June 21

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him."—Psalm Lbl. 5.

How different are the frames and feelings of God's people!—sometimes they are on the mount of joy, anon in the valley of despair; now singing with the lark, then mourning with the dove; one day, exercising strong confidence in God, the next, doubting their interest in him. On earth there are many black-letter days in the Christian's spiritual almanac; but in heaven every day shall be a golden one, and there shall be no eclipse of the Sun of righteousness. In trying seasons, David enjoyed God as his comforter, and desired still to wait on him. Two things may be here remarked respecting the Christian.

THE PECULIARITY OF HIS DUTY. Waiting on God.

It is comprehensive. It includes the whole of religion, and implies a sense of our wants, a belief of God's readiness to supply them, and a patient expectation of the soul to receive them.

It is sincere. "My soul." Waiting on God is more than the external performance of the services of religion; it is the act of the soul, the exercise of the mind, and the movement of the spirit.

It is personal. "Wait thou." In real and experimental religion, the mantle of form must be cast aside, and then the soul will appear as it is in God's sight, whose scrutinizing eye penetrates into the darkest corners of the human breast. I may wait during the service with the devout congregation, and yet not wait on God.

It is exclusive. "Only upon God." Where else shall we go? To the world? It cannot satisfy us: when we attempt to grasp it, it bursts like a bubble in our hands.

THE SOURCE OF HIS HOPE. "For my expectation is from him."

What does it involve? What are his expectations? Every needful blessing, journeying mercies for the way, and crowning mercies for the home: he expects much here, but more hereafter.

On what is it founded? Many cherish expectations that are never realized; but the Christian has the best security, — the word of God, the covenant of grace, the blood of Christ, the influences of the Spirit, and the dealings of God with his people in every age.

Whom does it regard? Those who are renewed in the spirit of their mind, and devoted to God. Let us wait on God continually, even till death, and then all our glorious anticipations shall be more than realized.