Authentic Prayer: Waiting
Psalm 25:1-22
When you become a follower of Jesus, there will be times when you have desires that you lift up to Jesus in prayer, and He answers fairly quickly.
For example, I remember when we were all praying for Mike LeMoine to get a job, and he got a contract job at Apple that became permanent. And a few months ago we were praying that Raj and Scout could get their business visa for Central Asia, and Jesus answered that prayer and they got their business visa.
But there’s also times when followers of Jesus have desires that we lift up to Jesus in prayer, and Jesus does not answer fairly quickly.
Some of you are asking Jesus for employment, and you have not yet had those prayers answered. Some of you are praying for more business, for more sales, for more hours at work, and you have not yet had those prayers answered – at least not at the level you’d like. Some are longing for wayward children to be brought back to Jesus, some are longing for pregnancy or for healing, others are longing for the salvation of a spouse; but God has not answered – at least not yet.
We’ve brought our desires to Jesus, but He has not yet answered. The desire is still there; but Jesus has not answered the prayer. And that’s not easy. It’s hard. We can start to doubt God’s goodness. We can start to feel bitter. We get angry.
So what should we do at those times when we have desires we’ve prayed about, that we’ve brought before Jesus in prayer, but we are still waiting? What should we do?
To answer that let’s turn to Psalm 25. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Psalm 25 is on page 459 in the Bibles we are passing out.
So let’s start by asking what situation was David facing? David gives us a couple hints.
One hint is at the end of v.2. David prays and says: “Let not my enemies exult over me.” So David is facing enemies. Another hint is at the end of v.15, where David says that God will pluck his feet out of the net. So David’s got enemies who are seeking to trap him. He mentions these enemies again in v.19 – “consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.”
So David has been facing many foes, many enemies. They are seeking to trap him. They hate him with violent hatred. And he has been asking God to deliver him from these enemies. But at this point God has not yet delivered him.
So David has a desire that he’s been lifting up to God in earnest and heartfelt prayer – but God has not yet answered that prayer. So David is facing what most all of us face – where we have longings that we’ve prayed about but have not yet seen God answer.
So how does David respond to this? David responds to this by doing what the Bible calls waiting for the Lord. Three times David mentions waiting for the Lord.
There’s v.3, where David says “indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.” There’s the end of v.5, where David says “for you I wait all the day long.” That’s what David is doing all day long – all the time. And then there’s the end of v.21, where David says “for I wait for you.”
When David has a longing that he’s lifted up to God in earnest and heartfelt prayer – and God has not yet answered that prayer – what David does is wait for the Lord.
Now before we look more closely at what that means, let’s think about what we do when we are in a similar situation. What do you tend to do when you have a desire that you’ve lifted up to Jesus, but He has not answered. What are some ways we respond besides waiting for the Lord?
Let me speak for myself. Sometimes I respond by getting discouraged. Sometimes I just want to do something that will be an escape for me – rent a video, lose myself in a book. Sometimes I let my heart become sort of hard towards Jesus.
So get in touch with what you tend to do besides waiting for the Lord. Maybe you call up someone and complain. Maybe you head to Safeway for some Dreyers Triple Chocolate. Maybe you ask the barista to make it a triple shot. Whatever.
But what David does is wait for the Lord. So what does that mean?
What does it mean to wait for the Lord? This is crucial to understand, so let me give you a visual. I’ve asked three volunteers to come up and help me illustrate this.
Sometimes we can think that waiting for the Lord means just waiting -- like waiting for a taxi. We’re just waiting, biding our time, until God does something. That’s this person here, just sitting, biding his time.
But the Hebrew word translated “wait” does not mean just biding your time. It means “to seek with eager expectation.” So if we are just waiting, biding our time, we are not waiting for the Lord.
But sometimes we can take this idea of eager expectation and think that waiting for the Lord means waiting for what I want. That’s this person here, leaning forward, eagerly expecting what he wants. He is waiting on getting the job; he is waiting on getting healed; he is waiting on having his prayer answered. But that’s not waiting for the Lord. That’s waiting for what I want. And that’s a problem because God might not do exactly what I want.
What David is doing is waiting for the Lord. Which means waiting on God to fulfill His promises. That’s this third person, who is leaning forward, reading God’s promises in the Word, eagerly expecting God to fulfill His promises.
God doesn’t always do exactly what we ask. But God does promise to orchestrate everything to bring us great good and Him great glory. He does promise to give us all the wisdom and strength and money we need while we are waiting. He does promise to comfort and satisfy our hearts with His presence while we are waiting.
So let’s have a little review. All three of these people have desires that they’ve lifted up to Jesus in prayer – but Jesus has not yet answered them. Which of them is waiting for the Lord?
This one who is just waiting? No. This one who is waiting for what he wants? No. This one who is waiting on God to fulfill His promises? Yes.
Waiting for the Lord means waiting on God to fulfill His promises – earnestly waiting for and seeking God to fulfill His promises. So how do we go about doing that?
How do we go about waiting for the Lord? As I studied this psalm I saw six aspects of waiting for the Lord.
First, tell the Lord you trust Him. I see that in vv.1-3 --
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Notice in v.1 that waiting for the Lord means lifting up your soul to the Lord in prayer. Waiting for the Lord is something you do in relationship with Jesus; you are talking to Him. And what you are telling Him is in v.2 – that you trust in Him. “O my God, in you I trust.”
Do you ever talk to Jesus this way? David did. And we should. There’s a world of difference between thinking in your own mind “I’m trusting in Jesus” – and talking directly to Jesus, telling Him “I’m trusting in You.” Can you feel the difference?
Now it may be a battle to mean this. So ask God to help you – “I believe; help my unbelief.” Surrender your ideas about what should happen, trust yourself and your desires fully to God, and express this to Him. That’s a crucial part of waiting on God.
And right there in v.3 David mentions a promise that we can eagerly expect God to do – “none who wait for you shall be put to shame.” Trust that promise. If you wait for the Lord, you will not be put to shame. If you wait for the Lord, rely on Him, seek Him, depend on Him, you will never be put to shame.
Second, ask God to teach and lead you. You can see that in vv.4-5 --
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
When we are waiting for the Lord, there’s something we desire that God has not yet given us. And when we are in that situation, there’s lots we can be taught by the Lord. Maybe we need God to teach us how we can be satisfied in Him alone. Maybe we need God to teach us to be patient and trust His timing. Maybe we need God to show us an area of sin in our lives that’s in the way.
While we are waiting on the Lord, there’s lots that God can teach us. So be like David and ask God to teach and lead you. If you ask Him sincerely, He will teach you everything you need to know.
Third, plead God’s mercy for your sin. You can see that in vv.6-7 --
6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!
Another crucial part of waiting for the Lord is remembering our sin and pleading for God’s mercy. Now that Jesus has come we understand that God can forgive us all our sins because of Jesus’ death. And it’s crucial that we remember this.
One reason is that when God has not answered a prayer in the way I want, I can become proud and grumble about what God owes me. But when I remember my sin, I remember that if God gave me what he owes me, what I’d receive would be punishment for my sin. So it helps to plead God’s mercy, because it humbles me before God.
Another reason it helps is because when God has not answered a prayer, I can start to doubt that He loves me. But when we remember our sin, and remember that He punished His own Son so we could be completely forgiven and perfectly loved by Him forever – how can we doubt His love?
Fourth, rest in God’s precious promises. You can see that in vv.8-10 --
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
In vv.8-9 David declares God’s promise to instruct, lead, and teach us – like David prayed earlier. But in v.10 he brings up a new promise --
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
This is an amazing promise – which will bring great comfort to you whenever you have desired something God has not yet given you. The promise is that if you keep God’s covenant and testimonies, if you are trusting God in the person of Jesus Christ, then all of your paths will be full of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.
Even though you don’t have a job yet, the path you are on today is full of His steadfast love and faithfulness. Even if you aren’t healed yet, the path you are on today is full of His steadfast love and faithfulness.
Fifth, let God’s promises strengthen your trust in Him. You can see that in vv.12-15 --
12 Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
Twice David mentions fearing the Lord. Fearing the Lord means fearing what will happen if we turn from Him. And in vv.12-14 David explains what God promises those who fear Him, who do not turn from Him. V.12 – God promises to instruct you in the way you should choose – He will guide you to make the right decisions. V.13 – your soul shall abide in well-being – He will fill and satisfy your soul. V. 14 – you will have friendship with the Lord, intimate experienced relationship with the Lord -- and God will let you experience covenant-relationship with Him.
And as David thinks about these promises His faith is strengthened so that he feels that he will always trust the Lord – as he says in v.15 –
My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
So part of waiting on the Lord is letting God’s promises strengthen your trust in Him.
Sixth, admit your need to God and ask Him for help. Look at vv.16-21 --
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
A crucial part of waiting on God is telling God how you really feel. Notice how David does that: I am lonely and afflicted; my heart-troubles are enlarged; I am distressed. He’s brutally honest about how he’s feeling.
But he doesn’t stop there. He also asks God to help him: be gracious to me, bring me out of my distresses, consider my affliction, forgive all my sins, guard my soul, keep me walking in integrity and uprightness, redeem Israel – me as king and the nation – out of all our troubles.
So admit your need to God and ask Him for help.
Questions?
What does this mean for us?
I would guess that all of us have desires we’ve lifted up to Jesus that He has not yet answered. So let’s all make waiting for the Lord a regular part of our prayer lives. Not just waiting. And not waiting for what we want. But waiting for the Lord – expecting and seeking Him to fulfill His promises to us.