Waiting on the Lord
Isaiah 30:18 “And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all that wait for Him.”
One of the great battles we have with ourselves is to “wait on the Lord”.
We know His promise….we know His power….we know He hears us…
….so why are we “waiting”?
Yet, let me say this…He never keeps us waiting without…His good reason, His good purpose….for us.
Let us consider the Israelites at the Red Sea.
When they first left Egypt, then God…”led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near;….but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea…between Migdol and the sea,…before it shall ye encamp….” (Exodus 13:17-18, 14:1)
Then the Egyptians come…Pharoah and his army….and the people become terrified and started to doubt and yell at Moses….but Moses, in faith said, “Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”. (Exodus 14:13)
With the camp of Israel at the brink of the Red Sea….waiting….and the Egyptian army within sight….
…then the Lord went behind them…taking the pillar of light and cloud and putting it in between the camps….the light for the Israelites, His people…
…and the darkness to the enemy, the Egyptians.
(and isn’t it the same for us….even in the terrifying moments of our lives….and we have to wait for the Lord to act….He gives us light and His protecting presence and Word.)
Of course we know what happened…the Sea opened and became a dry bed for the Israelites to cross….But when the Egyptians came into it, it closed,…killing their enemies and delivering them.
Let us consider the Lord’s turning for a moment from the Syrophonecian woman.(Mark 7:26-29)
In Matthew, she comes to Him as the Son of David, for her demon possessed daughter.
But when she kept following Him, crying after Him….He does not even speak to her….but to His disciples,…. that He was not sent to any but the “lost sheep of Israel”. (Matthew 15:22-24).
Then, when she comes and worships HIm as Lord…. He calls her “a dog” (an insult)….telling her that it is not right to take “the bread” of Himself that He would give the Israelites, and give it to dogs.
Still she waits on Him….agreeing that she is “a dog”….but even dogs eat of the crumbs from the Master’s table.
And here, He turns and she will need to wait no more:
Matthew 15:28 “Then Jesus answered….”O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
Let us consider when Jesus deliberately tarried for two days when Martha and Mary urgently sent for Him to come right away….for Lazarus sake.
John 11:1,3,6 “Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany,…
Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where he was.”
Waiting is often hard….and hard to understand….for Martha and Mary both said to Jesus: “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”
They believed for healing….but…it was time for them to believe further….and for that, they had to wait on Him.
Mary wept…even in His presence (John 11:32-33)
But Martha,….when Jesus said that He was the Resurrection and the Life…she surrendered to Him…..for….”I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” (John 11:25-27)
Let us think about His word to Moses after Israel had sinned with the golden calf….”Let Me alone….that I may consume them” (Ex 32:10)….waiting for Moses’ faith (not sympathy for Israel…but faith in God’s Word, which promised to bring them into the promised land)….
….to intercede for Israel…which God heard, and in mercy, He led them on.
Or when He had fought all night with Jacob….and said: “Let Me go” (Genesis 32:26)…bringing out of Jacob a act of clinging…. and word of faith: “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”
Sometimes He waits…to be gracious….
….waits till the fervency of our love….for Him and His Will comes to the foreground.
Till we are willing to do, or have, or experience anything….if it be His Will for me.
Song of Solomon 6:5a “Turn away thine eyes from Me, for they have overcome Me:…”
Here the Lord is saying to His loved maiden…in poetical language…that her love is so strong…that He sees it in her eyes.
This is not a mere look in His direction….but the locked, riveted gaze upon Him which would move Him to return her expression of love.
It is the strength of love, which holds Him. Yet,…
…He says, “turn away thine eyes from Me”.
Why would He say that? So that she can look beyond His seeming rejection….or delay….
….and wait for His love, in return….in His time.
She is quite aware that He will give it….but she is to wait…and be content that He knows of her love to Him.
And He commends her loving gaze, “…for they have overcome Me…”
They that wait upon the Lord…
Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Waiting requires us to give up all else…to the Lord’s time.
This is not the same as the Lord’s Will. We often surrender to the what the Lord has promised or shown us….but it is something greater to wait on the Lord’s time….for we are looking and trusting in Him. Faith is drawn out…and we are strengthened…even though we may not have what we are asking,….yet.
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” (Ps. 27:13-14)
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” (Ps. 62:5)
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 