Lord, My Soul Finds Rest in You

English Standard Version Psalm 130

My Soul Waits for the Lord

130 A SONG OF ASCENTS.

1  Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!

2  O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3  If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4  But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

5  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

6  my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

7  O Israel, hope in the LORD!

For with the LORD there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

8  And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

131 A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID.

1  O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.

2  But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3  O Israel, hope in the LORD

from this time forth and forevermore.

Anxiousness

Worry

Fear

These are all words which describe the life that many people lead today

Heidi and I are preparing a breakout session for our summer conference based on the book, “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt

In this book, he describes an epidemic of anxiousness that is sweeping across the nation, particularly noticeable in our young people

And this rise of anxiousness has a direct connection to the rise of technology, particular smart phones and social media

That generation known as Gen Z, those born between the years 2000-2010

Haidt reports that the number of young people, ages 18-25, who report feeling high levels of anxiety in their lives

Has risen by almost 140% since 2010.

That means that the number of people in this age group who report feeling extremely anxious is 2.5 times higher than it was only 15 years ago!

There are a lot of other staggering and concerning statistics concerning

depression

self harm

and suicide

that he shares which I won’t go into

But while the author focuses on Gen Z in this book, one thing that stands out “between the lines”, so to speak is how much anxiety and fear have affected the parents of these Gen Z young people

And how much fear and anxiety has affected how we parent our children

And what that, in turn, has done to the overall development of our children

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read it

written from a secular point of view, but with some fantastic insights

But fear and anxiety is something that plays a big part in our lives

Fear: an emotional response to present threats

Anxiety: an emotional response to future threats, or perceived future threats

I have walked my own journey with anxiety and am still on that journey,

Although I pray that I am on my way to gaining victory over anxiety

But for much of my life, I have felt this feeling of anxiety

It’s a response to what might happen

For me, it was anxiety about

possible immigration issues (in Africa)

water and electric

financial things

what if my car breaks down

what if we have a medical bill that we can’t pay

ministry

what will people say?

Am I going to be able to prepare for this message?

what if I’m communicating wrong

what if I don’t sound very articulate?

Anxiety was a huge part of my life

Last January at our Midwest Pastors gathering at Crooked Creek

The one morning, Elmer opened up his bible and he read Psalm 131 1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”

And it just struck me deep down inside

Particularly this:

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Because I felt like I really didn’t know what this was like

To have a calm and quiet soul that is like a weaned child with its mother (or its father)

A weaned child—this is a child that is starting to become aware of his or her surroundings

They are weaned off milk, eating solid food, starting to make their way around the house and explore their surroundings

Out in public, they are curious about everything

They want to be moving around, touching everything, they interact with other people

But who do they run back to when they start to get nervous and scared? When the world they are exploring gets a little too overwhelming?

It’s to the people with whom they feel absolutely secure

Mom or Dad

And in the arms of mom and dad, their soul feels calm and quieted

And when Elmer read this passage, at that time in my life, I didn’t know what this felt like

To have this kind of relationship with my Heavenly Father, to be at a place with Him where my soul felt calm and quieted just like a little child with his mom or dad

Fast forward a couple of months

We went to a conference at UDC called “Soul Care”.

And at one point during that conference, the speaker was asking us to do some reflecting and processing

And I was thinking and praying about this anxiety piece in my life

And suddenly I felt God speaking clear as a bell

And He said, “You are a control freak”

And it really kind of stunned me. Me? A control freak? I’ve met people who are control freaks, and I wasn’t one of them.

But then He started to connect the dots in my heart. Things started lining up

Every single thing that I was currently feeling anxious about were things that I had no control over

And you are probably thinking, “Duh. That’s kind of obvious.”

Yeah, well, some of us are just a little slower than others:)

But, like the things in Africa that used to make me anxious:

immigration issues

water

electric

food availablity

These were all things that I didn’t have control over. I could only deal with what was in front of me that day

The things that I was anxious about here in America

Financial issues

worry about the “what if’s in my life”

Anxiety about what people might say or were saying about me

These were all things that were largely outside of my control

They were things that were, as the Psalmist says, “too great and too marvelous for me.”

and the reason that I was anxious was because I couldn’t understand these things and I couldn’t control them

I couldn’t control the outcome of these situations

It made me anxious

And I’m so thankful that God pointed this out to me. It’s something that I had to repent of

And we were able to sit with the speaker of this conference and allow him to help us pray through some things

And I feel that in the last few months, God has helped me begin to overcome some of this anxiousness

And begin to cultivate a soul that is calm and quiet like a weaned child with its mother

What about you? Does this describe you?

When it comes to your life and everything in your life, are you like a child completely at peace, completely secure in your relationship with The Father?

Or, do you find yourself pressured and hurried, worried and anxious

About

finances

deadlines

health issues

In this era that is so politically charged, the pressure to come out on the right side of the argument so people don’t think that I’m a liberal or worse

These, and so many other things can give us an incredible amount of stress and anxiety

Chances are that some of you might identify with my story of feeling anxious and stressed much of the time

If that is your story, what do you do? Is there an answer?

I would have to say yes

There are practices that we can build into our lives

silence,

stillness

solitude

Finding times to just get away, unplug, defrag, turn your face toward God, listen to the Spirit

But I would like to look briefly at Psalm 130 and draw out some things that this Psalmist did to cultivate a calm and quiet soul

Cry out (verse 1-2)

Psalm 130:1–2 “1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!”

Cry: call, shout, name, appoint, summon, proclaim, announce, recite, read

Shout out to God, call to Him

This is an exhortation that we see over and over again, especially in the Psalms. Cry out to the LORD!

The anxiousness that we are prone to feel is a sign that all is not well in our souls

it is a sign of our weakness and of need

But too often we just try to fight through it. We know we are weak and needy, but we just try to power through

just fight harder

Or we demand that our situation changes

we feel angry and wronged because our situation is not what we think it should be

But Scripture exhorts us to cry out to the LORD when we feel anxious

Lord, hear my voice!

Lord, let your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy!

It is turning to God, crying out to Him, and asking for His mercy

who else can you turn to? who else knows your heart? who else knows the situation you are in?

Give up your pride, your desire to fight through your situation

Confess to Him your anxiousness. confess your anger, if that is what you are dealing with

Cry out to Him

Release these things to him

Surrender to Him

Press toward a right relationship with God (vs. 3-4)

Psalm 130:3–4 “3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”

How much of our anxiousness stems from the fact that all is not well between God and me

my soul is anxious because I don’t truly believe in God’s redemption

or truly believe that we have been forgiven

He may not particularly be convicting us of a certain sin

But yet, we still feel anxious and restless before Him

Because we don’t understand the magnitude of His mercy and His love for us

we don’t truly trust that we are righteous before God because of the gift of Jesus

We don’t truly trust that He loves us unconditionally and that He has declared us righteous through our faith in Jesus

And so we live anxiously, hurriedly, trying to make ourselves FEEL like we are enough and worthy of His affection

and that somehow we have earned God’s pleasure

But it’s in a right relationship with God that we find peace.

Romans 5:1–5 “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Through Jesus, we do have peace with God

Which translates into a life of peace,

A life in which we are able to rejoice in the face of sufferings

A life that is characterized by endurance and hope

Wait for Him (vs. 5-6)

I love this concept of waiting

To me it is a picture of calmness and stillness

a picture of stopping what I’m doing, listening, being attentive

in our house when we are getting ready to go somewhere, there is always one person who is ready before anyone else. ME

and my family can testify that I’m the one who is pacing around the house, wondering if everyone else is getting ready and if we are going to get out the door on time

And a lot of times, I’ll head for the door and say something like, “Well I’m ready. We’re leaving.”

And someone from behind a closed bathroom or bedroom door will say....what? “Wait!” I’m coming. Wait for me

And what does that force me to do? If I choose to head on out to the van, I am forced to sit there and take a deep breath and wait

I physically have to slow down, stop and wait

I can check my watch, but that never helps. it just makes me more anxious

I can blow the horn, but that certainly never helps!

I have to slow down, stop, and wait

The Psalmist exhorts us to wait on the LORD.

Sometimes our anxiousness as people comes from the fact that God simply hasn’t show up in the way that I think He should have

The needs that we feel or the situations in front of us are pressing us NOW

Life is moving at a fast pace, and we need Him NOW

if we ever needed the LORD before, we sure do need Him now

But how often have we found time in our lives to slow down, or even stop, and just wait on Him

How do you wait on the LORD? When I think of waiting on the LORD, I think of being still. Calming our hearts before Him

Maybe, if you are prone to make decisions quickly, and you have a decision in front of you, you cultivate the practice of slowing down and fasting and praying about it for a few days, or a week, or whatever you need

trusting that God’s will can and will prevail above human schedules

Maybe you get up a few minutes or an hour earlier, read a passage of Scripture, and then just sit in silence before Him

expecting that He will instruct you in how He wants you to live in light of the Scripture that you have just read

expecting that He will reveal things in your heart that He needs to address

But just sitting in silence. Turn the music off, put the phone somewhere else

What about when you are driving?

if you are in the vehicle by yourself, practice driving with the radio off, the streaming audio off

just driving in silence

And as much as you can and still be a safe driver, just talk to Him. Listen for Him speaking to you

Finding, or creating times in your life, when you intentionally slow down, stop, unplug

even if it seems like you have way too much to do, I think it is vital for us to recognize the importance of this

Some of us might do this for a few minutes a day, which is good, but I also believe that we need extended times of intentionally getting away

Because I’ve found that these times force me to recognize two things:

I’m not indespensible. Life will continue even if I’m not there

Jesus will continue to work even if I’m not “working”

pastor friend who came back from sabatical and found out that things at church had flourished while he was away

And when I recognize these things, my trust in Him is increased

Jesus Himself modeled this for us

In Luke 5, there is the account of Jesus healing a man with leprosy

and when He did that, the word went out about Him

His popularity grew, and great crowds began flocking to Him to hear Him preach and to be healed of their sicknesses

But then Luke includes this short gem:

Luke 5:16 “16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”

What Jesus was modeling for us was the practice of stillness and waiting

it says that Jesus would withdraw meaning that this is something He did more than once. It was part of His regular practice

Even Jesus recognized His need and the importance of getting away to a quiet place and practicing stillness and waiting on His Father

Another word that comes to mind when I think of waiting is “abiding”.

Jesus said, “Abide in Me”

The place where I abide is that place where I feel safe and at rest

Hope in Him (vs. 7)

Psalm 130:7 “7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.”

You know I’ve shared this with you before

but back when I used to listen to a certain talk show host, I remember him one day sort of pooh-pooing this idea of hope

portraying hope as weakness. “I hope my life will change”. “I hope my life gets better”.

But I think it was remarks like that which sort of sent me on a trajectory away from listening to him

Because I felt he was wrong about hope

And I thought, what a miserable life it would be if we didn’t have hope!

In fact, the Bible commands us, exhorts us to HOPE!

waiting and hoping in the Bible used interchangeably

Wait, gives me a picture of stopping and listening, receiving strength from God

Hope gives me a picture of going back out and living with a soul that has found rest

Hope could be defined as the desire and search for a future good

Has found a renewed connection with Jesus as you waited on Him

You’ve tasted of His goodness

And now living with renewed energy and joy

Living with hope!

A sports team on the losing end of a contest

suddenly someone makes a huge catch for a first down or a touchdown

Someone splashes a 3-pointer

And suddenly there is hope! There is renewed energy!

their countenances change. There is a spark in their eyes! There is renewed energy in their steps.

why? because they have hope. They believe again!

Hope is that which provides us with purpose and energy for living

We can hope in the LORD because

There is steadfast love

hesed

This is his Covenant Love.

The love that God has for His people because it is who He is, and because He will never change, His love will never change

His love is constant

plentiful redemption

Because His love is constant, He will always be working to redeme us

Buy us back and deliver us from sin

And for us, we experience God’s redemption in the person and work of Jesus

He has redeemed us, and set us free and given us His Holy Spirit to abide with us and in us forever

Folks that is hope!

So, are you anxious this morning

Does your soul long for rest?

Cry out to Him

Seek for a right relationship with Him

Wait on Him

And Hope in Him