“In His Word I Hope”
Key Text: Psalm 130:5-6; Lamentations 3:21-26; Luke 1:26-38
Psalm 130:1-8 (ESV)
Psalm 130:5-6 (ESV)
5I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
The Psalms puts us at the intersection of God’s time and our time.We remember the past of God’s faithfulness; we anticipate the future of God’s promises, and we hope while we are in the present.
As surely as the sun rises, our God is faithful
Patience is a fruit, not a gift. It is a fruit borne from abiding in Jesus. Patience is the fruit borne from learning to live in God’s time.
Waiting exposes our unhealthy desire for control and self-satisfaction.
What do we do in the meantime, in the night while we wait for dawn? We pray. Prayer strengthens our relationship with God and develops in us the trust and the patience to wait on His timing.
“Waiting” – qavah – to tie together, to be entwined
What are we being “bound together” or entwined with while we are waiting? The Word of YHWH that we can trust.
Lamentations 3:21-26 (ESV)
As surely as the sun rises, our God is faithful
Luke 1:26-38 (NLT) In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Conclusion
God is faithful to His Word. What He has promised, He will deliver on. Jesus is the proof of His faithfulness to His word.
Hebrews 10:23 (ESV) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
No matter what kind of “night” or “depths” you are currently in, it will not last forever. No night is forever. God’s light has broken into the darkness in Jesus. The sun will rise. We can have hope in the midst of dark times because just as the sun rises, so our God will be faithful. And so we trust Him.