Hope in the Wait

The early verses of , read earlier as our scripture reading, speak of God as steadfastly loyal and loving and forever faithful to God’s promises. In part of the psalm not read, the psalmist goes on to say that God has made clear that even if the people of Israel go astray, even if they ignore God’s statutes, even if they abandon God’s instructions, God will still not withdraw from that relationship, God is still faithful to the covenant, God won’t go back on God’s promises. God’s steadfast love and faithfulness are absolute.

The Psalmist relates God’s words about God’s faithfulness to the covenant.

Common English Bible Psalm 89

35 By my own holiness I’ve sworn one thing:

I will not lie to David.

36 His dynasty will last forever.

His throne will be like the sun,

always before me.

37 It will be securely established forever;

like the moon, a faithful witness

in the sky.

However, it is that certainty of God’s own faithfulness that ultimately causes a problem for the writer of this Psalm. God, forever faithful God, everlasting God, Creator God, God Most High, is, in the eyes of the author, missing. It appears that in spite of that certainty, God is being unfaithful, God has broken the covenant, God has forgotten, or chosen not to, honor the promise to David. So the author levels accusations at God. Memory of God’s good works now pale in comparision to the immediacy of God’s abandonment. Notice that God is not absent. God is still spoken of as the active party. But God’s actions are no longer in favor of the covenant. God has, according to the psalmist, turned on the people of Israel.

Common English Bible Psalm 89

38 But you, God, have rejected

and despised him.

You’ve become infuriated

with your anointed one.

39 You’ve canceled the covenant

with your servant.

You’ve thrown his crown in the dirt.

40 You’ve broken through all his walls.

You’ve made his strongholds

a pile of ruins.

41 All those who pass by plunder him.

He’s nothing but a joke to his neighbors.

42 You lifted high his foes’ strong hand.

You gave all his enemies

reason to celebrate.

43 Yes, you dulled the edge of his sword

and didn’t support him in battle.

44 You’ve put an end to his splendor.

You’ve thrown his throne to the ground.

45 You’ve shortened the prime of his life.

You’ve wrapped him up in shame.

The second half of this psalm is the polar opposite of the first. In the beginning, it is God’s faithfulness that is celebrated. In the end, God is accused of being a traitor, a turncoat. And while these are harsh words leveled against God, can we really blame someone who sits in the ruins of what was once the thriving nation of Israel and is now powerless, controlled by another, people carted off to the four corners of the earth, can we blame that someone for being mad at God. Its easy to hear this psalm in that context. And in the hundreds of years between the destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple and the birth of Jesus, I can hear this psalm being read and repeated by generation after generation who know of the stories of the goodness of God on behalf of the people of Israel but have not seen it themselves. And as those years become decades and then centuries, the words “How long O Lord” are appropriate. They are stuck, waiting for God to fulfill that promise, hope filling them as they remember the goodness of God, and then frustration taking over as they look around, the stark difference betwee those two things driving them to cry out to God, clinging to hope in spite of all the evidence otherwise. And they wait.

And so we wait. We are, in many ways, not in any different a place than those who trusted in God in the time before Jesus. We know the stories of the goodness of God and yet we are daily reminded that evil still exists, that the world is not as we would wish, that “good” doesn’t always win. “How long, O Lord,” are our words too as we see the places where we believe God should act in a specific way and instead see inaction. It can be maddening to believe in a God who has the power to “fix it” and chooses not to- an experience well known to the author of this Psalm. And yet we still choose to believe. Our faith is decided by what we see. Instead, we trust. We trust in God. We trust that all will be made new. We trust that all will be set right. And we place our hope in the will and work of God, even when we can’t identify what that is. We choose Hope.

The invitation this morning is to choose hope in spite of the chaotic, and often depressing world we live in.

Post Invitation- read

26 When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, 27 to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” 29 She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. 31 Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. 33 He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. 36 Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. 37 Nothing is impossible for God.”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. 36 Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. 37 Nothing is impossible for God.”

38 Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

38 Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her

And so we hope...