Sermon Psalm 130 - Waiting

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Psalm 130 - Waiting
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
August 9, 2009

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This morning we will be talking about waiting. We all know what waiting is all about because we wait for things all the time. Sometimes we wait with expectation that something will happen. Sometime we have important responsibilities while we wait. And sometimes we just wait filled with either despair or hope. But the important thing is not whether or not we wait, but for whom are we waiting because only when we are waiting for God do we have hope. Before we look at what the Bible says about waiting lets pray.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

(A song while ascending the stairs of the temple) Out of the depths, I cry to you, Lord God. Master, hear my voice. Let your ear be attentive to the sound of my pleading. I you would keep watch over sin. O Lord, Master, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord God. My soul waits, and in His word I wait. My soul waits for the Lord God in the morning: those who wait in the morning. Let Israel wait for the Lord God. For with the Lord God there is faithfulness and goodness. And many will be ransomed. And He will ransom Israel for all iniquity. (Psalm 130 – my translation)

Psalm 130 is a prayer from someone who is waiting for God. This concept of waiting is so important that the Hebrews would sing this psalm as they waited to ascend the steps of the temple to come into the presence of God during the Passover celebration. Psalm 130 has also been used by Christians during Lent and Holy Week as they wait for the glorious celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. And certainly the 130th psalm has been prayed by countless people of God throughout the centuries as they waited for God to deliver them from their distresses.

Before I came to California I rarely waited for anything. I was constantly on the go putting 40,000 miles on my car every year visiting clients and prospects and suppliers for my business. But staying busy, I found, does not prevent you from waiting. I had to wait until I was 49 to find a wife. And I made God wait nearly 50 years until I finally realized my calling to be a pastor.

Since I became a pastor waiting has, for me, taken on a new meaning. As I visit people in hospitals and nursing homes I realize that waiting is all many people have to do. People in hospitals and nursing homes deal with the endless hours of waiting by watching television and reading. They welcome visits from the pastor, family or church members because it makes an hour or so pass a little more quickly. That is why we as church should visit the shut-ins frequently to help them pass their time.

We wait in three ways, according to Psalm 130, which uses three different Hebrew words that all essentially mean “to wait”. But they have subtle differences in meaning. These are: waiting with an expectation, waiting with a responsibility, and waiting with hope. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Often when we wait we expect that after waiting something will happen. Each day I wait for Grace to come home. I fully expect that she will arrive around 6 and we will have dinner together. This expectation is usually met as she comes home at the appointed time. There are other times I wait with expectation. I wait two weeks expecting a paycheck and it comes. I wait until noon each day expecting lunch and I eat.

Sometimes we wait expecting that something bad will happen. We wait at the hospital expecting a loved one to die at any time. We wait expecting the pink slip to arrive on our desk any day telling us that our job is gone. We wait for the bills that come relentlessly each month. We wait for the final words spoken in a relationship that has gone all wrong. And when these things happen we wait expecting that God will come to redeem us from our pain. So ultimately when we wait with expectation we are actually waiting for God to act in us, for us, and through us. Our expectation, which is always realized, is that we are waiting for God to love us.

In addition to waiting with expectation sometimes we wait with responsibility. Picture the night watchman walking up and down the long corridors and watching the security monitors all night long. The night watchman is hired to wait and watch for anything that might go wrong. There are no expectations associated with this waiting. In this example waiting is the watchman’s responsibility.

Each Sunday morning I get here early so that I have some time to get ready for worship. During this time I have a responsibility to pray for the congregation that you will come into the presence of God during worship. I hide somewhere and meditate on the scripture for that morning giving God one last chance to change the message I am about to deliver. I wait each Sunday with the awesome responsibility of calling you to worship God.

I also wait for the telephone to ring knowing that, as a pastor, I have a responsibility to talk with those in need. So I wait for the call that someone is in the hospital, or that someone has died, or that someone has lost their job, or that a relationship is ending. I have no expectations of what might happen as I wait. I just wait because it is my responsibility to wait as your pastor.

You all know about your responsibilities in waiting. You wait for your children to come home, all the while keeping your love for them in your hearts. You wait for the test results from your doctor, maintaining confidence in the midst of uncertainties. You wait for your welfare and food stamps knowing that you have the responsibility to be looking for a job to support yourself.

God waits remembering that it is in his very nature to be faithful and just. God waits for us to repent and turn to him remembering that it is in his nature to forgive sin and offer us mercy. These are the responsibilities God has while waiting and we can be assured that God always fulfills these responsibilities, because God loves us.

So far we have seen two kinds of waiting: waiting with expectations and waiting with responsibilities. There is a third kind of waiting and that is when we have no expectations and no responsibilities. We just wait and there is nothing we can do. We wait for a son to come home after a drunken binge. We wait as disease ravages our bodies. We wait as unemployment empties our bank accounts. We wait to die.

When we wait with no responsibilities and no expectations our waiting may become unbearable. We fear the unknown. We imagine the worst. We fall into depression and despair. And when this happens, all we can do is to cry out to God. Jesus experienced this kind of waiting and he cried out from the cross, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” All we have during this kind of waiting in our hope in God. We are sustain by our belief that God is faithful, that God loves us, that God is merciful and forgives us, that God has the power to end our waiting, and that God has given us his own son so that we would never have to wait alone.

Over 25 years ago now, I experienced the death of my mother. When that happened I had to wait for what was to come, wait for changes in my family, and wait for changes in my life. I waited to see what would happen on birthdays and holidays. I waited to see where we would be on Thanksgiving. I waited in grief not knowing what to expect and not knowing what to do. But I did wait in hope that God would take care of me because I was assured that God loved me very much. And since hope in God was all I had I decided to change my life. I started to attend worship every Sunday. God had waited for me for ten years while I didn’t have time for church. But when I found myself at my lowest point God filled me with hope and directed me to worship. I can see now that God was using this experience to pull me back into the faith I had left and prepare me for the challenges ahead.

You see, when we are at depths of despair, God is still faithful and is waiting with expectations for us and with responsibilities to redeem us.

As Christians we wait in hope that one day the Kingdom of God will be fully realized. We have the expectation as we wait that Jesus will come again in glory to rule in justice and righteousness. And we have the responsibility while waiting to pray, meditate on scripture and worship God.

So as you wait, remember your responsibility while waiting to read your Bible, pray and worship God every day. This will help you to set your expectations high with the hope that God will redeem you with mercy and love. While waiting always hope in the Lord for your salvation and rest in the assurance that God loves you.

Lord Jesus, we wait for your return. We don’t know when that will be, but we are confident that it will happen. As we wait help us to fulfill our responsibility to worship God in prayer and study of your Word every day. Fill us with expectations of the coming kingdom. And be with us as our savior as we wait. All of this we pray with you, your spirit, and your Father. Amen.