom.” It felt like 15-30 minutes passed by and mom was still not there. Now you have to understand this was the days before cell phones let existed, but I went inside and tried to get someone to call my mom. Sitting there waiting seemed like an eternity. As a kid you begin to think, “My mom’s not coming.” “where am I going to live?” “How will I eat?” Notice it never comes into our minds to think “What happened to mom?” But the waiting is hard.

Ladies, are you waiting for something?

Maybe you are a single lady and it feels like your knight in not so shinny armor hasn’t found you yet. It can be hard when you want to be married so bad and the right guy never shows up. This isn’t for girls only. There comes a point in a man’s life when he would like to be married. The loneliness is suffocating.

Maybe you are a wife who has been waiting for her husband to take a stand in the home and lead the way. It feels so right just to take the reigns since he won’t steer your home anyways. But you know that isn’t right and so you wait for the day God gets ahold of your heart.

Maybe the waiting is because you had a miscarriage and you long for that day when you will see you baby again.

Maybe your kids has wandered far away from God and you are waiting for him to come home.

Men I don’t want to ignore you either.

Maybe you have lost a job and the waiting is driving your crazy with worry, fear, or just worthlessness.

Maybe you have struggled with a sin pattern for quite a long time. You have taken the steps needed and God has given you some victory, but it seems like it still trips you up.

Maybe your circumstances aren’t ideal. You hate your job, you don’t make enough money. The house you are in is to small.

Maybe your heart cry is like Davids in Psalm 10:1 “Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” Where are you Lord.

It is in these moments that we need hope to carry us along as we wait. This morning I want to look at Psalm 130. Psalm 130 is a lament psalm embedded in the Songs of Degrees. The songs of degrees were songs that we sung in stages as pilgrims made their way from their homes to Jerusalem for the special feast days. There are a total of 15 of them from 120-134 and they are grouped in 5 sets of three. The Psalm for today is in the center of a set of Psalms designed as a liturgy for those dealing with trauma in their lives. Psalm 130:1 “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” The anguish we face in life often takes time to work through and in that time, we must learn to wait. Psalm 130 points us to find hope in our waiting. Let’s read the text:

Finding Hope in His Word

Psalm 130:5 “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, And in his word do I hope.”

We are going to focus on the second half of this psalm because it has more general application but Psalm 130 deals with a people who have suffered because of their sins, but the Psalmist is comforted in the fact that there is forgiveness in God. Vs 3 If thou shouldest mark iniquities- if God keeps a record of my sins, then there is no hope. but vs 4 is the key. There is forgiveness with you Lord. I am reminded by these first few verses that even when my current circumstances are my fault, God is still good. With Him there is forgiveness. For his own, he doesn’t sit there keeping a record of our sins because they are all under the blood of Jesus Christ.

Vs 5 is our main text for this first point. The psalmist declares that he finds hope while he is waiting in God’s word. It is hard waiting for something when you have no hope. Hope buoys you along in the waiting.

God’s word is that letter of hope. It is like a soldier who is bunkered down in a fox hole. This particular battle has been going on for weeks now and it seems like neither side is getting anywhere. As he sits there is the wet mud, his mind begins to think of that girl he left behind. Has she found someone else and forgotten him? His heart sinks in the waiting. He wishes he could be home with her. One day a letter is delivered in the mail in which she affirms her love for him and reminds him that she is waiting for him. That letter gives him hope to fight a little longer. That letter gives him hope to wait some more.

Comfort in the Word

One way in which the word of God gives hope in the waiting is by providing comfort in our darkest times. The Laments were written by men who faced horrible times. Grief and pain that never seemed to end and yet they found hope. It is in their songs and prayers that they left behind that we can find hope as well.

Psalm 30:5 “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” This trial though hard is temporary and a day of joy lies ahead of us. Even if our trial is life long, we have an eternity in heaven to look forward to.

Lamentations 3:22–24 “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” We find hope in the fact that God is compassionate- he cares for us, his heart is moved by our grief. He is faithful and will not abandon us. He is my portion. He is what truly satisfies. I may not have everything that I desire in this world, but I have everything I need in Him.

Examples in the word

Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” There are examples of men and women who struggled through waiting on the Lord. Right now in our lives, we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel. The advantage of the bible stories is that we see the end and how things turned out for them. Imagine Job in the middle of his trial. He lost his kids, houses, wealth. At that moment he didn’t know how God was going to bless him later on, but you do. We see the end from the beginning in these stories.

Promises in the Word

We can also find hope in God’s word by reminding ourselves of the promises of God. Do a study on the promises in the bible and then ask yourself which one’s apply to you. Then rest in knowing God will keep his word.

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.”

Job 11:18 “And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; Yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.”

Vs 6- Waiting more than those who wait for the sun to rise

Finding hope in Community

Psalm 130:7 “Let Israel hope in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, And with him is plenteous redemption.”

This Psalm is not merely an individual psalm. Having found hope in God’s word, the psalmist turns to encourage the community of Israel to find hope. Finding hope is not merely an individual act.

Where does worry take place? In our head. It is locked inside the confines of our brain. Grief, pain is often felt on an individual level and often times it causes us to shut down and shut others out. This is unwise because God has ordained that the community of the believers are supposed to be there for each other in their times of need.

The community lets you know you are not alone Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”

The community takes on some of your burdens for you. Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

The community can help hold you accountable when you are tempted to sin because of your lost hope. Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

God’s presence is felt in a special way when believers are fellowshipping biblically. Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

The community is there to encourage you when you feel like giving up. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”

There is a second side to this. Not only can you find hope in community, but maybe they need the hope that you can give. This is what the psalmist is doing. There are hurts that others experience that you may not be aware of. If you draw into yourself, you lose an opportunity to be a help to someone else who might be hurting in the same way. It also becomes a lost opportunity because drawing into yourself is handling grief unbiblically. If you don’t find biblical hope, what do you really have to offer someone else who is going through the same thing. All you have to offer is darkness.

Finding Hope in the Knowing God

Psalm 130:7–8 “Let Israel hope in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, And with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.”

The greatest source of hope is truly knowing God.

Illustration: Kids hoping for a nice present on Christmas

Israel finds hope because God is merciful. They find hope because God is eager to redeem. He can bring beauty from ashes.

Isaiah 49:23 “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And their queens thy nursing mothers: They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, And lick up the dust of thy feet; And thou shalt know that I am the Lord: For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.”

There is a connection between knowing God and waiting for Him. I can rest secure when I truly know God. Understand, there is no hope in memorizing a list of the attributes of God. But when you know that list and have experienced those things in your life, you fall back on Him for hope because you know you can trust Him.

Have you seen God do great things in the past for you? What does that reveal about his heart for you and his plans for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

While this was written to a specific audience, God’s plans for us are good. In your waiting, strive to know Him better.

Conclusion

Maybe there is something you have been waiting for for a long time. You are on the verge of giving up. This morning mothers in particular, I want to challenge you to find hope in the waiting. As the piano play this morning, heads bowed and eyes closed. If you have lost hope today about that child who has wondered away. You’ve lost hope for that husband who seems to be going nowhere spiritually. You’ve lost hope waiting for the right guy to come along and sweep you off your feet. Your eyes have been dimmed by faintheartedness. Come today and renew your dedication to find hope in God’s word, the community of the believers and in your relationship with God.