I want you to take your Bibles
and turn back with me to Psalm 27. As David said, I'm talking about
this David, not King David. Last Thursday was the 20th anniversary
of me, I preached my first message on the 20th of July and 2003,
I got here a few days before on the 16th, but I thought, and
it was brought back to my attention last Wednesday that I did preach
out of this passage. First message I preached here
was out of 27, verse 14. And I thought on that, and I
mused on that, and I thought, I want to look at that passage
of scripture again 20 years later. And let's just, let's just look. Verse 14, Psalm 27, 14. Wait
on the Lord. Be a good courage. And he shall
strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. David, in this precious Psalm,
King David. had said in verse four, he said,
one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. One thing I thought about what
the Lord said concerning Martha. Whenever Mary, her sister, the
two sisters of Lazarus, Mary was sitting at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ and she heard his word. Martha came up to the
Lord and she said to him, Would you tell my sister to help
me? You tell her to help me. That
paraphrasing, but that's what she said. And the Lord said. Concerning Mary. Martha Martha. You're cumbered
by much Sir. Mary has chosen. One thing that's needful. What
was Mary doing? She was listening to what the
Lord had to say. And the Lord said, she's chosen
that good part. That's the good part. And it's
not going to be taken away from her. You know, this is the desire
of God's people. David said, one thing have I
desired of the Lord, And that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in His temple. Now that's the desire
of every redeemed, regenerated sinner. They want to hear what God has
to say. They want to be where He's been
pleased to meet with His people. He said where two or three are
gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of you. Now
where the gospel of God's free grace, sovereign grace, all the
glory goes to the Lord. salvation. Man gets none of it. Man gets none of the glory. For
two or three are gathered together in my name. He said, I'm there. To be in his presence. This is
what David wanted. This is the one thing I desire
of the Lord. And he said, I'm going to seek
after it. I'm going after that. I want to be where he is. I want
to be where his people are. I want to be where he's honored.
I want to hear his word. I want to partake of his blessing. David said, I want to behold
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. I got
to thinking on that. I'm going to get to verse 14,
the second Lord willing. He said, to behold the beauty
of the Lord. How do you behold the beauty
of the Lord? Look around. Behold the beauty of the Lord
as we behold the mercy of God to call out a people of His eternal
affection and love. Look around. Now, not one of
God's sheep is gonna say, well, look at me. No, they're all gonna
say, don't look at me, look at them, look at her, look at them.
Don't look at me. But where you find a people of
God's choosing that have been drawn together saved by the grace of God, robed
in the righteousness of Christ. And they don't put any confidence
in themselves. You're beholding the beauty of
the Lord to do that which only the Lord can do. We behold the
beauty of God as we contemplate the mercy and the compassion
and the grace of God in the lives those that have come together
to worship Him. Look around and behold the infinite
riches of His grace to save a people, a people that the Lord Jesus
Christ laid down His life for, His sheep. Drawing them out of
the darkness of sin and unbelief and making them willing in the
day of His power and keeping them Some of you folks have been here
virtually all your life. I'm not saying you were converted
all your life, I just said you've been here. Those of you that
were raised up in this church, sat under a faithful preacher
of the gospel of God's grace, God Almighty would put you here
and keep you here, gave you some parents that told you, you're
coming. And by the grace of God, you're
still here. That's the beauty of the Lord. He said, I'm not
going to leave you, I'm not going to forsake you. What is that? That's His beauty, not ours. David said, this one thing I've
desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. He wished to seek
instruction and obtain light from the Spirit of God and to
do and be in that place where the Lord has raised up public
worship of truth. Truth! The truth that sets men
and women free to hear the gospel. Listening to a man that God has
raised up that knows he's but dust, but is a sinner pastor. I'm going to give you pastors
after my heart, and they're going to teach you. That's the beauty
of the Lord. David said, that's what I want.
That's what I want. I want that. I want to be there. By the grace of God, with these
precious truths set forth from the heart of this vessel of God's
mercy, the Spirit moved David to pen then in verse 14. He said,
wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. at capital
O, capital R, capital R, capital O-R-D, L-O-R-D. Wait on the sovereign Jehovah. Wait on Jehovah. Wait on him
that chose us by grace, Christ who redeemed us by grace, the
spirit of God who powerfully calls us out of darkness by grace. Wait on the Lord. Try you and God of covenant grace. Be of good courage. He shall
strengthen thy heart. Wait on the Lord. Now, as I was
reading that wait on the Lord, let me just tell you how my mind
works. How do we wait? Wait on the Lord, okay. How do we wait? Well, what's
the scripture say? I can tell you this from the
scriptures, we wait prayerfully, don't we? We're waiting. When we say wait, it's to expect,
to expect, to expect, wait on the Lord. We wait prayerfully. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without
ceasing. You know, this blessed grace,
and privilege is given unto the Lord's needy people. When he calls to them out of
darkness, turn to Acts 9. I'm gonna show you something.
Acts chapter 9. I'm gonna read verses 10 to 12.
Acts 9, 10 to 12. You know, Saul of Tarsus was
a religious Pharisee. He was religious. He was religious. He was lost, just lost. He was
religious, but lost. And without a doubt, he went
through the rituals of his formal prayers, but after the Lord powerfully
saved him on the road to Damascus and sent him to be instructed
by a God-called preacher, listen to what the Lord said to that
preacher. Acts 9, verse 10 to 12, there was a certain disciple
at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias. And he said, behold, I'm here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the street
which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas
for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth and has
seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting
his hand on him that he might receive his side. You know, you know when a man
or a woman will pray when God Almighty reveals himself to him. Until then, we don't know it. We don't know it. This is life
eternal. They might know the only true
God. Beloved, the scriptures bear out, that
God's people pray. They pray. He's instructed us
to pray. He said, when you pray, get into
your closets, get along with the Lord, pray as he providentially
guides our walk. But you know, as we're going
through the day, right now, I'm standing here trying to preach. trying to preach the message
concerning these scriptures. But you know, prayer is of the
heart. I could be crying out to the
Lord, which I am. Lord, help me here. Lord, help
me. We're made to consider our need
to call upon the Lord. He alone who hears. Pray without sin. Prayerfully,
prayerfully. Wait, secondly, trusting Him
by faith. Wait, trusting Him. Now, I know
that waiting seems to many to be inactivity, but waiting on
the Lord doesn't mean that we're inactive inside, but rather we
go trusting the Lord to direct our paths. Proverbs 3, 5, Trust
in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. So how do we wait? We wait trusting
Him. Is He going to work all things
after the counsel of His own will? Yeah. Yeah. How do you
know? He said He would. Well, what
are we going to do? Well, we're going to trust Him.
I can't change it. He gonna do what he wants. Lord,
you do what you will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth. I wanna trust you. We know that he's working these
things for his glory and for the good of his people. I know
that. So when we wait, we're waiting,
we're expecting. Remember that word, expect. We
wait patiently, patiently. Psalm 37 says, rest. In the Lord. Now here's a word
that you don't really understand it until you look it up. Rest,
it means be silent. Be silent. Rest in the Lord,
be silent. Waiting in confidence, be silent.
Wait patiently. Psalm 37 said wait patiently
for him. Wait patiently. What does that
mean? Being made to bear. Everything that comes our way.
is according to his goodwill, his providence. Wait patiently
for him, fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his
way, because the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Wait
patiently. The Lord's timing is certainly
not according to our dictates, our wishes, but rather, turn
with me to Exodus 14, I'm gonna show you something. His timing
is not according to our thoughts. If he chooses to bring us through
great affliction, it's for our good. Exodus 14. Listen to this. Now this is we
wait patiently. Moses said while the people were
standing right there on the brink of the Red Sea and the Egyptians
were behind him, Moses said unto the people, fear ye not. Here's a tough thing right here.
Stand still. Stand still. And see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians
whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more
forever. How do we wait on the Lord? Patient. Patient. Yeah, but what if What are you going to do? You
find yourself in a state that you can't do anything about.
You can't change it. What are we going to do? We're going to wait, stand still,
patient, quiet. Oh, may he grant us grace to
accept the lot. He has chosen for us to stand
in the liberty wherewith he's made us free. Saying in our heart,
Lord, not my will. It's yours to be done. Wait. Thankfully, thankfully. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, in everything. I wonder if that word everything
means everything. In everything, give thanks. You mean the good things? I mean
good things, right? Everything give thanks, for this
is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. We're to be thankful for all
that the Lord has done for us, done for us in Christ. I said,
listen, He chose us in His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed
the sheep, the chosen, the remnant. He's redeemed us. He's taught
us through these scriptures. He's led us by his spirit. And now we thank the Lord that
he's given us a heart to wait. Lord, that which you've done
for me, give me a heart to be thankful that I do have a heart
to wait. They that wait upon the Lord,
those that expect from him, shall renew their strength. They're
gonna show newness as a flourishing tree, is what it actually means,
like a tree cut off. Just looks like a stump. What's
left there? Nothing, just a stump. Well,
you wait till the spring. Let's see what that stump does.
If it's still alive, you know what it's gonna do? Little branches gonna start sticking
out, little leaves all over. They that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles, as having the strength as eagles, what it's saying.
They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
I heard Brother Henry say one time, Lord's people may tire
in the gospel, but they'll never tire of it. They're gonna run,
they're not gonna be weary. They're gonna walk, they're not
gonna faint. And then we wait, watching, watching. Turn to Luke
12, Luke chapter 12. Luke 12, 35 to 37. Wait, watching for the Lord.
That's what we're doing right now. Luke 12, 35. Let your loins be girded about,
and your lights burning, and you yourselves, like unto men,
that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding,
that when He cometh and knocketh, they may open unto Him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto
you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meet,
and will come forth and serve them." Brethren, we're watching for the Lord.
We're waiting. We're waiting on the Lord, waiting
patiently, waiting by faith, waiting patiently. prayerfully,
trusting, and we're watching. We're watching. May the Lord
prepare us to be ready at all times to leave this world and
enter into his rest that he's prepared for his people. He's
got to rest. I'm telling you right now, this life is but a vapor. You can be standing here right
now. I can be standing right here. It has gone through my
mind before, Neil. I thought, if the Lord just withdrew
life from me, I'd collapse right here. Everybody would be a gas
and run down here. But if God is taking me, I'm
gone. I'm gone. We wait on the Lord, watching. We don't know when He's coming
back. We don't know when He's going
to call us home. We don't know the hour. I'm telling
you right now. Be ready to die. Brother D. Parks just went through
a kind of a long deal. Lord's pleased to take him. And
it was it was expected. It was expected. But then there's
times when it wasn't expected. And it was over. Be always ready, be awake. to the fact that life is a vapor. When he returns, all that's needful,
he will supply. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the
Lord. Amen. All right, Gary.