God cares for those who wait for Him to fulfill His promises, from David to Simeon, and from Anna to us.
God cares for those who wait for Him to fulfill His promises, from David to Simeon, and from Anna to us.
Advent Day 15, The Poet.
When was the last time you waited?
Not waiting in the drive-thru lane for a coffee or waiting in the slow-as-a-sloth checkout line or even waiting in a vinyl chair for a nurse to call your name.
No, when was the last time you chose to wait?
When you opted to delay gratification?
Today, we'll consider three people who choose to wait expectantly on God.
They yearn and look for God's promised Messiah, the Son of God and Emmanuel.
They are David, Simeon and Anna.
Waiting can suggest passivity or immobility, but waiting is rarely a state of inactivity.
Parents are waiting a child, prepare their home for his or her arrival.
A photographer waits, alert, ready for the breeze to turn a single maple leaf.
Each waits, but they wait expectantly, filled with anticipation and attention.
When have you persistently waited for something or someone with great anticipation and attention?
What motivated you to keep waiting for something or person?
What motivated you to keep waiting on that thing or person?
David is a seasoned practitioner of waiting and waiting expectantly.
How does he become that kind of person?
Through years of practice.
He herds sheep.
Creatures not known for their keen sense of self-preservation or speed.
Sheep wonder.
Sheep tip onto their sides.
Sheep need to be sheared.
Sheep require constant oversight and care.
Sheep are not animals for the impatient, but the patient.
David also waits on God to fulfill his promises.
David is anointed king of Israel as a boy, but he lives for years on the run, despite multiple opportunities to overthrow King Saul and claim the throne.
David waits because he recognizes the Lord is his salvation.
In Psalm 62 he says, "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I shall not be shaken."
"On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock.
My refuge is God."
David wrote many Psalms about waiting on God.
In this one, he describes God as his rock, fortress and refuge.
What is David trying to communicate with these three words?
How is God a rock, a fortress and a refuge for you?
And how are you depending on him in this particular season of the year?
And how are you depending on him in this particular season of the year?
Simeon follows in David's footsteps.
Luke 2 describes Simeon this way.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
And the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Simeon lives by David's words, written centuries ago.
Psalm 27 says, I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Simeon waits on the Lord.
And the Lord answers him.
God keeps his promise.
When Simeon holds the newborn Jesus in his arms, he can't keep quiet.
He overflows with prophecy and praise.
When have you been so filled with delight that you overflowed with joyful words or actions?
Anna also exemplifies a life of waiting.
Luke 2 says, Anna resides at the temple, waiting on the Lord.
Anna was advanced in the Lord.
And then as a widow until she was 84.
She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day.
Anna resides at the temple, waiting on the Lord.
And the Lord reveals his beauty to her day after day.
One thing have I asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
How could you follow Anna's example of faithful waiting?
Then, a special day.
Anna is a special day.
It starts in the ordinary way.
Anna following her daily routine.
But a young couple enters the temple.
And Anna knows, just knows, God's Messiah is on the scene.
She sees the newborn and she can't keep quiet.
Anna overflows with thanksgiving and the message of redemption.
When have you been so thankful that you overflowed with thanksgiving?
The Old and New Testaments direct us to seek the Lord and to encourage one another to seek him.
Why?
Because when we seek the Lord, we find him.
God isn't playing hide and seek.
God promises that if we seek him, we will find him.
God is good to those who wait on him.
When we wonder if that's true, we can turn to and remember the evidence.
Jesus, God's Son, the Messiah, God with us.
Jesus, tiny baby Jesus, fulfills all our longings.
He is the answer to our hearts deepest questions and desires.
He reminds us that God keeps his promises.
God is faithful and true.
When we wonder whether we can trust God, we can look to the baby in the manger and remember, God with us.
How is Jesus, baby Jesus, reminding or encouraging you to trust in God this Advent and Christmas season?
David, Simeon and Anna are shaped by the Lord's beauty and by their inquiries at his dwelling place.
They wait to behold God's beauty with patience, strength and faithful endurance.
Spend the next few moments waiting on the Lord.
Meditate on his beauty.
Thank him for the examples of David, Simeon and Anna, men and women who waited on the Lord and beheld his glory in the form of a newborn.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, you reward those who wait on you.
Teach us to be patient in our waiting and teach us to be expectant.
You fulfill all of your promises.
Your son, Jesus, our Emmanuel, is the ultimate proof.
Thank you for baby Jesus.
Thank you for how he points us to wait on and hope in you.
Amen.