Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious to you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy on you… I. THE NATURE OF RIGHT WAITING UPON GOD. 1. There must be continual waiting. "Turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually." Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day." Not that we are always to be engaged in formal acts of devotion. Waiting upon God is not wholly comprehended in praying to Him. By inward meditation, by heartfelt desires, by continual supplications as suggested to us in the Church, or as carried on in the closet, or the family, we must never fail to wait upon God for those blessings generally, which He has promised; or particularly, which we know that we individually require. We must be constant expectants; unawed by the suggestions of Satan, the coldness and apathy of our own hearts, or the low and unchristian standard of those around us. 2. There must be importunate waiting. We are not to suppose that "waiting" implies a sitting still in listless supineness, as if no exertion were to be made. The waiting upon God which will prove successful, is a waiting that will take no denial. It springs from a heartfelt sense of the necessities of the soul; and it calls into exercise all the energies of the whole man. 3. There must be patient waiting (Psalm 40:1; Psalm 37:7). 4. There must be waiting on the name of Jehovah. David has a remarkable expression: "I will wait on Thy name; for it is good before Thy saints." The name of God imports His attributes and perfections. A calm, serious contemplation of the Divine character is an important part of waiting upon God. 5. The soul must wait upon God. Many mistake here. They satisfy themselves with the external homage of the body, without the inward bending of the soul. 6. There must be waiting only upon God. 7. We must wait God's own time and way. II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THUS WAITING UPON HIM. 1. "The Lord is good to them that wait for Him: to the soul that seeketh Him." 2. He is good beyond conception. 3. The blessedness of waiting upon God appears likewise in the increase of spiritual strength. 4. They who thus wait shall at length take up the language of holy triumph. "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him," etc.Application — 1. Our subject condemns many amongst you. 2. Let the faithful learn their duty. (Carus Wilson.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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 they that wait for him. |
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