with me to the book of Psalms
chapter 40. Psalm chapter 40. I'd like to read verses 1 and
2. Psalm 40, verse 1 and 2. I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined unto me, and
heard my cry. 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." Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for
this evening. We thank you for the privilege
that we have to consider your word. Lord, would you help us to hear.
Help us to worship. Teach us for Christ's sake. Amen. If we would read the rest of
this chapter, He would realize that these are
the words only of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 7. Who could say
this but Him? Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It's written of me. Who could
say but the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 12? For innumerable
evils have compassed me about. My 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."
These words were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. Prophetic
words that would be actually accomplished
in the day of his humiliation. This evening I'd like for us
to look at those first two verses and consider as the Spirit of
God guided the hand and the pen of David to write these words
and speak of the patient sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, He
who was not only the sacrifice, but the sacrificer, the Lamb
and the Priest upon the deity of His altar. I waited patiently for the Lord. If you look in the margin, it
says, in waiting, I waited. He was saying, I continually
waited. The days of his humiliation,
the days in which he walked this earth as the God-man, totally
God, totally man. The scripture says, he continually
waited patiently for the Lord. Now, all of God's people are
commanded to wait on the Lord. Psalm 27 14 says, wait on the
Lord. Be of good courage. And He shall
strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm
37.7 says, Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. That is to say, don't be troubled. Wait patiently on the Lord. But in the words of our Lord
and Savior, when he said, I waited patiently for the Lord. My question is this, whoever
truly waited patiently for the Lord, except the Lord Jesus Christ. That was his characteristic. never entered his heart. Now the meaning of that phrase,
waiting patiently, can only be understood by him who is God. Now we hear that phrase, wait
patiently on the Lord. But let me tell you what it doesn't
mean. It doesn't mean passive inactivity. Now if I think of
waiting patiently, I'm going to stand by and I'm going to
see what's going to happen. I'm waiting. I'm not doing nothing,
I'm waiting, but I'm just waiting. It doesn't mean that at all. Waiting patiently. I looked at
those two words and I thought, one of them is a verb and one
of them is an adverb. And so patiently is describing
waiting. That's right. That's an adverb. Waiting patiently. Surely that's
two words. Two different words. Same word. Same word. Waiting patiently. It means to bind together by
twisting. Waiting patiently for the Lord. I was bound together, twisted
in Him. It means to expect, bound together,
twisted in Him, with Him, expecting. Woven together like a rope. You look at a rope, the way a
rope is made, if you take just one fiber out of that rope, And
it's just one fiber. You know, there's not a whole
lot of strength in one fiber of a rope. But when you notice
a rope and the way it's made and the way it's twisted together,
there's strength. This waiting patiently has to
do with the strength of Him who waited patiently on the Lord. Now you remember, He is the surety. that has everlastingly stood
for His people, the One made flesh, the One who humbled Himself,
the Servant of Jehovah, the Lord's Shepherd, totally man. And in His humiliation, He who
made Himself of no reputation, was totally bound and twisted
as a rope with the Father and Spirit. It sets forth Him to be so gathered
together with the Father, with the Spirit, in absolute dependence
and total supplication while Twisted together. Totally waiting
patiently on the Lord. In the absolute faithfulness
and obedience of the execution of God's will, he said of himself,
I waited patiently for the Lord. His life. was continual unity. Never separated. Never apart. Always in absolute oneness. I and the Father are one. in prayer, continual, waiting
on the Lord. That phrase, waiting patiently,
here again, don't think of passive inactivity. It's total oneness,
total unity, twisted together, even as He was wounded by our
transgressions. bruised for our iniquities as
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He in perfect communion,
perfectly twisted together, delighted to do the Father's will, bound
in oneness when He was despised, rejected of men, a man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief. As if we hid, as it were, our
faces from Him. He waited patiently on the Lord. Always doing those things that
pleased Him. He was the one who did what we
never do. Wait patiently on the Lord. That
which He did is imputed to us. As we're commanded to wait on
the Lord, here's what we do. We believe God. We believe Him
by faith. He did what we could not for
the love that He has ever had for His own. He, in perfect hope,
with firm expectation of complete deliverance by His Father who
would forsake Him. And while being forsaken of the
Father, never did he fail to wait patiently on the Lord. Waiting patiently for Him As
His Spirit was delivered into the hands of Jehovah, as His
holy body was laid in that grave, He waited patiently on the Lord,
knowing that three days later, He was going to be raised from
the dead, twisted together in oneness. He waited patiently
on the Lord, laid down His life gave Himself and believed God. This body is not going to see
corruption. He did that in perfect unity,
knowing that He would be raised from the grave for the justification
of His people. I waited patiently, trusting
by perfect faith. for the Lord. And listen to this,
and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. That word, that phrase right
there, he inclined unto me. The Father bowed Himself. It means to bow down and to lean
forward. He inclined unto me. The Lord Jesus Christ never waited in vain. The Father hearkened, and the
Scripture sets forth, and the meaning is, He placed His ear
to my mouth. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He who took upon Himself
the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, being found
in fashion as a man, the Scripture says He humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And the Father
inclined unto Him. He heard my cry. How amazing! He that was twisted together
in glorious unity of the Father, oneness with the Father. And
there was the servant, the one made sin, united with the Father. And he cried. He said, he heard
my cry as he patiently waited as we should and must in him
And by faith, perfect faith, was heard by the Father for us. On our behalf. And the proof that the Father
heard his cry? Verse 2 says, He brought me up
also out of a horrible pit. The margin says, a pit of noise. He brought me out of that pit,
that pit of noise, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon
a rock and established my goings. Being made sin, he was cast down
under the judgment of Almighty God. And the curse of the law, Turn to Isaiah 38, 17. This is
amazing. Here the Spirit of God reveals what He was cast into. Isaiah 38, 17. Behold, for peace, for the peace that must be established,
between His people and Almighty God. For peace I had great bitterness,
but Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of
corruption. For Thou hast cast all my sins
behind Thy back." Now you think, think what he just said. Whose
sins? He said, My sins. Mine iniquities. That's what Psalm 40, verse 12
says. Mine iniquities. Those sins that
He made to be His own. He who knew no sin. Made sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He said, in love,
you delivered me out of the pit of corruption. His great bitterness
in our redemption was the ground, was the foundation of our peace
before God. And it was His joy. I delight,
He said, to do Thy will, O God. And from that pit of corruption, oh, that which you and I cannot
even enter into, that He suffered, the Father delivered Him. All
of those sins that He bore instead of His people. The Father has
cast them behind His back. Brought me up out of the miry
clay. I told you this before. Years
ago, I'd gone up to Alaska with Don Fortner and a couple of other
fellows. We went out to this lake. It's a lake, and they told
us that the tide comes in so quickly into that particular
lake, that it actually has white caps. It's coming in that quickly.
And if you're not careful, you get out there when the water
is out, tide is out, and you get to walking on that beach
and you start stepping in that clay, and they call it the miry
clay. And they said what happens is,
You get to where you can't get out. It's holding you. The suction
is so great, you can't escape. You can't get away and the water
starts coming in. And if you're not able to get
out, you're gone. He said, you've brought me up
out of that miry clay, that place where there's no foothold. That
place where there's the absence of any comfort. That place where
there is nothing but trouble. And you set My feet upon a rock. This is the Lord speaking. The
Redeemer's work was done. And He who is the rock Himself, we rest upon Him who is the rock. The Scripture says, you set my
feet upon a rock. He who is the rock rests in his
own accomplishment. It was finished. Never to suffer again. This man,
after he had offered, Scripture says, Hebrews 10 and 12, one
sacrifice for sins forever. sat down on the right hand of
God. You set my feet upon a rock. You established my goings. His
goings forth in love toward His people are established. Nothing shall be cut short in
failure concerning the regeneration, the calling, and the eternal
salvation of those that He has eternally loved. and redeemed
and called by His Spirit. John 6.37 says, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. All of His ways are established
by the Father. I waited patiently for the Lord.
He inclined unto me and heard my cry. 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." May the Lord bless
these words to our heart, and now may we eat of His supper
in remembrance of Him who ever, in the days of His humiliation,
waited for the Lord.