Several hours of driving through Death Valley: an empty road, no phone signal, and behind every mountain range another one rising, along with a growing unease that something is about to go wrong. That image opens a reflection on Psalms 130 and 131, the cry of someone whose floor has given way, and the song of a soul stilled like a weaned child. The sermon speaks of what we are worst at: waiting on God in hope instead of taking matters into our own hands, and a watchful engagement that forces nothing. Listen if you are stuck on a stretch of road that seems to have no end.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- The psalmist cries "out of the depths," which Peterson renders as "the bottom has fallen out." What does this image say about the psalmist's state, and why does the cry fit both suffering and sin?
- Instead of a story of miraculous rescue, Psalm 130 describes waiting "more than watchmen for the morning," and Psalm 131 gives the image of a weaned, fed child. How do these two psalms together lead from desperation to rest?
- The sermon named three ways we handle guilt: denial, rationalization and relativizing. Which one do you reach for most often, and what changes when you lean on God's gracious, merciful and holy character?
- The sermon described biblical hope as a rope stretched tight while waiting on God, not optimism based on circumstances. In practice, how is waiting in hope different for you from thinking "it'll all work out somehow"?
- Augustine says that by making us wait, God stretches our souls, and Psalm 131 sets quiet trust against unhealthy ambition. Where are you tempted to take things into your own hands and force something to happen faster?
- "You can't learn to wait while running." What practice of stillness, such as a quiet morning with Scripture or an evening review of the day, do you want to begin this week to grow in expectant engagement?
