Waiting On God Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

God Alone Saves Us (vs 1-4).

God Alone Encourages Us (vs 5-8).

God Alone Rewards Us (vs 9-12).

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• A man out shopping with his wife ended up in a large department store.

• They had already purchased a piece of luggage and a picnic hamper.

• As he was waiting for his wife to finish the rest of her shopping;

• He dragged the luggage and hamper around with him to the shoe department.

• There a sales assistant asked if he could be of assistance.

• “No, thank you," he replied. “I’m just waiting for my wife."

• At that point, a man behind him said,

• "I’m waiting for my wife, too,

• But I never thought of bringing a lunch and an overnight bag with me."

• TRANSITION: I would probably be correct in saying;

• That most people do not like waiting.

• Even in our modern age of conveniences, waiting is still a big part of life.

• When we think of waiting, what comes to mind?

• We wait three days for a cheque to clear;

• We wait at least two hours when checking in at an airport terminal,

• We wait in a doctor’s waiting room,

• We wait in line at the supermarket,

• We wait stuck in rush hour traffic.

• The facts are, most of us are waiting for something most of the time:

• And if we are honest we do not like waiting!

A key feature of this psalm is to “wait on the Lord.”

• Verse 1&5: The psalmist finds ‘rest’ because he is “waiting on the Lord”.

• And the rewards of ‘waiting’ on God are;

• Verse 1; “Salvation” in the psalms this word often means: “help in distress”.

• And verse 5: “Hope”.

• And verse 8 tells us to wait on him continuously: “Trust in him at all times”.

• That is the secret to knowing his ‘help in distress’ & ‘hope’ for the future.

• Yet, waiting is one of the most difficult pieces of advice in the Bible;

• It runs against human nature.

• Because, as a part of fallen humanity,

• We are so prone to take matters into our own hands, to follow our own schemes.

• Yet, over and over again we are told in Bible “wait on the Lord.”

Ill:

• There is a pun that says:

• “Wait? That’s what made the bridge collapse!”

• TRANSITION: Of course, that’s weight: W-E-I-G-H-T, not wait: W-A-I-T.

• But then these two words, weight and wait are not always unrelated;

• Because one of our needs in waiting on the Lord;

• Is the need to cast the weighty (heavy) burdens of life on Him.

Ill:

• A missionary was driving his pick-up truck along a long, dry, dirt track.

• As he drove down the road he noticed an old man walking down road;

• This old man was weighed down by a huge back pack full of crops to sell at the market.

• The missionary pulled up in a pickup truck and pointed to the man with the heavy load;

• To jump on the back.

• The man raised a hand in appreciation and climbed on board.

• As the missionary drove away he looked in his rear view mirror to check the man was ok;

• To his surprise the man was sitting on the back of the truck;

• But had not unhitched his heavy load;

• So despite the perfect opportunity to find rest and relief he was still carrying his burden.

• TRANSITION: Too many of us carry around burdens that we can actually cast off;

• But for that to happen we need to ‘wait on the Lord’.

• Those people who learn to wait on the Lord’;

• Will experience his ‘help in distress’ & ‘hope’ for the future,

Note:

• The main theme of the psalm is the right and wrong objects of faith.

• If we trust in God, we’re secure – he is ‘a rock’ ‘a fortress’.

• If we trust in men or in things,

• We are in deep trouble because we are depending on that which is lighter than breath.

• (verse 9).

• The psalm falls into three stanzas;

• Verses 1-4, verses 5-8 and verses 9-12.

• The first two stanzas end with “Selah.”

• Asking the reader to ‘stop and reflect’.

(1). God Alone Saves Us (vs 1-4).

“Truly my soul finds rest in God;

my salvation comes from him.

2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.

3 How long will you assault me?

Would all of you throw me down –