Lamentations chapter 3. We know this chapter well. We
quote it often, we turn to it often. We quoted and turned to
it very recently. But I was talking with a brother
this week about the trials that we endure in this life and how God putting us in these
trials. This was really made evident
to me. This really helped me. I had
such a good conversation with this brother. We were talking
about how Trials are all through this life. Everybody is waiting
for them to be over, but the reality is trials are all through
this life. And we were talking about how
God putting us in these trials is what truly draws us near to
him. And it's what creates true faith
in him. And it sincerely causes us to
look upon Him. And I mean with the heart. You
know the difference in looking with the eyes and looking with
the heart. And we were talking about the
fact that that right there is His goodness to us. The flesh
wants to say, why is the Lord treating me this way? Why is
the Lord, why, why, what did I do? Well, you sinned against
Him, that's what you did, but that is His goodness to us. We pray, Lord, be good to us.
That's our desire. Lord, have mercy on us and be
gracious to us. Well, that is His goodness to
us. The Lord so wisely, as difficult
and as painful and as sorrowful as these things may be, these
trials that come our way, the Lord so wisely uses those difficult
and painful and sorrowful things to keep us. The Lord uses means. HE HAS A MEANS. OUR LORD, ALL
HE HAS TO DO IS THINK SOMETHING AND IT'S DONE, BUT HE USES MEANS. HE'S CHOSEN TO USE THE MEANS
OF THE PREACHING OF HIS WORD TO CALL OUT HIS PEOPLE. HE USES
MEANS IN THINGS. AND HE USES THESE PHYSICAL MEANS
TO KEEP US FROM GOING ASTRAY. Anything that would stop us from
losing our heart for Him. When a person loses, if they
had any kind of heart for Him at all, they wanna be with Him. They
wanna worship Him. And then when a person loses
their heart for Him, they don't feel a need to be with Him. And
they don't feel a need to worship Him. And they're just gone. And
they go on off into the trials of this world. AND ANYTHING THAT
WOULD KEEP US FROM LOSING OUR HEART FOR HIM, ANYTHING THAT
WOULD STOP US FROM NOT JUST WANDERING AWAY. WE SING COME THOU FOUND
ALL THE TIME. I PUT IT ON THE LIST THIS MORNING.
I LOVE THAT SONG. PRONE TO WANDER, LORD, I FEEL
IT. PRONE TO LEAVE THE GOD I LOVE. Anything that would stop us from
just wandering away and not having any need for Him, not having
any heart for Him, anything He does to us is absolute kindness
to us. God sends the trial. God is the one who sent we, we
get in these moments and then we cry. Okay. Would you turn
to us and touch us at what he already has. You're in the trial. He's already started mercy. He's
already started grace. You're in the trial crying to
him. It's working. The trial of our faith is what
works patience, the scripture says. And that patience, that
trust, that just trust, looking to Him, that's what keeps
us. And it's good, it's good. It is God's goodness to us. With
that in my mind and in my heart, with that whole thought, IN MY
MIND AND HEART, IT LED ME TO THIS VERSE OF SCRIPTURE RIGHT
HERE. LAMENTATIONS 3, VERSE 26. IT SAYS, IT IS GOOD THAT A MAN SHOULD
BOTH HOPE AND QUIETLY WAIT FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD. HOPE AND QUIETLY WAIT. As I think about our lives as
believers, the life that we still have to live out in this world,
knowing what our Lord said about our lives in this world, He said,
in the world you shall have tribulation. Boy, I wonder if hard times are
gonna come to me. I got two little girls, I worry
about those little girls. I worry about this congregation. Well, this is what the Lord said,
in the world, Gabe, you shall have tribulation. You're going
to. He said, in the world, Gabe,
you are going to suffer a while. But this is what he said. He
said, compared to the eternal weight of glory, He said, they're
just light afflictions. That's all they are. They're
just light afflictions. And our Lord is right compared
to what is waiting for us. That's the whole message to God's
people. Look past this, look to the city
that has foundations. Compared to what is waiting for
us all because of the suffering, the trial that Christ endured,
the bloodshed, the sacrifice because of what the suffering
he endured. Even though these things are
so devastating, they're so difficult, they're so painful. They're so
sorrowful because of the promises that we have in the Lord Jesus
Christ. THIS IS THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION
FOR GOD'S PEOPLE, FOR THE REST OF OUR DAYS ON THIS EARTH, ALRIGHT?
FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES, THIS IS THE BEST THING WE COULD DO.
VERSE 26, LAMENTATIONS 3-26 SAYS, IT IS GOOD THAT A MAN SHOULD
BOTH HOPE AND QUIETLY WAIT FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD. Knowing
that all these trials and all these difficulties will come,
and knowing that God said they would come, and knowing that
His promise to us is, after all this is over, glory is waiting
for all of God's people. Knowing every bit of that, this
is the best thing that a believer could do for the rest of his
days on this life. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Now,
I sincerely, a lot of times, I will start a message by saying,
I hope this is a blessing. I hope the Lord will bless us
with this. I sincerely hope this helps. This has helped me immensely,
just immensely. I hope this is a real help to
you. Hope and quietly wait, that's what he said. It's the best thing
a believer could do. Know when everything Christ has
settled and everything Christ has finished, hope and quietly
wait. The word hope means expected anticipation. It does not mean,
well, I don't know, I hope, I don't know. That's not what it means
at all. It means expected anticipation and quietly wait. And I love
this, after I looked this up in the concordance, this blessed
me so much. I initially thought it meant
patience, and it does. When you read that concordance
definition, when you get to the end of it, it finally says patiently,
quietly wait, patiently. But the word quiet actually means
to dance, to twist, to writhe, to whirl, to whirl about, to
wait anxiously, to wait longingly, patiently, yes, but excitedly. It is good. KNOWING WHAT GOD
HAS REVEALED TO US IN HIS WORD ABOUT EVERYTHING CONCERNING US
IN THIS WORLD AND IN THE WORLD TO COME. IF THE LORD WOULD ALLOW
US TO DO THIS, IF HE WOULD, IF HE'D GIVE US THE ABILITY TO DO
THIS, THIS IS THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION, THE BEST THING A BELIEVER
COULD SPEND THE REST OF HIS DAYS ON THIS EARTH DOING. Anticipating with anxious, excited patients
in everything that comes. Expectantly anticipating with
anxious, excited patients. What? WHAT ARE WE EXPECTEDLY ANTICIPATING? WHAT ARE WE EXCITEDLY WAITING
FOR? VERSE 26 SAYS, IT IS GOOD THAT
A MAN SHOULD BOTH HOPE AND QUIETLY WAIT FOR THE SALVATION OF THE
LORD. OUR HOPE AND OUR LONGING IS FOR
HIM. THE SALVATION OF THE LORD. I'm taking too long, so let me
just read some of these to you. Psalm 16, I'm not taking too long yet.
I just wanna get through the end of it. Let me just read these
quickly. Psalm 16, this is our Lord speaking, but it applies
to all of God's people. It says, therefore my heart is
glad AND MY GLORY REJOICETH, MY FLESH ALSO SHALL REST IN HOPE. THAT WORD REST MEANS DWELL CONFIDENTLY. THAT'S EXPECTED ANTICIPATION.
REST IN HOPE. MY FLESH SHALL REST IN HOPE. PSALM 31, WHICH YOU CAN, IF YOU
WANT TO, YOU CAN TURN JUST AS FAST AS I CAN, I GUESS. BUT PSALM
31, VERSE 24, IT SAYS, BE OF GOOD COURAGE, AND HE SHALL STRENGTHEN
YOUR HEART, ALL YE THAT HOPE IN THE LORD." ALL YE THAT SPEND
YOUR TIME EXPECTING, ANTICIPATING, ANXIOUSLY, EXCITEDLY, PATIENTLY
WAITING IN THE LORD. PSALM 42, VERSE 5 SAYS, Why art thou cast down? Oh, my
soul. And why art thou disquieted in
me? Hope thou in God for I shall
yet praise him for the help of his countenance. If you have
a margin in your Bible, it says his presence is salvation. Just wait. David said, why are
you cast down? So just wait. HE WILL COME, AND
HIS PRESENCE IS SALVATION. PSALM 71, VERSE 5 SAYS, FOR THOU ART MY HOPE, O LORD
GOD, THOU ART MY TRUST FROM MY YOUTH. YOU ARE. YOU ARE. WHAT ARE WE HOPING FOR AND PATIENTLY
WAITING FOR? YOU, HIM, THEE. VERSE 14 IN PSALM
71 SAYS, I WILL HOPE CONTINUALLY AND WILL YET PRAISE THEE MORE
AND MORE. CONTINUALLY MORE AND MORE. PSALM
131, DAVID SAID, LET ISRAEL HOPE IN THE LORD FROM HENCEFORTH AND
FOREVER. So this ought to be our life.
This can be and this should be how we spend the rest of our
days on this earth. Lamentations 3 verse 26 says,
it's good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the Lord. Now, what is this salvation that
we hope for and quietly wait for? Number one, it's salvation
from sin. What he's saying is, don't work
for it. Down in the next verse, he said,
it's good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. When you
bear a yoke, that means you're tied to some, two are tied together,
yoked together. Well, our Lord said, my yoke
is easy. If you're yoked to me, what that
means is I've done all the work. Don't work for it. Hope and quietly
wait. Expect in what Christ has said
and in what Christ has done. Anxiously, excitedly. When it
comes to salvation from sin, what must I do to be saved? When
it comes to salvation from sin, what must I do to be saved? Hope
and quietly wait. That's it. When Paul said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, what he was saying
was don't do anything, sit still. Hope and quietly wait. Look to him, just look to him. Don't work, don't do. It's done. Hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the Lord. And that's what he is speaking
of right here. This is what Lamentations three
is all about. If you look at verse one with
me, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one
of the most precious chapters. These are the words of Christ.
When he said, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod
of his wrath. Oh, we think we endure trials
and suffering. He said, I'm the man. Verse two,
he says, he led me and brought me into darkness, but not into
light. This is Christ's substitution
for his people. Verse three, surely against me
is he turned. He turned his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old. He'd broken my bones. He hath
built it against me, encompassed me with gall and travail. He
set me in dark places as they that be dead of old. He hedged
me about that I cannot get out. He made my chain heavy. And when
I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. You know, he cried,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Well, he was forsaken. He hath enclosed my ways in hewn
stone. He hath made my paths crooked. How are our paths gonna be made
straight? Christ said, he made my path crooked for you. Verse
10, he was unto me as a bear lying in wait and as a lion in
secret places. He hath turned aside my ways
and pulled me in pieces. He made me desolate. He bent
his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He caused the
arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I was a derision
to all my people. Their song of mockery, they just
mocked me. Verse 15, he filled me with bitterness. He made me
drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth
with gravel stones. He covered me with ashes. Thou
hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot prosperity. And I said, watch verse 18, my
strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering mine affliction and
my misery, the wormwood and the gall," he said, I remember the
wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance
and is humbled in me. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
saved you from the judgment to come. That was it. My father gave you to me, he
laid your sin on me, and he judged me in your place. Knowing that,
We'll give God's people this response, verse 21. This I recall
to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed because His compassions fail not. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed because His compassions fail not. Let's spend the rest of our days
on this earth excitedly expecting that Let's hope and let's quietly
wait for our salvation from sin. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not concerned. His compassions fail not. So
let's hope and wait for salvation from all of this sin. Number
two, let's hope and wait for salvation from these trials. All these trials we just mentioned.
Let's not despair. Let's hope and quietly wait.
Let's expect our Lord's saving hand in it. Let's anticipate our Lord's saving
hand in it. Let's patiently wait with excitement. And I'll give you an illustration.
You may have heard of a virus going around right now. Well, this is the worst thing that's
happened to the world in who knows how long. I mean, these
great pandemics have swept the world. And, um, It's so bad. It's so, so terrible. They've closed all the false
religion churches. That's how bad it is. It's so
bad. Things are so bad. They've closed
all the false religion churches. Well, what if God causes all
of those people, I would say a bunch of those people, but
let's say all of those people to find the truth through one
of his true preachers, through the internet? Or what if God
causes this town to turn on the TV on Fox, Sunday mornings? And what if God sends a great
awakening? We've prayed for years. Lord,
would you send a revival in the midst of our years? What if the
Lord uses this virus to send a revival in the midst of our
years? What if, what if God does send
a revival in the midst of our years? What if he does? Now, whether he does or he doesn't
is his business. It's all his business, but he
could, he could, he easily could, he could
send an awakening to him. The truth could just slay hearts. And it would be good, I promise,
it would be good if we could go through this life and go through
this current trial or any trial that comes after this one with an excited anticipation,
that hope, and an excited patience. Let's wait and see what the Lord
does. Let's just wait and see what the Lord does. His compassions
fail not, they're new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. So, verse 24. All right, last
thing, I'm closing. It's good for us to wait for
salvation for sin and wait for salvation from trials. And here's
the last one. Salvation from this world to
the world to come. Verse 24 says, the Lord is my
portion. What do we get after all this?
Whatever we accumulate, the moment we leave this world is gone.
Somebody say, well, I got $3 billion. Somebody say, I have
$3. The moment you leave this world, everybody's in the same
boat. But the Lord is my portion. saith my soul, therefore will
I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for him to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that
a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
Lord. No matter what happens in this
life, in this world, he's coming back to get us. He's coming back
to get us. He's going to take us to a place
wherein dwells righteousness. Nothing but sinless holiness. It's a place where all the government
is on his shoulders. It's a place where there's only
one prophet. There's only one priest. There's
only one king. There's only one governor. And it would do us much good
to spend the rest of our days just excitedly waiting for it,
expecting it, and excitedly waiting for it. When it comes to our
salvation from sin, don't work, hope and quietly wait. When it
comes to our salvation from trials, don't despair, hope and quietly
wait. And when it comes to our salvation
from this world to the world to come, don't faint. DON'T FAINT. KEEP GOING. DAVID SAID, I WOULD
HAVE FAINTED UNLESS I BELIEVED TO SEE THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD
IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. DON'T FAINT. JUST HOPE, QUIETLY
WAIT ON THE LORD. LIKE MOSES TOLD THE PEOPLE, STAND
STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD. THAT'S A GOOD THING
TO DO. ALRIGHT, YOU'RE DISMISSED.