The preachers quoted here say waiting on God is not idleness. They describe it as turning from fear to fix attention on him, hoping in him, and acting only under his command. They say it takes more than a hurried prayer, and that God uses waiting to test those he means to use.
The best-known promise is Isaiah's: "they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). The Hebrew verb carries the idea of binding together, and so of looking for something with expectation.1 In the Old Testament waiting and hoping are close to the same thing.
Waiting is directed to a person, not just to an outcome. "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him" (Psalm 62:5). "I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning" (130:5-6). The watchman is not passive; he is alert, and certain that morning will come.
It takes courage. "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14). The alternative is to act on one's own. Abraham and Sarah did so with Hagar (Genesis 16); Saul did so when Samuel was late, and lost his kingdom (1 Samuel 13:8-14).
Scripture attaches promises to it. "The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD" (Lamentations 3:25-26). "Blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isaiah 30:18). Of God's word it says, "though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come" (Habakkuk 2:3).
The New Testament continues the theme. The disciples were told to "wait for the promise of the Father" before Pentecost (Acts 1:4). The whole Christian life is described as waiting "for his Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 1:10), and "if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (Romans 8:25). Andrew Murray called it a return to "the place of absolute and unceasing dependence upon God."2
To wait on God, then, is to look to him in expectant trust, to refuse to run ahead of him, and to go on doing the last thing he said until he says the next.
- Strong's Hebrew 6960, qâvâh: "to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect".
- Andrew Murray, Waiting On God!, "First Day".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Waiting on God is activity under the command of God.
Chuck Smith
in Waiting on God
Listen at 27:01
To wait on the Lord is to turn away from our fears and fix our attention on him.
Richard E. Bieber
in Go Getters Slobs and Waiters 1980
Listen at 9:06
Waiting on the Lord is the same spiritual reality as hoping in the Lord.
Bob Hoekstra
in Waiting on the Lord, Hoping in the Lord
Read in context
Waiting on God means more than a prayer of thirty seconds on getting up in the morning and going to bed at night.
Samuel Logan Brengle
in The Secret of Power
Read in context
You see, waiting is one of the tests to which God almost invariably subjects the servants he intends to use.
Derek Prince
in (Clip) Why do we have to Wait
Listen at 0:53
So to wait upon the Lord is to actually find ourselves binding together with him through faith.
Phil Beach Jr.
in Qualities That Measure Spiritual Maturity Part 2
Listen at 3:10
Waiting is following God and seeking him and trusting him.
Shane Idleman
in He Acts for Those Who Wait for Him
Listen at 27:58
Waiting on the Lord is not only a preparation for the Holy Spirit, but is a process of receiving the Holy Spirit.
A.B. Simpson
in (Power From on High) 7. Waiting for the Spirit
Read in context
Waiting is always sweet when there is a hope at the end of it.
C.H. Spurgeon
in Waiting, Hoping, Watching
Read in context
Waiting is ascribing to God all the majesty, all the glory, and all the power.
Al Whittinghill
in Acid Test Series 7 of 8 - Waiting on God
Listen at 13:25
Waiting on God is an exercise by which we calm our minds and tune them up to receive signals from Above.
R. Stanley
in Waiting on God
Read in context
What Scripture says
- Isaiah 40:31 they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength
- Psalm 27:14 wait on the LORD: be of good courage
- Psalm 130:5-6 my soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning
- Lamentations 3:25-26 the LORD is good to them that wait for him
- Habakkuk 2:3 though it tarry, wait for it
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