Dear friends, in God's holy word
this morning, I'd ask you to turn to the second psalm that
we read together, number 62, verse 5. Psalm number 62 and verse 5. My soul, wait thou
only upon God. For my expectation is from him. My soul wait thou only upon God. This psalm opens truly or only. My soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. So this Psalm of David speaks to us this morning of
a beautiful testimony, such a sweetness and such a resignation that he
had to the Lord his God. Truly my soul waiteth upon God. and how personal this is and
how personal it is for every single one of us this morning. Each one of us in our individual
lives and us each as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and
witnesses to the living gods. To whom else can we go? To whom
else would we trust? Upon whom else would we cast
our every care? Will you know this morning how
it is with you? You know what it is like in your
life and in your soul. Does your soul truly wait upon
God? Do you wait and this waiting
here is to be silent. Silent doesn't mean to be lazy
or lethargic or to sit back and take our ease and just to see
what will or will not happen in a particular way or matter. David doesn't mean that. Waiting upon God. Resigned. submissive. God is the eternal God who knows
everybody's life in every minute and single detail. There is nothing that God does
not know about you and about me. He knows our thoughts, he knows the worries, he knows
the cares, he knows the burdens, He knows the struggles and the
troubles and the trials. You see, we're not the only ones
that gather together here this morning before God. Many countless
thousands, millions in this country and throughout the earth that do not, will not have God
in their life, full stop. They don't want anything to do
with him. But the sad and the solemn thing is they use the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ in blasphemy and they will use
God as if it's just some ordinary name. But they have no expectation
in God. They wait, and very often people
will say to you, I'm waiting for the lottery numbers to come
up. All they're waiting for is wealth, and perhaps a bit of
fame. They want a bit of ease, a bit
of comfort in their life, trouble-free, carefree, worry-free, free from
illnesses, and they'll just quite happily bob along in their life. We know that it is not possible to have real happiness
and joy and comfort and love upon this earth without God. If we are upon this earth living
our life Without God, we will end up those that are, of all
men, most miserable. Because there is an end to these
things. Some will go through their life
thinking that the day of their last breath, then that is it. That is the book of their life
closed. And they do not have any realization
before whom then they will meet. They know nothing of the great
judge of this earth. Or otherwise, they may know something
and want to shut it out of their life completely. And they're quite happy. to get along
in the best way that they possibly can, aimlessly. And they know nothing of the
great blessing of this being still and knowing
that I am God. My soul. Friends, we're not talking
this morning about the people out in the world, we are talking
about ourselves. perhaps those whom we may have
listening with us. Because God has brought his word
before us this morning and it is your soul, it is your life.
These are the matters of life and of death and they are real
and they are serious. And woe be it be for any preacher If they have anybody say they
have not heard of the solemnity and the reality of eternity either
in heaven or in eternal hell. And so it is we bring the word
of God this morning. We come with that hope that hope
that is in Jesus Christ, that hope that is upon the rock of
ages founded, that's strong, that's sure, that's secure, and
that will not crumble with time, it will not rust, it will not
evaporate. God is eternal. God is unchangeable. And as Davey could say in verse
two, he is my rock, a personal rock. And upon the rock, Christ
Jesus, the church of God are building here below. We're building
upon any other foundation in our life. If our trust and our
expectation is coming from anything that's built upon sand, then
it will crumble and it will fail and it will fall. There is no
doubt about it. Naturally so, a building must
have a foundation. I often remember James in his
early preaching saying in relation to his work, the foundation of
the building is often the most expensive and it is that which
is unseen. The foundation of the house or
the building is underground. We don't see it, do we? But they're
there. We know the foundations are there
because otherwise buildings that are built without a foundation,
they begin to crack and crumble and fall. And so the people of God have
this great and this glorious foundation. They have this great
hope. Truly my soul waits upon God. Friends is it with that
same God-given assurance and favour and humility that David
could say my soul is waiting alone and only and totally and
unreservedly upon the God of heaven. Look unto me, Isaiah says, look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. And this
is why, for I am God and there is none else. There is none other
saviour There is no other redeemer. There is none other helper. There
is none that can give us strength for the day. I want to try and get it right.
I think it's Nehemiah 8, verse 6. The joy of the Lord is my
strength. What a humbling blessing. Before the living God, if we
can witness, if we can say with that, humbleness, that our trust
is in Him, our hope is in Him and it is these eternal joys
that give us strength to bear the troubles and the trials and
the sorrows and the weariness of the day. So where would we
be, dear believers, in Christ this morning if we had not this
great foundation which to trust. A trust that
we can have at all times, night and day, at any time. It's not just a case of going
along to a church service or a place of worship for a Sunday
morning service I feel that we've done our bit
for the week. We come to put in just a mere appearance. You see, that mere appearance
is just before man, just before other people. But God knows,
we cannot fool God. God does not make a mistake. God is fully aware of our hearts
and our thoughts, our minds, every single detail of our life. Those things that perhaps we're
hankering after in our life, those things that we want that
may make us perhaps a bit happier. There is no happiness upon this
earth without God. Praise God. from whom all blessings
flow. And that's where the praises
of our lives belong. It is unto God that we render
our praise and thanksgiving. You see sadly some people think
by shouting and getting angry and raising their voice in the
streets or maybe on the phone to us. They think they're going
to achieve something. They're going to get one over
on us. They're going to perhaps humiliate us. They're going to
bring us to a state of confusion and therefore bypass us. They perhaps do it to throw their
weight around and to make a noise in a scene. is the people of God. May we here this morning find
that this word is a word in season, it is a word of strength, and it
is a word of power to us. that we may wait upon God. As I say, sometimes by people saying things and doing things
to intimidate, they get to where they perhaps
want to. my soul wait. And that we may come this morning
in that solemn silence, in that solemn humility, willingly
to the feet of Jesus. You may say to me, Andy, you do not know. You have
no idea what my path and what my life entails. The struggle, the strain daily,
hourly. And to that I would have to say,
no I don't. But in it, We believe in the same great
God, we trust in his holy name, in all his full and precious
promises that can never urge, change or fail. Therefore we can come with David
this morning and we can say, wait thou only upon God. Be still. We've read that well-known,
that familiar Psalm number 46. Song upon Alamuth. God is a refuge. And what a beauty there is. What
a wonder there is. What a treasure this is to a soul that may have nothing
else. But with Christ in the vessel,
we're a smile at the storm. God is our refuge and strength. And if that's not enough, he's
also a very present help in trouble. Do you feel in that need this morning?
In trouble? Your life may be going one way
and then the other. Is your hope in God? Is your trust
in God? Is your expectation for that
which you are waiting for? from God. If it be thy holy will, then
we will do this and we will do that. It's the will of the living
God who is faithful and just. He's merciful and he's fully
compassionate. He's tender-hearted. He's loving. He only is my rock and my salvation. That rock then is the foundation
upon which the church of the living God is being built. And we read lastly this morning
that 130th Psalm. Perhaps that fully and absolutely
and totally describes Where you are. In the depths. Depths of trouble. Depths of
sorrow. Depths of illness. These things are depths. It's like we may be in a little
tiny boat upon the sea. We're right out in the depths
of the ocean. And there in a little tiny boat. We have no control. We have no
power over the sea or the wind. And neither did the disciples.
They were in that little boat. The storm that whipped up on
that lake. The waves and the wind. Peace be still with the words
of Jesus. And there was a great calm. The disciples had to know what
it was to have no control over that
boat. Because they cried out, Master, we perish. Is that how
you feel this morning, you're going to perish? Is your trust
in God? Is your hope alone in Him? Are
you waiting upon His mercy, His direction, His help? Or have you still got the oars
in your hands trying aimlessly to steer that little boat alone. Out of the depths have I cried. Your soul cried out to God, Lord
help me, Lord save me, Lord look upon my affliction and my pain. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. So I tell you for your encouragement. I hadn't been preaching very
long. And after one Lord's Day, I had Something said to me that I thought
was going to crush me and I would no longer be able to preach again. And it was through the heaviness
of this, it felt like such a crushing blow on me. I said I'll never be able to
preach again. I think several days went by and I was able to go the next
Lord's Day and realise something of the
reality of what it means to cry unto the Lord out of the depths. How could I go into a pulpit
the following week? How could I declare the unsearchable
riches of Christ? It was out of the depths. I cried
unto the Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive. to the voice of my supplications.
If thou, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall
stand? But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. I literally had nothing, I was
silent. I felt numb. Wait on the Lord. Do not be apt to tell God what
you're going to do and how you're going to get around it. and deal
with the matter. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. And then what does it say? Lean
not to our own understanding. Wait on the Lord. Trust in him. And he will bring it to pass. Doesn't matter whether it's a
penny or whether it be millions. Doesn't matter whether it's a
single person you may be up against or whether it's an army. The
law can bring you to pass. The law can make a way where
there seems to be no way. There are many in God's word
who can testify to the great mercy of God while they have
stood and looked on. with awe and wonder at what the
law can do. Remember Gideon? Trust in the
law with all thine heart. Wait on the law, Gideon. But
first of all, your 32,000 men are going to be stripped down
to a band of 300. 300 men against a company coming
up before me with camels as the sand of the seashore, an innumerable
army. Yes, Gideon, 300 men in three bands of 100. And you won't have a sword in your
hand. You'll need no weapon of war against them, Gideon. How can I stand against such
a great army? by trusting in God, by waiting
upon God, and to see the almighty power. How could the Red Sea have possibly
opened up? That freed people. They'd just
come out of Egyptian bondage. And now they've got an enemy
behind them and they've got a sea in front of them and hills either
side of them. There was no way possibly of escaping in their own hearts, thoughts
and minds. Dear Richard Field once said
to you, our garden's stack water He made a dry passage through
the middle of the sea. His path is through the mighty
waters, out of the depths. And there the children of Israel
went forward. Say unto the children of Israel,
go forward with a sea that is yet still looking Exactly as
it was, yes Moses go forward. Go forward in the strength of
the Lord your God. And on the opposite shore you'll
come to a place of safety. And on the opposite shore they
proved that the next morning were dead corpses all on the
seashore. The Lord had made between those
waves a safe passage for his people. But that same water to
the enemy was a sea of death. It closed
in on them. God took off the wheels of their
chariots so they drove heavily. So then, my friends, this is the great
God before whom we are met together this morning. This is the same
great God who rules and reigns. is the same great God who is
awesome in power and mighty in all his works, he is a great
deliverer. And that which may be in your
life, in your path, My soul wait only upon God. Look unto me and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none
else. Come to the beginning of the
book of Joshua. Joshua the man after the death of Moses whom the Lord would have to lead his people. Moses was a man. Joshua was a
mere man too. Perhaps you haven't experienced
this whole Whereas that which is before
you, just like the Red Sea, you may have people standing before
you to hedge up the way, making your life difficult, making your life hard take courage take courage there shall not be a man able
to stand before thee all the days of thy life as i was with
moses here is the promise of the living God, the God who was
faithful to Joshua and that he took them into the promised land,
again opening up Jordan where the Levites put their feet in
the water. There shall not be a man able
to stand before thee verse sorry chapter 1 verse 5 all the days
of thy life as i was with moses moses the great man yes moses
that great man but dear soul so i will be with thee i will not fail thee nor forsake
thee. Be strong and of a good courage. Take courage in the Lord. Be silent. Be waiting. But be ready to move on. Be ready
to walk. You have to wait silently. It's
like I said, it's not a case of sitting back in an armchair
and doing nothing. who's that waiting, that wrestling,
that seeking God still. The Lord will appear. The Lord
is my helper. Psalm 121. The Lord is my helper. He who
has helped us Hitherto, right up to now, will
help us all our journey through and give us daily cause to raise
New Ebenezer's to his praise. Praise is comely. We considered
Bogle Street a little while ago. Praise is beautiful. And it is for these beauties
and wondrous things when the Lord has shown His power and
His great power. We mentioned that prayer of Jeremiah's
in prayer and I'll just open to it. Jeremiah 32 verse 17. Our Lord God. thou behold thou has made the
heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm and there is nothing too hard
for thee. You come down a few verses to
verse number 27. Behold I am the Lord The God of all flesh. And then there is a question. Is anything too hard for me? Anything too hard for me? God, who has the whole world
in his hand, and can crush it when he please, but for his loving-kindness,
his tender mercies to his children and to his people does not afflict willingly, because
he is a God that's full of compassion, tender mercies and love, and
he is faithful and will a grant that great deliverance. Before him we have to first own. Behold, I am poor and needy. I am nothing, but God is everything. I am weak, but he is mighty. that we may cry out, hold me
with thy powerful hand, bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore. He who gives us that strength
daily to continue. But I am poor and needy. Psalm
70 and the last verse. Make haste unto me, O God, Here
he owns, here he testifies, here he can say, thou art my helper
and my deliverer. But there was that wrestling
from the depths. O Lord, make no tarrying. And may you prove the unfailing
goodness and grace of God to deal with your enemy. to deal
with the trouble, to deal with that matter that's
too hard. Wait thou only, completely and
totally and unreservedly upon the living God and he will make
his goodness pass before thee in the way. He who is mighty,
who is all-powerful, trust in him at all times. You people, pour out your heart
before him. God is a refuge. He is my refuge
in each deep distress. The Lord my God, He is. His people's all in it all. And
we're only on a pilgrimage. We're only on a journey. We're
only on this earth for a little while. Let's therefore wait upon
him and see the wonders God alone can do and make manifest in our
lives. As we've mentioned, God will make known by his power, through the preaching of his
word, his purposes. And by his Holy Spirit, he speaks
and makes the way known. It's not us, by our little voices, but let us cry unto God, not
to cry unto man. Let's pour out our hearts before
God, that we may see the wonders God alone can do, and praise
him, and honour him for his faithfulness. And for his goodness is anything
too hard for the Lord. Trust in him. Wait upon him. May he make his goodness pass
and shine with that divine light and help. Amen. Our closing hymn this morning
is hymn number 150 from Hymns of Worship, Psalm 40. I waited for the Lord my God,
and patient need did bear. At length to me he did incline,
my voice and cry to hear. Hymn number 150 from Hymns of
Worship to the tune 92. And patiently did bear At that
time he did infer My voice and cry to him. He took me from my father And on a rock he set my feet,
establishing the way. He put a new song in my mouth,
the God Then he shall see it, and shall
fear, and on the Lord rely. O blessed is the man whose trust
upon Respect him not, that route no
search has turned us back tonight. O Lord, my God, all man he are,
thy wonders thou hast done. above all thoughts are gone. Thy tender mercy's heart for
me, I do thou not restrain. And now may the grace of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the love of God, our Heavenly
Father and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit be with us
all now and forever. Amen.