What it is to Wait upon God (1)

...To wait on God is to live a life of desire towards Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him, and devotedness to Him.

A. It is to live a life of desire towards God; to wait on Him, as the beggar waits on his benefactor, with earnest desire to receive supplies from him; as the sick and sore in Bethesda’s pool, waited for the stirring of the water, and attended in the porches with desire to be helped in and healed. When the prophet had said, Lord, in the way of Thy judgments we have waited for Thee, he explained himself thus in the next words, the desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee; and with my soul have I desired Thee, Isa. 26:8, 9. Our desire must be not only towards the good things that God gives, but towards God Himself, His favour and love, the manifestation of His name to us, an the influences of His grace upon us. Then we wait on God, when our souls pant after Him, and His favour, when we thirst for God, for the living God: O that I may behold the beauty of the Lord! O that I may taste His goodness! O that I may bear His image, and be entirely conformed to His will! For there is none in heaven or earth, that I can desire in comparison of Him. O that I may know Him more, and love Him better, and be brought nearer to Him, and made fitter for Him. Thus upon the wings of holy desire should our souls be still soaring upwards towards God, still pressing forwards, forwards towards heaven.

We must not only pray solemnly in the morning, but that desire which is the life and soul of prayer, like the fire upon the altar, must be kept continually burning, ready for the sacrifices that are to be offered upon it. The bent and bias of the soul in all its motions must be towards God, the serving of Him in all we do, and the enjoying of Him in all we have. And this is principally intended in the commands given to us to pray always, to pray without ceasing, to continue in prayer. Even when we are not making actual addresses to God, yet we must have habitual inclinations towards Him; as a man in health, though He is not always eating, yet has always a disposition in him towards the nourishments and delights of the body. Thus we must be always waiting on God, as our chief good, and moving towards Him.

B. It is to live a life of delight in God, as the lover waits on his beloved. Desire is love in motion, as a bird upon the wing; delight is love at rest, as a bird upon the nest; now though our desire must still be towards God, as that we must be wishing for more of God, yet our delight must be so in God, as that we must never wish for more than God. Believing Him to be a God all-sufficient, in Him we must be entirely satisfied; let Him be mine, and I have enough. Do we love to love God? It is a pleasure to us to think that there is a God, that He is such a one as He has revealed Himself to be, that He is our God by creation to dispose of us as He pleaseth, our God in covenant to dispose of all for the best to us; this is waiting on our God, always looking up to Him with pleasure.

Something or other the soul has that it values itself by, something or other it reposes itself in, and what is it? God of the world? What is it that we pride ourselves in? Which we make the matter of our boasting? It is the character of worldly people, that they boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, Psa. 49:6 and of their own might, and the power of their own hands, which they think has gotten them this wealth; it is the character of godly people, that in God they boast all the day long, Psa. 44:8. That is waiting on God; having our eye always upon Him with a secret complacency, as men have upon that which is their glory, and which they glory in.

What is it that we please ourselves with, which we embrace with the greatest satisfaction, in the bosom of which we lay our heads, and in having which we hug ourselves, as having all we would have: the worldly man when his barns are full of corn, saith, soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; the godly man can never say so till he finds his heart full of God, and Christ; and grace; and then, return unto thy rest, O my soul, here repose thyself; the gracious soul dwells in God, is at home in Him, and there dwells at ease, is in Him perpetually pleased; and whatever he meets with in the world to make him uneasy, he finds enough in God to balance.

C. It is to live a life of dependence on God, as the child waits on his father, whom he ha confidence in, and on whom he casts all his care. To wait on God is to expect all good to come to us from Him, as the worker of all good for us, and in us, the giver of all good to us, and the protector of us from all evil. Thus David explains himself, Psa. 62:5 My soul wait thou only upon God, and continue still to do so, for my expectation is from Him, I look not to any other for the good I need; for I know that every creature is that to me, and no more than He makes it to be, and from Him every man’s judgment proceeds. Shall we lift up our eyes to the hills? Doth our help come from thence? Doth the dew that waters the valleys come no further, than from the tops of the hills? Shall we go higher, and lift up our eyes to the heavens, to the clouds? Can they of themselves give rain? No, if God hear not the heavens, they hear not the earth; we must therefore look above the hills, above the heavens, for all our help cometh from the Lord; it was the acknowledgment of a king, and no good one neither, if the Lord do no help thee, whence shall I help thee out of the the barn-floor, or out of the wine-press?

And our expectations from God as far as they are guided by, and grounded upon the word which He hath spoken, ought to be humbly confident and with a full assurance of faith. We must know and be sure, that no word of God shall fall to the ground, that the expectation of the poor shall not perish. Worldly people say to their gold, thou are my hope; and to the fine gold, thou art my confidence, and the rich man’s wealth is his strong city; but God is the only refuge and portion of the godly man here in the land of the living; it is to him only that he saith, and he saith it with a holy boldness, thou art my hope, and my confidence. The eyes of all things wait on Him; for He is good to all; but the eyes of His saints especially, for He is in a peculiar manner good to Israel, good to them. They know His name and therefore will trust, and triumph in Him, as those that know they shall not be made ashamed of their hope.

D. It is to live a life of devotedness to God, as the servant waits on his master, ready to observe His will, and to do His work, and in everything to consult His honour and interest.To wait on God, is entirely and unreservedly to refer ourselves to His wise and holy directions, and disposals, and cheerfully to acquiesce in them, and comply with them. The servant that waits on his master, chooseth not his own way, but follows his master step by step: thus we must wait on God, as those that have no will of our own, but what is wholly reserved into his; and must therefore study to accommodate ourselves to His. It is the character of the redeemed of the Lord, that they follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes, with an implicit faith and obedience. As the eyes of a servant are to the hand of his master, and the eyes of a maiden to the and of her mistress, so must our eyes wait on the Lord, to do what He appoints us, to take what He allots us; Father, Thy will be done; Master, Thy will be done.

The servant waits on his master, not only to do him service, but to do him honour;  and thus must we wait on God that we may be to Him for a name, and for a praise. His glory must be our ultimate end, to which we, and all we are, have, and can do, must be dedicated; we must wear His livery, attend in His courts, and follow His motions as His servant, for this end, that He may in all things be glorified.

Matthew Henry

A Method for Prayer, pp. 201-203

Waiting for God

18 MARCH

Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul. Psalm 109:20

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Isaiah 30:18-26

David did not rashly or unadvisedly utter curses against his enemies but strictly adhered to what the Spirit dictated. I acknowledge that many people pretend to have similar confidence and hope, but who nevertheless recklessly rush beyond the bounds of temperance and moderation. But what David beheld by the unclouded eye of faith, he also uttered  with the zeal of a sound mind; for, having devoted himself to the cultivation of piety under the protection of Gods hand, he was aware that the day was approaching when his enemies would experience the punishment they had earned.

We learn that David's trust was placed in God alone. He did not look to people to direct his course according to whether the world smiled or frowned upon him. We can be sure that whosoever places his dependence on people will find that the most trifling incident will annoy him.

Therefore, even if the whole world abandons us, we, like this holy man, should lift up our heads to heaven and look there for our defender and deliverer. If God intends to use human instruments for our deliverance, He will soon raise up people to accomplish that purpose. But if He chooses to try our faith by depriving us of all earthly assistance, we should not regard that as any negative reflection upon the glory of His name. Rather, we should wait until the proper time when God fully  makes known His decision in which we can calmly acquiesce.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: Patience in waiting for an answer to prayer, especially a prayer for deliverance, must be consciously cultivated if we are to avoid losing confidence in God and His ways. But while waiting is a challenge, the Spirit often uses it to teach us to look to heaven, not people, for deliverance. What lessons have you learned about the Lord or about yourself while waiting on Him in prayer?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited By Joel R. Beeke

When God Removes Any Comfort From Us

We must be patient when God removes any comfort from us.

If God takes away any of our relations – ‘I take away the desire of thine eyes with a stroke’ (Ezek. 24:16) – it is still our duty patiently to acquiesce in the will of God. The loss of a dear relation is like pulling away a limb from the body. ‘A man dies every time he loses his own kith and kin.’ But grace will make our hearts calm and quiet, and produce holy patience in us under such a severe dispensation. I shall lay down eight considerations which may act like spiritual medicine to kill the worm of impatience under the loss of relations:

1. The Lord never takes away any comfort from His people without giving them something better. The disciples parted with Christ’s corporal presence and He sent them the Holy Ghost. God eclipses one joy and augments another. He simply makes an exchange; He takes away a flower and gives a diamond.

2. When godly friends die, they are in a better condition; they are taken away ‘from the evil to come’ (Isa. 57:1). They are out of the storm and have gone to the haven: ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord’ (Rev. 14:13). The godly have a portion promised upon their marriage to Christ, but the portion is not paid till the day of their death. The saints are promoted at death to communion with God; they have what they so long hoped for, and prayed for. Why, then, should we be impatient at our friends’ promotion?

3. You who are a saint have a friend in heaven whom you cannot lose. The Jews have a saying at their funerals, ‘Let your consolation be in heaven.’ Are you mourning somebody close to you? Look up to heaven and draw comfort from there; your best kindred are above. ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up’ (Ps. 27:10). God will be with you in the hour of death: ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thou art with me’ (Ps. 23:4). Other friends you cannot keep. God is a friend you cannot lose. He will be your guide in life; your hope in death; your reward after death.

4. Perhaps God is correcting you for a fault, and if so, it becomes you to be patient. It may be your friend had more of your love than God and therefore God took away such a relation, so that the stream of your love might run back to Him again. A gracious woman had been deprived , first of her children, then of her husband. She said, ‘Lord, Thou hast a plot against me; Thou intendest to have all my love.’ God does not like to have any creature set upon the throne of our affections; He will take away that comfort, and then He shall lie nearest our heart. If a husband bestows a jewel on his wife, and she so falls in love with that jewel as to forget her husband, he will take away the jewel so that her love may return to him again. A dear relation is this jewel. If we begin to idolize it, God will take away the jewel so that our love may return to Him again.

5. A godly relation is parted with, but not lost. That is lost which we have no hope of ever seeing again. Religious friends have only gone a little ahead of us. A time will shortly come when there shall be a meeting without parting (1 Thess. 5:10). How glad is one to see a long-absent friend! Oh, what glorious applause there will be, when old relations meet together in heave, and are in each other’s embraces! When a great prince lands at the shore, the guns go off in token of joy; when godly friends have all landed at the heavenly shore and congratulate one another on their happiness, what stupendous joy there will be! What music in the choir of angels! How heaven will ring with their praises! And that which is the crown of all, those who were joined in the flesh here shall be joined nearer than ever in the mystic body, and shall lie together in Christ’s bosom, that bed of perfume (1 Thess. 4:17).

6. We have deserved worse at God’s hand. Has He taken away a child, a wife, a parent? He might have taken away His Spirit. Has He deprived us of a relation? He might have deprived us of salvation. Does He put a wormwood in the cup? We have deserved poison. ‘Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve’ (Ezra 9:13). We have a sea of sin, and only a drop of suffering.

7. The patient soul enjoys itself most sweetly. An impatient man is like a troubled sea that cannot rest (Isa. 57:20). He tortures himself upon the rack of his own griefs and passions, whereas patience calms the heart, as Christ did the sea, when it was rough. Now there is a sabbath in the heart, yes, a heaven. ‘In your patience possess ye your souls’ (Luke 21:19). By faith a man possesses God and by patience he possesses himself.

8. How patient many of the saints have been, when the Lord has broken the very staff of their comfort in bereaving them of relations. The Lord took away Job’s children and he was so far from murmuring that he fell to blessing: ‘the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’ (Job 1:21). God foretold the death of Eli’s sons: ‘in one day they shall die, both of them’ (1 Sam. 2:34). But how patiently he took this sad news: ‘It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good’ (1 Sam. 3:18). See the difference between Eli and Pharaoh! Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord?’ (Exod. 5:2). Eli said, ‘It is the Lord.’ When God struck two of Aaron’s sons dead, ‘Aaron held his peace’ (Lev. 10:2,3). Patience opens the ear but shuts the mouth so that it has not a word to say against God. See here the patterns of patience; and shall we not copy them? These are heart-quietening considerations when God sets a death’s-head upon our comforts and removes dear relations from us.

Thomas Watson

The Godly Man’s Picture, pp. 120-123