Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

March 28
Friday


WAITING...

READ:
Psalm 130
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Rejoicing in hope,
patient in tribulation,
continuing steadfastly
in prayer.
__Romans 12:12
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Day after day for years Harry shared with the Lord his concern for his son-in-law John who had turned away from God. But then Harry died. A few months later, John turned back to God. When his mother-in-law Marsha told him that Harry had been praying for him every day, John replied, "I waited too long." But Marsha joyfully shared: "The Lord is still answering the prayers Harry prayed during his earthly life."

Harry's story is an encouragement to us who pray and wait. He continued "steadfastly in prayer" and waited patiently (Rom. 12:12).

The author of Psalm 130 experienced waiting in prayer. He said, "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits" (v.5). He found hope in God because he knew that "with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption" (v.7).

Author Samuel Enyia wrote about God's timing: "God does not depend on our time. Our time is chronological and linear but God...is timeless. He will act at the fullness of His time. Our prayer...may not necessarily rush God into action, but ...places us before Him in felowship."

What a privilege we have to fellowship with God in prayer and to wait for the answer in the fullness of His time.
__Anne Cetas

``````````````````````````````Pray on! Pray on! Cease not to pray,````````````````````````````
``````````````````````````````And should the answer tarry, wait;`````````````````````````````
``````````````````````````````Thy God will come, will surely come,```````````````````````````
```````````````````````````And He can never come too late. __Chisholm````````````````````````
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
God may delay our request,
but He will never disappoint our trust.

******************************Today's Bible Reading __ Psalm 130*******************************

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 waits, and in His work
I do hope. 6 My soul waits
for the Lord more than
those who watch for the
morning__yes, more than
those who watch for the
morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the
LORD; for with the LORD
there is mercy, and with
Him is abundant
redemption. 8 And He shall
redeem Israel from all his
iniquities.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Psalm 130 is one of the pilgrim songs (Pss. 120-134) the people of
Israel sang as they made their way to the temple to celebrate the
three national festivals (Deut. 16:16). In this psalm, the writer was
deeply distressed by his own sinfulness and earnestly cried out for
God's mercy (130:1-2). Yet, he was able to confidently affirm, "But
there is forgiveness with You" (v.4). Finding hope in God's Word
(v.5) and being assured that "with the LORD there is mercy, and with
Him is abundant redemption" v(v.7), he patiently waited for God's
pardon and removal of his guilt (vv.6,8). In response, he invited the
congregation to f ear God (v.4) and to celebrate His unmerited and
undeserved grace (v.8).