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TEXT: Psalm 25:5
SUBJECT: Henry on Fellowship #2
Last week, we began a study of Matthew Henry's great work, Directions for Daily Communion with God. What's it about? He makes it plain, How to begin, how to spend, and how to close every day with God.
Would you like to do this? Begin every day with God? Spend every day with God? Close every day with God? If so, the old Puritan can help you. He was a gift of God's grace to the Church. Though long dead, Matthew Henry "yet speaks".
Last time, we learned how to "Begin the day with God". Tonight, God willing, we'll learn how to "spend the day" with Him.
THE DOCTRINE
Henry begins his sermon with a "doctrine" or a proposition. Here it is: "It is not enough for us to begin every day with God, but on Him must we wait every day, and all the day long".
Does this sound impossible to you? If so, you're not alone. I feel that way, too. And so did Matthew Henry!
"Which of us is there that can truly say this? That he lives this life of communion with God? How far short do we come of the spirit of holy David!"
He's right, isn't he? We don't live much in the Presence of God. We know the words "Abiding in Christ". But do we know its experience? And we've read "Pray without ceasing", but have we ever done it?
Henry is not a Greek god, thundering at us from Mount Olympus. He's "a man of like passions as we are"--weak and forgetful.
But, feeling his weakness, he goes on to explain how to improve our fellowship with God.
THE MEANING
The verse says, "On Thee do I wait all day long". What does it mean to "wait on God"?
It's not like "waiting on a bus". For that time is idle, dull, and frustrating. It's more like "waiting on tables" if you work in a restaurant. Good waiters keep a close eye on their tables. That's what it means to "wait on God"--to pay attention to Him and to serve Him with eagerness and joy.
Henry describes "waiting on God" in six ways. In brief, here they are:
1."It is to live a life of desire towards Him; to wait on Him with earnest desire to receive [mercies] from Him. We wait on God when our souls pant after Him and His favor; when we thirst for God".
This desire for God is not lodged in the hand or foot or mouth. Thus, it can't be seen or heard by others. It springs from the heart. If the heart is right, the body will follow. But if the heart is wrong, what the body does is of no value.
The Lord wants us to "desire" Him all day every day. He wants us to feel as the Psalmist did,
"Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that
I desire besides You".
2."It is to live a life of delight in God. As the lover waits on his beloved. We must be wishing for more of God, yet we must never wish for more than God. Believing Him to be a God all-sufficient, in Him we must be entirely satisfied. Let Him be mine, and I have enough".
That's what it means to "delight yourself in the LORD". If you're not doing this, you're not "waiting on Him all the day long". Have you ever had a waitress who obviously didn't want to be there? She was slow to serve, forgetful, maybe even rude. Did her attitude enhance your dining experience? Or ruin it? Now, if you don't like that kind of service, why do you thing God would? No! He wants you enjoy the time you spend with Him! If you don't, He'll seek better company!
3."It is to live a life of dependence on God", as the child waits on the father in whom he has confidence. The eyes of all things wait on Him, for He is good to all; but especially the saints, for He is in a peculiar manner good to them".
John 15:5 is easy to memorize: "Without Me, you can do nothing". But awfully hard to practice. Yet we ought to remember our dependence on God. He's happy when we trust Him for all our good. When we do, we're not disappointed.
4."It is to live a life of devotion to God. To wait on God is entirely and unreservedly to refer ourselves to His wise and holy directions, and to cheerfully [submit] to them. The servant that waits on his master, chooses not his own way, but follows his master step by step. Thus we must wait on God, as those that have no will of our own, but what is wholly [given up] to His".
In Proverbs 23:26, our Father says, "My son, give Me your heart". Trust God more than yourself; put His wisdom above your own. That's devotion. That's what He wants. And that's what it means to "spend the day" with Him.
5."It is to make His will our rule. To make His will of precept your rule of practice; to make His will of Providence, your rule of patience".
Henry divides the will of God into two parts: The Bible and Providence. The former tells us what to do. If it's our rule, we do it. The latter tells us what to submit to. If God brings sickness into our lives, for example, we don't rage against Him, but wait patiently to see what's He's going to do with it. He wants us to "spend the day with Him"
"In every condition,
In sickness and health;
In poverty's vale
Or abounding in wealth".
In the sixth place, Henry sticks in everything he meant to say, but for which he couldn't find room. It is
6."To set God always before us...To have our eyes towards the Lord...to acknowledge God in all our ways...to follow Him fully..."
In short, it's to do what our Lord said near the end of His life, "Where I am, there shall also My servant be".
THE DUTY
Having explained what "waiting on God" means, Henry goes on to enforce the duty of "waiting on God". We all agree that it would be wonderful to "wait on God" every day, but is it required of us?
Henry says it is.
1."We must wait on God every day. "God's servants must never be out of waiting; all the days of our appointed time, the time of our work and warfare here on earth, we must be waiting, and not desire or expect to be discharged from this attendance, till we come to heaven..."
"We must wait on Sabbath days and week days; on idle days and busy days; in days of prosperity and days of adversity; in the days of youth and in the days of old age".
2."We must wait all the day long. Every day from morning till night, we must continue waiting upon God. Whatever change there may be in our employment, this must be the constant disposition of our souls. We must not at any time wander from God..."
What does it mean to "wait on God every day all day long?" It doesn't mean to become a monk or a hermit. It means, says Henry,
1."Casting our daily cares upon Him".
2."Managing our daily business for Him". When you go to work, work "heartily as unto the Lord". For, no matter who signs your checks, "You serve the Lord Christ".
3."Receiving our daily comforts from Him". This means remembering the good you receive ever day is from "Above".
4."Resisting our daily temptations".
5."Bearing our daily afflictions with submission to His will".
6."Thinking of the news as His Providence".
"Waiting on God" is not a mystical life; it's a practical life, living in holiness. When you work hard, you're "waiting on God"; when you don't retaliate, you're "waiting on God"; when you eat for food with thanksgiving, you're "waiting on God".
THE MOTIVES
To help us "wait on God", the Puritan recalls some things we know perfectly well, but tend to forget. Here they are:
1."The eye of God is always upon you".
2."The God on whom you are to wait is the God with whom you have to do"--i.e., you're accountable to Him.
3."God is always doing us good".
4."If we attend to God, His holy angels shall have a charge to attend to us".
5."This life of communion with God is a very heaven upon earth".
6."Look upon every day as though it may be your last...The Son of Man comes at such an hour as we think not".
THE CLOSE
If Henry's sermon seems "way over your head", he tells you what to do about it.
"If we continue to wait upon God every day and all day long, we shall grow more experienced and expert in the mystery of communion with God".
In other words, "Start now!" And "Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ".
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