Waiting in God's Presence: Don't Stop Believing

Waiting in the Lord’s presence is not wasted time, awkward space, or a gap that needs to be filled with a program. The modern church has learned how to do, volunteer, pay attention, and keep things moving, but it has not learned very well how to wait in God’s presence. The call to wait confronts the restless need for something to happen and invites believers to recognize that being near to God is itself what is happening.

Psalm 116 gives language to that kind of moment. The psalmist loves the Lord because the Lord heard his voice and heard his cry for mercy. The Lord turns His ear toward the afflicted, meets trouble and sorrow with compassion, and protects the simple-hearted in their great need. The psalmist’s cry, “Oh Lord, save me,” becomes a testimony that God is gracious, righteous, and full of compassion.

The psalmist’s soul is called back to rest because the Lord has been good. God delivers the soul from death, the eyes from tears, and the feet from stumbling so that His servant may walk before Him in the land of the living. The cup of salvation becomes the fitting response to such goodness: calling on the name of the Lord, offering thanksgiving, and fulfilling vows openly among God’s people.

The psalmist’s confession also holds together suffering and faith. The cords of death, anguish, trouble, and dismay are real, yet they do not get to write the whole story. The servant of God can say, “I believed,” even while saying, “I’m greatly afflicted.” The Lord frees His servants from chains and remains near when death itself presses upon the mind.

The presence of God is not meant to remain confined to a room or a moment of worship. The prayer for those standing nearby asks that the peace, comfort, faith, and nearness of God would go with them as they leave. The church is called to carry one another before the Lord, including the person whose name may have only just been learned.

Faith refuses to stop believing in the day of adversity. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Daniel did not receive God’s best because life was easy, but because they would not quit trusting when circumstances were loud and immediate. The problem in front of God’s people is temporary, but God’s promise does not have an expiration date. The great tragedy is not hardship itself, but stopping one day of believing before the blessing comes.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Wait in God’s presence without panic [01:27:35] Waiting exposes the heart’s addiction to activity and control. The presence of God does not need a program to prove that He is at work. The practice of staying near when nothing seems to be happening trains faith to recognize God beyond noise, motion, and immediate results. [87:35]
• 2. God hears the cry for mercy [01:28:19] Psalm 116 grounds faith in God’s listening ear. Trouble, sorrow, and even the cords of death do not make prayer useless or unseen. The Lord’s compassion meets the simple-hearted person who has nothing polished to offer except an honest cry: “Oh Lord, save me.” [88:19]
• 3. Rest because the Lord has been good [01:29:21] Rest is not denial of pain; it is the soul remembering God’s deliverance. The Lord has power over death, tears, and stumbling feet, and He gives His servants ground to keep walking in the land of the living. Thanksgiving becomes a response to grace already received, not merely a reaction to circumstances finally becoming easy. [89:21]
• 4. Do not stop believing too soon [01:34:23] Faithful people in Scripture endured long stretches where the promise had not yet appeared. The loudness and immediacy of a present problem can make it feel like the whole story, but it never was. God’s promise has no expiration date, and perseverance keeps the heart open to the blessing still ahead.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [20:49] - Worship and Praise
• [86:20] - Waiting in the Lord’s Presence
• [87:05] - Psalm 116 and God’s Nearness
• [88:19] - The Lord Hears the Cry
• [89:21] - Rest, Deliverance, and Thanksgiving
• [90:12] - Freed From Chains to Serve
• [91:01] - Praying for Those Nearby
• [93:56] - Faith in the Day of Adversity
• [95:03] - Do Not Stop Believing

1. I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. [01:28:19]
2. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
4. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
6. The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
7. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;
9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
10. I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”;
11. I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liors.”
12. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?
13. I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
14. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
16. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.
17. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.
18. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
19. in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! [01:26:46] [01:27:05]

1. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
2. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
3. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. [01:34:23]

1. And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” [01:32:51]
2. And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” [01:33:48]

1. In Psalm 116, what difficult experiences does the psalmist name before he calls on the Lord, and what words does he use to describe God’s response? [01:28:36]
2. What three kinds of deliverance does the psalmist remember in verses 7–9, and what purpose does he give for that deliverance? [01:29:21]
3. What actions of worship and public response appear in Psalm 116 after the psalmist remembers God’s goodness?
4. What do Noah and Abraham do by faith in Hebrews 11 before they can see the fulfillment of what God promised? [01:34:23]

1. Why can the psalmist say, “I believed,” while also honestly saying, “I am greatly afflicted”? What does this show about faith during a hard season? [01:29:37]
2. Psalm 116 calls the soul to rest because the Lord has been good. How is this kind of rest different from pretending that trouble, grief, or fear are not real?
3. In Exodus 33, God connects His presence with rest. Why would God’s presence be more necessary than simply having a clear plan, quick answer, or easy path? [01:32:50]
4. Hebrews 11 shows people trusting God over long periods without seeing everything promised. How does this challenge the belief that faith should always produce immediate results? [01:34:44]

1. Waiting quietly in God’s presence can feel awkward when the heart expects activity, answers, or a program. What tends to make it difficult for you to wait before God without trying to fill the silence? What could a simple time of waiting with Scripture and prayer look like this week? [01:27:35]
2. The psalmist’s prayer was not polished: “O Lord, save me.” Is there a burden, fear, or need that you have been carrying without honestly bringing it to God? What would it sound like to call on Him plainly?
3. “Return, O my soul, to your rest” is a call to remember that the Lord has been good. What specific kindness, provision, deliverance, or sustaining grace from God do you need to remember right now? [01:29:17]
4. God’s presence is meant to go with His people beyond a worship gathering. Who is one person in this group, church, home, workplace, or neighborhood who needs peace, comfort, or faith this week? How can you intentionally pray for them and follow up with them? [01:32:30]
5. Present problems can feel loud and immediate, but they are not the whole story. What current circumstance has become so loud that it is making it hard for you to remember God’s promises? [01:34:51]
6. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Daniel continued to trust God through long or costly obedience. Where might you be tempted to stop believing, give up praying, or quit obeying because the answer has taken longer than you expected? [01:34:23]
7. Thanksgiving was the psalmist’s response to being freed and helped by God. What is one practical way you can offer thanksgiving this week—through words, worship, generosity, serving, or fulfilling a commitment to the Lord? [01:30:33]