Awaiting the Return of Christ.

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 130:5

I wait for the Lord; I wait
and put my hope in his word.

(CSB)

The next psalm of the ascents Psalm 130 has the theme of awaiting redemption.  The Jewish people waited several thousand years for their Messiah and then rejected Him.  Part of this was no doubt due to their growing impatient during this waiting process and in the process formulating nonbiblical beliefs of what Messiah would do when he came.  While Messiah has already come, we now eagerly await his return to straighten out the mess in this world.  However, during this waiting process we too may formulate nonbiblical expectations as we grow impatient waiting.  Therefore, before beginning the study of Psalm 130, we must review an earlier post on surviving this process. 

Isaiah 40:31 gives us the promises of strength, victory, energy, and that we will not give up while waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises.  While we find comfort in this promise as we are waiting for the Lord to provide what we need, most of us share the emotions of the psalmist in Psalm 119:123 during the waiting process.  Psalm 119:121-128 gives guidance for us during this waiting process and provides a sort of survival guide for this waiting process. 

The context of the psalmist’s writing differs from ours in that he is waiting for salvation from God through the coming of Messiah, unlike us who have salvation available to us for the asking because of Jesus’ work on the cross.  However, while we have salvation from sins through Jesus, we still live in a world dominated by evil, sin, oppression, and persecution and like the psalmist can grow weary looking for deliverance from these things with the second coming of Jesus.  However, even with this difference in context, we still find hope and guidance in what the psalmist writes in Psalm 119:121-128.  In this passage we see,

1)      Remaining faithful to God during the frustration of waiting (Psalm 119:121) – Since scripture reminds us that we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23), the psalmist is not declaring his self-righteousness.  Instead, the psalmist is expressing frustration at doing all the right things and yet suffering oppression.  The Book of Job in the Bible tells the account of a man severely oppressed.  While we know the reason for the oppression happening to Job (Job 1:6 – 2:10), there is no recorded record of Job discovering the back story of his oppression.  During the waiting period for Job, and the constant barrage of advice from his “friends,” Job shows frustration but never curses or turns his back on God. 

2)      Asks for a guarantee against the arrogant oppressing him (Psalm 119:122) – Notice that the psalmist is not seeking a guarantee against oppression but a guarantee against oppression from arrogant people.  Even Jesus the Son of God could not escape oppression from arrogant people with them putting Him on the cross because of the blinding of their arrogance, blinding them from truths in scripture pointing to Jesus as their Messiah.  This reminds us not to focus on arrogant, ungodly commentary in opposition to the promises in the Bible but to focus on the promises of God in scripture. 

3)      Be honest with God (Psalm 119:123) – During the waiting period we may experience times as the psalmist did when we believe we cannot continue.  The psalmist’s confession of feeling weary while waiting on the Lord appears to demonstrate a lack of faith in the promise of Isaiah 40:31. The truth, however, is that God knows our hearts and knows we grow weary during the waiting process.  We therefore must be honest with God about our feelings and trust that He will renew our strength during times of oppression. 

4)      Rely on God’s love and continue learning truth from His Word (Psalm 119:124) – Our fleshly tendency during times of oppression is to shake our finger at God asking why this is happening to us.  Job had his moments of finger shaking at God but in the end, surrendered to a loving God, receiving deliverance.  Instead of finger shaking we should search scripture to reinforce the truth that God loves us and is with us. 

5)      Ask for godly understanding of scripture (Psalm 119:125) – While we should daily read the Bible, it can become a routine activity that we check off our to-do-list.  While reading scripture in this manner may produce some positive results, the best results from reading scripture come through reading and asking God for understanding through the Holy Spirit.  Recently I began the practice of using a journal to write down scripture that God brings to mind as I read the Bible.  This causes me to continue meditating on that scripture throughout the day, taking Scripture from simple words on a page to something I can begin applying to my life. 

6)      Plea for prompt action against those violating God’s instructions (Psalm 119:126) – While asking for prompt action during a waiting period seems like a lack of faith and trust, the psalmist is not seeking prompt action on his request from God but prompt action against violators of God’s law.  Perhaps these are the same oppressors in Psalm 119:122, distracting the psalmist from his focus on God and His Word. 

7)      Continue loving the priceless Word of God and applying it to our lives (Psalm 119:127-128) – The constant struggle during the waiting period with God is allowing impatience, frustration, or ungodly advice to distract us from the truths in the Word of God and applying them to our lives.  After honestly expressing his honesty and impatience, the psalmist concludes this portion of Scripture with reaffirming his love for God’s Word and his commitment to continue applying it to his life. 

Our human nature is to dislike waiting.  We dislike long lines, being on hold on the telephone, and rush hour traffic.  Likewise, we dislike waiting on God, growing frustrated and impatient as we seem to see God leave our prayer unanswered.  However, the waiting process is where we receive renewed strength, and learn to soar like an eagle in the victory of our salvation in Christ, gain strength to go on without growing weary, and where we continue to go on without giving up.  Please Lord help us survive the waiting period.