Waiting

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,

And in His word do I hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

More than the watchmen for the morning;

Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people... They have cried and do wait; probably their past prayer sustains their present patience. --C. H. Spurgeon

In all your waitings remember two things: Let it not be so much the event which you wait for, as the Lord of the event; the Lord in the event. And take care that you have a promise underneath you-- "in His word do I hope"-- else "waiting" will be too much for you, and after all it may be in vain. --James Vaughan

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These days are waiting days; they are praying days and wondering days and battling days. But they are hoping days-- we hope not merely for a showering of His blessings here in our earthly lives, but for what we know is to come: eternal joy in His presence. The psalmist said, "I wait for the Lord... and in His word do I hope."

In His word: this is where our true hope lies. It is not a flimsy, wishful hope for temporal blessings, but rather a firmly grounded hope rooted in the knowledge that He who promised is faithful. He hasn't promised to give us everything we want; He hasn't promised to give children to our family; but He has promised us so many things that are incomparably more precious. It is in those promises that we hope.

Waiting would indeed be too much for our feeble, dusty frames were it not for the promises of His word that hold us up. Waiting would indeed be in vain if we waited merely for earthly blessings without desiring even more the God who gives the blessings.

Because of our hope in Him, because of His promises, we are confident that whatever our earthly circumstances may be, He will work all things together for our good and His glory. We rest in His sovereignty, and find peace in knowing that the Lord is good to those who wait for Him; to the soul who seeks Him (Lamentations 3:25).

Indeed; none of those who wait for Thee will be ashamed...

Make me know Thy ways, O Lord;

Teach me Thy paths.

Lead me in Thy truth and teach me,

For Thou art the God of my salvation;

For Thee I wait all the day.

--Psalm 25:3a, 4-5