December 30

I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. - Psalms 130:5.

NOTHING can be more interesting than to see a good man calm and patient while in a very trying and distracted condition. Such a one is a witness for God, by showing the reality, efficiency, and excellency of the religion he professes; David, therefore, in his troubles, had recourse to God. Waiting includes not only seeking, but expecting; and waiting-patiently waiting-for the Lord implies that God does not always immediately come to release and relieve his people. “While he is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,” yet he may not come to our relief at the time we expected him, and therefore we feel disappointed. But he is not bound to observe our prescribed rules; and he must know, in his infinite wisdom, that we have often very improperly fixed the times and seasons for him to manifest himself. We may always depend upon him, and that in his own good time and way he will listen to our prayer and interfere on our behalf. He hath said, “He that believeth shall not make haste.”

If the Lord appears to tarry, we are to wait for him. The husbandman does not go out and murmur at the clouds, or blame the weather; he well knows that there must be a season between sowing and reaping, and that the various influences of nature, the rough and the smooth, the sunshine and the storm, all operate and combine to produce the final result; therefore he “hath long patience for it.” “Be ye,” says the apostle, “therefore patient.” It is frequently very trying to flesh and blood to wait for God, and it is necessary for great patience to be exercised by us. But let us ever remember we have no claim upon God; and let us also think how long we have kept him waiting for us, how long he stood knocking at the door of our hearts, week after week and month after month, before we arose up and opened unto him.

Then it becomes us to exercise full confidence in God, and to feel assured that he will fulfil all his promises; that his delays will be advantageous, and that his is the best time; therefore it is said, “Blessed are all they that wait for him.” They are blessed, for they are preserved from those painful reflections that others feel who disobey him, and who charge him foolishly and unkindly, before he explains himself; they are preserved from having recourse to sinful and improper expedients to extricate themselves from present difficulties, and to obtain relief. Had some Christians let God alone, (so to speak,) to bring about his purposes in his own time and way, how many stripes and how many storms in providence had they escaped!

In nothing can we honour God more than by confiding in him. And God says, “Them that honour me I will honour.”