Why Wait for the Lord? is a sermon teaching us to be patient and wait on God instead of trying to do it our own way. God helps us, but wait for His perfect timing.

Let’s take our Bibles, and let’s go to Psalms, the 40th Psalm, this evening, Psalm 40. And unlike this morning, we’re not turning to any pages besides where we’re at this evening, Psalm 40. My voice isn’t as bad as this morning when it was at brother Pete’s level, I think. It’s raised a little bit since then. But Psalm 40. This evening, I want us to look at the title “Why Wait for the Lord?”.

Waiting on the Lord

By way of introduction in Psalm 40, many people do not like to wait. You think to just go drive. Yes, there are some people who don’t like the wait. There are certain times in which we just don’t want to wait for something. Whatever it is, it could be a line, could be in line, it could be whatever the case is, you name it. Sometimes, we just don’t like the wait.

We tend to have this fast-food mentality. When it comes to certain things, when we go to fast food restaurants, what do we expect? The food to be right there. We get to the drive-through window, and we get to the pickup line. You want that food as soon as you roll your window down. Then we get disappointed when it’s not there.

But the Bible tells us to wait on the Lord, and this passage here mentions it. It even gives an extra, shall I say, that’s not probably even an adjective, more of a description of waiting. It kind of gives us a double wait in a sense.

This evening, I want us to look at what the psalm says about waiting on the Lord and see why we should wait for the Lord. Psalm 40, verse number one, the Bible says these words, David writes:

Psalm 40:1: “(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

I submit to you this evening God will answer us. God will answer. God will do His work when we are a patient. Now, can God do something quickly? Absolutely. But I think when we wait, I think He’s more bound to give it to us even better than what we anticipated.

So, “waiting on the Lord,” is mentioned all over the place in the Bible.

Isaiah 40:31: “(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

Psalm 27 talks about waiting on the Lord:

Psalm 27:14: “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

There are a lot of passages in the Bible that talk about waiting, and it is a good thing to wait. You think, “You don’t know, you don’t know what I’m going through. I need it right now.” No, you might need it now, but God will want it in His time. Now, we look at the clock at 6:29, and so we anticipate, or you anticipate, that I’ll be done by 6:50 and we’ll be done. We’ll pray, we’ll finish the service, and you’ll be out by seven o’clock. Now, we did start 10 minutes late. So, I do have ‘till seven o’clock and then 10 minutes after that. But I’m sure, I’m sure, we’ll be done way before that.

But people wait for things all the time. You wait for that game to come on if you’re a sports fan. You wait for that certain event to take place, a wedding to take place, or whatever it is, to take place. You have to wait in line, as much as it’s hard to do, especially when the person in front of you is taking that grocery item and slowly taking it out of the cart, putting it on to the conveyor belt, then pats the item, and then goes in and takes, etc. I’ve seen this before. I worked at grocery stores for 18 years. And the next thing comes out. Oh, and then it fell down, and then there’s a spill. I bet you’ve been behind one of those people before. You think, come on, come on, pick it up.

Why We Should Wait

But the Bible tells us to wait, and let’s look at that. There are some reasons for waiting in verses one through three. The Bible says this first one, “I waited patiently.” Notice the words that are there. David says:

Psalm 40:1: “(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

“I waited,” – I held on, I waited, I was waiting, and I was doing it patiently. They kind of go together, “waited patiently for the LORD.” We’re bound to Him. We expect that He will answer him. How is that? “And he inclined unto me,” – He bent, He stretched, He listened, He wanted to hear what we were saying. Again, God can hear anybody at any time. I mean, everybody prays to Him. I hope everybody prays to Him every day.

If there are at least, let’s say round numbers, two billion people in the world who are Christians, higher or lower depending on what it is if God can hear all of them and answer their prayers, He can answer ours too. But the thing is that a lot of times, we have this hurry, hurry mentality. How so? Well, sometimes, and okay, this is my age speaking here, but sometimes you want to hurry up and get married. You just want to hurry up, find that person you want, and then just get married to that person. That’s it. But the thing is that we’re told to wait. Wait for the right one.

Dr. Zacharias mentioned the story about that on Friday night, where someone just went too impatiently and ruined their life. One person said in the realm of dating, it’s better to wait and date than to not wait and blow it. There are some true words in that. You want to make sure, those of you who are not married and you feel God’s led you to be getting married, that you’re waiting for the right one. Don’t just take the first person you see and say, “Oh, look at them.”

One of the things is looking out for godly counsel. If other people on the outside see that the thing is going well, then it’s a pretty good sign that maybe God is saying, “Yes, this could be the one.” But if the people outside of me – why? Because you’re so wrapped up in your emotions that you have no idea the signs that could be wrong. So, on the outside, you’re not attached to that.

When Nicole and I started dating, I didn’t notice until the wedding. When you told me this, I didn’t know that he had this thought. But he had looked out one day in the parking lot. Whoever was standing with him, if you’re in the auditorium tonight and it was you, okay, it was you. Yeah, he limped out, and he saw Nicole, and I was at her car back when she parked over there on that side about the third or fourth spot over there. She pulled in pretty quickly. Sometimes, just because she was always getting into church just on time. But I would go over there, walk her to the car and all that, you know, that nice general thing to do. And then I found out at the wedding, and he may have told me up here, I’m not sure. I just forgot about it. But he said I’m going to pray for them. That could be something good, and when you have validation like that.

Those of you who know me, those who’ve been here a while, you know that there has been a desire for me to want to find somebody. But it took 13 years after college to do so. Johnson said his knees hurt so bad because of these events, and I wish I had recorded that, the day that he gave that toast at the wedding vow, so I can remind myself of how much I hurt his knees over that. Those knees were hurting. But what I remember from that was his knees. Well, you know what? It was good to wait. Now, we’ve been married 16 months with many, many more years to come, and we have that nice little squealy kid that you probably hear in the nursery right now. It’s good to wait. It’s good to wait. He says he waited patiently, verse one:

Psalm 40:1: “(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”

He heard me. You know God can hear you. I’m sure I’m talking to the choir tonight, but know that God hears you. He can hear what you’re saying. He knows what you’re going through. I mean, if He can count the number of hairs on your head, He knows your problems and all the other work problems that are going on. But what does he do?

In God’s Time

Verse two:

Psalm 40:2: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

He rescued me from the dreads. Horrible is this destruction, this uproar. The miry, the dreads of the mud that He takes you out of, those sticky spots, and puts you on a new ground and re-establishes you again. He can pull you up out of the mire and set you up new again. But there are times we have to wait. Verse 3:

Psalm 40:3: “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

God gives us joy. People will see Him. They will trust Him. You wait, God will bless. If I think of God this way, in a sense, in relation to prayer, and this could be a bad illustration, but it’s mine, and I’m going to preach it anyway. It could be like a sit-down restaurant where you sit down and you order your food. Now, I’ve had different experiences. Now, this is my personal view. But when I’ve been to more expensive restaurants, I tend to wait a lot longer for my food than if I go to this inexpensive restaurant. That’s just my personal thing. I remember one time I even got impatient. One time, yeah, it happens.

Anyway, I was at this restaurant, and I think we ordered, and it took probably an hour and a half to get our food. Now, you think to yourself, I’m leaving. I was tempted to leave. The struggle was real. I was hungry. And the worst part about it is the food was not good. I’m thinking to myself that I waited here an hour and a half at this pretty upper-scale restaurant that someone donated so that way we can go there. And here I am waiting an hour and a half. This food comes out. We were there for two and a half hours. I’m thinking to myself that I could play golf in two and a half hours and have more fun than waiting for a meal.

But the thing is, when we wait; when we allow God to take the time that He feels is necessary, which God’s timing is always perfect, He’s going to bring us up, out of that horrible pit, out of that miry clay, set my feet upon a rock, establish my goings.

Putting a new song into our mouths and even “praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” That’s what God’s going to do for us.

We Will Be Blessed

What else happens if we wait for Him? Verses four through nine talk about being blessed by Him.

Psalm 40:4: “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

You want to be happy in life. People always say, “I want to find that. I’m searching for happiness.” Well, let’s look at verse number four. “Blessed is that man,” – happy is the man that what? Maketh the LORD his trust. You want to be happy? The verse says it. “Blessed is that man that man that maketh the LORD his trust.” Blessed him. You’ll be happy.

“I don’t see Him.” Do you see the wind? Yes and no. I, you feel the effects of the wind, but you’ve never seen the wind. You feel the effects of an earthquake. Have you actually seen the earth quake? Okay, you may not see God, but you know He’s there.

Verse number four continues, “and respecteth not the proud,” – He doesn’t turn to the proud people – “nor such as turn aside to lies,”- he isn’t going to lie and then do all these terrible things.

Psalm 40:5: “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Many things I could think of about you, God. I can’t remember the amount of good things you’ve done for my life. “If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”

Thinking of blessings that God’s given you, one of them is something we’re all using right now: breath. You breathe. That’s a blessing. Hopefully, it’s not your last breath. But we breathe as a blessing. Every breath we take is a blessing. Your health. If your health is in good shape, that’s a blessing. Many things, that little thing that we can count on, can be a blessing to us. You may be going through a health issue. You may go into a physical struggle. You may be going through a financial issue. But you’re alive. You’re still living. God’s still given you your life. As many things as we can, bless the Lord for.

Be in God’s Will

Psalm 40:6: “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.”

He didn’t require some special means of worshipping Him. He’s saying, “Mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.”

He hasn’t required any time for forgiveness or anything. He just wants to hear from you and wants you to wait for Him. He wants to bless you if you allow Him to do so.

Psalm 40:7: “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,”

Psalm 40:8: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

“I delight to do thy will, O my God,” I would underline that phrase. Do you want to be happy people? I guess, as we mentioned earlier, you want to find happiness in life. Well, what’s eight say? “I delight to do thy will.” You’re in the center of God’s will? You’re going to be happy. Now, a lot of people may fear that. Why is that? Because it may not be the thing that they want. It may not be the thing that they thought it was going to be. But, if you’re in the center of God’s will, you can delight, you can be blessed.

Psalm 40:9: “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.”

Psalm 40:10: “I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”

David’s saying here, “I have shown people that I’m living for you. I’m not hiding anything. I am trying to magnify your name as much as I can.”

Psalm 40:11: “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.”

Allow your lovingkindness to continue to lift me up, to continue to keep me going, is what he’s talking about here. Why is that?

Psalm 40:12: “For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.”

“For innumerable evils have compassed me about.” David had some issues going on around him and to be later in his life because of his sin. He had a family civil war. He had a lot of issues in the second half of his life because of the choice he made to sin. Why? Because David did the reverse. He was supposed to be on the battlefield. He didn’t wait.

If you really think about it, he should have just not even been home and looked at the rooftop and Bathsheba doing what she was doing. David didn’t seek the Lord at that point, and it ruined the second part of his life. It says in verse 12 again, “For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head.”  Sin had taken over. “Therefore my heart faileth me.”

We sin a lot. Don’t let it overtake you to the point where, as we talked about this war, it ruins your fellowship with the Lord,

Psalm 40:13: “Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.”

He says to come help me. Why? Because there’s numerable evils coming upon me.”

Psalm 40:14: “Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.”

He’s saying there to let them be ashamed. Let them be confounded, those who try to come after me and destroy me. Drive them back, push them away, put shame on them. Cause them to feel shameful, the fact that they’re trying to do me in.

Psalm 40:15: “Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.”

I’m gonna make sure I don’t say that, otherwise, there’ll be shame. But he’s saying there in verse 15, let them be desolate, let them be stunned, stupefy those who laugh at me.

God Will Help Us

Psalm 40:16: “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.”

So, now he brings it back to God, brings back the focus to the Lord again. “Let all those that seek thee rejoice.” You seek God, rejoice, and be glad in thee, in God. “Let such as love thy salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified.” What should we do? Magnify the Lord.

There’s a song written, “O magnify the Lord with me and bless His holy name.” And then the verse continues on which I can’t recall right now, but in the chorus as, “O magnify the Lord with me, O magnify the Lord with me, O magnify the Lord with me, and bless His holy name.” Ron Hamilton wrote that.

What’s he saying? Give God, lift Him up, magnify Him, and make Him known. When we wait upon the Lord, we can make God known. Last verse, and we’re going to be finished this evening.

Psalm 40:17: “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”

“But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” You know God thinks about you. You know God cares about you. It doesn’t matter what status you are. He still thinks about you. Then he finishes off with this, these last few phrases, “Thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”

God, you’re my help. You’re the one who can deliver me out of this issue. He delivered him out of the mirey clay and set his feet upon the rock, established his goings, and put a new song in his heart because he prayed to the Lord. He waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Because then he says, “Thou art my help and my deliverer,” verse 17. Then he finishes off with one last phrase, “Make no tarrying, O my God.” It says don’t wait, please don’t wait, don’t wait too long.

So, what do we see here tonight? God can help me. God can help us. We should wait for the Lord. There are more benefits to waiting instead of trying to do it your own way. God helps us, but we should wait for His perfect timing. What does that mean for you and me this evening? It’s pretty simple: wait. I don’t like the wait. Well, what does the Bible say? To wait. Have patience, wait patiently for the Lord, and He will hear you. He knows what he wants to do. He knows how He wants to use you and bless you. But we have to wait.

Again, I don’t like the wait. I like to think that’s going to take forever for it to happen. What does the Bible say? Wait. But I don’t know how I’m going to be able to get this problem solved. Wait. I don’t know how this bill is going to be met. Wait. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to get married. Wait. I don’t know. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. David says, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” We should wait. Are we waiting, this evening?

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Father, I pray and ask as we move into the invitation time of the service, I pray that you would just help us this evening. As we look and as we examine ourselves, Father, I’m pretty certain that the majority have, not all the people in here, are people who have asked you to be their Savior. So, I pray tonight, as the invitation is given, that you would just help us. If we’re not waiting on you for a certain thing that’s in our life, we would pray and ask for us to build our patience, to add to our patience, that we can wait for you and wait for your timing and the things that need to be done.

Father, I pray that you just bless and move in this invitation time, moving our hearts. Help us where we’re struggling. I pray that you would just help us, mold us, mold us into that masterpiece that you want us because, Lord, we need you. Bless the move in this invitation time. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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