Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

WAITING AND STRENGTH

1. What is meant by waiting upon God?
   1. When the Bible speaks of waiting upon God, it means something different from doing nothing
   2. We commonly contrast waiting with working, and there is a sense in which the contrast is justified
2. But if it leads us to think that waiting is not working, it has done a great wrong to a great Bible word:
   1. Think of a cabinet minister whose duty it is to wait upon the Ding
   2. To wait upon God is not idleness; it is not a state of spiritual torpor
   3. It tests a man and calls forth his highest energies

1. To wait upon the Lord expresses our dependence upon God:
   1. As the patient waits the coming of the surgeon, because in him the hope of life is totally dependent upon Him - John 15:5
   2. "Because of his strength will I wait upon thee; for God is my defense" - Ps. 59:9
2. To wait upon the Lord indicates further:
   1. That I have a heart of obedience - ready to do whatever He wants me to do; Examples: Abraham - Gen. 22:1; Isaiah - Is. 6:8
   2. Said the Son of God, I delight to do Thy will O my God" - Ps.40:8
   3. That gift was missing in the rich young ruler - Matt. 19:16-22
3. Love is still another implication in waiting upon the Lord:
   1. Love is the finest source of work - it is the secret of the finest waiting; Examples: Jacob waited for Rachel seven years - they seemed like days - Gen. 29:20
   2. A sorrowing mother waited beside the bodies of her slain sons night and day - because she loved them - 2 Sam. 21:9-10

1. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength":
   1. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because He trusteth in thee" - Is. 26:3; Examples: the three Hebrews seemed calm and unconcerned at the threatening of an enraged King - Dan. 3:17; the apostles did not become frightened by the threatening of the council - Acts 4:17-29; David showed no fear at the threatening of Goliath - I Sam. 17:46-48
2. To them the Lord has promises, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" - Deut. 33:25
3. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles":
   1. The strength of the eagle is by enlarge in his wings - Ps. 103:5
   2. There are times when problems are perplexities become mountainous and we need the wings of faith to surmount them - Examples: Job faced such mountains of continued trouble and it was his faith in God that gave him eagles wings to surmount them
4. "They shall run, and not be weary":
   1. There are times when haste and the ability to run is the salvation of a person
   2. It implies further, that when God shows us the light of His work we shall do well to run to keep His word - Ps. 119:32
5. "They shall walk and not faint":
   1. The life of a child of God is a walk with God; Examples: Enoch walked with God three hundred years - Gen. 5:22-24; Noah walked with God and so did Abraham
   2. Walking with God is the highest concept of life and is of an eternal nature; let us do it; it will take us into the city of God; it will take us to the kingdom of heaven.