WAITING


A. "WAIT ON THE LORD; BE STRONG AND LET THINE HEART TAKE COURAGE, YEA, WAIT THOU UPON THE LORD" PSALMS 27:14
  1. Waiting:
    1. It is one of the difficult words in our vocabulary - to wait is hard and it tests our patience
    2. Yet it corresponds to one of the most frequent experiences in our lives
  2. Waiting is the lot of most of us:
    1. The politician waits for the outcome of his enterprise
    2. The husbandman is waiting for the harvest
    3. The merchant is waiting for the revival of his trade
    4. The doctor is waiting for the recovery of his patient B. LET US CONSIDER
  3. What is involved in waiting:
    1. The Lord may have in mind to teach us to learn to be quiescent - to be still - "Be still and know that I am God" - Ps. 46:10
    2. We are not to fret ourselves while we are waiting, the element of patience is involved - "Their strength is to sit still" - Is. 30:7
    3. Waiting means, also, to be alert, to be on guard or to be on the "lookout" - "Watch and pray" - Matt. 24:42; "Blessed is he that watcheth" - Rev. 16:15; "I will stand upon my watch" - Hab. 2:1
    4. Waiting also means service - the idea of service is brought out plainly when we say "wait on" - "He that waits on his master" - Prov. 27:18; "The Levites that waited" - Neh. 12:44
  4. There is a special meaning in the expression "waiting on God":
    1. We wait on the Lord because we have faith in the benefits of patiently waiting on the Lord - "Lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee will I wait" - Ps. 25:5
    2. To wait on the Lord is to fully trust Him - "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass" - Ps. 37:3-5
    3. To wait on the Lord is not simply to be impassive, but to be expectant - "waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God" - Rom. 8:19 "Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth" - Jas. 5:7 C. THERE ARE TWO WAITINGS SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE
  5. Man's waiting:
    1. It is most significant that waiting is a large part of man's work
    2. Waiting is not easy, true waiting is one of the hardest things in all the world. We talk of hard work. We should talk sometimes of hard waiting. Work is often sweet, but waiting seldom is; Examples: The ten virgins that waited for the bridegroom to come, waited until they fell asleep - Matt. 25:5; the watchman on the walls of Zion grows weary while waiting for the morning to come - Is. 21:11-12
    3. There is danger is not waiting = child pulls his plants up by the roots to see how they grow is only an illustration of people who are too eager for the results of their expectation
    4. There is discipline in waiting. It tests our weakness and our strength
    5. There is a meaning in waiting; if there were no justifiable meaning in it, why wait
  6. God's waiting:
    1. The purpose of God's waiting is known to Him alone. That is one of His divine prerogative; He has reasons for waiting; we will someday know His reasons; Examples: He waited about forty years to call Moses to lead Israel out of bondage; He had a reason. He waited about twenty-two hundred years before he sent His only Son into the world to save it from sin
    2. The secret for God's waiting is because He loves us. Love can afford to wait. He patiently waits for you and me. The father waited for the prodigal to return home again
    3. There are times when the Lord waits because He does everything in time - there is a time to plant and a time to reap
    4. God waits patiently because man is not ready to receive Him and to accept Him. This is one of the great mysteries - God's foreknowledge - and an expression of His mercies
    5. God's waiting is His divine condescension to manifest His great patience toward us because He does not want anyone to perish in sin - 2 Pet. 3:9


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