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Graceland University

 June 28, 2009      "Wait For The Lord"

 Scripture Setting:  Psalm 130 NRSV

Our scripture text for this sermon has a long history of use in the formation of Christian discipleship. Psalm 130 is one of seven penitential psalms used for centuries during the Lenten season. These psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 142) serve as a basis of prayer and reflection as the psalmist seeks to be open to our sinful nature and our need for God’s redemption.

As Psalm 130 begins, we find the author crying out to God during a period of deep lamenting. This is not a lamenting that comes from the inconveniences of life. Rather, it is a wrestling that comes from deep within the soul and struggles between the depth of human sin that brings death and the hope of life that resides in God. The psalmist recognizes it is God who extends forgiveness, and, in that realization, finds the courage and strength to wait and hope in God’s faithfulness.

It is important to point out that the theological use of the verbs “wait” and “hope” are synonymous in this text. To wait with assurance on the Lord requires, at the core, a hope and faith in God’s word. To wait does not mean to stop or to linger; rather, waiting with God’s word implies that the word continues to speak and be heard within us. To hope is not a passive response, but one that waits with patience and anticipation for what God will do. Out of the depth of the psalmist’s despair emerges the awareness of God’s grace, and, there, the psalmist finds the hope and commitment to wait “with” God.

The healing experienced by the psalmist stirs within him the need to be a voice of challenge and hope to all who will hear. So he proclaims to the people of Israel and invites them to share in that hope of the Lord and to experience God’s redeeming power.

As you consider how to form this sermon, one approach may be to follow the format of the psalm itself. There are four major segments in this text: (1) opening our lives and crying out to God in our woundedness and despair (vv.1–2); (2) recognizing that it is God who extends forgiveness to us (vv. 3–4); (3) our confessing of faith and hope in God that gives us the courage to wait (vv. 5–6); and (4) the blessings of God’s grace to our lives stirring within us a passion to share that message beyond ourselves (vv. 7–8).

From Worship Helps 6/28/2009

Regular Activities

Sunday

Sunday School,  9:30 AM

Worship Service, 10:45 AM

Children's Worship on Second and Fourth Sundays

Pot Luck Dinner
3^rd Sundays after worship.

Monday

Men's Prayer Breakfast,  8:30 AM

Wednesday

Prayer & Testimony Service, 7:00 PM

Thursday

The After School Homework Club (@ Wichita Central)

[Summer Recess]