Wait Upon the Lord

In Psalm 27, we see David writing about coming through trials by the grace of God. Remember David spends much of his young life fleeing a murderous King Saul. His wife is taken from him to be given to another man. Priests who help David are murdered by Saul. A city David delivers from possible enslavement betrays him to Saul. He lived in what shelter he could find in woods and in caves. Later, David would have to flee from Absalom, usurping the throne. Time and again, David faced distress, trials, and discouragement.

Among all of this, we have Psalm 27, where David calls God his light and salvation. David asks, in verse 1, who he should fear. He expresses confidence in God’s deliverance and ultimate salvation. He trusts in God’s protection, and he sings praises to the God in whom he trusts. David calls on God to never hide from him or forsake him. Where all others may turn from David, he trusts in the God of his salvation. He concludes by admonishing any reading this psalm to wait on the Lord and take courage in Him.

David’s Patient Trust

In the first six verses, David declares his trust in God. His focus is on God’s house, His temple, His tabernacle. David expresses a desire to be where God is, and, in faith, he looks forward to that reunion with his Lord. Verses 7-12 then expresses the difficulties David faces in his faith. He pleads for God’s continual presence, knowing difficulties surround him at every turn.

Finally, verses 13-14 conclude with ultimate confidence. Wait on the Lord. This is the difficult part, for we are creatures that like instant gratification. We are a culture of instant rice, same-day delivery, and ten-minute oil changes. We do not like to wait, but, when it comes to God, we must be patient, for He is patient with us.

A Fellowship with God

Waiting on the Lord requires continued fellowship with God. In I John 1:6-7, we have fellowship with God, one to another, when we walk in the light, when we follow His ways, the path He set out before us. This is built upon a life of prayer. I Thessalonians 5:17-18 calls on us to pray continually. We see this in David’s life, in thanksgiving, in praise, in petition, in repentance. In all things, David would turn to God. For us to have fellowship with Him, we must continually turn to Him.

Maintaining our fellowship with God takes continuous effort. Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 4:6, Hebrews 6:1 – these verses and more highlight the effort it takes to maintain our relationship with God. We have to stay in the fight. Remember Elijah, in I Kings 19, when Jezebel puts a price on the prophet’s head. Elijah flees to Mount Horeb where God appears in a quiet voice, pushing Elijah to continue his work and to prepare others to participate in that work. Elijah’s work lasted his whole life and extended beyond it. His relationship with God was a continual effort, and ours is as well.

Waiting on the Lord

Once we’ve established that relationship, we have to work with God on His timeline and on His terms. There are some things He simply does not promise us. He never promised to remove our trials. See those under persecution in Acts 4. They do not pray for God to remove all obstacles. Rather, in verse 29, they pray for strength and boldness. Also, God never promised us to make life easy. In fact, we know the Christian life brings trials and difficulties.

The most difficult thing is that God does not have to explain Himself. Remember Job. He asked God for that very thing before being humbled in God’s presence. He has promised, however, to strengthen our hearts and hold us up. James 1:2-3 tells us our trials will make us stronger, and James 5:15-16 shows us those trials equip us to then help others through theirs. Finally, James 4:6-8 promises us that the nearer we draw to God, the nearer He will come to us. Like David, we can turn to God in all things, growing closer to God while facing our trials, looking to a future with Him. As David writes in Psalm 28:6, we can trust in Him, bless Him, and pray Him. He is the Rock of our salvation.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Second Mile Thinking

Say you are driving your dream car (let’s say a two-seater sports car) and stopped at a stoplight, where you see three people standing in a torrential downpour. One is an elderly lady having chest pains, your best friend who saved your life in college, and you dream girl or guy. This is not a scenario unique to me; it comes from various job applications, and one answer went this way: “I would let my best friend drive the elderly lady to the hospital while I stood in the rain with the girl/guy of my dreams.”

Inconveniencing self is a concept to which we are not easily attuned. Very few applicants who see this question think to give up the car. We limit our own options based on things we view as nonnegotiable. Of course, we would remain driving the two-seater. Therefore, we think we can only help one in this scenario. We don’t see how a bit of self-sacrifice creates a better solution.

Going An Extra Mile

Matthew 5:38-45 embodies second mile living. In this sermon on the mount, Jesus encourages His audience and us to be merciful, even to those who would wrong us. Jesus says to go above and beyond in our service and grace toward others. He tells us to exceed expectations, and the reason is found in verse 45 – that we may reflect the nature of our Heavenly Father.

What if God did not have a second mile way of thinking? How would He have viewed Creation? How would He view our shortcomings and rebellions? Where would the plan of salvation be? Remember Romans 5, reminding us that God loved us when we were most unlovable and then gives of Himself sacrificially to stand in our place. Also be mindful of II Peter 3:9, describing God’s patience, His desire for all to repent and turn to Him in time. I John 1:9 tells us of God’s faithful forgiveness, and chapter 2:1 speaks of our Advocate when we do fall into sin. God has gone the second mile in providing us mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

Luke 5:54, Luke 6:36, I Peter 5:10, I Peter 2:3 – these passages speak to the Lord’s goodness, His graciousness, His mercy, His forgiveness. Where does He draw His line? Where does He say, “Enough is enough?” When does He decide we are unforgivable, beyond hope, or not worth the effort? God goes above and beyond in His mercy toward us. How can we do any less in the mercy we show to our fellow man?

Living God’s Word

James 2:8 calls on us to fulfill the royal law to love each other as ourselves, and he reminds us, in verse 13, that mercy will be deprived of those who live mercilessly. James then goes on to remind us that acknowledging such qualities in God means nothing if we do not live it. Jude 22 reminds us that mercy saves. We are to be merciful as God is merciful (Luke 6:36 again). Then, in Ephesians 4:25-32, Paul tells us to be as forgiving as God is.

Colossians 3:13 tells us to forebear with each other, again reminding us of the forgiveness we should embody. II Timothy 2:24 calls on us to be gentle, avoiding strife with others. Romans 14:19 calls us peace makers and peace keepers. Paul calls on us to pursue peace by calling us followers of it. These verses are not here as filler. They tell us how God views us and how we, in turn, should view others.

Conclusion

This begins by removing selfishness from our minds. Those Romans soldiers expected a commoner to carry their pack one mile. Jesus says to do the unexpected and go two. He calls on us to remove self as a priority, to put others first, to embody mercy and forgiveness, to live peacefully with those around us. How often should we go this second mile? In speaking of forgiveness, Jesus says to Peter that our well of forgiveness should be bottomless in Matthew 18:22. Our reservoir or selflessness and patience should be as deep.

lesson by Tim Smelser

One Step At a Time

There are many principles we follow that make us successful in this world that we can and should be applying to our lives with God. It’s all about the choices we make. At the end of the day, have the choices I made drawn me closer to or farther from God? What motivates us on a daily basis? Until we can understand why we would want to draw closer to God, we can’t fully follow those steps to grow closer to Him.

What does God expect of us? He wants us to be like Him, knowing that, if we are like Him, then we can live in this world without being a product of the world. Romans 12 examines how Christians come together to create something larger than themselves individually. We all respond differently to different situations; we all have different abilities and talents; we all have different roles we can fulfill in His work. He wants us to have the inner character to love as He loves, to be merciful as He is merciful.

Remaining Focused on God

Regardless of the many ways we may be distracted and discourages, we should ultimately be focused on our final goal. Like the gyroscopes of the old Apollo missions that could keep an easily disrupted flight path on target, we should be continually directing ourselves back to the course set before us. James 4:1-10 talks of us continually drawing nearer to God, even when dealing with the problems of this world.

We can focus on our past regrets or on the potential of our future, using that past as a tool with which we can build our future rather than a weapon to tear ourselves down. Galatians 6:7-10 reminds us that we will reap what we sow, but Paul encourages us to avoid growing weary and to keep trying to do what is good. We have to take responsibility for our own paths, but we cannot let the small things add up and build barriers in our way. We can fail many times, but we becomes failures when we begin looking for blame and excuses. We have to continually face those challenges if we are going to find success on the other side.

Small Steps Toward Our Goal

Where do we focus? How do we view our pasts? What happens when we face challenges and discouragements? Those small steps of determination, of purpose, and of direction can give us an edge in following our God. Why do we search Him out? He has already given so much to us. We can determine to draw closer to Him and allow us to lift us up. It just takes small steps – a few second more of prayer every day, another couple chapters of Bible reading.

If we truly believe in the power and salvation in our Lord, then our motivation to follow Him becomes clearer. In Him we can have a goal in mind, and we are all at different points in our spiritual journeys. We should never worry about making our journey slowly; we should only worry if we stop in that walk. We can continue in those small things that can lead to our spiritual success. Like David, in I Samuel 17, we can have confidence in God’s power in our lives, and, no matter how far we go off our course, we can redirect ourselves and resume our Christian walks. We can find time every day to refocus ourselves on God, making small choices that keep our feet directed toward His salvation.

lesson by Donn Koonce

The Christian Journey

We sing a song about a shepherd who goes through pain and agony to find his lost sheep. Every one of us are sheep that have lost our way, and our good Shepherd suffered and died to redeem us. The Christian life after redemption is sometimes called a walk our a path, and Psalm 119 describes God’s word as a light for our feet. We have to consider where we have been and where we are going. We will not reach our destination on accident.

A Walk, A Race, A Journey

Ephesians 4:1 calls on us to walk according to our calling, and chapter 5:1-2 continues by asking us to walk in love. Verse 8 encourages to walk as if in the light, and verse 15 calls upon us to take care in our walk. We are to be circumspect or wise. Paul tells Christians to be careful in how they make the journey set before them.

Hebrews 12:1 speaks of a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, and these should give us strength to lay aside the weights that hinder the race we run. We push forward with endurance, always looking toward Jesus. In I Corinthians 9:24, Paul calls on Christians to run with our incorruptible crown in sight. He encourages Christians to run confidently, knowing the goal toward which we press.

In Hebrews 11:13, the author speaks of those who died in faith, knowing they were strangers and pilgrims while on this world. They seek after an eternal country to call their own, prepared in heaven to be their resting place. God’s children recognize themselves as transient residents wherever they are, always journeying toward another land. In I Peter 1:15, Peter quotes from Leviticus, calling on us to be holy, as God is holy, and he tells us to pass the time of our sojourn in awe and reverence.

Conclusion

Paul says we can run with certainty. Peter expresses confidence in Christ’s redemption. I Peter 1:24, quoting from Isaiah, reminds us that our race is finite. It will come to an end, but God’s word will endure. As we press toward our goal, we should be preparing for the destination. Our Shepherd has died as a Lamb so we can complete our journeys. We should run our race all the harder with that sacrifice in mind.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Waiting for the Lord

Beginning in Psalm 27:1, David praises God’s strength in his life. He expresses confidence in God’s ability to deliver him from various tragedies and difficulties. He expresses his desire to worship his God in joy. The first six verses declare trust and confidence, but the tone changes in verses 7-12 where he entreats God not to hide His face. David expresses fear of those plotting against him, and a study of his life demonstrates the reasons behind those fears.

David’s Life of Adversity
We are introduced to David in his defeat of the Philistine warrior Goliath, but his life becomes more difficult from this point. In I Samuel 21:1-10, David is fleeing for his life, and king Saul murderously pursues him. Those who assist him are murdered in the very next chapter, deaths for which David feels responsible. In chapter 23, David has to flee even after defending a city from the Philistines, and I Samuel 25:44 records Saul giving David’s wife to another man. He is forced to hide among rocks and caves. In II Samuel 15:13-14, King David’s own son Absalom plots against him. David again has to flee for his life. David’s life is full of danger and distress, and he approaches God with these concerns even when expressing his joy in the Lord as he does in Psalm 27.

Psalm 27:13-14 conclude David’s thoughts. Even feeling forsaken by all around him, he sings of his belief that he will again see God’s goodness. He instructs himself and us to wait on the Lord in His time. It is reminiscent of Moses comforting the Israelites before the Red Sea when he calls upon them to be still. It is a lesson of patience and fortitude, and it is often difficult to be patient. Wait for the Lord.

Trusting in the Lord
What does it meant to wait for the Lord? It is about trusting in God and looking to Him for answers. When Moses called upon the people of Israel to be still, he wasn’t calling upon them to remain inactive. He was calling upon them to remain calm and be ready to respond when God’s deliverance was made available. There are some things we must do if we are waiting on the Lord.

• Continual Fellowship with God. I John 1:6 encourages active involvement in our relationship with God. If I am looking to God, I must be in communion with Him.
• Constant prayer. I Thessalonians 5:17 calls upon us to pray continuously. We pray to God in good times and in bad. We speak with our God regularly to help maintain that relationship He desires.
• Remain in His presence. The entire book of Hebrews warns against the dangers of drifting away from God. Chapter 2:1, 4:16, and 6:1 call us to draw near to God, so we may trust in Him.
• Stay in the fight. I Kings 19 sees Elijah in fear of his life (much like David is time and again), and verse 18 records God reminding Elijah that he is not alone.
  

In His Time; In His Way
We have to be patient with God and remind ourselves that His time is not our time. God has never promised He will remove our trials, nor has He promised to make life easy. He may not even let us know the reason for our trials, but He has promised that our trials would make us stronger. James 1:2-3 tells us the testing of our faith produces endurance. In James 5:16, the author writes that our prayers for each other work, and we can better comfort one another if we have been prepared to do so through our own. Finally, God promises these trials will draw us nearer to Him. James 4:8 says that God draws nearer to us when we draw near to Him.

Like David, we can grow spiritually when facing the trials of this life. We can find peace and strength in Him. We can wait for God with the hope that we will dwell with Him forever in His house.

lesson by Tim Smelser