LET US WAIT FOR THE LORD

Let us wait before the Lord

II Samuel 13, verse 8 - 14, 'And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed:  but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.  And Saul said, Bring hither a burn offering to me, and peace offerings.  And he offered the burnt offering.  And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done?  And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; Therefore said I, The philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord:  I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.  And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly:  thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee:  for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue:  the Lord hath sought him a man after His Own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee."

Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the Lord. . .wait, I say, on the Lord."

What can we do without the Lord?  Absolutely nothing.  All the works of men are but vanity.  OH, how desperate is this day for the Lord to come in fullness upon us to work.  Yet, with sin abounding and evil spreading on all facets of our society I still have not heard anyone asks the question, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'  Is that not important to know, whether the Lord be with us, among us or for us?  Surely it is the root and essence of all that we are.  'With Christ I can do all things', without Him I can do nothing. 

We answer the church, with such assurances, 'The Lord will never leave thee nor forsake thee.'  'Lo, I am always with you, even unto the end of the age.'  We explain that upon salvation Christ, the Holy Spirit enter our heart and soul and live with us forever until we are carried home.  Yet, we know the reality of this is found in not if the Lord is with us, for He is with His children.  But how much of the Spirit do we allow to govern and guide us.  For the truth of life, the flesh and the Spirit are at enemity within us, always in conflict.  And if we allow for the flesh to rule and reign then we quench, grieve, limit and resist the Holy Spirit, so that He will not work His fullest work in us or through us. 

Where are we at right now?  Are we working in the fullness of God's Presence?  If the fullness of God's manifest Presence was with us, we would be in true revival.  But we are not in revival.  We look aroudn for signs of His mighty hand working and moving.  And even though we see signs of His mercy, His blessings, some souls being saved; we see billions still perishing, the church struggling to make any kind of impact on our nation, families being shredded apart and sin abounding.  What is the answer to all this?

I find it in these verses of I Samuel.  It is the story of Saul's disobedience.  He was in a desperate situation.  We are in a desperate situation.  And as the enemy was gathering Saul was told to wait for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice.  Yet, when surrounded by his army and people forsaking him and no sign of Samuel, he took matters into his own hand.  Oh, if we could only learn this lesson, at how high the costs of taking matters into our own hands.  And no sooner had he done this, then Samuel came.  I think this to be an issue of pride, of vanity, of love of self, of self-preservation, that Saul could not wait for Samuel.  Again, it was only a matter of minutes that separated him from obeying to disobedience.  From receiving a blessing to receiving a curse. 

'Your kingdom shall not continue'.  Can we afford such a statement for our ministries? for our denomination? for our churches, for our families?  Remember Ahab, remember Jeroboam and Baasha.  They and their entire existence on this earth was wiped out by God's wrath, for they kept not the word of the Lord.  Saul was removed, for he kept not the word of the Lord.  Baptist declare themselves to be people of the book.  Yet, we know one of the greatest sins in our churches is the absence of God's people reading, studying, memorizing and living according to the Book.  Henry Blackaby, and Richard Owen roberts, have echoed the same statement about the state of the church today, 'This is the most ignorant generation toward the Bibleand of God.'  No people shall continue without the Lord.

So what was he supposed to do?  He was to wait.  It seems like the simpliest of things to do.  Yet, most know it to be one of the hardest things to do sometimes of waiting upon the Lord.  This is the reason of the verse out of Psalm 27.  There are other numerous verses telling us to do this act of obeidence - 'Wait On The Lord'.  Have we done this?  Have we truly got before the Lord and waited to hear from Him?  Or do we have the signs of taking matters into our own hands and pushing forward without the Lord.  Samson did this one time, do you remember?  He rose up to go and fight the Philistines, but he did not know the Lord had departed from him.  'If the Lord be for us, who can be against us?'  But is the Lord for us?  Are we waiting?  Have we heard His vvoice?  Are we obeying in great and small things? 

Let us look at the examples of this waiting time.  Saul was here instructed to wait 7 days.  Joshua was to march around the city 6 days, and on the seventh day deliverance.  Daniel waited 21 days before an answer came, for his angel was withheld from coming to him.  Yet Daniel stayed until the answer came.  Christ gave commandment to His disciples, 'go into Jerusaleum and wait.  There you shall be endued with power from on high'.  They waited 10 days until He came.  We would do well to learn the examples of waiting.  How much God can do through a vessel that waits on Him; and how little He can do through those that refuse to wait. 

'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength'  With the church about as powerless as it ever has been, why is there not a call to wait before the Lord for renewing of our vows to Him? of cleansing? of being endued with power from on high?  There is no call that I know of.  Simply more plans, methods and means to try something else, try something new.  I know these things that I have quoted to you from the Holy Scriptures to be right.  Do you agree?  Are you prepared to obey?  Do we know the future of these things?  If you obey, you shall continue.  If you don't you will not continue. 

Read in verse 14, 'I have sought me a man after My Own heart'.  Is this not where we need to be?  Can God say of us, 'this is a man , a woman, a group, a church a family that seeks Me?  Oh, the blessed promise for us in seeking after Him, 'if you seek Me, you shall find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart'.  Oh then, let us seek Him and find Him for we desperately need Him. 

Call for an assembly, wait before the Lord, seek His face, call upon His Name.  He will be intreated with us; He will meet us.  For the sake of our future, the sake of the next generation of our sons and daughters, grand-children and the sake of His Holy Hallowed Name let us wait before Him before it is too late.