The Attitude of Waiting
Notes
Transcript
It is this time of year that we turn our focus to the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. More often than not it is a time where we can fix our sights on the perfect gift that was given to us. Over the next several weeks will certainly make mention of the gift that is Jesus Christ but I want to place our focus this year on the attitudes that Christmas reminds us that we ought to have. Some of the passages will be traditional Christmas texts while others will be a bit unorthodox. Regardless, our focus will be on God and the attitudes that He calls us to have and this morning we will look at the attitude of waiting.
I have often talked about the fact that humanity has become worse and worse at waiting. We live in a microwave society where everything is at our fingertips. Gone are the days where you needed to go over to the family set of Britannica Encyclopedia to figure out what year World War I began or figure out where exactly the Mason-Dixon line is. Now, with our cell phones, we have information at our finger tips and don’t want to wait for it. We used to have to wait on a phone call to hear that someone had arrived safely after a long trip. Now we can just check an app on our phone to see if they’ve arrived yet.
It is my prayer this morning that we will embrace the attitude of waiting. Let’s read together.
Read Psalm 37:34
The Christian Must Wait for the Lord
The Christian Must Wait for the Lord
In this passage of scripture, the word wait is the first keyword we come to. This points to more than just sitting and anticipating. There is a certain hope about what the Christian is waiting for. There is a longing within the disciple of Christ as we fix our eyes on God. While this particular verse is not specifically about the Messiah coming in the form of a baby boy, so much of what is said about waiting in the Old Testament points to that very fact. I want to look at several instances in the Old Testament where the people of God waited.
I wait for your salvation, O Lord.
The people waited for the perfect atoning sacrifice who would save the people from their own sin. While you and I have been saved, we now wait for the return of Christ. We anticipate the salvation that comes when the people of God will be taken home to be with the Lord.
This sort of waiting keeps us mindful that it is the Lord who works. Proverbs 20:22 indicates the same sort of waiting when it comes to deliverance.
Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
There is value found in waiting for the Lord. Verse 3 tells us that those who wait on the Lord will not be put to shame. We’ll cover verse four of this psalm in the next point but verse 5 reminds us of everything that a person needs to know about why we should wait for the Lord: because He is the God of our salvation. It is because of that fact that we don’t just merely wait for a moment but we wait all the day long because of His salvation.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
We wait but there is a specific way that we wait, with patience. Not stewing and frustrated but with hopeful anticipation. Finally,
“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
As we consider waiting for the Lord, the longing of those who work hard for a shadow and shade is the same as those who wait on the Lord. A shadow will eventually come for the worker and in the same way, relief from this life will soon come for the disciple of Jesus Christ.
Just as the people of God waited of the Lord to come in flesh, now you and I wait on His return! But just waiting is not simply enough. We have also been called to wait in a specific way.
The Christian Must Keep His Ways While We Wait
The Christian Must Keep His Ways While We Wait
Rather than waiting by sitting in an arm chair and twiddling our thumbs, we must wait and keep His ways while we do.
First, I want to point out Psalm 25:4 once again.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
It is vital that we learn the ways of the Lord, that we might keep them. I’ve always loved the way that God’s word phrases “keep his way” because it emphasizes the way that we value the ways of God. We hold on tightly to them as if it is all that we have to hold on to at all.
The ways of the Lord are described throughout the scriptures but if you go down to verse 21, you’ll notice how they will be recognized.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
It is integrity and upright living that sustain the Christian as we wait on the Lord. The solidness that we live with and the righteousness placed on us by the Lord is what we stand on as we hope on the Lord. It is vital that we know His ways by way of His word in order to live in a way that brings Him honor and glory.
We Wait for Him to Exalt Us
We Wait for Him to Exalt Us
The exaltation that is mentioned here is considerable. We look at this in two ways. First, the inheritance of God’s people has always been a point of hope. For Israel, the promised land was always what was promised to them. For you and I, the land that we will inherit is the New Earth where we will dwell with the Lord! We will be lifted up to that which we have been promised.
The other aspect of our exaltation points out those who do not believe. When we consider the wicked, they are cut off from God in eternity because of their lack of belief.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
