Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14 9 (NASB)
Wait for and confidently expect the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the LORD. Psalm 27:14 (AMP)
So many of the Psalms of David in the Bible were written during times of deep personal distress. Yet always, but the grace of God, David came to see that his help was of the Lord, that his strength was not of himself, that his deliverance would not be due to his ingenuity, but the Lord would deliver him. So he says in Psalm 27:
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 (KJV)
In the next verse he concludes with a final word of counsel which is relevant to every one of us, no matter the trials we face today. That word is this: “Wait on the Lord.”
Spurgeon, in his sermon ‘Brace Waiting’ said:
That word, ‘wait’ is so exceedingly comprehensive that I quite despair of bringing out every shade of its meaning. Rightly understood waiting is active as well as passive, energetic as well as patient and to wait upon the Lord necessitates as much holy courage as warring and fighting with His enemies.
What do we mean, then, by “wait on the Lord”? Here are some examples of its meaning. We wait on the Lord:
- as a needy beggar waits for alms at the rich man’s door – only in God is there a supply for the deep poverty of our souls;
- as a learner waits for instruction – the disciple waits at his Master’s feet and is eager to drink in what He says;
- as a servant waits upon his lord –a turn servant is anxious to know what his master wishes him to do and when he once knows it, he is happy to undertake it and carry it through;
- as a traveller waiting for the directions of his guide – God’s hand is to steer our course (“This is the way. Walk in it.”);
- as a child waits upon a parent – our children can seldom be accused of having small expectations with reference to us; they expect that their needs will be met and do not waste time in anxiety.
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:14 (KJV)
May His grace enable us daily to say:
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
and in His Word do I hope. Psalm 130:5 (NASB)