4. Christian ‘Waiters' Trust God Alone! Psalm 62:7-8

Text: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6.

Good morning, Trusting Christian ‘waiter!  The wise advice and counsel of other professing Christians is good to have; the direction of Pastors, Teachers, and Evangelists is a blessing for any Christian ‘waiter’ to seek – but God alone can be completely, and fully trusted in every direction in our lives of service to the risen Christ Jesus.  Glory to His Holy Name!

 Dictionary Definition:  Trust – (noun) worthiness of being relied on; fidelity; confidence in the truth of anything; confident expectation; a resting on the integrity, friendship, etc. of another; faith; hope; credit (especially sale on credit, or on promise to pay); ground of confidence; charge; responsibility; anything felt to impose moral obligations… (The Chambers Dictionary, page 1783)

Those of us who aspire to ‘wait’ upon the Lord, are not to be fully seen as Christians who are just waiting about for their Lord and Master to return to this world from Heaven. No.  Our ‘waiting’ is focused on service to King Jesus, as those who would take from the Bread of Life found in our KJV Bibles – the Living Word of God – and share it out among all with whom we meet daily and continually.  We are called of the Lord God to serve out His Word to all hearers we encounter.

“Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine…watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”  (2 Timothy 4: 1-5)

Before asking others to put their heart’s trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we ourselves must, of course, have placed our own full trust in Him!  Others will very quickly discern our hearts, whether we have put our own faith and trust in Christ and will not listen to us for a moment if they perceive we are playing the hypocrite, by failing to put our full trust in Christ ourselves!  Therefore, to be a legitimate Christian ‘waiter’, one must be sanctified, set apart for service to the Lord, nothing held back from serving Him.

“…I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am Holy:…”  (Leviticus 11:44)

As the Levites were in the Old Testament times, so must all Christian ‘waiters’ be in this New Testament time.  As they were called to be sanctified and holy, so must you and I seek to be set apart for service to our Holy Lord God, in Christ Jesus.

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (Christ’s Second Coming); as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you in Holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (entire lifestyle); because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am Holy.”             (1 Peter 1:13-16)

If you and I, as professing Christians, have no zeal to be ‘like Christ’, we reveal ourselves as hypocrites – and the world can tell a hypocrite from a genuinely sanctified Christian.  Thus, we must continually trust in God to grant us the power of His Spirit, if we are to be strong against the power of our own fallen human nature.  Without Christ, we can do nothing good or profitable in the service of the Living Lord God Jehovah.

“I am the Vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him/her, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me (Jesus Christ) ye can do nothing.”  (John 15:5)

“They trust no God at all who trust Him not alone.  He that stands with one foot on a rock and another upon quicksand will sink and perish as certainly as he that standeth with both feet upon a quicksand.”  (John Trapp 1601-1699)

To more fully trust the Lord is to pray fervently to Him in humble worship and praise of Him, and to pray with the full expectation of receiving from His hand our prayed petition.  ‘Waiting’ upon the Lord God is not a light or fickly thing – it requires much strength, God-given, if we are to endeavour to persevere in constant service to Christ and, by His grace and Divine power, to the hearts and souls of others yet outside of His Body, the church, and indeed, those who are in need within it.

Verse 7. “In God is my Salvation and my glory.  Once we were blind, now we are blessed with Spiritual sight; once we were lost, now we are found, redeemed by Christ’s sinless Blood, and set on the narrow path to Heaven – and all because of God’s free and Sovereign grace to Hell-deserving sinners.  Our only Salvation glory is found in Him. Praise His Name!

“Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

Verse 7. “In God is my Salvation and my glory. Wherein should we glory but in Him Who saves us?  Our honour may well be left with Him who secures our souls.  To find all in God and to glory that it is so is one of the sure marks of an enlightened soul.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 271)

Christian ‘waiters’ are necessarily called to be Christian ‘soldiers’ – for many Spiritual battles are fought against the world, the flesh, and that old Devil as we ‘wait’ upon the souls of fallen men/women.

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath called him to be a soldier.”              (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

We go to do Spiritual war carrying the Name of King Jesus Christ, on the shields of our faith.

“On the shields of the Greeks, Neptune was depicted; on the shields of the Trojans, Minerva; because in them they put their confidence, and in their protection deemed themselves secure.  Now, Christ is the insignia of our shields.”  (Thomas Le Blanc 1869)

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 2:9-11)

The way of the Cross of Christ can be a hard road to travel, when one is seeking to serve Christ in full commitment of service as a ‘waiter’ in the Word.  Full trust in Him is a must.

Verse 8. “Trust in Him at all times. Faith is an abiding duty, a perpetual privilege.  We should trust when we can see as well as when we are utterly in the dark.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 271)

Thought: Trust Christ the Lord at all times – good and bad – He will never fail us.

3. Waiting, Only, Upon God! Psalm 62:4-7

Text: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my Rock and my Salvation: He is my defence; I shall not be moved.”

Psalm 62:5-6.

Good morning, God-ordained Christian waiter!  You have not chosen a career in church service as upper-class families once were known to do as a practice – one son went into the Military and the other became a member of the clergy – in paths that were laid out for them by the head of the family.  No!  You and I – if we are born again, Bible-believing Christian ‘waiters’ in Gospel service – did not choose the position or career of a Christian ‘waiter’ – that was already done for us, by One Who is Sovereign over all such things in life.

“Ye have not chosen Me (the Lord Jesus), but I have chosen you, and ORDAINED you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you.”  (John 15:16)

God-ordained Christian ‘waiters’ are sent forth from God bearing His glorious Gospel message of repentance from sin; forgiveness of sins through the precious redemptive Blood of Christ Jesus; and Eternal life in Him.

We take God’s message of Christ, and Him Crucified for the sins of the elect, and we serve God’s truth up to all men and women at every opportunity we are given to be witnesses for Jesus.  Only God’s ‘elect’ positively respond. This is waiting in service to all souls, for the Lord God alone.

“So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”  (Romans 10:17)

God’s ordained Gospel ‘waiters’, are sent out in obedience to God alone, with God’s message of Salvation in Christ Jesus alone; to the saving of the Father’s elect alone; to the glory of Christ, the Lamb, alone.  What a truly wonderful privilege to be God’s ‘waiters’!

“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher (‘waiter’)?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent?  As it is written, How beautiful the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace (between a Holy Lord God, and fallen, sinful men/women!), and bring glad tidings of good things.”  (Romans 13-15)

The Sovereign Lord God, Jehovah, has Divinely ordained which souls will positively respond to the Gospel message of us, His ‘waiters’ – and which souls shall not!

“For unto us (the elect souls) was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them (reprobate souls): but the Word preached did not profit them (the reprobate souls), not being mixed with faith in them that heard.”  (Hebrews 4:2)

If faith be the gift of God’s free and Sovereignly decided grace, as God’s Word clearly teaches – then the Lord God in His Sovereign power decides which sinful souls to grant His gift of faith!  Those who receive God’s gift of saving faith are saved.  Those who receive not God’s gift of saving faith, are Eternally lost.  (Romans 9:11-16)

God’s ‘waiters’ merely spread the Gospel message of witness in the service of Christ Jesus – God the Holy Spirit decides which souls to ‘quicken’ from Spiritual death to Spiritual life in Christ Jesus.  Deep thoughts, but God’s Own truth.  (John 17:17)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we (the ‘elect’, the saved souls) are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath BEFORE ORDAINED that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

From way back in 1618, at the Synod of Dort, this clear message of Salvation by grace alone, though faith alone – and all under the Sovereignty of Almighty God alone – was debated and proclaimed to be God’s truth.  Yet, mankind’s fallen nature – and often WITHIN professing churches – have today, widely rejected the doctrines of grace, and adopted an Arminian or downright Humanistic way of Salvation.  Adherents of such an ‘other gospel’, have been quick to castigate, slander, smear, and socially discredit God’s true ‘waiters’ of His Sovereign way of Eternal Salvation in Christ Jesus by grace alone.

Synod of Dort 1618:

“The Synod concluded with a rejection of the Arminian views, and set forth the Reformed doctrine on each point, namely: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement (arguing that Christ's atoning work was intended only for the elect and not for the rest of the world), irresistible (or irrevocable) grace, and the perseverance of the saints. These are sometimes referred to as the Five points of Calvinism. The nomenclature never inferred that all of Calvinism could be reduced to a mere five points, but that TULIP--the acronym that was later developed for the teachings of Dort in the English-speaking world--summarized the Calvinist position regarding the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God in salvation. It is The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, popularly known as the Canons of Dort, is the explanation of the judicial decision of the Synod.

"In the original preface, the Decision is called: a judgment, in which both, the true view agreeing with God's word concerning the aforesaid five points of doctrine is explained and, the false view disagreeing with God's Word is rejected.” (Wikipedia - Synod of Dort)

God’s chosen ‘waiters’ of Gospel truth, take the erroneous presentation of what Scriptures call ‘…another gospel…’, very seriously, God’s curse is actually pronounced upon all presenting such error as God’s inspired truth!

“But though we (the apostles), or an angel from Heaven, preach any OTHER GOSPEL unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed…If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”  (Galatians 1:6-12)

Verse 5. “My soul, wait thou only upon God. Be still silent, O my soul! Submit thyself completely, trust immovably, wait patiently.  Be like thy Lord, conquer by the passive resistance of victorious patience: thou canst only achieve this as thou shalt be inwardly persuaded of God’s Presence, and as thou waitest solely and alone on Him.  Unmingled faith is undismayed.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 271)

“They trust no God at all who trust Him not ALONE.  He that stands with one foot on a rock and another foot on quicksand will sink and perish as certainly as he that standeth with both feet upon a quicksand.”  (John Trapp 1601-1699)

Thought: Verse 7. “In God is my Salvation and my glory. Wherein should we glory but in Him Who saves us? Our honour may well be left with Him who secures our souls.  To find all in God and to glory that it is so, is one of the sure marks of an enlightened soul.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 271) Christian ‘waiters’ wait upon God alone.

2.Christian ‘Waiters’ Oppositions! Psalm 62:2-3

Text: “Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the Word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all thing.”

2 Corinthians 6:3-10.

Good morning, Christian ‘Waiters’ of God!  As previously stated in a preceding Bible Exposition, “…we are called by the Lord God to be waiters in the service of the Living Lord Jesus Christ; waiters on God, and sent from God, who must deliver a profound service to the immortal souls of both women and men.”  However, by forty years of frontline experience as one who would seek to be such a ‘waiter’ for God, I can testify today that, such Christian ‘waiters’ must fully expect to receive the harshest oppositions to our service for Christ – and not all coming from Satanic, or worldly sources! 

Sad to say, some of the cruellest oppositions I have experienced over forty years of Christian service as a Gospel ‘waiter’ have come from others professing to own Christ as their Lord! 

See ‘The Church Shoots its Own Wounded’ by Dr C.K. McClinton featured on www.ulsterchristians.org , quoted below:

“Good morning, wounded Christian!  You may have got yourself caught up in some foolishness and sin; and as a result you are lying battered and Spiritually bruised, with your Spiritual armour hung up so tight in a closet that you fear you may never fight in the great Spiritual Battle again.  If this describes you today, beloved in Christ, read on, for the author has both good news for you, and a dire warning as to how you proceed. 

 

The Lord God will ALWAYS hear your repentant cry, but be careful how you approach other believers with your problem - for many within the professing Christian church worldwide today have a tendency to ’shoot their own wounded’!

 

“I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.”  (Lamentations 3:14)

 

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

 

When reproached, opposed, and hindered by anti-Christian enemies - the world, the flesh, the Devil - we can rejoice; we can rejoice to know that the power of God within us is being used by the Lord Who indwells us to be ‘salt and light’ among a world of Spiritual darkness and increased depravity.

 

However, when our professing ‘Christian’ neighbours especially set out to reproach us, oppose us, or downright hinder our labours for Christ Jesus - it is especially hard to bear! Self-righteousness is rampant within the professing Christian church worldwide, and self-righteousness will always seek to score points rather than encourage true restoration in love. 

 

There are some that will seek to find faults.  There are others who will see faults and seek to address them in Christ-like love and compassion.  I wonder, dear friend, which type of Christian are YOU and I?

 

Verse 11.  “I was a reproach among all mine enemies.  They were pleased to have something to throw at me; my mournful estate was music to them, because they maliciously interpreted it to be a judgment from Heaven upon me.  Reproach is little thought of by those who are not called to endure it, but he who passes under its lash knows how deep it wounds.  The best of men may have the bitterest of foes and be subjected to the most cruel taunts.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 150)”

 

If we would aspire to be ‘Christian waiters’ in the special service of King Jesus Christ – then you and I must be prepared for all types of harsh treatment and deep and serious oppositions.  However, praise God, our Eternal Salvation depends not upon what other mere mortals do, or say, or think about us – our soul’s Salvation is built upon an unmovable ROCK.

 

Verse 2.  “He (Christ Jesus) is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.  David had often lain concealed in rocky caverns, and here he compares his God to such a secure refuge.

 

“Verse 2. I shall not be greatly moved. ‘Moved,’ as one says, ‘but not removed.’  Moved like a ship at anchor, which swings with the tide but is not swept away by the tempest.  When a man knows assuredly that the Lord is his Salvation, he cannot be very much cast down: it would need more than all the devils in Hell to greatly alarm a heart which knows God to be its Salvation.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 270)

 

Christian ‘waiters’ in service to the Living Lord Jesus, shall always have the deadliest of oppositions: oppositions from the world of the unsaved; oppositions from the very pit of Hell and the Devil himself; oppositions from his/her own treacherous, and fallen nature within - the flesh.  Of this fact we must, not only be aware, but also ready and prepared to face.  Paul, in today’s Bible text, lists just some of the grave oppositions he faced as an Apostolic ‘waiter’ in Christ’s service:

“…in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the Word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all thing.”         (2 Corinthians 6:3-10)

Thought: Verse 3. “How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? …If there were any shame in Satan, or in his children, they would be ashamed of the dastardly manner in which they have waged war against ‘the seed of the woman…”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 270-271) Praise God, for we have victory in Christ Jesus, our Living Rock!

Psalm 62: A Psalm for Christian Waiters!

 1. ‘Waiting’ in Christ’s Service                              Psalm 62:1

Text: “Truly my soul waiteth (continuous verb. waits, and continually waits) upon God: from Him cometh my Salvation.”

Psalm 62:1.

Good morning, Christian waiter!  You may never in this life have worked in a restaurant or any other establishment where one serves meals or refreshments to the public.  You may never have been in a position where you have, or are required to physically ‘WAIT’, in service to others.  However, IF you and I are genuine, born again, Bible-believing Christians – then we are called by the Lord God to be waiters in the service of the Living Lord Jesus Christ; waiters on God, and sent from God, who must deliver a profound service to the immortal souls of both women and men. 

We serve up one meal continually, in a variation of preparations, to a myriad of very different souls.  That one meal is Christ, and Him Crucified for our sin.

“For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ Crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”  (1 Corinthians 1:22-24)

Having waited upon God for His great Salvation, through the hearing of the Gospel of Christ, and Him Crucified for our sins, we have ourselves proven the truth and reality of God’s way of Eternal Salvation.  Now, having been saved ourselves, we wait upon the souls of all men and women who will listen/hear our Gospel message, receive faith by the hearing, and Salvation in Christ, if it be the Lord God’s Sovereign will to save them.

Our purpose in waiting upon the souls of others with the Gospel of Christ Jesus is two-fold:

 (a) to reach the souls of those whom the Lord God has elected in Eternity to hear, obtain faith, and receive Christ’s Salvation; and;

(b) to preach to the reprobate souls, that they might continue to harden their hearts, and prove to themselves, and to everyone else, that they are indeed reprobate - rejected for Salvation by an Almighty Lord God whose Eternal mercy and grace are given only to those whom He wills to save.  God alone is God!  His Sovereign will is absolute and perfect.

“For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and that (faith) not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

“But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants (waiters) for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-5)

It is abundantly clear to all who will accept the written Word of God as Divine truth:  Eternal Salvation is NOT a gift given by God equally to everyone.  God chooses whom He will save – way back in Eternity, before the world was Created by Him – He has then given those ‘elect’ souls to His dear Son, Christ Jesus to save; in time, those souls receive God’s gift of saving faith; come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, and the Lord Jesus Christ saves them, AND keeps us forever as His own.  Hallelujah!  What a gracious Saviour!

“No man can come to Me (Jesus Christ), except the Father which hath sent Me draw him/her: and I will raise him/her up at the last day.”  (John 6:44)

The Lord Jesus teaches us clearly from the same New Testament chapter: “All (souls) that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him/her that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.  For I came down from Heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him (God the Father) that sent Me.”  (John 6:3738)

God’s waiters are taught of God from His own inspired (God-breathed) Word, in order that we might wait upon others with a Divine meal of Gospel truth – no matter how hard at times that meal is for our hearers to swallow. 

It is not the Christian waiter’s responsibility as to the outcome of our preaching/teaching often hard to swallow Divine truths.  The Eternal outcome of our service as God’s waiters is, at all times, securely kept in the mind and will of our Sovereign Lord God Almighty.  His will is, and at all times shall, be done!  We preach/teach His truth – the Spirit of God alone quickens the elect souls or rejects those ordained to be reprobate in Salvation.

“But our God is in the Heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.”    (Psalm 115:3)

The Lord makes known His will/truth to us ‘His people’ – we make His will/truth known to all others with whom we come into daily contact.  This is ‘waiting’ in Christ’s service.

“Having made known unto us the mystery (new revealed truth) of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on the earth; even in Him (Christ): in Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”  (Ephesians 1:9-11)

Verse 1. “Truly my soul waiteth (continuous verb. waits, and continues to wait) upon God.  The Psalmist David was a mere shepherd boy, but by the Sovereign will and grace of the Lord God Jehovah, he fought and slew the giant Goliath of Gath; subdued the Philistine enemies of God’s people; became king of Israel; and left us his ‘treasury’ of experiential and Holy Spirit-inspired truths we call The Book of Psalms.  By his vast experiences in life as God’s servant, you and I, as born-again Christians, are given much sound advice, guidance, and strength of faith with which we too might be waiters in Christ’s service.

Of the great literary work of Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The Treasury of David - Dr David Otis Fuller, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has this to say – “Are you looking for light in days of darkness?  You will find it here.  Are you looking for strength in times of despair?  Then pick your favourite Psalm, sit down for an hour or two and drink deeply from the well of Eternal truth always accessible to the thirsty soul.”  (Preface: The Treasury of David)

Thought: The Lord God saved you and I to be ‘waiters’ for Christ Jesus – may we continually persevere in offering the fresh bread of Gospel Scriptures to all who will hear with the heart and, by God’s Sovereign grace, find Eternal life.