Waiting on the Lord

Waiting on the Lord

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Waiting on the Lord ------------------- Date: 3/11/2001
Keywords: "inactivity" "waiting"
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Passage: Psalm 130:1-8*

1. Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.

2. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.

3. If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

4. But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

5. I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.

6. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.

7. O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.

8. And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

Questions

1. What state of mind, or what situation was the psalmist in as he wrote this psalm? (v. 1)

2. What does the psalmist say that he is going to do? (v. 5)

Practical help

Psalm 130 urges us to that most difficult of disciplines - waiting. But it is not a totally passive waiting. It is an eager, desperate, hopeful waiting for God to come through. It is tied with prayer, and it arises from a recognition of great personal need ("Out of the depths" - v. 1).

Men and women who struggle with a powerful urge to be involved with pornography know full well what it is like to live "in the depths." It is a depressing environment to want to stop viewing porn, and be compelled, as if by a magnet back to it time and time and time again.

If the whole concept of "waiting on God" is a foreign one to you, you should be aware that through the centuries Christians have found that patiently waiting on Him; admitting to Him that if He doesn't come through all is lost; crying out to Him in desperation, is a way to discover God's strength for the day.

If you are chronically tempted by porn, do what the Psalmist says. Try the inactive work of waiting on God and putting your hope in Him for deliverance. Remember the promise of Psalm 130, verses 7-8, "O [child of God], hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem [His child] from all his iniquities."

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLEŽ, Š Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."